Zhong Kui is a not so much god as ghost. However, he has been charged with the rule and control of all of the ghosts in Hell, and wields considerable power.

Zhong Kui was once mortal, and very ugly. Though he achieved top scores on the Imperial Examinations, which should have granted him a place in the bureaucracy, the Emperor revoked his titles because of his disfigured appearance. Enraged, Zhong Kui threw himself against the palace door again and again until he died. As a suicide he was condemned to become a ghost in Hell, but because of his scores on the examinations he was appointed as overseer of all the other ghosts. Most of his time is now spent hunting down wayward spirits, demons, and other evil creatures, and keeping the rest in line. 