History Main / Psychopomp

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

* Somewhat unsettling in hindsight, but PeterPan is said to be one: “At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said to live with the fairies. There were odd stories about him; as that when children died he went part of the way with them, so that they should not be frightened.”

* In Creator/DorothyLSayers' ''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.)

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' 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. Several of them appear on the show's [[Heartwarming/TheTwilightZone1959 Heartwarming]] page.

** Many of the holders of the Candelabra appear again in ''ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' as difficult, very rare bonus bosses. Charon also appears as the boatman that you can bribe to return to life, should you die.

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

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

* The ''{{Franchise/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).

* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', with the exception of [[PlayerCharacter the Hito-Shura]] and [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]] / [[RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th]], the [[BonusBoss holders of the Candelabra]] are various incarnations of death, including the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse, [[Literature/TheBible the trumpet playing angel and the Whore of Babylon]], a Sokushinbutsu, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg plus]] [[OriginalGeneration a matador and hell's angel]].

* In TheRavenCycle, Orphan Girl suspects that she is a psychopomp.

* The ''Series/{{{Arrowverse}}'' introduces the Black Flash at the end of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' Season 2 [[spoiler:by forcibly transforming heinous villain Zoom into the Speed Force's new "agent".]] In a change from the source material, it doesn't show up when a speedster is nearing his death, but rather, to actively hunt time aberrations and anomalies (usually other speedsters who violated the Speed Force's laws).

* While Dusknoir's Pokedex entry in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' ("the antenna on its head captures radio waves from the world of spirits that command it to take people there") would suggest that it abducts unwilling people, entries in later games suggest Dusknoir actually acts as a ferryman that guides lost souls "home" (into the realm of the dead).

* ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'': You play as one of the Bound, who has partially fused with a type of ghost, and go around doing the 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.

* ''Film/JacobsLadder''. [[spoiler: The "demons" are actually angels freeing you from your old life. In addition, Gabriel.]]
* Creator/LiamNeeson plays one in ''Film/AfterLife''. [[spoiler: At least, that's what he claims to be]].

* The sparrows in Creator/StephenKing's novel ''Literature/TheDarkHalf'' are considered by the main character to be psychopomps. This turns out to be true in the ending, where [[spoiler: the sparrows carry George Stark off to the afterlife]]
* Two of these appear in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Ghost Story''. The first is [[spoiler: Carmichael]], who appears to guide [[spoiler: Harry Dresden]] to his superiors, who are a sort of "between worlds police" who specialize in safeguarding free will as agents of the Archangel Uriel. The second appears much later, in the form of a literal "angel of death" who is standing over [[spoiler: Father Forthill's body]] as he lays dying. When Harry questions her purpose, she tells him that her job is to safeguard the souls of the righteous who [[{{Satan}} the Enemy]] would seek to waylay on their way to the afterlife, and that she is standing by for the moment when [[spoiler: Forthill]] dies.
* Neil Gaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'' references this by name. In this case, it's [[spoiler: [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Thoth]]/Mr. Ibis leading the main character after his death on the WorldTree]].

'''Garovel:'''Because that would be a great cruelty... On its own, a soul will soon decay. Within a day, it will become a confused mass of semi-consciousness. Within two, it will become a prison of raw agony...Ferrying souls is a task we take upon ourselves not because a higher power has ordained us to, but just because it’s the right thing to do... And besides, what the fuck else are we gonna do with our time? It’s a good way to relieve boredom.

* 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]].]]

** [[spoiler: Then Christian fulfilled the really psychopompic threshold keeping duty.]]

* ''Webcomic/ThePhoenixRequiem'' : Spirits, who used to take humans' souls to afterlife before their imprisonment. [[spoiler: It is revealed near the end that actually the Mehdiea or Hellions as they're known were responsible for sending souls to afterlife. As both Spirits and Mehdiea are imprisoned, at the end it falls to Jonas to do the job. He even mentions at the end that some people call him "[[TheGrimReaper The Reaper]]".]]

* In Creator/HPLovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" it was whippoorwills. They would gather near someone who was dying and if they got the soul would hoot and sing for the rest of the night. If the person died and the birds quieted down, then you knew they missed it.

** Defiled by UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} himself in Literature/TheFourGospels. He explicitly stated that he isn't the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive. Ultimately, he would [[MassResurrection resurrect the people]] who believed in him and followed his teaching.

* This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mptpw8fQ-lw ridiculously adorable animated short]] depicts what happens when psychopomps of several cultures take their children to school.

* This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mptpw8fQ-lw stupidly adorable animated short]] depicts what happens when psychopomps of several cultures take their children to school