Death
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| Death Also Known As: Rider of the Pale Horse, Kinslayer, Executioner, The Reaper
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| Characteristics | |
| Race | Nephilim |
| Gender | Male |
| Size | Regular |
| Eyes | Orange-Red (Darksiders II) Green (Comics) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Means of Travel | On Foot Mount |
| Special Features | Near Invulnerability Godlike physical prowess Necromancy |
| Status | |
| Affiliation | The Four Horsemen |
| Occupation | Leader of the Horseman of the Apocalypse |
| Relatives(s) | War (Brother) Strife (Brother) Fury (Sister) Lilith (Mother) |
| Partner(s) | Despair (Steed) Dust (Raven Guide) |
| Armament | |
| Main Weapon | Dual Scythes |
| Type of Attack | Melee |
| Skills | See article |
| Voice | |
| Actor Name (en) | Michael Wincott |
| [Source] | |
| “ | All who live know my name, all who oppose me shall know Death. – Death, "Know Death" Trailer | ” |
Death is also known as the Kinslayer, for his genocide of the entire Nephilim race on the orders of the Charred Council.
The Pale Rider's main weapon is The Harvester, a shape-shifting scythe of Nephilim design. Most often in the form of a pair of dual-scythes, the weapon is capable of transforming into a single two-handed scythe according to Death's needs.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Death's past is mysterious and by all indications he prefers it that way. What is known is that he is one of the oldest of his kind, the Nephilim, one of the Firstborn. When the Nephilim went on their world destroying crusade under Absalom, it was he, as the closest thing they had to a crafter, that suggested the creation of the lesser and Grand Abominations from the bodies of the Ravaiim, the race that inhabited one of the first worlds the Nephilim attacked. This was, indeed, the very reason they targeted the Ravaiim's world. These were terrible weapons made of metal meshed with sinew, organs, and flesh, far more powerful than the Nephilim's other efforts, such as the sword Affliction and Death's own scythe, Harvester. They were eventually sealed away by the Firstborn Nephilim in the Abomination Vault, though not before many were lost or destroyed on battlefields like Kothysos.
He led the other three surviving Nephilim, War, Fury, and Strife, away from the rest of their kind, defecting to serve the Charred Council at some point before that final battle.
Before they could fully take up their mantles as the Four Horseman, the four surviving Nephilim were sent to the mysterious being known only as The Horsemaster. The Horsemaster demanded that they discard their weapons as the ancient beasts they sought to tame would bow only to their will.
War proposed a wager as to who would tame their horse first. Fury and Strife proceeded to needle War about his tendency to boast, but The Horsemaster criticized them for bickering like children. Death, silent during the exchange, charged into the stampeding horses without a backward glance. He soon grabbed ahold of one horse and mounted it. The Nephilim gained control of it and directed it back to The Horsemaster and his siblings, where he named it Despair as its appearance changed to bone and pale dead flesh to reflect its master.
Now fully fledged Horsemen and imbued with great power by the Charred Council, Death led the Four Horsemen against the Nephilim at Eden. As he slaughtered his fellow Nephilim, Death gathered their souls in a green amulet he wore around his neck. Eventually, he dueled Absalom himself and slew the first Nephilim personally. Seemingly grieved by this action, Death took Absalom's hand but the leader of the Nephilim was dragged down into darkness and, unbeknownst to Death at the time, became Corruption. The Charred Council ordered Death to destroy the amulet, but he disobeyed them. He gave the amulet to the Crowfather to keep safe and had Dust bound to him to link him and the Crowfather, allowing the ancient being to carry the amulet. With the Nephilim gone, Death was also the only being in existence that knew the location of the Abomination Vault.
The Abomination Vault
A millenia before the events of Darksiders, Death took a leave of absence that lasted several centuries. After he returned, he built a home for himself on a dead world that consisted entirely of a nigh endless expanse of dust and ash. His reclusive lifestyle was shortlived, however, as the Council sent Panoptos with a mission almost immediately after his ghouls finished construction. After an unpleasant exchange in which Death expressed his utter disdain for the Watcher, Panoptos revealed that there had been a skirmish between a garrison of angels and an unknown enemy at the borders of Eden. The name Eden capturing his full attention, Death departed for Eden immediately.
Upon arriving, Death found the battlefield curiously lacking in overt signs of carnage such as corpses and rubble. He eventually found the body of one angel, so hopelessly tangled deep in the brush that his comrades had been unable to find him. Using necromancy, he was able to summon the spirit of the deceased angel to describe the battle. Through his method, he was able to discover that the angel garrison as attacked by an army of Maker constructs that nearly overwhelmed them through sheer numbers before they recieved reinforcements from Abaddon himself. Death's interveiw was cut short when a small group of angels attacked him, angered by his desecration of their fellow's corpse. Death defeated them handily, and in doing so realized why he had been unable to detect them earlier and why the site was barren of battle signs. At his call, the angel that had cast the powerful illusion, Azrael, allowed it to fade. After discussing the angels' purpose at Eden, being the protection of Eden where the Council had not bothered, Azrael brought Death to the small fortress that was the angels' camp to speak with Abaddon. The three grudgingly discussed the terms of an alliance to uncover the perpetrators of the attack. When Death discovered that Abaddon had lost his eye to a long thought lost Nephilim sword named Affliction, he immediately became worried as to what other ancient weapons they might have liberated from the dead worlds, the old battlefields of the Nephilim. The eldest Horseman refused to elaborate on his fears to the angels and departed at once.
