Is Death in Discworld?
Death (Discworld)
Death has appeared in every Discworld novel, with the exception of "The Wee Free Men" and "Snuff", and had a possible cameo at the end of "Johnny and the Dead" (the character was not identified, but spoke in unquoted small caps). The Discworld books with Death as a leading character, starting with "Mort" in 1987, are:
Death (Discworld)
He was first seen in "Soul Music", and since then has made appearances in all novels involving Susan Sto Helit. Neil Pearson voices him in the Sky One adaptation of "Hogfather".
Die Tödliche Doris
Discogs
Flora and fauna of the Discworld
A parody of the real world sauce of the same name. The Discworld version was invented by an uncle of Mustrum Ridcully, and its ingredients include grated wahoonie, asafoetida, scumble, sulphur and saltpetre. It is a highly unstable substance and believed to be responsible (when combined with a charcoal biscuit and an after-dinner pipe) for the elder Ridcully's explosive death. (See Black powder for why the combination might be problematic.) A presumably different uncle of Ridcully's used to swear by (or rather, swear at) Wow-Wow Sauce as a hangover cure; according to Ridcully, "He seemed very peaceful when they came to lay him out". Ridcully also advised that Wow-Wow Sauce must never be consumed when sweat is condensing on the bottle (a reference to the danger posed by dynamite that has begun to sweat its nitroglycerin).
Death (Discworld)
He is fond of cats, who can see him at all times, and curry, the consumption of which he describes as like biting a red-hot ice cube.
Discworld gods
These gods are still widely believed in, but no longer openly manifest or play an obvious role in mortal affairs.
Discworld gods
While most of the beings created in "Hogfather" disappeared at the end, it is possible he remained because of the belief that Violet (a tooth fairy) had in him, in which case he may have begun a relationship with her, and started a career as a locum for gods that want a holiday. Alternatively, since it is impossible to die in the Tooth Fairy's Castle, it is possible he remains there as he is unable to vanish from lack of belief.
Death's Domain
The Mapp shows the parasite universe of Death's Domain. The accompanying booklet provides various details of the Domain, both as portrayed in the Discworld books and newly revealed.
Nac Mac Feegle
The fearlessness of Nac Mac Feegle warriors in combat is derived from their religious belief that they cannot be killed, because they are already dead; they believe that they are in the afterlife, and that any Feegle who is killed has simply been reincarnated into the world where they have already lived before. They reason that Discworld, with the sunshine, flowers, birds, trees, things to steal and people to fight, must be some sort of heaven, because "a world that good couldn't be open to just anybody". They consider it a kind of Valhalla, where brave warriors go when they are dead. So, they reason, they have already been alive somewhere else, and then died and were allowed to come to the Discworld because they have been "so" good.
Death
Bibliography
List of death deities
Death is the name of one of "The Endless" in the DC Universe.
Death (Discworld)
Death is fascinated by humanity. His interest is coupled with bafflement: it's a favorite point of Pratchett's that the habits and beliefs that are grown into instead of being rationally acquired are an essential part of being human. As Death is an outside observer, his imitations of humanity are intricate but marked by a fundamental lack of comprehension. When acting as a stand-in for the Hogfather (a figure similar to Santa Claus) he starts by greeting the children with from force of habit, until reminded not to do so. He is especially intrigued by humanity's ability to complicate their own existence, and their ability to actually get up in the morning without going insane from the sheer prospect of what life entails (from his perspective).
Death (Discworld)
Many languages must provide a grammatical gender to each object, and death is often a feminine noun. As such, translations of early novels sometimes refer to Death as a woman. This is generally changed, by the time of "Reaper Man". Also, the personification of Death varies from country to country leading to further confusion, for example the Russian personification is that of an old woman, the Czech version uses a (normally non-existent) male variant of the usually female word for death for his name. Explanations are given in footnotes, often with a pun.
List of dimensions of the Discworld
Also in "Small Gods", it has been shown that sometimes the paths of dead people can cross. This is shown at the very end of the book, when Brutha dies, he finds himself traveling with Vorbis, with whom he has already traveled across a desert. Death watches on as they walk across, seeming bemused.
Discworld gods
Since the "Necronomicon" is sometimes referred to as "The Book of Dead Names" or "The Book of The Dead", "Necrotelicomnicon" could be translated as "The Book of Dead Telephone Numbers" or simply "Phonebook of the Dead". The book is also known as the "Liber Paginarum Fulvarum", Latin for "The Book of Yellow Pages". It lists all the old, dark gods of the Discworld (i.e. the Things from the Dungeon Dimensions). The First Edition, kept in the basement of the Library of Unseen University, has been known to eat readers. This is not unusual for library items. It is said that any man who reads more than a few pages will die insane, which works out fine for the Librarian; he is an orangutan and thus, not a "man".
Death (Discworld)
The new Death is destroyed by Bill Door, using the scythe he used on the farm; a humble garden tool, not the infinitely sharp implement of Death, but sharpened by his rage and the harvest. Bill Door was disgusted and horrified by New Death's callous attitude toward humanity, and his victory is the triumph of the compassionate "reaper man" over the tyrant who has no care for the harvest.
Death (Marvel Comics)
Death is an abstract entity, the embodiment of the end of life in the Marvel Universe, and the opposite of Eternity, the embodiment of the universe. Death is predominantly depicted as a skeleton cloaked in a black or purple robe, and at times appears as a Caucasian human female. An elaborate storyline in the title "Captain Marvel" showcases Thanos' scheme to conquer the universe, as the character becomes determined to prove his love for Death by destroying all life. Although Thanos obtains the artifact the Cosmic Cube and succeeds in taking control of the universe, Death abandons the character when he is defeated by the combined might of Captain Marvel, Drax the Destroyer and the Avengers. Two Marvel Annuals feature Thanos as he tries to "woo" Death back (courtesy of the Infinity Gems with which he plans to extinguish every star in the galaxy), but the character is killed in a final battle with the Avengers, Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock. When Captain Marvel is dying from cancer, Thanos returns to the character in a vision and introduces him to the entity Death. Marvel willingly surrenders his life and embraces the entity.
