Death (personification)
.jpg)
"Death" or know as the Grim Reaper is shown on The Grim Adventures of Billy&Mandy he is a skeleton with a sycthe who has a jamacia accent.
Death in mythological portrayals
Several mythologies had gods who embodied Death or aspects of Death:
- Ankou (Breton)
- Hades and Thanatos (Greek)
- Hel (Norse)
- Hun-Came (Mayan)
- Izanami (Shinto)
- Kamatayan (Philippines)
- Loki (Norse)
- Mictlantecuhtli (Aztec)
- The Morrigan (Irish)
- Mors (Roman)
- Mot (Canaanite)
- Odin (Norse)
- Osiris (Egyptian)
- Shemal (Semitic)
- Shinigami (Japanese)
- Sielulintu, Kalma, Surma (Finnish)
- Thanatos (Greek)
- Tuoni (Finnish)
- Yama (Hindu)
- Yanluo (Chinese)
Origin of the Scythe
The portrayal of the scythe originates from a Hellenistic etymological misconception relating the god Cronus with time. Cronos was a harvest deity who is often shown with a sickle, which he also uses to castrate his father, Uranus. Etymologists from the Hellenistic period erroneously correlated Cronus with time due to the similarity with the prefix chrono-. From this mistake, Cronus was often depicted as Father Time, carrying a scythe, which is a harvesting tool related to the sickle. The characters of Father Time and the Grim Reaper frequently overlap, leading to the common potrayal of the Grim Reaper brandishing a scythe.
Hindu mythology
In the Hindu scriptures known collectively as 'Vedas', the lord of death is called Yama, or Yamaraj (literally "the lord of death").
Yamaraja rides a black buffalo and carries a rope lasso to carry the soul back to his abode called "Yamaloka". It is his agents, the Yamaduts, who carry the souls back to Yamalok. Here, all the accounts of the person's good and bad deeds are stored and maintained by Chitragupta, which allow Yamaraj to decide where the soul has to reside in his next life, following the theory of reincarnation.
It is believed that souls may experience re-birth in hellish, or heavenly worlds on returning to the Earth again, depending upon their actions having been of a good or bad nature in this lifetime. The ones who practice good karma and bhakti throughout their lives are granted Moksha, liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth and all the suffering and limitation entailed in embodied worldly existence. Yama is also mentioned in the Mahabharata as a great philosopher and devotee of Sri Krishna.
In Japan
In Kojiki, after giving birth to the fire-god Hinokagutsuchi, the goddess Izanami dies from wounds of its fire and enters the perpetual night realm called Yominokuni that the gods thereto retire. After Izanagi, her husband, failed in the attempt to reclaim her from the land of Yomi, in a brief argument with Izanagi, she claimed to take 1000 lives every day signifying her position as the goddess of death.
Another popular death personification is Enma (Yama), also known as Enma Ou and Enma Daiou (Enma King, Enma Great King — translations of Yama Rājā). He originated as Yama in Hinduism, later became Yanluo in China, and Enma in Japan. He is from Chinese Buddhism, and before that, from India. Enma rules the underworld, which makes him similar to Hades, and he decides whether someone dead goes to heaven or to hell. A common saying parents use in Japan to scold children is that Enma will cut off their tongue in the afterlife if they lie.
There are also death gods called shinigami, which are closer to the Western tradition of the Grim Reaper. Shinigami (often plural) are common in modern Japanese arts and fiction, and essentially absent from traditional mythology.
In Slavic paganism
Old Slavic tribes viewed Death as a woman in white clothes, with a never-fading green sprout in her hand. The touch of the sprout would put a human to an everlasting sleep. This image survived Christianization well into the Middle Ages, only being replaced by the more traditional European image of a walking skeleton as late as in the 15th century.
Death (angels) in religion
In the Bible, death is viewed as an under form of an angel sent from God, a being deprived of all voluntary power. On some occasions this described in terms fitting Azrael, and on others as fitting Samael. The "Angel of the Lord" smites 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp (II Kings xix. 35). "The destroyer" kills the first-born of the Egyptians (Ex. xii. 23), and the "destroying angel" ("
mal'ak ha-mashḥit") rages among the people in Jerusalem (II Sam. xxiv. 15). In I Chronicle xxi. 15 the "angel of the Lord" is seen by King David standing "between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem." The biblical Book of Job (xxxiii. 22) uses the general term "destroyer" ("memitim"), which tradition has identified with "destroying angels" ("mal'ake Khabbalah") and Prov. xvi. 14 uses the term the "angels of death" ("mal'ake ha-mavet"). Uriel is sometimes referred as the angel of death, as well.
In Judaism
Form and functions
The angel of death was created by God on the first day (Tan. on Gen. xxxix. 1). His dwelling is in heaven, whence he reaches earth in eight flights, whereas pestilence reaches it in one (Ber. 4b). He has twelve wings (
Pirḳe R. El. xiii). "Over all people have I surrendered thee the power," said God to the angel of death, "only not over this one which has received freedom from death through the Law" (Tan. to Ex. xxxi. 18; ed. Stettin, p. 315). It is said of the angel of death that he is full of eyes. In the hour of death he stands at the head of the departing one with a drawn sword, to which clings a drop of gall. As soon as the dying man sees the angel, he is seized with a convulsion and opens his mouth, whereupon the angel throws the drop into it. This drop causes his death; he turns putrid, and his face becomes yellow ('Ab. Zarah 20b; in detail, Jellinck, "B. H." i. 150; on putrefaction see also Pesiḳ. 54b; for the eyes compare Ezek. i. 18 and Rev. iv. 6). The expression "to taste of death" originated in the idea that death was caused by a drop of gall ("Jew. Quart. Rev." vi. 327).
The soul escapes through the mouth, or, as is stated in another place, through the throat; therefore the angel of death stands at the head of the patient (Jellinek, l.c. ii. 94, Midr. Teh. to Ps. xi.). When the soul forsakes the body its voice goes from one end of the world to the other, but is not heard (Gen. R. vi. 7; Ex. R. v. 9;
Pirḳe R. El. xxxiv.). The drawn sword of the angel of death, mentioned by the Chronicler (I. Chron. xxi. 15; comp. Job xv. 22; Enoch lxii. 11), indicates that the angel of death was figured as a warrior who kills off the children of men. "Man, on the day of his death, falls down before the angel of death like a beast before the slaughterer" (Grünhut, "
Liḳḳuṭim", v. 102a). R. Samuel's father (c. 200) said: "The angel of death said to me, 'Only for the sake of the honor of mankind do I not tear off their necks as is done to slaughtered beasts'" ('Ab. Zarah 20b). In later representations the knife sometimes replaces the sword, and reference is also made to the cord of the angel of death, which indicates death by throttling. Moses says to God: "I fear the cord of the angel of death" (Grünhut, l.c. v. 103a et seq.). Of the four Jewish methods of execution three are named in connection with the angel of death: burning (by pouring hot lead down the victim's throat-- similar to the drop of gall), slaughtering (by beheading), and throttling. The angel of death administers the particular punishment which God has ordained for the commission of sin.
