Dont Fear The Reaper / Video Games

• Brawlhalla: Has an interesting case in Nix, the Freelance Reaper, as she's not particularly nasty, just focused on her job and she likes to go for bigger prey because they pay out more. She also holds respect for fellow Psychopomp Brynn.
• In Cafe Enchante, Canus is the Fairy of Death. He is a kind and gentle individual who enjoys gardening and help carry groceries for Kotone but his own fairy kind, who are essentially immortal, fear him as they don't understand the concept of death. Nor do they understand why Canus must kill a certain quota of the citizens to regularly feed the Yggadrasil.
• Conker's Bad Fur Day features Gregg the Grim Reaper. He's shorter than the squirrel protagonist, he talks like a chipmunk, and cats, squirrels, and other creatures with multiple lives irritate him to no end. He's not evil, just a bit of a jerk. Upon your first life lost, he introduces Conker to the concept of getting squirrel tails as lives (including giving him one) and later gives you a gun so you can kill zombies (granted, this is also to help him get rid of them, since they are a hassle for his job).
• Cursed Trilogy: Death is entirely on the side of the heroes. He has no interest in taking someone before their time, and is perfectly willing to do the heroes favors when he can. He'll even bring someone back to life if the circumstances are suitable.
• Death in AdventureQuest always tells you he has filled his quota of souls for the day, and sends you back saying you owe him one. For whatever reason, he never calls in the favor. Again, played for laughs.
• Cultist Simulator: The Elegiast is a Winter Hour with dominion over the dead, but he's specifically stated to never lie, always keep his promises, refuse to forget those who have died, and to be the one Hour who is never cruel.
• Death of Death Jr.. is portrayed as a family man who, in the comics, is happily married to a human woman and is a father who, while stern, is generally willing to show his son aspects of his job. As he once says in a comic book offshoot, "Son, there are two things you can always count on: taxes, and your old man."
• Zig-zagged a few times in Fate/Grand Order due to its Crossover Cosmology.
  • Grand Assassin Hassan-i-Sabbah "First Hassan" shows signs of being based on the Abrahamic/Islamic interpretation of the Angel of Death. He is formal, stern, and reserved at all times, but usually willing to help those who ask for it, provided they show him proper respect. Any time he shows up in the story is a "Hell, Yes!" Moment for you and a Mook Horror Show for the enemies.
  • Ereshkigal, Sumerian goddess of the Underworld, is a Type-B Tsundere prone to depression and loneliness and overwhelmed by her job to the point that her goal in Babylonia is to destroy civilization so no one else will die and she can quit. She is actually pretty good at her job, though; once a soul appears in the underworld she explains the rules to them, guides them to cages to stabilize their existence and explains their options to them. We see her being dramatic with one soul but she dials it back when she notices she was scaring them. Despite having an in-universe alignment of Chaotic Evil she is none of those things and that presumably comes from having a negative reputation within her pantheon.
  • Although we do not see him, in Lostbelt 5 Hades sided with humanity against Zeus taking over the world, and was killed in battle.
• Manny Calavera of Grim Fandango and the page quote is a charming salesman; it just happens that he sells travel packages to carry dead souls safely through the afterlife. His job and that of his fellow Reapers is simply to ensure people get what they deserve. Most of them aren't scary at all. In fact, when an earlier Reaper, Salvador, learned that good people were being denied their "sweet hereafters" and being forced to linger in the Land of the Dead, he quit his job, denying himself his 'benefits', and started a revolution.
  • Even worse? Salvador had a ticket the entire time. They stole it and forced him into working for them. That's meant to be for the really nasty people.
• Grenth, the human God of Death in Guild Wars is friendly to his followers and freely allows resurrection. The Underworld quests task you with aiding his Reapers against a usurper god Dhuum.
• In Hades Thanatos, the Anthropomorphic Personification of Death, is presented as a handsome young man with Mystical White Hair wielding a scythe and cape, and he's responsible for dealing with mortals who died peacefully (much like how later Greek myths depict him). He's the brother of Player Character Zagreus (although by the time he appears Zag will already know they're Not Blood Siblings) and will occasionally appear to help Zagreus clear a room. He is portrayed as thoroughly sympathetic, even if he's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who is prone to scolding Hypnos (because of his failures at work) and Zagreus (because of the mess he's caused), and even then, he's later shown to have feelings for Zagreus and is one of the Love Interests of the game.