Death (DC Comics)
Death first appeared as a woman in "The Witching Hour" #56 (July 1975) in a tale told by Mordred (written by Carl Wessler and illustrated by Ruben Yandoc). She was depicted with short, curly, red-blonde hair, and was a rival for two men's affections. Both men die in successive car accidents.
In "Swamp Thing" vol. 2, #6, The Phantom Stranger met Death in the form of a middle-aged gentleman, possibly inspired by "Death Takes a Holiday". In the story, a young woman, Margaret "Maggie" Brennan, had what should have been a minor head injury and at one glimpse of Death chose to become Death's bride. As someone newly dead herself, she taught Death that he needs to show compassion for the newly dead to allay their fears. He takes her advice and they both serve as aspects of Death. This version of Death was created by Mike W. Barr and Dan Spiegle. Maggie is blonde and bears only minor physical resemblance to Gaiman and Dringenberg's version, though her compassionate nature is a similarity. In "The Spectre" (vol. 2), The Phantom Stranger himself appeared to be the only psychopomp in the DC Universe.
Flora and fauna of the Discworld
Terry Pratchett's fictional Discworld has a large number of creatures and plants unique to it or its parasite universes (such as Fairyland or Death's Domain).
Death (DC Comics)
She also appears in "The Books of Magic" (first volume, 1991, also written by Gaiman) at the very end of time, where her function is to set things in order and close the universe down. She meets Timothy Hunter and Mister E there after Mister E has taken Timothy all the way to the end of time, because only there can he kill Timothy without fear of interference. Death stops the murder on the grounds that "I took both of you billions of years ago." She sends Timothy back home, but forces Mister E to return the hard way. John Ney Rieber included her in "The Books of Magic" (vol. 2 #3-4), in which she lets Timothy Hunter hang out at her house and hold her teddy bear, Cavendish, while he is recovering from the venom of the Manticore. Hunter later encounters Death walking in the rain in "The Books of Magic" #25, and there was later an arc about her in "". In "Hellblazer" #120, Death appears briefly in a pub filled with ghosts.
Religions of the Discworld
Gods are everywhere on the Discworld, a crucial element of the world's peculiar ecology that gives power to belief and demands resolution to any and all narratives. Gods exist in potentia in numbers uncountable, but the moment an event of any note occurs — say, two snails happening to cross at a single point — a god becomes tied to it and begins to manifest in the physical world. Most gods remain small and unknown, but a very few come to the notice of humanity, whose belief then shapes and strengthens them until they gather enough power to join the Disc's vast, unwieldy pantheon.
Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?
"Discworld II" was very well received by professional critics, scoring an 80.50% average (for PC) on GameRankings, based on 6 reviews. It was ranked 73rd by Adventure Gamers on their list of the "Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games" in 2011. "That's Death", a song in the game written and sung by Eric Idle and arranged, produced, and played on by Tom Scott, was picked by "PC Gamer" as one of the best songs in PC gaming. "" gave it a score of 7/10, but recommended it only for Pratchett's fans. "Sega Saturn Magazine" gave the Saturn version an 82%. They criticized the overlong dialogues and jokes, but praised the graphics and well-balanced challenge, and concluded, "if your attention span is long enough to allow you to read the whole of this review, chances are that you'll get some enjoyment out of Discworld 2".
Death (Discworld)
""Mort"", short for Mortimer, but which also means 'death' in Quirmian (and also in French), is the title character in "Mort". He is first seen as the overly-thoughtful son of a farmer in the Octarine Grass Country, near the Ramtops. Having proved himself unworthy as a scarecrow he is chosen by Death to be his apprentice. Mort's father gave his consent, mistaking Death for an undertaker. Mort is described as being very tall and skinny, with muscles like knots in string. He has a shock of bright red hair, and walks as if he is made entirely of knees.
Rincewind
Rincewind is also the player character of the 1995 "Discworld video game". After a dragon is spotted in Ankh-Morpork, Unseen University's archchancellor sends Rincewind to find out the source of the trouble. In the sequel to this game, "", Death disappears and the archchancellor puts Rincewind in charge of finding him and convincing him to get back to work. In both of the games, Rincewind is voiced by Eric Idle.
Death (Discworld)
Death has developed considerably since his first appearance in "The Colour of Magic". In this, he was quite a malicious character and follows Rincewind around wanting him to die after circumstances resulted in Rincewind 'missing' their scheduled 'appointment'. At one point he deliberately stops a character's heart, though this may have been Death's stand-in, Scrofula. By the time of "Mort" he had gained the sympathetic and humorous personality he has in later books. In later novels, he has been used to examine developments in theoretical physics as, being supernatural, he is able to witness such events firsthand, although being a cat lover, he is not fond of the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment, believing it cruel to the cats involved.
Death (Discworld)
Ysabell is the adopted daughter of Death, who saved her as a baby when her parents were killed in the Great Nef desert (no explanation has been given as to why he did this; Ysabell said that "He didn't feel sorry for me, he never feels anything... He probably "thought" sorry for me."). When first encountered she is a sixteen-year-old girl with silver hair and silver eyes who, it transpires, has been sixteen for thirty-five Discworld 'years' (no time passes in Death's Domain). During her encounter with Rincewind (see below), her behaviour is sufficiently flamboyant as to cause him to believe she is "bonkers". When Mort first encountered Ysabell, he was given the impression of "too many chocolates" (though Pratchett notes that he would have described her as "Pre-Raphaelite" if he had ever heard the word). She also has a fixation for the colour pink.
Discworld gods
In the book "Hogfather", the Hogfather first appears in the manifestation of a wild boar. Death and his granddaughter Susan manage to save him, in order that the sun might rise in the morning. Without the Hogfather, according to Death, the Discworld would merely be "".
Discworld
Characters that often appear with Death include his butler Albert; his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit; the Death of Rats, the part of Death in charge of gathering the souls of rodents; Quoth, a talking raven (a parody of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", although it flat-out refuses to say "Nevermore"); and the Auditors of Reality, personifications of the orderly physical laws and the closest thing Death has to a nemesis. Death or Susan appear as the main characters in five Discworld novels. He also appears in the short stories "Death and What Comes Next", "Theatre of Cruelty" and "Turntables of the Night".
