39,327
edits
Don't Fear the Reaper: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
m (categories and general cleanup) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 9:
For centuries, humanity has feared death, and understandably so, all things considered. Therefore, when personifying it, the result was often pretty terrifying. However, there has also been a [[Dark Is Not Evil|very different attitude used at times]], with various writers and artists creating a personification of [[Death]] who is not only not scary, but friendly, compassionate and otherwise the sort of person you'd want to find waiting for you at a difficult time like that.
This sort of Death won't glare at you with [[Glowing Eyelights of Un-Death]] from underneath a [[Black Cloak]] while carrying a scythe; she will dress as a [[Perky Goth]] or take on [[A Form You Are Comfortable With]]. She won't [[Chess
Sometimes this overlaps with [[Beleaguered Bureaucrat]], when she is friendly but nonetheless has a long list of people to get through today and doesn't have time to deal with every decedent's requests.
The [[Trope Namer]] is the eponymous song by [[Blue
See also [[Psychopomp]] and [[The Grim Reaper]]. Compare with [[Everybody Hates Hades]], when authors do almost the complete opposite with death-related deities. Distant cousin to [[The Devil Is a Loser]]. Compare [[Not Afraid to Die]] and [[We All Die Someday]], which is about not fearing death itself rather than its personification.
Line 24:
== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[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
* ''[[Bleach]]'': This trope is in force for the most part. The shinigami are just like humans: they can be friendly, moody, supportive, scary, hostile depending on situation or individual personality type. However, shinigami aren't enemies of humanity even if their focus on the big picture can make them seem aloof at times. Their role is to guide the dead to Soul Society, cleanse hollows of post-death sin so they too can be guided to Soul Society and also to maintain the balance of souls across different worlds. In other words, shinigami are portrayed the same way humans are portrayed: as individuals with their own personalities, worries, fears, foibles, strengths and weaknesses.
* Shinigami-sama/Lord Death from [[Soul Eater]] willingly embraces this trope. Back in his day he used to look like a textbook skull-and-black-cloak (read: very intimidating) Grim Reaper, but when he founded the Shibusen Academy he took on a [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081007183645/souleater/images/e/e7/Vsmediossouleaterdeadgod.jpg more friendly appearance] and goofy speech patterns, so as to not frighten his students. His son Death the Kid is also hardly a threatening image of death, being a teenage boy with [[Super OCD]]. However, don't try to [[Berserk Button|do whatever you like with human lives]]. [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|They don't like that one bit.]]
* The idea is alluded to in ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', where the [[Magical Native American]] says "Do not fear death. Death is always by our side. When we show fear it jumps at us faster than light, but if we do not show fear, it casts its eye upon us gently, and guides us into infinity."
* Momo in ''[[Ballad of a Shinigami]]'' is a sweet [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]] who not only makes your death painless, she helps the people you are leaving behind by comforting them.
* In ''[[Kamichu!]]'', Death is a rather friendly, if somewhat eccentric goddess, who even once had an affair with Poverty.
* An episode of [[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]] deals with the spirit of the pharaoh Abidos, challenging Judai. After losing, he passes on, satisfied that he finally found an opponent who would duel him seriously. Judai refuses his offer to go with him to the afterlife, but promises to meet him again after 100 years. The episode ends with the crew discussing death and the afterlife. Needless to say, this didn't go well with the translators.
* In the end of [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]], {{spoiler|Madoka herself}} is seen appearing before {{spoiler|magical girls whose soul gems are about to be corrupted and taking the gems with her}}, enabling them to die peacefully and go to the afterlife {{spoiler|without becoming witches}}.
* 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.
Line 60:
** He is ''not'' Death. He is a [[Psychopomp]].
* Bob Fosse's [[All That Jazz]] features a sweet and welcoming angel of death having a possibly lifelong relationship with the main character.
* In ''[[Tim Burton]]'s [[
* 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.
== Literature ==
* While Death from the ''[[
** There's an entire book in the series, ''[[Discworld
{{quote| {{smallcaps|[[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Lord, what can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the]] [[Title Drop|Reaper Man?]]}}}}
** 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.
Line 72:
* 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 (
** Later on in ''[[Deathly Hallows]]'', {{spoiler|Harry dies briefly, and his guide into the afterlife, should he choose not to go back, is Dumbledore.}} Really, death gets a pretty good rap in this series.
