Which personification of death would you want?

[DarqueMage]

Death of the Endless without a doubt. She has kind of a quirky personality, definitely not what you expect from the personification of Death. I'd love to have a conversation with her...and I'll just say it, she's easy on the eyes (for a comic book character). >.>

 

[Fbuh]

Probably Valkyries, I mean a stunningly beautiful woman decending from the heavens to whisk me off to a realm of endless wine, wenchs and warfare, what's not to like? Though I've never been fully clear on what happens if you get killed in Valhalla as well, so the good bits might be pretty short lived if you die for good.

I think more Valkyries come to get you. I must say, it does sound rather appetizing...

However, I have always wanted to meet Discworld's Death. Perhaps I could challenge him to a game. After all, you can only gain from it, since you are dying any way.

 

[ABLb0y]

I'd go with either the Reapers from TWEWY (At least I'd have a chance to come back to life) or Death from The Book Thief. She's at least affable, if not plain sweet compared to the other Personifications.

 

[Dominic Burchnall]

However, I have always wanted to meet Discworld's Death. Perhaps I could challenge him to a game. After all, you can only gain from it, since you are dying any way.

I'd want to play a game with him so he gets to spend some time with someone. Poor fellow, with a few notable exceptions (Rincewind, Vimes, so on,)no-one ever comes back to see him, and the people he meets don't usually have "Making New Friends" at the top of their to-do list when he does.

One quote that's always stuck with me was that Sir Terry Pratchett says he sometimes recives letters from terminally ill fans, saying that when they do pass over they hope that the Death they meet is like the one in his books. He says that these letters always cause him to stop and stare at the wall for long periods of time. Must be strange to think you've been so influential that you've given people hope upon death, let alone beyond it...

 

[MightyRabbit]

Well yes Discworld's Death would be awesome, but he's my second choice after the Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Perky goth chick that loves pop culture and is DAMN hot? Yes. Please.

 

[evilstonermonkey]

Gregg the Grim Reaper from Conker's Bad Fur Day.

But seriously, either Death of the Endless or DEATH from Discworld. They care in their own way about the people they are picking up. Interestingly enough, in both settings where you go after you die is really dependent on your beliefs. Diverging a little from the initial question of what personification of death would you prefer, I think that would be the ideal system for the afterlife - those that believe in it get heaven or hell, others get picked up by the valkyries, still others may have their hearts weighed by Anubis.

 

[DoctorFrankenStein]

Thanatos is the Greek god of Death, and his brother is Morpheus the god of dreams.

I'm pretty sure Thanatos and Morpheus were daemons, not true Olympian gods. I just thought I'd put that out there.

I just didn't think it would be a good idea to use that word since most people don't know the difference between a Greek daemon and a Christian demon. I forgot that gamers often have a better grip on mythology then most people. My bad. haha.

 

[DoctorFrankenStein]

what is this discworld people speak of?

It's... incredible... full of stars, the whole nine yards. Terry Pratchett is a genius writer from England with a HUGE universe of fantasy/parody books set in a place called the Discworld.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld

 

[Smertnik]

If Pratchett's Death came for me I would depart to the afterlife as a happy man.

what is this discworld people speak of?

There're people who don't know Pratchett? I'm flabberghasted :O

 

[DoctorFrankenStein]

Can I get the Valyries from Norse mythology, who come and whisk me away to Valhalla whee I might join my fellow Einherjar in waging eternal war alongside the gods?

Did somebody play Valkyrie Profile, or do you just know mythology that well?

OT: I'd stick with the grim reaper, with no voice. Spoken word would make it seem human, and I'm not sure a voice exists that could do Death justice.

There is ONE that comes close....

a gift for you all

*obligatory text extension in case i get in trouble*

If you're not familiar with the Discworld series; Terry Pratchett uses all ALL CAPITOL LETTERS for every time Death speaks. He's a major character in several of the books.

 

[otakon17]

Probably Valkyries, I mean a stunningly beautiful woman decending from the heavens to whisk me off to a realm of endless wine, wenchs and warfare, what's not to like? Though I've never been fully clear on what happens if you get killed in Valhalla as well, so the good bits might be pretty short lived if you die for good.