Races and creatures in His Dark Materials
Deaths are only featured near the middle of "The Amber Spyglass". Much like a dæmon, they accompany a person throughout their life, serving to gently alert the person when it is their time to go to the underworld. Deaths are described as human-like in appearance, yet unnaturally quiet and able to blend into the background with uncanny ease. However, as most people do not wish to see their death, deaths are courteous enough to hide from their humans. Deaths are presented as caring yet stern creatures, showing no pity for a person's dæmon which must vanish upon death. Deaths are present in a physical form in some worlds, much as dæmons can be seen in Lyra's. Deaths can disappear in a similar manner to dæmons. In "The Amber Spyglass" a dead girl says that her death "went forever". Lyra is confronted with her death when she and Will enter the underworld in order to contact the ghost of Lyra's dead friend, Roger.
Discworld gods
Rincewind began to say her name in "The Colour of Magic" but was cut short; since it began with "L", and in the audiobook version he pronounces "Lu" with a short u (), along with all the other aforementioned clues and traits, it is commonly assumed she is Lady Luck. (This would seem to jibe with a commonly-held superstition among gamblers that if they talk about their luck it will desert them.) Given Pratchett's fondness for setting things in opposition it might also be appropriate to refer to her as "Fortune," the opposite of Fate – he cannot be cheated, but she cannot be beaten. The one time Fate loses a contest with a mortal, it is with Cohen the Barbarian, another of the Lady's special favorites (she uses him as a pawn in an earlier novel) and he almost certainly has her aid in doing it. (Incidentally, Cohen wins in the same way as The Lady did in "The Colour of Magic"—rolling a seven on a six-sided die—although Cohen's means were rather less magical.)
Magic in Harry Potter
Death is studied at the Department of Mysteries in a chamber containing an enigmatic veil, which Rowling has described as "the divide between life and death". With regard to what is on the other side, she elaborated: "Do I believe you go on? Yes, I do believe you go on. I do believe in an afterlife, although I'm absolutely doubt-ridden and always have been but there you are." Sirius falls through this veil in "Order of the Phoenix" after he is hit with a curse from Bellatrix.
Death (Discworld)
This fascination with humanity extends to the point of sympathy towards them, and he will often side with humans against greater threats, notably the Auditors of Reality. He has on a number of occasions bent the rules to allow a character extra life (e.g., the little girl rescued from the fire in "Reaper Man"). Death has also indicated that he will oblige dying humans by playing a game with them for their lives, much like the personification of Death in "The Seventh Seal"; the games he offers include chess, though he consistently has trouble remembering how the knights move, and another game (referred to by Death as "Exclusive Possession" in the book, presumably based on Monopoly), which the challenger lost despite having "three streets and all the utilities". Granny Weatherwax was able to play cards against Death in a successful bid to save a child's life, Granny's hand having four queens while Death's had only four "ones". (A hand of four aces would generally beat a hand of queens in poker, but Death chose to consider them low, giving the old witch a "wink" in the process.)
Discworld gods
On the Disc, the power of belief blurs the line between godhood and mortality. Many very human characters, such as Mort, Susan Sto Helit, Lobsang Ludd, Jeremy Clockson, Tiffany Aching, and Pteppic have permanently or momentarily assumed the roles of gods, or at least of anthropomorphic personifications. Tooth Fairies and the History Monks are groups of humans who play godlike roles.
Religions of the Discworld
The Discworld, being a flat disc supported on the backs of four elephants on top of a giant flying turtle, exists in a region of the universe where reality is somewhat less consistent than it appears in our own, more mundane corner of existence. Because reality on the Disc is so fragile and malleable, belief has a tendency to take on a life of its own, and Gods are far more obvious to the people of the Disc than they appear to us.
Death (protopunk band)
Death is a Detroit rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1971 by brothers Bobby (bass, vocals), David (guitar), and Dannis (drums) Hackney. The trio started out as a funk band but switched to rock after seeing a concert by The Who. Seeing Alice Cooper play was also an inspiration. Music critic Peter Margasak retrospectively wrote that David "pushed the group in a hard-rock direction that presaged punk, and while this certainly didn’t help them find a following in the mid-70s, today it makes them look like visionaries." They are seen in many groups as one of the first punk bands in the world. The band broke up by 1977 but reformed in 2009 when the Drag City label released their 70s demos for the first time.
Death (Discworld)
The Death of Rats, like Death, speaks in , but has a vocabulary consisting of words such as ' and ', the last used when it laughs, although its speech can be interpreted from context much like the Librarian's.
List of dimensions of the Discworld
Death's Domain is the home of one of the series' principal characters, Death. It is shaped by human expectation and Death's own attempts to have (for a lack of a better word) a life beyond his allotted task. "Death's Domain" () is also a Discworld Mapp, drawn by Paul Kidby, with additional material by Pratchett and Stephen Briggs. In the live-action adaptations of "Hogfather" and "The Colour of Magic", the same Victorian country home was used for exterior shots of Death's house.
Death (Discworld)
In the Cosgrove Hall Films animation of "Soul Music", Mort is voiced by Neil Morrissey. In 2004 BBC Radio 4 adapted "Mort", with the title character voiced by Carl Prekopp and Ysabell being voiced by Clare Corbett. Mort is included in Wayne Barlowe's "Barlowe's Guide to Fantasy".
Death's Domain
Death's Domain is a book by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs, and illustrated by Paul Kidby. It is the fourth in the "Discworld Mapp" series, other publications of which include "The Streets of Ankh-Morpork, The Discworld Mapp" and "A Tourist Guide to Lancre." It was first published in paperback by Corgi in 1999. It was the second in the series to be illustrated by Kidby. As with the other "mapps", the basic design and booklet were compiled by Pratchett and Briggs.
Discworld characters
A bard from the decidedly Cymric country of Llamedos. In "Soul Music" he is possessed by "Music with Rocks in" and becomes the Disc's greatest musician under the name Buddy in the Band with Rocks In along with Cliff and Glod, before dying in a cart crash (a reference to Buddy Holly—Imp's name translates as "bud of the holly". Celyn is Welsh for Holly). The timeline in which this happened has, however, been eradicated following Death's intervention, and he was last seen working in a fried fish stall in Quirm, a clear reference to Kirsty MacColl's song "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis". During the novel several characters comment that he seems a bit "elvish" (also a reference to the same Kirsty MacColl song). In the animated adaptation of the novel, Imp was voiced by Andy Hockley, and his final fate is changed to working as a gardener at Susan's school; their interactions are rewritten throughout the adaptation to imply a developing romantic relationship.
