Thanatos

Thanatos

You know the Grim Reaper; now meet his great granddaddy, Thanatos. Long before people were imagining Death as a bony dude with a big scythe, the Greeks thought of him as a bearded man with wings. Sometimes they even imagined him as a kid with wings and a penchant for flapping around with an upside down torch. Even though Thanatos was Death and all, the Greeks didn't think of him as a bad guy. He was actually associated more with peaceful death, which he liked to carry out with the help of his brother Hypnos, the god of sleep. So if it was your time to go, Thanatos was totally the god you wanted to help guide you down to the Underworld. He knew it was a mortal's last ride, so he wanted to make sure it was a smooth one.

Basic Information

NameThanatos
NicknameMors, Letus, Thanatus, Death, The Man in Black
SexMale
Current cityTartarus, but I do a lot of traveling

Work & Education

OccupationPsychopomp (guiding the souls of the dead to the Underworld)
Being Death itself
EducationNight School of Tartarus (where it's always night)

Beliefs

Political viewsDeath rules all things

Family & Friends (& Enemies)

ParentsDepending on who you ask...
Nyx (Mom)
Erebos (Dad)
or
Nyx (all by herself)
SiblingsHypnos
The Keres
The Furies
Nemesis
The Fates
Charon
ChildrenDoes Death have kids? Do I really have to answer that question?
FriendsHermes (Well, we're kind of frenemies, because he thinks he's a better psychopomp than me.)
Hypnos (My kind and gentle brother)
Charon (My old and cranky brother)
Hades (My awesome king)
The Fates (Who seriously make me work overtime…)
Tartarus (Sure, he's a bottomless black pit, but he's always been there when I needed him.)
EnemiesSisyphus (Who thought he was sooooo cool when he outsmarted me.)
Heracles (Who totally humiliated me when he beat me at wrestling)
The Keres (My mean sisters who cause violent deaths)

Relationships

Relationship statusVery single
Interested inAnybody, please!

Favorites

Quotations"Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality."
– Emily Dickinson

"Life and Death are the only truth."
– Proverb

"It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It is the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. It is the one who won't be taken who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live."
– Bette Midler

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck that which is planted."
– The Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1
Books"Because I could not stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson
"The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot
"The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs (A great lesson in how sometimes it's better to let things die.)
"Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Death as the narrator?! How cool is that?)
"Deathfugue" by Paul Celan
"Dream-land" by Edgar Allan Poe
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Music"O Death" by Ralph Stanley
"God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash
"Tears in Heaven" by The Choir Boys
"I Will Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab For Cutie
"The Funeral" by Band of Horses
"No Children" by the Mountain Goats
"I See a Darkness" by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
"I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy
MoviesDark Shadows
Meet Joe Black
The Wrestler (Reminds me of when I wrestled Heracles.)
Final Destination
Frankenweenie
Death at a Funeral
Night of the Living Dead (See what happens if I'm not around?)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
TV ShowsSix Feet Under (Absolute favorite.)
Dead Like Me (Canceled before its time. No other show so accurately portrays the challenges of my job.)
Wrestlemania (Been watching this to pick up tips in case I have to wrestle Heracles again.)
The Walking Dead (More proof that I'm totally necessary.)

Activities & Interests

LikesPeaceful death
Sleep (My awesome brother)
Funerals
Graveyards
Bottomless pits
Escape artists (Would have been nice to know some of Houdini's tricks when Sisyphus tricked me into chaining myself up…)
Sunny beaches (Hey, no sense in being gloomy all the time!)
ActivitiesEscorting the souls of the dead to the Underworld
The occasional wrestling match
InterestsThanatology
Embalming
Taxidermy
GroupsGods of the Underworld
Incarnations of Death
Funeral Directors