Religions

Religions (宗教, Shūkyō), is a ancient concept in the society of many worlds, and beyond. They are beliefs in and worshipping of a deity. Various people and civilizations in their respected worlds follow a vast array of religions, and various allusions to gods, devils, and religion have been made through architecture and speech. The concept of a religion is present on the world of Remnant and has existed for hundreds of years. There is more than one religion known to exist, with evidence of both monotheistic and polytheistic faiths.

"This world's been around for a long time, long enough that people have created dozens of gods. But if you believe Ozpin, two of them are actually real."
 * —Qrow Branwen.

Evidence of Religions
Glynda Goodwitch mentions that the existence of the Maidens goes against hundreds of years of human religion in "Fall". Some people may believe in one god, while others may believe in multiple, as indicated by Ruby Rose's and Yang Xiao Long's uses of "god" singular in "The Shining Beacon, Pt.2" and the ship captain's use of "gods" plural in "Of Runaways and Stowaways".

Religious Architecture
In the "Volume 4 Character Short", the town square that Ruby Rose fights in has a church with a pair of feminine statues to either side of its front door, one of which Ruby destroys. The church has a short tower, at the top of which is a circular window with a design that was first seen on the Beacon Vault's floor and above its Aura transfer machine.

Gods

 * Main article: Gods

Deity Brothers
According to Qrow Branwen, Ozpin claims this religion to be factual.

Legend
Two brothers, one older and one younger, existed on Remnant, filling it with both life and destruction. The older brother created water, plants and wildlife during the day, while at night, the younger brother would discover his sibling's creations and become disgusted. He created drought, fire and famine. Yet life had a strong ability to endure, so the younger God of Darkness decided to create the Creatures of Grimm. He designed them so that they would have an innate desire to destroy everything and anything.

Weary of feuding, the older God of Light proposed that the two of them create one last thing together, a masterpiece they could both be proud of. The younger brother agreed and together they created a creature that was gifted with knowledge, creation, destruction and choice. Most important was the capability of choosing whether to use these gifts for light or dark. These creatures became known to be Humanity.

The gifts of the two brothers were also given a physical manifestation, so that four Relics now exist on Remnant, representing each of the four gifts bestowed on humanity. These Relics each contain immense power, and it is said that, if someone were to wield all four, they could change the world. Sometime after, the Gods abandoned Remnant. Each of Remnant's primary Huntsman Academies houses one of the Relics, with Haven housing the Relic of Knowledge, Beacon housing the Relic of Choice, Atlas housing the Relic of Creation, and Shade housing the Relic of Destruction.

True History
After much time has passed and Humanity grew to populate the world, the Gods themselves lived among them in their respective domains. The humans of the worlds would often pay homage and prayers to the Gods. Most went before the older god to give their pleas as none dare pay respects to his younger sibling for the dangerous creatures that dwelled in his land.

During the era when Salem and Ozma lived, the Gods were visited by a young Salem and came to ask for the legendary warrior, Ozma to return from death after he had passed. At first, she beseeched the elder God but was ultimately denied her request. She then turned to the younger God and manipulated him into granting her wish. When Ozma was brought back, the other God appeared in his brother's domain and almost came to violent conflict. The younger was under the assumption that his elder brother came to take away the praise of a follower he rightfully deserved. However, he came to inform the younger that Salem had only come after she had been denied and that her desire would disrupt the balance of life and death. In the end, both brothers came to an understanding. This led to both Gods killing the legendary warrior again and Salem being punished with immortality.

To her anger and frustration, Salem sought the kingdoms of the world in order to build an army to turn on the Gods. She made false promises and stories that they could take power and authority away from their old masters and rule a world without suffering. When Salem and the forces came upon the sanctuary of the elder god, they were met by both Gods and attacked. The resulting act caused the younger to take the magic from all the attacking humans and exterminate all human life on the planet. In the aftermath, they both deemed the world from Humanity's actions as a failure and a remnant of what their project was. Both departed the world, but not before the younger left Salem with words of disappointment and shattered the moon in the process. Without their presence, magic was gone and Salem was the only human left.

At some point, the gods cursed Ozpin for failing to defeat Salem, and his soul is forced to reincarnate to other hosts eternally. The truth of the matter is that the elder god tasked him in his first incarnation as Ozma to prepare the world for Humanity's judgment. In order to aid him in this endeavor, he would reincarnate in a way that ensured he would not be alone. The four Relics were created in order to aid Humanity to achieve harmony and unity and would summon both Gods when they were ready to be judged.

