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(Cross-posted from r/Worldbuilding)
I've noticed a trend, both inside and outside of worldbuilding, for people to assume that gods in a pantheon all serve a particular kind of role, where they represent a specific idea or element, i.e. "the god of X". Of course, real life religions are more complicated. I've been thinking about it and there are a handful of other basic types of roles that gods often serve in real religions that I know of, and potentially in fictional ones as well. These aren't meant to be hard categories; real-life examples tend to belong to multiple roles, or fall somewhere between them. Also, I suspect some actual folklore scholar or anthropologist has done real research on this; if anyone knows of a good source, please let me know.
Elemental Gods: Representative of basic ideas that people encounter in their lives. People tend to think of these as universal, such that there's one fire god in the universe who operates everywhere. If they meet another tribe with a different fire god, they may see this as a different aspect or interpretation of the same god.
Natural Elements: Thunder, Fire, Water (oceans, rivers, and/or rain), the Sun, etc. Examples: Thor, Vulcan, Amaterasu
Social Elements: War, Justice, Poetry, Love, etc. Agriculture blends between natural and social elements. Examples: Tyr, Danu, Aphrodite
Ethnic Gods: Tied to a specific tribe or race of people. They form a sort of covenant (sometimes literally) with the tribe and its structure, receiving offerings and giving advice and blessings. In conflict with neighboring tribes, victors will often destroy the idols and other symbols of the defeated side in order to destroy or at least weaken their god. Examples: YHWH, Athena
Gods of Places, aka Genius Loci: Representatives of specific locations and items in the world. Often regarded as lesser gods than those that dominate grander concepts, but this is not always the case. Examples: Nymphs, many Kami, many Jotnar.
Meta-Gods: Entities that interact with the system of the divinities itself, and have some fundamental role in the operation of the universe as a whole.
Creators: The originator of all other reality, generally including the other gods. Typically singular, and often not directly involved in religious practice, either because they choose not to directly interfere with the world they created, or because they were destroyed by a coup of the younger gods. Examples: YHWH, Brahma, Ymir
Chiefs: Ruler of the other gods, in a reflection of the hierarchical structures typically seen among humans. Often the literal parent of the other gods, but not necessarily creator of the whole universe. Examples: Zeus, Odin, Indra
Psycopomps: Gods of death may fall in the "social elements" category, but are often considered in a separate realm of reality, as death is sometimes a mystery even to other gods. Psychopomps live between the realm of mortality and the world of either the gods or of the dead. Examples: Valkyries, Charon, Ankou
Destroyers: Beings of pure destruction, often prophecied to end the world when the time comes. Examples: Shiva, Surtr.
Itinerant/Trickster Gods: Those who for whatever reason are not part of the "official" order of gods, or at least interact with it in an unconventional way, and are often at odds with them, yet still deserving of some respect if only through their own tenacity and wit. Often play pranks on gods and mortals alike either with a greater goal of teaching some sort of lesson, gaining access to some trinket for themselves, or just for mischief. Examples: Loki, Coyote, Anansi, Son Wukong
I want to stress that these are not meant to be absolutes. In fact, if you want a realistic system, any given god should belong to multiple categories.