Trope Talk: Personifying Death
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- čas přidán 19. 10. 2023
- Happy spooky season! In celebration, let's take the day to unpack how crushing grief can spice up YOUR storytelling!
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The Wolf from "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" is a good compromise between a Villain and a Force of Nature. In theory he is just doing his job, but he is purposely going after Puss in Boots even though he still has one life left for purely personal reasons, in this case the anger he feels at him not taking his lives seriously and the how ridiculous in general the idea of 9 lives is.
Ik she was gonna put him in the video and was happy when she did!
That's because death must be impartial so the idea that someone doesn't obey the rules and most of all isn't respecting it must honestly be unbearable for someone for which the rule is that important
You mean the edgy furry oc?
Death only show up when Puss is already in a near death situation, so you could say he's punishing Puss for being in a situation like that.
Honestly, he had every right to do so and he still just did it to teach him a lesson.
Sir Terry's Death announcement on twitter gets me every time I read them. Three tweets:
"AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER."
"Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night."
"The End."
And now I'm crying.
Aaaaand that’s me in tears.
Gnu sir Terry
GNU Sir Terry
Ugly-crying over the CZcams comment wasn't on my list today, but here we are...
My favorite personification of death comes from an SCP writer. Namely SCP 4999. He doesn’t talk, he just appears to anyone who is dying and alone, offers them a cigarette, places a hand on them or holds theirs, and waits with them. Nothing super existential just a quiet promise that nobody dies alone. I think it’s kind of beautiful.
Bro this is so beautiful
He's underrated...
I was looking for this very comment for this very SCP. I believe SCP Explained did a video on this one.
I'd like him a lot better if he didn't smoke whether the dying person like it or not. To me, the *worst* thing that could happen while I was dying would be some jerk filling my air with tobacco smoke!
@@CritterKeeper01 I haven’t read up about this SCP before but from the sound of it, this gesture sounds symbolic as opposed to literal. If Death handed you a cigarette at your deathbed, you wouldn’t be inhaling tobacco smoke, your inhalation of Life followed by an exhalation of Death sounds to me like a metaphor for your last breath, Death hands you a cigarette as a metaphorical final breath before you pass.
Sad to see that "The Loving Reaper" by Jenny Jinya wasn't mentioned. It's one of my favorites.
"They will be terribly missed."
"Yes, but being missed so deeply is the price of being loved so much."
I was looking for this comment, the comic makes me cry almost every damn time but it's a beautifully done narrative
You have just given me my third Death-related fiction recommendation this video alone!
@@amcname8789
Always a pleasure!
i wish she talked about Death from the game "Darksiders 2" , i mean he is not a deep character or anything( he is a fun character in his own way i guess) but would have been really interesting to see how she reacts to the character design which was not stereotypical at all
I tell that to my clients sometimes when helping their pet pass on peacefully. The only way it would hurt less is if we didn't love them as much, and that's not even close to a fair trade-off. The joy we get from shared love far outweighs the pain of losing it. In that way, the pain of grief is a good thing.
“Despite rumor, Death isn't cruel--merely terribly, terribly good at his job.”
My favourite interpretation.
Yessss
One of the best movies to do this was "Meet Joe Black" with Brad Pitt. He's death, he's cool, he's tragic, and he's just doing a job he has to do. Why is never explained, he hints at an afterlife but refuses to say anything about it, and hints that evil spirits are real and then explains he's not evil. The scrip has some minor problems but overall, I found it interesting and strangely hopeful. The message of the film is that you are going to die, but that's not a bad thing. Kind of like Tolkien, death is not a curse or an evil thing. It's a gift from God.
I was thinking of Joe Black, as well. I love when he's with the older woman on her deathbed and he just naturally (...I assume, I don't have that accent...) speaks her language and relates to her. @@Folker46590
@@nothingyet120 >implying that the formless concept of ultimate demise has a gender
You tell that to Deadpool. :P@@KonoGufo
“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time we remember that it’s turning” is such a raw line.
And the lack of a closing song... beautiful, and I'm crying now.
by "the wheel" does she mean a traditional or literary way to face our mortality or what? too deep bars trying 2 undersand
@@spyczech "The wheel keeps on turning" is an expression for talking about cycles that keep on going, no matter what. Most often, it refers to the cycle of life (think circle of life philosophy from The Lion King)
But also, "reinventing the wheel" is used in critique to refer to authors re-treading old ground, trying to create from scratch what already exists. Usually, authors tend to do this because they don't expect the audience to understand, and much of the time, they're wrong.
This has big Alexis Kennedy energy
My grandmother read Pratchett very late in her life, and rather by accident because I had left one of the books laying around.
She instantly took to it and then proceeded to read as many of them as she could. What I remember mostly is that one day she said "They have taken me a lot of fear of my death, because if death is even remotely like the one depicted in the books, there is nothing to be afraid of".
And honestly for that I'll always be thankful.
Pratchett said he got lots of letters from people with this exact sentiment.
He somehow turned DEATH ITSELF into a friendly guy,which isn't something any ancient culture on Earth managed to do.
Don't challenge Death to a pillow fight
Unless you're prepared for Reaper cushions.
Oh,you!
Heck you and take the thumbs up.
I could easily beat Deaths ass- Famous Last Words
You deathinitely need to come up with better jokes dude, you're practically killing me here
These puns are awful. Do you really think you'll reap any rewards here?
The story about Terry Pratchett getting letters from terminally ill patients had me crying at work, I can only imagine what he felt.
Same. Even though I already knew about it, it left me crying
Yeeeaaaaah that's the point when I started crying a little into my lunch ramen at my desk. Just...oooof, that's raw and hurts, yo. :(
GNU STP
The entire video before that point was fine, and THAT was what made me tear up. 😭
Hi, can I sit with you guys?
Death having a “near-protagonist experience” is such an underrated joke
Death has called it a 'near-Rincewind experience' and a 'near-Vimes experience'. :p
@@tobiasfunke8990and he brings a book for the occasion(s).
@tobiasfunke8990 god I love rincewind
Death most certainly can be a protagonist as in the 5 horsemen of the apocalypse riding out in the Pratchett books.
For many death is the end of their suffering, so not necessarily bad.
@@Vesperitisand sometimes a chair.
My favourite line from Reaper man is when Death says "I NEVER WORE A CROWN."
I think it put such a tidy, perfect bow on who Discworld's Death *is*. Impartial. Just a guy doing his job. Doing it with all the compassion he can.
I loved how much Death hated his replacement. That and “remember when you said I gave you quite a start? Well, I also gave you quite a stop.”
And not just that he disagrees, but it makes him so angry. An anger so acute it put an edge on a dull scythe sharp enough to reap the life of something that wasn’t even alive.
That anger shows how much he cares. The idea that his job would be performed with pride or dominance - really, anything but selflessness - seems to enrage him more than anything else we witness from him.
Death never showed off either lol
The reason it's hard to fight with scythes is because scythes are not made for fighting. They're made for taking fully grown produce from the earth that nurtured them, as they are now complete.