Discworld gods
Azrael clearly has a personality and a concept of mercy like his servant, the Death of the Discworld. He appears in an integral role (although not particularly often) in "Reaper Man" and overrules the Auditors' wishes, allowing the Discworld Death to carry out his own merciful bending of the rules for a personal case when he agrees to Death's demand
Death (Discworld)
He was one of a disparate multitude of death-personifications created during Death's absence in "Reaper Man". The Death of Rats refused to be reabsorbed into Death himself upon the latter's resumption of his duties; therefore Death kept him around for company. The Death of Fleas also escaped resorption, but has not been seen since "Reaper Man". The Death of Rats resembles a rodentine skeleton walking on its hind legs, wearing a black robe, and carrying a tiny scythe, his form having taken shape from the latent form of Death himself in "Reaper Man", as he came into existence in the vicinity of Bill Door.
Discworld characters
""Mort"", short for Mortimer, is the title character in "Mort". He is first seen as the overly thoughtful son of a farmer in the Octarine Grass Country, near the Ramtops. Having proved himself unworthy as a scarecrow he is chosen by Death to be his apprentice. Mort is described as being very tall and skinny, with muscles like knots in string. He has a shock of bright red hair, and walks as if he is made entirely of knees.
Death (DC Comics)
In "Captain Atom" #42 Death appears alongside Black Racer of the New Gods and Nekron (a being embodying the will of "The Black", the solitude and peace death represents from "Green Lantern"). The story stated that all three were equal, representing different aspects of death. Gaiman has denied this, however, and his stories make it clear that Death of the Endless is the ultimate personification of Death. It might be assumed, however, Nekron, the Racer, and the Black Flash are connected to her in some way. Alternatively, there may be multiple avatars or gods of Death in the DC universe, besides those claiming to be Death. Blackest Night has resolved this apparent contradiction or ambiguity, with Nekron no longer being referred to as an aspect of death but instead as a construct formed of darkness in response to the emerging light of the emotional spectrum.
Discworld characters
After the events of "Mort", Mort leaves Death's service and marries Ysabell. The couple are given the title of Duke and Duchess of Sto Helit, and later also become the parents of Susan Sto Helit. They subsequently meet their end after a freak accident sends their carriage plunging into a ravine, as revealed in "Soul Music". They had discussed this with Death and had turned down his offer to extend the duration of their existence on the grounds that it wouldn't be the same as actually lengthening their lives.
List of dimensions of the Discworld
Discworld, the fictional planet of a fantasy series by Terry Pratchett, exists at a point near the very edge of universe's reality spectrum. From here, the fabric of the fictional universe's reality is gossamer-thin, and excessive pushing can and often does break holes into other, often far less hospitable, domains. The most dangerous of these domains are the Dungeon Dimensions, a region beyond the narrative's reality itself, whose inhabitants (inspired by the formless horrors of H. P. Lovecraft) wait to swamp our reality with all the force "of an ocean warming itself against a candle". A number of minor fictional universes attach themselves tangentially to the Discworld universe, particularly Death's Domain, the home of the Disc's Grim Reaper, from which he descends to do his job, and the parasite universe of Fairyland, home of the sociopathic and vicious Elves. Additionally, the Dark Desert is a region that, according to the Discworld's Omnian religion, souls cross to pass into the next world. The Discworld character Death frequently takes souls here, and in recent books, it seems to have become the afterlife of choice for most Discworld characters, not just Omnians.
Discworld gods
Gods are everywhere on the Discworld, a crucial element of the world's peculiar ecology that gives power to belief and demands resolution to any and all narratives. Gods exist "in potentia" in numbers uncountable, but the moment an event of any note occurs – say, two snails happening to cross at a single point – a god becomes tied to it and begins to manifest in the physical world. Most gods remain small and unknown, but a very few come to the notice of humanity, whose belief then shapes and strengthens them until they gather enough power to join the Disc's vast, unwieldy pantheon.
Death (Marvel Comics)
During the "Chaos War" storyline, Daimon Hellstrom mentions to Hercules that Death has fled their reality upon Amatsu-Mikaboshi triumphing in the realms of the dead, causing the souls of the deceased to be unleashed upon the Earth, and rendering the victims of the siege, whose injuries might otherwise prove fatal, merely locked in a deathless limbo.
Discworld (world)
Great A'Tuin's gender is unknown to the inhabitants of Discworld (though in "The Colour of Magic" Pratchett describes the turtle as male), but the subject of much speculation by some of the Disc's finest scientific minds. The sex of the World Turtle is pivotal in proving or disproving a number of conflicting theories about the destination of Great A'Tuin's journey through the cosmos. If, as the Discworld version of the popular "Big Bang theory" states, Great A'Tuin is moving from the Birthplace to the Time of Mating, then at the point of mating the civilizations of the Disc might be crushed, simply slide off, or else the entire world will end. The hypothesis is that all stars in the sky are obviously also worlds carried by giant turtles, and that when all the turtles meet they will mate passionately, for the first and only time; from that mating, it is hypothesized that new turtles would be born to carry a new pattern of worlds. Attempts by telepaths to learn more about Great A'Tuin's intents have not met with much success, mainly because they did not realise that its brain functions are on such a slow timescale. All they've been able to discern is that the Great A'Tuin is looking forward to something.
Death (Discworld)
The initial books did not pronounce themselves about the sex of Death, although Ysabell called him 'Daddy', using the pronoun "it". In "Mort" Death's pronoun is given as "he" and "his" without the special capital as in the earlier books. In "Reaper Man", Death is unambiguously identified as a male, and in "Soul Music" and "Hogfather" Susan calls him her grandfather or "Granddad". When asked to describe Death, in the second Discworld computer game, the protagonist Rincewind hazards a guess, "Well, I suppose he's a man. You have to look at the pelvis, don't you?" In the comic strip adaptation of "Mort", Death is seen in mirrors as a black-bearded human wearing a black cloak, a look he takes when he needs to be seen by the living.
