Ultimately one of the nicer gods on this list, the 'Supreme Being' in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits is initially a rather sinister-looking floating head and an early antagonist, demanding the return of his map from the band of six dwarves who love nothing more than to travel through history for kicks. It soon becomes apparent that this is exactly why they're on the run from the Supreme Being, their former employer, using the map as they do to steal riches, as the Supreme Being tries to chase them down and reclaim what is his. This finds the Supreme Being tracking down the time bandits in a frankly terrifying manner, appearing in Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest and a little boy's bedroom to scare the bejesus out of them. It's not until later, however, that we discover the Supreme Being is just an uppity everyday bloke, played by Ralph Richardson looking like he's just stepped out of a gentleman's club, and that the real villain of the piece is actually David Warner's sorcerer, Evil, who handily looks dastardly enough to identify himself as the true bad guy without us even having to question it.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