A peculiar mantle ("idra"-according to Levy, "Neuhebr. Wörterb." i. 32, a sword) belongs to the equipment of the angel of death (Eccl. R. iv. 7). The angel of death takes on the particular form which will best serve his purpose; e.g., he appears to a scholar in the form of a beggar imploring pity (
M. Ḳ. 28a). "When pestilence rages in the town, walk not in the middle of the street, because the angel of death [i.e., pestilence] strides there; if peace reigns in the town, walk not on the edges of the road. When pestilence rages in the town, go not alone to the synagogue, because there the angel of death stores his tools. If the dogs howl, the angel of death has entered the city; if they make sport, the prophet Elijah has come" (
B. Ḳ. 60b). The "destroyer" ("
saṭan ha-mashḥit") in the daily prayer is the angel of death (Ber. 16b). Midr. Ma'ase Torah (compare Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 98) says: "There are six angels of death: Gabriel over kings;
Ḳapẓiel over youths; Mashbir over animals;
Mashḥit over children; Af and
Ḥemah over man and beast."
Death and Satan
The angel of death, who is identified by some with Satan, immediately after his creation had a dispute with God as to the light of the Messiah (
Pesiḳ. R. 161b). When Eve touched the tree of knowledge, she perceived the angel of death, and thought: "Now I shall die, and God will create another wife for Adam" (
Pirḳe R. El. xiii., end; compare Targum Yer. to Gen. iii. 6, and
Yalḳ. i. § 25). Adam also had a conversation with the angel of death (Böklen, "Die Verwandtschaft der Jüdisch-Christlichen mit der Parsischen Eschatologie," p. 12). The angel of death sits before the face of the dead (Jellinek, l.c. ii. 94). While Abraham was mourning for Sarah the angel appeared to him, which explains why "Abraham stood up from before his dead" (Gen. xxiii. 3; Gen. R. lviii. 5, misunderstood by the commentators). Samael told Sarah that Abraham had sacrificed Isaac in spite of his wailing, and Sarah died of horror and grief (
Pirḳe R. El. xxxii.). It was Moses who most often had dealings with the angel. At the rebellion of Korah, Moses saw him (Num. R. v. 7; Bacher, l.c. iii. 333; compare Sanh. 82a). It was the angel of death in the form of pestilence which snatched away 15,000 every year during the wandering in the wilderness (ib. 70). When Moses reached heaven, the angel told him something (Jellinek, l.c. i. 61).
When the angel of death came to Moses and said, "Give me thy soul," Moses called to him: "Where I sit thou hast no right to stand." And the angel retired ashamed, and reported the occurrence to God. Again, God commanded him to bring the soul of Moses. The angel went, and, not finding him, inquired of the sea, of the mountains, and of the valleys; but they knew nothing of him (Sifre, Deut. 305). Really, Moses did not die through the angel of death, but through God's kiss ("
bi-neshiḳah"); i.e., God drew his soul out of his body (B. B. 17a; compare Abraham in Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature, and parallel references in Böklen, l.c. p. 11). Legend seizes upon the story of Moses' struggle with the angel of death, and expands it at length (Tan., ed. Stettin, pp. 624 et seq.; Deut. R. ix., xi.; Grünhut, l.c. v. 102b, 169a). As Benaiah bound Ashmedai (Jew. Encyc. ii. 218a), so Moses binds the angel of death that he may bless Israel (
Pesiḳ. 199, where "lifne moto" [Deut. xxxiii. 1] is explained as meaning "before the angel of death").
Solomon once noticed that the angel of death was grieved. When questioned as to the cause of his sorrow he answered: "I am requested to take your two beautiful scribes." Solomon at once charged the demons to convey his scribes to Luz, where the angel of death could not enter. When they were near the city, however, they both died. The angel laughed on the next day, whereupon Solomon asked the cause of his mirth. "Because," answered the angel, "thou didst send the youths thither, whence I was ordered to fetch them" (Suk. 53a). In the next world God will let the angel of death fight against Pharaoh, Sisera, and Sennacherib (
Yalḳ., Isa. 428).
The teaching of God shields one from the power of the angel of death. The children of Israel have accepted the Torah only in order that the angel may have no power over them ('Ab. Zarah 5a). Since death results only from sin, it can not, of course, come to those who live in accordance with the Torah. Although the sentence of mortality once pronounced could never be recalled ('Ab. Zarah 5a), yet the angel of death may not visit teachers of the Law; he is rather their friend (ib. 35b), and even imparts learning to them (Ber. 51a).
Scholars and the Angel of Death
Talmud teachers of the fourth century associate quite familiarly with him. When he appeared to one on the street, the teacher reproached him with rushing upon him as upon a beast; whereupon the angel called upon him at his house. To another he granted a respite of thirty days, that he might put his knowledge in order before entering the next world. To a third he had no access, because he could not interrupt the study of the Talmud. To a fourth he showed a rod of fire, whereby he is recognized as the angel of death (M. K. 28a). He often entered the house of Bibi and conversed with him (
Ḥag. 4b). Often he resorts to strategy in order to interrupt and seize his victim (B. M. 86a; Mak. 10a).
The death of Joshua ben Levi in particular is surrounded with a web of fable. When the time came for him to die and the angel of death appeared to him, he demanded to be shown his place in paradise. When the angel had consented to this, he demanded the angel's knife, that the angel might not frighten him by the way. This request also was granted him, and Joshua sprang with the knife over the wall of paradise; the angel, who is not allowed to enter paradise, caught hold of the end of his garment. Joshua swore that he would not come out, and God declared that he should not leave paradise unless he was absolved from his oath; if not absolved, he was to remain. The angel of death then demanded back his knife, but Joshua refused. At this point a heavenly voice ("
bat ḳol") rang out: "Give him back the knife, because the children of men have need of it" (Ket. 77b; Jellinek, l.c. ii. 48-51; Bacher, l.c. i. 192 et seq.).
Rabbinic Views
The Rabbis found the angel of death mentioned in Psalms lxxxix. 45 (A. V. 48), where the Targum translates: "There is no man who lives and, seeing the angel of death, can deliver his soul from his hand". Eccl. viii. 4 is thus explained in Midrash Rabbah to the passage: "One may not escape the angel of death, nor say to him, 'Wait until I put my affairs in order,' or 'There is my son, my slave: take him in my stead.'" Where the angel of death appears there is no remedy (Talmud, Ned. 49a; Hul. 7b). If one who has sinned has confessed his fault, the angel of death may not touch him (Midrash Tanhuma, ed. Buber, 139). God protects from the angel of death (Midrash Genesis Rabbah lxviii.).
By acts of benevolence the anger of the angel of death is overcome; when one fails to perform such acts the angel of death will make his appearance (
Derek Ereẓ Zuṭa, viii.). The angel of death receives his order from God (Ber. 62b). As soon as he has received permission to destroy, however, he makes no distinction between good and bad (
B. Ḳ. 60a). In the city of Luz the angel of death has no power, and when the aged inhabitants are ready to die they go outside the city (
Soṭah 46b; compare Sanh. 97a). A legend to the same effect existed in Ireland in the Middle Ages (Jew. Quart. Rev. vi. 336).
