History Main / DontFearTheReaper

* In Mexico the character of la catrina its an important part of its folkclore, she is nice, loves to sing, dance and get fun with the mortals, expecially certain days like -el dia de los muertos- and if you are mexican she will appear at the day of your death

See also {{Psychopomp}} and GrimReaper. Compare with EverybodyHatesHades, when authors do almost the complete opposite with death-related deities. Distant cousin to TheDevilIsALoser. Compare NotAfraidToDie, which is about not fearing death itself rather than its personification.

* While Death from the ''{{Discworld}}'' series is still probably not the kind of person (or AnthropomorphicPersonification) you'd like to meet in a dark alleyway, what with him still being the classic cowled skeleton and all, he's arguably the closest thing the Discworld has to a responsible, benevolent deity. (The actual gods tend to be self-interested jerks running on Greek Mythology rules.) He stated that he has to care in order to do his job, although it's an extremely lonely one - people are still rarely, except under certain unfortunate circumstances, pleased to see him. Interestingly, despite him being a skeleton, there have been a fair few fans (some imminently due to be "collected") who've written to TerryPratchett saying that they hope that he wasn't too far off the mark. Pratchett also says that these letters usually cause him to spend some time staring at the wall. His family motto is "Non Timetis Messor" - Latin for "Don't fear the Reaper"- not to mention he's very fond of cats (it's suggested that cruelty to cats is one of the very few things that can make Death genuinely angry, and he also has adopted rather a large number of his own, which by all indications he takes quite good care of).

* ''AmericanGods'' has Jacquel and Ibis, who are the Egyptian gods Anubis and Thoth, currently living as undertakers in Illinois. Both are very humane people who treat the dead with respect and bring some comfort to their surviving family members.

** Actually, if you think about it [[spoiler:Nyx gave humanity death as a gift to relieve it from its wordly pain.]] WellIntentionedExtremist, maybe?

** Also of note during their final encounter John says, "Damn you!", to the mysterious man and he responds casually, "Many have.", before walking off. Death is something that many people do damn (hate) all their lives, or this could be a subtle reference to the man being God as many people take his name in vain (God Damn).

** Actually, if you think about it [[spoiler:Nyx gave humanity death as a gift to relieve it from it's wordly pain.]] WellIntentionedExtremist, maybe?

* Death in the NeverwinterNights2 mod saga DarkWaters is portrayed as a long-suffering hard-working bureaucrat who decides he's just not going to process your character because he's busy, thus excusing your deaths in-game.

** Wasn't he voiced by Adam Carolla of TheManShow and DrawnTogether fame?
*** Most of the time. Norm [=MacDonald=] provided the voice for his first appearance, but had to be replaced due to a conflict with his stand-up comedy schedule.

* la catrina from posada, better explained at the mitology folder

* Tessa, one of the Reapers from ''{{Supernatural}}''. Admittedly, some of the other Reapers we see range from creepy to outright scary, but Tessa appears to spirits as a gorgeous/hot, compassionate, and genuinely sweet servant of Death, [[spoiler:and Sam and Dean even willingly save her from meeting a grisly fate in season four]]. Though during her role there, she's a bit more snippy than in her first appearance, mostly dismissing the bros when they try to help a dead young boy who has yet to pass on. The reason being, for the latter, was that [[spoiler:she was supposed to take Dean, until he was brought back to life by Azazel, thanks to his dad making a deal]].

* Tessa, one of the Reapers from ''{{Supernatural}}''. Admittedly, some of the other Reapers we see range from creepy to outright scary, but Tessa appears to spirits as a gorgeous/hot, compassionate, and genuinely sweet servant of Death, [[spoiler:and Sam and Dean even willingly save her from meeting a grisly fate in season four]]. Though during her role there, she's a bit more snippy than in her first appearance, mostly dismissing the bros when they try to help a dead young boy who has yet to pass on.
*** The reason being, for the latter, was that [[spoiler:she was supposed to take Dean, until he was brought back to life by Azazel, thanks to his dad making a deal]].
** Death himself has also appeared now. While he doesn't seem actively malevolent, he's massively arrogant and callous, regarding humanity as totally insignificant, much in the way that a human would regard bacteria. However, he makes a deal with the protagonists to help them prevent the apocalypse, since he personally can't stand Lucifer. He also takes very little convincing to cancel Chicago's scheduled annihilation, claiming to be fond of their pizzas.
** More to the point, Death is a CosmicEntity who is as old as the universe and about the same age as God. He runs on BlueAndOrangeMorality and has seen the death of entire galaxies and will eventually ''[[BeyondTheImpossible reap God!]]'' Hence, he is ''[[DoNotTauntCthulhu extremely pissed off]]'' that he is bound to one tiny planet circling around a barely newborn sun in a young galaxy that usually wouldn't even be a blip on his radar, due to a spoilt brat having a tantrum (a.k.a [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]]). [[DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu Dean has a little problem swallowing his pizza after being told this.]] Just a gentle reminder that, no matter how much of an EldritchAbomination Lucifer may seem, there is AlwaysABiggerFish. A ''much'' bigger fish.

