List of death deities


The mythology or religion of most cultures incorporate a god of death or, more frequently, a divine being closely associated with death, an afterlife, or an underworld. They are often amongst the most powerful and important entities in a given tradition, reflecting the fact that death, like birth, is central to the human experience. In religions where a single god is the primary object of worship, the representation of death is usually that god's antagonist, and the struggle between the two is central to the folklore of the culture. In such dualistic models, the primary deity usually represents good, and the death god embodies evil. Similarly, death worship is used as a derogatory term to accuse certain groups of morally abhorrent practices which set no value on human life. In monotheistic religions, death is commonly personified by an angel or demon standing in opposition to the god.

Occurrence

In polytheistic religions which have a complex system of deities governing various natural phenomena and aspects of human life, it is common to have a deity who is assigned the function of presiding over death. This deity may actually take the life of humans or, more commonly, simply rule over the afterlife in that particular belief system. The deity in question may be good, evil, or neutral and simply doing their job, in sharp contrast to a lot of modern portrayals of death deities as all being inherently evil just because death is feared. Hades from Greek mythology is an especially common target. The inclusion of such a "departmental" deity of death in a religion's pantheon is not necessarily the same thing as the glorification of death.
A death deity has a good chance of being either male or female, unlike some functions that seem to steer towards one gender in particular, such as fertility and earth deities being female and storm deities being male. A single religion/mythology may have death gods of more than one gender existing at the same time and they may be envisioned as a married couple ruling over the afterlife together, as with the Aztecs, Greeks, and Romans.
In monotheistic religions, the one god governs both life and death. However, in practice this manifests in different rituals and traditions and varies according to a number of factors including geography, politics, traditions, and the influence of other religions.

Africa and the Middle East

Sub-Sahara Africa

Igbo

  • Ala
  • Ogbunabali

    Yoruba

  • Èṣù, oriṣa of crossroads and trickery who controls the Ajogun, of which Iku is a member.
  • Iku, personification of death.
  • Ọya, oriṣa of storms and the dead.
  • Babalú-Ayé, oriṣa of disease and mortality.
  • Yewa, oriṣa of fertility, decay and cemeteries, guardian of the transition between life and death.

    Akan

  • Owuo, Akan God of Death and Destruction, and the Personification of death. Name means death in the Akan language.
  • Asase Yaa, one half of an Akan Goddess of the barren places on Earth, Truth and is Mother of the Dead
  • Amokye, Psychopomp in Akan religion who fishes the souls of the dead from the river leading to Asamando, the Akan underworld
  • Nkrabea, The deity of destiny and fate, believed to influence human fortunes and life paths, as well as their deaths.

    Afroasiatic Africa

Somali

  • Huur, a messenger of Death who had the form of a large bird similar to Horus of ancient Egypt.

    Afroasiatic Middle East

Armenian

  • Spandaramet, an old Armenian goddess of death and the underworld

    Canaanite

  • Mot

    Egyptian

  • Aker
  • Andjety, an old Egyptian god
  • Anubis, guardian of the dead, mummification, and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion
  • Aqen, a rarely mentioned deity in the Book of the Dead
  • Assessors of Maat, charged with judging the souls of the dead in the afterlife
  • Duamutef, one of the four sons of Horus
  • Hapi, one of the four sons of Horus
  • Imset, one of the four sons of Horus
  • Kherty Egyptian earth god
  • Medjed, an unusual looking god mentioned in the Book of the Dead
  • Nephthys, Anubis' mother; sister of Osiris and Isis ; also a guardian of the dead. She was believed to also escort dead souls to Osiris
  • Nehebkau, the primordial snake and funerary god associated with the afterlife, and one of the forty-two assessors of Maat
  • Osiris, lord of the Underworld
  • Qebehsenuef, one of the four sons of Horus
  • Seker, a falcon god of the Memphite necropolis who was known as a patron of the living, as well as a god of the dead. He is known to be closely tied to Osiris
  • Serapis, Graeco-Egyptian syncretistic deity, combining elements of Osiris, the Apis Bull, Hades, Demeter, and Dionysus. Also, patron of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Alexandria
  • Wepwawet, a wolf god of war, and brother of Anubis, being seen as one who opened the ways to, and through, Duat, for the spirits of the dead

    Mesopotamian

  • Ereshkigal, first lady of the Underworld
  • Namtar, Ereshkigal's sukkal.
  • Nergal, second lord of the Underworld
  • Inshushinak
  • Nungal, daughter of Ereshkigal
  • Erra
  • Ugur
  • Ninazu
  • Ningishzida
  • Allani
  • Enmesharra, a primordial deity described as "lord of the underworld"
  • Kanisurra, a goddess whose name is derived from the term "ganzer," referring to the underworld
  • Shuwala, a goddess of Hurrian origin worshipped in Ur
  • Lagamal, minor underworld deity
  • Birtum, husband of Manungal

    Western Eurasia

European

Albanian

  • Djall, symbolizes the devil.
  • Mortja, personification of death. An equivalent of Grim Reaper.
  • Vdekja, personification of death.

