God and Figures of Death in Mythologies

The concept of death and the afterlife has always been a major aspect of the various mythologies and religions around the world, well save a few exceptions like Shintoism. As such, mystical figures ruling over the domain of death generally become important figures in the many pantheons that existed in our history, although not all of them were gods. 

Speaking of which, these lesser figures tend to be more obscure than the death gods, as they either hail from older mythologies that are less well known or belong to a more niche following. An example of the latter is, of course, the Baron de Samedi from Haitian Voodoo. Since it is still widely practiced in the Caribbean, the Baron thus is extremely well known in the region. The Baron de Samedi's main function is to manage all the voodoo figures connected to death, like his wife Maman Brigitte, as well as watching the crossroads between the living and the dead. Outside of his homeland, the Baron still enjoys quite a bit of a presence in modern cultures, even if his time seems to have passed. For example, one of the James Bond villains takes on the figure to control his superstitious underlings, while Dr Facilier in ‘The Princess and the Frog’ is heavily inspired by it. Another great example of his influence is the in-book series Amos Daragon, in which a figure called the Baron de Samedi acts as a recurring, albeit secondary villain in the earlier books. This iteration is one of the most faithful to the original Baron, being described as a tall skeleton wearing a fancy outfit, he deviates heavily from the domain of death and instead aims to bring back his servants, the dragons. 

Now going to more obscure figures, the Celts have a wide range of such entities serving various purposes over the dead. For example, the banshee whose wail announces the imminent death of a family member. These ghostly female ghosts have, over time, turned into screaming-related spirits, so bring here plugs if you meet one. However, we can’t talk about Celtic deathly figures without mentioning the Dullahan and the Ankou, two distinct entities from different parts of the Celtic world who served the same purpose. The two supernatural beings are effectively watchers of the dead, guiding the souls into the underworld, even if the former can be a bit more aggressive. Where they differ is that the Dullahan hails from the British Isles and is an actual figure, while the Ankou comes from northern France and is more of a title passed down year after year. Of the two, the Dullahan is by far the most famous thanks greatly to the story of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ popularizing it, even if just like the Baron of Amos Daragon, had little to do with his original function. He also appeared as one of the many recurring bosses of the series Castlevania and Pathfinder. The Ankou unfortunately enjoyed far less renown, probably due to his more generic appearance. Indeed, instead of a rider having no head, we have a walking corpse wearing a thick cloak and holding a scythe... well know we know where the Grim Reaper got his look. However, he does appear every now and then, like in the Spirou comic where he helps our heroes to stop two gangsters trying to steal toxic materials. By the way, the comic is creatively named ‘l’Ankou’. 

Don’t think that the monotheist religion are free of lesser death figures, as I guess even an all-powerful being needs his middle managers. While Christianity does lack such a figure, Islam and Judaism do have an angel specifically named for this job, Azrael and Samael respectively, even if they perform it differently. Of the two, Azrael, despite having one of the sickest names ever, happens to have the lamest job, as he’s nothing more than a divine accountant running the numbers of the dead and ensuring the math is mathing. On that note, Hades in Greek mythology fills the exact same role, but more on him later. Samael, on the other hand, is more of a public persecutor, albeit a very dickish one.  

However, a few misconceptions have arisen over time, due to misunderstanding, popular culture, and just trying to sell a cooler story. For example, Hel, the queen of Helheim in Norse mythology, while often called a goddess, is actually closer in nature to a Jotunn than an Aesir/Vanir. Returning back to Hades, his position as ruler of the underworld has also seen him being attributed the title of ‘God of Death,’ while it actually belongs to Thanatos. Another thing is that he’s actually the more level-headed of the Olympians, and considering that he married his wife, Persephone, through Stockholm Syndrome is REALLY saying something about the rest of his family.