Sí, pero mira una revuelta de aldeanos en una aldea y luego pregúntale al guardia quien de todos los aldeanos le dio más miedo y sin duda dirá el que tiene la guadaña por que cuando alguien es capaz de usarla y girarla, luego no está muy seguro de poder pararla entonces continúa lo que estaba haciendo
Except for Warscythes, which are made for fighting & are quite effective
@@gingermcgingin4106they also look nothing like how most people think of scythes.
“And if you disagree, that’s cool; pistols at dawn and I won’t need any backup”
Just the nonchalant way Red threw this line in there cracked me up
i replayed it a few times to hear what she said. it's beyond hilarious
It is great. Though given my love for Discworld, I would happily be the backup. And I think (or at least hope) that there would be a lot of people there to do the same.
She won't need backup, but she'll have it.
100%. I started laughing like mad
she doesn't need comment kaijus for this one.
"and if you disagree that's cool, pistols at dawn and I won't need any backup" that just became my favorite quote in everything.
I will now find any possible reasons to use this myself, it is just so smooth
Agreed. Gonna steal this quote
That said, I hereby offer to be her second.
And I have a firm suspicion that everyone else here is right behind me in that.
It has some real "OSP does not condone violence[...]."
"OSP condones sending a message."
-esque vibes to it.
I only disagree because Billy and Mandy, Red is 100% right tho, if I write death, disc world is a goal
“So let’s spend the rest of the video talking about Death from the Discworld series” - and everyone liked that ❤
I seriously clicked on this video waiting for that
I have never read anything by Terry Pratchett, and yet his reputation was enought that I was vaguely unsurprised.
“Death comes to all. But life comes first. Cherish it. Death is the destination.” Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination.
These words are accepted.
The first oath of the knights radiant
I’m reading this while at the Dragonsteel 2023 convention 😊
THIS OATH IS ACCEPTED
NERD
Here's my favourite death quote from Discworld, a small extract of which appeared in the video:
"All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little-"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET-Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point-"
MY POINT EXACTLY.
YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY *BECOME?*
People can make there own elements. They don't last very long, but for a momment their real and thats all that matters.
My takeaway from that quote: Justice and Mercy are a myth, and no amount of belief is going to make them real.
@@georgiprenatt8270 I mean, justice and mercy are patterns of behavior. They are only as real as the people who uphold them.
Or, I guess to put it another way, justice and mercy aren't cosmic forces, they aren't brute facts of the universe, if you want to see such things in the world, people have to put them there, the world won't do it for them.
Yea
“Pistols at dawn and I don’t need any backup.”
I imagine Terry’s Death standing to the side waiting for any takers like -“she really doesn’t. Sorry.”- "Tʜᴇʏ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ. Sᴏʀʀʏ." (edit: Fixed the mistakes I made while leaving them available so everyone can see why those comments were made, and becoming accurate, thank you all)
*SHE REALLY DOESN’T. SORRY.
SQUEAK.
She got this
@@peteryang5056Of course Death of Rats is there.
@@SewardWriter obviously he has to be
a rat is about to die after all
13:26 'By the end of the story Susan and Death have successfully saved the day by blackmailing the indomitable spirit of Rock and Roll...'
Me: What
'...it makes sense in context'
Me: oh, okay
I started explaining but it's actually kinda super complicated and only makes sense if you read it in the book, but basically she left out half of the plot, revolving around said spirit possessing a young lute-player and susan fancying him. He is destined to die but the spirit of rock and roll takes his soul's place, artificially extending his life but making him a shell of his former self. Susan's goal is to separate the two of them without killing the boy.
That doesn't spoil the additional context, but you can see where it's going kind of.
Fun part is that is a pretty on the spot description of what happens. "Soul Music" by Terry Pratchett if you ever want to read the book to get the context.
If you liked anything about this video, you should read some Disc World.
11:43 I love that scene, because it has one of the hardest quotes in all of literature.
THAT'S NOT FAIR.
"That's Life."
IT IS. BUT I AM NOT.
Reaper Man goes so unbelievably hard.
“No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life is only the core of their actual existence.”
Big recommend for discworld to anyone, thank you Red for promoting it.
GNU Terry Pratchett
I just finished reaper man for the first time two days ago, it was so good
It is entirely clear to all, then, that the good Sir Terry Pratchett shall live on in memoriam for so long as his stories are so enjoyed, and then a bit more as his tales lay in wait for the hands of some other entity to lift them from a long-dead world. We're only too lucky to have such a kindly specter keeping us all company.
I'm sorry for this comment in advance, I've been having a bit of a death related spiral recently and am trying to talk myself out of it, but most people that have ever lived are still finally dead. Everyone who knew them is also dead. They probably haven't made art or music that is remembered to this day. The ripples of most peoples lives will still die away within the next few generations after their death, right?
@@kjarakravik4837 Here's how I like to think of it.
Most people who have ever lived are forgotten. The goal of life isn't to be remembered by the world. You need to live for yourself first. What "living for yourself" means is different for each person. Some want to build a legacy and be remembered by the world, but that isn't the default purpose of your life. You get to decide what you want to be about. Almost always, people want to be loved by those around them. To have a positive impact on their friends and family.
The purpose of the Terry Pratchett quote isn't to compel you to try to be remembered by the world at large. It's not telling everyone to try to become the next Shakespeare or the next Casesar. It's condolence for people who are grieving the loss of loved ones. So long as you remember them, the advice they gave, the comfort they provided, the love they had for you, they are still with you. In spirit, they live on with you, because you remember them. You can continue to draw on their love even if they're dead, so long as they are remembered. You will die some day too, but you will be remembered by the people you affected, and in them you will live on. Eventually you will be forgotten, but the goal isn't to evade death by being remembered forever by the world at large. The world needs more mothers and brothers than it needs playwrights and generals.
This Pratchett quote comes from Reaper Man (spoiler ahead), a book in which Death is fired from his job. He becomes mortal, and takes a job working as the only other farmhand on an old widow's farm. Over the course of their interactions Death gains a new appreciation for life and the time mortals have to spend, and ends up sacrificing his remaining lifespan to save a young girl's life. The Widow and her farmhand both ultimately die at the end of the book, but they comfort each other and change each other with the time they get to spend together.
Learning that terminally ill people hope they meet Terry Pratchett’s Death is so damn sad, oh god. I hope he met his Death
If his final tweets are any indication, he did
It’s sad to think that they have to confront that idea, but I think it’s comforting to know that his art gave them something hopeful to think about.
In the words he chose for his family crest when knighted, he didn't fear the reaper. Methinks that's all it takes to meet the Death pterry imagined.
GNU Terry Pratchett
Out of context that last sentence reads VERY differently
In my D&D campaign, "Death" is a godly item known as the Death Cloak, one of the few remaining items from the universe before this one. Anyone who wears the cloak gains the ability to collect the souls of the dead, and an irresistible compulsion to collect them, but no capacity to cause people to die. It's ultimately actually a cursed item meant only for the most lawful individuals willing to trade away their afterlife so everyone else can experience theirs, or as a punishment for the worst individuals in the world to have to go through. For example, the current Death is a lich lord who killed the previous Death when they came to end his life for crimes against humanity (the rule against killing doesn't apply toward people who unnaturally extend their own lives), but in killing Death, the Cloak choose them to be Death.
