Don't Fear the Reaper: Difference between revisions

{{deathtrope}}

{{examples}}

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3MFSnrZorw This] advert for Grolsch beer features the Grim Reaper taking a brief break from work. He appears to be quite fun guy to hang out with.

 

* ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' has Botan who plays death in the first few episodes. She wears a pink robe and is a [[Genki Girl]]. Yusuke even does [[Lampshade Hanging]].

* Meroko and Takuto from ''[[Full Moon o Sagashite]]''.

* Death in [[Gregory Horror Show]] is the only character shown to be completely friendly to the trapped guests, speaking kindly and offering to help where he can.

 

* Hugo Simberg, a Finnish symbolist painter, liked this theme. He made several iterations of [[wikipedia:File:Hugo Simberg Garden of Death.jpg|The Garden of Death]], possibly his most famous work. He even went so far as to [[Word of God|publicly explain his own interpretation of the scene]].

* ''la catrina from posada'', better explained at the mythology folder

 

* The classic modern example is the [[Perky Goth]] version of Death from ''[[The Sandman]]'', although she can actually appear more horrifying to those whose life was asking for a shocking exit.

** The French Comic ''Le Collège Invisible'' has a quite similar incarnation of Death, possibly inspired by her.

* Although Cernunnos, the Elder God of Death from Joseph Michael Linsner's ''Dawn'' series can definitely take terrifying form if he so chooses (if, for example, he needs to curb-stomp a group of angels and demons who've decided to trespass on Earth with their bickering), the one time we see him welcoming a soul to the afterlife, he takes a much more attractive form and greets her...very warmly.

 

 

* ''[[Love and Death]]'' parodies ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'' in its depiction of Death, who first visits a young Boris and then dances with an adult Boris at the end.

* In ''[[The Last Action Hero]]'', Death actually ''is'' the Death from ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'', and he seems as intimidating as he was there. However, when he realizes his mark is Slater - a fictional character - Death simply smirks and says, "I don't do fiction", turns around and leaves.

** Possibly a bit of [[Fridge Logic]] and [[Fridge Brilliance]], seeing as Death has some [[Medium Awareness]] here and knows characters in fiction only die when the script calls for it, and here, it doesn't.

* The movie ''[[Death Takes a Holiday]]'' (from 1934, starring Frederick March and Evelyn Venable), sees Death become progressively nicer during [[Death Takes a Holiday|his stint in human form]]. It was remade in 1971, and again in 1998 as ''[[Meet Joe Black]]''.

{{quote|'''Bill:''' Hey Ted - don't fear the Reaper. ''*triumphant air guitaring* ''

'''Death:''' [annoyed] ''I heard that!'' }}

* In ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JATr3vNOIYA& The Lady and the Reaper]'', Death is a [["No Respect" Guy]] [[Determinator]] willing to go well above and beyond the call of duty to deliver an old lady's soul to meet her husband in the afterlife.

 

* While Death from the ''[[Discworld]]'' series is still probably not the kind of person (or [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]) you'd like to meet in a dark alleyway, what with him still being the classic cowled skeleton and all, he's arguably the closest thing the Discworld has to a responsible, benevolent deity. (The actual gods tend to be self-interested jerks running on Greek Mythology rules.) He stated that he has to care in order to do his job, although it's an extremely lonely one - people are still rarely, except under certain unfortunate circumstances, pleased to see him. Interestingly, despite him being a skeleton, there have been a fair few fans (some imminently due to be "collected") who've written to [[Terry Pratchett]] saying that they hope that he wasn't too far off the mark. Pratchett also says that these letters usually cause him to spend some time staring at the wall. His family motto is "Non Timetis Messor" - Latin for "Don't fear the Reaper"- not to mention he's very fond of cats (it's suggested that cruelty to cats is one of the very few things that can make Death genuinely angry, and he also has adopted rather a large number of his own, which by all indications he takes quite good care of).

** Death has also been replaced temporarily by his apprentice Mort and Mort's daughter (Death's "granddaughter") Susan Sto Helit. One is a knobby-kneed adolescent male who gradually starts taking on Death's traits while the other is a young woman.

* The book ''[[The Book Thief]]'' is narrated by Death, who is amusing, non-linear and <s>rather</s> ''very'' compassionate towards humans (he specifically states he's haunted by them, especially "the ones who are left behind"), particularly the other main characters. Given that it's a book about World War II, the "amusing" part takes a sharp turn. The death camp scenes, unsurprisingly, are particularly [[Tear Jerker|bad]].

* Thanatos (aka Zane) from ''[[Incarnations of Immortality]]'' will take time to talk to his clients and give whatever comfort he can (if they need it). He's also managed to prevent a few deaths he thought unfair or unnecessary. At least one other character comments that he has an unusually caring approach to his Office.