** This Death is also given a very human trait, one he shares with Dean: he really likes cheap but tasty food such as pizza, bacon dogs, and fried pickles.

** More to the point, Death is a CosmicEntity who is as old as the universe and about the same age as God. He runs on BlueAndOrangeMorality and has seen the death of entire galaxies and will eventually ''[[BeyondTheImpossible reap God!]]'' Hence, he is ''[[DoNotTauntCthulhu extremely pissed off]]'' that he is bound to one tiny planet circling around a barely newborn sun in a young galaxy that usually wouldn't even be a blip on his radar, due to [[TheKidWithTheRemoteControl a spoilt brat having a tantrum]] (a.k.a [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]]). [[DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu Dean has a little problem swallowing his pizza after being told this.]] Just a gentle reminder that, no matter how much of an EldritchAbomination Lucifer may seem, there is AlwaysABiggerFish. A ''much'' bigger fish.

** This Death is also given a very human trait, one he shares with Dean: he really likes cheap but tasty food such as pizza and bacon dogs.
*** And he just loves fried pickles.

* In the end of PuellaMagiMadokaMagica, [[spoiler:Madoka herself]] is seen appearing before magical girls whose soul gems are about to be corrupted and taking the gems with her, enabling them to die peacefully and go to the afterlife without becoming witches.

* While the other "The Last Trick-or-Treaters" strips by [[SomethingPositive Randy Milholland]] are HighOctaneNightmareFuel, [[http://www.rhymes-with-witch.com/rww10242011a.shtml this one]] starring the GrimReaper and an unfortunate trick-or-treater is oddly touching.

* While the other "The Last Trick-or-Treaters" strips by [[SomethingPositive Randy Milholland]] are HighOctaneNightmareFuel, [[http://www.rhymes-with-witch.com/rww10242011a.shtml this one]] starring the GrimReaper and an unfortunate trick-or-treater is oddly touching.

* In ''TimBurton's CorpseBride'', the land of the dead is a fun, colorful place full of [[DarkIsNotEvil corpses and skeletons who are perfectly friendly and laid back]], if a little "[[CloudCuckoolander off]]". This makes a refreshing contrast to the dull, stifling land of the living.

* Tessa, one of the Reapers from ''{{Supernatural}}''. Admittedly, some of the other Reapers we see range from creepy to outright scary, but Tessa appears to spirits as a comely, compassionate, and genuinely sweet servant of Death, [[spoiler:and Sam and Dean even willingly save her from meeting a grisly fate in season four]]. Though during her role there, she's a bit more snippy than in her first appearance, mostly dismissing the bros when they try to help a dead young boy who has yet to pass on.

For centuries, humanity has feared death, and understandably so, all things considered. Therefore, when personifying it, the result was often pretty terrifying. However, there has also been a [[DarkIsNotEvil very different attitude used at times]], with various writers and artists creating {{Death}}s that are not only not scary, but friendly, compassionate and otherwise the sort of people you'd want to be waiting for you at a difficult time like that.

** ''Mother, give me your hand...... You see. No shock. No engulfment. No tearing asunder. What you feared would come like an explosion is like a whisper. What you thought was the end is the beginning.'' - Death, assuring the old woman that her journey has just begun.

* And then there's the TropeNamer, [[BlueOysterCult Blue Öyster Cult]]'s "(Don't Fear) the Reaper", as quoted above, so it's also ''on'' the radio.

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