In Christianity
Death is personified occasionally in the New Testament. One such image is the image of the grim reaper, found in Acts 2:24 - "But God raised Him [Jesus] from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." Later passages, however, are much more explicit. Romans 5 speaks of Death as having "reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses," and various passages in the Epistles speak of Christ's work on the Cross and His Resurrection as a confrontation with Death. Such verses include Rom. 6:9 and 2 Tim. 1:10.
Despite Jesus' victory over it, Death is still viewed as enduring in Scripture. 1 Cor. 15:26 asserts, "The last enemy to be destroyed is death," which implies that Death has not been destroyed once and for all. This assertion later proves true in the Book of Revelation.
The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews declares that Satan "holds the power of death" (Heb. 2:14), perhaps equating the two. It is written that the Son became human that by his death he might destroy the devil; this is the head of the Beast referred to as, "One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed." (Rev. 13:3) If the head that was fatally wounded but healed refers to Death, this accords with 2 Tim. 1:10, which states that Jesus "has destroyed death," and the implication that death was yet to be destroyed in 1 Cor. 15:26. But it could alternately refer to the Devil separately, who was also said to have been destroyed, and yet has revived. That is, whether Death is the Devil or an agent of Satan is unclear.
The final destruction of Death is referenced by Paul in the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians; he says that after the general resurrection, the prophecies of Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 - "He will swallow up death forever," and "Where, O death, is your sting?" (Septuagint), will be fulfilled. According to Paul, the power of Death lies in sin, which is made possible by the Law, but God "gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." That victory over Death is prophetically revealed in the Revelation of John, discussed below.
In the visions of John, Death is personified as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Rev. 6:8 reads, "I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth." In Rev. 20:13-14, in the vision of Judgment of the dead, it is written, "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death." This describes the destruction of the last enemy. After this, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev. 21:4)
In Roman Catholicism, the archangel Michael is viewed as the angel of death, carrying the souls of the deceased to Heaven. There, he balances them in his scales (one of his symbols). He is said to give the dying souls the chance to redeem themselves before passing as well. In Mexico, a popular Catholic "cult" regards the personification of death as a saint, known as Santa Muerte. The figure is uncanonized and the Church refuses to acknowledge its existence.
In Islam
Death, as of one of Allah's angels, is spoken of in the Qur'an:
- The angel of death, who has been charged with you, will gather you; then to your Lord you will be returned. (32:11).
He is traditionally known by the name of "Izrail" (not to be confused with Israel, which is a name in Islam solely for Prophet Ya'qoob/Jacob), the English form of which is Azrael. He is charged with the task of separating and returning from the bodies the souls of people who are to be recalled permanently from the physical world back to the primordial spiritual world. This is a process whose aspect varies depending on the nature and past deeds of the individual in question, and some suggest that Azrael is also accompanied by helpers or associates.
Apart from the characteristics and responsibilities he has in common with other angels in Islam, little else concerning Azrael can be derived from fundamental Muslim texts. Many references are made in various Muslim legends, however, some of which are included in books authored by Muslim poets and mystics. For instance, the following tale is in the Masnavi, written by the well-known Maulana Rumi:
When the Almighty determined to create mankind... He deputed the angel Gabriel to bring a handful of earth for the purpose of forming Adam's body. But the Earth, being apprehensive that the man so created would rebel against God and draw down God's curse upon her, remonstrated with Gabriel, and besought him to forbear... Then God deputed [the angel] Michael on the same errand, and the Earth made similar excuses to him, and he also... returned to heaven without taking a handful... Then God sent the angel Israfil on the same errand, and he also was diverted from the execution of it by a divine intimation... At last God sent 'Izrail, the angel of death, who, being of sterner disposition than the others, resolutely shut his ears to the Earth's entreaties, and brought back the required handful of earth. The Earth pressed him with the argument that God's command to bear away a handful of her substance against her will did not override the other divine command to take pity on suppliants; but 'Izrail would not listen to her, remarking that, according to the canons of theological interpretation, it was not allowable to have recourse to analogical reasoning to evade a plain and categorical injunction. He added, that in executing this injunction, painful though it might be, he was to be regarded only as a spear in the hand of the Almighty.
In the Bahá'í Faith
The angel of death appears in some Bahá'í literature. In the Tablet of Fu'ad, Bahá'u'lláh describes the last moments of the Ottoman minister, Fu'ad Pasha, who is met by "the angel of wrath", who informs him that "there is no escape". After trying desperately to bargain with the angel, "an angel from the right hand of the Throne" appears who shows him the "angel of affliction" and "the angel of chastisement". He is then seized by the wrath of God and thrown into the bottomless pit.[1]
The second account in the Tablet of Fu'ad describes the last moments of Mihdí, a follower of Bahá'u'lláh's sinister half-brother, Mírzá Yahyá. In this instance, however, Mihdí is spoken to by a voice, and does not see an actual angel. He receives a similar message of divine punishment and is thrown into "the fire of hell".
It should be remembered that hell, in the Bahá'í Faith, refers to a state of remoteness from God and not to a physical location. Heaven, likewise, refers to a state of nearness to God. The ultimate punishment is remoteness from God, which is symbolised by the bottomless pit, nethermost abyss and the fires of hell. It is not made clear whether the angels are meant to be symbolic or refer to actual beings who are agents of divine punishment. It is also unclear whether Bahá'u'lláh refers to a single "angel of death" or multiple personalities.
In a more allegorical sense an angel of death is seen to urge on seekers of truth to give their all when they are most distraught. In the Seven Valleys Bahá'ú'llah describes the seeker's situation thus:
Then one night he could live no more, and he went out of his house and made for the marketplace. On a sudden, a watchman followed after him. He broke into a run, with the watchman following; then other watchmen came together, and barred every passage to the weary one. And the wretched one cried from his heart, and ran here and there, and moaned to himself: “Surely this watchman is Izrá’íl, my angel of death, following so fast upon me; or he is a tyrant of men, seeking to harm me.” His feet carried him on, the one bleeding with the arrow of love, and his heart lamented. Then he came to a garden wall, and with untold pain he scaled it, for it proved very high; and forgetting his life, he threw himself down to the garden.
And there he beheld his beloved with a lamp in her hand, searching for a ring she had lost. When the heart-surrendered lover looked on his ravishing love, he drew a great breath and raised up his hands in prayer, crying: “O God! Give Thou glory to the watchman, and riches and long life. For the watchman was Gabriel, guiding this poor one; or he was Isráfíl, bringing life to this wretched one!” Indeed, his words were true, for he had found many a secret justice in this seeming tyranny of the watchman, and seen how many a mercy lay hid behind the veil. Out of wrath, the guard had led him who was athirst in love’s desert to the sea of his loved one, and 15 lit up the dark night of absence with the light of reunion. He had driven one who was afar, into the garden of nearness, had guided an ailing soul to the heart’s physician.
Seven Valleys and Four Valleys (The Valley of Knowledge), US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1991, pg. 14.
Death as a fictional character
Personifications of Death have often appeared in works of fiction.
Death in popular fiction
The character of Death has recurred many times in popular fiction. He has made appearances in many stories, from serious dramatic fiction to comedy, including playing roles in science fiction and fantasy stories.