* While [[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]] never encounters Death, according to the Deathly Hallows, Harry's ancestor - the one who received Death's invisibility cloak - befriended him, and when it was time for him to die, he sought Death out and they walked away together.

*** [[Kill'Em All|It'd have to...]]

** It all has to do with the [[Author Tract]] about how to deal with death, stemming from the [[Creator Breakdown]] when [[Real Life Writes the Plot|Rowling's mother died]]. If one doesn't accept their own mortality ( {{spoiler|i.e. the first Peverell brother, Voldemort}}), or gain acceptance of their loved ones' passing ( {{spoiler|the second brother, Snape}}), then Death will be a grueling bastard. But if one accepts Death's visit as an inevitability ( {{spoiler|the third brother, Harry}}), then he will greet you like an old friend.

* The Many-Faced God of Braavos in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' is a death god spoken of in very positive terms. One of his worshipers makes a comment (slightly paraphrased) that every person has a dark angel beside them, and when the suffering of life becomes too great, that angel will give them the "gift" of death.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20111207232832/http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a2747.pdf The Glass of Supreme Moments]", Death is portrayed as a beautiful woman—and the protagonist's [[True Love]].

* In ''[[Cerberon]]'', Edu, the goddess of death, is described as loving and merciful in her duty to provide rest and comfort after death. She's in charge of keeping the dead from bothering the living, but doesn't seem very proactive in this regard, considering all the zombies, ghouls, vampires and ghosts hanging around, although she does promptly respond to her priests' calls to take them away.

 

* ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' TOS episode [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_S-oxQedkZ0 "Nothing in the Dark"]. A woman frightened of dying allows a wounded police officer (played by a young Robert Redford) into her apartment. When she realizes that he's Death come to claim her, he tries to convince her that she shouldn't fear death.

** ''Mother, give me your hand... You see. No shock. No engulfment. No tearing asunder. What you feared would come like an explosion is like a whisper. What you thought was the end is the beginning.'' - Death, assuring the old woman that her journey has just begun.

* After years of begging for Death, [[Married... with Children|Al Bundy]] gets his wish. Good news: Death offers Al a way out. Bad news: Death can assume any appearance, so naturally it chose Peggy.

* Weirdly enough, there is an NCIS episode that implicitly features the angel of death. She appears as a little girl, and mostly just appears to be dropping in to check on her next cases.

{{quote|'''The Devil:''' Now, you're all here for..... Eternity! Ooh, which I hardly need tell you is a heck of a long time, so you'll all get to know each other pretty well by the end.

But for now I'm going to have to split you up in groups.

* Subverted in an episode of ''Mysterious Ways''. Declan starts worrying that his teaching assistant, a not at all scary looking young woman, is the Angel of Death and she has come for him. Throughout the course of the episode, and in dealing with his own potential illness, it is revealed that she is actually the Angel of Comfort (the same one who visited him when his dad died.)

 

* The Franz Schubert song ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKh4JsWvsPw Der Tod und das Mädchen]'' ''Death And The Maiden'' (1817), set to a poem by Matthias Claudius, has Death say to the maiden of the title, "Give me thy hand, thou young and tender form. I am a friend, and come not to punish. Be of good cheer! I am not savage. You will sleep softly in my arms." Yeah, it's [[Older Than Radio]].

** Another song on the same theme, ''Death on Hennepin'' by Boiled in Lead, takes a more stern tack but ultimately the Reaper in this song is also present to ease the deceased's passing, not harm her or frighten her.

* The Angel of Death (who looks like the standard Grim Reaper, only with a halo, and no scythe in evidence) in [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/falling "I've Got Some Falling to Do"] by [[Lemon Demon]]. He's kind of a goof. He even does a dance!

* Pop Will Eat Itself have a song called Menofearthereaper about this.

* ''[[Ariya]]'' has [http://lyricstranslate.com/en/tam-visoko-%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BC-%D0%B2%D1%8B%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE-there.html a song] about one. If you thought the humans are exasperating enough for the humans...

 

* In Voodoo, there's Maman Brigitte, the Hatian goddess of love and death. To quote [http://www.godchecker.com/ God Checker:]

{{quote|"She is so chatty and full of jokes that it's fun when she escorts you to the Underworld."}}

* Some scholars of ''[[The Bible]]'' take "Angel of Death" to be an allegory for [[The Messiah|Jesus]].

