# What exactly is the Grim Reaper supposed to be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941 "2012-05-14T23:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/1 "2012-05-14T23:56:49Z")
Is it a ghost or angel, or what? Is it supposed to good or evil? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/2 "2012-05-15T00:32:58Z")
According to Terry Pratchett, he’s an anthropomorphic personification. And really, I’m not sure there’s any better answer than that. Most references to the Grim Reaper are not meant to be taken literally: Rather, the skeletal figure in the hood is a visual representation of death, the real-world process. Have you ever seen someone die? If so, you’ve seen Death. It doesn’t mean you’ve seen a guy with a robe and a scythe. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/3 "2012-05-15T00:36:12Z")
Death is a Demiurge. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/4 "2012-05-15T00:37:24Z")
**ANTHROPOMORPHIC PERSONIFICATION** 😃 Seriously though, that’s an accurate answer. It’s meant to be a a personification of an abstract concept, not an entity. It’s the same basic thing as [the Bull and the Bear](http://newrichtrader.com/images/bull+bear.jpg)or [Justice](http://nonprophetstatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Lady-Justice.jpg) or [Uncle Sam](http://nomaddicting.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/uncle_sam_pointing_finger.jpg). And as with all those other personifications, it isn’t inherently good or bad, it depends entirely upon how the user wants to portray the abstraction.Uncle Sam is as often portrayed as a murderer and a thief as he is as a hero, and Justice is portrayed betraying the innocent and taking bribes as often as she is portrayed as a servant or champion. So Death can be portrayed as something to fear or a source of comfort or anything else that the user wants to convey about the abstract concept of death. It’s an anthropomorphic personification, not an entity with a personality. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/5 "2012-05-15T00:41:24Z")
He is supposed to be some kind of farmer. In the old days they would swing the scythe and cut down swathes of grain at a time. So too death treats us when it is time to reap our lives. Grim, no? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/6 "2012-05-15T01:11:51Z")
[Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMHcBJyxzcA) is a video of this kind of farmer. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/7 "2012-05-15T01:24:10Z")
WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, lF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/8 "2012-05-15T01:25:37Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > He is supposed to be some kind of farmer. In the old days they would swing the scythe and cut down swathes of grain at a time. So too death treats us when it is time to reap our lives. There is a Reaper, whose name is Death, And, with his sickle keen, He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, And the flowers that grow between. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/9 "2012-05-15T02:18:18Z")
Wikipedia is your friend: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim\_Reaper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_Reaper) ---
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/10 "2012-05-15T02:45:58Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Wikipedia is your friend: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim\_Reaper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_Reaper) The subsection specifically about the Grim Reaper is three lines long. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/11 "2012-05-15T04:30:09Z")
[Pig and Rat’s neighbor, of course](http://www.uclick.com/client/spi/pb/2012/05/12/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/12 "2012-05-15T09:57:22Z")
He’s one of the little men for the village [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YoBTsMJ4jNk/hqdefault.jpg "Monty Python-The Meaning of Life-Death") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoBTsMJ4jNk) ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/13 "2012-05-15T10:03:32Z")
argh – _from_ the village. I blame the salmon mousse. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/14 "2012-05-15T11:24:22Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > argh – _from_ the village. > > I blame the salmon mousse. That’s what happens when you buy canned. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/15 "2012-05-15T11:52:15Z")
Seasons don’t fear the anthropomorphic personification Nor do the wind and the sun and the rain ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/16 "2012-05-15T12:01:37Z")
I learned a new word today. The GR is a [Psychopomp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopomp). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/17 "2012-05-15T12:20:22Z")
[Dicing With Death](http://www.artsycraftsy.com/dore/mariner_won.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/18 "2012-05-15T13:47:04Z")
A shinigami. > **[Shinigami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinigami)** > > Shinigami (Japanese: 死神, lit. 'kami of death') are kami that invite humans toward death in certain aspects of Japanese religion and culture. Shinigami have been described as monsters, helpers, and creatures of darkness. Shinigami are used for tales and religions in Japanese culture. > In Buddhism, there is the Mara that is concerned with death, the Mrtyu-mara. It is a demon that makes humans want to die, and it is said that upon being possessed by it, in a shock, one should suddenly want to die by... [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/64/IchigoAnimeEp113.jpg/230px-IchigoAnimeEp113.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/64/IchigoAnimeEp113.jpg/230px-IchigoAnimeEp113.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/19 "2012-05-15T13:55:33Z")
Just don’t try to play chess with Him. He can never remember which way the little horses go. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941/20 "2012-05-15T14:20:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Just don’t try to play chess with Him. He can never remember which way the little horses go. And he always loses at Battleship. _You haff sunka my battle-sheep! Best 3 of 5!_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-the-grim-reaper-supposed-to-be/621941.md?page=2)