Anubis's Clique: Death Angels

Anubis's Clique: Death Angels

Want to hear a cool word? Psychopomp. In Greek, it means "guide of souls," and these are all the gods and spirits who help dead people make it to the afterlife. Most of their work is after-school activities, but they still hang out in the back of the classroom.

Hermes (Mercury)

The Italian Stallion of the Psycho-pomps gang. Mercury is known as Hermes to his Greek friends, and never leaves home without his stylish hat. He takes dead Romans where they need to go, and occasionally serves as a messenger for his father, Jupiter. Maybe the Roman images where he has a dog's head were from days when he forgot his hat and had to borrow one of Anubis's jackal masks.

Xolotl

This Aztec god is Quetzalcoatl's dark twin, and like Anubis, he has a dog's head in human form. He guards the dead and the sun and was a patron god of Mesoamerican ball games. These days, he kicks back and watches baseball with his pet, a Mexican Hairless dog (officially named the "Xoloitzcuintle," but Mexican Hairless is easier to say).

Gwyn ap Nudd

Another god with dogs! Gwyn is the king of the Fair Folk (Tylwyth Teg) of Wales, and hunts down the souls of the dead with his ghost dogs, the Cwn Annwn ("underworld hounds"). He's a busy god who sings poetry about being the "escort of the grave," and works part-time as a blacksmith.

Charon

Charon's the quieter guy (well, skeleton) in this clique. In his boat, he takes dead Greeks across the river Styx and into their own afterlife. It's not exactly a pleasure cruise, but then maybe that's because Charon doesn't charge that much for the ride—only a single copper coin.

Cerberus

Anubis and Cerberus get along pretty well. Then again, Anubis really likes most animals, and particularly dogs. What's not to love about a three-headed dog that wanders around the underworld? At least Anubis can always find him.