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Use The 'Power of Friendship' To 'Kill God?' This Baffling Story Trope, Explained
The phrase "Use the power of friendship to kill God" is an interesting one in pop culture. For those not in the know, it's a bewildering set of words that recalls a certain Breaking Bad meme, and for those in the know, it's a phrase that warrants an eye roll and a response of "Okay, which game are you talking about?"
What Does "Use the Power of Friendship to Kill God" Mean?
The phrase is a joke about how, in many JRPG video games, the central theme of the game is overcoming adversity via bonds formed with others across a long journey — aka, the Power of Friendship. It just so happens that these games also will end in a climactic battle involving a deity-like figure the party will have to defeat to save the world.
The phrase was first used in a 2014 review of Earthbound by Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation, who quipped that games with JRPG-like mechanics just don't feel like true JRPGs unless they end with a band of "teenagers using the power of friendship to kill God."
Though clearly an exaggeration in typical Yahtzee fashion, the phrase turned out to be pretty applicable to a host of JRPGs. In the years since it was uttered, it's been applied to series like Shin Megami Tensei, Final Fantasy and Tales, series that usually end with the player's party of teenage-looking friends helping each other defeat a vile, oftentimes heavenly figure who controls the fate of the world.
How Is "Use the Power of Friendship to Kill God" Used As A Meme?
While you may not find a ton of memes using this exact wording, the trope of a ragtag group of teens banding together to defeat an extradimensional force has long found its way into jokes about video games.
Furthermore, the trope is not just limited to JRPGs or even video games. The joke has also picked up steam in the Dungeons and Dragons and anime fandoms, perhaps unsurprising as both subcultures are prone to prioritizing the "power of friendship" in their stories.
While it may be inaccurate to say all JRPGs center around a story of "using the power of friendship to kill God" as Yahtzee said in his old review, the trope has been popular — and ridiculous-sounding — enough to cement it as an established gag in gamer memedom.
For more information, check out Use the power of friendship to kill God on Know Your Meme.
