Forums » RP Discussion » Collaborative OC: Death (supernatural, dark)

So excited for this!

I want ideas for a character that...

- Is personified Death.

- Is nonbinary. (please use they/them pronouns.)

- Is from another time period, but which?


Note: I will be either drawing or having this character drawn, so remember and feel free to include appearance and clothing ideas! Pinterest boards are welcome.

Death? Ooh, I like this. Many ideas incoming!!

--you said you wanted them to be from a different time period? What about the middle ages!? The bubonic plague would surely mean good business for a death character yes?
...The plague arrived in western Europe in 1347 and in England in 1348. It faded away in the early 1350's according to my hasty research.

--going with the above theme of the bubonic plague and adding a sprinkle of insanity...maybe the character is mad/not quite right in the head, maybe they are patient zero of the plague. Maybe they CREATED it!? Maybe they knew that death never truly dies as long as life exists and decided to try and put an end to all life?

--Maybe they thought that once life was extinguished they would be able to break free and actually cease to exist themself but maybe they were lied to *shocked gasp* maybe none of these ideas were their own, MAYBE some mysterious being/entity was guiding the characters hand the whole time, maybe the being befriended the character to achieve this or maybe they have something/someone held over the characters head forcing their hand in things...?

lol I could foam at the mouth for hours spewing ideas here...

Time traveling future robot death, created by a sapient personification of entropy. Uses hard-light holograms to alter its appearance to resemble an automaton of the appropriate technology, material, and belief levels of wherever it goes. Its face is a blank mask, but it emotes with only illuminated eyes and eyebrows. Generally "dresses" in a calf-length double breasted coat, wide brimmed hat, and high boots.

This character's true form is indescribable. Death is the 'great unknown' and our minds literally can't comprehend what we are seeing when we look at this being. Like an elder god, even the mere sight of this creature will turn people into a drooling mess.

So this is impracticable if this being has to do business in the human world. Just as we can never truly understand them, they can never truly understand us. As the embodiment of death they are genderless and do not care how they present as when taking an appropriate mortal form. It is a shell for practicality, nothing more.

Another concept that they don't truly understand is the human idea of 'the passage of time'. What is 5 years? 50 years? 5000 years to a being who lives outside time. But again, for practicality they can hardly walk around in Victorian dress. It draws too much attention. They want to get things done, not people to gawk and ask for photographs.

Since they literally cannot comprehend 70 years, they are often seen wearing 50s clothes:

http://imgur.com/a/n9D5YQP
(Modern enough that they don’t receive too much attention, but notably out of fashion. Again their perceived gender is likely to change fairly frequently and will be based on what is most practicable for any situation)

Ehhhm, what if they're like a zombie? Not like, blaargh, brains, necessarily, but maybe just... An undead person? That would fit with either Orrik Zynn x2's suggestion, or with JayBird's!

Hmm, more ideas later, maybe.

Okay so hear me out.

Adding on to what Claine said about death being indescribable, I believe death should be maybe a black mist that can shape shift into any form they please?

But they mainly prefer a rat because they're good at spreading disease or something? Also its more sneaky.

Maybe death could have the four horsemen of the apocalypse as servants or helpers?

idk I hope any of my ideas are helpful lol.

Honestly I love JoJo's idea.

Think how adorable a little rat would be with maybe a very smokey cloak of death

In a number of cultures, butterflies have been used as symbols of souls, particularly souls that have left the body. Maybe there are faint butterfly-pattern accents on the robes of this character? Butterflies don't have to be used just to be "pretty", they can be applied in a striking and eerie way, and indeed, they use "eye" patterns to scare predators.

fnsyjdukcifuJCJRLgkvjcul OMG WHY DIDNT I THINK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT YET?! Kim, that is just genius!!

There's always the uhm...Death's-head hawkmoth if butterflies seem too "pretty" this lil buggo would make a good supplement!

---

Meet Acherontia atropos, otherwise known as the death's-head hawkmoth.



It gets its name from the sinister-looking skull shape on its back. In many cultures it is thought to be an omen of death. It was famously featured in the Hannibal Lecter film The Silence of the Lambs, and appears on the poster.

>\\\\<
Yes I watch way too much animal planet and I'm so obsessed with Hannibal Lecter that I just watched The silence of the lambs and Hannibal again for the trillionth time a few nights ago...pls don't shoot meh, I'm foaming at the mouth from excitement not rabies I swear!!