It was to Kothysos, the site of the fiercest battle the Nephilim had fought before Eden and the world where the Nephelim had lost Affliction, that Death journeyed to next. He found that a massive force of Maker constructs were excavating the ancient battlefield, scavenging what they could of Nephilim weapons. By the light guard and small prizes the constructs uncovered, Death surmised that whoever had made the constructs had already found what they were looking for and were merely wrapping up their operation. After dispatching a number of constructs and upon examining the pile of scavenged materials, he discovered fragments of handles, grips, and other material crafted from leathery flesh, confirming his fears that the constructs had discovered a lost Abomination. Shortly after this discovery, Death's companion, Dust, fell into a fit and through him the Horseman recieved a vision of the Crowfather's domain under attack by yet another construct army.
Death went to the Crowfather's frigid domain and made his way to the Crowfather himself, using subtlety to sneak and ambush his way across the battlefield where constructs did battle with flocks of crows so large they blotted out the sky and the elements of the realm itself, gusts of blizzard and even bolts of lightning, as the Crowfather marshalled the power of his own domain. When he found the Crowfather, the pair combined their abilities to drive the last of the constructs from the icy plains. After arguing about the Crowfather's lingering connection to Dust, they worked out a way get the knowledge they wanted from a dead construct. The Crowfather placed the soul of one of his dying crows within the construct, mingling it with the memories of the construct itself. Death then used his necromantic powers to consult the spirit, discovering that the Maker that had built the construct army was named Belisatra and his worst fears were confirmed: someone was looking for a way to awaken the Grand Abominations.
Death then returned to the Charred Council to give his report and warn them of the danger posed by the Abomination Vault with the other three Horseman present. He told the Council and the other Horsemen about the Abominations and the Abomination Vault, though he refused to reveal its location regardless of the Council's threats. Death managed to convince the Council that his usefulness in this matter outwayed his insolence and they agreed to send the Horsemen to investigate. However, the eldest Horsemen ordered War, Fury, and Strife to stay behind. Despite their protests, they eventually agreed to abide by his wishes.
Before leaving the Council's domain, Death paid a visit to the Keeper of Oblivion, the being that holds power over the portal to the realm of nonexistence known as Oblivion and a fellow servant of the Charred Council. As a friend, Death expressed his discomfort with the feelings of guilt that the resurfacing of the Abominations had brought on. He then told the Keeper most of his history concerning the abominations, not because he was seeking council, but because he wished to unburden himself of at least some of his guilty secrets to someone that might understand. During the conversation, the Crowfather contacted Death with a memory from one of his crows concerning the construct invasion of his realm. It revealed that the invasion had been led by an unknown angel. The Horseman then set his next destination as the Library of the Argent Spire in the White City, searching for records of the Maker Belisatra.
Death recieved a frosty reception from the angels in the White City, owing to a massacre War had recently perpetrated there while eliminating an angelic weapon of mass desruction on the Charred Council's orders. The Horseman was, however, able to convince the guards to let him through. On his approach to the Argent Spire, Death was approached by an angel calling himself Semyaza, who claimed to be his escort. Soon after, Semyaza ambushed Death and pushed him off the bridge they were standing on, plummeting several layers deeper into the city. As he recovered from the impact, Semyaza impaled the Horseman with Affliction. Before Semyaza could continue his attack, War appeared and attacked the angel from above. Unwilling to fight two of the Horsemen simultaneously, Semyaza fled the field of battle. Death and War argued vehemently over the latter's disobedience to the former's orders but they were cut short by the arrival of Abaddon and his forces. After a standoff and reminding the angels of the pacts and treaties that bound them, the pair was able to continue to the Argent Spire.
At the Argent Spire, they consulted Azrael for information on Belisatra and her angelic ally. They determined that Semyaza was most likely an alias as the real Semyaza was stationed at an angel outpost far from the White City. As Death gave Azrael a curtailed account of the Abominations, ommitting any mention of the Ravaiim or the precise nature of the Grand Abominations. In the meantime, Azrael's subordinates had gathered information regarding Belisatra. They discovered that she was once an apprentice to an ancient and powerful Maker named Gulbannan that was murdered some ages ago. Furthermore, Gulbannan had been a lover of Lilith.
Their next destination was the home of Lilith herself in Hell. Leaving War at the door, Death confronted Lilith alone. She alluded to some past connection between the two, but he refused to acknowledge it. Lilith evaded his questions about Belisatra, but he threatened her with the Charred Council's retaliation should she not aid them in stopping the Maker's effort's to awaken the Abominations. She admitted that it had been Belisatra that murdered Gulbannan when he was going to reveal what he had taught Lilith to the other Makers out of guilt and that Belisatra had become Lilith's servant soon after. However, the Maker recently left Lilith's service after the visit of an angel named Hadrimon. Realizing that Hadrimon was the angel that had attacked him and led the assault on the Crowfather's realm, the Horsemen departed for Lilith's old laboratory in Gulbannan's former domain.
