Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 42 (click to see context) from:
to:
* Gargravarr, guardian of the Total Perspective Vortex in ''H2G2/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
natter
Deleted line(s) 31,33 (click to see context) :
** This is in contrast with the original lore of the sea, where Davy Jones was simply another name for [[{{Satan}} the Devil]].
*** Unlike the rest of those movies, which are [[SarcasmMode renowned for their mythological accuracy]]...
*** Well... Davy Jones' head ''does'' resemble an octopus, and in the ''"Ye Olde Times"'', an octopus was called "the Devil Fish." (before it became a nickname for the manta ray)
*** Unlike the rest of those movies, which are [[SarcasmMode renowned for their mythological accuracy]]...
*** Well... Davy Jones' head ''does'' resemble an octopus, and in the ''"Ye Olde Times"'', an octopus was called "the Devil Fish." (before it became a nickname for the manta ray)
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
to:
* What [[spoiler:the eponymous character]] become in ''PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', after she become a Goddess of some sort. Her job is to take the soul of dead {{Magical Girl}}s... somewhere, but it's definitely a better state of existence than becoming a Witch. Parallels to {{Valkyries}} are noted.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 50 (click to see context) from:
to:
* The main characters of DeadLikeMe.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 39 (click to see context) from:
* Charlie and Minty Fresh in {{Christopher Moore}}'s ADirtyJob
to:
* Charlie and Minty Fresh in {{Christopher Moore}}'s ADirtyJob''Literature/ADirtyJob''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 85 (click to see context) from:
to:
* ''ThePhoenixRequiem'' : Spirits, who used to take humans' souls to afterlife before their imprisonment. [[spoiler: Not really. Mehdiea or Hellions as they're known were responsible for sending souls to afterlife.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** The ''Cyhyraeth'' fulfilled a similar role in Welsh mythology.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 51 (click to see context) from:
[[AC:Mythology and Folklore]]
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Removing examples covered by subtropes.
Changed line(s) 21,23 (click to see context) from:
* ''{{Bleach}}'': Aside from fighting TheHeartless, the shinigami/Soul Reapers in the Bleach verse are responsible for guiding souls to the Soul Society.
* "YuYuHakusho": Botan, being a shinigami, is this.
* "YuYuHakusho": Botan, being a shinigami, is this.
to:
* "YuYuHakusho": Botan, being a shinigami, is this.
Deleted line(s) 48 (click to see context) :
* In ''DeadLikeMe'', the main characters are all tasked with helping the newly-dead find "their lights", so they can head to the afterlife.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 86,87 (click to see context) from:
* In ''{{Rhapsodies}}'', Deidre is a psychopomp working at one of the local hospitals. When asked she says she "handles malpractice." (Most people thinks this means she's a [[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/?p=1645 lawyer.]])
to:
* In ''{{Rhapsodies}}'', Deidre is a psychopomp working at one of the local hospitals. When asked she says she "handles malpractice." (Most people thinks think this means she's a [[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/?p=1645 lawyer.]])
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 86,87 (click to see context) from:
* In {{Rhapsodies}}, Deidre is a psychopomp working at one of the local hospitals. When asked she says she "handles malpractice." (Most people thinks this means she's a [[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/?p=1645 lawyer.]])
to:
* In {{Rhapsodies}}, ''{{Rhapsodies}}'', Deidre is a psychopomp working at one of the local hospitals. When asked she says she "handles malpractice." (Most people thinks this means she's a [[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/?p=1645 lawyer.]])
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 86 (click to see context) from:
to:
* In {{Rhapsodies}}, Deidre is a psychopomp working at one of the local hospitals. When asked she says she "handles malpractice." (Most people thinks this means she's a [[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/?p=1645 lawyer.]])
