Death (personification)

:Grim Reaper redirects here. For other uses see Grim Reaper (disambiguation)

Death as a fictional character

The character of Death is typically depicted in the West as wearing a dark hooded cloak and wielding a scythe. Death is one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. In many icons of the resurrection of Jesus, death is portrayed as an almost naked man who is bound hand and foot lying amid the bones under the earth. In Eastern Orthodox theology, death is one of humanity's three enemies; the other two are sin and the devil. This figure of Death is also known as the Grim Reaper. Death, in this guise, appears also on one of the Tarot arcana.

Related Topics:
Cloak - Scythe - Four horsemen of the Apocalypse - Icon - Resurrection of Jesus - Eastern Orthodox - Sin - Devil - Tarot - Arcana

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While in Germanic folklore, including English, Death is male (der Tod), in Latin folklore it is female (la muerte, la mort).

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In Mexico, death is sometimes referred upon as La Calaca, a skull like character that comes and takes people away when they die.

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The allegorical figure of Death appears many times in the works of Albrecht Dürer and Terry Pratchett. Pratchett's Death is substantially different in that he is, as mentioned in the Discworld Compendium, "on our side" against the ruthless Auditors, personifications of cosmic Law.

Related Topics:
Albrecht Dürer - Terry Pratchett - Auditor

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To contrast with the normally dark and antagonistic classical depictions of Death, many comedies portray him as a somewhat sympathetic character, an average Joe who's simply doing a necessary and unpleasant job.

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List of works using Death as a fictional character

• Animaniacs
• Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey movie
• Buttercup Festival (not Death, but a character with a cloak and scythe)
• Castlevania video game series (where Death is a recurring boss).
• Cat and Girl
• Charmed which has several incarnations of Death, from Azrael to Yama
• Children of Bodom Not a work but rather a band (All Children of Bodom album covers feature the Grim Reaper)
• Conker's Bad Fur Day video game (as Gregg, he hates cats)
• Darkwing Duck cartoon (episode 147 - Dead Duck)
• Dead Like Me television show
• Death, Jr. video game/comic book/movie
• Death comic book
• Death Takes a Holiday movie 1934
• Discworld novels
• The Doors
• Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
• Family Guy
• Gauntlet (arcade game)
• Good Omens
• The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy cartoon
• Grim Fandango video game.
• Incarnations of Immortality novels
• Irregular Webcomic!
• JACK webcomic with the Grim Reaper as the main character)
• La Dama del Alba (Lady of the Dawn) play
• Liberty Meadows comic strip
• Marvel Comics
• The Meaning of Life (1983) movie
• Meet Joe Black movie (1998 remake)
• Red Dwarf (episode Only the Good...)
• The Sandman comic book
• The Seventh Seal (1957 movie)
• The Simpsons
• The Sims games
• South Park cartoon (episode 106 - Death)