Latter-Day Pantheon

The Latter-Day Pantheon were a group of aliens encountered by the First Doctor in 1965 New York City. Their true names are unknown.

Nature and abilities
The Latter-Day Pantheon were completely controlled by the beliefs of the humans around them. They had no natural powers or personalities, but were instead shaped by what people believed they should be like.

Even their true form (either smoke or a puddles) might be what people expected of them. When first discovered, the Latter-Day Pantheon shaped themselves to be gods in response to the general desire for higher powers to come and save mankind from itself, forming their goals and purpose on Earth from that point onwards.

History
At least two groups of these aliens came to Earth in 1965. Though only one survived from the crash-landing in London- this one eventually travelling to New York after its initial identity as Joseph, the God of Peace, was shaped by an encounter with Dodo Chaplet- five survived the crash in New York City. They were discovered by Alexander Lullington-Smythe, who tried to take advantage of their powers, claiming they were gods. Although the First Doctor initially believed that they were invading aliens, a conversation with Dodo and General Marchant- the head of Project Blue Book, a US government agency responsible for monitoring extra-terrestial activity on Earth- about their differing perceptions of Jennifer, the Goddess of Free Love, helped the Doctor realise what the Gods truly were.

The problem was that the human inhabitants of New York City had far too many conflicting beliefs,. This meant that the Latter-Day Pantheon had trouble deciding which ideas to follow, resulting in them becoming internally divided on issues such as the 'inferiority' of the negro. The Doctor encouraged further dissent among their followers by provoking the Patriach into attacking him after Joseph stood up to him, the Doctor's faith in himself outweighing the current audience's belief in the Patriach.

Eventually, they decided to end the Vietnam War, but they were stopped by the US Army before they could finish with their plan. The Doctor convinced Marchant that they would become too powerful if they went public. On the Doctor's advice, the army drove the Gods off by dropping a dud bomb on them; although the bomb wouldn't actually hurt anyone, the gods' remaining followers believed that it could hurt the Gods, and so they were forced to retreat. (PDA: Salvation)