*** [[Kill'Em All|It'd have to...]]
Line 80:
* The Spanish novel ''La Dama del Alba'' (The Lady of the Dawn) is about Death visiting a family (that has been mourning the death of one of its members for years) in the form of a woman. She notes how she envies mortals for their capacity to love.
* The "Death as a gentleman" concept is [[Older Than They Think]]: the Emily Dickinson poem, ''Because I could not stop for Death'' describes Death as a kind, polite suitor, much like his [[Discworld|Discworldian]] counterpart.
* ''[[
** Even if they do, *ahem*, sample the product.
* In ''[[His Dark Materials]]'', each person has their own personal Death who follows them around and eventually leads them to the underworld when they die. These Deaths are quite amiable, to the point that most hide from their owners because the people don't want to see them.
Line 88:
* Although there is no reaper in ''[[The Old Kingdom]],'' the River of Death - especially the Ninth Gate - is a fairly benign, or neutral place. And Sabriel's father insists that she understand: "Everyone and everything has a time to die."
* In the [[Tortall Universe]], the kindest and most forgiving of the gods is the Black God of Death. Notable in that he's one of a handful of deities that actually gives a shit about humans. The rest [[Gods Need Prayer Badly|use them for power]] in their own quarrels.
* The Lady on the Grey of ''[[
* Richard the reaper from ''[[
* While Namo Mandos is the god of death in [[
* 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 "[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]].
* Obligatory [[The Dresden Files|Dresden Files]] example: in ''Ghost Story'', when {{spoiler|Father Forthill}}'s life is in jeopardy, Dresden has a conversation with an angel of death waiting nearby. Dresden assumes he'll need to battle the angel to prevent his friend's death, but the angel assures him that (a) she is there only to guard the soul, should it be released from the body, on its way to [[Fluffy Cloud Heaven|a final reward]], and (b) it was {{spoiler|Forthill's}} choice to enter the conflict, the angel had no part in it (indeed, they don't have free will as humans do). And (c) she would [[Curb Stomp Battle|utterly stomp Harry if he raised a finger against her]].
* In ''[[
Line 106:
* ''[[Touched By an Angel]]'' has Andrew, who's a cheerful, friendly, and ''insanely'' attractive 30-ish man. His predecessor Adam (not [[Adam and Eve Plot|that Adam]]... probably) was also a pretty nice guy.
* Played with in ''[[Dead Like Me]]'': the reapers are all former [[Dysfunction Junction|semi-normal]] people, and are often quite friendly and reassuring, but are also likely to steal from the newly dead and basically behave like people in a customer service job they're not being paid to do.
* Tessa, one of the Reapers from ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. Admittedly, some of the other Reapers we see range from creepy to outright scary, but Tessa appears to spirits as a gorgeous/hot, compassionate, and genuinely sweet servant of Death, {{spoiler|and Sam and Dean even willingly save her from meeting a grisly fate in season four}}. Though during her role there, she's a bit more snippy than in her first appearance, mostly dismissing the bros when they try to help a dead young boy who has yet to pass on. The reason being, for the latter, was that {{spoiler|she was supposed to take Dean, until he was brought back to life by Azazel, thanks to his dad making a deal}}.
** Death himself, the boss of the Reapers, has also appeared now. Death is a [[Cosmic Entity]] who is as old as the universe and about the same age as God. He runs on [[Blue and Orange Morality]] and has seen the death of entire galaxies and will eventually ''[[Beyond the Impossible|reap God!]]'' Hence, he is ''[[Do Not Taunt Cthulhu|extremely pissed off]]'' that he is bound to one tiny planet circling around a barely newborn sun in a young galaxy that usually wouldn't even be a blip on his radar, due to "a spoilt brat having a tantrum" (a.k.a [[Satan|Lucifer]]). [[Did We Just Have Tea
** In a later episode Dean wants Death's help {{spoiler|to restore Sam's soul}} and Death gives him a test where Dean has to do Death's duties for a day. Dean {{spoiler|fails the test but attempts to fix his mistake as much as he can}}. Death is impressed that Dean was able to understand how serious and important Death's job actually is and {{spoiler|gives Sam his soul back}}.
