Archetype:Psychopomp

"You needn't worry about them. They'll be all right — and thousands like them. If you'll come along, I'll show you what I mean."

― Black Rabbit of Inlé (or El-ahrairah) to Hazel (Watership Down)

"I mean, people feel as pleased to be born as if they did it themselves, but they get hurt and upset and shaken when they die. But eventually, I learned that all they need is a kind word and a friendly face."

― Death (The Sandman)

The archetype for characters that have traits of a psychopomp. Variation of Death. Archetype of Transcendent Physiology. Not to be confused with just Grim Reaper Physiology.

Also Called[]

Afterlife Guide
Conductor of Souls
Ferryman/Guide of the Dead
Soul/Spirit Guide
The Ferryman of the Afterlife

Properties[]

As an archetype, psychopomps are entities who serves as a guide to the afterlife to assist souls be they lost or found, damn or saved, good or evil, all to help them move on to their predestined life that comes after death.

Such beings can be but are not necessarily limited to deities, valkyries, angels, demons, grim reapers, some patron saints, anthropomorphic entities or varies animals such as; horses, deer, dogs, ravens, crows, vultures, owls, sparrows, and even cuckoos. Others can also be something more meaningful like a loved one who comes to those help those they love. They represent and are associated with transitioning, the dead, death, the afterlife and all their aspects. This grants them absolute knowledge and power over them, their concepts and principles.

Psychopomps are a common feature in most religions and can be found throughout recorded history in various forms, whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from the living world to the afterlife. Their role is to never judge the deceased, but simply to guide them to their new densities to the great beyond, however certain death deities are able to bypass these rules.

Associated Powers[]

Afterlife Border/Dimensional Travel
Death/Cemetery Empowerment
Door Manipulation
- Door Projection
Marking
Necropresence
Necroscience
Planeswalking
Psionics
Relative Appearance Alteration (Varies)
Resurrection (Very rare)
Spirit/Transcendent Spirit Physiology (Varies between beings)
Spiritual Power
Supernatural Condition
Time Stopping (Varies)
Transition Manipulation

Variations[]

Relationships[]

Types of Psychopomp Beings[]

Animals: Certain animals are often known throughout cultures as being and/or associated with psychopomps.
- Avian (Including cranes, and cuckoos.)
  - Raptor (Eagles)
    - Corvid (Crows and ravens)
    - Owl
    - Vulture
- Bee
- Cervid (Deers)
- Cetacean (Dolphins)
- Dog
- Horse
- Leporid (Hares and rabbits)
- Vulpes (Foxes)
Anthropomorphic Entities
Death
Light Entities
Shamans
Spiritualists
Transcendent Physiology

Mythologies[]

Flaws/Weaknesses[]

Afterlife Judgement: It is very rare that psychopomps are able to pass judgment on the deceased as it isn’t their way. However certain deities are able to pass bypass this cosmic rule.
Death Inducement: Most psychopomps are unable to kill the beings they are meant to take to the afterlife, only raise their souls from their bodies and guide them through. Only Death itself hold this power as a psychopomp/grim reaper and the source of death itself.
Psychopomp Manipulation

Trivia[]

Psychopomps have appeared as any being throughout the centuries and more than just the typical grim reaper figure we have come to know.

Popular Culture Only[]

The most common contemporary example of a psychopomp appearing in popular culture is the Grim Reaper, which dates from 15th-century England and has been adopted into many other cultures around the world over the years; for instance, the Shinigami in Japanese culture today.

Known/Example Characters[]

See Also: Psychopomp and The Ferryman

Anime/Manga/Manhwa

Soul Reapers/Shinigami (Bleach)
Dullahans (Monster Musume)
- Lala

Books/Novels

Sparrows (Stephen King, The Dark Half novel 1989)

Cartoons

Mr. Fox (Adventure Time); Formerly
Hermes (Blood of Zeus); with help from his gauntlet.

Comics

Death of the Endless (DC/Vertigo Comics)

Folklore/Mythology

Xolotl (Aztec Mythology)
Saint Peter (Catholicism/Christianity)
Jesus Christ (Christianity)
Michael, the Archangel (Christianity)
Heibai Wuchang (Chinese Mythology)
Anubis (Egyptian Mythology)
Vanth (Etruscan Mythology)
Death, the Grim Reaper (European Mythology/Folklore)
- Grim Reapers (Folklore)
Anito, ancestral spirits (Filipino Mythology)
Santa Muerte (Folk Catholicism)
Mephistopheles (German Folklore)
Agathodaemons (Greco-Roman Mythology)
Charon (Greco-Roman Mythology)
Hermes/Mercury (Greco-Roman Mythology)
Thanatos/Mors (Greco-Roman Mythology)
Shiva as Tarakeshwara (Hindu Mythology)
The Visnudutas and The Yamadutas (Hindu Mythology)
Yama (Hindu Mythology)
Azrael, the Angel of Death (Islam Mythology)
Abaddon/Appolyon (Judeo-Christianity)
Samael (Judaistic Mythology)
Psychopomps (Mythology)
Shaman (Mythology/Folklore)
Spiritualists(Mythology/Folklore)
Valkyrie (Nordic Mythology)
Daena (Persian Mythology)

Television/Movies

Angel of Death (Charmed)
Piper Halliwell (Charmed); temporally.
Anubis (Gods of Egypt)
Joe (Meet Joe Black)
Captain of the Flying Dutchman (Pirates of the Caribbean)
- Davy Jones
- Will Turner
Sparrows (Stephen King, The Dark Half film 1993)
Dean Winchester (Supernatural); temporally.
Reapers (Supernatural)