Movies
Death appears in Woody Allen's Love and Death and Deconstructing Harry as well as his play Death Knocks. Death Takes a Holiday was a 1934 film directed by Mitchell Leisen, and written by Maxwell Anderson. Death (Fredric March as Prince Sirki) decides to take a holiday from his usual business to see how the mortals live. Complications ensue as those who should have died do not. Death Takes a Holiday was remade in the 1998 film Meet Joe Black, directed by Martin Brest and starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. While Meet Joe Black touches briefly on the consequences of a world where Death is not doing his job, its focus is on Death's experience as a human, and on the personal relationships within the family he chooses to stay with.
In the 1939 film On Borrowed Time, Gramps (played by Lionel Barrymore) tricks Mr. Brink (Death) up an old apple tree where he can't come down to take Gramps, or for that matter, anyone else.
In 1957, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman made The Seventh Seal, an influential (and heavily symbolic) movie depicting one of the most famous moments in the fictional portrayal of Death. In the movie, a medieval knight plays a game of chess with Death, with the knight's life depending upon the outcome of the game. The concept of playing games with Death has been used (and spoofed) many times since Bergman's movie. A 1968 short film called The Dove deliberately spoofed this famous movie scene, a young couple challenge Death to a game of badminton. Woody Allen has written a short story in which Death loses a game of gin rummy after clumsily entering a man's apartment and trying to cow him into going quietly. Bob Burden's surrealist comic book, "The Flaming Carrot", features a cover in which the title character rejects Death's offer of playing chess and suggests instead lawn darts. In The Sims, a player can sometimes win back a recently-deceased Sim by challenging Death to rock-paper-scissors.
In the 1991 comedy Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Death is played by William Sadler. After the witless protagonists are killed by their evil robot counterparts, Death comes to collect them. Bill and Ted give Death a wedgie (melvin) and run away. Later, after they accidentally get sent to Hell, the duo find Death again. Death tells them that they can challenge him to a contest, and if they win, they will be brought back to life. Bill and Ted beat Death at Battleship, Clue, and Twister. Death stubbornly demands a rematch after each loss. After he accepts his defeat Death takes Bill and Ted to Heaven to find the greatest scientist in the Universe: a pair of Martians known as "Station." By the end of the movie, Bill and Ted find that Death isn't evil; he's just an okay guy doing his job, and Death becomes the bass player for their rock band, Wyld Stallyns.
In the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Last Action Hero, the character of Death from Bergman's Seventh Seal is brought into the real world temporarily, played by Ian McKellen.
In the short-lived TV series Big Wolf on Campus the main character goes on a frantic gaming spree in which he loses several games to Death, a reverse-spoof of Bill and Ted, as well as Ingmar Bergman.
In Dogma, The Angel of Death, named Loki (played by Matt Damon) is portrayed as an angel, banished forever in Wisconsin with fellow angel Bartleby (Ben Affleck) by God for refusing to kill anymore. The two angels try to take advantage of the plenary indulgence loop-hole in order to get back into Heaven, unaware that doing so would bring about the end of creation. Along the way, Loki kills an entire boardroom of sinning corporate execs. Flash cartoon Weebl & Bob parodied this concept in their episode "Art". Death is portrayed by Monkey, and the characters are sitting on a chessboard, while Weebl & Bob bemoan (naturally) their lack of pie.
In Oliver Stone's 1991 film The Doors, Jim Morrison is haunted by Death, appearing in several scenes portrayed by Richard Rutowski. Death can be seen dancing behind him in orgiastic concert scenes or appearing in the background watching Morrison at bars, parties or on the street. In a scene deleted from the theatrical release, Death bumps into Morrison at an airport bar, heavily intoxicated and on his way to the ill-fated Miami show in 1969, inquiring, "how's it going?" and closing with a cryptic, "See you around, Jim."
In a number of comedy roles, the character of Death has had a Swedish foreign accent, paying homage (sometimes unintentionally) to his role in The Seventh Seal. In Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, in which he is designed by Terry Gilliam and voiced by John Cleese, he breaks up a dinner party - along with its annoying hosts and guests - prematurely.
Death makes a few cameos in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, most notably, sitting right behind the Behemoth in the town meeting.
In the 2006 film A Prairie Home Companion, Virginia Madsen plays "Dangerous Woman", also named "Asphodel" (a flower sacred to Persephone that, and as the character's name, sounds suspiciously like Azrael), who may very well be the Angel of Death. She explains that she was once human, but was tasked after her death with the recently-deceased to God's side. She had died when she laughed so hard at a joke on a radio broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion", that she lost control of her car. Thinking back, she couldn't for the life of her figure out what was so funny. Unlike other personifications of Death, it is implied she will take requests to reap a soul from a human, if only to show how one person's death will not change someone else's destiny.
In the 2006 film Click, the Angel of Death is portrayed as an eccentric technology enthusiast who goes by the name of Morty (played by Christopher Walken), a pun on the Latin word mortis, death. It is from him, in a Bed, Bath and Beyond store, that protagonist Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) receives a universal remote control, which has adverse effects on Michael's life. Ultimately, Morty teaches Michael lessons concerning family and work, as well as facing the consequences of his actions.
In the 2006 film Scoop, directed by Woody Allen, the Grim Reaper is seen as the captain of a ship which sails the recently deceased across the River Styx. Despite the foreboding atmosphere, the mood on the ship is quite jovial and one character is seen performing a magic act for the others' enjoyment. The Reaper says no words and ignores the passengers. He is also seen coming into the world of humans briefly to collect a spirit who dove off the ship.
The Final Destination trilogy is based on teens escaping Death after messing up his plans. The Reaper then wants to take back the souls of those who were supposed to die, either from plane crash, car pile-up, rollercoaster crash, or other various means.
Television
The UK Public Information Film The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water features a Grim Reaper-like character.
In an episode of 1990s British comedy series Murder Most Horrid, Dawn French portrayed the Grim Reaper as a blonde woman in a pink suit who used a clipboard and drove a white mini. In one scene she sticks a skeletal finger up at a motorist.
In the 1982 Doctor Who story "The Visitation", a Tereleptilian Android was disguised as Death.
In season 5 of Highlander, it is revealed that Methos was formerly known as Death during the Bronze Age and rode with a group of Immortals called the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
In an early episode of Saturday Night Live, Christopher Lee played Death in a skit where he appeared to a young girl at bedtime to explain why he had had to take so many of her pets. At the end of the skit, the little girl asked him for a "goodnight kiss," eliciting the response "Don't press your luck!"
In the comedy Red Dwarf, Rimmer knees Death in the groin, telling him that "only the good die young". Death, naturally surprised, notes that "that's never happened before." in a pained tone of voice.
Death also appears at an episode from "Jim Henson's The Storyteller" -The soldier and the death -(1988) In this story, based upon a Russian folk tale, death gets trapped in a magic bag and hung on the highest tree in the farthest forest. But after several years, people realise that having death trapped is not as good a thing as they first thought. They only get older and more tired of living....without having anyone to come to make them rest. Finally, death is set free once again, but fearing the person who trapped her (the soldier) she decides never to come for him. So he is damned to roam the earth forever.
As the Grim Reaper, Death stars in an animated series on the Cartoon Network cable channel called The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (formerly Grim and Evil). In this cartoon, the grim reaper (known mostly as Grim) has a Jamaican accent and is a comedic character. The Grim Reaper has also made several appearances on The Simpsons, Animaniacs, South Park, Family Guy, and even an early Mickey Mouse cartoon.