That is really cool. I want this to be podcast series now.
“I guide others to a treasure i cannot possess”
I read a comic a while back called "Loving reaper" by Jenny Hefczyc, and its about a reaper mainly dealing with guiding newly dead, often abused or ostrichsized animals to a better afterlife. And while kind of being a guide, he's also the personification of death. One of my favourite lines from the comic is when Death talks with Life, after an animal had been saved by a human. Death laughs, in a very warm and pleasant way and just says "I love losing to you".
It's so beautiful to me because it shows that Death is not some evil, cruel creature, but a force of nature all living being must succumb to. But if a life gets saved, Death won't take it in vain, but rather be happy about the second chance that creature got.
I really recommend the comic, it's pretty sad, but also very cathartic. It's also been dubbed on CZcams, by some phenomanal voce actors.
Anyhow, I really enjoyed the trope talk. It's a heavy subject sure, but one oh so important to talk about. As Red said, avoiding it and running away from it, even if only metaphoricially won't give you the satisfaction of a lived life.
Can you provide a link to the dubs,please?
@@BrunoMaricFromZagreb I'm pretty sure the spam filter would kick in by that point and block my comment. But if you want to watch the specific one i mentioned, search "drowing fox. "opponents" - by Jenny Jinya (Loving Reaper dubbed)" It should give you the exact video. Hope this helps!
It's the one Microfaun is dubbing I'm pretty sure
If death guides animals, then wouldn't like 99.9% of what he guides be ants and flies?
My favorite Discworld character, a chill guy doing his job, not scary, names his pale horse Binky, he just is.
Gives his granddaughter a My Little Binky toy set.
Secretly loves cooking and not at all secretly loves cats
And then he retires in Reaper Man
@@tompatterson1548 More liked kicked out his job, forced to retire, but comes back because he is and always will be the only thing (except for rats and fleas) for the job.
Tried the whole skeletal flaming horse but realised it was extremely cumbersome and just not worth it. Kept falling apart. Its funny that Death cares alot about his role but at the same time is sorta been at it way too long.
Death’s line from the end of Hogfather lives in my head forever.
Yᴏᴜ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ʀᴇᴀʟ. Hᴏᴡ ᴇʟsᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ?
"to be where the falling angel meets the rising ape"
My favourite part of Hogfather is when Susan is explaining how getting an education is much like getting a STD in so much as you go to school over and over getting assuring yourself you'll never getting an education but eventually you do.
That whole conversation with Susan about belief is one of the best pieces of fiction ever written.
@@_Ahnt in the sky one adaptation that scene is beautiful, despite the naff special effects and the plastic skeleton Death, the speech still moved me to tears
What I loved about this quote is that the second part is ambiguous. Does it mean "things that are not real become real" or "humans becoming people"?
”if their only goal in life is to not die, they’re just meeting the bare minimum definition of being alive, and they’re missing their chance to use their life for anything more interesting”
such a good quote
Esto me recuerda a como Rick Riordan describe a los dioses en la copa de ganymedes, que si bien son inmortales esa inmortalidad les impide evolucionar y ser distintos a como eran antes de ser inmortales, por eso Apolo necesito ser mortal para luego poder ser distinto cuando volvió a ser un dios
"Don't call it 'living', call it 'surviving'..."
Fav Pratchett passage is the paragraph when Vimes has a near Death experience, nessesitating that Death has a near Vimes experience. By the time Thud happens this has become such a regular occurrence that Death has brought a book.
Vimes channeling 'Where is my cow' while scaring the hell out of the dwarves has a special place in the my heart. "IS THIS MY COW! IT GOES MOO!! OH GLORIOUS....DAY!!! I HAVE FOUND...MY....COW!!!!" "SIR! PUT THE AX DOWN!"
@@SaucerheadTharp God, that's so much more hilarious if you take it out of context.
"To be where the falling angel meets the rising ape" never fails to uplift me and touch me, but "what can the harvest hope for, but the care of the Reaper Man?" has me crying on my lunch break
My mom got her copy of Reaper Man signed, and Mr. Pratchett wrote that harvest quote along with the signature. I think he was particularly proud of it, too.
GNU Pratchett. He will be missed but his words live on.
The "falling angel meets the rising ape" line is Pratchett's most memorable to me. Nearly all Pratchett's books are incredibly profound, but masterfully, they're all profound in wildly different ways - from the Witches books imparting lessons about how stories shape us and our lives, to the Death books pondering the meaning of life, death, and what it means to be human, and the Vimes books talking about human nature from a much more grounded perspective, focusing on the darkness inside us. He deserved that knighthood for the lessons he taught.
GNU Sir Terry Pratchett. Gone but never forgotten.
"what can the harvest hope for, but the care of the reaper man" always makes me tear up haha
GNU Terry Pratchett
Yeah.
I gotta thank Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy for letting me grapple with the concept of death at an early age by giving the Reaper a Jamaican accent. Now I no longer fear death, just Jamaicans.
"Dying is easy, comedy is hard."
Okay, that was funny 😂
**Reggae music starts playing**
They’re coming!
420 likes, talk about the perfect comment
Death: Booo Me:Meh
Mandy:....*audible blink* Me:AHHHHHH
Neil Gaiman has said that the concept of Death of The Endless is based on a myth/story that trail Angel of Death is so beautiful, so wonderful, that the soul literally leaps out if the body with joy in order to be nearer/with them.
...Wow, that's kinda almost Evangelion-esque. I wonder if Anno took a little inspiration from the imagery.
Honestly, I think that if you take something like “Santa Clause”, or the idea that if you kill Santa then you have to be the new Santa, and you change the story to be “Someone accidentally killed death, now they have to become death, and deal with the consequences of being death, that being someone who has to guide the souls of the dead to the afterlife” it makes for a really strong idea for a story
That already kind of happens in Adventure Time
That was actually one of the skits in a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, where Homer becomes death after hitting the Grim Reaper of the head with a bowling ball.
It would make something of an interesting variation of something like Bill Almighty, where the idea that "being God isn't all fun and games".
Piers Anthony did this in his book "On a Pale Horse"
For some reason this was the plot of the very first family guy episode. lol
Came for the trope talks, stayed for the therapy session
Catharsis. Yup. Gonna ugly cry for a bit.
Yeah, for sure. All the trope talks are awesome. This one is also special.
Try not to cry.
Roll over.
Cry a lot.
“There’s not greater present than a future” is such a GOOD fucking line.
Honestly, we should compile a list of raw lines said on the channel.
@@emanuelrojas2 Agreed.
@@emanuelrojas2 Red can't take credit for that one, sadly; it's from the book :p
@@GScottActing my bad, but still.
Discworld's Death is incredibly good at dealing out raw quotes.
