[RPG] Has a god ever changed alignment

alignmentdungeons-and-dragonslorereligions-and-deities

Is there an example of a god changing alignment in the published lore of D&D settings?

I'm brainstorming for a future campaign and want it to revolve around a Good or Neutral god of knowledge who has turned Evil. I'm not sure if that's even a plausible premise though, hence the question.

Best Answer

Yes.

In the original Forgotten Realms setting, the supplement Old Empires by Scott Bennie detailed the realms of Mulhorand, Unther, and Chessentea. The Untheric pantheon, in particular, was ruled by Gilgeam:

Enlil himself retired; he appointed his son, Gilgeam, as his successor as king of the gods. At first, Gilgeam was a just ruler. But sometimes even the gods can go mad.

Gilgeam was a proud god-king. As the centuries passed and Unther declined in prosperity and influence, as taxes rose and the peoples hatred grew, Gilgeam became a cruel and jealous lord.

Gilgeam's alignment in stats blocks is given as Lawful Evil, but the text described above makes it clear that this was not always the case, unless one can reconcile "just ruler" with a lawful evil alignment. Further, it is quite clear from the text of the book that Gilgeam was not simply a mortal proclaimed as god-king, but a god (indeed, the chief of pantheon) in his own right, with defined major and minor spheres and leveled clerics described in the supplement.