After breaking their way into the laboratory, Death and War found Hadrimon and Belisatra. They immediately struck, but the battle had hardly begun when a small army of demons attacked both sides. The Nephilim defeated the demons handily, but the rogue angel and Maker escaped amidst the confusion. Confused by the demon presence, Death was still able to surmise that the workshop had contained a large Grand Abomination before the conspirators had absconded with it. He also aquired the Abomination Mortis, still powerful though nearly dead. He underestimated it and left his own mind vulnerable to it when he put it on, accidently revealing the secret of the Grand Abomination's activation to Hadrimon through the mental link between Abominations.
Furious at his failure, Death led War to the Ravaiim homeworld where he knew Hadrimon and Belisatra would go to retrieve the key necesary to awaken the power of the Grand Abominations: Ravaiim blood. Frustrated by his brother's opacity, War cajoled Death into revealing the reason for his guilt, his complicity in the creation of the Abominations. Before they got far, both Nephilim were shocked by the appearance of a small army of angels under the command of Azrael. Death, having sent Dust to the Charred Council, was expecting Fury and Strife, but the Council had chosen to hold them in reserve and sent Dust on the White City to request assistence. Upon hearing Hadrimon's name, Azrael explained the rogue angel's past and his reasons for hating both Heaven and Hell.
The angels and the Horsemen searched the plains of the Ravaiim world until they came across Belisatra's construct army. They were able to deal with the constructs easily despite being outnumbered eight to one, but once again, as in Lilith's old laboratory, a demonic horde attacked. Between the battle prowess of the Horsemen, the angels, and Azrael's magics, the demons' stood little chance of victory. In the heat of battle, Death glimpsed the profane form of a Lost Angel lurking as a commander in the rear of the demonic forces. Just as the battle seemed to be winding down, another army of constructs joined the battle. This time they were joined by Hadrimon, who wielded the Abomination Black Mercy, a pistol that killed each of its targets no matter how minor the injury inflicted. That was revealed to be the least of their worries as Belisatra appeared with the massive Grand Abomination known as Earth Reaver, a weapon capable of causing a full scale volcanic eruption. Many demons, constructs, and a good number of angels fell to the first shot. In light of such power, Death convinced Azrael and War to retreat. After setting up his brother and the angels in a defensive position, the eldest Nephilim used ammunition from the angels' Redemption cannons as explosives to destroy Earth Reaver's footing, temporarily disabling it for a number of hours.
Death regrouped with War and Azrael shortly, hatching a plan to deprive Hadrimon and Belisatra of Ravaiim blood. He concocted a necromantic spell to draw all the Ravaiim blood into the cavern they had made their camp in, a feat made possible by the pooling of Azrael's mystical energies with his own. He condensed the blood and placed it in a cylinder, also creating several duplicate decoy cylinders. He told Azrael and War that he would stay with a decoy cylinder while Azrael would take most of his angels with a second decoy. War would carry actualy Ravaiim blood in an attempt to outmaneuver Hadrimon and Belisatra. After they had gone, Death carefully lowered his mental defenses and revealed the plan to Mortis, and thus to Hadrimon. Unbeknownst to Hadrimon, Mortis, Azrael, or War himself, Death had sent the younger Horseman with a decoy while he himself carried the true Ravaiim blood. In this way, he ensured that he would be able to depart with the Ravaiim blood unharrassed though all but guaranteeing his brother's demise. Death then took the time to interveiw the deceased spirit of a dead demon, discovering that their master was the Lost Angel Raciel, who was Hadrimon's lover before she was banished to Hell after he reported their illegal romance to Heaven's leaders.
The elder Horseman then departed for the realm of the Charred Council. Rather than visiting the Council, Death went to the Keeper of Oblivion and persuaded him to cast the cylinder of Ravaiim blood through the portal into Oblivion, thus ensuring that nobody would ever be able to use it to awaken the Abominations ever again. Despite Panoptos' attempts to stop him, the Horseman immediately departed to the Ravaiim homeworld once more in the hopes of saveing his brother. He spent days with Dust and Despair scouring the plains for War. When Death found him, the younger Horseman was already dead. However, Death stabbed himself with War's soul bound sword, Chaoseater, allowing it to feed off the violence and pain of the act, and used the spark of War's life lingering in the blade combined with his own necromantic powers to revive his brother. Death was consumed by guilt at his actions that led to War's death and his own inability to tell his brother the truth afterwards. He took some solace in his certainty that the threat of the Abomination Vault was resolved.
