Death (Marvel Comics)
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- This article is about the personification of death in the Marvel Universe. For the followers of Apocalypse who have taken the name Death, see Horsemen of Apocalypse
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Death is a fictional character, a personification of death in the Marvel Comics Universe. Its first appearance was in Captain Marvel #27 and was created by Mike Friedrich and Jim Starlin. This version of Death is usually portrayed as a fair-skinned woman or a skeleton, wearing a diaphanous purple robe, but Death is capable of changing its appearance and has worn many different disguises.
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[edit] Character history
Death came into existence together with the cosmic entities Eternity, Infinity and Oblivion when the universe was created. Death therefore sees them as her siblings. Another being, known as Galactus was born at the same time from the ashes of the previous universe and is also seen as a sibling by these beings. Oblivion has a very close relationship with Death and the two may be different aspects of the same being, just as Infinity and Eternity are. As Eternity and Infinity represent the growth of the universe and its sentient life, Death and Oblivion represent death and non-existence. They are therefore at odds with each other and Galactus forms the balancing power between the two pairs. It's said that Death, Eternity and Galactus are the three fundamental entities in the Marvel Comics Universe.
Death can appear in either male or female form, and chose a male form (though essentially the same) for his appearance in War Is Hell #9-15, written by Chris Claremont, with the initial launch co-written by Tony Isabella with minor contributions from an unbilled Steve Gerber (acknowledged in #12). This series, set in the 1940s, which began with Sgt. Fury reprints before being revamped with all-new material, proclaimed Death as the "hero" on its cover, but he was more an antagonist to John Kowalski, a Polish-born American soldier court-martialed on false charges and killed soon after his deportation. His failure to act caused Death to reincarnate him on both sides of the battle during World War II, giving him hints as to what he must accomplish before he can move on, which just turns out to be someone else who is freshly dead. Kowalski reappeared in Claremont's Man-Thing Vol. 2 #10-11; however, he was retconned to have become Death, with the Death that would appear before and after in Marvel Comics nary in sight. In addition, he could turn other people, such as Bobbie Bannister, permanently into Death. In Ghost Rider #35, Death appears as "Death Ryder", taking a form similar to Ghost Rider's own in order to test Johnny Blaze.
On Titan, the being known as Thanos became obsessed with Death and embarked on any number of mad schemes to win her love. Eventually, Thanos was turned to stone by Adam Warlock, unable to live or die.
When Captain Marvel died, Death restored Thanos to flesh and both Captain Marvel and Thanos moved on to the afterlife. Thanos' death caused his energies to mingle with Death's and it created their 'child', the Rot. The Rot was an abstract entity in itself and destroyed anything it touched, living or dead.
During the Contest of Champions, Death engaged in a contest by proxy with the Grandmaster, and lost; angered, she refused his fellow Elders of the Universe from ever knowing the peace of death.
During these years, Death came to have a romantic attachment to the mercenary Deadpool, much to the chagrin of Thanos. Deadpool returned her love. After Deadpool's death Thanos resurrected him, and to keep Deadpool from Death Thanos has stated that he (Thanos) will never let Deadpool see Death again. Unable to die, Deadpool and Death can therefore only be together during those short moments where Deadpool is nearly dead, making any real relationship impossible.
Over time Death came to feel that the balance between itself and Eternity was shifting. Death resurrected Thanos and ordered him to restore the balance between life and death again by killing half the population of the universe. These events would lead to the creation of the Infinity Gauntlet and would cause a rift between Death and Thanos.
When the Death God, Walker, became obsessed with Death, he killed billions to increase his powers. Disgusted with Walker, Death fled and hid inside the body of Marlo Chandler. Walker tracked her down, but Thanos and Captain Marvel's son Genis-Vell fought Walker. Walker tortured Rick Jones, Marlo's husband and Death interfered. Death destroyed Walker and Thanos explained to Genis-Vell that Death abhorred torture; Death sees itself as "The End of All Pain." Death left Marlo, but Marlo retained a fraction of Death's power, known as the Death Wish.
Grateful for his assistance against Walker and approving his recent change of behaviour, Death started to talk to Thanos personally, instead of through servants, something which bothered Thanos greatly in the past. Death started to take the form of a small girl whenever she conversed with Thanos. It is also worth noting that Death has shown a genuine affection for Thanos during the Marvel: The End storyline in which Death shared a kiss with the Titan moments before his seeming demise. Also claiming to have "always loved" him in the later Samaritan issues.
Recently, Death and Thanos watched the coming of Annihilus' Annihilation Wave. Death told Thanos that Annihilus knew her well, prompting Thanos to seek out Annihilus and forge an alliance. After Thanos' death at the hands of Drax the destroyer, Thanos joined Death. At the end of Annihilation, they both arrived to take Rich Rider (Nova) soul, but Nova said that he wasn't dead yet. It was implied that Thanos and Death was now a couple as they were holding hands.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Death has the power to free the soul of a body and send a soul to his appropriate destination (usually an afterlife or reincarnation). Death often leaves this task to various Death Gods like Hela or Hades or Oblivion's agents Deathurge and Doorman. For Death Gods or demons to claim a soul instead of Death herself, they usually have to have a valid claim on the soul; either a contract or the deceased worshipped the Death God's pantheon. The exact nature of the relationship between Death Gods and Death itself is unknown.
There are limitations upon Death's "gift of death" though: true immortals and certain individuals, like Doctor Strange, are protected from Death; and certain gifted individuals can combat Death for the right of life, like Dani Moonstar when she was a Valkyrie. At times it seems that Death can not take a person who does not desire or accept his death on some level (the villain Deadly Ernest had rejected Death and as punishment she made it so he killed all he touched). It is said that Death appears to the dying as the person they love the most to make the transition from life to death easier; for instance, to Captain Marvel, Death appeared in the form of his first love, Una.
Death also has vast cosmic powers, which it can use for nearly endless effects. Marlo Chandler, her former host, was left with Death's power of the Death Wish, making every wish she spoke immediate reality (but only if it was an unconscious wish, in a cruel irony: i.e. if Marlo were to try to wish for a million dollars or world peace, she would fail; but if she said, "I wish you'd leave me the hell alone!" without thinking about it, the wish would come true). Death can also teleport across the universe and dimensions, alter its appearance, can not be killed and can resurrect a dead person at will.
Death usually resides inside a pocket dimension, known as the Realm of Death, which houses the Infinity Well, a source of knowledge. According to Thanos, the Infinity Well can give a person all knowledge on a subject if he asks the right questions. Inside this realm, there are also several servants of Death; souls in dead bodies, animated by Death's power. Death rarely speaks personally and uses these servants as her mouthpiece.
[edit] Ultimate Marvel
Despite not appearing in the Ultimate Universe she has been mentioned.
[edit] Notes
- Contrast with Death, of DC Comics' Sandman, as whom Death appeared briefly in attendance at Rick Jones's wedding.