In the Christmas special of Earthworm Jim, in their efforts to find Santa Claus Jim, Peter Puppy and Princess What's-Her-Name visit the club of Supernatural Personifications. Whern making enquiries, Death complains of the good press Santa got over the years, to which the Princess replies "But, weren't you in some Swedish film a few years ago?"
In the CBS television show Touched by an Angel, Death was sympathetically portrayed as a recurring character, played by John Dye. Andrew, one of many Angels of Death in the series, detests the notion of being looked upon as the Grim Reaper rather than an angel just sent from Heaven to do his duty.
Showtime's Dead Like Me portrays soul collection as a widespread organization with many different divisions and, most likely, thousands of "employees", each of whom take souls from the living upon death. The series focuses on the workers of the Seattle area who deal with "External Influences" (i.e. accidents, murders and suicides) but also seen are members of the Plague division, someone who collects souls from hospitals and even someone who collects the souls of pets.
The 1959 Twilight Zone episode "One for the Angels" (the second episode in the series), Death visits a storefront salesman to take his life. They agree that the salesman should die only when he has pulled off a "pitch for the angels," and only then will he go. When Death finds out this is a trick, he decides to take the little girl next door instead (who's just been hit by a truck), saying he's been "forced to choose an alternative." The salesman manages to save the girl's life by distracting Death with an irresistible sales pitch (the "pitch for the angels") and as per their agreement, Death leads the salesman to Heaven.
The personification of Death made another appearance on The Twilight Zone, in the 1962 episode "Nothing in the Dark." The episode focuses on an elderly woman who is convinced that Death is stalking her. She believes if she locks herself indoors and never has any contact with others (thus avoiding the touch of Death), she will stay alive indefinitely. When a police officer, played by Robert Redford, is shot right outside her front door, she feels she has no choice but to take him in and tend to his wounds, despite her fears. While he heals, the woman comes to trust the young man and explains why she is barricaded in her home. As it turns out, Redford is indeed the personification of Death. However, he is not an evil, villainous monster, but merely somebody who guides people into the next world when it is their time. As the woman comes to understand Death's role, she willingly takes his hand so that he may escort her into the afterlife.
The 2002 Twilight Zone episode "One Night at Mercy" stars Jason Alexander as a suicidal Death.
In Charmed, The Angel of Death is considered a neutral being and was featured many times, as in Seasons 3, 4 (mentioned), 6, 7 (where Piper, a main character, temporarily became one of the many angels of death), and 8.
Reapers have appeared in two 2006 episodes of Supernatural so far. In "Faith" a faith healer's wife is using a bound Reaper to heal people at the expense of others' lives. In "In My Time of Dying", a Reaper using the name Tessa tries to collect Dean's soul while he is a coma, but this is interrupted by a deal between John and the demon.
In Medium, The Angel of Death is portrayed as regular man, he is played by Kelsey Grammer
In Nip/Tuck, Julia McNamara sees Ava Moore as the Angel of Death in an unconscious dream sequence.
In The Sopranos, Tony Soprano sees Tony Blundetto as the Angel of Death in an unconscious dream sequence.
In Six Feet Under, Nathaniel Fisher Sr. portrays Death in episode 48, and he says that he would rather "be the Grim Reaper, but the folks at Marvel had a copyright on it".
In the NBC series Scrubs, J.D. mentions and sees Death as a co-worker at Sacred Heart Hospital, during a few of his many fantasies.
In the CBS series Ghost Whisperer, Death is personified as a sinister-looking man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and dressed entirely in black (nicknamed by some fans as "The Hat Man"), setting out to intercept the ghosts of the recently deceased and lure them into Hell before the clairvoyant Melinda Gordon can help them cross over into the afterlife.
In The Young Ones episode called Nasty The Grim Reaper is featured at the beginning of the episode and is portrayed by Arnold Brown.
In a sketch from the Lopes da Silva series in the Portuguese comedy show Gato Fedorento, a man that works in a company becames the Grim Reaper's assistant (Assistente da Morte) to get a little extra cash, and he starts killing people in his company. He is shown wearing the typical Grim Reaper's costume ("How did they found out? I was still wearing the tie!")
Literature
In Book II of Paradise Lost by John Milton, Death, along with Sin, holds the keys to the locked Gates of Hell. After God and his angels defeat Lucifer (now Satan) and banish him and his followers to Hell, God commands Sin and Death to never unlock the gates. Satan, upon hearing that God has created a new world and new beings, Adam and Eve, sets out to cause their downfall. Arriving at the Gates of Hell, Satan converses with Sin and Death and learns of Death's creation. Sin is the daughter of Satan and became pregnant with Satan's child. The birth was extremely painful for Sin; so painful that she cried out "Death!" as the unnamed entity was born. The caves of Hell echoed back "Death" and her son became known as Death. Death then raped his mother who subsequently gave birth to monstrous dogs who bite and gnaw at her and travel to and fro her womb at will causing her immense pain. According to Sin, Death despises everything living and has the power to destroy anything except God. Sin warns that Death can destroy Satan and that the only reason she is spared (yet tortured) is that Death cannot exist without Sin. Satan nevertheless demands that the gates be opened. Death, unafraid of Satan, calls him a "false fugitive," (Book II, 700) commands him to retreat, and warns, "with one stroke of this Dart, strange horrors seize thee and pangs unfelt before." (Book II, 703-704) By promising Sin and Death a world where they, "shall dwell at ease," (Book II, 840-841) Satan persuades Sin and Death to open the gates to allow him passage through Chaos to Earth. When word reaches Sin and Death that Satan succeeds, they begin to construct a road connecting Hell to Earth. Satan, on his return from Earth, notes of the road being built and instructs Sin and Death to be his ambassadors on Earth.
Death is described as a, "shape had none distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, or substance...Black it stood as Night..and shook a dreadful Dart; what seemed his head the likeness of a Kingly Crown had on." (Book II, 667-673)
A characterization of Death appears briefly in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Marineras well as a female of Life in Death.
Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series of fantasy novels features a modernised Grim Reaper, who is the central character of On a Pale Horse, the first book in the series. In this personification, Death is an office held by a mortal. The mortal holding the office of Death is protected from aging, fire, disease and other dangers by the cloak he wears. When not wearing the cloak, the office holder is subject to any and all dangers and consequences just as any other mortal. The person holds the office of Death until they themselves die, usually because they become careless over time, and are themselves killed by someone they have come to collect. This person then takes over the office, and the cycle begins anew.