Death (Discworld)
Binky is Death's steed, named so by Death because it is "a nice name". He is a living horse; Death tried a skeletal steed, but kept having to "stop and wire bits back on". Death also tried a fiery steed, but it repeatedly set his barn and his robe on fire.
Death (Discworld)
When Death goes missing in "Soul Music", Albert tries to find him on the Disc, but gets robbed and his life-timer (hourglass of life) is broken. After this incident, Albert has approximately 34 seconds left, and thus cannot return to the world of the living anymore, as Death cannot make his life longer. The remaining sand is now kept in a bottle in Albert's bedroom. Albert is able to temporarily return to the Discworld during the events of "Hogfather", although in this instance he merely inhabits the pseudo-reality created for the Hogfather to allow him to travel around the entire world in a single night, and hence is not actually "in" the world, strictly-speaking.
Flora and fauna of the Discworld
"See Death (Discworld)#Quoth"
Lady Death
Lady Death finally ended Lucifer's control over her by casting him through Heaven's Gate (a place where evil cannot go), and in doing so became the new ruler of Hell. Many of the beings living in hell believe that the ascension of Lady Death signaled the beginning of the age of judgment – the final battle between good and evil for the fate of the Earth.
Since 2005, Avatar Press has published Lady Death titles. Since they only have the rights to Lady Death alone (without the rest of the Chaos! Comics characters that were so intertwined with her original story), Lady Death has been given a new origin story, with notable differences to the story told at Chaos! Comics.
Discworld (world)
In the opening books, the number eight is generally significant and has magical properties on the Disc, (e.g. the number of the colour of Magic, octarine) and should never be spoken by wizards especially in certain places. Doing so may allow the ancient dungeon dimension creature "Bel-Shamharoth the sender of eight" to break through (this is taken to a somewhat extreme end in one book, as even the "narrator" takes great pains to avoid saying the word). On the other hand, eight turns up in many places one would expect the number seven in the real world (e.g. the Discworld week contains eight days, not seven). After "The Colour of Magic", both the colour and the number eight no longer appear as dangerous.
Death (DC Comics)
Death is a fictional character from the DC comic book series, "The Sandman" (1989–1996). The character first appeared in "The Sandman" vol. 2, #8 (August 1989), and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg.
Death (DC Comics)
Death has also made occasional appearances in the mainstream DC Universe. To the annoyance of Neil Gaiman, she appeared in "Captain Atom" #42-43 (June–July 1990), as merely "an aspect" of Death. Other Giffen stories that feature Death include the "Ambush Bug Nothing Special" one-shot (Sep 1992) and a cameo in the Lobo comic book "Lobo's Back" #3 (Oct. 1992), in which she slaps Lobo for getting fresh with her. She observes the destruction of the Earth in "Legion of Super-Heroes" vol. 4 #38 (Dec 1992). The character appeared in "Action Comics" #894, which was written by Paul Cornell. Cornell confirmed that Neil Gaiman has given his approval for the use of Death in the storyline. In the story, while searching for a black power ring, Lex Luthor encounters her. She appears again in issue #900 and in "The Flash" (vol. 3) #6, part of the "Brightest Day" crossover.
Death (Discworld)
Mort starts off at the bottom, learning to accept his position while mucking out the stables, and trying to ignore Ysabell, Death's adopted daughter. When Death feels in need of a break, Mort takes over "The Duty". Unfortunately for Mort, his feelings for a teenage princess of Sto Lat get in the way of his job and he starts off a chain reaction of events by impulsively preventing her assassination. Reluctant to tell his master about his gaffe, Mort tries various unsuccessful methods to fix the situation. After fighting and losing to Death, Mort is given an extra lease on life when the Grim Reaper chooses to turn over his Lifetimer, allowing Mort to stay in the world of the living.
Discworld characters
Ysabell is the [[adoption|adopted]] daughter of [[Death (Discworld)|Death]], who saved her as a baby when her parents were killed in the Great Nef desert (no explanation has been given as to why he did this; Ysabell said that "He didn't feel sorry for me, he never feels anything... He probably "thought" sorry for me."). When first encountered she is a sixteen-year-old girl with silver hair and silver eyes who, it transpires, has been sixteen for thirty-five Discworld 'years' (no time passes in [[Death's Domain]]). During her encounter with [[Rincewind]] (see below), her behaviour is sufficiently flamboyant as to cause him to believe she is "bonkers". When [[#Mort|Mort]] first encountered Ysabell, he was given the impression of "too many [[chocolate]]s". She also has a fixation for the colour [[pink]].
Death (DC Comics)
Death's apparent age varies slightly. In the picture above, from "Death: The Time of Your Life", she appears to be a teenager. In most "Sandman" stories she looks to be in her mid-twenties. In the giveaway "Death Talks About Life" (an AIDS-prevention giveaway), Death appears to be about thirty, with wrinkle lines in her forehead that are not usually present.
Deathworld
"Deathworld" centers on Jason dinAlt, a professional gambler who uses his erratic psionic abilities to tip the odds in his favor. While visiting the planet Cassylia, he is challenged by a man named Kerk Pyrrus (an ambassador of the planet Pyrrus) to turn a large amount of money into an immense sum by gambling at a government-run casino. He succeeds and survives the planetary government's desperate efforts to take back the money. Bothered that he may finally have met someone superior to him, he decides to accompany Kerk to Pyrrus, despite being warned that it is the deadliest world ever colonized by humans.
List of dimensions of the Discworld
Any clocks brought into Death's Domain get depressed and stop working. The only working clock is the special grandfather clock in the hall with a scythe for a pendulum. The 'minute' hand takes thousands of years to go around. The 'hour' hand will only go around once. The Inscription on the clock reads; "Too Late".
Discworld MUD
Discworld MUD is a popular MUD, a text-based online role-playing game, set in the Discworld as depicted in the "Discworld" series of books by Terry Pratchett.
