God (Preacher)

God is the overarching antagonist of the comic book series Preacher.

In the beginning, God was a lonely being. Due to his loneliness, God created the angels, and they worshiped and loved him. However, God grew bored with receiving the praise from the angels, so he decided to create mankind even though he knew that he was condemning this species to a miserable existence. When he told the angels of his plans on creating Humanity, they were horrified by his announcement. As such, a great war was waged on Heaven ending with massive bloodshed and the remaining angels being expelled. Feeling that his Angel of Death was failing to live up to what he intended, God orchestrated the deaths of a good mans' wife and daughter, which leads to that man becoming the Saint of Killers. Throughout the years, God indulged in the worship of humanity despite being fully responsible for all of the wars, famine, and other heinous atrocities that befall the Earth. Despite this, God craved more affection. And so, he arranged the creation of Genesis - a being conceived from a Seraphim and a demon, solely so he could see if a being more powerful than himself would choose to love him. However his plan goes awry, and Genesis goes to inhabit the body of a Texas preacher named Jesse Custer. As a result, Jesse embarks on a mission to find God and question him about his abandonment of his creation. Fearful, God tries several methods to stop Jesse from continuing his quest. Despite these attempts, Jesse wouldn't cease from his mission, which eventually earns him his confrontation with God. God insists to Jesse that despite his impulsiveness, he still loved him and offered him a chance to bless him if he leaved him be. However, Jesse accuses God of cowardice, which leads to God threatening to "unmake" him for his insolence. He would've died had it not have been for the Saint of Killers intervening. God flees due to the Saint of Killers being one of the few things he legitimately fears.

As long as Genesis and Jesse were together, they were unstoppable. From there, Jesse realizes that God had a pathological need to be loved. His announcement of creating Humanity was a test to see which of the angels would remain with him as well as reaping those who opposed. Him creating Genesis was his way of seeing if a being as powerful as himself would love him. The vampire Cassidy offered God a deal stating that he could beat Jesse to near-death, and God could then remove Genesis from within Jesse's body. The only condition was that both would survive. Jesse himself also had a plan; with his death, Genesis would be released, and God would attempt to return to Heaven wherein the Saint of Killers would be waiting on him. It's revealed that God himself is actually not omnipotent as most of his strength was fueled by the throne. God returns to Heaven after fulfilling his part with Cassidy only to see several of his heavenly forces massacred by a vengeful Saint of Killers. God attempts to make a feeble bargain with the Saint of Killers in order to convince the vengeful man to spare his life. However, his pleas fall on deaf ears, and he gets shot dead by the Saint of Killers.