    Balto-Finnic

  • Tuoni

    Balto-Slavic

  • Giltinė
  • Māra
  • Morana
  • Peckols
  • Peklenc
  • Veles
  • Chernobog

    Basque

  • Herio

    Celtic

  • Ankou
  • Arawn
  • Cichol
  • Crom Cruach
  • Donn
  • Mannanan
  • The Morrigan
  • Scáthach Goddess of the dead

    Germanic

  • Freyja, presides over Fólkvangr; chooses half of those who die in battle
  • Gefjon, a goddess who oversees those who die as virgins
  • Hel, goddess of the dead and ruler of the land of the same name, Hel,
  • Odin presides over Valhalla and gets half of those who die in battle; there they train for Ragnarök
  • Rán, the sea goddess who collects the drowned in her net

    Etruscan

  • Aita, god of the underworld
  • Culga, a female underworld spirit
  • Februus, god of purification, death, the underworld, and riches
  • Mani, spirits of the dead
  • Mania, goddess of the dead
  • Mantus, god of the underworld
  • Orcus, god of the underworld
  • Tuchulcha, an underworld spirit
  • Vanth, winged spirit of the underworld

    Greek

  • Achlys, goddess who symbolizes the mist of death. Goddess of poisons, personification of misery and sadness.
  • Apollo, god of diseases
  • Atropos, one of the moirai, who cut the thread of life.
  • Charon, a daimon who acted as ferryman of the dead.
  • Erebus, the primordial god of darkness, his mists encircled the underworld and filled the hollows of the earth
  • Erinyes, chthonic deities of vengeance
  • Hades, king of the underworld and god of the dead
  • Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, she helped Demeter in the search for Persephone and was allowed to live in the Underworld as her magic works best at night
  • Hermes, the messenger god who acted as psychopompos
  • Hypnos, personification of sleep, twin of Thanatos, his Roman counterpart is Somnus
  • Keres, goddesses of violent death, sisters of Thanatos
  • Lampades, torch-bearing underworld nymphs
  • Limos was the goddess of starvation in ancient Greek religion. She was opposed by Demeter, goddess of grain and the harvest with whom Ovid wrote Limos could never meet, and Plutus, the god of wealth and the bounty of rich harvests.
  • Persephone, queen of the underworld; wife of Hades and goddess of spring growth
  • Serapis, Graeco-Egyptian syncretistic deity, combining elements of Osiris, the Apis Bull, Hades, Demeter, and Dionysus. Also, patron of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Alexandria.
  • Tartarus, the darkest, deepest part of the underworld, often used for imprisoning enemies of the Olympians
  • Thanatos, personification of death, Roman counterpart is Mors
  • Gods of the seven rivers of the underworld:
  1. Acheron, god of the river Acheron
  2. Alpheus, god of the river Alpheus
  3. Cocytus, god of the river Cocytus
  4. Eridanos, god of the river Eridanos
  5. Lethe, goddess of the river Lethe
  6. Phlegethon, god of the river Phlegethon
  7. Styx, goddess of the river Styx, a river that formed a boundary between the living and the dead

    Roman

  • Dea Tacita, goddess of the dead
  • Di inferi, ancient Roman deities associated with death and the Underworld
  • Dis Pater, god of the underworld
  • Laverna, goddess of thieves, cheats, and the underworld
  • Lemures, the malevolent dead
  • Libitina, goddess of funerals and burials
  • Manes, spirits of the dead
  • Mania, goddess of death
  • Mors, personification of death, Greek equivalent is Thanatos
  • Nenia Dea, goddess of funerals
  • Orcus, punisher of broken oaths; usually folded in with Pluto
  • Pluto, ruler of the Underworld
  • Proserpina, queen of the underworld
  • Soranus, underworld Sabine god adopted by the Romans
  • Viduus, god who separated the soul and body after death

    Western Asia

Elamite

  • Inshushinak

    Persian-Zoroastrian

  • Angra Mainyu or Ahriman, the destructive spirit
  • Asto Vidatu or Astiwihad or Asto-widhatu, death deity
Ossetian
  • Aminon, gatekeeper of the underworld.
  • Barastyr, ruler of the underworld.
  • Ishtar-Deela, lord of the underworld in Nakh.

    Uralic

  • Azyren
  • Kalma, Finnish goddess of death and decay, her name meaning "the stench of corpses"
  • Nga
  • Tuoni, with his wife and children.

    Eastern Asia