Death (Discworld)
Susan Sto Helit is Mort and Ysabell's daughter and only child. When she first appears as a schoolgirl in "Soul Music", Susan has just inherited the duchy on the death of her parents. From the time she was a small child until the start of the book, when she is sixteen, her parents have hidden her background from her and brought her up to be logical, and it comes as a shock when the Death of Rats and Quoth the raven come looking for her. She has to act as a stand-in for Death when he disappears, but subsequently returns to her education. Despite the fact that she has inherited all of her grandfather's abilities, she longs to be normal, and gets human jobs, first as a governess (in "Hogfather"), and then as a schoolteacher (in "Thief of Time"). Death is constantly dragging her back into the world of the occult. At the end of "Thief of Time", she begins a relationship with Lobsang Ludd, the anthropomorphic personification of Time.
Death (Discworld)
The New Death appears in "Reaper Man" when he comes to collect the old Death, then known as "Bill Door". The New Death is the old Death's replacement as a result of the plot by the Auditors to rid the world of sloppy thinking.
Discworld MUD
Characters begin with seven lives, which can be replaced in-game. A player who dies with no lives can only be revived by a magical rite that consumes expensive components and requires the cooperation of eight high level wizards. Most PvP deaths do not reduce your life total, but otherwise have the same effects. Before 2012, a player that ran out of lives could not be revived at all.
Discworld
Additionally, another short story "Turntables of the Night" (1989) is set in England but features Death as a character; it is available online and in both anthologies.
Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?
After collecting the souls of a thousand deceased ants, Rincewind's next assignment is Death himself, who was killed by an assassin hired by the Patrician. Not wanting the job of being death for all eternity, Rincewind saves Death by pouring some fresh sand into the hourglass of his life.
Discworld (world)
Magic is the principal force on the Discworld, and operates in a similar vein to real-world elemental forces such as gravity and electromagnetism. The Disc's "standing magical field" is essentially the local breakdown of reality which allows a flat planet on the back of a turtle to even exist. The force called "magic" is really just a function of the relative absence of reality in the local area, much in the same way that the absence of heat is described as "coldness". Magic warps reality in much the same way as the real universe's gravity warps its space-time. The act of performing magic is, essentially, telling the universe what you want it to be like, in terms it can't ignore. This is very draining to magic users, due to Discworld science's Law of Conservation of Reality (which states it takes the same effort to do something with magic as it would to do it mundanely). This is why most Discworld wizards store magic in a staff (with a knob on the end) which is a sort of capacitor for magical energy.
Discworld gods
"See: Undead (Discworld)"
Discworld gods
The total number of gods on the Disc is effectively infinite. Of those, the number powerful enough to fully manifest is about 3000, according to "The Folklore of Discworld" (in Wyrd Sisters, it is stated that "research theologians discover more every week"). Here is a list of most of the gods mentioned in the series to date, describing their roles in the stories.
The major gods live in an Olympus-like mountain-top kingdom in the centre of the Discworld called "Dunmanifestin" ("Done Manifesting", which is also as a pun on the traditional British house name "Dunroamin"). Most of the major gods tend to stay at home, usually limiting their presence in the rest of Discworld to the occasional lightning bolt. Cori Celesti, the mountain upon which Dunmanifestin stands, can be seen from anywhere on the Disc on a clear day, and has likely made lasting impressions on most of the original myth-creators. Those gods known (or likely) to reside in Dunmanifestin are:
Machine of Death
All of the stories featured in "Machine of Death" center around a device which, when provided with a blood sample, can identify the way a person will die. The machine relays this information by printing a short word or phrase, which serves as the title of each story, on a small card. The machine is never wrong, but often vague or cryptic. The premise was inspired by an episode of Ryan North's "Dinosaur Comics".
Mort
Mort is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. Published in 1987, it is the fourth "Discworld" novel and the first to focus on the character Death, who only appeared as a side character in the previous novels. The title is the name of its main character and also a play on words: in French, "mort" means "death". The French language edition is titled "Mortimer".
Susan Sto Helit
Susan Sto Helit (also spelled Sto-Helit), once referred to as Susan Death, is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series of fantasy novels. She is the "granddaughter" of Death, the Disc's Grim Reaper, and, as such, has "inherited" a number of his abilities. She appeared in three "Discworld" novels: "Soul Music", "Hogfather", and "Thief of Time". She is also referred to (though not by name) at the end of "Mort", when her father invites Death to her christening. She is one of the "Discworld" series' principal protagonists. Being both human and supernatural, Susan is frequently (and reluctantly) forced away from her "normal" life to do battle with various malign supernatural forces or, barring that, to take on her grandfather's job in his absence. Death tends to employ her in his battles against the Auditors of Reality, particularly in situations where he has no power or influence. As the series progresses, she also begins to take on roles educating children, so that, as Pratchett mentions in "The Art of Discworld", she has "ended up, via that unconscious evolution that dogs characters, a kind of Goth Mary Poppins".
Religions of the Discworld
The nature of the afterlife on the Disc is very varied, and often depends on what the deceased believed in. Anyone who dies, however, will be met by Death, who takes the form of a living skeleton with a black cowl and a scythe, or, in some cases, anyone acting as his assistant, such as Mort or Mort's daughter Susan. The only exceptions to this are rats, who are met by the Death of Rats, and anyone who dies during the occasional periods when Death is unable to do his job. In theory Death does not collect the souls of everyone who dies, but there is no example in the books of anyone entering the afterlife without seeing Death.* Once met by Death, the deceased have been depicted as taking numerous different paths, although in most recent books most of them begin with the Dark Desert.
Mort (disambiguation)
Mort is a "Discworld" novel by Terry Pratchett, also broadcast as a BBC radio play.
Death (DC Comics)
Death is the second eldest of the Endless, a family of anthropomorphic beings. Death is possibly the most powerful of the Endless (and may be the most powerful being in the universe) having been shown (in a flashback in "") to be virtually omniscient and being able to intimidate the Furies, who show no fear of the other Endless, simply by raising her voice in "". The witch Thessaly mentions that Death is the only one of the Endless who is bound by no rules, supported in Dream's portion of "" in which she briefly makes an appearance at a conference designed to set functions for entities and leaves before it begins. In addition, it is mentioned in "Brief Lives" that she is the only one of the Endless who may survive the end of this incarnation of the universe. Death's realm is not portrayed in detail in the series, except for a brief scene in her 'house' in the "Sandman Special", "Song of Orpheus", and later in "The Books of Magic" series. This is where she keeps her floppy hat collection, her goldfish Slim and Wandsworth and possibly her gallery. A brief glimpse of her realm can also be seen in "The Little Endless Storybook", when Barnabas visits her, although this time in her 'apartment suite.'