• Death in the first Hatoful Boyfriend is just a card of a reaper with a bird skull for a face, whose appearance on reaching a Bad Ending can be alarming. But in the next game, Holiday Star, he's the conductor on a train carrying souls through the afterlife, and is amiable and a little folksy. The protagonist cheerfully claims familiarity with him and even says that they are friends, which he doesn't dispute.
  • She says they've been friends since the demo, and implies it's because she's had so many bad ends. This would imply that she remembers all her bad ends.
• Hitman (2016) has a purely literal example with "Tobias Rieper" (aka the assassin Agent 47), who is human despite the name. He takes pride in being more like a force of nature than a murderer, never killing people other than his target, causing unnecessary panic, or using his strength selfishly. It's hard to fear someone who plays "La Cucaracha" for fun, however cold they may be otherwise.
  • No less culpable in 47's deeds is his superior, Diana Burnwood. She is the reason that a lot of drug lords, blackmailers, and other murderers of various stripes can't hurt anyone anymore, and in later games only accepts contracts on people she believes have it coming. She isn't hypocritical, either- her parents were murdered for no fault of their own, yet she forgives their assassin and continues in her own bloody job, still certain that death can be more of a benefit to the world than a curse. Notably, she does not blame 47 at all when he shoots her in Absolution.
• Mara, one of the gods from the Incursion, puts a big emphasis on fulfillment and resolution; she is surprisingly free with resurrections for her worshipers. Unusually for this trope, she is also the goddess of The Undead and doesn't view them as abominations.
• The Spirit Monk from Jade Empire can be nice and helpful to departed souls if the player chooses. The Spirit Monk's boss, the Water Dragon, spends most of the game incapacitated in a grisly fashion, but takes the form of a benevolent, kindly woman known as the Shepherd of the Dead. Like a Jesus/Guan Yin combo.
• Lamb and Wolf, the divided entities of Kindred in League of Legends, zigzag with this trope all over the place. At every individual's death, Lamb and Wolf appear, and said individual is forced to choose between accepting Lamb or fleeing from Wolf. Accepting Lamb means a peaceful and painless death when the time comes. Try to run, though, and Wolf will ensure that your end is painful and violent as a price for attempting to prolong your life.
• Uncle Death in Let It Die is a Finnish skateboarding otaku who guides you throughout the game, looks up to you, and even calls you "senpai". He was supposed to wipe out humanity after you defeat the Fourth Don, but since he likes playing with you he decides not to.
• Krypta, the Goddess of Death in Majesty, is apparently quite compassionate and egalitarian. One of the character vignettes has a priestess of Krypta teaming up with a Paladin of Dauros to destroy some monsters who had been killing pointlessly.
• In Manual Samuel, despite being a Totally Radical moron who’s “dressed like a douchebag for some reason”, Death is a pretty nice guy who gives Samuel a second chance at life out of the kindness of his heart (and because he wanted to use Sam’s Shreds of Life to buy a new skateboard).
• In Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, Shinigami is a Shinigami, and is upbeat, mischievous, and very likely to play around with others for fun and offer a blunt remark, providing much of the game's Black Comedy, who serves as the game's deuteragonist. She is also extremely oblivious to social norms, and is also able to reap people's souls, so she is not harmless.
• Maximo: Ghosts to Glory has Grim, The Grim Reaper, who is a all around pleasant guy and a wise-ass. The sequel game shows that it's not just a job for him, he feels paternal to the souls he guards and hates to see them trapped or used for evil. In fact, in the second game he even directly helps Maximo this time by functioning as the game's Super Mode, temporarily replacing Maximo.
• The grim reaper in Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream is a odd, overly-polite little flower fairy creature who is the butt of a lot of jokes over the course of the game for incompetence. Granted, he earned it when he claimed the heroine instead of the cat he was sent for.
• Neverwinter Nights:
  • Death in the Neverwinter Nights 2 mod saga Dark Waters 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. This is Played for Laughs.
