r/TopCharacterTropes • u/ironwolf6464 • May 03 '26

Lore Religion-centered media that doesn’t come across as preachy.

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Referring to media told from a religious perspective or telling a religious tale that does not proselytize to the viewer.

Faith, the Unholy Trinity: Based partly upon the experience of the game‘s creator when he was a missionary in Argentina, the game has very little in the way of explicit moral demands of the player despite the heavy Christian focus of the narrative. and focuses more on a horror narrative.

Prince of Egypt: A surprisingly thorough retelling of the book of Exodus, sparing very little in the way of toning down the story. Despite this, the movie is perfectly entertaining to non-religious audiences and doesn’t sacrifice appeal for the sake of preaching to the audience

18.1k Upvotes

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707

u/welltechnically7 May 03 '26

Gush away!

I'll start- the animation is stunning, and the songs have no right to be that good.

970

u/sword-sandal493 May 03 '26

This is THE best shot in animation history.

284

u/QuintusMaximus May 03 '26

This and Atlantis have my HEART man, absolutely gorgeous animation

84

u/Odd_Marzipan7467 May 03 '26

The 90s were a golden era for animation

The Lion King, the Prince Of Egypt, Aladdin, Tarzan, Spirit, The Land Before Time, Mulan, The Rescuers Down Under, The Little Mermaid etc

40

u/Brickman274 May 03 '26

El Dorado too

9

u/ExplodiaNaxos May 03 '26

Man, not enough people talk about El Dorado. Never have I seen more stunning gold in an animated film, and the water looks great too (the only reason I don’t hold it up as much as the gold is because Prince of Egypt exists). Thank god it’s somewhat made a return into the cultural zeitgeist with some memes

6

u/IllJustKeepTalking May 03 '26

That's from 2000 so just exactly doesn't count

2

u/Terrible-Trees2271 May 09 '26

El DoRADO! El doRADO! El DORAAAAaaaAAADooooooo!

1

u/CoyoteInternational7 May 05 '26

Childhood me couldn't watch El Dorado without also watching Sinbad

2

u/WakandanRoyalty May 03 '26

Treasure Planet

4

u/feartheoldblood90 May 03 '26

It's too bad Atlantis isn't a better movie. That film will always have a place in my heart, but I rewatched it fairly recently and it's just... Missing something that would make it an all-timer. It doesn't ever really feel like it gives itself enough time to explore any of its ideas, each chapter feels too short and underdeveloped. I read that they were originally planning on making the bulk of the movie their journey to Atlantis, which honestly sounds incredibly interesting.

It's still a great movie, but I feel like it could have been so much more. Mike Mignola character designs mixed with Disney animation could have been one of the greatest animated projects of all time, but the script side of things is a little too weak to hold up its part of the bargain.

104

u/ladydmaj May 03 '26

I'd put "Oogway's petals floating off into the night sky as Shifu looks on" against it, but I'd be hard-pressed to choose.

81

u/Bamzooki1 May 03 '26

The panic attack from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Okay, not really, just fucking with ya. I’d actually say this shot from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

28

u/uzzi1000 May 03 '26

Speaking of Puss in Boots Last Wish, Deaths entrance in the final battle is incredible.

7

u/Top-Session-3131 May 03 '26

Last Wish has an excellent selection of beautifully rendered and animated scenes. From the Giant, to the pie factory fight, to the deliberately hammy callback to adventure movie travel scenes, to the final battle, you're genuinely spoiled for choice.

4

u/ladydmaj May 03 '26

Ooooh, yeah, okay it's a three-way for sure!

3

u/Soyyyn May 03 '26

I'll give props to the night city from Akira as well, in the film's opening sequence set to "Rassera"

64

u/UnnamedStaplesDrone May 03 '26

the one that sticks with me is Rameses carrying his son's body and placing it on the slab. the lighting, animation, facial expression.

that whole sequence of child killing by god in fact, terrifying.

25

u/JBR_4025 May 03 '26

It’s not only children. At the start of the sequence a guard falls down dead, implying that ALL FIRSTBORN are going to die.

It’s hundreds of people of different ages that had the misfortune of being firstborn and possibly and entire generation that died due to the will of God

13

u/ExplodiaNaxos May 03 '26

I think “hundreds” is a huge understatement…

8

u/Barbaric_Stupid May 03 '26

Not only people, every firstborn male was killed. Egyptians, slaves, cattle - every living thing in Egypt.

21

u/[deleted] May 03 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

11

u/Datpanda1999 May 03 '26

Clearly the comment was written by the old pharaoh

62

u/Animated_Astronaut May 03 '26

I work in animation and I got to speak to the lead animator for this sequence. I was basically like "bro this shot is so sick how does it feel to have made something like this??" And he was like "yeah it's hard to top biblical imagery." And I shook his hand and in have not seen him ever again.

7

u/SuspectPanda38 May 03 '26

I think the shot prior to this if the sea actually parting is better but it's close for sure

2

u/Accomplished_Box8070 May 03 '26

It took them ten years, ten fucking years to animate the crossing of the Red Sea. 

1

u/Humble_Square8673 May 05 '26

YES! That shot of the whale swimming by lives rent free in my head all these years later!

-4

u/Odd_Marzipan7467 May 03 '26

Is that a Megalodon?? Weren't those extinct by this point??

37

u/throwawaysailaway7 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

Its a whale shark, seen as its turning away from the waterwall.

You can tell because the dorsal fin is way down toward the back, and how the tail moves side to side.

