Death

Death owes his very existence to collective belief. Though death itself existed long before mankind's consensus on death, it is mankind's collective belief that has given Death his form. He wears a cloak and wields a scythe precisely because this is how people imagine that Death should appear. This suggests, to some extent at least, that Death has inherited characteristics from mankind much as a child might inherit hair, eye-color or temperament from a parent. While Death may indeed be a metaphor made manifest, he is very much of mankind's lineage.

Though initially born of human belief, it is apparent that Death has matured. At some point he ceased to be a mere metaphor or caricature. Death is now an individual. He uses "I" when referring to himself. Death demonstrates likes, dislikes, principles and independent thought. His decision to spare Death-Of-Rats shows that he no longer exists as...