Topic: Konami borrowed Death from Terry Gilliam?

[TheouAegis]

Castlevania 64 Death
http://www.finalfantasykingdom.net/64/death.png

Baron Munchausen Death
https://explodingmacguffin.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/bm-angel.jpg

Baron Munchausen Death dealing cards
http://33.media.tumblr.com/319a70dd9ab72e9a58c7a18b4edfce41/tumblr_mgwe3hQyIc1rh9z1ko1_500.gif


Didn't see any hits when I googled "Baron Munchausen Castlevania" so I posted this.

[Abnormal Freak]

Because of the wings? That's not unusual.



From the movie Dellamorte Dellamore.

https://youtu.be/8lFcHElG224

[piscesdreams]

Because of the wings? That's not unusual.



From the movie Dellamorte Dellamore.

https://youtu.be/8lFcHElG224

I love that movie. I used to wonder if that's where Konami got the idea to put wings on Death.

[X]

It's a high possibility. But do note that death is, well, an angel of sorts which is why he's known as the angel of death. And since angels have wings it just stands to reason that death would be seen with wings. I think it also stands to reason that CV64/LoD is probably the most accurate Dracula-based game in the entire CV series. After all we have Dracula that does everything he was written by Bram Stoker to do, and we also have a Death figure with wings. The only thing missing in the game was his name; Thanatos.

[shelverton.]

I was watching some reruns of American Horror Story: Asylum (which has the angel of death with huge black wings) and it got me thinking: Wouldn't it be cool if Castlevania had a female death? I don't know how or why there would be a female Grim Reaper but I would like to see its design/concept. Not that I think Castlevania is even a thing anymore..

[beingthehero]

Wouldn't it be cool if Castlevania had a female death? I don't know how or why there would be a female Grim Reaper but I would like to see its design/concept.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

I hear tell that Death is actually supposed to be female.
Yu Yu Hakusho and Deadpool seem to think so. xD

[X]

LOL! I finally get to see that comic strip in readable size    And if memory serves that's also the same Mistress Death from the Infinity Wars story arc. The one Thanos tries to impress but continues to fail.

[FanOfDracula]

Catrina is death in Mexico , she is female 

here is classic version:
https://triangulomag.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/la-catrina-diego-rivera.jpg

and new... or actual version... i dont know xD :
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tYiQbpWoCFc/maxresdefault.jpg

https://enterateonline.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/catrina.jpg

[TheouAegis]

And since angels have wings it just stands to reason that death would be seen with wings.

Actually a lot of angels don't have wings. And most angels seen by humans didn't have wings because they took on human form (good luck getting laid if your wings give away that you're not human). Many heavenly beings didn't have wings at all. Some had wings that weren't really used for anything except show. And if one were to believe that demons are fallen angels, many demons don't have wings. You can't use the argument that God took their wings from them after the rebellion because some demons do have wings. So if most demons don't have wings and most heavenly beings don't have wings, then it doesn't necessarily follow that Death would have wings.

In Judeo-Christianity there are multiple angels of death (six according to the Torah, one or two of which are responsible for adults, one for infants, and one for children). One case of a winged angel of death is in the Midrash, except it has TWELVE wings - twice as many as the serraphim - and has eyes all over (maybe just its face or maybe its whole body) and carries a sword. King David described it as quite large. (Coincidentally, Eden is protected by a large flaming sword, but that's supposedly a different angel). It also sometimes uses poison or rope to kill, but not a scythe. And if a dog is heard howling, the angel of death is nearby. It usually disguises itself when approaching its target.

Another Judeo-Christian version (why do people follow such confused religions?), Azrael has four heads, as many eyes as there are people in the world, and thousands of wings. Maybe "wing" was supposed to be "feather" and someone got confused, since the description is nearly identical to the other angel of death. Azrael's name means "He whom God helps", which fits with the description, since it was God who told the angel of death whom to kill. In Sikhism, he appears as a human carrying a scythe.

The Turko-Mongol mythology, the equivalent to the Jewish angel of death (at least in that he was created first) was a hideous pig-headed (literally) humanoid of healthy stature but of elderly persona.

And yes, Death has been depicted with wings before here and then, but in most cases (including every other Castlevania game) Death has been depicted as a dark, wingless humanoid. The scythe-wielding skeleton has been around since the 15th century (e.g., the Ankou) and was female in Poland, sans wings. In Scandinavia and Lithuania Death was an old woman, sans wings. And there's also San La Muerte/Santa Muerte, also sans wings and much more colorful than how other people depict Death.

In Islam, the angel of death is a beautiful entity if the dying was a righteous person, otherwise it is a monster.

Thanatos was a winged deity, but he was classically youthful in appearance, not grotesque and frightening; his sisters were the scary ones. The Etruscan counterpart was Vanth, who was a winged female. Her male counterpart Charun was a winged monster.

Asians had their own quirks for Death.

In the Rider-Waite tarot deck, Death is a skeletal warrior astride a horse.

Point is, the skeleton in tattered black robe with large black wings and a scythe was not a historically popular depiction of Death. And while Konami has occasionally taken some liberties with its depictions of certain mythological beings, it has been fairly consistent with Death. Furthermore, it's a film depiction of Death and a "popular" film at that, which Castlevania was originally inspired by (film adaptations of monsters).

I will grant that it could have been based on "Cemetery Man", a horror film with a winged Grim Reaper that came out 5 years before CV64 was released, but the angel of death in that movie was a bit toooo tattered I think.

https://saturdaysinema.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/dellamorte-dellamore-5.jpg

[X]

Don't forget about Charon the ferryman from Greek mythology. He would also be considered death as it is his duty to guide the departed across the river Styx (river of the dead). So long as you can pay the toll that is.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

La Muerte (Female version of Death) is also super-cute in "The Book of Life".