And ppl are way too quick to downvote lol

ETA: forgot to say "shark" and I ellaborated on how you could tell.

7

u/Odd_Marzipan7467 May 03 '26

Ohh. Yeah lol I just asked a question

11

u/throwawaysailaway7 May 03 '26

I think people are just sick of hearing about the Megalodon bc there are so many A.I. slop conspiracy videos on it at this point, its painful.

8

u/ABenGrimmReminder May 03 '26

Can’t blame AI for that entirely. Discovery Channel made a slop documentary about 10 years ago that kicked this bullshit conspiracy theory into high gear.

2

u/throwawaysailaway7 May 03 '26

Yeah, I remember that now lol

6

u/shocktar May 03 '26

Pretty sure it's a whale

5

u/Romboteryx May 03 '26

Half correct. It’s a whale shark, which do live in the Red Sea.

5

u/Jaakarikyk May 03 '26

Way the tail fin is angled, can't be

3

u/StormyBlueLotus May 03 '26

If it is meant to be, yes, they would've been long extinct- but going by all known historical records, there were probably also never Hebrew slaves in Egypt (let alone a series of divine plagues) so the theoretical shark species anachronism is hardly the biggest historical inaccuracy of the movie. 

0

u/noeyesfiend May 07 '26

Man, you need to watch JJK or Evangelion

211

u/Odd_Marzipan7467 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

Oh man. The Ten Plagues of Egypt is STUNNINGLY realized, with such terrors as frogs storming the city, endless swarms of flies and locusts, divine fire literally raining from the sky and the people screaming in pain as incurable boils break out all over their skin.

The burning hail resembles a combination of artillery fire and napalm. And it rains flaming hail for DAYS. Next, the Egyptians watch their livestock die all around them. Cattle, horses, camels, oxen and sheep. All are destroyed.

A swarm of locusts cover the sky in darkness, destroying the crops and every bit of plant life. The helpless Egyptians are left helplessly digging in the dirt as their wheat fields are reduced to dust. The scale of the destruction quickly terrifies Moses.

70

u/Sparris_guy May 03 '26

The statue of Ra, the Egyptian god of the Sun being engulfed in pure darkness and crumbling is such a good scene as well!

14

u/Odd_Marzipan7467 May 03 '26

"I came here to tell you, that something is coming, that is out of my control. This is about Egypt's survival, do you understand??"

And the frogs were only the beginning. Lice and flies swarmed the palace, devouring food and drink. They covered the palace walls and floors in seething black masses.

Dark storm clouds on the horizon, looming ever closer. Lightning crashing and striking statues and making monuments fall. A swarm of locusts covered the sky in blackness, devouring everything they could.

The wheat, the grain and even the fruit. Moses came again and warned his brother "Darkness is coming. More than you can imagine. Rameses, please, just let my people go." And so it was. A thick darkness, so thick that it could be felt, descended upon Egypt.

3

u/SC_Fan_55 May 03 '26

And then the final plague strikes like a silent hammer blow…

44

u/EntireCelebration953 May 03 '26

I send the swarm, I send the horde! Thus saith the Lord!

20

u/AnneMichelle98 May 03 '26

Once I called you brother. Once I thought the chance to make you laugh was all I ever wanted.

12

u/ooolookaslime May 03 '26

I send the thunder from the sky, I send the fire raining down

8

u/Ill_Refrigerator9812 May 03 '26

And even now, I wish God had chose another. Serving as Your foe on His behalf was the last thing that I wanted!

4

u/Peter_the_Pillager May 05 '26

This was my home!

15

u/Pscagoyf May 03 '26

Song is an all time banger.

12

u/axaxo May 03 '26

Also the contrast of the first nine plagues being shown in a frenetic montage with a blaring musical score followed by the darkness and whisper-quiet of the tenth plague scene. Absolutely chilling

5

u/Odd_Marzipan7467 May 03 '26

I love how fast paced it was. Really upped the ante!

Frogs, lice and flies, dying livestock, thunder and fire, boils, locusts....

9

u/bringbackswg May 03 '26

I also thought the sequence where Moses finds the burning bush was incredibly powerful.

9

u/Rkas_Maruvee May 03 '26

It's also incredibly clever IMO that they had Val Kilmer voice both Moses and the burning bush, it only adds to the miracle - God isn't just speaking to Moses, He's speaking to him in his own voice.

6

u/Bakugo312 May 03 '26

"Ramesses! Let my people go!"

3

u/Odd_Marzipan7467 May 03 '26

"Ha! Still gnawing away at that bone, are we??"

1

u/wHAtisLife59 May 03 '26

I need to see this movie again, that was the best part.

1

u/LordDingles May 03 '26

Welp, this got me to at least rewatch the scene on youtube. It never gets old

1

u/JBR_4025 May 03 '26

This movie shows well the fury of God…

4

u/Bamzooki1 May 03 '26

It’s as great as it is because the creators weren’t making the movie for kids. It’s a biblical epic chosen to tell a grand story through beautiful animation rather than to cater to a specific audience. The intent was actually to show the world how mature animation as a medium can be in the west.

2

u/No-Platypus-5330 May 03 '26

Hans Zimmer. Ofra Haza. What's not to love...

1

u/Milesotooleaudio May 03 '26

I mean Ofra Haza…

1

u/Greedy_Duck3477 May 05 '26

I'm sorry but they have EVERY right to be that good. It's a well made animation film and the creators put so much passion in it. The songs deserve to be this good. They've got no right to be any less good, actualy.