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chriscdcase95 · 1 year

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Prompts for the Death Wolf.

Third post on Death the Wolf, which is odd since usually don’t do headcanon stuff these dasys...but I thought I’d share some thought experiments.

It goes without saying that personifications of Death, be it a God or an Angel exist in all cultures. It’s almost as constant as creator deities in fact.

And considering that Shrek is a world that has all these nods to fairy tales, folklores and mythology - usually jokingly - I just tlike the idea of the Death Wolf having these stories to his name, within the Shrek universe.

So I thought I’d write down some of these stories, and how they could apply to Lobo de la Muerte. As well as some honorable mentions.

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1. Godfather Death - One of the most notable fairy tales that feature the Grim Reaper. Of course it’s on the list.

The story goes there was a poor family with twelve children, whom the father has to work hard to provide for, which loops them into poverty. Each child has a suitable godparent to provide for them, but one the thirteenth is born, the father seeks to find another godparent.

On his journey, he happens upon God and Satan, both of whom offer to be the child's godfather. The man rejects both offers; God for allowing his poverty, and Satan because...y’know Satan.

But then he comes across Death himself, who makes the same offer. The father accepts Death's offer, as unlike the other two, Death treats everyone all the same.

When the baby comes of age, Death approaches his godchild showing him a magic herb that can cure all ailments. The catch is, if Death is standing at the foot of a sick bed, the patient can be cured; if Death is standing at the head of the bed, their time has come. The godchild uses this to become a famous and successful doctor.

When he's called upon to cure the king, the godchild sees Death at the head of the bed. Wanting the glory of saving the king, the godchild has the bed spun around to administer the cure. Death is pissed of course, but lets his godchild off this one time. Business goes as usual, but when the godchild is hired to cure a princess with the offer of riches and her hand in marriage.

Against Death's wishes, the princess is cured. So Death takes his godchild to a cave full of candles, each one representing the time the living has left; the godchild's life is almost up. The details vary, but the short of it is Death kills his godchild.

If this story occurred in the Shrek universe, I can't see much in subverting it.

The most subversive take I've seen was an anime adaptation. In it, the godson willingly dies in the princesses place, as curing the princess (who was a child in that version) means she gets the years he would have lived if he let her die.

One thing I can see is the poor father being a resident of Far Far Away, literally Hollywood infested with nobles and royals of different stories. The reason why he'd have so many powerful godparents for his other children is that these godparents would these different princes and princesses.

I can also see the godchild being a dying King Harold's doctor, and Death just side-eying the doctor while Harold is being looked over.

2. Thanatos - Considering that Poesiden's trident and Midas' golden hand are in The Last Wish, it's a safe bet Greek mythology is broadly canon to the Shrek universe. With this in mind, here's a rundown of Thanatos.

Unlike the Olympians, Thanatos (Death) is a primordial deity. Despite literally being Death personified, Thanatos is often overlooked for Hades or Charon. Thanatos is regarded as a hated figure by mortals, and is just as hateful towards them.

There are two notable stories involving him; the punishment of Sisyphus, in which the former bound Thanatos to escape death. Thanatos would be freed by Ares and the gods collaborated with Sisyphus's eternal punishment - rolling a boulder up a mountain which would always roll back down for all time.

OSP tells the story better than I can.

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Then there's Thanatos' fight with Hercules, which I can absolutely see in the Shrek universe!

The story goes that Admetus, the seemingly beloved king of Thessaly, was set to die young. He's told by the fates that he can be spared if someone willingly dies in his place when the time comes; this loophole exists because Admetus previously showed Apollo hospitality.

However, no one was willing to die for Admetus, not even his own parents. No one, except his beloved wife Alcestis. Reluctantly, Admetus accepts her offer...

It so happens that Admetus has befriended Hercules, who ended up staying at Admetus' home as a guest during his twelve labors. During his stay, Hercules learned of Admetus and Acestis plight and offers to help. Hercules would stay at Acestis bedside as her time draws near.

When Thanatos (Death) comes to take Acestis, he demands that Hercules step aside. Hercules refuses, challenging Thanatos to fight for Acestis to life. Seeing this as an easy fight, Thanatos accepts.

And sure enough, it was an easy fight...Thanatos got his ass beat, until he forced to flee! And so, Acestis and Admetus got to live a long and happy life together.

I like to think that if this story happened in the Shrek universe, it's just a black mark that hangs over Death that he rather not think about. Sure you could say this Death would show respect for Hercules fighting for Acestis life, the same way he did Puss...

But the idea of Hercules actually knocking Death's lights out is too funny for me to pass up.

“But doesn't Hercules eventually die in the myths ? Doesn't that mean Thanatos/Death got the last laugh ?”

You'd think so, but when Hercules “dies” in the myths, he walks into his own funeral pyre rather than let a poison kill him. This burns his mortal body away, as he ascends into godhood. Hercules died on his own terms, and became a god as a result.

Death doesn't get squat from Hercules.

Also in the myths, Thanatos is the son of Nyx, the primordial goddess of night; in some versions, Erebus (Darkness) is his father. He's also the twin brother of Hypnos (Sleep). Also for you Dreamworks buffs, in some versions Thanatos/Death is the brother of Eris.

So if you're up for personifying Death's family, here's your tools.

But also, I'm just picturing Death/Thanatos looking up at the night sky, just all battered and humbled after his fight with Hercules, and being all “Mama, mira lo que le hicieron a tu bebé chico!”

3. Now here's one for you monster fuckers...Ereshkigal and Nergal.

Later Edit/Authors note: Okay, upon looking into it further, if Death was anyone from Mesopotamian Mythology, it would be probably Namtar (Fate); a minor deity/demon in the pantheon, who serves Ereshkigal - and in one text is her son. While Nergal is a god of destruction and Esreskihal is ruler of the underworld, Namtar fits the bill of “Grim Reaper” a lot closer.

