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{{trope}}
{{cleanup|Many of the examples here confuse The Ferry Man with some form of [[Psychopomp]] - these examples need to be moved to the correct sub-page of that super-trope.}}
An old archetype,
The most classic depiction is [[Psychopomp|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 Ferry Man has some overlap 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.
{{examples|Examples }}▼
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Botan of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' <ref>along with the other ferry girls</ref> is the Japanese equivalent of the Ferryman,{{verify}} which is why she wields a paddle as a weapon.
* Oddly enough Truthkun of [[Fullmetal Alchemist (
==
* 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.▼
* Charon is the [[Ur Example]].▼
* 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.▼
* Although there is also the lesser known [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlegyas Phlegyas]▼
== [[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
* In ''[[
* 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 {{spoiler|Ashfur}}.
== [[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]].
▲*
== [[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 II:
* ''[[
** In ''[[
* ''[[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 [[Grievous Harm
* 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 ''[[
* [[Touhou|Komachi Onozuka]], a [[Shinigami]], usually works as a Ferry''wo''man for the Sanzu river... that is [[The Slacker|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
* 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 [[The Speechless|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 (
==
* ''[[
▲* 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.
==
* [http://caricatura.ru/black/korsun/1612/ Charon, the new version].
▲* [[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]] has Charon appear to help the Warner Brothers (and Sister) escape from Hell. [[Crowning Moment of Funny|And then he sings with them.]] No, really.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Archetypal Character]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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