The character of Death is also a major player in the humorous Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, where he is perhaps paradoxically seen as an ally of humanity, since he is a part of the natural order of things and often finds himself defending humanity against threats to that order. As a tongue-in-cheek allusion to The Seventh Seal, he doesn't like chess, because he cannot remember how the little horse-shaped ones move. Death does not truly speak, but his "voice" can be heard directly in the minds of those whom he addresses, often expressed in small caps, and eschewing the use of quotation marks. Due to the rule that Death must appear personally to wizards who are about to die, particularly the failed wizard Rincewind, Death sometimes appears, having been snatched from some important business arrangement, most notable being appearing with a drink and hors d'oeuvres, claiming I was at a party. He can also be summoned directly via the Rite of Ashk'Ente. Death's realm of influence is limited to the Discworld — in one book (The Colour of Magic), a reference is made to Death's professional pride in his devotion to traditionalism in the use of a scythe, whereas the Deaths of other worlds have invested in combine harvesters. In the book Reaper Man, Death was temporarily deposed by the Auditors of Reality, who claim to Azrael, Death of Universes, that by gaining a personality he has become inefficient. During the time he spent as "Bill Door," a farmhand, numerous other Deaths emerged — one for trees, tortoises, etc. The Death of Humans, when he finally emerged, was a cloaked figure on a skeletal horse, with curling wisps of smoke instead of a face, wearing a crown. At the end of the book, Death takes up his old position and draws all the superfluous Deaths into him, save for the Death of Rats, who becomes a recurring character, and the Death of Fleas, who does not. In the book Mort, he finds his work boring and takes on an apprentice, the titular Mort. Mort promptly annoys his new master by failing to kill a princess, which causes a paradox, since reality insists that she is dead in spite of her being alive. It is also revealed in this book that everyone has an hour-glass that determines the span of their life, and that Death's own hour-glass contains no sand. In Johnny and the Dead, a character that can be assumed to be Death (as it speaks in small caps) carries William Stickers away on a boat, Charon-style.
In Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories Death is seen as the ruler of a gloomy realm, and who is always sad himself. In one story, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser have to steal Death's mask, and in others, Death tries to take the famous pair, only to be thwarted by their sorcerous mentors and their own uncanny good luck. Death has quotas to meet, designated by the deceased's roles in life, and when the quota includes "two heroes," Fafhrd and the Mouser are first on his list. Leiber's version of Death is aware that at some point in the future, he himself is fated to die.
In Death and Dr Hornbook by Robert Burns, death is portrayed as an emaciated, elderly, gruff, somewhat blue-collar man exactly 6'2" in height.
In "A Dirty Job" by Christopher Moore, Charley Asher believes he has become Death after two enormous black dogs show up in his daughter's nursery, and he starts seeing objects in his thrift store glowing red, and hearing voices coming from the storm drains.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is presented as a spectre not unlike the Grim Reaper.
In the Meowsie franchise, there are numerous angels of death, the one working in Meowsie being one of the main characters, Grim. Grim is portrayed as a Great Dane that wears a white sheet with eye holes that covers him from head to toe. His sister, also a reaper, is called Reaper.
Comics
A different personification of Death appears in The Sandman, a series of comic books written by Neil Gaiman, in which Death, one of the Endless, appears in the guise of a Goth girl wearing an Ankh around her neck, to symbolize the idea that life and death are two sides of the same reality. Gaiman's Death is cheerful and supportive, perhaps not only as a way of playing with audience expectations, but also to demystify death itself, which is seen as a moment of passage rather than a real ending. This Death takes a 24 hour day each century to walk amongst the living and likewise die just like the living. She takes no joy nor hatred in her job, but merely does because she has to.
Irregular Webcomic! has Death as a unifying "theme", or set of characters. Each very specific manner of death has an assigned Death, some of whom are not very busy. Death of Insanely Overpowered Fireballs, Death of Choking On A Giant Frog, and Death of Being Ground By A Mars Rover Rock Abrasion Tool are some mentioned. The Deaths are managed by the Head Death, who sits at a desk in the middle of an "infinite featureless Plane of Death." He is known to promote and demote the Deaths on a regular basis.
Jack has the main character, Jack, become a Grim Reaper in the form of the sin Wrath as punishment for his own sin.
Smax also features multiple Deaths handling different circumstances. "Lionel" handles chess games with peasants (and looks like the death in The Seventh Seal) and "Dennis", a large imposing character, handles "awesome, terrible death".
Jack of Fables outwitted Death, at least temporarily, in Fables #11.
Groo the Wanderer duelled with Death as part of a great quest to free lost souls; since Death had been deprived of his scythe (he had put it down to take off his robe so that he could move faster, and Groo's dog Rufferto had grabbed it) and was reduced to using one of Groo's swords, Death came very close to being "killed." However, since this is a "Sage tale," it is not known whether this actually occurred in the Groo continuity.
Liberty Meadows includes a Death that looks like the one from Seventh Seal. Frank (the main character) has drowned but is resuscitated by a frog. While in the underworld, Frank escapes by making Death "look". Death hounds him later, expecting a razor cut to kill him.
In the Marvel Universe, Death is a robed skeleton, and usually referred to as female, though she can take either form. She is often courted by Thanos of Titan who hopes to win her love by destroying the universe. She is sister to Eternity, Oblivion and Infinity and was formed with him at the start of this Universe when Galactus, sole survivor of an older previous Universe, survived.
There is also a human supervillain, the Grim Reaper, that has fought Vision and Scarlet Witch on different occasions. He is the brother of Wonder Man.
In Death Jr., based on the Sony PSP game Death Jr., many images of Death are seen, as well as his son, Death Jr., whom the comic is centered around.
One of the related works of the Brazilian comic series Monica's Gang features a ghost named Bug-a-Booo and lots of other "monsters" including a mummy, a vampire, werewolf and Lady MacDeath, which is meant to be the grim reaper herself.
The manga series Dragon Ball features Death in the form of Enma Daiou. As the human race is nearly exterminated on at least three occasions and humans subsequently regain their lives, Enma Daiou is swamped with billions of restless souls whose (temporary) fate he must decide. Enma is also mentioned in the manga/anime YuYu Hakusho, usually by his son, Koenma. One of Koenma's agents, Botan, claims the title of the Grim Reaper for herself quite whimsically.
The Saint Seiya series includes Thanathos as one of the twin guardians of the body of Hades.
The Death Note series is about Light Yagami, who finds a death note which fell from the Shinigami (God of Death) world. This Death Note allows him to control who dies, how, and when. When the note is bound to him, the note's original Shinigami owner appears to him.
The Bleach series follows Shinigami, who are samurai-like grim reapers. Their function is to guide the souls trapped in the human world to the Soul Society, or in some cases, hell.
Spectre in Monster in My Pocket #4, is a red-cloaked Grim Reaper.
In the brief comic series Chakan the Forever Man by Robert A. Kraus, a warrior-priest named Chakan challenges a muscular Grim Reaper for eternal life. It was later made into a videogame for the Sega Genesis and Game Gear. A game for the Dreamcast was planned, but it was never executed.
The anime and manga Descendants of Darkness primarily follows Tsuzuki and Hisoka, two Shinigami partners from the Ministry of Hades whose duty is to guide lost souls to the underworld (though they usually end up in detective roles). Unlike Bleach, these Shinigami primarily use magic and seals (and in some cases guns).
In the manga Naruto, a member of the mercenary group Akatsuki named Hidan, can take on the appearance of a Grim Reaper during battle. Through a curse-like ritual, and after ingesting the blood of an opponent, Hidan changes into this form and is then able to injure or kill his opponent by inflicting damage to his own body, which due to Hidan's immortality hurts his opponents much more than it does him.
