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Judaism
The literal translation of the Hebrew word mashiach (messiah) is “anointed,” which refers to a ritual of consecrating someone or something by putting holy oil upon it. It is used throughout the Hebrew Bible in reference to a wide variety of individuals and objects; for example, a Jewish king, Jewish priests, and prophets, the Jewish Temple and its utensils, unleavened bread, and a non-Jewish king (Cyrus king of Persia).

In Jewish eschatology, the term came to refer to a future Jewish king from the Davidic line, who will be "anointed" with holy anointing oil, to be king of God's kingdom, and rule the Jewish people during the Messianic Age. In Judaism, the Messiah is not considered to be God or a pre-existent divine Son of God. He is considered to be a great political leader that has descended from King David. That is why he is referred to as Messiah ben David which means "Messiah, son of David". The messiah, in Judaism, is considered to be a great, charismatic leader that is well oriented with the laws that are followed in Judaism. He will be the one who will not "judge by what his eyes see" or "decide by what his ears hear".

Belief in the eventual coming of a future messiah is a fundamental part of Judaism, and is one of Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith.

Maimonides describes the identity of the Messiah in the following terms: "And if a king shall arise from among the House of David, studying Torah and occupied with commandments like his father David, according to the written and oral Torah, and he will impel all of Israel to follow it and to strengthen breaches in its observance, and will fight God's wars, this one is to be treated as if he were the anointed one. If he succeeded and built the Holy Temple in its proper place and gathered the dispersed ones of Israel together, this is indeed the anointed one for certain, and he will mend the entire world to worship the Lord together, as it is stated: "For then I shall turn for the nations a clear tongue, so that they will all proclaim the Name of the Lord, and to worship Him with a united resolve (Zephaniah 3:9).""

Even though the eventual coming of the messiah is a strongly upheld idea in Judaism, trying to predict the actual time when the messiah will come is an act that is frowned upon. These kinds of actions are thought to weaken the faith the people have in the religion. This happened once when Shabbatai Tzvi, who is form Smirna(now a days Izmir, Turkey), claimed that he was the messiah that the Jewish community have been waiting for. So in Judaism, there is no specific time when the messiah comes. Rather, is is the act of the people that determines when the messiah comes. It is said that the messiah would come either when the world needs his coming the most(when the world is so sinful and in desperate need of saving by the messiah) or deserves it the most(When genuine goodness prevails in the world).

A common modern rabbinic interpretation is that there is a potential messiah in every generation. The Talmud, which often uses stories to make a moral point (aggadah), tells of a highly respected rabbi who found the Messiah at the gates of Rome and asked him, "When will you finally come?" He was quite surprised when he was told, "Today." Overjoyed and full of anticipation, the man waited all day. The next day he returned, disappointed and puzzled, and asked, "You said messiah would come 'today' but he didn't come! What happened?" The Messiah replied, "Scripture says, 'Today, 'if you will but hearken to His voice.'"

A Kabbalistic tradition within Judaism is that the commonly discussed messiah who will usher in a period of freedom and peace (Messiah ben David) will be preceded by Messiah ben Joseph, who will gather the children of Israel around him, lead them to Jerusalem. After overcoming the hostile powers in Jerusalem, Messiah ben Joseph, will reestablish the Temple-worship and set up his own dominion. Then Armilus, according to one group of sources, or Gog and Magog, according to the other, will appear with their hosts before Jerusalem, wage war against Messiah ben Joseph, and slay him. His corpse, according to one group, will lie unburied in the streets of Jerusalem; according to the other, it will be hidden by the angels with the bodies of the Patriarchs, until Messiah ben David comes and brings him back to life.

Other traditions

 * Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, claimed to be the figure prophesied in the scriptures of the world's religions. His name means "The Glory of God" in arabic. According to the Baha'i faith, Bahá'u'lláh addressed not only those timeless theological and philosophical questions that have plagued humanity since antiquity--such as Who is God? What is goodness? and Why are we here?--but also the questions that have preoccupied 20th century thinkers: What motivates human nature? Is real peace indeed possible? Does God still care for humanity? He is considered to be the latest of the messengers that god sent to human beings. He is the one who brought new spiritual and social teachings for our modern age. He taught that there is only one God, that all of the world’s religions are from God, and that now is the time for humanity to recognize its oneness and unite.
 * Maitreya (Theosophy), a being that Theosophists believe will physically manifest sometime in the 21st century and who will be the Messiah expected by various religions.The followers of this religion consider Maitreya as "The Messiah" that has been expected for generations by all of the major religions. That is, Christians know him as the Christ, and expect his imminent return. Jews await him as the Messiah; Hindus look for the coming of Krishna; Buddhists expect him as Maitreya Buddha; and Muslims anticipate the Imam Mahdi or Messiah. They expect Maitreya to inspire all human beings to be one family and create a civilization that is based on sharing and cooperation. He(Maitreya) will make the basic needs of human beings such as food, clothing, education and medical care a universal right. According to this belief, under Maitreya's inspiration, humanity itself will make the required changes and create a saner and more just world for all.
 * Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia is believed to be the Messiah by followers of the Rastafari movement. this idea further supports the belief that God himself is black which they try to further strengthen by a verse from the bible, . Even if the Emperor denied being the messiah, the followers of Rastafari movement believe that his is the messenger from God. To justify this, Rastafarians used reasons such as Emperor Haileselassie's bloodline, which is assumed to come from King Solomon, and the various titles given to him which include Lord of Lords, King of Kings and Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah.
 * Krishna is the eighth incarnation of the god Vishnu, the savior, and is one of the special avatars in Hinduism. It is considered that Jesus was an incarnation of Krishna and that they both lived a similar life. The followers of Hinduism expect that there will be a new incarnation of the avatar who, in different periods in history, was known as Vishnu, Krishna and Jesus: The Kalki Avatar (the White Horse Avatar) as he will be riding a white horse. This Avatar will fight the apocalyptic snake and achieve the final victory over evil on earth. He will renew humanity and enable people to lead pure and honorable lives. The expectations of all religions will be fulfilled in him as he will be the world messiah that they all looked forward to.
 * In Buddhism, Maitreya is considered to be the messenger that is promised to come. He is expected to come to renew the laws of Buddhism once the teaching of Gautama Buddha has completely decayed. He is expected to be, according to page 26 of Digha Nikaya, fully Awakened, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy, with knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to mortals willing to be led, a teacher for gods and men, an Exalted One, a Buddha.