An American Pantheon of Gods

[Phil Masters]

Paul Bunyan has already been mentioned briefly, but is surely present, if weakening. I'd add The Mouse, who is clearly a god of children, and is often presented as benevolent - but some people in the know suspect that it's a parasite, tapping its worshipers for wealth and belief. Mice are vermin, after all.

Hamilton, who faded long since if he ever had any status independent of the Founding Fathers, is somehow making a sudden run up the inside.

The Superhero was born from the image created by eighty years of superhero comics, recently much enhanced, and takes different masks to suit the observer and the context; the dark knight, the perfect soldier, the paragon of power, the wisecracking teen... They are usually a benevolent deity, but the wise understand that they are really a mirror, which can show worshipers an ideal to which to aspire, or a dangerous fantasy of power and self-righteousness. Their true identity is, after all, frequently a secret.

The TV adaptation of American Gods had Columbia fading and weakened because Lady Liberty had shoehorned into her mythic space.

[Phantasm]

Yolo, god of teenagers and other risk takers.

[Phil Masters]

Oh, and recent arrivals include The Hacker, whose true power is frequently obscure but who promises a glorious future while threatening subjugation to the machine, and The Valley Girl, child of a thousand high school movies and series, who manifests either wisdom or folly whenever she speaks - frequently both in the same sentence.

[jason taylor]

Loki: god of lawyers

[jason taylor]

Moby Dick: god of fate.

Rick Blaine: god of nightclub owners, mercenaries, love, and lost causes.

Zorro: god of California, Hispanics, and Fencing.

Maxwell Smart: god of espionage

Moana: goddess of Hawaii

Robert Service: god of Alaska

Walt Disney: god of cheese.

Sam Spade: god of private detectives.

John Henry: god of factory workers.

Luxuria: goddess of Hollywood.

Colonel Sanders: god of chicken

[talonthehand]

I'm surprised the novel American Gods hasn't been mentioned - the premise is that there is a brewing war between newer American Gods and the transplanted gods of the old world (Odin being the primary one). Some that were mentioned in that:

The Technical Boy - Sort of an anthropomorphic representation of the internet.

Media - People sacrifice their lives to the tv. Takes the form of a generic news anchor, massive surveillance.

Railroad Baron - Starting to die off already, as trains have lost their impact.

Johnny Appleseed was also mentioned, less a god, more of an icon.

Other than that? Let's see - Disney is quintessentially, so something based off of that. You could have food gods - different BBQ gods for different regions with a lowkey conflict going between them. Possibly something involving the more distinct American cultures - Cajun/Creole, Appalachian. A single god as Florida Man could be a lot of fun.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

John Henry: god of factory workers.

Surely he belongs in the pantheon, but I don't see him as a factory god; he worked out in the field, drilling out tunnels for railroad lines. Joe Magarac would be a closer fit, if you're prepared to accept him into the pantheon.

Now John Henry said to his captain,
He said, "A man ain't nothin' but a man,
But before I let that steam drill beat me down
I'll die with my hammer in my hand."

[Anders]

I would suggest Ronald McDonald as the god of fast food, but Christopher doesn't like clowns. So I won't.

Henry Ford would make a great ascended god of factories.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Anders

I would suggest Ronald McDonald as the god of fast food, but Christopher doesn't like clowns. So I won't.

Ronald McDonald, Grimace and the Hamburglar are clearly chtonic entities.

[Shuckster]

Folklore

Bigfoot - the "green man" of sorts, protector of Yellowstone, also bonus points for how modern cryptid fans link him to an account written by Roosevelt, also bigfoot could represent indigenous wildlife unique to the country.

The man in Black - Behind those black shades and serious attitude he's actually a trickster god who creates conspiracy theories and revels in the discord he sows; and if any of those conspiracies turn out to be true? Then hiding them in plane sight with all the others is even better.

Politics

Checks and balances:
Fire is a tool, neither creative nor destructive on it's own, it can get out of control but it can also mean the difference between life and death. Fire, like politics therefor requires careful tending, and so based off of that rather than thinking in terms of "left" and "right" we have these more appealing fire-based deities:
The Regal Dragon - Represents order and might but also the danger of absolute power, representing how strong America is when we are united and under a single goal, the dragon's fire is destruction but it is focused on a single point and can be directed. Opposed eternally by the phoenix who is chaos and danger to the dragon's law and safety.
and
The Roiling Phoenix - Represents chaos and division but also equality and freedom, a beast that is constantly breaking down and rising back stronger again, representing how America can be made stronger by how contentious we are. The phoenix's fire is rebirth and life, but it is fire all the same and still burns things in its path, eternally opposed by the dragon who is oppression to the phoenix's freedom.

Eras personified, then made modern

Mother Jones (Spirit of the 1960s') - The "nice" side of Gia the earth mother, personified in the form of a wise Hippie, who embodies our worn but long enduring ecosystem
becomes
The Storm Mother - a wrathful Gia who represents natural disasters and the consequences of climate change, switching back and forth from Mother Jones unpredictably

Mr. Tommy (Spirit of the 1920s) - A Capone style gangster in a pinstripe suit who once represented opportunism and the desire for profit over the safety of others, ambition without limits and profit over people
becomes
Mr. Wolf - The embodiment of the idiom "F- you, I got mine" the gangster has upgraded into a CEO with a brand new way to deal with rivals. Still representing the spirit of unethical organizations.

The poor and tied (Spirit of the 1930s) - a mother and child that look exactly like the migrant mother photo taken in 1936, representing the great depression and the suffering of that era, but the mother represents necessity and the child represents invention as people of this era had to become resourceful.
Becomes
The huddled mass - An amorphous entity representing the growing needs of people both in the united states and abroad, refugees, the ever expanding lower class and the spreading disparity ever-widening the divide between the rich and poor, some might call it a tumor on the cosmic fabric of reality, others would call it a force gathering more power than the rich mortals could ever imagine.

Star Captain Buzzcut (Spirit of the 50s) - A jumpsuit wearing retro-future rocketeer who embodies McCarthyism and the need to conform to the new, American way and all it's chrome plated, whites only uniformity
Becomes
Officer Buzzcut - A riot police captain, need I say more?

Powers

"The doctor who answers" - A take on "ask your doctor if this pill is right for you" (something commercials in other countries don't say) the doctor who answers is a god that represents the medical system's positive and negative qualities, a deity capable of healing but also one who would gladly peddle addictive medicines, the cure is a resource, but so is the disease.

The Revolving Wale - The name comes from the popular notion that credit card companies call people who cant pay their debt "revolvers" and video game companies call people who over-spend on microtransactions "whales", creating a rather silly image, sure - but consider the idea of what a revolving whale would cause; a wild inescapable pull into the filter feeders gaping maw, a realm you wont be able to escape no mater how hard you swim... that's a pretty great allegory for debt if you ask me, and boy are a lot of Americans in Debt!