At being told that life is unfair, he answers, in a way that makes it very clear that this statement comes from the very core of his being:
"BUT I AM NOT."
To a failed revolutionaire who died in the fires of his coup attempt that went terribly wrong (and killed not only himself but also a LOT of innocent bystanders) and who pleads to Death that this is not what he and his co-conspirators wanted, they only wanted to get what they deserved, Death answers but one single word:
"CONGRATULATIONS."
To a main character who is having a near-death experience (which of course means Death is having a near-protagonist experience) and asks Death if he plans to help them:
"OF COURSE I WILL. WHEN THE PAIN BECOMES TO MUCH TO BEAR. ....AS I AM HEARING MYSELF SAY THAT, I REALIZE THAT THAT IS PROBABLY NOT THE ANSWER YOU WANTED TO HEAR."
And of course, one of my favourites, Death making a case why phantasy and imagination are necessary for humans to be human:
"YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?"
god that art of Terry meeting Death is heartwrenching. i really do hope Terry met his version of Death, it’s what he deserved.
Rewatching this after I wrote my own interpretation of death; an entity beyond time who remenbers every single being that dies and goes out of his way to figure out why he doesnt remember someone when he finds a skeleton left in a burnt out home, I realised that I inserted a very real fear of mine without realising.
I want to be remembered after I die. And a death who remembers "the greatest king and the lowest serf" is a comforting one to me
Where can I find this?
@@porterhasz2778 I havent gotten it published since I need to figure out illustration
For what it's worth, from just the quick description, I think that a depiction of Death like that is quite a good idea. The quote at the end has the potential to hit really hard within a story. I think personifications of Death - If they aren't meant to be the Asshole Deaths that serve a purely antagonistic role - are at their strongest when they channel some of the author's actual believes on Death.
“…pistols at dawn, and I won’t need any backup…”
Oh but you’ll have it anyway. Who agrees?
I haven’t read Discworld, and I agree *hides behind my Riordanverse books *
Thing is, like death, she won't know when that bullet will come :}
(I don't have an opinion on those characters)
Discworlds Death is the only Death I'd accept unequivocally.
No backup. We'll all be busy with our own pistols, and our own dawn
never read it, can I just go for emotional support?
I think one of my favorite personifications of death has got to be the Kindred from League of Legends. Depictions across the game’s world vary (I believe in-game, they’re represented as their Demacian version of a lamb and wolf), but the common theme is that the Kindred are twinned deaths, a huntress and her beast. They can only be seen in the final moments of life, and it’s your reaction to that vision that determines which one takes you. If you accept your end, you are claimed by the huntress’ arrow. If you flee, the beast devours your soul. It’s a very original take on a personified death, overall. Not to mention, they have some of the best voice lines in the game.
W: “Lamb, tell me a story.”
L: “There was once a pale man with dark hair who was very lonely.”
W: “Why was it lonely?”
L: “All things must meet this man. So, they shunned him.”
W: “Did he chase them all?”
L: “He took an axe and split himself in two.”
W: “So he would always have a friend?”
L: “So he would always have a friend.”
I have not read the Discworld books but the way you describe Death reminds me so much of Jenny Jinya's take on Death("Loving Reaper" those really sad comics about Death escorting animals to the afterlife). He's my favorite interpretation of Death because he's as old and wise as he is absolute, and twice as kind. Those comics are always real tear jerkers, except the one where Life and Death trade jobs for a bit. Death being so bad at life that he makes the platypus is a hilarious concept.
I love her work a lot, life and death are extremly charming and his art is beautifull, she also hadn't read the discworld.
As a fan of both work, i truly recomend you to try one of pratchett books, Death there had a raw energy, and their stories are beutifull introspection about life, death and stories. Also funny as fuck.
“Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?”
I'm sitting here ugly crying, and smiling while I do. Thank you.
Funnily enough, I remember that one of the parts of what we'd call someone's Soul in Egyptian mythology was their name, making remembering someone's name important. If someone was particularly hated, as many records of their name as possible were destroyed after they died.
GNU Terry Pratchett (someone had to do it)
I read that in Reaper Man and actually took it on board as a philosophy. I also emulate Cohen the Barbarian and reading old tombstones to remember the forgotten heroes.
"A real man never dies, even when he's killed!"
Now I’m thinking about Dr. Hiriluk from One Piece.
I love it when a Trope Talk turns into a treatise on human nature
I mean, they are about stories and stories are part of human nature. They are about human nature.
Stories are just how we collectively try to figure out what being human is.
They’ve been doing that more and more these last few months and I am more than down for it
I don’t remember who said it, I once heard that “Stories are important because they explore the best and the worst parts of humanity.”
I love it when the indomitable human spirit rages _fully_ against the indifferent cruelty of the universe, but having cool depictions of death and peace rocks incredibly hard too.
Kind and caring deaths, deaths who are very "matter of fact", or more examples. Deaths with the philosophy of: "When it all ends and comes crumbling down, i'll be there. The final decree, the final stop, the final breath. I'll be the one who turns off the lights and lock the doors up one last time."
Shit's tight.
We all need some kindness.
I love how Death was portrayed in The Book Thief. Tackling how to portray Death in a story about the Holocaust must have been so complicated to figure out, but I really like how Death is compassionate towards mortals and is fond of them. He sees war as a strict boss that overworks him, and this makes a lot of sense with World War II and the Holocaust, because Death was constantly being called to various places. He becomes like a companion to the main character because he is the one telling her story. Death being the narrator, I think, kind of symbolizes how powerless we as humans are in the general narrative of life and how, even though we try really hard to prevent it, Death is ultimately inevitable. But Death’s boss being war could symbolize how humans can and often do cause a lot of destruction, even though we can never completely prevent it
"Oh cool, new trope talk! What whacky fun will we have today?"
16 minutes and 22 seconds later I'm staring at my computer screen half-tearing-up at this video. Wonderfully done Red, thank you.
all they way tearing up
Honest to goodness crying.
Only half?
@@darwincandidate5645 Okay maybe a bit more.
Quietly weeping. A level of catharsis I needed.
"Now let's spend the rest of the video talking about Death from Discworld." And all Discworld fans rejoiced. He really is such an incredible example, not just of a well written character, but of how such a weighty subject can be addressed and explored. Sir Terry was fantastic for taking a fantastical concept to its logical conclusion. He created a personification of Death, so what would that look like? And how would he deal with loss and life itself when confronted with the questions that we all face as well.
Red doesn't need back up but there are several million of us who would be there at the drop of a black hat.
@@lucie4185 personally, I'd prefer a non-violent duel. A game of Cripple Mr Onion, perhaps?
Let us not underestimate the coolness of Death of Rats.
As one should
Hey, I only clicked on the video because I thought the Death in the thumbnail image was a Pratchett Death.
I once ran a game where one of the players had to have an encounter with Death (he'd made a deal that meant he had only a set time left to live) and I ran it as a reflection of yourself and how you have been in life. In this example, the character was a stern but fair soldier type, so his Death behaved like a commanding officer giving him his next deployment.
I remember the exchange being something like
"Wait, *I'm* my Death?"