Unfortunately that solace was premature. Upon their return to the realm of the Charred Council, Death and War learned that Belisatra's constructs and Hadrimon had attacked an angelic outpost using an inexpicably still awakened Black Mercy. The eldest Horseman surmised that the attack was a test for their new method of obtaining Ravaiim blood, seeing Earth Reaver's absence as a sign that they had cannabalized the Grand Abomination to get the blood they needed to fuel the smaller one. He kept this fact to himself until after the meeting. The Council, having grown frustrated by Death's repeated disobedience, tortured him with pain extreme enough to paralyze even him. Death told them that they needed him, but the Charred Council only told him that they had no need for servants that were unwilling to obey. Fortunately, War stepped in and told the Council that they would need to kill him too though Death's guilt was deepened by his brother's faith in him. The Charred Council relented given Death's personal history with the Abominations, but warned him that they could strip his power away should he disobey them again. He and War were assigned the duty of standing guard over the Abomination Vault itself while Fury and Strife would hunt down Hadrimon and Belesatra.
The eldest Horseman sent Dust to the Crowfather to send a message to Azrael with a request to trick Raciel's forces into attacking the Abomination Vault soon after departing the Charred Council's realm. Death then led War to the world of ashes upon which he had made his home, revealing that it was the last world the Nephelim had destroyed prior to their defeat at Eden and the location of the Abomination Vault's entrance. It was not long before Belisatra's constructs attacked, first fighting the ghouls and necromantic wards Death had placed around his home, then the Horsemen themselves. Their easy fight was complicated by the arrival of Hadrimon and Black Mercy, then Belisatra herself with a massive cannon she had constructed. It was then that the demons led by Raciel intervened in the battle and devestated the remainder of the construct army. Death then confronted Hadrimon over the seal of the Abomination Vault. He shattered the ward protecting the vault in the hopes that the psychic presences of the Abominations within would overwhelm Hadrimon long enough for him to deal the final blow. Instead, Black Mercy took control of Hadrimon and fired at Death, a shot he blocked with Harvester but nonetheless drained his energies and left him too weak to move. Just then, a wounded Raciel entered the chamber. Black Mercy once again took control and killed her, leading the angel to try and use the Abomination to kill himself, but it refused to slay its wielder. Azrael then appeared, projecting an illusion of Raciel before she became a demonic Lost Angel. The distraction allowed Death the tme he needed to recover and slay the mad angel.
Death and Azrael then exited the building to confront Belisatra, who had been fighting War. Upon seeing Black Mercy in Death's hand, she surrendered and Death's ghouls resrained her to be brought to the Charred Council. Azrael and Death expressed their distaste at the deceitful way they had achieved victory, but Death told them they were being foolish and that it only mattered that they had won at all. Azrael told Death he was grateful they could stop the Abominations, but to wait a long while before ever calling upon the White City for aid again. War asked his brother what he meant to do with the Abominations, to which Death responded that he would return Black Mercy to the Abomination Vault, though he might keep Mortis seeing as it was nearly dead, posed little threat, and could be useful. They then set about resecuring Death's home and the Vault, War, laughing, refused to help his brother clean up the corpse laden battlefield.
On his return to the Charred Council's domain, Death encountered Panoptos advancing his suggestion to the Council that each Horsemen be assigned a Watcher to keep them loyal. Catching him alone, Death suggested that it was Panoptos that had hired Raciel's demonic mercenaries, that he had grown unsatisfied with being the Council's slave, sought to use the Watchers based off of him as soldiers and the power of the Grand Abominations to free himself from the Council. The Horseman acknowledged that he had no real proof and but promised to be waiting when Panoptos made a mistake. He left the Watcher to his uncertainty, and went to give his report to the Council.
Darksiders Comic Book
At some point, when War had gone on a rampage and slaughtered an entire army, Death led the other Horsemen to retrieve him. War refused to come quietly and attacked the other three. He managed to subdue Fury but Death interposed himself between War and their sister, taking the blow meant for her without flinching. Fury was then able to trap War's arm with her whip and Death severed it, intending to teach War a lesson.
Later, shortly before the Apocalypse, Death accompanied the rest of the Horsemen in delivering a warning to Samael to not break the treaties between Heaven and Hell.
Death's Door
Centuries before the Apocalypse, Abaddon asked Death to destroy a rogue demon that had made its way to Earth. As such an invasion signified a disruption of the Balance, Death agreed. As his scythe, Harvester, required the permission of the Council to act and this excursion was not sanctioned by the Council, the Horseman made his way to the demon merchant Vulgrim in search of an alternative weapon. Vulgrim demanded an exotic fee for such an unusual request, the tongue of the Leviathan.
Death traveled to the River Styx, a river containing wrathful souls lost between the Three Kingdoms and the Well of Souls, where the Leviathan resided. He plunged his arm into the river to allow the creature to get his scent, heedless of the hate filled souls grasping at him. When the creature arose, he did battle with it and it soon attempted to swallow him. Instead, Death beheaded the creature from within and brought it crashing through the roof of Vulgrim's store, demanding his weapon as he pried open it's mouth.
Death then went in search of a being known as The Horsemaster, the very being that had helped the Four Horseman gain their steeds. After bantering about Death's current mission and The Horsemaster's recollection of Death being the rash Horseman when the four had come to him so long ago, he agreed to provide Death with a Serpent Hole to travel to Earth. As he did so, he left Death with a parting warning: that should the Charred Council discover this illegal action it might be the Earth that suffers.
