Reaper - Origin and characteristics

1- Who is the Reaper?

The Reaper is the lord of death, a dark and gloomy specter who appears when your life on earth comes to an end. Although his personality and work are as mysterious as death itself, one thing is for sure: he's not someone you want to meet anytime soon.

2- Characteristics

A- Physical description

Unlike ancient personifications of death, the Grim Reaper has a ghoulish appearance that has made him a favorite Halloween costume for generations.

The Reaper's look starts with a long black cape. This cloak surrounds the specter's entire body and hides its face under a deep hood. It is usually baggy and ragged, so that bits of black flutter in the wind as the reaper moves.

In his hand, the reaper carries a scythe, a long pole with a curved blade attached to the top. The scythe is traditionally used to harvest crops in late fall. In the case of the Reaper, it is used to harvest souls at the end of life. The wraith can also carry an hourglass, which he uses to measure the time left in one's life. Finally, he can ride on the back of a ghost white horse or in a chariot pulled by white horses.

Few have glimpsed the figure beneath the black cloak and lived to tell the tale. Most legends describe the Reaper as a skeleton - white bones and an empty skull - but a few claim that nothing but a dark void lies beneath the cloak.

B- Personality

The Reaper's appearance may send chills down your spine, but he's not as bad as he looks!

Above all, the Reaper is a hard worker. His job is to collect souls as they reach the end of their time on earth, and he is extremely diligent in carrying out his task. He always meets his deadlines, and he is rarely distracted or persuaded not to do his work.

Some people might think that the Reaper, like an assassin, is despicable because he ends lives without flinching. But there is an important difference. Assassins kill people without caring about their fate. The Reaper kills people because it is their destiny to die. In many ways, his work is beneficial. It puts an end to the suffering of the elderly or sick, and it prevents overpopulation.

C- Special abilities

The Reaper has an important job and special skills to go with it.

His signature, and most mysterious skill, is the ability to separate souls from the body. Most stories claim that the mere presence of this specter begins to separate the soul from the body. With the hook of a bony finger, he can sever your ties to the world of the living forever.

After collecting your soul, the Reaper will serve as your psychopomp, a guide who will help you find your way to the next realm.

A few stories describe heroes who managed to trick the Reaper or convince him not to take their souls. In some cases, the Reaper even gave people talismans that made them immortal.

3- Cultural representation

A- Origin

Personifications of death exist in every culture, throughout history. Ancient people had a friendlier approach to death. For example, Thanatos, the Greek god of death, was an attractive young man with a noble heart, and the Valkyries, who decided which Norse soldiers should die in battle, were beautiful and heroic women.

The turning point in our attitude toward death occurred in the fourteenth century, when Europe was ravaged by the Black Death. In some cities, as many as one in five people died from the plague. Decaying bodies piled up in the streets, and everyone had loved ones to mourn.

During the plague, artists began to paint death as a horrible figure. Skeletons, armed with deadly weapons, danced among plague victims in the streets or rode white horses to which carts filled with bodies were attached. Eventually, a black-cloaked figure, the first recognizable Reaper, began to appear at the head of these gruesome processions. His dark costume and curved scythe may have been inspired by plague doctors, who wore dark shrouds and bird-like masks to protect themselves from the infected air.

The name "Reaper" did not appear until the 19th century, although "the Reaper" is a popular nickname for death dating back to the 13th century.

B- Recent appearances

Today, the Grim Reaper continues to reign over our imaginations. She has become the world's most iconic personification of death.

Fantasy and Horror novels regularly pay homage to the Grim Reaper. Films like Scream and Goblin have played on his dark side, while books like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman have added new stories to the long-running legend of the Grim Reaper.