| D&D: Asmodeus and the Lords of the Nine. Probably some of the most fleshed-out personalities in the game over the last 20 years (behavior, strengths, weaknesses, plots, servants, relationships). They're a twisty bunch. I particularly like the aprocryphal tales of their origins: champions of Law who were twisted into monstrous forms and evil methods after eons of doing the "dirty work" in opposing Chaos.
Novels: The powers from Michael Scott Rohan's "Winter of the World" series. They're meddlesome, all-too-human at times, and yet also quite terrifying. I especially like the concept of the Ice as the implacable enemy of life and creative thought.
For those who haven't read the series, it's loosely based on Finnish mythology: Taoune, Taounehtar, Ilmarinen, "Choosers of the Slain", etc. The deities are virtually unknowable in their true forms, holding sway over powers so vast they cannot be directly opposed (...might as well try to hold back glaciers, or fight the ocean). However, they sometimes take avatar form to meddle more directly in human affairs.
Hardly a unique theme, I know, but there's something about them which is quite fascinating. Their avatars aren't just "big powerful versions of themselves". They tend to work in subtle ways, changing the path of a hero with a chance encounter or a whispered suggestion. They also have complex motivations. Tapiau, the Lord of the Forest, might be a champion of life and and growth, but he might still hold humans in contempt for their relentless war on the forest. And even when he's supposedly aiding them, his gifts (eternal life) might have some very nasty hooks in them... | 
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