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
to:
* LiamNeeson plays one in ''AfterLife''. [[spoiler: [[ILied Ma]][[AlternateCharacterInterpretation y]][[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane be]]]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 22 (click to see context) from:
to:
* "YuYuHakusho": Botan, being a shinigami, is this.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
* Sparrows, functioning as psychopomps to escort the dead to the hereafter, figure heavily in the plot of ''The Dark Half'', by StephenKing.
to:
* Sparrows, functioning as psychopomps to escort the dead to the hereafter, figure heavily in the plot of ''The Dark Half'', ''TheDarkHalf'', by StephenKing.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 15 (click to see context) from:
* {{Valkyries}}: A [[NorseMythology Norse]] counterpart, who specifically chose those who died an honorable death in combat, picking the person from the battlefield and taking them to Valhalla, the warrior's paradise.
to:
* {{Valkyries}}: A [[NorseMythology Norse]] counterpart, who specifically chose those who died an honorable death in combat, picking the person warrior from the battlefield and taking them him to Valhalla, the warrior's paradise.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
*** Charon and Hermes I knew... But Medusa?
Changed line(s) 58 (click to see context) from:
** What the Koran actually refers to are ''angels'' of death, plural. Only in ahadith (which are always a slippery subject given that the Koran is the only infallible scripture) is there any talk of an Azrael.
to:
** What the Koran actually refers to are ''angels'' of death, plural. Only in ahadith (which are always a slippery subject given that the Koran is the only infallible reliable scripture) is there any talk of an Azrael.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 21,22 (click to see context) from:
* ''Bleach'': Aside from fighting TheHeartless, the shinigami/Soul Reapers in the Bleach verse are responsible for guiding souls to the Soul Society.
to:
* ''Bleach'': ''{{Bleach}}'': Aside from fighting TheHeartless, the shinigami/Soul Reapers in the Bleach verse are responsible for guiding souls to the Soul Society.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
to:
* ''Bleach'': Aside from fighting TheHeartless, the shinigami/Soul Reapers in the Bleach verse are responsible for guiding souls to the Soul Society.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* Charlie and Minty Fresh in {{Christopher Moore}}'s ADirtyJob
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 82 (click to see context) from:
* In {{Tasakeru}}, the Death God allows a trusted person significant to the soon-to-die to guide their soul Beneath.
to:
* In {{Tasakeru}}, the Death God allows a trusted person significant to creatures called the soon-to-die Shroud take on a form that the deceased with trust implicitly, in order to guide their soul Beneath.ease the passage to [[TheUnderworld the Beneath]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 50 (click to see context) from:
* Egyptian: Anubis most famously; also Horus, Neith, and others.
to:
* Egyptian: Anubis most famously; also Horus, Neith, and others.
** Though they wouldn't take you to the Afterlife; they would only be present at your final judgement. You had to find your own way through the desert of death to be judged. Prayers, spellscrolls and various items put into your grave would help you on this journey. Oh, and you had to be mummified, if you didn't want to take the journey as a rotting corpse, and probably never reach your destination.
** Though they wouldn't take you to the Afterlife; they would only be present at your final judgement. You had to find your own way through the desert of death to be judged. Prayers, spellscrolls and various items put into your grave would help you on this journey. Oh, and you had to be mummified, if you didn't want to take the journey as a rotting corpse, and probably never reach your destination.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[AC: Web Original]]
* In {{Tasakeru}}, the Death God allows a trusted person significant to the soon-to-die to guide their soul Beneath.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 26 (click to see context) from:
to:
* Veitch and Edwards TheQuestion miniseries featured a hitman named "Psychopomp", who specialized in not only killing his victims, but sending their souls to a specially-constructed personal hell.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* ''LifeOnMars'' and ''AshesToAshes'': [[spoiler: Gene Hunt takes on this role in response to being killed as a young policeman. Out of what is essentially Purgatory, he creates an entire world in which he's an amalgamation of {{Cowboy Cop}}s and [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner "the Sheriff"]], and uses it to help fellow coppers who die in tortured circumstances through their issues.]]
to:
* ''LifeOnMars'' and ''AshesToAshes'': [[spoiler: Gene Hunt takes on this role in response to being killed as a young policeman. Out of what is essentially Purgatory, he creates an entire world in which he's an amalgamation of {{Cowboy Cop}}s and [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner "the Sheriff"]], and uses it to help fellow coppers who die in tortured circumstances through their issues. The thing is, he doesn't remember any of this himself until the GrandFinale.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 68 (click to see context) from:
* In ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne with the exception of [[PlayerCharacter the Hito-Shura]] and [[DevilMayCry Dante]] / [[RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th]] the [[BonusBoss holders of the Candelabra]] are various incarnations of death, including the FourHorsemenOfTheApocalypse, [[TheBible the trumpet playing angel and the Whore of Babylon]], a Sokushinbutsu, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg plus]] [[OriginalGenerations a matador and hell's angel]].
to:
* In ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne with the exception of [[PlayerCharacter the Hito-Shura]] and [[DevilMayCry Dante]] / [[RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th]] the [[BonusBoss holders of the Candelabra]] are various incarnations of death, including the FourHorsemenOfTheApocalypse, Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse, [[TheBible the trumpet playing angel and the Whore of Babylon]], a Sokushinbutsu, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg plus]] [[OriginalGenerations a matador and hell's angel]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 68,70 (click to see context) from:
* In ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne with the exception of the Hito-Shura and [[DevilMayCry Dante]] / [[RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th]] the [[BonusBoss holders of the Candelabra]] are various incarnations of death.