"Who else were you expecting with your next assignment, soldier? Now get some rest, you ship out in 4 months....and, [name]?" *salutes* "It's been an honor serving with you, Sir."
I once wrote a version of death that was a black elephant dressed up in the classic cloak. He’s always entering rooms uninvited, never able to read the room, making the party feel awkward and uncomfortable. And every time he leaves he pretends he didn’t just take someone’s soul away. Then the next day he cheerfully greets the same group of people, and they eventually get used to him coming in uninvited.
He pretends but he knows what he did and he'll do it again because it's his job. I like your interpretation.
I love how the two notable authors for making death a main character are also the two authors notable for bringing us good omens.
Well part of it all was just that Gaiman was a big Pterry fan, which lead to that collaboration and aspects of how Death of the Endless was characterised.
Even more, the two were good friends.
One of my favourite things about Gaiman and Pratchett's collaborative writing of Good Omens, is that they each congratulated the other for a well written passage, that the other person was certain they didn't write.
There's another universal experience that's oddly absent in fiction: Nobody poops, unless the plot demands it.
This is on point for d&d games
I think that comes down to the fact that it’s often irrelevant to the story: In Pulp Fiction we see a character go to the bathroom several times, but it’s always adds something to the scene: He goes to the bathroom just as a Diner is being held up and we don’t know what that character is doing while his partner has to deal with the situation.
@InquisitorThomas tbf i think Red has even covered that you don't mention random things unless it's important to setting the scene, otherwise things can get distracting and disorienting.
Mundane things rarely goes into fiction. Everyone blinks and coughs during the day for no reason but you will not read about it in a book unless there is a reason for them to blink or cough. Who wants to see or read about what we all do everyday?
"So yes, I, Adolin Kholin - cousin to the king, heir to the Kholin princedom - have shat myself in my Shardplate. Three times, all on purpose." -Adolin Kholin, Words of Radiance (Book 2 of The Stormlight Archive)
I wasn't a big Supernatural guy, but I did see the episode where they confronted Death of the Four Horseman. Loved his whole bit, Julian Richings is great at being intimidating as he points out how utterly insignificant Dean is, how he'll eventually reap God himself and how he's so powerful even Lucifer is just a "bratty child throwing a tantrum" in his eyes.
Diskworld Death is my favorite, but the 'I am beyond you," dead is my second favorite version of this concept.
I love supernatural death as well. They just did such a good job making him the character he is
Death from The Sandman is my favourite depiction of Death ever. She resonates with me personally because my religion's depiction of death 'personified' (Samedi's more of a psychopomp) is a man who enjoys life and all that comes with it. He drinks, he smokes, he fucks and he's always having the time of his death. I like those depictions of death, someone who loves life and loves living.
Wolf: "Lamb, tell me a story."
Lamb: "There was once a pale man with dark hair who was very lonely."
Wolf: "Why was it lonely?"
Lamb: "All things must meet this man, so they shunned him."
Wolf: "Did he chase them all?
Lamb: "He took an axe and split himself in two right down the middle."
Wolf: "So he would always have a friend?"
Lamb: "So he would always have a friend."
Kindred is my favorite personification of death by far, they are so lonely, yet they always have each other. they are sad, yet inevitable, and they give the living a choice, accept and die peasefully, decline, and die painfully.
My arrows OR MY TEETH!
One of my favorite things about League; how death is personified. Kindred is such an interesting version of it.
I especially like how Wolf is the innocent one. He doesn't understand why the people he plays with stop moving, but if Lamb ever told him it would break his heart.
It's important to note that it's never implied either one is the right or wrong answer.
Where does this come from?
I'd have to say, easily my favourite personification of Death is Gaiman's take on her, mostly because she's not that stereotypical, subdued and sad Death. She is, ironically, the most lively of the endless, she's genuinely cheerful most of the time and, even when she's not happy, she's always very open and expressive with her emotions. She's very openly kind and loving to basically everyone who dies and I think that's just a really cool way to look at the character and seems oddly hopeful.
I love Gaiman's version of death her intro chapter in the first sandman volume was beautiful
Might as well make the best of it till you can finally put the chairs on the tables, turn off the lights, and lock the doors to the universe behind ya.
It's either watch whatever interesting stuff happens, or avoid all the things, and one seems far more entertaining to me.
I personally believe that the reason Death is so much more expressive, is because she represents a moment where the others are experiences that can stretch out for lengths of time. Destiny is a goal many spend years pursuing, Dreams occur every night lasting hours, Destruction can swift as bomb exploding or slow as a famine, Desire, Delirium, and Despair can drive a persons actions for days, months, or years. But Death is only ever experienced once for a moment, and you can never grow desensitized to something that lasts only a moment once.
also the fact that even in loneliness, death will always be there by your side and nobody truly dies alone. i think that was the interpretation where i realized just how fresh of a take on the concept of personifying death is because truly she greets you as if you were an old friend and helps you pass on
I also like how she's described (or describes herself) as the absolute brute fact of existence: When life first began, she was there to greet it - and the day the final life ends, she will be there to say goodbye. She's basically a life-long friend for life itself.
my dad was the one who introduced me (and my brother) to the discworld, starting with eric and the tiffany series (not sure which was first; it was a while ago). he passed a little under eleven years ago, and while he was an atheist, i like to think that if there WAS anyone greeting him, it was the death from discworld. i don't think they'd have a lot in common, particularly, but i'd like to think it was someone i could count on to guide him safely to the other side.
Between the personifications of Death from Discworld and Death of the Endless, there’s something strangely comforting. It’s nice, imagining someone friendly to see you off at the end. The precious feeling of not being alone.
Book Thief has one of the best personifications of Death in a book. He’s the first person perspective of the book for most of it, and we get to know how he feels about the world and it’s people. It’s a fantastic read really.
I love that book so much. The ending gets me every time 😭
I'll have to remember that one. Thanks for the recommendation.
Agreed. Book Thief Death is the silver medal, right behind Discworld Death
I wanted to write a comment about it too! That was a fantastic personification ❤
YESSSS
I feel like, other then death being personified as HORRIFYING, death being personified as just some dude who’s just tired and sick of everything, it’s hilarious, it’s pretty overused, but I still love it
Discworld did it best
It might in fact be more adapted to our time. When you think about death in times of black death, war and famines, death is ruthless, brutal and uncaring.
However, very common deaths we have in first world countries are suicides and diseases that slowly waste away until the body fails.
It calls for two completely different personalities.
Has anyone seen both?
@@Aaa-vp6ug I think Supernatural's Death (Julian Richings) fits that. In the show's 5th season, Death doubles as fourth member of the Four Horsemen. The protagonists have to stop the Horsemen and take their rings in order to defeat the Horsemen's leader, Lucifer... EXCEPT for Death, who turns out to be far too powerful for the heroes to even challenge and Death could've struck them down at any time. But then it turns out that Death merely views Lucifer as an overgrown brat throwing a tantrum, and allows the heroes to just take his ring to beat Lucifer.