  • The actual Reaper of Hordes of the Underdark is benign, and merely opens many doors for you to take once you reach his realm, provided you have the means of paying him to be resurrected... This is later used against you once it is revealed that his true name was discovered by the Big Bad Mephistopheles. Said archdevil used him until the perfect moment so that the hero would be trapped in Cania (read: Hell) and so that the Reaper would not be able to help them escape. And even then the Reaper still steers you towards a way to free you from this problem (as well as himself from this servitude).
• Nocturne In Yellow: While Morena isn't particularly friendly and is fought as a boss, she repeatedly warns Vikenti to turn back and seems genuinely reluctant to kill him, letting him off with a warning in her first boss fight. Even when she is actually trying to kill him, it's mostly just to spare him the fate that would befall him if he was defeated by the island's Soul Eating master. After she's defeated she relents, helping Vikenti move forward to face the island's master so he can kill it.
• Persona 3 has few examples:
  • First is Nyx, who is described being the Bringer of Death, and the one who will kill everyone during the Fall. However, she is not malevolent, but rather believes that what people want is death and she would be the one to bring it. She's not even wrong, as it's Erebus, the embodiment of humanity's collective desire for death, calling out to Nyx that is the true catalyst of the Fall. When the protagonist gave his soul to seal Nyx away, what he actually did was prevent Erebus from making contact with her.
  • Her Avatar, who is even called Death, is really friendly in his two human forms (the mysterious boy with amnesia called Pharos and The Casanova transfer student Ryoji Mochizuki). He even offers to erase your memories of everything so that you can die in peace.
• Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth has Zen, who used to be an uncaring god of death until he took pity on one departed soul, and has since become a much kinder being. How much so? He's one of your party members.
• The Phoenix Yveltal in Pokémon Y is a Destroyer Deity that serves as the embodiment of death itself. It's also a case of Dark Is Not Evil, as the deaths it causes are the result of it being a force of nature meant to pave the way for new life rather than malice. In fact, it actively works against the Big Bad seeking to abuse its power and inflict mass death.
• In the point-and-click game Riddles of Fate: Memento Mori, Death wears sinister armor and is gravelly-voiced, but he's ultimately a well-meaning young man who seeks to maintain the balance between life and death: In order for new souls to be born, people who are fated to die must die. Those who Screw Destiny face severe consequences, as their attempts often involve exploiting the lives of others to prolong their own life (or the lives of their loved ones).
• In RuneScape, the Grim Reaper may be a skeleton in a black robe, but he is friendly, has a good sense of humour, is a great fan of a certain rock band, and had the Catchphrase of "Gotta reap 'em all". Death is also one of the Guardians of Guthix, a band of Chosen Ones by the god most conscientious of mortal rights. In RS3, Death will even retrieve your belongings when you're killed, for a small fee (not applicable in the Wilderness). He's also a bit overworked, and will offer you Slayer tasks involving boss monsters whose souls he needs to make his quota.
  • Icthlarin of the Menaphite pantheon also qualifies, being the equivalent of Anubis or Osiris and hence the god of guiding souls into the afterlife. He and Death are good friends, to the point that Sliske holds Death hostage during the quest "Missing, Presumed Death" to guarantee Icthlarin's cooperation. Sadly, Icthlarin's sister Amascut (a splice of Ammut and Sehkmet), formerly the goddess of rebirth for the just and punishment for the unjust, has gone round the bend.
• In Shin Megami Tensei IV, Charon is willing to let the player go for a relatively small price. He says that it's mostly because he's really overworked, most likely still processing people from the apocalypse a few centuries ago. If you decline, he actually complains that you don't want to come back to life, and if you refuse a second time he'll let you queue up for the afterlife, but makes it clear that he really doesn't want to do it.
• The Sims:
  • The series portrays the Grim Reaper very kindly; he listens to pleas for dead sims to be revived, and he gives a chance for the Sims to win back their loved ones, and even if they failed at his little game, he might bring them back as zombies anyway. He also gives discounts on children's resurrections. He enjoys watching TV, and if he arrives at a party, he might party with the residents, even though he always spoils the mood with his arrival. Oh that silly Reaper.
  • If a sim dies of old age while in Platinum Aspiration in The Sims 2, the Reaper shows up in a flower lei, accompanied by hula girl zombies, to send your sim on an eternal vacation to Tropical Paradise Heaven.