** What's Matador, Mexican death?
*** He's the death of bulls! Or maybe [[WakeUpCallBoss just you.]]
** What's Matador, Mexican death?
*** He's the death of bulls! Or maybe [[WakeUpCallBoss just you.]]
to:
* In ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne with the exception of [[PlayerCharacter the Hito-Shura Hito-Shura]] and [[DevilMayCry Dante]] / [[RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th]] the [[BonusBoss holders of the Candelabra]] are various incarnations of death.
** What's Matador, Mexican death?
*** He'sdeath, including the death FourHorsemenOfTheApocalypse, [[TheBible the trumpet playing angel and the Whore of bulls! Or maybe [[WakeUpCallBoss just you.]]Babylon]], a Sokushinbutsu, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg plus]] [[OriginalGenerations a matador and hell's angel]].
** What's Matador, Mexican death?
*** He's
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1 (click to see context) from:
[[redirect:Usefulnotes/Psychopomps]]
to:
[[caption-width:300:Clockwise from top left: Neith, Ankou, Agni, Hermes, and Antimony Carver.]]
Death is a fact of life, fascinating, frightening, and ultimately mysterious. It's not so surprising, then, that almost every mythology in existence deals extensively with dying and the prospect of a world to come -- a process often described in terms of a journey between this life and the next.
Psychopomps -- Greek for ''conveyors of the soul'', originally an epithet of Hermes -- are this journey's guides, and are ubiquitous in mythology. Most cultures, ancient or modern, include at least one figure with this function; several have many. They are not necessarily personifications of death or judges of the dead, although many are; they may or may not choose the slain, but all escort their charges to the next world. Often they act as [[ThresholdGuardians threshold guardian]] figures, either to dead souls or to living heroes descending into the underworld. In such a case, it's common for burial rites to include an offering to the guardian of the gates of death.
Like most mythological concepts, these figures have crept into present-day media; hardly a BangsianFantasy series leaves the concept unexplored, and most other {{fantasy}} settings at least touch on it. An increasingly prominent subgenre features the ''protagonists'' as psychopomps, either as their main job or as an important secondary duty.
[[AC:Please add examples to this page only if they do not fit one of its subtropes.]]
----
'''Subtropes:'''
* TheGrimReaper: a psychopomp, and usually a bringer of death as well.
** {{Shinigami}}: essentially the Japanese version of the Grim Reaper, these usually act as psychopomps as well.
* {{Valkyries}}: A [[NorseMythology Norse]] counterpart, who specifically chose those who died an honorable death in combat, picking the person from the battlefield and taking them to Valhalla, the warrior's paradise.
----
!!Examples:
[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* ''JigokuShoujo'': Among other duties, Enma Ai ferries damned souls to eternal torment.
[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* ''TheSandman'': Several, most prominently Death of the Endless. She's portrayed as a PerkyGoth girl who seems to have a [[TheMessiah deep and abiding affection for just about everyone and everything]].
** In his afterword to the VertigoComics artists' showcase ''Death Gallery'', Gaiman mentions the inspiration for this portrayal. A Kabbalistic teaching has it that when a person is about to die, the Angel of Death comes to him in the form of a woman so beautiful that his [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer or her]] soul leaves their body in ecstasy.
** In the spin-off comic ''{{Lucifer}}'' the titular character declares himself as a Psychopomp while persuading a demon to allow herself to be killed by him, so that she can come back as his servant. It works, since she has a huge bone to pick with her current masters.
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean: At World's End'', it's revealed part of the duties of the captain of the Flying Dutchman is to escort the souls of those who died at sea to the next world. It's also explained that the reason Davy Jones and his crew look like [[BiologicalMashUp half-man, half-sea-creature hybrids]] is because he was neglecting this duty.
