History Main / Psychopomp

* ''Fanfic/FarceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' has the three death scene judges, who show up whenever minor characters bite the dust onscreen and assign them a score. [[DyingMomentOfAwesome Dying Moments of Awesome]] get high scores, but they're less impressed by [[DropABridgeOnHim sudden anticlimactic deaths]] or [[SuicideAsComedy insufficiently impressive suicides.]] The minor characters are entirely aware of them and often try to one-up each other to get higher on the scoreboard.

* ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' has one as the main protagonist, Manny Calavera, a Grim Reaper who lives on the land of the dead, and his job is going to the land of the living, bringing dead people to the land of the dead, and sell them tickets to the Ninth Underworld, which is essentialy heaven, Manny is only allowed to go to the Ninth Underworld if he pays his debts for what he done in life, and is working as a reaper to do such, when working as a reaper, he dresses with a robe and carries a schyte, but when he is not picking souls, his job is just like in a real world office.

* ''Webcomic/DailyGrind'': Jolene comes from a long line of female Psychopomps. [[spoiler:The job isn't gender-restricted, either.]]

* What [[spoiler:the eponymous character]] becomes in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', after she becomes a Goddess of some sort. Her job is to take the souls of dead {{Magical Girl}}s... somewhere, but it's definitely a better state of existence than [[spoiler:becoming a Witch]]. Parallels to {{Valkyries}} are noted.

* ''Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner'' has an UnholyMatrimony in Death and Life-in-Death, who play dice over souls that interest them both. Death is Death, who takes the souls of the crew to their final destination, but Life-in-Death is more of anti-psychopomp. Her affiliation is unnatural, because she condemns people to neither life nor death, leaving them to suffer existence until they've paid for their crimes. Which is the Ancient Mariner's fate.

* Zoroasterian: Daena for the Righteous, Vizaresh for the wicked.

* Peter Pan, for children that died young, at least in the original tales.

* Myth/AztecMythology: Xolotl, a spiritual companion/avatar of Quetzalcoatl, said to have guided him and/or Tezcatlipoca through the underworld in order to gather the bones used to (re)create humanity and kickstart the current world. By extension (Xolotl was also the god of dogs, among other things), ''all'' dogs were (and often still are, in Mexican and Central American folklore) considered psychopomps, and were often sacrificed at funerals to provide the dead with companionship and guidance.

* ''Webcomic/DailyGrind'': Jolene comes from a long line of female Psychopomps. [[spoiler:That didn't stop her mother from going to hell, but it did get her a nice house with the abusive-victim roles reversed.]]

Greek for ''conveyors of the soul'' (and a title applied to Hermes), psychopomps are this journey's guides, and they are ''everywhere'' 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. If more than one appears, they may dispute over who gets the soul, which will determine the destination. Often they act as [[ThresholdGuardians threshold guardian]] figures either to dead souls or to living heroes descending into the underworld. In many cases, it's common for burial rites to include an offering to the guardian of the gates of death. [[LiminalBeing Their ability to cross between the lands of the living and the dead -- they may be the only beings who can -- may make them uncanny even among their kinds.]] [[DontFearTheReaper Still, in any case, you don't need to fear these guys]].

[[quoteright:300:[[WebComic/GunnerkriggCourt https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gc-psychopomps-text.jpg]]]]

* The [[GhostPirate Flying Dutchman]] seems to alternate between this and a VengefulGhost. In a magazine that operated as his debut (in cameo form), it was claimed that he haunts the seas because [[DishonoredDead his body was used as a window display]] when he died. Another has him making [[DealWithTheDevil deals]] with various sea creatures in exchange for their souls that he carries in a bag on his person. The tie-in for this trope is in "Born Again Krabs," where he is going to drag Mr. Krabs to Davy Jones' Locker for his miserly greed. It's unknown if he escorts all underwater creatures to the afterlife, good or bad, or just the ones that go to Davy Jones' Locker.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-4999 SCP-4999]] is implied to be one; it manifests as a mysterious suited man who appears to ordinary, unimportant people who are otherwise DyingALone and offers them OneLastSmoke.

* The GrandFinale of ''Series/AshesToAshes'' - and, by extension, ''Series/LifeOnMars2006'' - reveals this to be the case for [[spoiler:Gene Hunt and Jim Keats. The entire series has been a purgatory for British coppers, and Gene is supposed to help them resolve their emotional baggage and move on (too bad he doesn't remember this himself until the end). Keats is Gene's opposite number - if you lose your way, he's one who takes you, and it's pretty clear [[FireAndBrimstoneHell where]].]]

* In ''Literature/SparrowHillRoad'', the main character is a [[BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts ghostly hitchhiker]] who's seeks out people who are about to die in accidents. If she can, she'll try to prevent the crash but otherwise she escorts them to the afterlife to prevent them from becoming malicious ghosts. The fact that she's a ghost that's associated with deadly car crashes means that people have made the mistaken assumption that she herself actually causes them.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]

* Myth/AztecMythology: Xolotl, a spiritual companion/avatar of Quetzalcoatl

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu, the Yama/Enma (see Myth/HinduMythology above) assigned to Gensokyo. (As well as her [[TheSlacker slacker]] subordinate Komachi, but she is [[{{Shinigami}} a more specific trope]].) Yuyuko is technically a psychopomp too -- she can cause death, she is extremely responsible with her power, and her happy, cheerful attitude is certainly good for reassuring a moribund person that everything in the afterlife is going to be fine.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' showed a few psychopomps from alien cultures, like Kortar for Klingons, and the Registrar for Ferengi. (Always explainable as dreams, visions, or hallucinations of course)