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The new Death is a character in Reaper Man, one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.

The new Death first appears when he comes to collect the old Death, now known as "Bill Door". The new Death comes from human belief, but he is quite different from the original. Though he has the usual black robe, he is a larger figure than Bill Door and has only smoke underneath his robe, rather than bones. His horse, though, is the classic skeletal steed, as opposed to Binky. In place of a face or skull, the new Death wears a crown. He is prideful and cruel; when he corners Bill Door, he mocks him and beats him instead of finishing the job. The new Death is destroyed when Miss Renata Flitworth comes to Bill Door's rescue by giving him some of her life, so that he can briefly escape "death". Bill Door then kills the new Death with the harvest scythe he used on the farm; just a humble garden tool, not the infintely sharp implement of Death. Bill Door objected very strongly to the crown of the new Death, and his victory is the triumph of the compassionate "reaper man" over the tyrant who has no care for the harvest.

Discworld characters Personifications of death

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