Discworld gods
Besides Death, the Horsemen of the Apocralypse are War, Famine and Pestilence (and, originally, Kaos). Like Death (and many other anthropomorphic personifications) they have developed beyond their roles. They make a brief appearance in "The Light Fantastic" and subsequently have more significant roles in "Sourcery" and "Thief of Time". War and his children also make an appearance in "Interesting Times".Leaves frosty tracings on icy windows. Can draw anything, but happens to really like fern patterns. Mentioned in "Hogfather", when the newly created Verruca Gnome (a household god that went around dispensing foot warts) convinced him to branch out from ferns, feathers, and paisley, and there are references throughout the rest of the book to a window forming a picture such as three puppies looking out of a boot.
Death (Discworld)
There was a statue of Alberto in the hallway of Unseen University, inscribed (apart from the usual student scribbles) with ""We Shall Not See His Like Again"." This, of course, turns out to be entirely wrong. After the destruction of the statue in "Mort", and the wizards' belief that the returned Albert was the statue, it is suggested that a new one be built in a very secure place—such as the dungeon (allegedly to prevent it being defiled by students). Alberto Malich was a powerful wizard, perhaps the most powerful a wizard can be (though not likely a Sourcerer). This is reflected in how easily Albert devised a spell to slow the passage of time (a near-impossible feat with Discworld magic) indefinitely around a small area.
Discworld characters
At the outset of the Discworld series, B.S. Johnson has long been deceased, but his architecture and other inventions remain.
Death (Discworld)
The plumbing of his house has greatly confused him, and in "Death's Domain" it is explained that the pipes are completely solid, as is the u-bend for the floral-decorated toilet. The towels he originally constructed are also useless; he didn't realize that they had to bend, fold and be soft. In his 'bedroom' (which he never actually sleeps in), he has a violin, which he attempts to play. As with everything in his domain, he cannot create, only mimic, so he creates a racket, instead of music. This is said to greatly frustrate him.
List of dimensions of the Discworld
The sad, mad things that live there (a pastiche of Lovecraftian horrors) have no understanding of the world, simply craving light and shape. Therefore, they try to warm themselves by the fires of reality. It has been noted that should they ever break through, the Universe would be destroyed, rather like an ocean warming itself around a candle. Some of them can survive in this world under special circumstances, and become something rather like demons (though they cannot be seen as demons per se, first because their existence is not dependent on human belief, and second because, as they are completely lacking in vitality, they are neither good nor evil, but the opposite of both). For most though, the reality they crave is soon fatal, due to their lack of a natural morphic field.
Death (Discworld)
There are twelve ways of performing the Rite, but eight of them cause instant death, and so might just be considered to summon Death in the "usual" manner, and the ninth is very hard to remember. This leaves three ways to safely summon death: Although the Rite can be performed by a couple of people with three small sticks and 4 cc of mouse blood or even with a fresh egg and two small sticks, the wizards (Ridcully excepted) prefer to do it the old fashioned way, with heavy equipment consisting of numerous drippy candles, octograms written on the floor, thuribles, and similar paraphernalia. They feel it's not "proper" wizardry if it's not showy enough.
Discworld (world)
Reality is spread thinly on the Disc, so events may be affected by expectations, especially those of 'intelligent' species such as humans, dwarves, etc. As such, the Discworld is not governed by real-world physics or logic but by belief and narrative resolution. Essentially, if something is believed strongly enough, or by enough people, it may become true. Jokes such as treacle mines and drop bears are real on the Disc; in reality lemmings don't actually rush "en masse" off cliffs; on the Disc, they do, because that is what people believe (actually, since mass suicide would seriously foul up natural selection, they tend to abseil (or rappel) down them instead). These concepts of Discworld physics are also exploited in both wizard and witch magic. For example, when a character wishes to turn a cat into a human, the easiest way is to "convince" the cat, on a deep level, that he is a human. In fact, the main reason the Auditors of Reality dislike sentient beings in the Discworld universe is that the Auditors are the personifications of the real-world laws of physics, but the Discworld physics' power of belief and the humans' ignorance constantly remake the world, making their work fruitless.
Religions of the Discworld
The Dark Desert is a transition phase between life and afterlife on the Discworld. It is described as having brilliantly-lit black sand, under a black sky studded with cold bright stars, stretching away to distant mountains (where judgement awaits). Living people can cross into it, however, it is then harder to come back. Thousands, possibly even millions of people cross it at any one time, though totally unaware of each other, though glimpses may be caught of their movement. It is very important not to fall asleep. Initially, the Dark Desert was the afterlife only for those of the Omnian faith, but it seems to have become the default near-death destination for all those shuffling off their respective mortal coils, Omnian or not.
Death (Discworld)
The Death of Rats, also known as the Grim Squeaker, is not, strictly speaking, a personification in his own right but rather an aspect of Death allowed an independent existence. His purpose is to usher on the souls of dead rodents, as well as assisting Death in other ways. His jurisdiction also seems to cover certain kinds of "ratty" humans, such as Mr. Clete in "Soul Music", Mr. Pin in "The Truth", and Mr. Pounder in "Maskerade".
Discworld
Death also appears in the non-Discworld novel "Good Omens", written by Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
Discworld gods
The Discworld gods are the fictional deities from Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series of fantasy novels. The Discworld, being a flat disc supported on the backs of four elephants on top of a giant flying turtle, exists in a region of the universe where reality is somewhat less consistent than it appears in our own, more mundane corner of existence. Because reality on the Disc is so fragile and malleable, belief has a tendency to take on a life of its own, and gods are far more obvious to the people of the Disc than they appear to us.
Death (DC Comics)
The current incarnation of Death first appeared in the final chapter of "Sandman"’s first story arc "", "The Sound of Her Wings", (issue #8) where she gave Dream direction and a degree of understanding. Death instantly became very popular with readers, and she appears at least briefly in each of the nine subsequent story arcs. However, Gaiman attempted to entice and tease readers by rationing out the number of appearances from Dream's family, so Death did not appear as frequently as one might expect for such a popular character. At the end of the ninth Sandman story arc "", there is a lengthy and noteworthy appearance from Death, in which she finally brings her brother peace.