** This is in contrast with the original lore of the sea, where Davy Jones was simply another name for [[{{Satan}} the Devil]].
*** Unlike the rest of those movies, which are [[SarcasmMode renowned for their mythological accuracy]]...
*** Well... Davy Jones' head ''does'' resemble an octopus, and in the ''"Ye Olde Times"'', an octopus was called "the Devil Fish." (before it became a nickname for the manta ray)
* ''{{Soultaker}}''. The Soultakers.
* ''JacobsLadder''. [[spoiler: The "demons" are actually angels freeing you from your old life. In addition, Gabriel.]]
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Sparrows, functioning as psychopomps to escort the dead to the hereafter, figure heavily in the plot of ''The Dark Half'', by StephenKing.
* In the ''HisDarkMaterials'' series by PhilipPullman, every person has their own Death, an aspect of their being that guides them through the World of the Dead. In some universes, as with Daemons, people can see their Death and talk to them throughout their entire life.
* In JohnCWright's ''Orphans of Chaos'' characters discuss how Orpheus is certain to be the new Psychopomp. Later, in ''Titans of Chaos'', the old one uses it to justify being an OmnicidalManiac, since he can conduct the souls back after he recreates the universe ''[[KnightTemplar right]]''.
* In DorothyLSayers's ''The Devil To Pay'', an angel and a devil both show up to claim Faustus's soul. (This is in fact a common Christian trope, so they can duke it out to establish where the soul ends up.)
[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* In ''DeadLikeMe'', the main characters are all tasked with helping the newly-dead find "their lights", so they can head to the afterlife.
* ''TheTwilightZone'' was rife with characters whose duty it was to show the protagonist that he/she was dead in reality, and to guide him/her to the afterlife.
* ''LifeOnMars'' and ''AshesToAshes'': [[spoiler: Gene Hunt takes on this role in response to being killed as a young policeman. Out of what is essentially Purgatory, he creates an entire world in which he's an amalgamation of {{Cowboy Cop}}s and [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner "the Sheriff"]], and uses it to help fellow coppers who die in tortured circumstances through their issues.]]
* ''{{Lost}}'': [[spoiler:Once Desmond realizes he's dead in the flash-sideway verse, he becomes one and attempts to get everyone to realize it to so they can move on. Hurley later joins him in this task.]]
** [[spoiler: Then Christian fulfilled the really psychopompic threshold keeping duty.]]
[[AC:Mythology and Folklore]]
* Egyptian: Anubis most famously; also Horus, Neith, and others.
* Greek: Charon, Hermes, Medusa and others.
** As mentioned above, Hermes is the TropeNamer via his epithet 'psychopompos'.
* Islam: Azrael. Though the Qur'an simply refers to it as "The Angel of Death".
** What the Koran actually refers to are ''angels'' of death, plural. Only in ahadith (which are always a slippery subject given that the Koran is the only infallible scripture) is there any talk of an Azrael.
* Norse: Odin, Baldr, all valkyries and Freyja in some versions.
* Popular Christianity: It varies, but most commonly St. Peter and various angels.
* Various: TheWildHunt acts in a similar role in some versions of the legend (in others, it's a hunting party either for demons, TheFairFolk, or the Old Gods. The French region of Bretagne has Ankou (or l'Ankou, ie the Ankou), which is similar to the Grim Reaper in many aspects but differs as his scythe is fit together wrongly ("emmanchée à l'envers") and that in some versions of the tale the last dead of the year fills the role for the following year, other versions have it that he is a suicide. Related: the washers at the ford wash the clothes of people about to die.
* In European folklore, dogs are said to act as psychopomps. A howl at night often signaled that someone was about to die.
* [[AztecMythology Aztec]]: Xolotl, a spiritual companion/avatar of Quetzalcoatl
* Celtic/Irish: In the original mythology, hearing the cry of a Banshee meant that someone who heard it was going to die. It wasn't until DungeonsAndDragons was made that the idea of the cry being anything more then a sign of approaching death took off.
* Celtic/Irish: The [[HeadlessHorseman Dullahan]], though actually a member of [[TheFairFolk the Unseelie court]], hurls blood in the face of those mortals he encounters as a sign that death will claim them soon. Sometimes he is said to come driving a hearse (a black coach with candles mounted in skulls for light, human thigh bones for spokes and a human spine to hold up the worm-eaten pall) drawn by six headless horses, with or without a banshee at his side.
