History Main / Shinigami

* ''LightNovel/DakaraBokuWaHGaDekinai'' is full of these. There are actually two opposing factions driving the main conflict. [[BadassPrincess Lisara]]'s side takes pity on humans, and regularly allows them to live longer than they're supposed to. On the other hand, [[WellIntentionedExtremist Gardarblog]]'s side believes this practice has upset Earth's balance, and the resulting overpopulation is causing unnecessary suffering for humanity via famines and wars.

* Lisara in ''LightNovel/DakaraBokuWaHGaDekinai''.
* In ''Manga/VirginRipper'', they are souls who commited the sin of suicide but met certain requirements and so were given the opportunity to redeem themselves by taking this job. Their duty is to escort the souls of the deceased to the Gate of Judgement, where it will be decided whether they are to go to Heaven or Hell.

* ''Manga/FullMoonOSagashite'' has two cute spiffily dressed shinigami giving [[OlderAlterEgo age inducing]] IdolSinger powers to a charge who will die within a year to throat cancer. (It's actually a lot more complicated than it sounds.)

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* The Korean version, Jeoseung-Saja or "Messenger of the Other Side", shows up once in a while in manhwa. They tend to be much creepier than their Japanese counterparts, possibly because Sajas, with their traditional jerkassness, are an integral part of Shamanic funerals, which are still practiced in most rural areas. They're traditionally portrayed as corrupt government agents, sometimes threatening to abuse the departed soul in their custody unless bribed with offerings(usually food or some clothes).

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* ''Webcomic/ShinigamiDeathPunch'', obviously. All of the main characters are shinigami, in the case of the {{Psychopomp}} variety. They're also decidedly young and hipster, with a structured bureaucracy dictating most of their actions.

* ''Manga/MurderPrincess'' features a shinigami which is goblin-like, but still hip and young; the fact that he ''works'' for the titular character speaks on how BadAss she is. At the start of the series when she sees her own body, she assumes that she's dead and tells him to show her the way to Hell.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is an anime and manga about [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters an entire society of shinigami]] who seemingly spend more time fighting TheHeartless than actually acting as psychopomps. Ferrying the dead to Soul Society is a job left to low-ranking shinigami while the more powerful shinigami focus on protecting the world from dangerous supernatural threats and administrating the low-ranking shinigami duties. The official English translation calls them Soul Reapers, a translation that met with Kubo's approval.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'' features Shinigami who come in a variety of monstrous forms, from Ryuk, who resembles MonsterClown, to Rem and Sidoh who both look like [[{{Mummy}} mummies]]. They all have retractable wings that can be used for flight, they're immune to any weapon from a human, and can [[IntangibleMan phase through objects]]. They're InvisibleToNormals, unless said normal touches the Death Note owned by that Shinigami. They sustain themselves by writing names down in their Death Note, which magically kills the person, and then gaining the remaining years that person would've lived. Despite their power, they're very lazy as a society, and do little more than play cards. Ryuk only dropped a spare Death Note into the human world because he was incredibly bored.

The Japanese version of TheGrimReaper. Contrary to popular belief, they [[NewerThanTheyThink aren't part of traditional Japanese mythology]], but got imported from Europe in the 19th century. Originally used to refer to a single entity featured in the play "Shinigami" (usually translated as "death god," but the word is "''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kami kami]]'' of death" with its own set of connotations), the term has since evolved to refer to an entire race of {{Psychopomp}}s in Japanese culture. [[Manga/DeathNote Or evil demonic soul eaters]]. [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Or those assigned to kill evil demonic soul eaters]]. [[OurMonstersAreDifferent Each tale tells it differently]].

* ''Manga/BlackButler'' uses these pretty standardly, as supposed-to-be-neutral beings managed by a bureaucratic regimen (e.g., much grumbling about overtime), who review the lives of people destined to die, deciding whether or not they should live. They and demons seem to dislike one another...

Shinigami are sometimes depicted as goblin or skeletal creatures who cause death and accidents, but some popular and more recent depictions of Shinigami are closer to [[OurVampiresAreDifferent western vampires]], with them being portrayed as {{immortal}}, attractive hip young people who wield a [[ComboPlatterPowers variety of superpowers]], chief among them SoulPower ([[TheDeadCanDance dancing skills not included]]). They will usually either cause death to sustain themselves, [[DarkIsNotEvil peacefully escort souls]] to the afterlife (see {{Psychopomp}}), slay demons and poltergeists who cause unnatural deaths, or be the result of unnatural deaths themselves (interestingly similar to the ''first'' definition of Shinigami, though this is almost never brought up). Or various combinations of the above.

In a few instances, their counterparts are "[[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]]". Only superficially the Judeo-Christian variety, as they tend to be ex-humans too. A mix of Myth/JapaneseMythology and FluffyCloudHeaven.

* In ''Shinigami Jones, the Hunter''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7630438/1/Shinigami-Jones-the-Hunter ]], the Tenth Doctor lampshades the origin (and misapplication) of the term by purposefully misunderstanding Jones' reason for choosing it as part of his name.

* Shinigami appear in ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' as the keepers of the Underworld of Endelphia. They're also known as [[{{Woolseyism}} Halja]] in the english dub. They're huge [[NightmareFuel scary rotting wraiths]] with [[EvilSoundsDeep deep voices]] (they're voiced by NorioWakamoto, naturally) and large curved [[SinisterScythe sickles as weapons]]. They're fought as minibosses several times, usually in the Underworld.