 

* [[The Undertaker]], at least since his 2004 return to his "undead" gimmick. He's still depicted as intensely scary and having supernatural powers, but he usually battles against villains - most famously at the 2007 Royal Rumble, when he arrived as the 30th entrant to save [[Shawn Michaels]], [[Edge]], [[Randy Orton]], and Montel Vontavious Porter from The Great Khali.

 

** Also in this category is the Mulhorandi god Osiris, who is a god of the dead that is ''[[Lawful Good]]''.

 

* ''[[The Sims]]'' series has a light tune of the Grim Reaper, he listens to pleads for life, and he gives a chance for the Sims to win back their loved ones, and even if they failed at his little game, he might bring them back as zombies anyway. He also gives discounts on children's resurrections. He enjoys watching TVs and if he arrived at a party, he might party with the residents, even though he always spoils the mood with his arrival. Oh that silly Reaper.

** If a sim dies of old age at the end of a fulfilling life and is in Platinum Aspiration, the Reaper shows up in a flower lei, accompanied by hula girls, to send your sim on an eternal vacation to Tropical Paradise Heaven. Their tombstone after this is white marble with gold trim.

** One of the plot hooks in Strangetown is the product of an affair between the local [[A Worldwide Punomenon|black widow]] and the friendly guy who kept coming for her husbands...

* Mara, one of the gods from the [[Roguelike]] ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140102170133/http://incursion-roguelike.com/ Incursion]'', puts a big emphasis on fulfillment and resolution; she is surprisingly free with resurrections for her worshipers. Unusually for this trope, she is also the goddess of [[The Undead]] and doesn't view them as [[Exclusively Evil|abominations]].

{{quote|'''Grim:''' "Aww, how can you not trust this face?"}}

* In ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'', the [[Grim Reaper|Master of Death]] of the protagonist's homeworld, Vigilance, was a just and compassionate being. Since [[Reincarnation]] only occurs while there is a Master of Death to keep the souls flowing into the afterlife, it also means his duty is simply an integral part in keeping the world alive. {{spoiler|His ''own'' reincarnation, [[Psycho for Hire|Gig]], is ''not'' an example of this trope.}}

* ''[[Conker's Bad Fur Day]]''; in this game, the Reaper (who's name is "Gregg", don't laugh) is a grouchy, grumpy fellow, but he's quick to ally himself with the protagonist, giving him a shotgun for killing cat-zombies and advice on how to use it; he hates undead and cats with a passion.

 

* ''[[Gashapon Shop]]'' has the Grim Reaper's angsty nephew, who, on his first day, goes for his target's nephew to to slightly similar names. He later cracks a few jokes and aids the heroes, but he doesn't show up often.

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' has many [[Psychopomp]]s, a lot of whom Antimony Carver has befriended during her childhood in a hospital - at first she didn't connect their visits with death f patients, but later helped a "stuck" spirit. {{spoiler|In fact, she counts too, after she acted as the reaper for her own mother - and the Realm of the Dead (under whose "jurisdiction" are spirits who don't move on yet, such as "haunting" ghosts like Mort) officially recognises her as a Guide.}}

* The scrapyard robot in ''[[Freefall]]'' is pretty nice for a robot built to take apart other robots (and who carries a scythe). He even allows them to buy themselves as scrap so they don't need to be disassembled (not to mention exist without an owner).

* While the other "The Last Trick-or-Treaters" strips by R.K. Milholland of ''[[Something*Positive]]'' fame are frightening, [http://www.rhymes-with-witch.com/rww10242011a.shtml this one] starring the [[Grim Reaper]] and an unfortunate trick-or-treater is oddly touching.

 

* [[Childrin R Skary|The Childrin may indeed be skary]], but Death, despite the skeleton-in-a-cloak-with-a-scythe look, is a kindly and benevolent figure (and a bit of a [[Woobie]] too):

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20120713051937/http://skary.com/blog/death-n-elsie/ Death 'n' Elsie].

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20120713051918/http://skary.com/blog/a-parting-gift/ A Parting Gift].

 

** Grim's an [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]] a decent portion of the time.

* Death in ''[[Family Guy]]'' is portrayed as an average person, although still keeping the robed skeleton motif. Several episodes have revolved around Peter dealing with Death, and he's often a lot more down-to-earth than most people on the show.

* Not sure about the book, but in the movie adaption of ''[[The Halloween Tree]]'', Mr. Moundshroud (heavily implied to be the manifestation of Death), while not the most friendly individual, he also bears no real malice to the children; it's just business to him.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024309/http://www.mortys-lefilm.com/fr/film.html The mother of Mortys here is pretty nice.] {{spoiler|Too bad that her son doesn't understand the importance of close and personal.}}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Death Tropes]]

[[Category:Angelic Tropes]]

[[Category:God Tropes]]