* Celtic/Brittany: the Ankou, who is often described as a skeletal figure in a [[NiceHat large-brimmed hat]] and a cloak, collecting the souls of the dead in a horse-drawn carriage.
[[AC:{{TabletopGames}}]]
* ''GeistTheSinEaters'': You play as one of the Bound, who has partially fused with a type of ghost, and go around doing to work of the dead, or just doing the shit your Geist wants. One of the [[{{Splat}} Archetypes]], the Advocates, is pretty much devoted to helping ghost resolve their UnfinishedBusiness and allowing them to pass on.
[[AC:{{VideoGames}}]]
* ''{{Touhou}}'' has Shikeiki Yamaxanadu, the Enma, or Judge of the Dead. (As well as her [[TheSlacker slacker]] subordinate Komachi, but she is [[{{Shinigami}} a more specific trope]].)
* In ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne with the exception of the Hito-Shura and [[DevilMayCry Dante]] / [[RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th]] the [[BonusBoss holders of the Candelabra]] are various incarnations of death.
** What's Matador, Mexican death?
*** He's the death of bulls! Or maybe [[WakeUpCallBoss just you.]]
* GuildWars Factions has a rogue Psychopomp as it's BigBad.
* ''JadeEmpire'': The Spirit Monks serve the Water Dragon, who is the Shepherd of the Dead. The monks have the duty to deal with restless ghosts, and can bind spirits in order to escort particularily troublesome specimens to Dirge, the gateway to the Underworld. They can also temporarily disperse spirits through applied force.
* The world of Haephnes in ''SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'' has a being known as a Master of Death, a god who serves as a psychopomp to gods and humans alike and controls the flow of souls to the afterlife. Souls there go through a cycle of reincarnation, and without a Master of Death the cycle stagnates as souls are unable to flow freely between life and afterlife. That's their job in theory, at least. Gig [[OmnicidalManiac certainly made the souls flow, but it was a purely one-way ticket]].
** ''SoulNomad'' also has an inversion known as a Master of Life, the counterpart of the Master of Death. Its job is to see that souls that flow into the world from the afterlife are born properly.
** [[spoiler:The truth behind it all is slightly more complex: The afterlife is another world in itself, called Drazil. Drazil has its own Master of Death and Master of Life, who are minions of the BigBad. The BigBad sought to stop the balance of souls in order to make Drazil flourish at the cost of Haephnes. Thus, he makes Drazil's Master of Death stop the souls of Drazil's dead from returning to Haephnes, and arranges for Haephnes' Master of Death to be assassinated so he can't stop souls from flowing from Haephnes to Drazil. Needless to say, [[DepopulationBomb this ends up messing up things royally for Haephnes]] -- [[ItGotWorse and then Gig comes along...]]]]
[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* ''GunnerkriggCourt'': Numerous. Muut, a death spirit from Cahuilla Indian folklore, is probably most prominent. Aside from Ketrak, the Guide of insects, all of them are preexisting mythological figures, though some, such as Agni (pictured above) and [[{{Hellhound}} the Moddey-Dhoo]], were not psychopomps in the original stories. And in at least one instance, a living human served as a psychopomp for a relative after none of the Guides came to help.
* ''LifeAndDeath'' has Steve, who serves as the psychopomp for the world, and occasionally the one to actually kill people. The catch is that Death is the name of his job, not his nature.
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1,10 (click to see context) from:
A 19-year-old Texan slacker, who wants nothing more than for everyone to stop their damn bickering, and practically worships the ground on which rock/folk/industrial group The Tea Party walks.
----
Generally makes a point to embody the following tropes:
*{{Refuge In Audacity}}
*{{The Loonie}}
*{{Crosses The Line Twice}}
*{{Gentle Giant}}
----
<<|TheContributors|>>
----
Generally makes a point to embody the following tropes:
*{{Refuge In Audacity}}
*{{The Loonie}}
*{{Crosses The Line Twice}}
*{{Gentle Giant}}
----
<<|TheContributors|>>
to:
----
Generally makes a point to embody the following tropes:
*{{Refuge In Audacity}}
*{{The Loonie}}
*{{Crosses The Line Twice}}
*{{Gentle Giant}}
----
<<|TheContributors|>>