In the former Chaos Comics universe, a representation of Death is known under the name of Reaper. Resembling the stereotypical depiction of Death as a robed skeleton wielding a scythe, Reaper can be distinguished by a pair of wings upon his back, lack of lower jaw and purple coloration of his robes. This entity rarely takes an active part in events, preferring to work through avatars and servants (known ones are Morgana, Lady Death, and Azrael (later known as Ravenheart)).
Dilbert has occasionally featured a character called the Grim Downsizer. Like Death, this character carries a scythe and wears a cloak, but his role is to lay off employees. The actual personification of Death also appeared when Dilbert believed he had died due to lack of motivation, though ironically the smiling Reaper turns out not to be so Grim after all, as unlike Dilbert he loves his job.
Computer and video games
In the PC game The Sims, Death will come to collect the souls of dead Sims; the player may have the option of challenging Death to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors in exchange for the life of the dead. In its sequel, the Sims 2, the Grim Reaper can be pleaded with - a random number between one and a hundred will be chosen, and if the pleader has higher lifetime relationship points with the dying person than the chosen number, they will be saved. This does not work with old age deaths. In the Xbox version, the player can challenge the Death to a Fiddle Challenge. If the player lose, it remains as a soul, but if wins, it returns to life. An easier way is paying 100 Simoleons to the Death. Also, in The Sims 2: University expansion pack the player can bring the dead back to life with a special phone; however, they will need to pay a certain price or the chosen sim will come back as a zombie.
In the English release of Fire Emblem, one of the characters, an assassin called Jaffar, is known by his colleagues as the Angel of Death for his ability to kill in a single blow.
In Grabbed by the Ghoulies for the Xbox, if certain conditions for leaving a room are not met, the Grim Reaper appears. Occasionally, the condition itself is that you evade the Reaper for a certain time. Whatever background music was playing is replaced by deadly silence, broken only by the occasional toll of a bell, and the sounds of the Reaper himself. He extends one hand as he chases you, and will kill you if he touches you with it, but is indifferent as to the souls he takes-he will happily destroy any Ghoulies in the room who would love nothing more than to speed you on your way to joining him. Whenever he takes a soul, be it yours or that of a Ghoulie, he flips his scythe around and plays a guitar riff on the blade.
In Theme Hospital, when a 'bad' patient dies, the Grim Reaper appears from a hole in the ground, takes the person to Hell, then closes up again.
The Castlevania series of video games portrays Death as the right hand man of Dracula, and must be defeated in most incarnations of the series. He is said to be best friends with Dracula, and is usually the boss right before the dark lord. He is the last line of defense. Death appears in all but two of the Castlevania games.
In Guilty Gear, Testament, a Gear, seems to be the portrayal of a Gothic modern day Death, complete with Bishounen looks, demonic assistant and Blood Scythe.
In Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, the level 2 boss Hell Vanguard (who also appears regularly as a mid-level boss) resembles the Grim Reaper, in that he wields a scythe and wears a black cloak over his skeletal body. Many of his attacks are heralded by a bell toll.
In Final Fantasy VI, the final boss Kefka appears as a destructive angel.
In Final Fantasy VII, the summon Hades greatly resembles the Grim Reaper minus the trademark scythe, waving his bony hands over a cauldron. Also in the Final Fantasy series, the recurring Death spell manifests a reaper-like being.
In Final Fantasy IX, although the role is only carried out by the antagonist, Kuja, both him and the protagonist Zidane were originally born in order to carry out mass genocide as Garland's "Angels of Death".
The computer game Grim Fandango has its very own mythos centered around professional grim reapers, one of whom is the game's protagonist, Manny Calavera, whose job is to fetch dead souls from the Land of the Living to the Land of the Dead and sell them travel packages to the Land of Eternal Rest, akin to the job of a conventional travel agent.
Death also makes an appearance in the games based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld. The second Discworld adventure game directly centers around Death's dissatisfaction with the manner in which he is usually received compared to the service he renders-no longer satisfied to be seen as an evil being bent upon stealing every living soul, he refuses to return to his duties until Rincewind can find a way to give him a more positive image.
In HeXen II, Death appears as the 'end boss' for Mazaera, the game's second continent (or segment). The other three horseman of the Apocalypse, appear as 'end bosses' for the game's other continents.
In the NetHack computer game, Death is one of the Four horsemen of the Apocalypse, which the player meets at the very end of the game.
The Grim Reaper appeared in the Nintendo 64 game Conker's Bad Fur Day (Gregg the Grim Reaper) who is very short and comical and hates cats (because it's rumored that they have 9 lives). In Conker's Bad Fur Day, he also hates the undead, or zombies, because he has already killed them once, and does not want to bother with them again.
In Nintendo´s Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age, a special Earth Adept Psyenergy called Condemn made the Grim Reaper appear and swloly move towards the chosen enemy, to slash it with it´s scythe. It can make a one-hit-kill or fail and leave enemies without any harm, but it´ll have no effect on bosses and always fail. Also, another Earth Adept Psyenergy called Curse gave players 8 turns to fight, then their hp would reduced to zero.
Death has appeared in the MediEvil series of video games. In the very first game of the series, you must collect lost souls for him, and he will get your character, Sir Daniel Fortesque, across the water in the Pools of the Ancient Dead. In the remake, MediEvil Resurrection, Dan visits him in the level "Return to the Graveyard" and implores his help against the evil wizard, Zarok.
In the PlayStation Portable game Death, Jr. you play as the son of Death. While you don't get to see Death himself, his son is essentially him only shorter.
In the PlayStation 2 game Maximo: Ghosts to Glory Death ("Grim") appears to collect your soul every time you lose all your lives. However, by collecting lost souls you can earn "Death Tokens" that will allow you an extra chance per token. Later in the game, and in its sequel Maximo vs. the Army of Zin Grim becomes a somewhat major character.
In the Super Famicon/PlayStation 2 game Romancing SaGa, Death appears as one of the three gods of evil. He lives in the netherworld and acts as the guardian of souls. He also makes deals with anyone that reaches him.
In Mega Man X4, when going through the third stage ("special weapon") after defeating all the 8 Mavericks/Irregulars once again, either X or Zero (depending on which character the player chose at the start) will face off against their nemesis Sigma. Sigma will take on 3 forms, the first picturing him hovering cloaked in a black cape and wielding a beam scythe.
In Yakusoku no Chi: Riviera (Riviera the Promised Land) for the Wonderswan Color and Gameboy Advance, Death is the final Accursed. He resides within Mireno Cemetery which is tied close to his character.
In Gauntlet Legends and its sequel Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Death appears as an enemy that drains your character's health or experience accompanied by the narrator's memorable saying "Use magic to kill Death!". He can only be destroyed with magic and appears various times in the game.
In the game Feel the Magic: XY/XX, Death appears as an obstacle in the "Magic touch" level. When he appears, the CPR you are performing is halted, and the girl's health lowers slowly. Death must be poked several times with the stylus to be scared off.
At Halloweentime 2005, RuneScape featured The Grim Spectre of Death, who would rise from the earth when a player died, casted a mysterious spell and them and proclaimed, "(Player's name)'s soul is now claimed as my own!" This addition was removed by the early days of November.
In the online Browser RPG Adventure Quest, whenever you die, The Grim Reaper appears and resurrects you, saying that his "Quota of souls has been filled". He also appears when you activate the Blade Of Awe's PowerWord Die. He is also in the Void, and seen in some quests.