* Death is a recurring character in the older BBC series ''Mulberry'', which is appropriate given that the titular character Mulberry is his own son, tasked with cheering up a dour old woman before Death comes to call on business. He spends a good deal of his appearances arguing with Mulberry about how his job isn't a bad thing and how he'd like it if Mulberry would stop asking for extensions on the time he's got.
* After years of begging for Death, [[Married...
* 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.
* A [[Rowan Atkinson]] sketch titled [http://www.epicure.demon.co.uk/devilswelcome.html "The Devil's Welcome"] plays with this hilariously.
Line 122:
* 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.
* And then there's the [[Trope Namer]], [[
* [[Machinae Supremacy]]. I tell you, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xByO0jhtceY I Know The Reaper]''.
* The Demons and Wizards song "The Fiddler on the Green" presents Death as a sympathetic character who takes a young boy too early by accident. He ends up taking someone else (who is implied to have volunteered) so the boy won't have to be lonely in the afterlife.
* [[Voltaire (
* 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.
Line 137:
* In Mexico, the character of La Catrina its an important part of its folklore. She is nice, loves to sing, dance and get fun with the mortals, especially certain days like Dia De Los Muertos. And if you are Mexican she will appear at the day of your death.
* Death is also revered in Mexico in the form of Santa Muerte("Saint Death"), who is worshiped as an unrecognized saint. While still taking the form of a grinning skull, she is revered as a patron of the downtrodden and those forsaken by society at large. She is also worshiped by criminals as the one saint who will never forsake them.
* Some scholars of ''[[
Line 148:
== Tabletop Games ==
* Gods of death in many [[Dungeons and Dragons]] settings are evil. Not so in the ''[[
** Also in this category is the Mulhorandi god Osiris, who is a god of the dead that is ''[[Lawful Good]]''.
Line 164:
* Krypta, the Goddess of Death in ''[[Majesty]]'', is apparently quite compassionate and egalitarian. One of the character vignettes has a priestess of Krypta teaming up with a [[Lawful Good|Paladin of Dauros]] to destroy some monsters who had been killing pointlessly.
* Death of ''Death Jr.'' is portrayed as a family man who, in the comics, is happily married to a human woman and is a father who, while stern, is generally willing to show his son aspects of his job. As he once says in a comic book offshoot, "Son, there are two things you can always count on: taxes, and your old man."
* {{spoiler|Nyx}}, the ultimate foe in ''[[Persona 3]]'', is the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of Death itself, but is portrayed as an unknowable entity beyond good or evil. It doesn't bear any malice towards anyone, it just ''is''. However, its [[God in Human Form|earthly]] [[A Worldwide Punomenon|persona]] (appropriately named {{spoiler|Nyx Avatar}}) is affable, friendly, compassionate, and --though invincible and relentless-- {{spoiler|sympathizes with the protagonists and their plight, fighting them only to take them to their absolute limits to see how strongly they cling to life}}. In the end, {{spoiler|1=Nyx acknowledges the Main Character's selfless sacrifice and personal fulfillment, allowing itself to be defeated and stopping [[The End of the World
** Actually, if you think about it {{spoiler|Nyx gave humanity death as a gift to relieve it from its wordly pain.}} [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], maybe?
*** This is still one iteration of the [[Shin Megami Tensei
* ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' The "I Know You" stranger mission features an unnamed man in an black suit and top hat who questions and tests John's morality. John finally demands his name at the end - the man ignores him, and walks away. John fires three bullets at near point blank range, which don't hit the man, who walks off and vanishes. The spot on the hill overlooking the homestead which the man called beautiful {{spoiler|is where John is buried after he is gunned down in the final mission.}}
** Also of note during their final encounter John says, "Damn you!", to the mysterious man and he responds casually, "Many have.", before walking off. Death is something that many people do damn (hate) all their lives, or this could be a subtle reference to the man being God as many people take His name in vain (God damn).