Julian Richings' portrayal of Death is explicitly one of the most powerful beings in Supernatural. He wiped out all life on Earth except for the ones on Noah's Ark in the ancient past, he can casually move celestial objects like the Moon whenever he feels like it, and even the Archangels (who can cause storms just by existing) are terrified of messing with him. Even the main heroes, whose job is literally hunting and killing dangerous monsters, will break into a nervous sweat whenever Death is in the room.
HOWEVER, this Death also just wants to do his job. The heroes in Supernatural are constantly getting involved in high-stakes adventures that mess with the natural order of reality, and Death just gets more and more sick of it. He doesn't care about the protagonists' struggles because they are mere short-lived mortals compared to Death's eternal existence. Death isn't interested in destroying everything or gunning after a single person's life, he simply does his duty as a primordial force that governs the universe. Death even says it himself when he meets one of the protagonists:
*"To a **_thing like me,_** a thing like you... well... Think how you'd feel if **_a bacterium_** sat at your table and started to get snarky. This is **_one little planet_** in one **_tiny solar system_** in a galaxy that's **_barely_** out of its diapers. **_I'm old, Dean. Very old._** So, I invite you to contemplate how **_insignificant_** I find you."*
A good friend of mine just died 2 weeks ago. This video came just in time to help me struggle with my thoughts on the matter.
Thank you❤
I'm so sorry. I know nothing can take the pain away.
My favourite depiction of death is by far Kindred, the twin spirits of Death in League of Legends.
The kind Lamb whose arrow delivers a quick and painless death, and the hungry Wolf who mauls anyone who try to run from or fight with his sister.
One of my favorite personifications of death is death from the book thief. He is a tired and poetic character who really really wishes he could have a vacation.
I had never heard of "The Book Thief" so I tried to find a book called Thief. Sounds like an interesting book (the one you actually said, not the one I tried to look up)
Book Thief death is just peeved that he’s gotta work double time
i watched the movie and the personification of death really was like an emotional punch in the gut to me
i fear the amount of tears ill have to go through the day i finally read the book
i also bawled at ladyknightthebrave's analysis and comparison of the book thief with jojo rabbit and using a jewish poet's work as a thread to tie her video's points together
one of the video essays that truly left a mark on me
I mean of course he was tired of death he had to deal with the Holocaust
“Forget the scythe. I needed a mop”
Pratchett's version of Death is the greatest interpretation of that figure, and I will never believe otherwise 😊
He likes cats. A-OK in my book.
I'd say it's largely a tie with Death of the Endless. But it's scarcely close down to the next candidate on the list.
AGREED.
Discworld Death’s speech about why humans need fantasy is genuinely some of the best writing ever put on paper in the history of mankind.
GNU Terry Pratchett.
As someone with a very comfortable and healthy relationship with death in my post-suicidal years, I honestly didn't expect this to make me cry, but having someone so compassionately talking about grief did it for me. Thank you.
Giving Red an excuse for talking about Halloween, Disc World and Puss in Boots & The Last Wish all in one video is incredible, fantastic and man did this video hit me way harder than I thought. I might look into picking up the Disc World series
"catharsis is not the same thing as happiness" That line cuts me deeply. I have just gone through a personal crisis and finally understood what it actually feels like to write because you need to put a visual to what you're seeing, and I couldn't understand why writing out that horrible story didn't make me feel good, despite it making me feel better. I think that single line explains it... thank you for being the gift to the world that you are red.
"Pistols at dawn, and I won't need any backup." delivered so nonchalantly like that has gotta be one of the coldest things I've ever heard LMAO that was sick
I’ve been watching Trope Talk for around 6 years, and it’s undoubtedly my favorite internet series ever made, and this one is an all-timer for sure, it makes me tear up every time
As much as I love Discworld's Death, there's a truly wonderful moment in _I Shall Wear Midnight_ where he makes no appearance whatsoever. He *does* show up to take the soul of the old Baron, but the man's funeral, a good chunk of the book later, is shown as 100% a human experience. Nanny Ogg leading all the guests in singing his favorite song, then getting everyone to dance to "The Shaking of the Sheets", reminding us that witchcraft is ultimately about people.
It really felt like Sir Terry showing us exactly how he would want to be sent off and remembered.
Pratchett' and Gaiman's deaths are my favorites. Death of the Endless breaks my heart. She loves everyone, she is there when we die, she is a source of comfort and joy despite being there at our worst moment. Death: The High Cost of Living is one of my favorite comics because it forced her to be human to understand her role in a way that she otherwise couldn't.
That first sentence scared me for a minute lol. I had to check if Neil Gaiman was still alive.
You get what everyone gets. You get a lifetime.
@@bonuscogito2294 sorry!
How many of them are there? There's destiny, death, dream, possibly destruction, despair and I wanna say... delight?
@@igor_kossovDestiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium (formerly Delight).
My favorite personification of Death was actually from, of all things, the "Gargoyles" Cartoon show from the mid-90's. In the episode, Xanatos sends some rich Emir to Egypt for some task, but it turns out the dude was actually going there with a plan to summon and ensnare Anubis in order to force him to bring back his son who had died in an auto-accident. After the summoning, he is making his demands, and the show drops some of the best writing ever spoken on TV:
In response to the Emir's assertion that his son died in a pointless car accident: "Death is always pointless - that is the point."
In response to the Emir's increasingly manic assertion that the loss was unfair: "On the contrary, death is the ultimate fairness. Rich and poor, young and old. All are equal in death. You would not want the Jackal God to play favorites."
There's not enmity or anger in Anubis' voice, despite what the Emir is trying to do. His tone is even, almost compassionate. You can tell he knows human grief and sorrow better than even the humans do, and gently refers to his son as being "at rest." That's some mind-blowing shit for an 8 year old kid to hear and see during a Saturday morning cartoon. Especially the idea that death, rather than a cruel injustice, is actually the only truly fair thing that exists in the entire universe.
Back in the day kids television didn't talk down to their viewers.
I wish it aired on my TV's channels.I've only heard it agter puberty,& only got interested in it in 2020 when I discovered Tvtropes.
@osarootaigbe2098 God, I hate this sentiment. There always has been and always will be children's media that talks down to its viewers and that which doesn't. The implication that this is a new or old thing is asinine.
@mihaimorar2043 this may sound trolling but is completely sincere. What are some current ones? because I am desperately looking for some foster children. Mr Roger's never talked down the way everything I find from this decade and it drives me crazy.
@mcstrategist i suppose it depends on how young the children are and what you define as talking down to.
some good ones ive enjoyed even as an adult include The Amazing World of Gumball, Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall and Adventure Time. Perhaps check out some of those? I'd say Gumball skews toward the younger end of the spectrum, since Gravity Falls and especially Over the Garden Wall include some darker elements. Adventure Time, on the other hand, sort of spans the whole spectrum.
Sorry for not replying sooner, only saw this now.
Grandmother's funeral was yesterday. "We are still here" and "And here we all are" were said multiple times during the sermon.
As you say, an important and cathartic sentiment for dealing with a heavy topic.
