The Discworld Directory: DEATH
Created | Updated Dec 22, 2002
The Discworld has death. Not just death, but Death: The Grim Reaper, The Taker Of Souls, The Silent Assassin- you get the point... eventually.
Nobody looks forward to seeing Death, except maybe the wizard faculties and witch covens who realise that he's only doing his job.
Death has humour, Death has a personality.. Death even has a horse called Binky.
Problem is, he only knows how to use the latter of the three leading to many misunderstandings and confusion with his... clients.
As far as the novels are concerned, Death is the real 'star', as he is the only character to have been, and is guaranteed to be, in every story. Though this may only be through cameo.
He knows the future, he knows the past, and more importantly, he knows the present.
From his black cottage, he takes note of every death through the lifetimers of everybody (including himself) on the shelves of his study.
Of course, his line of business requires helpers.
Death concerns himself primarily with wizards, witches and the aristocracy though he does sometimes takes care of the 'lesser' deaths of peoples. Work which is normally given to demons that take his form.
His house is taken care of by his manservant, Albert, whom took the job to prevent himself from dying [for in Death's realm there is no measure of time passing].
Of course, a meeting or sight of Death is not a sign that you will die. It is merely a sign that you are in a life threatening situation-- or he's just trying to socialise, which is quite hard when you're a 7-foot tall skeleton with a ruddy great scythe that can cut through air [by the atom].
Death has been known to do things that would be considered abnormal for his lifestyle.
For reasons of his own, Death saved a girl's life whom he adopted as his own daughter named Ysabell.
After meeting a boy named Mort, Ysabell and he had a daughter called Susan who had inadvertantly inherited some of her grandfather's abilities. Namely being able to not be seen, and TALKING LIKE THIS.
First debuting in 'The Colour Of Magic', Death was first acknowledged by failed wizard, Rincewind who accidently ran into the skeleton escaping what would soon become his first real 'adventure'.
Death was more cold than what he would become later in the books' series, being more sarcastic and, dare say it, cruel. But by the fourth book, 'Mort', Terry Pratchett realised that the more 'emotional but not' Death was popular and worked more for fans leading to 'Mort' being the first book where Death was the lead character.
PROFILE:
-NAME: Death
-RESIDENCE: Death's domain
-FIRST APPEARANCE: The Colour Of Magic (1985) Book I
-AFFILIATES: Daughter Ysabell, Grand-daughter Susan, Albert, Quoth the Raven, The Death Of Rats, War, Famine, Pestilence, Ronnie Soak
-OTHER: Likes cats and curries and Binky. Also has a black, with skull and crossbones motif, fetish.