Over time, the true history of the Gods and the world faded into legend and an old, dying faith. With very many people not being religious, the faith in the gods became more obscure.

The deity brothers appear in different forms; one humanoid, and the other draconic.

The God of Light in humanoid form appears as a tall, muscular, softly gold-colored, naked male Faunus with antlers upon his head and no facial features. In his dragon form, his antlers become more streamlined, and his body takes the shape of a golden, eastern-style dragon with long whiskers.

The God of Darkness in his humanoid form is shorter and less muscular than his brother, with purple skin, a face devoid of features, and two horns that spiral into points atop his head. His dragon form is four-legged with two wings, a skull-like face and his horns twist even more.

Gods of Alabasta
In Alabasta, the title "God" refers to the strongest guardians of the royal family. Pell and Chaka (the two head guards under Igaram of the Alabasta Kingdom) often refer to themselves as the "Guardian Gods" of Alabasta and the royal family. Their Zoan-type Devil Fruit transformations (a falcon and jackal respectively) resemble the two Egyptian gods Horus and Anubis, the two strongest gods in the Egyptian pantheon.

Gods of Shandora
In Shandia (at the times when they lived on Jaya), people worshipped giant pythons (e.g. Kashigami) as their "Gods", and even made human sacrifices to them. This practice ceased when Mont Blanc Noland and his crew arrived at Jaya and cured the tribe of Tree Fever.

Gods of Skypiea
In Skypiea, the title of "God" refers to as the ruling body of the sky islands. God is generally looked at as a governing class of sorts. However, other than the title itself, the position of God holds no religious or divine overtones, being a regular physical being who is neither all-powerful nor perfect. The first known man to hold this position was the unnamed God of Skypiea, who governed four hundred years prior to the current storyline, and Gan Fall held the position of the previous God eight years prior, before Eneru took over. Eneru took this title too seriously, matching some of the "all powerful" and "omniscient" traits prior to his defeat by Luffy, and naming most of his lightning-based attacks after thunder gods of various religions. After Eneru was gone, Gan Fall reclaimed the title.

Satanic Cult of Namakura Island
In Namakura Island, there is a Satanic cult that worships the Devil. The cultists on the island were trying to summon Satan, another name for the Devil, but instead ended up 'summoning' Brook.

