Mythology, Religion & Legend — Power Ranking TOP 100
I wrote a book ranking the most powerful gods, monsters, and heroes from world mythology, religion, and legend! The ranking is heavily influenced by my own perspective, but every placement is grounded in the actual lore and episodes from each mythology, so I think it makes for a satisfying read.
In this post, I’d like to introduce some of the characters featured in the ranking. There are many more beyond the ones mentioned here, so if you’re interested in mythology, religion, or legend, I think you’ll enjoy it!
Rank 72: Lugh (Celtic Mythology)
Overview
Lugh is the god of light in Celtic mythology and a truly all-encompassing deity, mastering craftsmanship, martial arts, poetry, history, medicine, and sorcery, earning him the title of “the god who possesses every skill.”
Lugh’s greatest moment of glory was slaying Balor, the king of the Fomorians, with a sling stone during the Battle of Mag Tuired.
He also slew numerous powerful enemies such as Indech during the same battle, and afterwards Lugh became the king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is also notably the father of the hero Cú Chulainn.
The spear Lugh carries is one of the “Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann” and is commonly called “Brionac” in later tradition (though it is never referred to by that name in the original myths).
He also possesses a separate throwing spear called “Gáe Assail (the Spear of Assal),” a magical weapon that always finds its mark and returns to the wielder’s hand after being thrown.
His sling fires the stone Taslam, and the sword Fragarach is legendary for the saying that those wounded by it cannot survive. With a versatile god like Lugh wielding all of these, his formidable power is beyond question.
Why This Ranking
Lugh gives the impression of a well-rounded hero — just as his lore suggests. He excels in many forms of combat, his equipment is consistently high-quality, and he has no obvious major weaknesses.
In principle, he should be a figure of high divine rank, but Celtic mythology itself tends to have a relatively smaller scale than other mythologies, and I get the sense that it would be difficult for him to win against top-tier deities from other traditions.
Honestly, the gods of Celtic mythology, based on their mythological depictions, feel to me like they’re roughly as strong as the heroes of other mythologies.
Even regarding the slaying of Balor — Lugh shot the sling stone at Balor precisely while he was in the process of lifting his eyelid to open his evil eye. If Balor’s eye had already been open from the start, the sling stone would never have worked, and I think Lugh would simply have lost.
And the fact that Balor himself, no matter how strong Lugh may be, died from a single sling shot, also suggests that compared to war gods from other mythologies, his durability is somewhat lacking. Taking all of this into account, I concluded that this position in the ranking is appropriate for Lugh.