  • One of the plot hooks in Strangetown is the product of an affair between the local Black Widow and the friendly guy who kept coming for her husbands.
  • Thanks to the University expansion, you can even call the Reaper and bribe him to resurrect your loved ones (or bargain with him as they're dying). He offers a reduced rate for children, but stiffing him otherwise can have some unpleasant consequences.
  • If you have the Pets expansion, the Reaper will play with your dogs and cats when he comes for them.
  • Though he does have his temper. In Sims 3 University Life, if you rant against him, he will strike down your sim. He does resurrect them and tells them not to do that again as he's got a job to do.
  • One amusing glitch can happen in Sims 3. One tumblr user reported that a sims' husband died a few minutes before the female sim started to give birth. This causes all NPCs on the lot to panic at that... Including Death. Another posted "What do I do? This is the opposite of my job!"
  • The Sims 4 adds to this even more. If the Grim Reaper comes to your lot to reap a sim, he will stay, and be interacted with. Your sim can come up and try to be his friend, and it will work! There's even an in-game achievement for doing this.
    Grim: Aww, how can you not trust this face?
  • GrayStillPlays also discovered that a mod which adds various narcotics to the game did not flag the Grim Reaper as drug-averse, and he proceeds to ignore various deaths happening while he takes a snort.
• Soul Nomad & the World Eaters:
  • The Master of Death of the protagonist's homeworld, Vigilance, was picked for the position by the world's chief god specifically because of his kindness and compassion, knowing that he would be far more appropriate than anyone callous or indifferent. Unfortunately, Median believed he was responsible for causing the death of his child and killed him, leaving the souls of the dead unguarded and causing souls to be slowly stolen from the world.
  • Gig, a Master of Death from another world, is an aversion: He's cruel, genocidal, rude, arrogant and essentially void of redeeming characteristics. He was sent to kill every living thing in Haephnes and did a pretty good job of it until Median's daughter managed a double knockout and sealed his soul into a black sword. Later revelations make it clear that Gig and Vigilance are the same person, but the god Drazil corrupted his soul because, once again, there was no one to guard it. It was then sent back. As Gig slowly awakens to his former life, he mellows out and reaches a middle ground between the perfect and compassionate Vigilance and the omnicidal Gig.
• Spiritfarer: The protagonist, Stella, is a Spiritfarer, a Psychopomp whose job is to find lost souls and help them deal with their unresolved emotional problems so that they can pass on to the afterlife.
• In the RPG Maker game Tales From The Reaper, Reapers effectively form the Magical Underpinnings of Reality, and there are Reapers of life, afterlife, death, nature, physics, the "unseen world", and even free will. The Reaper in charge of death hates her job, by the way.
• Touhou Project:
  • Not-so-grim reaper Komachi is often portrayed as a Hard-Drinking Party Girl whenever she isn't napping for days on end. She basically just wants to "go at her own pace", which happens to be lethargic, even by a (non-flying) turtle's standards, and is notably bright and cheery any time it involves anything besides the drudgery of doing her job. Fanon aside, it seems her sloth comes from trying to do her job too well and spending too much time with each soul rather than working efficiently and heartlessly to meet her quota like she's supposed to. She also takes breaks to give advice to the living.
  • Komachi's boss Eiki, who judges the dead, is often portrayed equally comically by the fandom, as a workaholic who spends much of her time stressing out about Komachi's (lack of) work habits, and her own days off committing laughably minor misdeeds.
• Vega Strike apparently has "The Mistress" as a part of the in-'verse folklore. Looks great in the Game Over screen^note DXT format, anyway.
• The Grim Reaper is one of the many superheroes in The Wonderful 101, codenamed "Wonder Death". We don't get much info about his personality (since he's one of the minor characters), but since he's a superhero, he can't be all that bad.
• The Reapers in The World Ends with You are a varied group, but a good number are just regular dudes doing their jobs, and over the course of the game Neku becomes friends with a handful of them.
• In The Trader of Stories both Voice and her assistant, the Messenger, are reasonable, dutiful deities. She's hinted to be The Atoner while he just got the short end of the stick, but doesn't hold it against mortals.

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