In Kingdom Hearts II a Heartless named Grim Reaper appears in the Port Royal area.
In EverQuest, players that lose their corpse will find it in a zone called ShadowRest. The Keeper of Lost Things, the NPC that conjured up players bodies, is depicted as a hooded figure that resembles Death. Also, higher level Necromancers and Shadow Knights can summon a spectre that is a legless figure with a skull and skeletal hands along with a scythe.
In Shadowgate, when a player dies, death comes and tells them that their adventure has ended, whenever they fall down a pit, the game says that death is waiting to catch them at the bottom. Also, if the player smashes the wrong mirror in the mirror room, he/she is sucked into space where the Grim Reaper quickly embraces them.
In Secret of Mana, whenever one of the three playable characters dies, they turn into a ghost and the Grim Reaper appears over their head.
In Guitar Hero, the ultimate unlockable rocker is a character by the name of "Grim Ripper", a play on the word "Reaper". He is dressed in the hooded black cloak customary to the Grim Reaper. He has two large skeletal arm like appendages coming out of his back, and instead of a guitar he plays his scythe, which has been stringed up as a guitar.
In Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call, there are four fiends in the form of a hooded skeleton riding a horse. These are loose adaptations of the four riders of the apocalypse in the Christian Bible. They get their names from the colour of the horse they ride, and they each have unique weapons: The White Rider uses bow and arrows. The Red Rider uses a sword. The Black Rider uses scales. The Pale Rider uses a scythe.
In Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram the Specineff bears a striking resemblance to the Grim Reaper, in that it has a bent skeletal frame (as opposed to a bulky frame like the other characters) and uses a scythe as its primary weapon. It can trigger a sudden death mode when the Specineff is invincible but has only 17 seconds to defeat the enemy (otherwise he dies himself), effectively mimicking death, as the game will end in 17 seconds or less (regardless of how much time there actually is).
In Tales of Symphonia, an enemy called Grim Reaper appears in the tower of Mana, it attacks with a schyte and some ice spells. A stronger version called Death appears in Derris-Kharlan and it's schyte has a rotating blade.
In .hack//G.U. for the PlayStation 2, the main character Haseo is named with the infamous title of The Terror of Death for having killed many PKs. Also, one of his weapons of choice is a huge dark scythe, which represents his own avatar Skeith.
In the end he became the Death.
Music
- "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a popular Blue Öyster Cult song.
- "Don't Fear the Reaper" is also an album by metal super group Witchery
- "Grim Reaper of Love" is a song by The Turtles.
- Grim Reaper: a Heavy Metal band from United Kingdom. They have disbanded, but were popular in the 1980s.
- Follow the Reaper is an album and song by the Finnish band Children of Bodom; in addition, a rendition of the Grim Reaper, jokingly nicknamed Roy by members of the band, is featured on the cover of every Children of Bodom album.
- The Grim Reaper is featured on two of English rapper Nik Ferreal's albums "Existence Pimp" and "Life is..A game"
- The grim reaper is shown on the front cover of the album Dance of Death by the popular British Heavy Metal band "Iron Maiden"
- In Keane's music video for the song "Atlantic", a man who wanders out of the ocean meets death.
- In his song "Oncle Archibald" (Uncle Archibald), French singer Georges Brassens relates the title character's encounter with a female version of the Grim Reaper. The song contains many references to this classic portrayal of Death (the scythe, the hood, etc.).
- "I Know The Reaper" is a song by Machinae Supremacy.
- "Death Said" is a song by The Summer Obsession.
- "That's Death" is a song by Eric Idle. It's also the theme song of Discworld 2 computer game.
- Many Black Sabbath songs deal with the personification of Death.
- "Passage To The Reaper" is a song by Finnish metal band Sinergy, side project of Children of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho.
- "Meet The Creeper" is a song by Rob Zombie.
- "Cloaked Reaper" is a song by a local band from Newport, Oregon called Haphazerd
- "Death's In Love With Us" by Finnish rock group HIM mentions the Reaper in the chorus
Other
- In the game Warhammer 40k, a vampiric entity Nightbringer closely resembles the Grim Reaper in terms of appearance - in fact, in the mythos of the game, the Nightbringer is supposed to have inspired fear of death in several galactic races, including manking where he became "the Reaper".
- A stylized version of the Grim Reaper has long been an unofficial mascot for the monster truck Grave Digger. A Grim Reaper-like character was its respective superhero for the television show Monster Wars, and since 2002 a character named "Grim", depicted as a muscular Grim Reaper with a combination shovel-scythe, has been the official mascot for the truck.
- A figure resembling the Grim Reaper is sometimes used in various WWE merchandise related to the Undertaker character
- Death is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the role playing game Rifts, published by Palladium Books. Within the setting of Rifts he is worshipped by two separate cults: the Death Cult in Africa and the Grim Reapers Cult of North America, both of which have a considerable number of necromancers within their respective congregations.
- An advertisement depicting a bowling alley of death, haunted by a decomposing grim reaper bowling over men, pregnant women, babies and crying children was featured on Australian national television in 1987 as as the part of a campaign to educate about the AIDS virus. The campaign was one of the most controversial, shocking and effective in Australian advertising history.[2]
- Death appears as a frequent character on The T Team as somewhat of a drug abuser who is very careless in the way he kills people off, sometimes forgetting to do so altogether. He is described as being a close personal friend of Jesus and is often taken advantage of by other characters by tricking him to do their bidding.
- In a special episode of the radio sitcom Old Harry's Game, Death is shown to be incompetant, suffering from number blindness and poor reading skills. As the job has become too big for him to handle, some consultants told him to break up the task into regional areas, therefore, Satan only meets the Welsh Death. Due to the compensation culture, Death is worried about not bring back the lifes of anyone he mistakenly took away, so there is no chance of anyone coming back.
Bibliography
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
- Winer, B. R. ii. 383-386;
- Hamburger, R. B. T. i. 990-992:
- A. Kohut, Ueber die Jüdische Angelologie und Dämonologie in Ihrer Abhängigkeit vom Parsismus, Leipzig, 1866;
- E. Stave, Ueber den Einfluss des Parsismus auf das Judenthum, Haarlem. 1898;
- E. Böklen, Die Verwandtschaft der Jüdisch-Christlichen mit der Parsischen Eschatologie, Göttingen, 1902;
- F. Weber, Jüdische Theologie, Leipsic, 1897;
- August Dillmann, Alttestamentliche Theologie, § 37, ib. 1895;
- Moïse Schwab, Vocabulaire de l'Angélologie d'Après les Manuscrits Hebreux de la Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1897;
- D. Joël, Der Aberglaube und die Stellung des Judenthums zu Demselben, especially pp. 67-74, Breslau, 1881;
- A. P. Bender, Beliefs, Rites, and Customs of the Jews Connected with Death, Burial, and Mourning, in Jew. Quart. Rev. vi. 317, 664 et seq. K. L. B.
See also
- Afterlife
- Angel
- Bible
- Discworld Death
- Death
- Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
- God
- Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy
- Danse Macabre
- Mort
- Psychopomp
- Saint Death
- Shinigami
- Skull (symbolism)
- Soul
- Symbols of death