History Main / Psychopomp

** ''Book of The Dead'' introduced perhaps the biggest in the entire setting: Mictlantecuhtli, the Kerberos of Mictlan, also known as Polydegmon the Collector. He doesn't guide souls per se, but the book mentions how he sees himself as the guardian of the dead. His biggest claim though, is how he can retrieve the soul of ''anyone'' who has ever died. Not even FinalDeath, CessationOfExistence, even old age (which is big, considering old age is usually ''the'' final death in most other settings) could stop him from doing this. Combined his [[GeniusLoci Geognosis]] and perfect 15 stats across the board, he might even be one of the mythical [[PhysicalGod Deathlords.]]

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' features a unique spin on TheGrimReaper archetype by manifesting as [[TheDividual two entities]] collectively known as Kindred. Eternally bound to one another, one of them represents [[DontFearTheReaper the gentle, if absolute side of death]] that grants a peaceful passing should the victim FaceDeathWithDignity, while the other is [[SuperPersistentPredator a violent predator that eternally chases those trying to run from death]] until [[TheProblemWithFightingDeath they inevitably lose]]. They're mainly represented in-game by the [[CuteMonsterGirl Lamb]] and [[BeastMan Wolf]], but various cultures in Runeterra have their own regional variants and interpretations, though they're always consistently acknowledged as a dual entity.

** ''Book of The Dead'' introduced perhaps the biggest in the entire setting: Mictlantecuhtli, the Kerberos of Mictlan, also known as Polydegmon the Collector. He doesn't guide souls per se, but the book mentions how he sees himself as the guardian of the dead. His biggest claim though, is how he can retrieve the soul of ''anyone'' who has ever died. Not even FinalDeath, CessationOfExistence, even old age (which is big, considering old age is usually ''the'' final death in most other settings) could stop him from doing this. Combined his [[GeniusLoci Geognosis]] and perfect 15 stats across the board, he might even be one of the mythical [[AGodAmI Deathlords.]]

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' features a unique spin on TheGrimReaper archetype by manifesting as [[TheDividual two entities]] collectively known as Kindred. Eternally bound to one another, one of them represents [[DontFearTheReaper the gentle, if absolute side of death]] that grants a peaceful death should the victim FaceDeathWithDignity, while the other is [[SuperPersistentPredator a violent predator that eternally chases those trying to run from death]] until [[TheProblemWithFightingDeath they inevitably lose]]. They're mainly represented in-game by the [[CuteMonsterGirl Lamb]] and [[BeastMan Wolf]], but various cultures in Runeterra have their own regional variants and interpretations, though they're always consistently acknowledged as a dual entity.

* Myth/NauticalFolklore: Mother Carey, who is sometimes presented as forming an UnholyMatrimony with Davy Jones and appropriately is the aggressive sort of psychopomp. She lures sailors like a siren, but takes care of storm petrels and giant petrels, respectively known as Mother Carey's Chickens and Mother Carey's Geese, which are thought to be the souls of lost sailors

* In ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'', Lala is a [[HeadlessHorseman dullahan]] who claims to be a psychopomp, but Kimihito quickly realizes that she's actually just a gothy teenager pretending to be one. [[spoiler: Then in a later chapter he finds out that she is, in fact, a real psychopomp who's pretending to be a gothy teenager who's pretending to be a psychopomp]].

* ''Comicbook/TheSandman'': Several, most prominently Death of the Endless. She's portrayed as a PerkyGoth girl who seems to have a [[AllLovingHero deep and abiding affection for just about everyone and everything]]. It is extremely important to note that none of her siblings call her "Death"; only mortals do. Her actual function is to escort everyone into life and then escort them out. Her siblings simply call her "our elder Sister" (presumably since there is no mortal word for her true function/concept).

** In the spin-off comic ''Comicbook/{{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.

* Secret in ''Comicbook/YoungJustice'' is a living (or not) conduit between the realms of the living and the dead with powers she doesn't really understand, but which sometimes enable her to act as a psychopomp.