Death arrived on Earth in Marseilles, France during the human year 1722. The Horseman found a massacre, many bodies taken by rot and fire. He discovered that the dead peasants wore a peculiar necklace in the shape of a Crossblade. Donning a black cowled cloak, a disguise Death had used on Earth in the past, the Horseman continued his search. Death was beginning to use his necromantic powers to consult the dead, he was ambushed by an attacker wielding a Crossblade and soon realized that Abaddon's rogue "demon" was no demon at all. His attacker was an angel. The angel, who had built up a cult around herself amongst the humans, identified Death by his name and told her followers he was the source of all their suffering. She ordered the humans to attack.
Darksiders II
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"See your journey to its end Horseman, you will understand soon enough."
Spoiler warning!
Plot or ending details follow, it is advised you skip this section or page if you haven't completed the game yet! |
After the horseman War was accused by The Charred Council of starting the Apocalypse prematurely and imprisoned, The Council informed Death and the other two horsemen of War's fate. Upon hearing this news, Death angrily protested that War was the most honorable of the four Horsemen, and therefore could not have started the Apocalypse early.
The Veil
Later, unknown to The Charred Council, Death traveled to the Veil to find the Crowfather, the keeper of secrets, in order to discover a way to resurrect the human race and thus erase his brother's supposed crime. The Horseman fought ice skeletons and an ice giant to as he climbed to the pinnacle of the Crowfather's spire. When Death finally found the Crowfather, he asked for his help in proving War's innocence. The Crowfather, clearly at the edge of madness, initially refused and asked why he should care about War. Death persisted, insisting that the Old One's secrets could resurrect humanity. The Crowfather told the Horseman that the key to proving War's innocence would be found in the Tree of Life and opened a portal there.
The Nephilim approached the portal, but the Crowfather closed it quickly and urged Death to take the amulet containing the souls of the Nephilim and destroy it, saying that the vengeful voices within were tormenting him. The Horseman refused and demanded the Crowfather reopen the portal. The Old One again denied him and told the Nephilim that as long as he lived, Death would not pass. He took the form of War to fight the Horseman, leading to a ferocious battle. Eventually, Death defeated the Crowfather and forced him to open the portal, which the wounded keeper of secrets did, but not before the amulet shattered and its glowing green fragments became imbedded in Death's right shoulder. The Nephilim was rendered unconscious and the Crowfather succumbed to his wounds.
The Forge Lands
When Death awoke, he found himself in the Forge Lands, home of the Makers, and soon met the Maker called Elder Eidard. The Horseman questioned him about the Tree of Life, but Eidard told him that his world was filled with Corruption that would soon destroy the tree along with the rest of his people. The conversation was interrupted by corrupt golems that attacked Death. After the Nephilim destroyed the Golems, Eidard congratulated the Horseman, but told him that the Corruption could not be destroyed with only a blade. The Maker told Death that the Fires of the Mountain would need to be restored and advised him to seek a female maker named Alya, who knew of the Fires of the Mountain and would help him reach the tree. The Horseman also revealed his intentions to resurrect humanity, to which Eidard responded that if Death sought the tree for that reason, he was on the right path.
Death then left to look for Alya. He found the Maker in Tri-Stone and she told him about the Corruption, revealing that it blocked off the path to the Tree of Life. She asked the Nephilim to help the Makers forge a key to activate a construct they created to fight it, the Guardian, to which Death agreed. The Horseman set off to the Cauldron for the Fires of the Mountain.
The Cauldron
When Death arrived at the Cauldron, he helped another Maker named Karn fight off Corrupted Golems and Karn asked the Horseman to find a way to reactivate the Cauldron, which was sealed off by the Makers when the Corruption struck. The Horseman eventually found a way in and found the Cauldron, navigating the fiery structure as he went, but was attacked by a stone golem named Ghorn. Death killed Ghorn and reactivated the Cauldron. The Nephilim then returned to Alya, who was suprised that he had successfully restored the Fires of the Mountain and thanked him. Alya also asked the Horseman to find the Tears of the Mountain, as both the Fires and the Tears were required to reactivate the forge. Death shortly set out for the Drenchfort.
The Drenchfort
Upon arrival at the Drenchfort of the Tears, the Horseman met up with Karn, who told him that the Tears of the Mountain were the first to be sealed up when the Corruption struck out of fear of what would happen should they be corrupted. Karn also revealed that before the path to the Tree of Life was sealed, a few Makers used the Tree to escape from the Forge Lands, including the infamous blacksmith Ulthane. Upon activating the Tears, Death was attacked by Karkinos. The Horseman eventually slew Karkinos and returned to Tri-Stone, where Alya was waiting.
The Lost Temple
At the Maker's Forge, Death met up with Alya, her brother Valus, and Elder Eidard. Alya and Valus completed a Maker's Key, the tool needed to activate the last Warden, Oran. Eideard presented the key to the Nephilim and told him of the Guardian and the Foundry where it had been abandoned before its completion. Eidard instructed Death to go to the Lost Temple to activate the last of the Wardens using the key so that it could help Death access the Foundry.
Death journeyed to the Lost Temple to reach the Warden, eventually fighting the Construct Hulk. The Horseman then awoke the Warden with the Makers' Key, and told it of the Corruption plaguing the Forge Lands. The Warden then carried Death back to Tri-Stone, where it awaited to help him access the Foundry.
