Death: Encyclopedia II - Death - Personification of death

Death - Personification of death

Main article: Death (personification)

Death is also a mythological figure who has existed in popular culture since the earliest days of storytelling. The traditional Western image of Death, known as the Grim Reaper—usually resembling a skeleton, wearing black robes and carrying a scythe—is employed on a tarot card and in various television shows and films. Some examples:

• Death is a major character in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.
• Humorous depictions of Death, often with a Grim Reaper-esque feel, are common during the Día de los Muertos in Mexico, especially in the state of Michoacán.
• An unusual personification of Death appears in Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels.
• In Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, a knight plays a game of chess against Death.
• Death is portrayed as a neurotic Grim Reaper-esque character who still lives with his mother in Family Guy. He appeared in several episodes to date and in one episode, Peter Griffin must take on the responsibilities of Death after Death sprains his ankle.
• In the film Meet Joe Black, a remake of Death Takes a Holiday, Death inhabits the body of a young man to experience life firsthand. Death is Brad Pitt, who still manages to hook up with Anthony Hopkins' (character's) daughter.
• In the film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Death is the bassist for Wyld Stallyns.
• In the TV series Dead Like Me, the main characters are all Grim Reapers as part of a post-life bureaucracy.
• The series Touched by an Angel featured the Angel of Death as a regular character, depicted as a kindly, soft-spoken man in his mid-30s.
• The Angel of Death also appeared in the show Charmed as a man who appeared before those who had died to take them to the afterlife. He was neither good nor evil.
• Death is also a recurring character in the Castlevania video games. He is usually described as Dracula's servant, and is therefore evil. He is almost always a boss, and appears usually near the end of the game. He uses the scythe, and often transforms into more hideous forms. Plus, he has one trademark attack: Often during the whole battle, he constantly summon small sickles/scythes out of thin air to attack the player.
• Death 'stalks' people who avoided their demises in the Final Destination series.
• Death appears as a character in a sketch in the Monty Python film The Meaning of Life.
• In the cartoon Futurama, Death is represented by the "Sunset Squad", a group of robots who take people away to an unknown destination when they reach the age of 160.
• In the book On a Pale Horse the main character becomes Death himself after killing the previous Death.
• In the cartoonThe Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, death is The Grim Reaper, usually called Grim, and is the forced best friend of Billy and Mandy.
• The Finnish band Children of Bodom use the Grim Reaper as a mascot or symbol of sorts.
• In America, Death is usually personified as one person. In japanese culture, there are many Shinimigami (Death Gods) that sometimes work together to collect souls, as seen in many manga, such as Death Note, or Bleach.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Personification of death", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki