Death (The Loving Reaper)

Death is the titular main protagonist in the original PSA webcomic series The Loving Reaper.
He is the Grim Reaper whose job is to take the animal souls who died under neglect, abuse, and other tragedies, or if they're lucky, old age, to his realm. But not before comforting them to not worry about the abuse and led them to a much more peaceful afterlife to have the happiness each of them deserve.
He is also friends with Life.
== Personality ==
Unlike what usual grim reapers are like, Death is portrayed as a friendly, sympathetic, merciful, and understanding entity whose job is to claim the souls of those that died. Whenever he must harvest a soul, he always tries to show sympathy and love to the deceased, and promises all of them that in his realm, they will find peace. If the dead died painful deaths, or had lives filled with suffering, he promises that in his realm, they will never be in pain anymore. He also tries to help unloved and unwanted souls find souls who will give them the love they never had in life. 
Death isn't really fond of his job as "death" itself and wishes he could've done good for all the animals that died tragically, but there is nothing he can do about it due to his role and he is needed from the process. But regardless, Death tries his best to comfort any animal soul in need when that moments comes and gives them the peaceful afterlife they need from the right people. Despite the grim lives and deaths of a number of souls, Death never takes revenge against bad humans, and never damns any soul. All souls, no matter their species or what they have done, all come to his realm.
He also has a friendly relationship with Life, always complimenting and supporting one another, knowing full well how difficult and emotionally hard their jobs can be. Secretly, Death thinks that Life's job is harder as she must watch her creations wither and die. Unbeknownst to Death, Life has the same opinion of Death's job. Both also think each others presence makes their work worthwhile. Both Death and Life also have a friendly rival relationship as they both try to get to souls before the other, but both are graceful losers.
He also has a tendency to call some animals by nicknames.
== Bio ==
In his first appearance, Death comes to claim the soul of an unloved and abandoned dog who was left to die at the side of the road by his neglectful humans who got him as a Christmas present... only to soon tire of him as they were unwilling to make the lifelong commitment that is needed for a dog. The dog is in denial about this, and still believes his family will come back, despite the cold out and the lack of nutrition. Feeling pity and sympathy, and hoping to comfort the poor creature, Death covers the dog in his own robe and decides to stay with the dog until he dies.
The dog indeed died shortly after, and his soul emerged from his body. Death comforted the sad soul by promising him that in the Realm of the Dead, he will never again be left behind or cold. But still, the dog is sad, because no one loved him in life. As they began their journey to the afterlife, Death continued to try and make the dog feel better by acknowledging why he was sad. The dog asked if he was abandoned because he was a bad dog, to which Death replies that he was a good dog, who loved bad people. Hoping to give the poor creature the love he never had in life, the two made a stop at a hospital, where a terminally ill boy had just died. The child was terrified of this, as he was not yet ready to go and leave his mom and dad. Then the dog appeared, wearing a dog sized version of Death's robes. The boy then smiled and laughed, and called the dog a "good boy". Death seems pleased with his decision to have brought the two together.
In issue 2, Death arrives to collect the soul of a stray black cat who was deliberately hit by a car because black cats are sometimes seen as bad luck. The luckless cat then told Death that there was an old woman who cared for her, and that she wanted to see her one last time. Placing flowers on the cat's body, Death agrees. At her house, the woman was saddened that the cat didn't come for her food. Watching this, the cat wishes she could have said goodbye. The next day, the woman found the cat's body, and gave her a proper grave. Then she went to the shelter and adopted an older black cat with only one eye, that was about to be put down. Death then brought the soul of the former cat back to Earth, where she identified the older cat as her mother, and was happy that she and the old woman were living happily. 
Death does not appear in issue 3 as that explains more about the dog from issue one, but in issue 4, Death comes to Australia to claim the souls of the victims of the 2020 bush fire. This disaster saddens death, because of all the scared and frightened souls. He found a frightened Koala who was struggling to breathe and feared for his friends and family. Death offered him a hand, just as the poor creature died, and his soul landed in Death's loving hands. Death promised the Koala that he would see his friends and family again, in his realm. 
In issue 5, Death came to collect the soul of a dying seagull chick, which passed because his mother could not find any healthy food for him, and unknowingly fed him lethal garbage. As the chick died, his mother begged him for forgiveness for not being able to care for him. Death then claimed the chick's soul and told the mother that she did not fail her son, she tried her best. He asked the mother if the chick had a name, she replied that his name was Mo. Death allowed mother and son to say goodbye to each other, and that they loved each other. A distraught mother remains bent over the body of her dead chick.
In issue 6, Death collected the soul of a duckling who failed to cross the street fast enough. The duckling was saddened that she could not be with her loving mother and siblings again, so Death allowed her to say goodbye. The chick tried desperately to get her mother's attention to say goodbye, but in vain. (though she did feel something)
In issue 7, Death notices much to his horror, that a circus is in town. As he inspects it to see if any circus animals have died, he notices a lion ghost who refuses to come with Death as he believes himself to be "King of the beasts", yet after that when his temper cools, he admits that he was no King. He was a plaything and a piece of entertainment. He explains that he was beaten, and instead being free, he was afraid all his life. Feeling sad for the lion, Death bowed, called him "Your Majesty", and offered to bring him to a place where he would be King and reign over some souls. The Lion accepted, and was soon with a bunch of kitten souls he could "reign over".
Issue 8 has Death collect the soul of a rabbit who was abandoned in the wild. And with no survival skills, soon died of starvation. As Death arrives to claim the rabbit, the Rabbit asked if there was any water nearby. Death was saddened to tell her no. The rabbit accepts her fate and as she dies, she talks about how she wished she could see the greens she saw in her dreams. As her soul left her body, Death let the souls of all the plants around the rabbit blossom. Soon, the rabbit was surrounded by the souls of flowers and grass, and Death explained that in his realm, no one is ever forgotten or lost.
Issue 9 has Death collect the soul of a domestic elephant who was taken away from his mother by cruel wranglers, was beaten constantly, forced to carry humans as an attraction, and the only friend he ever had was a cockroach. As his pains, wounds, and increased aging as a result of bad captivity took him, he asked Death of his mother went through the same hell as he did. Or if she loved him. Death replied that she did love her son. The elephant then asked Death to end his suffering, to which Death obliged. As his soul left his body, the Elephant said goodbye to his cockroach friend.
Issue 10 has Death come to collect the souls of a family of Sea Turtles. The mother choked to death from being entangled in plastic, and the babies eggs were stolen by humans just as the mother was going to leave them. When the mother asked what happened to all the other turtles that used to live around the area, Death was forced to tell her the sad truth that they were all with him, but in a bit of ironic good news, they were all with him. 
In issue 11, Death collects the soul of a cat who died of old age, who's soul was trying to comfort her grieving human. When Death appears and asks the cat to go with him, it refuses. The cat announces that it wants to " protect its owner with its life", whereupon the Reaper reminds it that it has no life left. The cat then decides that it will "protect its human with all its soul" instead.
In issue 12, Death collects the soul of a pit bull who was raised in a dog fighting pit. The Pitbull who wished for friends in vain, was involved in fights as a puppy and raised to be absolutely aggressive, his desire to make friends completely extinguished. When he dies in an illegal fight, he has to watch his owner yelling at his corpse how worthless he is. The dog's soul is shocked when the Reaper offers him his friendship afterwards.
Issue 13 is much more positive then most others. Death comes to collect a fox who is drowning in a swimming pool, as foxes cannot swim in pools. But before he can collect it, Death's best friend/rival, Life, saves the Fox. Although Life laughs in his face and celebrates her "victory of the living", Death can only laugh and confesses that he "loves losing to her". Life assures him that they are on good terms and that she would love to give him flowers, even if they only wither in his hands. Death holds the souls of the dead flowers in his hand and reminds her that each of her gifts will reach him in one way or another.
Issue 15 has Death collect the soul of a German Shepard "Atlas", who was dying of old age. Though his human (Zack Yaten) knew his dog's time had come, he was very unhappy as he brought his beloved friend to the vet, to be given a painless but lethal injection. The dog even brought his favorite toy with him all the way to the vet. After the dog died, his human broke down and cried. Death told the shepherd that his human already misses him, and that he's sad that the dog could not bring his favorite toy with him to the afterlife. The shepherd replied that he didn't bring the toy to the vet for himself, but because he thought his human would need it more than him. A later issue Zack has to befriend a new puppy his brother gave him as a "replacement dog", although Zack doesn't feel ready. Atlas' spirit returns once again to show the new puppy the way to Zack's heart. Zack, ended up promising to buy his new friend new toys, after realizing he was wrong for yelling at him for playing with Atlas's toys. 
In issue 16, Death collected the soul of an aged and unloved parrot, who went through three homes because he never learned to mimic, and instead made his own wild and noisy parrot sounds. As a result, people often yelled "SHUT UP!" at him, to the point where the parrot thought that was his name. 
Issue 17 reverses roles a bit by having Death himself being distraught and in need of comfort. As the real world disasters of the 2021 climate crisis, ravage Earth, Death's job becomes much harder both on a physical and mental level. To the point where for the first time in the history of portrayals of the Grim Reaper, he breaks down and cries. After another forest fire, he sits on the ground with his robe torn, fearing that it's the end of all life. Life herself appears to try and comfort her best friend. She explains to Death that finding or having hope is indeed hard in this dark and uncertain time we are living in. She explains to Death that Life will always find a way, while she pushes ashes aside with her hand, where a young healthy plant bud is hidden.
Issue 18 has Death collect the soul of a captive and abused Orca, who mistook a photo of another orca for a real one, and thought he was a friend. The whale, which already has some kind of severe skin infection, seems weakened and lonely and regularly talks to "Henry", the whale that hangs as a poster on the wall behind the window. When the staff removes the poster of "Henry" to replace it with the newest attraction, The Orca has a nervous breakdown and succumbs to his illness. When the Reaper wants to take his soul, the soul flees to the other side of the wall and searches for Henry. But the Orca finds only the crumpled poster of his "friend". When the Reaper informs him that his only friend was just a picture, he replies with "I know." Death then offers friendship.
After some issues that are callbacks to older issues, Death arrives in issue 21 to collect the soul of a Swan, who was dying from grief, over her mate leaving her after a brick thrown by kids smashed all but one of their eggs. The swan has the assumption that the Reaper has not come for the eggs and is unfortunately correct. The swan is too weak to raise her last egg alone, so she lies down next to it and waits until the Reaper takes them both away. The story is based on an article in the Daily Mail, which reported that children destroyed the eggs in a swan's nest and the mother died of a broken heart.
In issue 22, the soul of an extinct species of parrot asks Death what color his feathers were(souls in this universe have no colors). Reluctantly, Death brought him to a museum, much to the parrot's confusion, and was forced to reveal that his species was extinct, much to the Parrot's sorrow. The parrot sits down next to his stuffed likeness and regrets asking Death for this favor. Death then tries to comfort the parrot by reminding him that his friends are still with him.
In issue 23, Death repaid Life's kindness to him be allowing her to hold the soul of a dead toucan that she felt she failed to save. While holding the frail baby Toucan in her hand, she entrusts the weakened animal to the Reaper and he takes its soul from her hands. While Life weeps over the death of the young animal, Death distracts her and asks her if she has ever held a soul before. Life is shocked at how cold the little soul feels and confesses that she will miss the little animal, even though she knows that he is in good hands with Death. The Reaper explained to life that missing someone is the price we all pay for loving someone.
In issue 24, a boy is very happy about his new hamster, calls it the "best pet ever" and later very proudly shows it to his friend. His friend, however, is not very enthusiastic and calls the hamster "lame" because it only sleeps all day. As a result, the boy sees his hamster with different eyes and loses his enthusiasm for the little animal. The hamster notices that his owner pays less and less attention to him and doesn't understand why he doesn't say "hello" to him anymore. He offers his supply of sunflower seeds to his human in hopes that he will talk to him again, while he himself is almost starving. The Reaper doesn't appear in this episode, but he does in the Patreon-exclusive sequel. There, the Hamster asks Death if he had been a bad pet. Death replies that he has not, and that his human is a child, and children are easily influenced. Fortunately, a vet is called. Death then jokes about how humans can just as easily ruin his job as they can make it easy.
After some more callback issues, a happier issue, issue 26, has Death give the dog and cat from issues 1 and 2(whom have become his helpers) a contest to see who can harvest a soul in one hour. While the Reaper-Dog runs off full of motivation, the Reaper-Cat has a hard time motivating herself and finding a soul. Somehow she finds a cat soul that doesn't want to come along because she is chasing butterflies. Reaper-Dog returns first with a shy dog soul and Death wonders why Reaper-Cat is taking so long, not knowing that by now both cats are chasing the same butterfly.
In issue 27, Death had to harvest the soul of a Dog who froze to death in the winter, because his family would not let him in, despite the kindness of one member of the family, a girl "Kathy", who loved him and wished he could be let in. The poor dog was in denial, and believed he would be let in soon, and commented that he no longer felt cold after he died, thinking the blanket Kathy gave him would actually warm him. Death had to bring him to the Realm of the dead. The next day, the girl found her dog's frozen body and wept, she then put his favorite toys around his body, and wished him a peaceful afterlife. The dog then learned that only she had loved him, and Death was forced to explain that not everyone gets a happy loving family, but he was never truly unloved.
In issue 30, a shark and three suckerfish have a kind of deal where the small fish suck up to the shark to get food faster and use the shark, which they see as a buddy, as a "bus" so to speak. When they have not seen their free friend for a few days, they are very happy when they finally see him again and immediately attach themself to him. Unfortunately, they discover that their friend has no fins anymore and is about to bleed out and drown. They tell him stories while he slowly dies.
In issue 32, Death is investigating a Bear Bile factory, and finds a sad Cub singing a song about being brave without his late Mother, who's soul is trying to comfort her son. With a heavy heart, Death brings the mother bear to the Realm of the Dead, hoping against hope that her son won't suffer the same fate.
In issue 33, for the first time in the history of the Webcomic, Death harvests a human soul. A young woman who died for an unknown reason. In life, she had always been in awe of forests, but was humble enough to see herself as a visitor and tried her best to minimize her effects on them. Upon her death though, she begins to miss life and began to felt that she did not appreciate it enough. Death is kind enough to allow her to walk for a while in order to process this information. As the two journey to the Afterlife, Death explains that death is a part of life, and all things must die. And that when a person dies, they do not leave life, they simply enter the next chapter of it.
In issue 34, an orangutan mother living in the remains of a deforested forest tries to hide from the "bone man" with her baby in her arms. She means the Reaper, who of course finds her everywhere, especially in this bare environment. The mother becomes aggressive and screams at the Reaper to leave her alone, arguing that she and her baby will be "a family". She doesn't realize that her baby is already dead until his little soul takes her hand and asks her to give up. Realizing that she has to move on because otherwise she will die too. She builds her baby a meager grave with the few things she finds.
In issue 35, Death harvested the soul of a puppy who had drowned and is still freezing. After ripping off a piece of his robe to warm the poor creature, he asked the dog how he died. The dog doesn't seem to understand how he passed, but a flashback shows him fighting for survival and trying not to drown. A young man comes to his rescue and pulls him out of the lake, only to find that the video his buddy took was "too shaky" and they have to throw the dog into the lake again. The dog doesn't understand what is happening and thinks he will see his "mama" again soon. It turns out that the two men deliberately put the dog in danger to record "fake rescue" videos for the Internet. 
In issue 36, a Valentine's day issue, Life finds Death sitting alone in the rain. When she asks him why he's doing this, he reveals that he's not actually alone. He's keeping the soul of an otter (who died of an unknown reason) company, and allowing her to watch the rain one last time. Death then reveals that the otter had given him her favorite rock, out of fear of losing it. Since death can't bring earthly objects to his realm, he gave it to Life... it turns out the stone was shaped like a heart.
After some more callbacks and sponsor issues, Issue 41 has death collect the souls of a group of mice who were poisoned due to a mouse infestation of a nearby human settlement. He also had to harvest the souls of a family of owls, who with the exception of one of the mother, ate the poisoned mice, and were poisoned as well. While the rest of the adults knew this was it, the Owlets didn't seem to realize that they were dead when the dead adults told them to come along. One of them even told the mother that when they grow up, they will fly, much to the mother's distraught as she knew the truth. As Death left, the mother asked if the grief will ever go away. Death replied with while it will never truly go away, the mother will treat it as a sign that she loved.
Issue 42 has Death harvest the soul of a puppy who died from heat stroke in a un-air conditioned car due to accidental or deliberate negligence from their human. The puppy didn't realize he was dead until the human returned and drove away, not noticing anything, much to the Puppy's horror. Death then brought the poor soul to his realm where he would be cooled and in the shade.
In a more comedic issue, Issue 43 reveals that Death and Life once swapped roles to better understand the other's job. While Life took her temp job seriously, it became too emotionally difficult to the point where she tried to smuggle living souls. Meanwhile, Death reveled in his temp job, and began creating new life, including the Platypus. When the two found out that the others were cheating in their jobs, they decided to switch back before something bad happens. It's possible that this is the reason both of them think their counterparts job is harder.
Issue 44 shows a woman going through old photos and finding one of her late pet birds, and claiming she can still hear them singing. Unbeknownst to her, they are still singing, because their souls remain perched on her shoulders, still singing. Death, appears amused by this and asks why they have not entered his realm, despite being years dead. The birds claim "Once a flock, always a flock."
In issue 46 (45 was a reminder that the author was still working despite a long hiatus) a pigeon who was dying from human injuries and starvation wonders why so many humans no longer love his species after years of domestication and use as messengers. Fortunately, he dies peacefully in the arms of a kindly old man. The man reveals that he and his late wife love pigeons and feed them seeds. As the pigeon's soul leaves his body, the old man asks the pigeon to tell his wife he still cares about pigeons. Unbeknownst to him, his wife's soul is sitting next to him, along with Death. The wife takes the pigeons soul in her hands, and told her husband she does know, even though he can't here her. Death reminds her that he'll find out, as other pigeons have gathered to the husband for eating and mourning the late pigeon.
Issue 47 was a Halloween issue. A black cat named Lily loves hiding in places indoors and outdoors, especially pumpkins. Until one day when her human accidentally crushed her with her car when she hid under the car for warmth. Filled with guilt and remorse for accidentally killing her beloved cat, her human carved pumpkins in Lily's honor and placed one next to her bed on Halloween night. Unbeknownst to the human, Death allows Lily to "haunt" the humans house by allowing her to comfort the human each Halloween night. She even enters the bedside pumpkins, giving them a ghostly Jack-O-Lantern light.
In issue 48, the cat from issue 2, helps a homeless black kitten in the freezing winter cold, find a home, claiming to now be a "guardian". The home she chose was her old home with old woman and mother. The reunion between the cat ghost and her mother was bittersweet, but the deceased cat promised her mother they would be reunited, before climbing into Death's arms again.
In issue 51, Death is seen out collecting in Easter. When Life asks if he's egg hunting, death reveals he's actually harvesting the souls of rabbits and chicks who died because of lack of care or lack of shelters, as rabbits and chicks are often traded as pets around Easter... which often does not end well. Despite Death's insistence that color DOES exist in his realm, life gives the deceased some spring flowers, hoping they won't forget colors of the living.
In issue 52, Death unsuccessfully tries to harvest the soul of a mother whale, who has been able to avoid been harvested for 50 years after being killed by whalers. Despite this, Death does not appear to have his patience being tested, and instead seems moved by the Whale's insistence to watch over her calf, even though her calf is now full grown and cannot hear her. Upon showing Death the memory of her own death, Death yields and reminds her that the door to the afterlife is always open whenever she is ready.
Issue 53, is a more optimistic one. As Death and Life stare at the night sky, Life asks her counterpart if there is anything in his role that makes it all worthwhile. Death reveals that not only are souls reunited with friends and loved ones, or make new friends and loved ones, but that they find freedom in no longer being bound by earthly rules. For example, Kiwi's find themselves able to fly. And do dogs, who find themselves able to fetch sticks from the souls of trees.
Issue 56 (54 and 55 were about the old lady and her old cat, as well as a anniversary issue with no real story) is a Halloween issue where Death reveals that he enjoys Halloween, and Life replies that no one dresses as her in a comical way. Death also reveals it's the only time of the year when people can see him, yet everyone thinks he's just another human in a costume. After a human boy comments of Death's attire, he comments on how he wishes he could meet the real Grim Reaper. As he leaves, Death notices the soul of the boy's deceased dog accompanying him, without the boy's knowledge. When Death comments on this, and the boy questions his accuracy, Death, trying to maintain a low profile, replies with "Just a guess."
In issue 57, Death asks Reaper Dog and Cat to look for more animal souls on Halloween. Eventually, they find the soul of a large dog who never had any friends, and even give him a ghost costume and offered him to go haunting with them.
In issue 58, on Christmas, a deer laments on how the forest is polluted... ironically even finding a tossed out Christmas poster with flying reindeer. Later, he meets another deer with his antlers caught in a fishnet, which the other deer also gets his antlers caught in. Despite their efforts, and the two striking a friendship, the two are unable to escape and starve to death. After the first deer dies, Death appears and reveals to the other deer that like the reindeer in the card, he is flying. As Death wonders if this poster was an ill omen or a mockery of the universe, the remaining reindeer, now weak and grief-stricken, asks for Death to harvest his soul so he can also fly with his friend. Death ablidges, and the deer fly away, finally free.
== Trivia ==
* This is one of the most rarest versions of Death/the Grim Reaper to ever be genuinely good compared to other versions that are mostly in a neutral alignment or just greedy soul collectors.
==External Links==
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Category:Webcomic Heroes
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