Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-European cultures, the thunder god is frequently known as the chief or King of the Gods, e.g. Indra in Hinduism, Zeus in Greek mythology, Zojz in Albanian mythology, and Perun in ancient Slavic religion.
Thunder gods
Mediterranean
- Adad, Bel, Ishkur, Marduk (Babylonian-Assyrian mythology)
- Baʿal, Hadad (Canaanite and Phoenician mythology)
- I Verbti (Albanian mythology)
- Novensiles (Etruscan mythology)
- Perëndi (Albanian mythology)
- Set (Egyptian mythology)
- Shurdh (Albanian mythology)
- Śuri (Etruscan mythology)
- Tarḫunna (Hittite mythology)
- Tarḫunz (Luwian mythology)
- Teshub (Hurrian mythology)
- Vahagn (Armenian mythology)
- Zibelthiurdos (Thracian mythology)
- Zis (Messapian mythology)
- Zojz (Albanian mythology)
Greco-Roman
- Astrape and Bronte (Greek mythology)
- Fulgora (Roman mythology)
- Jupiter, Summanus (Roman mythology)
- Poseidon (Greek mythology)
- Tempestas (Roman mythology)
- Zeus (Greek mythology)
Northwestern Eurasia
- Ambisagrus, Loucetios (Gaulish mythology)
- Armazi (Georgian mythology)
- Afi (Abkhaz mythology)
- Atämshkai (Moksha mythology)
- Gebeleizis (Dacian mythology)
- Horagalles (Sami mythology)
- Orko (Basque mythology)
- Perëndi (Albanian mythology)
- Perkūnas (Baltic mythology)
- Perkwunos (Proto-Indo-European mythology)
- Perun (Slavic mythology)
- Pikne or Pikker (Estonian mythology)
- Sugaar (Basque mythology)
- Taranis (Pan-Celtic)
- Tharapita or Taara (Estonian mythology)
- Thor (Germanic mythology)
- Uacilla (Ossetian mythology)
- Ukko or Perkele (Finnish mythology)
East Asia
- Dianmu (Chinese: 電母)
- Leigong (Chinese: 雷公)
- Ajisukitakahikone (Japanese: アヂスキタカヒコネ)
- Raijin (Japanese: 雷神)
- Tenman Daijizai Tenjin (Japanese: 天満大自在天神)
- Susanoo (Japanese: スサノオ)
- Yakusanoikazuchi (Japanese: 八雷神)
South Asia
- Indra (Vedic, Hindu mythology and Buddhist mythology)
- Thunder Poorna (Hindu mythology, and Buddhist mythology)
- Parjanya (Vedic and Hindu mythology)
- Raja Indainda (Batak mythology)
- Vajrapani (Buddhist mythology)
Southeast Asia
Vietnam
Philippines
- Kidul (Kalinga mythology)[1]
- Ovug (Ifugao mythology)[2]
- Aninitud angachar (Ifugao mythology)[3]
- Child of Kabunian (Ibaloi mythology)[4]
- Kidu (Bugkalot mythology)[5]
- Revenador (Ilocano mythology)[6]
- Bathala (Tagalog mythology)[7]
- Kidlat (Tagalog mythology)[8]
- Gugurang (Bicolano mythology)[9]
- Linti (Bicolano mythology)[10]
- Dalodog (Bicolano mythology)[11]
- Kaptan (Bisaya mythology)[12]
- Linting Habughabug (Capiznon mythology)[13]
- Ribung Linti (Suludnon mythology)[14]
- Upu Kuyaw (Pala'wan mythology)[15]
- God of Animals (Surigaonon mythology)[16]
- Diwata Magbabaya/Bathala (Subanon mythology)[17]
- Anit/Anitan (Manobo mythology)[18]
- Spirit of Lightning and Thunder (Teduray mythology)[19]
Oceania
- Haikili (Polynesian mythology)
- Tāwhaki (Polynesian mythology)
- Kaha'i (Polynesian mythology)
- Te Uira (Polynesian mythology)
- Nan Sapwe (Pohnpeian mythology)
Australia
- Mamaragan (Australian Aboriginal (Kunwinjku) mythology)[20][21]
New Zealand
- Whaitiri (Māori mythology)[22]
- Tāwhirimātea (Māori mythology)[23]
Americas
- Thunderbird (Iroquois and Huron mythology)
- Hé-no (Iroquois and Seneca mythology)
- Aktzin (Totonac mythology)
- Wakíŋyaŋ (Sioux/Lakota mythology)
- Xolotl and Tlaloc (Aztec mythology)
- Cocijo (Zapotec mythology)
- Chaac (Maya mythology)
- Yopaat (Maya mythology)
- Chibchacum (Muisca mythology)
- Apocatequil (Inca mythology)
- Illapa (Inca mythology)
- Tunupa (Aymara mythology)
- Tupã (Guarani mythology)
- Kasogonagá (Toba mythology)
- Mur (Atibaia's mythology)
Africa
- Shango (god of thunder and lightning, Yoruba Nigeria)
- Oya (goddess of hurricanes, storms, death and rebirth, consort of Shango in Yoruba religion)
- Set (Egyptian mythology)
- Nzazi (god of thunder and lightning; master of thunder dogs in Kongo mythology)
- Azaka-Tonnerre (West African Vodun/Haitian Vodou)
- Mulungu
- Xevioso (alternately: Xewioso, Heviosso. Thunder god of the So region)
- Amadioha (Igbo, Nigeria)
- Obuma (god of thunder, Ibibio-Efik Mythology, Nigeria)
- Àlamei (So region)
- Kiwanuka (god of thunder and lightning, Buganda, Uganda)
- Umvelinqangi (god of thunder, earthquakes, sun and sky in Zulu mythology)
- Ta Kora (God of War and Strife in the Akom religion, as well as God of Thunder and lightning in the Northern Akan peoples' sect of Akom, such as the Asante)
- Bobowissi (God of Thunder in the Southern Akan peoples' sect of Akom, such as the Fante. Also rival to Tano)
In literature
The Hindu God Indra was the chief deity and at his prime during the Vedic period, where he was considered to be the supreme God.[24][25] Indra was initially recorded in the Rigveda, the first of the religious scriptures that comprise the Vedas.[26] Indra continued to play a prominent role throughout the evolution of Hinduism and played a pivotal role in the two Sanskrit epics that comprise the Itihasas, appearing in both the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Although the importance of Indra has since been subsided in favor of other Gods in contemporary Hinduism, he is still venerated and worshipped.
In Greek mythology, the Elysian Fields, or the Elysian Plains, was the final resting places of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous, evolved from a designation of a place or person struck by lightning, enelysion, enelysios.[27] This could be a reference to Zeus, the god of lightning, so "lightning-struck" could be saying that the person was blessed (struck) by Zeus (/lightning/fortune). Egyptologist Jan Assmann has also suggested that Greek Elysion may have instead been derived from the Egyptian term ialu (older iaru), meaning "reeds," with specific reference to the "Reed fields" (Egyptian: sekhet iaru / ialu), a paradisiacal land of plenty where the dead hoped to spend eternity.[28]