The Foundry
The Warden restored the bridge leading to the Foundry, allowing Death to cross to awaken the Guardian. The Warden warned him that the way to the Guardian was too dangerous to go through alone and Karn insisted on accompanying the Horseman. Death and Karn worked together to awaken the Guardian, eventually completing the Guardian using the Heartstones, but they discovered that one of the Heartstones had succumbed to Corruption, leading to a battle with the Corrupted Custodian which it had infected. The Horseman had hoped that the purity of the other two Heartstones would cleanse the third, but he was mistaken and the Guardian went on a rampage.
Eidard confronted the mad construct but was wounded in the attack and then used a mystical shield to protect himself and seal off the area while Death fought the massive construct. After a protracted battle, the Horseman managed to destroy the Guardian, but Eidard told Death that if the path to the Tree of Life was to be cleansed of Corruption, he would need to resurrect the Guardian. Using his staff, Eidard restored the Guardian purged of Corruption, but sacrificed his soul to recreate the Heartstones and died in the process. Before his death, Eidard told the Horseman to get to the tree and that his journey was just beginning. The Guardian, free of Corruption, used its hammer to crush and destroy the corrupted growth blocking the path to the Tree of Life, sacrificing itself in the process.
The absence of the Corruption allowed Death to pass. Upon arrival at the gate to the Well of Souls, the Horseman was dragged inside the gate by Corruption. Inside the portal, the horseman encountered a mysterious being that seemed to be a physical embodiement of the Corruption. The figure asked Death of his purpose, and, when the Horseman revaled his intentions, disagreed vehemently with his assesment and believed the humans did not deserve resurrection. The figure then accosted Death for the annihalation of the Nephilim. The Horseman realized, much to his shock, that the figure was none other than Absalom himself, leader of the Nephilim whom Death had killed when they tried to take Eden.
The Kingdom of the Dead
When Death passed through the in the Tree, he found himself in the Underworld. He was greeted by a merchant of a long destroyed race named Ostegoth, who told him to seek out the Eternal Throne, seat of power for the Dead King, if he wished to resurrect the Humans. Death eventually made it to Serpent's Peak and boarded the flying fortress that was the Eternal Throne. He met Draven, an undead soldier from the Third Kingdom, who directed him to the Chancellor. The Chancellor told Death that he would need to defeat the champion of the arena if he wanted an audience with the king.
The Gilded Arena
The Horseman eventually made it to the Arena, where the champion, Gnashor, awaited. Death was eventually able to summon and defeat Gnashor, winning an audience with the Dead King. Armed with the champion's skull, the Chancellor could not deny him entrance. Death asked for the way to the Well of Souls. The Lord of Bones asked the Nephilim to find the Dead Lords and return them to him. In exchange, he would help Death in his quest.
Phariseer's Tomb
The Horseman eventually found the tomb of the first Dead Lord, Phariseer. Once he had navigated the tomb, the Horseman came face to face with the Dead Lord. Phariseer confronted the Nephilim angrily, accusing him of disturbing his rest. Death won the ensuing battle handily and threatened him, forcing him to his service in order to return him to the Dead King.
Judicator's Tomb
The Nephilim later found the second Dead Lord, Judicator, in his tomb. The Dead Lord claimed to still serve the Lord of Bones and worked to bring lost souls to the City of the Dead. He told the Horseman that there were three such wandering souls, asking that Death retrieve them as price for accompanying Death to the Eternal Throne. The Dead Lord laid bared the lives of the three souls and allowed them to move on to the City of the Dead, then pledged himself to return to the Dead King.
The Psychameron
As Death was leaving Judicator's Tomb, the last Dead Lord Basileus appeared and chided him, claiming that the realm already belonged to corruption. He proclaimed the Horseman weak without the power of the seals behind him. Basileus challenged the Nephilim to face the trials of the Psychameron if he wished to find him. After entering the Psychameron through the Gilded Arena, the Nephilim fought his way through its trials until he met Basileus, who attacked him with the great spider, Achidna. After killing Achidna, Death brutally struck Basileus repeatedly until the Dead Lord relented and consented to return to the Dead King.
Death then brought the three Dead Lords back to the Eternal Throne, where the Lord of Bones killed them for forsaking him. Despite the Horseman's protests at being toyed with, the Dead King showed him the way to one who knew the path to the Well of Souls by sending him to the City of the Dead.
The City of the Dead
Death was confronted by the Chancellor at the gates of the city, who explained the purpose of the city, being a place where old souls are cleansed of their former lives so that they might move on to the Well of Souls and be reincarnated. Eventually, Death made his way through the city to the Wailing Host, a beast that blocked the passage of humanity from the City of the Dead. After a prolonged struggle, Death killed the creature and met, to his own surprise, the Crowfather's ghost. The keeper of secrets told Death that to reach the Well of Souls, Death needed to find a key that had been split in two, one entrusted to the Angels of Heaven and one to the Demons of Hell.