But they’re still death deities, and so apply.

I'd be remiss if I didn't include this one. While the Shrek universe doesn't have any nods to Mesopotamian mythology that I'm aware of. But Mesopotamian Mythology is pretty much the Big Brother to Greek Mythology.

And since we’re talking about Nergal...

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In Mesopotamian myths the gods of death consist of Ereshkigal and Nergal. Between the two, Ereshkigal is the Queen of the Underworld and the dead and is among the most revered gods in the pantheon; to the point the other gods feared her as much as they respected her. Edit: Namtar was Ereskigal’s servant/proxy.

But she has ruled this world from an early age, and had a pretty lonely existence. She’s so lucky! She’s a star! But she cry, cry, cries with her lonely heart, thinking “If there’s nothing missing in my life, then why do these tears come at night ?”

While Nergal is the god of destruction, and is thought of as a more young and brash deity, hiding his real feelings with a temper befitting such a being. Their love story begins, where all great ones do; with Nergal disrespecting Ereshkigal and one of her servants.

In the story, the gods have a banquet that Ereshkigal couldn't attend. In her place, she sends her viser - (edit:again Namtar) who is to be treated with the same respect that Ereshkigal herself would have been treated. However, Nergal was disrespectful. Upon hearing this, Ereshkigal demanded in Nergal be sent to the underworld for punishment.

Nergal is told to survive the encounter, he must not accept the underworld's hospitality, that way he'll be able to leave. He must not eat or drink whatever is offered to him; he must not sit in a chair, or wash his feet...and he must not intimately engage with Ereshkigal herself.

Ultimately, Nergal followed every instruction...

Except the last. For six days.

In that time, the two fell in love, opened each other up, and healed each other from their past pain and loneliness When his “atonement” is complete, Nergal leaves to resume his duties outside the underworld. And Dommy Mommy Ereshkigal is none too pleased.

Unwilling to return to her previous loneliness, and wishes for her lover to return. Ereshkigal sends her Namtar to seek Nergal out, under the threat of a zombie apocalypse. However, Nergal is an emotional coward, unwilling to face his own feelings, and needs some talking into.

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Long story short, Negal faced his feelings, married Ereshkigal, and healed the underworld as co-rulers - all be it, Nergal would wander the earth every six months to fulfill his duties, similar to Persephone.

If we are applying this story to the Shrek universe, and applying Nergal (edit: or more accurately Namtar) to The Wolf mainly because Ereshkigal literally can't leave her kingdom. I think such a love story would be paralleled to Shrek and Fiona. In this version at least, Nergal was a loner who hides his emotions with his temper. Meanwhile Ereshkigal, despite her being one of the most revered goddesses of her pantheon, had a pretty lonely existence herself.

Another Namtar Edit: Though if we’re applying Namtar as being Death, it would be more accurate to say he’d be the wingman if anything…meaning Death would be the Donkey of Nergal and Ereskigal’s story, which is hilarious!

…Namtar was also a figure in Inanna’s Descent Into The Underworld. It’s not spectacular, it’s just he inflicts sixty diseases on Inanna on her sisters behalf, and goes to collect Inanna’s husband when she offers him to die in her place.

And now for other/honorable mentions.

4. I saw a few posts jokingly place the Death Wolf as the Angel of Death from Prince of Egypt. I thought I'd give my two cents.

While I'm not opposed to the idea (or at least the Exodus story occurring within the Shrek universe) I felt it would be virtually impossible for me to not step on any toes applying the Death Wolf to the Angel(s) of Death that appear in Abrahamic faiths.

Especially if we're implying the Wolf is broadly the personification of Death across different cultures, myths and folklore; like Thanatos. And especially Nergal!

(I say this in the same post that uses “Godfather Death”, where the Abrahamic God and the Christian Devil casually show up).

5. La Meurte/Santa Meurte

This is more of a side note, but I saw a few posts saying that Death could/should have even been portrayed as a woman to straight up adapt her, as a cultural nod. Honestly, this is something I'd like to see, but not something that is needed.

With that said, I have been on a deep dive to learn more about La Meurte, and to my understanding, she’s more of a figure head as opposed to any specific stories surrounding her. Anyone who knows better can correct me if I’m wrong; my knowledge on Mexican folklore is limited.

The only story I could find of her is a variation of the Godfather Death story. I bring this up, because I can totally see this story applying to the Book of Life version of the character.

Look at her! She'd be kicking down a nursery's door begging to be made godmother!

Anyways, the more I learned about about her, I’m not sure if her adapting her as the Reaper going after Puss works, beyond maybe aesthetics. From what I did learn is she’s a pretty chill Death. She’s a healer, she’s a protector, and she says Gay and Trans rights!

Really, the only times I see her as vengeful is if someone breaks a promise to her. And if we’re going for faithful depictions, I just don’t see her as going after Puss, at least for the same reasons as the Wolf did. The Death Wolf feels more like he’s based on European takes on the Grim Reaper, contrasting La Muerte’s Mesoamerican origins.

I invite anyone who knows better to correct me; once again, I’m not as well versed with Mesoamerican folklore.

6. The Little Match Girl - Again I wrote my own post, because there’s others suggesting a version of her story featuring Lobo.

One idea I had has Death deciding the bend the rules to help a poor abused child survive in Far Far Away survive Christmas (The Reaper is sometimes thought of as an angel after all). You know, kind of like Discworld.

And if Death wanted to balance his books, he’d set up the girl’s abusive father to be murdered in her place. You know, like in Robot Chicken.

#death the wolf #puss in boots the last wish #shrek franchise #thanatos #nergal #ereshkigal #godfather death #story prompts #book of life #la meurte #the little match girl

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