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Grim Reapers (死神, Shinigami; Yen Press Translation "Death God", "Reaper" alternatively) are supernatural beings and true gods who presides over balance.[1]

Overview[]

The body of a reaper can vary; though Lord Death's appearance is amorphous while his children are more human-like [2][3] they all possess a face like that of a human.[4] Perhaps the most striking attribute of the reaper is the Lines Of Sanzu, which appears to be the source of their power.[5][6] While Death reproduces through a process of fragmenting a part of himself, reapers also possess groins.[7]

Role and Significance[]

As a true god in the world, Death was created by Shinra Kusakabe to fill the void left by the Evangelist to interact with humanity directly rather than indirectly like his predecessor.[8] Death was also entrusted to maintain balance in the New World.[9] Thus Reapers are often perceived as beyond human understanding[10] while embodying order itself.[11] In addition, reapers are also authorities over souls.[12] Despite their purpose, however, they're mistakenly often thought of to preside over people's lives and death along with being absolute authorities of order itself.[13] Furthermore, due to Death's nature as the god of New World, only one true Grim Reaper can exist at a time.[14]

As gods, they're also even worshiped; examples include the Flying Dutchman, who worships the Kishin Asura[15] or Justin Law, whom once worshiped Death until his defection.[16]

Types of Reapers[]

There are several types of Reapers:

  • Immature Reaper: An "immature" reaper refers to one who was born with incomplete Lines of Sanzu, which is something decided by the parent.[17] Because of this, as a reaper grows, their control of the Lines of Sanzu and power expands dependent on age.[18]
  • Mature Reaper: A mature reaper refers to a reaper who is born with complete Lines of Sanzu. Not much is known about this beyond the fact that a mature reaper, unlike their immature counterparts, is born with all their Lines of Sanzu complete and have two indications surrounding their head. These Reapers can co-exist with a True Reaper.[17]
  • True Reaper: A True Reaper is an individual who possesses all three connected Lines of Sanzu, making them extremely powerful and allowing them to utilize the Madness of Order. True Reapers can also create fragments to later be their successor, even having control over the "maturity" their fragment initially are. However, only one true Reaper can exist at a time and when one becomes a true Reaper, the current one dies as a result. According to Excalibur, the reason behind the existence of one True Reaper at a time is because it's unnecessary to have there be multiple of them.[19]
  • Kishin: Its possible for a Reaper to become a Kishin themselves and embody a powerful type of Madness. However, doing so requires the Reaper to consume a Demon Weapon to gain their ability to consume souls, which even a Reaper is unable to do themselves. As witnessed by Asura, a Reaper can strangely merge its body with a Demon Weapon in its weaponized form.[20]
  • Great Old Ones: Per being Gods, Reapers can qualify to become Great Old Ones by even birth, as evident with Asura being a fragment of Death. However, this can be controlled by a true Reaper, as Death the Kid was not considered a Great Old One despite being a fragment himself. Great Old Ones can embody a unique variant of a Madness Wavelength.[17]

Special Abilities[]

Holding an incredible amount of raw power and special advantages over other races, grim reapers each possess common abilities (in addition to unique ones) such as:

  • Grim Reaper's Physical Abilities (死神の身体能力, Shinigami no Karada Nōryoku): A grim reaper's physical body is considered to be both more flexible and stronger than a human's own.[21]
  • Physiological Resistance: Grim reapaper's skin are immune to sunburns, extreme temperatures, and repels everything such as poisons and cosmetics such as hair dye.[22] It's also speculated that the effects of Demonic Energy from those such as the Magnetic Field doesn't affect them as much.[23]
  • Reaper Powers (死神の力, Shinigami no chikara): Originating from the Lines of Sanzu are special, divine powers capable of being performed by a reaper. Like other abilities, it follows a reaper's particular theme/motif.[24][25]
  • Immortality (不死, Fushi): A fully realized Reaper is capable of being immortal, unable to be killed by almost any means. This is due to them being an embodiment of a particular concept (such as fear).[26] This also allows them to be capable of living for long amounts of times (over eight centuries) while retaining a youthful appearance and suffering no consequence of old age.[17][20]
  • Regeneration (再生, Saisei): They're also capable of powerful regeneration and depending on the Reaper, can reattaching their body parts[27]

Specialized Fighting Styles[]

  • Reaper Taijutsu (死神体術, Shishin Taijutsu): A unique fighting style used by certain reapers that allows them to change attack style with a stance.[28]

List of Reapers[]

Name Reaper Type Status
Death True Deceased
Death the Kid True, Fragment of Death Active
Asura Mature, Fragment of Death Active

Trivia[]

  • Though grim reapers are known to reproduce via "fragmentation", it seems that they can also possess groins and testicles.[7] It is unknown if this is a conscious decision made by the true Reaper when "fragmenting," as Kid states he was purposefully created to appear human.[29]

References[]

  1. Soul Eater Chapter 77 — Kid:"We're about balance right?"
  2. Soul Eater Chapter 0.3 — Introduces Death the Kid, who's a shinigami.
  3. Soul Eater Chapter 0.3 — Death the Kid and his father interact, a contrasting difference in appearance.
  4. Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 70
  5. Soul Eater Chapter 63 — Kid accesses one of his father's powers after a Sanzu Lines: Death Claw
  6. Soul Eater Chapter 108 — Kid accesses Reaper Mode.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 47
  8. Fire Force Chapter 302
  9. Soul Eater Volume 19; Chapter 77, page 14
  10. Soul Eater Volume 19;Chapter 81, page 158
  11. Soul Eater Volume 21; Chapter 89, page 45
  12. Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 13, page 138 - Kid: What is he trying to accomplish collecting the souls of so many good people...? As an authority over souls, I cannot allow this..
  13. Soul Eater Volume 19; Chapter 78, page 65; Chapter 77, page 14
  14. Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 113
  15. Soul Eater Volume 11; Chapter 41, page 63
  16. Soul Eater Volume 7; Chapter 23, page 8
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 108
  18. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Chapter 52
  19. (Yen Press) Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 113 — Excalibur:Joke? Do you think we need a dozen Reapers? You have the full, proper power of a Shinigami, so your father disappeared.
  20. 20.0 20.1 Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 16
  21. Soul Eater Super Guidebook :How to Make a Death Scythe
  22. Soul Eater Volume 11; Chapter 30, page 121
  23. Soul Eater Volume 9; Chapter 34, page 144
  24. Soul Eater Manga: Prologue 3
  25. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Chapter 22
  26. Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 108, 112
  27. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Chapter 53
  28. Soul Eater Manga: Chapter `15
  29. Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 110, page 22

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