* FanFic/AGrowingAffection has The Reaper, who appears as a cute if otherworldly 4 year old girl with impossibly long, snow-white hair. She tells Naruto that it is her job to send souls to (and occasionally bring them back from) the various Heavens and Hells, but she does not control those worlds, nor does she decide who ends up where. And she has a grudge against Orochimaru for making her task harder.

* ''FanFic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': [[spoiler:When Twilight breaks free of her prison a thousand years after she was trapped by the Nightmare, Death is finally able to come for her, allowing her to make her journey to Elysium so she can rest in peace.]]

* ''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]]... [[TheFerryman or two, to be more precise.]]) Yuyuko is technically a psychopomp too -- she can cause death with a thought, but 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.

* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' has two known Psychopomps, Death and Icthlarin. Death's role is to separate dead souls from their bodies and help them reach the underworld, while Icthlarin (who is based on Anubis from Myth/EgyptianMythology) guides souls through the underworld of Gielinor, protecting them from his insane sister who used to be in charge of reincarnation before she went insane. Death is actually referred to as a Psychopomp in the lyrics of the song of the Halloween 2014 event. Death was given his role as a psychopomp by Guthix after he became the very first human to ever die in Gielinor. According to the games lore, each planet has its own version of Death and it's own underworld. Upon death a creature's soul is reaped by the death of the planet they are currently on, and then passes to the underworld of whatever planet they consider home.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

** In ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the player very briefly becomes one in the final stage of the questline for Mara's temple, tasked with reuniting two lost lovers' ghosts and then letting them move on together to Aetherius.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WebComic/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. Antimony first realized their nature when two called on her, as the only person who could see them, to decide which of them one dead child should go with. And in at least one instance, a living human served as a psychopomp for a relative after none of the Guides came to help. [[spoiler:This is because the person's life force didn't actually die, but was unintentionally stolen by her daughter, who had to guide her as a final action cementing it.]].

* The ''{{Webcomic/Buildingverse}}'' has a lot of deaths running around. ''Webcomic/GirlsNextDoor'' at least two, ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' three (both have the deaths of Discworld and Sandman, and ''Roommates'' also the Erl-king the fae of child's death).

** The Swan also appears in Minna Sundberg's earlier work, ''WebComic/ARedtailsDream''. In that story, she's very overworked and not particularly helpful.

* {{Shinigami}}: 'Death Gods,' the afterlife sanitation workers of the east.

*** Later lore retconned events so that Spirit Healers are in fact rogue valkyr.

* A playable class within ''VideoGame/BloodlineChampions''. With long braided hair with sticks in it in addition to wearing a headband, they also have a [[VideoGame/NewAgeRetroHippie hippie-ish]] look.

* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', [[OurElvesAreBetter Dalish Elves]] believe that when they die, their souls are guided to the afterlife by [[TheMarvelousDeer Halla]].

* In ''Literature/{{Tasakeru}}'', the creatures called the Shroud take on a form that the deceased with trust implicitly, in order to ease the passage to [[TheUnderworld the Beneath]].

* Reapers from ''{{Series/Supernatural}}''.
** Reapers take this a step beyond being mere guides. Without a reaper present, it is impossible to die at all.

** Psychopomps are the primary race of TrueNeutral outsiders, and serve Pharasma, Goddess of the Dead, in ensuring that the transition of souls from life to the afterlife works properly and smoothly. They don't generally escort souls to the afterlife -- that happens automatically -- but serve various roles in easing the process. Shokis, for instance, track down lingering souls to coax them to the afterlife; esoboks and morrignas hunt down the undead and those who would cheat death; memitims and vanths guard departed souls to ward off supernatural predators; catrinas comfort the departed and help them accept their fate; {{calacas}} help living mourners come to terms with their losses. Their mortal enemies are the daemons, who seek to [[SoulEating devour and destroy souls]]; sahkils, whose fostering of mortal fear disturbs the progression of the dead into the afterlife; and any and all undead.

