Mythology & Religion Power Ranking TOP100
I wrote a book ranking the most powerful gods, monsters, and heroes from world mythologies, religions, and legends in order of strength! Of course, the rankings reflect a fair amount of my personal opinion, but the reasoning behind each placement is grounded in the actual lore and episodes from each mythology, so I think it makes for a fairly convincing read.
In this series, I’d like to introduce some of the characters featured in the book’s ranking. There are plenty of other characters beyond the ones covered here, so I think anyone interested in mythology, religion, or legends will find it an enjoyable read!
Rank 4: Ahura Mazda (Zoroastrianism)
Overview
Ahura Mazda is the supreme deity in Zoroastrianism (also known as the Mazdayasna religion or fire-worship religion) — the ultimate being and the embodiment of goodness. He is both the creator of the universe and an omniscient, omnipotent god who transcends time, space, and all things.
Ahura Mazda’s greatest enemy is the evil deity known as “Angra Mainyu” (or Ahriman). Angra Mainyu seeks to destroy the world that Ahura Mazda created, and the two are destined to wage eternal war as the embodiments of good and evil.
It is prophesied that at the end of the world (the Frashokereti), Ahura Mazda — alongside the savior Saoshyant — will completely vanquish Angra Mainyu. After that, Ahura Mazda is destined to conduct the Final Judgment.
At the Final Judgment, he will resurrect all the dead since the birth of the universe, rain a comet from the heavens, engulf the world in a sea of molten metal, and judge the righteous and the wicked. After this, he is said to create a new ideal world and allow all of humanity to be reborn — deeds very similar to what the One God of the Abrahamic religions is said to accomplish.
In fact, it is widely believed that the concept of the Final Judgment in the Abrahamic religions was largely derived from Zoroastrianism.
Among Zoroastrianism’s good deities, there are the “Amesha Spentas (higher spiritual beings)” and the “Yazatas (middle spiritual beings).” The Amesha Spentas consist of seven beings, including Ahura Mazda (Spenta Mainyu) himself.
The other Amesha Spentas are essentially considered nearly identical to Ahura Mazda (like aspects or avatars of him). In some interpretations, the seven deities composing the Amesha Spentas are collectively referred to as “Ahura Mazda.”
In later tradition, the tendency to view Ahura Mazda as the sole absolute deity of Zoroastrianism grew stronger, leading to a clearer separation between Ahura Mazda and the other Amesha Spentas. Since they are fundamentally the same being in essence, the other Amesha Spentas have not been separately included in this ranking.
Ranking Reason
Zoroastrianism is said to be “the world’s oldest monotheistic religion,” and Ahura Mazda is described as omniscient and omnipotent — similar to the One God of the Abrahamic faiths, possessing the ability to know all things and bring any outcome into reality.
However, unlike the One God, Ahura Mazda has a being of comparable power — Angra Mainyu — that he has been unable to destroy. This alone makes it clear that he cannot be considered completely omnipotent in the same absolute sense.
Even so, considering that he created the universe and has continuously protected the world from the evil wrought by Angra Mainyu, his power is undeniably immense. And given the depictions of the Final Judgment, he clearly possesses the power to freely control all the laws of the cosmos.
Furthermore, since neither Ahura Mazda nor Angra Mainyu can completely destroy each other, both are effectively immortal.
However, compared to the One God, the fact that Ahura Mazda shares power with Angra Mainyu leaves an impression of diminished stature. Taking all of this into account, I judged this position in the ranking to be appropriate.