He told the Horseman that, in order to reach the keys, he would have to return to the Tree of Death, the Tree of life as it existed in the Kingdom of the Dead. The Crowfather warned Death that Absalom was spreading the Corruption across all of Creation and would destroy the balance if Death did not stop him, and told the Horseman that although he released the souls of the humans, something was drawing power from the Well and that in order to truly restore humanity, he would have to sacrifice the souls of the Nephilim.
Lostlight
Death returned to the Tree of Life and used a portal to travel to an Angelic outpost called Lostlight. The Horseman asked the Crowfather why the Angelic half of the key to the Well of Souls was hidden there and the Old One explained that there were Angels in the White City who would use the key for their own ambitions, so the Angels secured their key in Lostlight. The Crowfather also revealed to Death that the Well was kept a secret from the Nephilim because the Charred Council feared that the Nephilim would use its powers to disrupt the balance, prompting the Horseman to realize that the Well of Souls had the power to resurrect not only the humans, but Angels, Demons, and even the Nephilim. The Crowfather finally revealed that the Corruption that Death had dealt with earlier in the Forge Lands was born from the war and chaos caused by the Nephilim and assured the Horseman that he was right to destroy them.
Upon arrival at the Crystal Spire, the Horseman was attacked by corrupted Angels. While fighting the Angels, an armored Angel flew to the scene and helped Death in his battle. The Angel warrior introduced himself as Nathaniel and revealed that he had been present at Eden when the Four Horsemen attacked and was saved by Death during the battle, though Death did not remember Nathaniel specifically. The Horseman did, however, quickly recognized Nathaniel as a former soldier of the Hellguard. Nathaniel told Death that he guarded the Crystal Spire and the Archon from the Demons and other evils and asked Death his reason for being in Lostlight. The Horseman told Nathaniel that he was there searching for the Angelic key to the Well of Souls and Nathaniel advised Death seek the Archon.
The Horseman found the Archon in the Crystal Spire, who revealed that he knew of Death and his quest. The Horseman asked for the Angelic key, but the Archon said that he had guarded the key for centuries and would not relinquish it now. The Archon revealed that the Corruption had spread throughout Lostlight, and when the seven seals were broken and the Demons took over most of Earth, many Angelic relics were lost, including the Rod of Arafel, which could reverse the damage the Corruption had caused in Lostlight. The Archon told the Horseman that he could not retrieve the rod himself, as no angel that set foot on Earth could return, and asked Death to find the Rod of Arafel. He promised Death that he would clear a path to the Citadel with the Rod, but warned that even Death may curse War's name when he saw the Earth. The Archon opened a portal and Death departed.
Earth
Death arrived on Earth to find reanimated humans attacking the Hellguard led by an angel the Nephilim recognized as Uriel. The Horseman wondered aloud why the Hellguard was on Earth shortly before a Demonic monster, the Suffering, joined the battle against the Hellguard. Death intervened and saved Uriel and the Hellguard from further waves of Undead. After the battle, the angel told Death that she should kill him for War's supposed crime, but she would stay her hand because he saved her life and the lives of her soldiers. When Death asked about the Rod of Arafel, Uriel told him that it was a weapon wielded by Archon Hestus during the Endwar, but Hestus fell and the Rod was shattered. Now, the Destroyer used the Rod's powers to enhance his army. The angel warned Death of the dangers the Destroyer posed and gave him a Salvation cannon, though she was not willing to risk anymore of her soldiers helping him.
Death went on to find the pieces of the Rod, scouring the demon infested city for its pieces. After the Horseman found the last piece of the Rod, he returned to Uriel. The angel claimed that, although the weapon could turn the tide of the ongoing war on Earth, there was still the risk of the Destroyer recapturing it and suggested Death take it to Heaven. The Horseman told her that he would like to help her, but proving War's innocence was his priority. Uriel warned Death that if she encountered War, she would make him pay for his crimes, but the Horseman insisted that War was not responsible for Earth's destruction. Unbelieving, the angel set Death on his way and told him that Earth was lost and the damage irreversible.
The Ivory Citadel
Death returned to Lostlight and gave the Archon the completed Rod. The angel used the Rod's powers to destroy the Corruption barring the way to the Ivory Citadel. Archon gave Death an Ortho to help him reach the Citadel and told him to seek out the Scribe, saying that he had information to help Death complete his quest. Death found the Scribe at the top of the Citadel, but he was corrupted and fought Death. After being defeated, the Scribe, introducing himself as Jamaerah, told the Horseman that the Archon had been the very first to be corrupted and had gone mad, accusing everyone of corruption while professing his own purity. Death returned to the Crystal Spire and confronted the Archon. The Archon revealed the true extent of his corruption and fought the Horseman with the Rod of Arafel. Death joined battle with and killed the Archon, retrieving the Angelic key.
Shadow's Edge
Death returned to the Tree of Life and presented the Angelic key to the Crowfather. The Old One opened a portal to Hell and told the Horseman that he must find the Demonic key to gain access to the Well of Souls and that the Demonic key was held in a fortress by a powerful Demon. As he traveled through Shadow's Edge, Death was reunited with Ostegoth, who told Death that the Demon who kept the Demonic key to the Well of Souls was none other than Samael himself. Ostegoth also warned Death of the dangers of the Black Stone and that the Mad Queen Lilith was reigning over the realm in Samael's absence.
