Death, the slayer of all - rich and poor alike - is the only character to appear in every Discworld book by Terry Pratchett (although the Librarian probably comes in close behind). He comes to animation first in Wyrd Sisters, but has a much more substantial role in Soul Music when he goes missing and it's up to his granddaughter to do the duty.
Voice: Christopher Lee
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In Discworld: Soul Music, the Death of the Discworld (who in the books speaks in ALL CAPS) falls into a depression after the inevitable death of his adopted human daughter, Ysabell. He leaves the soul-reaping business into the hands of other people and tries to forget everything. He tries joining the Klatchian Foreign Legion and getting drunk, but no human methods can erase Death's memory. Ultimately he has to face the fact that his Duty is the reason he exists and he's the only one who can properly do it.
The Death of the Discworld is a very sympathetic character which makes him different from many of his other incarnations in various stories around the world. He is the Grim Reaper, of course, the ultimate reality, the usher of souls and so forth, but he's one that you wouldn't mind meeting when your time comes. There's a sadness to his character, through his voice you can hear the weight of thousands of years of seeing war, misery, death (obviously) and the general bad sides of humanity. But he's not a gloomy, dark character, in fact there's a certain childlike curiosity to him and sometimes other human traits show up, like love and sympathy. He doesn't always know how to handle these human emotions, being an anthropomorphic personification, and his very nature stops him from ever completely learning to be human. His natural coldness and sense of duty sometimes conflicts with his warmer side, causing inner turbulence within a character who is by nature supposed to be indifferent and eternally unchanging. So he stays an alien to the world, caught between a desire to learn what it means to be human and the necessity to fulfill his Duty.
In "Soul Music" we see many of the things that make him both a comic and tragic character. For Death, forgetting is impossible to do. He hears that humans can forget by, for example, drinking a lot of alcohol, so he tries it, but he can't grasp the concept of getting drunk. He doesn't understand how exactly the process is supposed to work, so he can keep downing bottle after bottle without any effects on his memory. He wants his little granddaughter, Susan, to keep visiting him in his gloomy world, without thinking how it might affect her life as she's growing up. He rides a magnificent white horse as is appropriate, but for some reason, decided to name it 'Binky' instead of something more menacing as one might expect. He wants to get to know people, despite the fact that he never usually gets to talk to them for long, but has difficulties with the concept of small talk and can't really strike up a natural conversation. The fact that he is Death should tell him that he can never do things exactly as humans do because he's not like them, but he keeps trying.
~JessKat
Favorite quotes:
Death: YES. I COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING.
Death: ALBERT?
Albert: "Camomile tea, sir."
Death: I THOUGHT THAT WAS A KIND OF SOAP.
Albert: "You can put it in soap or tea, sir."
Death: HOW VERY USEFUL.
Death: ALBERT?
Albert: "Yes, sir?"
Death: I'VE BEEN WONDERING...
Albert: "Sir?"
Death: WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? SERIOUSLY? WHEN YOU GET DOWN TO IT?
Albert: "Oh, er, heh...couldn't really say, sir."
Death: NO. I REMEMBER EVERYTHING. AS IF IT HAPPENED ONLY....TOMORROW.
Death: EXCUSE ME.
Guru: "Yes, my son?"
Death: I'M TOLD YOU KNOW EVERYTHING.
Guru: "Are you seeking the secret of existence?"
Death: THAT WILL DO, FOR A START.
Guru: "The secret of existence is to disdain earthly ties, shun the illusion of material worth, and seek one-ness with the Infinite."
Death: OH, I'VE SEEN THE INFINITE. IT'S NOTHING SPECIAL.
Guru: "Don't be daft. You can't see the Infinite, it's....Infinite."
Death: I HAVE.
Guru: "All right, then. What did it look like?"
Death: IT'S BLUE.
Guru: "It's black."
Death: IT'S BLUE.
Guru: "It's black."
Death: FROM THE OUTSIDE, IT'S BLUE. BELIEVE ME.
(Death has joined the Klatchian Foreign Legion and has been dug into the sandpit up to his neck)
Foreign Legion sergeant: "Had enough, eh, soldier?"
Death: ENOUGH WHAT, SERGEANT?
Sergeant: "Two days in the sun, no food, no water, delirious with thirst and begging to be dug out, eh?"
Death: YES, IT CERTAINLY IS VERY DULL.
Death: I INVITE YOU INTO MY HOME, I TRAIN YOU, I FEED YOU, I CLOTHE YOU, I GIVE YOU OPPORTUNITIES YOU COULD NOT DREAM OF, AND THUS YOU REPAY ME?
*slaps Mort*
YOU SEDUCE MY DAUGHTER FROM ME, YOU NEGLECT THE DUTY, AND YOU MAKE RIPPLES IN REALITY THAT WILL TAKE A CENTURY TO HEAL. YOU ILL-TIMED ACTIONS HAVE DOOMED YOUR COMRADES TO OBLIVION. THE GODS WILL DEMAND NOTHING LESS!
ALL IN ALL, BOY, NOT A GOOD START TO YOUR FIRST JOB.
Susan: "What's it mean, grandad?"
Death: GRANDAD? 'GRANDFATHER' I CAN LIVE WITH, BUT GRANDAD...YOU'LL BE CALLING ME 'GRAMPS' NEXT.
Death: DON'T GET INVOLVED, CHILD. YOU CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING.
Susan: "You did. I just saw you. My parents."
Death: I MAY HAVE ALLOWED MYSELF A FLICKER OF EMOTION. I CAN GIVE IT UP ANY TIME I LIKE.
Susan: "Why shouldn't you change things if you can make the world a better place?"
Death: I SHOULD NEVER HAVE ADOPTED YOUR MOTHER.
Susan: "You're scared. Scared to change the world!"
Death: YOU SAY THAT TO ME? YOU PRATTLE ON ABOUT CHANGING THE WORLD. COULD YOU FIND THE COURAGE TO ACCEPT IT? TO KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE AND TO DO IT WHATEVER THE COST? THERE IS WHAT IS AND WHAT WILL BE. IF YOU CHANGE THE FATE OF ONE INDIVIDUAL, YOU CHANGE THE WORLD, AND YOU, YOU CARRY THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CHANGE, AND THAT IS ALWAYS TOO HEAVY TO BEAR.
Innkeeper: "Oh well, perhaps it's time for an early night."
Death: *opens door* I DON'T THINK SO.
Innkeeper: "Actually, I was just closing."
Death: I NEED TO IMBIDE VAST AMOUNTS OF ALCOHOL.
Death: GIVE ME ONE OF YOUR BEST.
Innkeeper: "Certainly, sir!" *offers him a bottle*
Death: IT'S GOT A MAGGOT IN IT.
Innkeeper: "That's a worm, sir."
Death: OH. THAT'S BETTER, IS IT?
Innkeeper: "It's supposed to be in there! That's Mexical, that is."
Death: *looking at the bottle* WHAT'S IT LIKE?
Innkeeper: "Well, it's sort of..."
Death: I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU.
Death: *driving off a cliff with a motorbike* OH, BUGGER!
Death: I SHALL KEEP YOUR ROOM EXACTLY AS YOU LEFT IT.
Susan: "Thank you."
Death: A MESS.
~JessKat
Favorite images:
Death: *trying to get drunk* YOU KNOW SOMETHING?
Innkeeper: "What?"
Death: YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND.
Death as he appeared in a trailer for another Discworld animation, based on the book "Reaper Man". The series never took off, unfortunately, but the trailer is available on the "Soul Music" DVD.
~JessKat
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