[[spoiler:Being a successful psychopomp didn't stop her mother from going to hell, but it did get her a nice house with the abusive-victim roles reversed. It's implied that she could have gotten a second chance for her community service, but she lost privileges when she abused her powers and brought her brother back from the dead.]]

--> "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!" Mark 12:27
--> "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Matthew 22:32
--> He is not God of the dead but of the living, for to Him all are alive." Luke 20:38
*** Taken a step further by some interpretations of 1 Peter 3:19-20 that state Christ visited the spirits in “prison” (another word for Hell) in order to preach His Gospel to the dead who hadn’t received it and guide them to paradise.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Psychopomps are the primary race of TrueNeutral outsiders, and serve Pharasma, Goddess of the Dead, in ensuring that the transition of souls from life to the afterlife works properly and smoothly. They don't generally escort souls to the afterlife -- that happens automatically -- but serve various roles in easing the process. Shokis, for instance, track down lingering souls to coax them to the afterlife; esoboks and morrignas hunt down the undead and those who would cheat death; memitims and vanths guard departed souls to ward off supernatural predators; catrinas comfort the departed and help them accept their fate; {{calacas}} help living mourners come to terms with their losses. Their mortal enemies are the daemons, who seek to [[SoulEating devour and destroy souls]]; sahkils, whose fostering of mortal fear disturbs the progression of the dead into the afterlife; and any and all undead.

* In UsefulNotes/AncientEgypt, the god Seker, one of the oldest gods, is both this and a creator spirit. In ''Film/TheTenCommandments'', Rameses is shown praying to Seker (he calls him "Sokar") to resurrect his dead son. [=DeMille=] DidTheResearch; both Rameses II and his father Seti were devoted to Seker and had murals of him in their chambers.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Psychopomps are the primary race of TrueNeutral outsiders, and serve Pharasma, Goddess of the Dead, in ensuring that the transition of souls from life to the afterlife works properly and smoothly. They don't generally escort souls to the afterlife -- that happens automatically -- but serve various roles in easing the process. Some, such as shokis, track down lingering souls to cooks them to the afterlife; esoboks and morrignas hunt down the undead and those who would cheat death; memitims and vanths guard departed souls to ward off supernatural predators; catrinas comfort the departed and help them accept their fate; {{calacas}} help living mourners come to terms with their losses. Their mortal enemies are the daemons, who seek to [[SoulEating devour and destroy souls]]; sahkils, whose fostering of mortal fear disturbs the progression of the dead into the afterlife; and any and all undead.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Psychopomps are the primary race of TrueNeutral outsiders, and serve Pharasma, Goddess of the Dead, in ensuring that the transition of souls from life to the afterlife works properly and smoothly. They don't generally escort souls to the afterlife -- that happens automatically -- but serve various roles in easing the process. Some, such as shokis, track down lingering souls to cooks them to the afterlife; esoboks and morrignas hunt down the undead and those who would cheat death; memitims and vanths guard departed souls to ward off supernatural predators; catrinas comfort the departed and help them accept their fate; {{calacas}} help living mourners come to terms with their losses. Their mortal enemies are the daemons, who seek to [[SoulEating. devour and destroy souls]]; sahkils, whose fostering of mortal fear disturbs the progression of the dead into the afterlife; and any and all undead.

* Lance Romenel in ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'' voluntarily serves as a psychopomp for dogs. He's not actually responsible for dogs - he's the Power of Records - but he does it anyway.

* In TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}} Pharasma, Goddess of the Dead, employs a special class of spiritual servant with this job, referred to by name. There is also a specific kind of creature called a Psychopomp that occasionally does this job, but not all psychopomps are Psychopomps and vice versa..

* One of the duties of the Black God from the Literature/TortallUniverse, one of the only gods who seems to ''care'' about the mortals in his care. There's also his unofficial priestess, [[Literature/ProvostsDog Beka Cooper]], who can hear the souls of murdered individuals riding on pigeons, guide them to the after-life, and avenge their deaths.