Steven Erikson: are all gods ascendants? If you mean ascendant in the general sense of being very powerful, then yes. If you mean ascendant in terms of progression, then there are exceptions. Most of the animistic ones, for example (the totemic, tribal ones) derived from the act of worship, or the attribution of significance to a particular place.(Q and A with malazanempire No 2 (2003))

The difference lies in whether the one who has ascended acquires worshippers and accepts them. They, in turn, bind the ascendant to the structures and rituals of the religion.

Some ascendants arrive in positions of power that already possess these structures (Ammanas, Cotillion) while some others retain more freedom (Caladan Brood).