I’m a very pragmatic person and I was totally fine watching this video, but once it got to the part about the letters I full on started crying.
I think Pratchett is one of our best philosophers. All his humanist takes and social explorations... And then death. His take on death is so rich and somehow so absurd yet realistic. Hogfather and Death in general really helped my world view.
I mean when you think on it, death IS absurd. Why do we have to end? There IS no reason, not really, it's ridiculous. But it is, and we gotta live with that.
Hogfather had me in stitches and in tears every other page.
@@BeryllahawkWe end so that we can leave room for others to begin.
@@farkasmactavish Thank you for this comment. I don't know how you managed it, but I find this to be a real 1 in 1000001 truly exceptional comment and I appreciate it.
I think one of my favorite moments is when Death got to play the role of the Hogfather (Discworld equivalent of Santa Claus), and took to the role so thoroughly that he gave life to someone who was “supposed” to die for the sake of a touching Christmas story. Death knows *very* well the value of life, and when he gets to be the guy that can *give*, he’s very generous.
@@Beryllahawk I mean you could say the same thing about life: 'Why do we have to exist? There IS no reason, not really, it's ridiculous.'
This kinda reminds me of these online comics called the "Loving Reaper" by Jenny Jinya. They're mainly towards spreading awareness to help animals and the environment, but I also love their interpretation of Death as a loving, compassionate, and patient individual who helps the souls he reaps find comfort and peace with their demise. If they ask for one last chance to say their goodbyes or to ensure their loved ones will be okay, he happily gives them all the time they need to do so. I also just love the friendship he has with Life, it's so wholesome. Also, I nearly thought that Anubis statue was doing finger guns for some reason 😅
New opinion, Anubis now does finger guns whenever someone is judged pure enough to go into the underworld :)
I love Loving Reaper!! They always make me cry both in its obvious sadness and its honest truth with life and death
I swear that I almost never cry but that fuckingly amazingly beautyful comic made me hide in the bathroom for 1 hour
Every once in a while I go read them and just let the sorrow wash through me. The situations are so tragic but the presentation is so beautiful and empathetic.
I was hoping someone would mention Loving Reaper. It's such a melancholy but comforting comic
This might be the most humbling and emotional trope talk I've ever seen. Absolutely stunning work!
My girlfriend died a few months ago. I was passively listening to this while doing some work and... When you started saying how we have to sit with the sadness, it really got to me. I have not read any of Sir Pratchett's works, but simply from listening to you speak of his version of Death, I hope that that version of Death is who she met.
More to the point of the video, brilliantly done as usual. Thank you.
"It is a pretty uncontroversial take that Discworld's Death is one of the best-written Deaths in all fiction, and if you disagree, that's cool - Pistols at dawn and I won't need backup" is officially my favourite OSP quote of all time. :D
"OSP condones sending a message"
One of my favorite personifications of death is in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. Death is the narrator of the story, following the lives of people until their eventual ends. He also sees the rare individuals who greet him when they die. Death follows them with a gentle step, while struggling to understand their duality. Death’s last words to the reader are “I am haunted by humans.”
this is also my favorite death personification! I was hoping she'd mention it
After years of hearing good things about Terry Pratchets Death and seeing the animated clips, I'm gonna take this as a sign to finally read the books. Thanks for outlining which ones follow him specifically.
Anyone who just represents Death as a nice guy who helps out souls is my favorite. Best example for me was The Book Thief. The guy literally says how he likes how people draw him with a robe because he thought it looked nice, he's just a guy. He didn't even really know what the afterlife was like beyond that he brought people there. The line was something like "If there is a god I wish he would tell me"
Death loving life is literal for Adventure time. Being the death, the guide and ruler itself. He was so chill
Death loving life it both a juxtaposition but also very fitting.
Zen
For those of you who haven’t seen Adventure Time, it really is literal. Life is Death’s girlfriend in the Adventure Time cosmology. He shares his mixtapes with her. 😂
They even have a kid, who they love- he was a horrible jerk though@@Excelsior1937
@@Excelsior1937they even have a son together, who tries to k1ll them both
My favorite personification of death is SCP-4999. l love him because he exists in the SCP world to stop the most fearful kind of death: a lonely one. His whole thing is that if you are dying with no loved ones or family, he appears, gives you a cigarette, and just holds your hand until you pass on.
It's honestly the only SCP that I wish was real.
Tbf if it was it's not like we'd know
@@airplanes_aren.t_real True. The only people who would've seen him by neccessity don't survive to tell the tale.
what if you don't smoke does he offer you anything else?
@@mathieuleader8601 According to the file, no. He just smokes himself, but still stays by your side until the end.
He and Death of the Endless would make good pals.
I was so happy to hear you mention Gaiman’s interpretation of Death. She is so kind, despite her inevitability. Sandman explores death in a really fascinating way.
I never thought an OverlySarcastic video would make me absolutely sob…
"We don't stop remembering things just because they don't exist anymore - if anything, that just makes us remember them even harder." That is so true. My 15-year-old cat died this year, I had her since I was a pre-teen, and I find myself remembering her more and more, as though the act of remembering keeps her alive, if only just for me.
As my people put it, "We don't stop remembering things just because they don't exist anymore - if anything, that just makes us remember them even harder." speaks to my condition.
This is a nice quote. However, when humans “remember” things, on a psychological level they are subconsciously editing them. That’s to say that our memories are imperfect and transform over time. I’m still trying to figure out what this means to me
@@GhostInPajamas How different would we be - perhaps I should ask, how different *_will_* we be - with a genuinely reliable and permanent backup memory, a "fight recorder" of our senses and even our emotions?
@@GhostInPajamas Personally I deal with this by thinking of grieving as a mostly self-centered act. Not in a bad way, just in way where the main thing that's making me sad is the loss of this relationship. The fact that I can't talk to or laugh with or hug this person who means so much to me. Maybe death is peaceful or nice for them, or maybe they just don't care since they don't exist anymore, but I'm the one who's sad. The details of exact interactions don't matter so much as knowing broadly the way this relationship made me feel. There's also always voice recordings/pictures/letters/diary entries if you're lucky enough to have them
Pratchett will never not be one of my most favorite authors. You definitely get a sense of the depths of his empathy and kindness through his writing.
That was surprisingly beautiful, and as someone who's never read Terry Pratchett, you sold me on him in one video
“Let’s spend the rest of this video talking about Death from the Discworld” Red that is the best thing I’ve ever heard anyone ever say
“Pistols at dawn and I don’t need any backup,” Is a gem. Almost choked laughing at it. But Holly crap I wasn’t prepared.
I like the portrayals of death that greet the dead like an old friend. Death has watched them grow up, learn, fall in love, succeed, fail, everything but never able to interact with them without causing distress but now they can embrace in eternal peace.
"I won't need back up " actually gave me chills
I actually started to cry when you mentioned Pratchett getting letters from terminally ill fans of his work. I couldn't put a word to why I was crying until you mentioned catharsis. This was such a powerful episode Red. Thank you ❤
In many of Pratchett's books, he talked about the idea of the act of believing shaping the object of that belief. If that is in any way true, then Pratchett has probably shaped the personification of Death more than any other.