Eventually, the Horseman confronted Lilith, who remarked that, where he rides, no one is safe, not even her, his mother. Death refused to acknowledge Lilith as his mother, prompting her to recount her creation of Absalom from the dust of Angels and Demons and questioned why Death did not destroy the Nephilim's souls when the Charred Council ordered him to do so. The Horseman angrily exclaimed that Absalom was responsible for the Corruption and demanded that Lilith help him stop it, demanding the location of the Demonic key. Lilith told him that it was in Samael's keeping, but the Blood Prince had disappeared, the key with him. Lilith assured Death time, like sin, could be undone and granted him the Phasewalker, an advanced form of the Voidwalker, to reach Samael by traveling to the past.
The Black Stone
Death eventually reached the Black Stone in the past and found the demon, who was surprised that only one of the Four Horseman had come for him and told him that nobody knew he was there. The Horseman demanded that Samael hand over the Demonic key. The demon attacked Death and told him that Absalom was stronger than the Four Horsemen, but the Nephilim retorted that he was strong enough. Death defeated the Blood Prince in the ensuing battle and Samael gave him the Demonic key, telling Death that he might succeed in redeeming War after all before departing.
The Well of Souls
Death presented the Demonic key to the Crowfather, who ushered the Horseman on to the Well of Souls, but warned Death that the Well was corrupted, the Corruption now had a champion that would challenge the Horseman in his greatest trial yet. The Old One warned that Corruption was the end of all things, even Death himself. The Horseman then used the Angelic key and the Demonic key to open the Well of Souls, where found Absalom. The Avatar of Chaos taunted Death, saying that the Horseman was tainted by the sin of betrayal. The eldest Horseman and the first Nephilim engaged in a final battle at the lip of the well. Death defeated Absalom and, dying, Absalom asked Death to take his hand as a brother one last time, but the Horseman ignored him and tore his scythe from the first Nephilim's chest, killing Absalom and ending the threat of Corruption.
He walked to the edge of the Well and pondered on what to do next. The Crowfather appeared at his side and gave him two choices: to resurrect Humanity or the Nephilim, knowing that choosing one race would forever doom the other. Death vowed to protect War above all and cast himself into the Well, sacrificing himself and the souls of the Nephilim in the process. Meanwhile, on Earth, War had killed the Destroyer, who was none other than the Archangel Abaddon, and the Seventh Seal had been broken, summoning the Four Horsemen. Death was brought back and summoned to Earth, where he regrouped with Fury and Strife, and was finally reunited with War.
Personality
Death is described as an arrogant, sarcastic, cold and calculating anti-hero who is resourceful and opportunistic. He has seen and done many things that can be called "Evil", ranging from genocide, destroying worlds and creating weapons of world-ending power. He doesn't wait for things to happen, rather, he causes them to happen. Death is the leader of the Horsemen, so he is very level headed and mature. He is very harsh on the others, as he was not hesitant in cutting off War's left arm in order to teach him a lesson. Despite this, he cares deeply for his brothers and sister, as any older sibling would. He took a blow for Fury, brought War back to life after being killed and showed that he was willing to stand up to The Charred Council to prove his brother's innocence alone not to mention sacrificing himself and the souls of the Nephilim to erase War's supposed crime and resurrect humanity. As the Rider of the Pale Horse, he often appears somewhat morbid & ominous towards those who speak to him. He also possesses a dark sense of humor and sees killing as an art rather than a duty as War does. He is starting to feel guilt for some of his past actions such as the creation of the Grand Abominations and the destruction of his fellow Nephelim at the hands of himself and the other three Horseman.
Trivia
- A quote from the Bible describes Death in such words:
| “ | And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. – Revelation 6:8 | ” |
- Death's crow is named Dust. He is commonly seen sitting on Death's shoulder, and serves as Death's "clue giver" and guide in Darksiders II, similar to The Watcher from the first Darksiders.
- Death's appearance has been altered somewhat from the Darksiders comics to Darksiders II. While still without upper body armor, the lower robe seems to have been replaced with lower body armor adorned with skulls, keeping with his motif. His hair is completely black, and he now has a green crystal located on his right pectoral near the shoulder along with a scar/tattoo on that shoulder. Also, in the comics, Death was shown with green eyes while in the game, they're redish-orange.
- Death, in Darksiders II has two single handed scythes that can merge into one halberd-like weapon with different combos. For a time, these Twin Scythes were believed to be different from Death's iconic Harvester. However, this excerpt from the novel Darksiders: The Abomination Vault reveals otherwise. The Twin Scythes have been confirmed to be his primary weapons.
- Death is one of the only two original horsemen from the actual book of Revelations that remain in the game, the other being his brother War.
- Death can change his armor in Darksiders II. There are many examples of this in the trailer, at first he is wearing bandages on his hands, then he is wearing the skeletal gloves we see him with most often and then he is wearing some kind of gauntlet with a purple orb in the center. There are different sets of armor that Death wears in Darksiders II, some of them are The Wanderer, Slayer and Necromancer.
- Death's Reaper Form resembles modern and traditional depictions of the Grim Reaper.