Other Mentions of God or Religion

 * Devil Fruits and their users are said to be cursed by the Demons of the Sea.
 * The Ancient Weapons, Pluton, Poseidon, and Uranus are all named after Greco-Roman Gods.
 * When Luffy declared his goal to becoming Pirate King, Buggy mocked him by saying that would then make him (Buggy) the "God of Pirates".
 * When Usopp witnessed Kuro's superhuman speed and cruelty to even his own subordinates, Usopp became horrified and regarded Kuro as a "devil" who lived among them for three years.
 * Dracule Mihawk has weapons modeled after crucifixes.
 * In Cocoyasi Village, a cross marks Bell-mère's grave.
 * Some of the Baroque Works mercenaries in Whisky Peak were dressed as nuns, one of them attacking with gas hidden in a cross. Additionally the tombstones on the cactus mountains are cross shaped and at least one building in Whisky Peak is shown to have crosses at the top of its towers.
 * Vinsmoke Sanji has made many references to a possible God. In Loguetown, after lightning struck the scaffold Luffy was on and saved him from Buggy (calling the event "Divine Intervention" in the FUNimation dub), Sanji asked Zoro of his beliefs, though Zoro did not answer. During the Skypiea Arc, Zoro claimed he never prays to God and does not care whether one exists or not. After defeating Jabra of the CP9, Sanji mentions God again, saying "God creates food, and the Devil creates seasonings".
 * Dorry and Broggy mentioned the god of Elbaph.
 * Bartholomew Kuma has a bible in his hands and always carries it with him.
 * Zoro's attacks often include references to devils. Examples are Demon Strike (鬼斬り, Oni Giri; literally meaning "Demon Slash"), Raven Hunt (鴉魔狩り, Karasuma Gari; literally meaning "Demon Crow Hunt") or Bull Demon: Bold Hooves (牛鬼 勇爪, Gyūki: Yūzume; literally meaning "Cattle Demon: Brave Hoof"). His Nine-Swords Style is focused on a race of demons from the Hindu mythology, called Asura.
 * There is also a reference to sea gods. Before entering the Florian Triangle, the crew picked up a barrel with the banner saying "Sea god's houzen" (former treasure). It was actually a trap from Thriller Bark. However, it seems that some sailors do put alcohol and reserves into floating barrels as an offering to the guardian deities of the sea. It seems to be customary that if someone picks one up, they may have the contents, though they will need to replace the 'offerings' and put the barrel back into the sea. It should be noted that Usopp had equipment used for exorcism at that time, which included crosses.
 * Gecko Moria wears a cross around his neck.
 * Robin is shown to wear a pendant shaped like a cross on the cover of the Meat!!!.
 * The graves in Alabasta are cross-shaped. The graves in Thriller Bark, as well as the ones in Fish-Man Island's Sea Forest are also shaped like crosses.
 * In Ticking Down to the Time of Battle! The Navy's Strongest Lineup in Position!, a nun can be seen praying "Dear Lord ... Where is this world headed?"
 * When the Gates of Justice opened, a light shined on Buggy while he held a staff which caused the prisoners to think of him as a messenger of god, the scene mirrors the splitting of the seas by Moses.
 * At Sabaody Archipelago, Caribou addresses a god of some sort, stating "Oh God, forgive him!" and referring to a Marine soldier as "sinful", although Caribou may be using this as a twisted justification for murder.
 * The Flying Dutchman and its captain, Vander Decken, were said to be cursed by God for the captain's atrocious acts after suddenly going deranged and killing his crew one stormy night, as well as spitting at God. They were cursed, forever to sail the ocean, never able to make landfall.
 * The royal family of Ryugu Kingdom is based off of deities of the sea: King Neptune is named after the Roman God of water and the sea, Queen Otohime is named after the daughter of Ryujin, the Japanese God of the sea, and Princess Shirahoshi is the current form of the Ancient Weapon, Poseidon, which is named after the Greek God of the sea, earthquakes, and horses.
 * Hordy Jones and his subordinates believe that they were chosen by the heavens to obliterate the human race and to change the entire culture of the Fish-Men race when they got their hands on the Energy Steroids.
 * Chopper holds out a crucifix when he sees Kin'emon's severed head. The crucifix looks identical to the one he and Usopp used when meeting Brook.
 * Dagama claims that the body of his king, Elizabello II, is truly a gift from the heavens due to his inhuman strength and fighting power.
 * When a light from a collapsed ceiling shined on Usopp after he freed everyone from Sugar's powers, people started to believe he was a messenger sent from heaven and started calling him "God Usopp". "God Usopp" will remain as his nickname on his Wanted poster. Buggy acted in the same way, though purposely, after his escape from Impel Down.
 * Several others have "God", "Demon", or other religious theme as part of their monikers:
 * Gin, known as the "Man-Demon".
 * Sengoku, known as "The Buddha".
 * Laffitte, known as the "Demon Sheriff".
 * Doc Q, known as the "Death God".
 * Don Quixote Doflamingo, known as the "Heavenly Yaksha".
 * Kalgara was regarded as "Shandora's Demon".
 * Oars was regarded as a "Devil".
 * Urouge, known as the "Mad Monk".
 * Wadatsumi, known as the "Giant Monk".
 * Vergo, known as the "Demon Bamboo".
 * Gambia, known as the "Missionary".
 * Charlotte Amande, known as the "Demon Lady".
 * Du Feld, known as the "God of Fortune".
 * Carmel would be regarded as the "Holy Mother" due to her nun disguise.
 * World Nobles consider themselves to be gods, due to their heritage to the twenty kings who founded the World Government, and their legal rights to do as they please and living in the Holy Land Mary Geoise (which Doflamingo refer to as "Heaven") made furthered their believes as divinity. When Donquixote Homing declared himself human and requested to have his World Noble status rescinded, the others declared him sacrilegious and traitorous, severing all ties with him.
 * Guild Tesoro developed a god complex, due to his absolute control over his city of gold.
 * In the Zou Arc, a sheep mink going by the name of "Pastor" Yomo is introduced, indicating that there may be a religion on Zou, though it is unknown what kind.
 * Sanji's and Pudding's wedding ceremony was officiated by a priest.

Notes & Trivia

 * The story of the two deity brothers came to Miles Luna |Miles Luna]] while he was trying to sleep one night. It was his first major contribution to RWBY since he joined Monty Oum and Kerry Shawcross in planning the show.
 * In the episode "Fall", Pyrrha Nikos stated that a fairy tale she knew of was called "The Tale of the Two Brothers", which may be based on the two deity brothers.
 * According to Eddie Rivas, the Lore Keeper for RWBY, both Jehovah and the Buddha are also worshipped in the World of Remnant, however Savitar is not.