The Ferry Man



An old archetype, the ferryman is a character (and sometimes Deus Ex Machina) who acts as a guide or aid to another character way of allowing them to travel over near impossible obstacles to reach (or at least help reach) a specific destination.

The most classic depiction is Charon of the River Styx, who aided souls across said river if he was paid, as there was a worse price to pay if you tried to swim through the waters. And like Charon, the archetype's representative need not be good or even evil; the character need not also be a (male) keeper of a ferry; practically anything that can transport something/someone from one place to another is considered acceptable, including flight, teleportation, or even "dream walking".

In some cases the Ferryman is the neutral counterpart to The Mentor, even adviser, as the ferryman can guide through more than just the obstacles of the physical spectrum... though usually at a price or reason of fair enough degree (be it a coin of burial gold, or a promise to aid the nation's resistance against the empire.)

The Ferry Man has some overlap with with Psychopomp (a character who takes somebody from the land of the living to the land of the dead). However, the Ferry Man can also be a normal human who plys his trade on perfectly mundane bodies of water.

Anime and Manga

 * Botan of Yu Yu Hakusho is the Japanese equivalent of the Ferryman, which is why she wields a paddle as a weapon.
 * Oddly enough Truthkun of Fullmetal Alchemist (only in the manga and second anime). He is neutral, requires a toll, is oddly personal, knows more than he's saying, and is connected to death.

Comic Books

 * In The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael (and the Dead Left in His Wake), the ferryman appears as a grizzled old prospector type who carries each soul down the river towards judgement.
 * In the series All Star Superman, Lex Luthor is aided from his escape from prison by his niece Nasthalthia, who acts a ferryman by rowing Lex and Clark Kent to safety.

Literature

 * There's a character in The Amber Spyglass who is basically Charon, though he's not named. He (unwillingly) ferries Lyra and Will to the land of the dead.
 * The Ferryman plays a very important symbolic role in Herman Hesse's Siddartha, where he enables Siddartha to pass between various phases in his life.
 * In An Elegy for the Still-living Acheron himself shows up...as the name of an ocean, which then proceeds to play this trope straight.
 * In The Friendship Song, the ferryman appears as Harper and Rawnie's school principal, demanding gold or something worth gold.
 * In Warrior Cats, this role is shared by all of StarClan. They pick one of their warriors to guide a cat who is dying to them, usually one who was important in the dying cat's life. The only cat this didn't happen for is.

Music

 * "Don't Pay the Ferryman", Chris de Burgh's first hit single in the UK, is about not paying "the hooded old man at the rudder" until after he's completed his service, no matter what happens during the journey.

Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends

 * Charon is the Ur Example.
 * There is also the lesser-known Phlegyas

Video Games

 * The Great Mizuti is happy to be this and the deus ex machina for Baten Kaitos! Ta-ladi-da-di-da, Ta-ladi-da.
 * The Ferryman is a recurring character in the Castlevania series. He has appeared in Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
 * The Curse of Monkey Island has one, but it's the Lost Welshman who needs a compass so that he can send Guybrush to Skull Island.
 * In Tales of Monkey Island, he encounters a skeletal Ferryman with a gold tooth who keeps his boat clean and bears a slight resemblance to the Lost Welshman; except that this Ferryman needs to be paid with "the golden eyes of everlasting sleep", i.e., two gold coins that are placed on the eyes of the dead, so that he can ferry arriving souls to the Center of the Crossroads (just like in Greek mythology), after which he'll no longer appear once his journey is complete.
 * Final Fantasy has the techno genius Cid, who, in most of his incarnations, has eventual access to an airship that can sometimes even go beyond the main world in question!
 * The Ferryman Charon is a unit you can create in Grim Grimoire: In addition to being a troop transport unit, it can also throw its passengers at the enemy in a pinch.
 * In Sam and Max season 2 episode 5, Harry Moleman takes the literal role of Charon as a conductor for the Soul Train.
 * The Boatman in Medievil is surprised to see Sir Dan again, since he usually only takes passengers on one-way trips. He offers you transport to the next level if you find him some Lost Souls (what with the dead rising, he lost track of them).
 * Komachi Onozuka, a Shinigami, usually works as a Ferrywoman for the Sanzu river... that is if she actually works.
 * King's Quest II Romancing the Throne has one to help Graham to the vampire's castle. The Fan Remake version gets creepier as he Was Once a Man, and knows why Graham is there, but will ferry him anyway. A second one is in King's Quest VI Heir Today Gone Tomorrow, literally ferrying the souls of the dead across the underworld's river—if they have their fare, that is.
 * In Secret of Mana, you meet a cute creature named Karon (a mistranslation of "Charon") in the desert, who will ferry you through the Sea of Stars to the Moon Palace... without cost, of course.
 * In Secret of Evermore, there is a desert ferryman who will ferry you across the desert to the Nobilia Trading Market... at the cost of one Amulet of Annihilation.
 * In the NES game Day Dreamin' Davey, one of the stages of Ancient Greece has Charon in Hades' underworld lair who will guide Davey through the River Styx at the cost of one coin.
 * In The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, the ferryman is a large upper half of a skeleton attached to the ferry itself. Though silent, he will take you to the Isle of N'Gasta only when you pay three gold pieces.
 * Charon himself appears in God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Western Animation

 * Animaniacs has Charon appear to help the Warner Brothers (and Sister) escape from Hell. And then he sings with them. No, really.

Other Media

 * Charon, the new version.