The Grim Reaper: Difference between revisions

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[[File:the-death.jpg|frame|[[I Have Many Names|The Stealer of Souls, Defeater of Empires, Swallower of Oceans, The Ultimate Reality, Harvester of Mankind,]] [[Discworld|atop his mighty steed, Binky]]]]

{{quote|When the first living thing existed, I was there, waiting. When the last living thing dies, my job will be finished. I'll put the chairs on tables, turn out the lights and lock the universe behind me when I leave.~~|'''Death''', ''[[The Sandman]]''}}~~

{{quote|When the first living thing existed, I was there, waiting. When the last living thing dies, my job will be finished. I'll put the chairs on tables, turn out the lights and lock the universe behind me when I leave.

|'''Death''', ''[[The Sandman]]''}}

The mascot of death. The nature and purpose of the Grim Reaper actually varies between two different versions: one version describes him as a simple guide, the being who takes you to the next world after you die (the fancy word for this is ''[[Psychopomp]]''); the other sees him as the actual entity of death—you die when he touches you. Either way, he is generally seen as a tall skeletal spectre in a black [[In the Hood|hooded]] [[Black Cloak|robe]], who wields a [[Sinister Scythe]] when he visits commoners and a sword when he visits royalty, though the scythe is the most common of his symbols. He is also often shown with an [[Death's Hourglass|hourglass]] as a symbol of elapsing life. These dual accouterments are [[Older Than Steam]], but both were drawn from the ancient Greco-Roman god Χρόνος (Chronos). This god (not a god of death), in turn, was drawn from the [[Ur Example]] of the Sassanid sect's Zoastrian god Zurvan Akarana. He is sometimes described as mute, and in some accounts you can [[Chess with Death|challenge him to a game of chess for the right to stay alive]]. Often he picks up the characteristics of Charon, the boatman of the river Styx in Greek theology. But even these characteristics are filtered through a [[Hijacked by Jesus|Christian veil]].

The Grim Reaper, in his days as a frequent figure of folk tales, was originally used as a menacing, sombre symbol of the inevitability of death. He first appeared in Western art and folklore with the outbreak of the mid-fourteenth century plague epidemic (known to us as the Black Death).

[[The Grim Reaper]], in his days as a frequent figure of folk tales, was originally used as a menacing, sombre symbol of the inevitability of death. He first appeared in Western art and folklore with the outbreak of the mid-fourteenth century plague epidemic (known to us as the Black Death).

As with most folklorish characters, he is no longer taken seriously and may even come across as [[Don't Fear the Reaper|benign]], or played for laughs as a [[Punch Clock Villain|bored civil servant type]]. Even when he's still treated as a menacing figure, there will be humor involved. Still other representations of death forgo the neutral and buffoonish guise entirely and make Death a [[God of Evil]] that [[Enemies with Death|must be fought]].

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and with strange aeons even '''Death may die'''. }}

* Death is depicted as a goth girl (and one of the [[Powers That Be]]) in ''[[Finder's Keepers]]''.

* ''[[~~Nicht Lustig~~]]'' has a [[Grim Reaper]], who keeps a poodle (''nothing against the Poodle of Death''), has his own <s>corn</s>death-flakes, takes a day of when depressed and is very much beloved by every lemming he happens upon.

* ''[[Nichtlustig]]'' has a [[Grim Reaper]], who keeps a poodle (''nothing against the Poodle of Death''), has his own <s>corn</s>death-flakes, takes a day of when depressed and is very much beloved by every lemming he happens upon.

* ''[[The KAMics]]'' has Hela from [[Norse Mythology]] as it's official Grim Reaper (although for a while it seemed to be Steve of ''[[Life and Death]]''). [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/4789283/ She] [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/5077713/ doesn't] [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/5268279/ dress] [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/5270141/ very] [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/5294388/ traditional] [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/5281093/ though]. (Fourth link is NSFW.) [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/5305635/ She describes her job as a guide for the dead type.]

* ''[[Nosfera]]'' has [[Battle Butler]] Grimsworth.