Weeee so many great ideas! I am not sure yet 'what' I want them to be exactly, definitely going on a shape shifting thing for sure. Their 'true form' going on what Claine said being unable to be comprehended by humans. And the black mist idea, really great!!

However I love the idea of the butterfly pattern on a cloak of sorts. So that is definitely going to be a thing, in this sort of design but with faint accents of the death head hawkmoth that Orrik mentioned instead of the gold pattern.



I definitely want them to have a darker sort of nu-goth mixed with 18th century vampire aesthetic I think LOL.

Shoot more ideas at me! Appearance, backstory, dislikes, likes, personality traits, flaws, abilities, vices and weaknesses! I am here for it all.

^\\\\\^ Ok, so...as far as "blending in" maybe they take a "human" form. Complicated explanation? Its a common theme that unimaginable beings tend to overshoot and/or miscalculate...maybe their chosen form is a male that appears extremely feminine or a female that appears extremely masculine? Pale white eyes, bright lips. "Too perfect in seemingly every way yet there's something you can't quite put your finger on...something off." They give off an "angelic aura" that causes a blissful reaction to those in close proximity to the character which induces a sort of delirium which makes anybody under its influence unable to accurately describe anything about or involving the character. They can "disable" their aura at will for any reason.

Maybe an ability it has is that anything that makes contact with it in its TRUE form in any way is afflicted in some way? Maybe they go blind, maybe they get mild radiation sickness, maybe they contract the plague, maybe their heart stops or they forget how to breathe.

If their true form is unimaginable maybe its because it is ever changing, maybe what the limited human mind perceives it to be varies on each instance. Maybe they fear death and perceive it as their greatest fear or maybe they welcome it and perceive it as their best friend or closest loved one. If they have no opinion or don't care about death (likely only the mentally broken beyond repair or deranged that feel they are above death fall in this category) the truly see its true form...maybe its black mist, maybe the black mist is forming a shape or multiple shapes comprehendable ones or not?

Mercy, can I ask a clarifying question?

Is this a representation of death that is more neutral, like the discworld death? Or is this a death that directly causes deaths rather than just helping people to make the transition?

I guess my real question is: do they WANT people to die? Do they go around causing death on purpose? Or are they more of a helper?

Heh I was waiting for someone to ask, that is actually something I want up to people's ideas and interpretation ^-^

Ideas regarding either type of death, a death that helps transition, a death that causes death, ect, a death that hates, doesn't care or likes death, are all welcome and will be picked and built upon.

I'd like them to be closer to a neutral alignment, whether or not it's true neutral, neutral chaotic, or neutral evil, ect is up to people giving ideas.

That particular strain of moth is also known for its adorable squeak. 66

Death appears to those as a homely, warm figure -- generally maternal or paternal -- it's to relax them before they die.
Perhaps even those they love on the other side.

Okay, how about this: A death that helps people troubled people transition, to help prevent them from becoming ghosts. If she is afraid they are getting close to the end of their life - or some potential incident that could end it - she starts to use her shape-shifting powers to appear in their lives and learn about them. She tries to help them resolve their issues before she must help them pass on, so they don't strand themselves... Once they cross over, she knows she is no longer allowed to interfere with them for more than a day, and is required to let them remain on Earth as lost spirits, torturing themselves. This is very painful to watch happen, so she has taken to trying to prevent it. This gives you a lot of RP hooks.

Her painful truth is that you can't save everyone; not everyone wants to be helped.

All such good ideas! I am going to put up a sketch concept and some ideas I've settled on when I wake up. I'm not sure if the ideas end crossing into the 28th or on 11:59pm the 28th. But if it's the latter then after I show what I've gathered so far you'll be able to give more input^-^ but feel free to even now beforehand, but I am about to sleep so I won't be on to see for about 8 hours.

People technically have all day today to continue posting ideas, but if you've already started sketching her out, that is awesome! No reason you can't incorporate anything new you like

Thanks I wasn't sure about the timeline thing, that's good to know. All ideas are welcome I just figure seeing what I have put together so far will help and be interesting

Sometimes Death favours the form of invisible people -- whether because they're older, overlooked and homely and tend to work in roles like housekeeping/janitorial roles. It's easier to work and evade notice in this form.

Here's what I've got so far



click here for full res image if it's hard to read.

^-^