When you die in Valhalla you just pick yourself up when the battle is over, good as new and then go back to the Mead Hall for the feast.

OT: For me it's probably some damn poindexter in a business suit telling me if I don't hurry he'll be late for his next 100,000 appointments for the day. But damn, Valkyries would be nice...

 

[Kizi]

Umm.... duh?

Spoiler

Death may as well be cute.

Where's that from?
OT: I'd say Hades from Disney's Hercules. He's like Jay Leno of the underworld.

 

[Spineyguy]

I wouldn't mind a Terry Pratchett-style Death, or the one from Marvel comics.

Deadpool you lucky, lucky sod.

 

[Condor219]

OT: I'd stick with the grim reaper, with no voice. Spoken word would make it seem human, and I'm not sure a voice exists that could do Death justice.

There is ONE that comes close....

If you're not familiar with the Discworld series; Terry Pratchett uses all ALL CAPITOL LETTERS for every time Death speaks. He's a major character in several of the books.

Powerful stuff right there. I suppose Death should be more of a sage than an evil entity; he doesn't cause the death, he just makes sure everything's running as it's supposed to. I still think words would be a rare thing for Death to use (though if he did, it's be like that voice with the two-voices-in-one and wind-in-the-words effects), given how powerful simple gestures and looks can be.

 

[DoctorFrankenStein]

OT: I'd stick with the grim reaper, with no voice. Spoken word would make it seem human, and I'm not sure a voice exists that could do Death justice.

There is ONE that comes close....

If you're not familiar with the Discworld series; Terry Pratchett uses all ALL CAPITOL LETTERS for every time Death speaks. He's a major character in several of the books.

Powerful stuff right there. I suppose Death should be more of a sage than an evil entity; he doesn't cause the death, he just makes sure everything's running as it's supposed to. I still think words would be a rare thing for Death to use (though if he did, it's be like that voice with the two-voices-in-one and wind-in-the-words effects), given how powerful simple gestures and looks can be.

Well without tooting my own horn too much- I also use Death as a character in the book series I've written/published - http://deathbydawn.com/
Though I call him Azrael instead of Death. It seems more respectful for the context of the stories and puts the emphasis on his position as an angel as well as the anthropomorphic personification of Death. [Mine has gray angel wings too.]
I ended up using the all capitals treatment for his voice too, I couldn't conceive of doing it any other way. In one of the later books I reveal that the tiny piece of himself he gave to his adopted daughter Dawn to make her nigh immortal resulted in him having a spark of humanity in trade. This came with the added benefit of some basic emotions [hard to control] and free will.
So when he's about to do something that he would normally be forbidden from, [like murdering an entity that's angered him] his voice breaks up in a random mix of upper and lowercase letters. I think it's a good visual trick to indicate the basic conflict in what's occurring.

 

[Condor219]

Well without tooting my own horn too much- I also use Death as a character in the book series I've written/published - http://deathbydawn.com/
Though I call him Azrael instead of Death. It seems more respectful for the context of the stories and puts the emphasis on his position as an angel as well as the anthropomorphic personification of Death. [Mine has gray angel wings too.]
I ended up using the all capitals treatment for his voice too, I couldn't conceive of doing it any other way. In one of the later books I reveal that the tiny piece of himself he gave to his adopted daughter Dawn to make her nigh immortal resulted in him having a spark of humanity in trade. This came with the added benefit of some basic emotions [hard to control] and free will.
So when he's about to do something that he would normally be forbidden from, [like murdering an entity that's angered him] his voice breaks up in a random mix of upper and lowercase letters. I think it's a good visual trick to indicate the basic conflict in what's occurring.

Personally, WHENEVER I READ IN ALL CAPS I TEND TO GET THE FEELING OF SOMEONE SHOUTING AT ME, though I suppose that's because without proper context it's what we're expected to believe. And the caps/lowercase system sounds perfect to display a conflict of interest (always wondered how using graphophonic literary tools could be of any use, but that sounds like a definite one).

I wonder why there aren't more stories that characterize Death. Maybe because we're told it's supposed to be enigmatic and fearful, and learning about anything strips it of its fear. Probably that we ourselves are afraid of dying, and exploring it usually isn't one of the top things on most people's lists.