History Main / LifeDeathJuxtaposition

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Creator/GustavKlimt: ''Death and Life'' has a skull-faced humanoid representing Death look on at a group of humans entwined in each other representing Life.

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' [[spoiler: Nia]] flat out states this to Malos during a confrontation after TheReveal.
** [[spoiler: Nia]]: "Your power might destroy, Malos, but my power restores. There is no injury you can inflict that I cannot heal!"

Compare and contrast LightDarknessJuxtaposition, which often associates life with light and death with darkness; FireWaterJuxtaposition, when one of those elements has a creation motif and the other a destruction motif; LightningFireJuxtaposition, when the same happens between lightning and fire; ElementalRivalry, when "[[GreenThumb Life]]" and "[[{{Necromancer}} Death]]" are treated as elements in a work; NatureVersusTechnology based on the natural and the artificial, and BirthDeathJuxtaposition, which is when the act of being born is juxtaposed with the act of dying. Compare InterplayOfSexAndViolence. Expect {{Symbolic Baptism}}s to play with this type of contrast. A character embodying this is in a MortalityGreyArea.

Compare and contrast LightDarknessJuxtaposition, which often associates life with light and death with darkness; FireWaterJuxtaposition, when one of those elements has a creation motif and the other a destruction motif; LightningFireJuxtaposition, when the same happens between lightning and fire; ElementalRivalry, when "[[GreenThumb Life]]" and "[[{{Necromancer}} Death]]" are treated as elements in a work, and BirthDeathJuxtaposition, which is when the act of being born is juxtaposed with the act of dying. Compare InterplayOfSexAndViolence. Expect {{Symbolic Baptism}}s to play with this type of contrast. A character embodying this is in a MortalityGreyArea.

* The BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil in ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}'' is between that of the life-bringing, nature-loving forces of the forest and the decay-and-darkness-loving forces of rot.

Compare and contrast LightDarknessJuxtaposition, which often associates life with light and death with darkness; FireWaterJuxtaposition, when one of those elements has a creation motif and the other a destruction motif; LightningFireJuxtaposition, when the same happens between lightning and fire; ElementalRivalry, when "[[GreenThumb Life]]" and "[[{{Necromancer}} Death]]" are treated as elements in a work, and BirthDeathJuxtaposition, which is when the act of being born is juxtaposed with the act of dying. Compare InterplayOfSexAndViolence. Expect {{Symbolic Baptism}}s to play with this type of contrast.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''
** R'hllor and the Great Other have a fire-and-ice and life-and-death dichotomy.
** Right as Sansa's direwolf, Lady, is killed, the scene immediately cuts to her brother Bran waking up from his coma. Their family has a [[AnimalMotif wolf theme]], meaning that one wolf dies as another wakes from a death-like slumber.

* What the conflict between [[GreenThumb Green]] and [[CastingAShadow Black]] began in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. Nowadays, its more between [[YouCantFightFate fatalism]] and [[AmbitionIsEvil free will]] respectively.

As someone who had Silver Eyes, she was also a protector of life, and her name is Maria Calavera -- her theme is Dia de Los Muertos, which doesn't simply just mourn the deceased, but also celebrates life.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** Ruby and Qrow are associated with death in that they're both Huntsmen, they both wield scythes, and are have imagery related to death (blood for Ruby, crows for Qrow), but are also associated with life in that both seek to protect mankind no matter what, Ruby has the ultimate power to preserve life ([[spoiler:her Silver Eyes]]), and Qrow actively tries to avoid being associated with negative ideas like death.
** Qrow's inspiration (and therefore the inspiration of Ruby's inspiration), the Grimm Reaper, dual-wielded two scythes called "Life and Death", and also wore a skull mask. [[spoiler:As someone who had Silver Eyes, she was also a protector of life, and her name is Maria Calavera -- her theme is Dia de Los Muertos, which doesn't simply just mourn the deceased, but also celebrates life.]]

** [spoiler: Nia]]: "Your power might destroy, Malos, but my power restores. There is no injury you can inflict that I cannot heal!"

** [spoiler: Nia:]] "Your power might destroy, Malos, but my power restores. There is no injury you can inflict that I cannot heal!"

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' [[spoiler Nia]] flat out states this to Malos during a confrontation after [[TheReveal]].
** [spoiler Nia:]] "Your power might destroy, Malos, but my power restores. There is no injury you can inflict that I cannot heal!"

* On ''The Seeds of Love'' [[https://www.blackmagazin.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TFF-Seeds-Of-Love-Cover-.jpg album cover]] by Music/TearsForFears, there's a fish ornament on Roland Orzabal's umbrella (it's implied to be "dead" because fish can't survive outside a body of water) and his brooch is a stylized fish skeleton (so both fishes signify death), whereas Curt Smith's brooch is a stylized eye (only living creatures have eyes) with eyelashes adorned with a five-pointed star (which symbolizes the universe in general), the crescent moon (which rules Smith's zodiac sign Cancer) and the sun (which rules Orzabal's zodiac sign Leo). In other words, Smith's brooch is a whimsical representation of life being influenced by the cosmos (Orzabal is big on astrology, so he genuinely believes that celestial bodies determine our personalities and our destinies).

[[{{Foil}} Characters juxtaposed in this way]] may be any combination of VillainProtagonist and HeroAntagonist or the BigGood and the BigBad or whatnot.

* In ''TabletopGame/RPGStuck'', Claire Sigma is the Sylph of Life and [[spoiler:becomes a member of the undead after getting resurrected]], and she's also a DeathSeaker.

* In ''TabletopGame/RPGStuck'', Claire Sigma is the Sylph of Life and [[spoilers:becomes a member of the undead after getting ressurected]], and she's also a DeathSeaker.

* This is a recurring theme for the relationship between Zagreus and Thanatos in ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}''. Achilles even argues that Zagreus's (nebulous and speculative) position as a god of blood and rebirth is what makes him Thanatos's soulmate.

-->--''VideoGame/{{Hades}}''

->With whom should Death belong, if not with Blood, with Life?

* This is a recurring theme for the relationship between Zagreus and Thanatos in ''VideoGames/{{Hades}}''. Achilles even argues that Zagreus's (nebulous and speculative) position as a god of blood and rebirth is what makes him Thanatos's soulmate.