* Manny Calavera of ''[[Grim Fandango]]'' and the page quote is a charming salesman; it just happens that he ''sells'' travel packages to carry dead souls safely through the afterlife. His job and that of his fellow Reapers is simply to ensure people get what they deserve. Most of them aren't scary at all. {{spoiler|In fact, when an earlier Reaper, Salvador, learned that good people were being denied their "sweet hereafters" and being forced to linger in the Land of the Dead, he quit his job, denying himself his 'benefits', and started a revolution.}}
* "The Mistress" in ''[[Vega Strike]]'' [[Welcome to Corneria|apparently]] is a part of the in-'[[Verse]] folklore. Looks great in [http://vegastrike.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/vegastrike/trunk/masters/sprites/died.png?view=log the gameover screen]<ref>DXT format</ref>, anyway.
* Death in the ''[[
** On the other the hand, the actual Reaper of ''[[Neverwinter Nights
* Similarly to the ''[[Dark Waters]]'' example, Death in ''[[Adventure Quest]]'' always tells you he has filled his quota of souls for the day, and sends you back saying you owe him one. For whatever reason, he never calls in the favor. Again, played for laughs.
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
* ''[[
** Ketrak's only one of the many [[Psychopomp|Grim Reaper equivalents]] Antimony Carver has befriended. {{spoiler|In fact, she acted as the reaper for her own mother.}}
*** [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?|B]][[Crowning Moment of Awesome|a]][http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=533 p]
* The title character from the webcomic ''[[Jack (
** And sweet mother of potatoes is he nicer than the ''[[Complete Monster|other]]'' sins.<ref>Except Sloth. But Sloth is merely the ground of Hell, so it's disqualified.</ref>
* [[Finders Keepers]] features a Gaiman-inspired [[Perky Goth]] Death, the youngest of the nine Powers That Be, the highest authorities beyond The Veil. She does have rather nasty skeleton-and-cowl enforcers. She seems to have a soft spot for Card, though.
* Death from [[Slightly Damned]], though initially intimidating, is actually [http://www.sdamned.com/2005/06/06252005/ very friendly]. {{spoiler|Although, now that THAT Death has been revealed to be the angel Darius, the adoptive father the boy he is hugging. the real Death appears to be much less pleasant.}}
* In ''[[
* Death from ''[[Death and The Maiden]]'' is a generally genial guy with a crush on a human girl.
* Death from ''F@nboy$'' is...well, [http://fanboys-online.com/index.php?comic=178 he's] [http://fanboys-online.com/index.php?comic=204 something] [http://fanboys-online.com/index.php?comic=237 else].
* Dee, from the Spanish webcomic [[CROWLEY
* Death in [[Problem Sleuth]] is a nice enough guy, willing to let you drink tea and play games for your life. He's also pretty ineffectual at his job, as most of the characters who end up in the afterlife escape through the door.
* Don't forget the deaths from [[Irregular Webcomic]], who are [[Punch Clock Villain|just trying to meet quota]] so they don't get demoted or fired. One can't help feel sorry for [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|Death of]] [[Stuff Blowing Up|Insanely Overpowered Fireballs]], who can't even manage to harvest people from the [[Expy|Montana]] [[Indiana Jones|Jones]] storylines...even though half the time they're set on ''[[Made of Explodium|hydrogen zepplins]]'' manned by trigger-happy [[Those Wacky Nazis|Nazis]].
* Death in ''Muertitos'' takes the form of a vaguely humanoid mass of black, inky substance with a single eye. While somewhat creepy, he's a reasonable enough guy, and popular enough to have once had his own children's cartoon.
* The scrapyard robot in ''[[
* 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.
== Web Original ==
* [[Childrinrskary
** [http://skary.com/blog/death-n-elsie/ Death 'n' Elsie].
** [http://skary.com/blog/an-elephants-memory/ An Elephant's Memory].
Line 204:
== Western Animation ==
* Sure, ''[[
** Grim's an [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]] a decent portion of the time.
* Death in ''[[
* In ''[[
* 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.
* [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.}}
| |||