Death Question with possible SPOILERS

WoD · 30 July, 2003, 05:23:57 PM

This is from the Meg 209 thread, but it's gonna get lost in there so;

'Heh Heh, Quad Bike indeed! I don't get why Death is so worried about his body. Why wouldn't he be able to possesssss(sic) someone if his body became too damaged to continue with. He's done it before hasn't he? Plus, is there a limit to the amount of time that he can spend in his 'out-of-the-body' spirit form? I guess that that may make him more vulnerable and therefore more careful, but I don't think this has been mentioned before.

Initally I thought the way he needed to protect himself in the cursed earth made sense, but now I'm not so sure.'

Anyone have any ideas?

WoD.

Slippery PD · 30 July, 2003, 05:29:18 PM

Im assuming that because he cant regenerate a body into his likeness, the possessed corpse would rot away leaving him to find another living body, etc. Obviously in a radioactive desert this is not going to be as easy as it is in Mega City. Also maybe the ingredients to make his embalmed body are relatively rare and can only be found in a technological society....

Yer "grasping at straws " Slippo

Proudhuff · 30 July, 2003, 05:38:45 PM

Surely if he brought death to the farm he'd have their bodies? mind you Death in a nineyearolds body would be interesting, but would the uniform fit?

StrawHuff

Oddboy · 30 July, 2003, 05:39:15 PM

"Let the dead fluidsss flow..." was always a favourite saying of Deaths, special juices to make the dead body he inhabits suitable for use, as Slippo rightly says, are probably tricky to get hold of in the wilderness.

Also, (as I said on the original thread) - Pterodactyls aren't easy to get hold of (see Judgement on Gotham) - so he wouldn't want to damage his uniform too much either.

Slippery PD · 30 July, 2003, 05:41:32 PM

Yep thats my point. Without his death embalming process the body doesnt really become Death and hence, rots away until another body can be found. Making the need for him to keep "his body" rather than a rotting corpse.....

Hmm Yer Slips

WoD · 30 July, 2003, 06:29:52 PM

Nice point Slips. I kinda like the idea of a slowly decaying Death having to jump body for a while until he can get the ingredients for his special 'dead fluidss'. But can't he also inhibit the living and get them to do his bidding?

Odds - I'll have to check out the pterodactyl thingy, can't remember the context. That's why I missed it in the original thread.

WoD.

Slippery PD · 30 July, 2003, 06:39:08 PM

ISTR that in one of the previous death stories, the living person who was possessed started to decay mentally and physically. But I could be wrong.

Also it might be easier to control a dead person.

Yer Slips

Trout · 30 July, 2003, 06:53:56 PM

WoD - the pteradactyl thing involves one of those awful (IMO) Death "comedy" moments.

He was stuck for uniform and reduced to biker's gear with a chicken stapled to one shoulder, IIRC.

Oh dear.

- Trout

Leigh S · 30 July, 2003, 06:59:35 PM

Death can inhabit living humans, but does not have his ?powers? (unless Three amigos contradicts this?). SO he can?t go round squeezing peoples hearts and stuff. At the end of Necropolis, we see the spirit of Mortis trying in vain to resurrect a dead corpse ? presumably, the body needs to be prepared with the dead fluids for Death to resurrect himself fully into a new corpse?.

Oddboy · 30 July, 2003, 07:00:25 PM

Don't forget the "Ride 'em Cowboy" belt buckle.

Trout · 30 July, 2003, 07:03:00 PM

Ugh. Don't.

In Boyhood of a Superfiend, there was an actual physical process involved in creating the Dark Judges in the first place.

Didn't the sisters rub them with unguents (steady, now) to decay them to point of death, then do some magic ritual to make them undead?

Or I may have dreamed that.

- Trout

Proudhuff · 30 July, 2003, 07:05:44 PM

At which point he looked like one of the Ramones...

I'm confused with Death's 'life-cycle'
what about when Death goes that funny ghost-like way, you know when he escaped the Boing plastic stuff that encased Anderson? Surely he doesn't have to nip down to B&Q with a shopping list of death fluids...

"Thanksssss, but Have you got that in black?"

"Sorry no, have you tried Homebase?"

Oddboy · 30 July, 2003, 07:17:01 PM

Your Highness,
In Young Death they do have to do witchcraft & rituals to make them 'undead' - but that was on Death's *original* body, while he was still *alive*.
I'd imagine that most of that ritual was making Death's 'soul' into a floaty-head-thingy which can control dead bodies, without just killing him & sending his soul to Hell*

*or wherever evil superfiend's go when they die.

Leigh S · 30 July, 2003, 07:28:38 PM

More evidence that Death can?t just pick up any old corpse ? In the first Anderson solo story, Death lures Anderson to Dead world because he needs someone to prepare the corpses ? otherwise, they could have just possessed them without involving Anderson at all ? again, the body needs preparing with dead fluids ? Dark Judges cant just possess any old dead body, and by possessing humans they don?t gain any advantage over any other human, so Death wants to keep the body going for as long as he can ? no sense in losing his Deathly abilities. The possessed bodies rotting away thing comes from Die Laughing IIRC

Trout · 30 July, 2003, 07:56:41 PM

"sending his soul to Hell*
*or wherever evil superfiend's go when they die."

Let's hope to hell it is hell, otherwise something very wrong is going on.

You know, this discussion a really interesting.
We've always thought of Death as pretty indestructible, when all the time he had this weakness that no-one was properly aware of.

It may make this new Meg tale a bit more gripping.

- Trout