* In ''Anime/RiskySafety'', Risky is a shinigami in training (basically a mini-Grim Reaper) whose job is talking people into commiting suicide. She's also six inches tall, ''adorable'', and on a [[JekyllAndHyde body time-share]] with a cute little angel who tries to undo her work. It's a comedy series, despite the dark sounding subject matter.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is an anime and manga about [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters an entire society of shinigami]] who seemingly spend more time fighting TheHeartless than actually acting as psychopomps. Ferrying the dead to Soul Society is a job left to low-ranking shinigami while the more powerful shinigami focus on protecting the world from dangerous supernatural threats and administrating the low-ranking shinigami duties. The official English translation calls them Soul Reapers.

In a few instances, their counterparts are "[[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]]". Only superficially the Judeo-Christian variety, as they tend to be ex-humans too. A mix of Japanese Mythology and FluffyCloudHeaven.

* Komachi Onozuka of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is [[TheSlacker the laziest shinigami on this page]]. Unfortunately for her, her boss can see ANYWHERE, so there's very little chance for her to do so. Or at least, little chance to do so without getting caught. Also note that her role is more of a [[GreekMythology Charon]] [[TheFerryMan analogue]] than the GrimReaper - her job is to ferry the souls of the dead across the Sanzu River and into the afterlife proper.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has both an entire race of LawfulNeutral Outsiders called the {{Psychopomp}}s who are responsible for collecting, guarding and guiding the souls of the dead, who range in nature from creepy little masked bird-things to festive skeletons in flamboyant garb to huge feathery raven-dragons, and also a race of LawfulNeutral outsiders called Shinigami, who serve much the same purpose. They are implied to be responsible only for the Tian region, which is an expy/mishmash of China, Japan and Korea, and appear as pale-skinned Asiatic-looking humanoids with [[GoodWingsEvilWings large bird-like wings that are totally naked of flesh, making them nothing but bare bone]].

** Plus, unlike the Japanese folktales, Korean folktales have named the three most powerful Jeoseung-sajas; Hae Won-maek(who takes care of the Underworld matters), Yi Deok-chun(who is in charge of the human world), and Ganglim-doryeong(also known as King Ganglim, and direct subordinate to the Yeomra-Daewang, ruler of the underworld). These three are the leaders of every Saja and the most well-known of the Jeoseung-sajas, mostly thanks to the KoreanWebtoon [[http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/list.nhn?titleId=119877 Shingwa-Hamkke('Together with Gods')]], which deals with KoreanMythology.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has both an entire race of LawfulNeutral Outsiders called {{The Psychopomp}}s who are responsible for collecting, guarding and guiding the souls of the dead, who range in nature from creepy little masked bird-things to festive skeletons in flamboyant garb to huge feathery raven-dragons, and also a race of LawfulNeutral outsiders called Shinigami, who serve much the same purpose. They are implied to be responsible only for the Tian region, which is an expy/mishmash of China, Japan and Korea, and appear as pale-skinned Asiatic-looking humanoids with [[GoodWingsEvilWings large bird-like wings that are totally naked of flesh, making them nothing but bare bone]].

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is an anime and manga about [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters an entire society of shinigami]] who seemingly spend more time fighting TheHeartless than actually acting as psychopomps. Ferrying the dead to Soul Society is a job left to low-ranking shinigami while the more powerful shinigami focus on protecting the world from dangerous supernatural threats and administrating the low-ranking shinigami duties. The official English translation calls them Soul Reapers on the advice of the author who stated "Soul Reaper" is more accurate for their duties than "Death God".

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is an anime and manga about [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters an entire society of shinigami]] who seemingly spend more time fighting TheHeartless than actually acting as psychopomps.
** In the English dub, Shinigami are known as Soul Reapers. [[WordOfGod Kubo]] has said that the term "soul reaper" is closer to what he meant than "death god". This does have the unfortunate effect of negating some god-related puns later in the series, but it's probably an acceptable trade-off for making sure Western fans realize Shinigami/Soul Reapers aren't meant to be divine beings.
** This is primarily because the ferrying of souls is a relatively easy task that can be accomplished by low-level Shinigami. The series primarily focuses on the higher-ranked Shinigami, who typically don't partake in these duties, but are instead charged with administrative duties in order to make sure the Gotei 13 runs smoothly, along with being the primary fighting force if Soul Society were to ever be threatened.

*** Also, that [[KikukoInoue Shinigami with a familiar voice]] described herself similarly to a Zaku with an "I have landed on this planet" reference, showing that she may be Lieutenant Barberry's delusions of a Shinigami.

* ''Manga/{{Rinne}}'' has the eponymous hero, Rinne, act as a "sort of Shinigami". His grandmother Tamako is a full Shinigami who has fallen behind on her quota and he has to help working off her debt. Though most of the debt on Rinne's shoulders was put there by his [[CorruptCorporateExecutive deadbeat]], {{Jerkass}}, [[EvilIsSexy majorly]] [[HotShoujoDad hot]] father.

** The misuse of the name ''Shinigami'' could actually make it a subversion, as they're more like [[{{Psychopomp}} Psychopomps]].

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* Hmac from ''[[Blog/{{Bronyism}} -Trollvorlord]]'' [[BadassBoast boasts that he could]] [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu beat down a Shinigami]] with barely any effort.