Technology of the Discworld
Like the golems of Jewish legend, Discworld golems are 'living statues' who work according to the orders written on tablets or scrolls contained inside their heads. They are capable of independent thought, especially if they own themselves, but are arguably not actually alive, though since they are ushered into the next world by Death on their demise, the argument is dubious. Golems first appear as non-sentient creatures under the control of an operator (in this case, Rincewind) in "Interesting Times". The first novel in which they are major sentient characters is "Feet of Clay".
Discworld (video game)
"Discworld" is a third-person point-and-click graphic adventure game. An overhead map appears when leaving a location that allows the player to go straight to another. Locations featured include the Unseen University, the Broken Drum (a pub), and the Shades (where the city's "exciting nightlife" reside). Locations outside Ankh-Morpork include the Dark Wood (where Nanny Ogg resides), the Mines (where dwarves tune swords), and the Edge of the World (where "the world ends and space begins"). Items can be examined or used, and can either be stored in Rincewind's pockets or in the Luggage. To progress in the game, Rincewind must collect items, talk to people and solve puzzles. Rincewind may also acquire special skills needed to perform certain tasks. Characters featured include an Archchancellor, the Dibbler, the Librarian, and Death. During a conversation, the player may choose to have Rincewind greet, joke with, vent anger towards, or pose a question to the character.
Death (Discworld)
Death is not invisible; however, most people's brains refuse to acknowledge him for who he is, unless he insists. Under normal circumstances, only those of a magical disposition (e.g. witches and wizards), children, and cats can see him, or allow themselves to see him. Due to his eternal nature, Death can ignore such things as walls and magic spells; he exists throughout all time, so things lasting merely centuries are not as real as he is. He can adjust time with regard to himself and others near him, completing tasks very rapidly from a normal perspective. He can only go where people believe in death and can only see people who can die. In this sense, he is similar to the gods of the Discworld, in that he is powered by mortals' collective belief in him.
Discworld gods
Azrael, also known as the Great Attractor and the Death of Universes, is apparently not a worshipped god on the Discworld, but he exists nonetheless, and is an entity of enormously unthinkable scope and size. While in the "Discworld" novels there are many 'Deaths' for different worlds (themselves divided into Deaths for different creatures), Azrael is their ruler. All other Deaths are aspects of him (a similar relationship to that between the Discworld Death and the Death of Rats).
Death (Discworld)
Fans launched a tongue-in-cheek petition on Change.org, requesting for Death to return Pratchett to life because "Terry Pratchett turned Death from a figure of hate into a much loved and sometimes welcomed character. No-one else cared about you Death. You owe him!"
Discworld
Due in part to the complexity of the novels, "Discworld" has been difficult to adapt to film – Pratchett was fond of an anecdote of a producer attempting to pitch an adaptation of "Mort" in the early 1990s but was told to "lose the Death angle" by US backers.
Discworld characters
His people also have a superstition that if you die holding a potato, you will be reincarnated. His belief in this is quite firm, as "since they've believed it for centuries, it must be right". He is killed by Mr Pin near the end of the novel and used for a life raft as molten lead flows around the pair. Unfortunately, Mr Pin also steals his potato shortly before killing him, but Mr Tulip manages to retain the memory of a potato in the afterlife. Death, perplexed at the concept of a soul having a strong but completely vague belief and noticing Tulip's showing some remorse, allows him to reincarnate as a woodworm. His final thought in the novel is that 'this is —ing good wood!'
Discworld characters
Mort starts off at the bottom, learning to accept his position while mucking out the stables, and trying to ignore Ysabell, Death's adopted daughter. When Death feels in need of a break, Mort takes over "The Duty". Unfortunately for Mort, his feelings for a teenage princess of Sto Lat get in the way of his job and he starts off a chain reaction of events by impulsively preventing her assassination. Reluctant to tell his master about his gaffe, Mort tries various unsuccessful methods to fix the situation. After fighting and losing to Death, Mort was given an extra lease of life when the Grim Reaper chose to turn over his Lifetimer. This allowed Mort to stay in the world of the living.
Death (Discworld)
Death resides in an extra-dimensional realm called Death's Domain. Within the domain, his home looks like a Victorian house with a garden and is well tended, but is predominantly in shades of black and decorated with a skull and crossbones motif. It is called "Mon Repos", (Quirmian for "my place of rest"), and is much larger on the inside, because Death has not quite mastered the art of scale. Similarly, because he does not quite understand real distance compared to perspective, the surrounding terrain is actually relatively close, but blurred to appear farther away. Death adds a large golden wheat field to the grounds after the events of "Reaper Man". There is also a tree swing, created by Death for his granddaughter Susan, which swings through the trunk of the tree. (There is a joke common among engineers that pictures a rope-and-board swing as envisioned by various corporate entities. The last illustration is usually the simple swing labeled "what the customer wanted". The one in which the swing passes through the cut-through trunk of the tree—the upper part of the tree being propped up by sticks under the branches—is usually attributed to engineers. Many of Pratchett's fans work in engineering and science.)
Discworld gods
Gods on the Discworld exist as long as people believe in them and their power grows as their followers increase. This is a philosophy echoing the real-world politics of the power of religion and is most detailed in the novel "Small Gods". If people should cease believing in a particular god (say, if the religion becomes more important than faith) the god begins to fade and, eventually, will "die", becoming little more than a faded wispy echo.
Reaper Man
When humankind finally thinks of a New Death, one with a crown and without any humanity or human face, it goes to take Bill Door. Death/Door, having planned for this moment for some time, outwits and destroys it. Having defeated the New Death, Death absorbs the other Deaths back into him, with the exception of the Death of Rats (and ultimately, the Death of Fleas). Death confronts Azrael, the Death of the Universe, and states that the Deaths have to care or they do not exist and there is nothing but Oblivion, which must also end some time.
Death discography
, Death had sold over 2 million albums worldwide, with over 500,000 copies sold by December 2009 in the U.S. alone (excluding the numerous sales before the SoundScan era) making them the top-selling death metal band worldwide, and only topped in the U.S. by Cannibal Corpse.