 | This article possibly contains original research. (April 2010) |
| Death | |
|---|---|
| Discworld character | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Death_Discworld.png) Death as illustrated by Paul Kidby in The Art of Discworld. | |
| First appearance | The Colour of Magic (1983) |
| Last appearance | The Shepherd's Crown (2015) |
| Created by | Terry Pratchett |
| Portrayed by | Marnix van den Broeke |
| Voiced by | Peter Serafinowicz Christopher Lee Wendell Pierce Ian Richardson John Rowe Michael Kilgarriff Stephen Thorne Rob Brydon Nigel Planer |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Bill Door (in Reaper Man) |
| Species | Personification of Death |
| Gender | Generally depicted as male[1][2] |
| Affiliation |
|
| Weapon | Scythe |
| Children | Ysabell (adoptive daughter) |
| Relatives | Mort (son-in-law) Susan Sto Helit (granddaughter) |
Death is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and a parody of several other depictions of the Grim Reaper across Europe. He is a black-robed skeleton who usually carries a scythe and on occasion a sword for dispatching royalty. His jurisdiction is specifically the Discworld itself; he being only a minion of Azrael, the Death of all things across the Universes — in much the same way as the Death of Rats is an infinitesimally small part of Death himself.
Pratchett explores human existence through his depiction of death, which became more sympathetic throughout the series as it progresses.
Death almost never kills anyone or anything[3] but — acting in the form of a psychopomp — he merely ensures that when lives comes to an end, they move on to where they believe they should go if they are sentient, which often involves a desert to be crossed.[4]
- ^ Kemp, Simon (March 18, 2015). "Terry Pratchett, Death and Grammar". Adventures on the Bookshelf.
- ^ Canon, Kiki V. (Spring 2018). "Not Cruel, Blessed, or Merciful: Pratchett, Gaiman, and the Personification of Death". Georgia Southern University.
- ^ [Death kills a butterfly in pique when Rincewind fails to die at the right time in the right place in The Colour of Magic + while duelling with his apprentice Mort at the end of the book Mort, he kills a number of people incidentally by breaking their lifetimers.]
- ^ Pratchett, Terry (1992). 'Small Gods'. Great Britain: Corgi. pp.98→101 + 353→355 + 379→381 - ISBN 0-552-13890-8