One person commented the following on twitter, shortly after he passed: "Death, are you ready to meet your maker?"
Me too!
You're not alone in that. For a long, long time I was very emotionally distant and hardened. I never, ever cried. I *couldn't* cry.
There's something bittersweet about Pratchett's Death that hits me in those moments where he touches a human soul and is a guide, or is surprised by humanity, or expresses some wisdom. It hits me every time. Dunno why, but in those more intimate and serious scenes with Death, I'm often either reading through tears, or I have to put the book down and go for a walk, or a drive before I can pick it up again.
I'll always be grateful to Pratchett for that. He opened a door I'd thought was stuck shut forever.
Confession time. I have been alive without reading any of Sir Terry Pratchett’s work directly for more years than I care to keep track of. And in all that time, this video is by far the most compelling endorsement of Disc World I have ever heard. Now, I am off to the book store to begin my…. Wait, how many books? Oh boy…
Don't forget that you can start literally anywhere (tho Pterry advised against reading the books in order, and I personally concur). And if you want some quality Death content, may I recommend Hogfather or Reaper Man as good starting points?
@@iiiiitsmagreta1240Hogfather first, I should think. Then Reaper Man. But I wholly second this recommendation. Even if he never reads anything else that flowed from that brilliant mind, those two are absolute musts.
You lucky bastard. You get to read them for the first time, a thing I can never do again.... If you decide to read them in order of publication, the first two are, well, they are not what is to come. Skim them, or even skip them and come back later. From the third book onwards, there is a slow burn that just keeps getting better and better until it lights up the world.
I am not even coming close to describing how wonderful it is. The greatest fiction of the last hundred years, if you ask me. Not just great fantasy, or comedy, the flat out best writing any author has done in decades. Literally transcendent, so much of it will mark you to your bones,
Good luck. You're gonna have a great time. :)
If you’re interested in the world’s magic and its university, begin with the cynical and useless Rincewind. (Light Fantastic is the first one)
If you want your stories full of witchcraft and feminist anger, start with Granny Weatherwax and the Witches. (Equal Rites)
If you want to know what Death’s worklife and social life are like, start with him (he’s also easily the Discworld’s best-written character). (Mort)
If you want to follow the escapades of an incompetent but good-natured city watch, led by a man searching for his moral and purpose, start with Sam Vimes. (Guards! Guards!)
I lost my grandfather at the beginning of this month. I'm still grappling with it, and his funeral is this week.
That said, this video, especially the closing helped offer a good perspective on it that I needed. Thank you.
Learning about the letters Pratchett received is honestly one of the most beautiful things ive ever heard. Im going to need a moment
There's a pretty cool representation of Death in the webcomic "A Boy and His Ghost" (spoilers ahead). When he finds the ghost of a girl who befriended a human boy, he bends the rules a bit and tells her he'll come for her later, because she died as a child and he wants to let her enjoy herself for as long as he's able to put it off; a couple days later, when his assistant Mr. Shrew finds a loophole to force him to collect her, Death is _pissed_ and tells Shrew that if he ever pulls that stunt again he'll discover that death is one of the _lesser_ punishments that Death can lay on him. Later in the story Death gears up for combat, trading his cloak for armor and his scythe for a sword, because (paraphrasing) "The scythe is for _collecting_ souls; the sword is for _taking_ them." He even actually trains the girl from the beginning of the story to be his successor, because the role of Death is actually a Dread Pirate Roberts situation in this story. Also, the whole backstory we eventually get between the girl and Death is legitimately heartbreaking.
I always found it interesting how Death became one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Originally, the Foursemen were War, Famine, Plague, and Pestilence, and Death followed behind them. But over time, people combined Plague and Pestilence into a single being (likely due to erroneously believing them to be synonymous*), and demoted Death into the empty position.
* They're not; Plague refers to disease, while Pestilence refers to infestation, like rats, locusts, lice, etc., which to be fair very often cause disease, so the mistake is understandable.
[Edit: Point of clarification, by "I always found it interesting how Death became a Horseman," I don't mean "I always found the process by which Death became a Horseman interesting," I mean "I always found it interesting that it happened." Just felt I should make that clear, because I know how pointlessly pedantic the internet can be.]
I'm pretty sure it's given as Conquest, [civil] War, Famine, and Death in most interpretation. pestilence gets mentioned as a tool of the 4th rider but isn't a rider unto itself.
Thanks for the webcomic recommendation though. I'mma go check it out.
@milabirch7356 you described the actual original 4 man apocalypse band. The most common version in pop culture is War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.
Obviously, the individual members of the Four Horseman have switched around over the last few thousand years, but the original version in the Bible is a white horse representing the Antichrist (or sometimes interpreted as general conquest), a red horse representing war, a black horse representing famine, and a pale horse representing death - death by famine, war, and pestilence. For the record, I don't really understand the distinction between a white horse and a pale horse. I can only imagine the white horse is a majestic beast fit for the ruler of the world, while the pale horse is sickly and death incarnate. Regardless, according to the Bible, the Four Horseman are the Antichrist, war, famine, and death. For non-Christian uses of the characters, they've clearly traded out the Antichrist for pestilence, but that is supposed to be only a subset of the pale horse, IE death.
@@roguebarbarian9133maybe pale refers to a blonde sandy like colour? Or to be extra dramatic the colour of bone
God I saw my Boy DEATH, with his soul music guitar and immediately had to click this video. Terry Pratchett made death such a great character and his own experience with his Alzheimer's and plans for assisted suicide really show how kind and understanding he hoped death would be in the end 😢
I love Terry Pratchett's version of Death. "What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the reaper man?" are words to take profound solace from. He'll always be the author whose death hit me the hardest.
The most profound AF Trope Talk thus far. Masterfully done, Red. ❤️
I love the idea that Terry Pratchett was all "I'm gonna make fun of this fantasy genre" and quickly went to "aw shit I actually like it"
I love how indigent Death gets when he sees New Death has a *crown* . If New Death didn't have a Crown, I am 90% sure Death would just have accepted his fate.
The crown and the remark that his own death would surely be worth many times more than that of lesser being.
I NEVER WORE A CROWN!
*YOU NEVER WANTED TO RULE.*
Not only that, but also the way Bill Door (Death's persona whilst alive) actively despises the implement that New Death carries. "It was not a scythe, but may have had a scythe at some point in the past, the same way even the most sophisticated medical implement has a stick somewhere in its ancestry.
It was a long way from anything that had ever touched a straw."
Autocorrect Error: not "indigent", indignant.
And yes, I love that scene. Old Death is so morally outraged at New Death's crown, and the attitude that goes with it, that his rage sharpens his scythe into something that can cleave apart atomic nuclei.
@@darthplagueis13"THIS IS NOT A GAME!"
@@John_Weiss Not auto-correct, just bad spelling.
And The scythe is so sharp, it cuts Miss Flitworth's *sentence*