Death (Discworld)

Death is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and a parody of several other personifications of death. Like most Grim Reapers, he is a black-robed skeleton usually carrying a scythe. His jurisdiction is specifically the Discworld itself; he is only a part, or minion, of Azrael, the universal Death. He has been generally used by Pratchett to explore the problems of human existence, and has become more sympathetic throughout the series.

Works

Death has appeared in every Discworld novel, with the exception of The Wee Free Men and Snuff, and had a possible cameo at the end of Johnny and the Dead (the character was not identified, but spoke in unquoted small caps). The Discworld books with Death as a leading character, starting with Mort in 1987, are:

Character

Death's hollow, peculiar voice is represented in the books by unquoted Small caps; since he is a skeleton, he has no vocal cords to speak with, and therefore the words enter the head with no involvement from the ears. His "voice" is often described using a morbid metaphor, such as two concrete blocks being rubbed together, or the slamming of coffin lids; these descriptions have become less frequent in later novels. In the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, as well as in Eric, all pronouns referring to Death are capitalized; thus, for example, "he" is written as "He." This is usually reserved for the Discworld gods and is not featured in any of the other novels.

Discworld (video game)

Discworld is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Teeny Weeny Games and Perfect 10 Productions in mid-1995. It stars Rincewind the Wizard (voiced by Eric Idle) and is set on Terry Pratchett's Discworld. The game's plot is based roughly on the events in the book Guards! Guards!, but with Rincewind substituted for Sam Vimes. The game contains elements of Moving Pictures.Discworld has been praised for its humour, voice-acting and graphics, though some criticized its gameplay and puzzles. Discworld has also been noted as being extremely challenging.

There are four other Discworld games: a direct sequel to Discworld, titled Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?, Discworld Noir (a stand-alone story starring an original character), a text adventure called The Colour of Magic which strictly adheres to the events of the first Discworld novel and another game based on The Colour of Magic released on mobile phones titled Discworld: The Colour of Magic.

Gameplay

Discworld is a third-person point-and-click graphic adventure game. The PlayStation version is compatible with the PlayStation Mouse, as well as the normal PlayStation controls. However, the Saturn version is not compatible with the Saturn Mouse. Rincewind, the player character, moves through a scrolling background, with an overhead map that appears when leaving a city that allows the player to go straight to a location. Items can either be examined or used, and can either be stored in Rincewind's pockets or in the Luggage. In order to progress in the game, Rincewind must collect items, talk to people and solve puzzles.

Discworld (world)

The Discworld is the fictional setting for all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld fantasy novels. It consists of a large disc (complete with edge-of-the-world drop-off and consequent waterfall) resting on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle, named Great A'Tuin (similar to Chukwa or Akupara from Hindu mythology) as it slowly swims through space. The Disc has been shown to be heavily influenced by magic and, while Pratchett has given it certain similarities to planet Earth, he has also created his own system of physics for it.

Pratchett first explored the idea of a disc-shaped world in the novel Strata (1981).

Exogeology

Great A'Tuin

Great A'Tuin is the Giant Star Turtle (of the fictional species Chelys galactica) who travels through the Discworld universe's space, carrying four giant elephants (named Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon, and Jerakeen) who in turn carry the Discworld. The narration has described A'Tuin as "the only turtle ever to feature on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram."

Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?

Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!? (Discworld II: Mortality Bytes! in North America) is the second point-and-click adventure game based on Terry Pratchett's series of fantasy novels set on the mythical Discworld. The game was developed and produced in 1996 by Perfect Entertainment for the PC, and ported in 1997 for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It was published by Psygnosis for the PC and PlayStation, and by Sega for the Saturn (only in Europe).

Plot

In Discworld II the player controls Rincewind the "wizzard", who has been burdened with the task of coercing Death out of his impromptu retirement and back into his regular duties. The game borrows from a number of Discworld books, but the plot is essentially a mesh of Reaper Man and Moving Pictures.

In a dark Ankh-Morpork street, Rincewind and The Librarian witness the Fool die in a nearby cart-bomb explosion. Meanwhile, at the Unseen University, the party in honor of Windle Poons's imminent death is spoiled when Windle's soul fails to leave his body after he dies. This latest in a series of incidents of the newly dead lingering about prompts the Archchancellor to summon Rincewind and task him with finding the mystic items needed to summon Death.

Death

Death is the termination of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include biological aging (senescence), predation, malnutrition, disease, suicide, homicide, starvation, dehydration, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death. Death has commonly been considered a sad or unpleasant occasion, due to the termination of social and familial bonds with the deceased or affection for the being that has died. Other concerns include fear of death, necrophobia, anxiety, sorrow, grief, emotional pain, depression, sympathy, compassion, solitude, or saudade.

Etymology

The word death comes from Old English deað, which in turn comes from Proto-Germanic *dauthuz (reconstructed by etymological analysis). This comes from the Proto-Indo-European stem *dheu- meaning the "Process, act, condition of dying".

Associated terms

The concept and symptoms of death, and varying degrees of delicacy used in discussion in public forums, have generated numerous scientific, legal, and socially acceptable terms or euphemisms for death. When a person has died, it is also said they have passed away, passed on, expired, or are gone, among numerous other socially accepted, religiously specific, slang, and irreverent terms. Bereft of life, the dead person is then a corpse, cadaver, a body, a set of remains, and when all flesh has rotted away, a skeleton. The terms carrion and carcass can also be used, though these more often connote the remains of non-human animals. As a polite reference to a dead person, it has become common practice to use the participle form of "decease", as in the deceased; another noun form is decedent. The ashes left after a cremation are sometimes referred to by the neologism cremains, a portmanteau of "cremation" and "remains".

Death discography

The discography of Death, a metal band, consists of seven studio albums and four live albums. Death was an American metal band founded in 1983. The band's founder, Chuck Schuldiner, is considered "a pioneering force in death metal and grindcore". The band ceased to exist after Schuldiner died of brain cancer in 2001, though it remains an enduring metal brand.

As of 2008, Death had sold over 2 million albums worldwide, with over 500,000 copies sold by December 2009 in the U.S. alone (excluding the numerous sales before the SoundScan era) making them the top-selling death metal band worldwide, and only topped in the U.S. by Cannibal Corpse.

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Demo albums

Prior to the release of the band's debut album in 1987, Death released several demos and rehearsal tapes. Below is a list of the band's seven official demos according to its website.

Nostradamus (album)

Nostradamus is the sixteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, focusing on the 16th-century writer Nostradamus. It is a double album. The band's first concept album, it was originally intended to be released in late 2006 before being pushed back to a 2007 release, and was finally released in June 2008 on Epic Records. It is the band's final album to feature K. K. Downing, before his retirement.

Judas Priest toured with Motörhead, Heaven & Hell, and Testament on the Metal Masters Tour to promote Nostradamus. The band also performed a world tour in 2008 and 2009 in support of the album.

Development

The Nostradamus concept idea originated from manager Bill Curbishley and was pitched to the band while on tour in Estonia in 2005. Guitarist K. K. Downing revealed in a February 2007 interview with Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles that 18 tracks had been recorded with a total length of more than 90 minutes and that there was not much he would like to cut down. Musically, the album contains symphonic orchestrations, including the use of keyboards and choirs, which is unlike anything the band has previously attempted. In November 2007, the band began mixing the album.