Death

Main Anime Synopsis Correlation Media Official Bios

Name
English	Death
Kanji	死神
Romaji	Dezu
Personal information
Known aliases	Lord Death (死神様, Shinigami-sama) Honorable Father (父, Chichiue) Reaper (死神, Shinigami) God of Absolute Order (完全な規律の神, Kanzen'na kiritsu no kami) Former Ruler of Order (旧支配者の規律)
Relatives	Asura (fragment of Death's fear, eldest son) Death the Kid (fragment of Death himself, youngest son)
Race	Grim Reaper (True)
Age	over 800+
Residence	Death City
Theme/Motif	Skulls & Death-related items
Classification	Meister Great Old One
Status	Deceased
Meister information
Meister Type	Scythe-Meister
Weapon Partner(s)	Spirit Albarn (current weapon partner) Death Scythes Death Scythe's Clan (previous weapon partners)
Abilities information
Soul Wavelength	Madness Wavelength Death's Wavelength
Powers	Shinigami Powers Immortality Madness of Order Wavelength Control
Professional information
Former Affiliation(s)	Death Weapon Meister Academy Eight Reaper Legions Associate of Eibon and Arachne Death's family
Former Occupation	Headmaster of Death Weapon Meister Academy Reaper Leader of the Eight Shinigami Legions
Real world information
Manga Debut	Chapter 0.1 Chapter 42 (NOT!)
List of appearances | Gallery

“	Now, now. There's nothing wrong with being addicted to peace. In fact, lets get more and more addicted. After all, that would mean the world is all the more peaceful. Which is why we can't afford to ruin this peace. We'll just have to entrust to the rest of them.	”
—Death to Kilik, Episode 18

Death (デス, Desu) was the Reaper and great old one of order who founded and served as headmaster of Death Weapon Meister Academy, acted as the third meister of Spirit Albarn, and fathered both Death the Kid and Asura.

Around eight hundred years ago, Death maintained order throughout the world himself and by leading an an elite guard squadron known as the Eight Shinigami Legions until one of his elite guard and first son, Asura, betrayed him and managed to become a Kishin. Eventually, Death confronted Asura and was forced to seal him away to contain his madness and sacrificed his mobility. To this end, he founded Death Weapon Meister Academy shortly after for centuries.

In the current era, Death served as the headmaster of the academy with the Death Scythes, the academy, and his second son, Death the Kid, as allies to help maintain world order and prevent the rise of another kishin. 

Personality

Called a "god without arrogance" by Franken Stein, Death himself is a kind, wise, and benevolent figure, often showing care for those within the DWMA as well as optimistic. This is shown when Kilik Rung became frustrated with the situation during the anniversary eve of the DWMA with Death reassuring that there was nothing wrong with being "used" to peace and how that makes the world a peaceful place. Despite his background and powerful position within the school, he tends to speak in a silly voice and wear a different outward appearance from before so as to not scare children. In The Anime, When he becomes angry enough, his voice reverts back to a grimmer tone. He's also capable of sympathy and compassion, even for Witches, as is demonstrated when he unconditionally allows members of the DWMA to do what they can to help Angela Leon, a notion in which surprised some members of the DWMA so much they wondered If he was even taking them seriously. In addition, Death has an easygoing nature to the point that even after facing Stein, Marie, and Spirit in their plan to let Stein go despite being wanted, he let all of them off with only an apology.

Despite his benevolent and easygoing nature, even Death himself has a far more serious side. He's next to intolerant on Spirit's drunken and silly behavior at times as well as to inappropriate behavior. He's also not above punishing others, such as Maka when she borrowed the Book of Eibon's Manuscript using Spirit's I.D Card and was also openly critical of Spirit's irresponsibility in letting her do so and was nearly adamant about punishing Maka, though this attitude seemingly stemmed from the fact he was set on rescuing his son. Azusa Yumi also described him as being pushy, a trait in which has passed to his son as well. Despite having shown support in his son when he claimed the Witches will assist, it was shown that even he was doubtful of their appearance. This was shown to even cause him to be angry when he assumed they were attacked, calling them "bitches" and suspected they would attack and was surprised to see it was Excalibur who had arrived. When he disapproves of various actions from individuals, he will even issue Shinigami Chops. While normally DWMA students or staff are issued these chops, he's shown to even take the opportunity to strike and chop those whom have caused issues such as Medusa Gorgon. In the anime, He's shown to be confident in his own overwhelming power, claiming that Asura's defeat was decided when he became trapped in the Death Room prior to their battle.

However, even with his status Death possesses a few flaws on his own. Death has admitted that both humans and gods have weaknesses as well as having showcased guilt for being the one to create Asura to the point he felt he couldn't speak ill of Medusa Gorgon's own treatment of her child as an experiment and expressed further frustration in having to leave the problems he created to others such as his son and his companions. In the anime, he is also known to be reckless by both Death the Kid and Asura.

Death himself possesses some eccentricities: He gives out short greeting speech, at times puts his students in dangerous but fabricated situations for the sake of bettering them, and enjoys telling expositions. In the anime, he can get homonyms mixed up at times such as "pause" and "paws" or "Mandolin" and the last name "Manheling" and cannot "handle" coffee-enthusiasts such as Joe Buttataki.

Appearance

Death in the present appears as a being covered in a tattered piece of pitch black cloth with many jagged edges, decorated with a cartoony skull mask, which seems to serve the sole purpose of imitating an otherwise absent face—a means of rendering Death more humanoid and thus making it more comfortable for humans (particularly children) to communicate. In the manga, close-ups of Death seem to show a single white circular light behind the holes of the mask. Occasionally, he also appears with large, foam gloved hands from his side, in which seemingly materialize. Throughout the series, as Death the Kid connects the Lines of Sanzu, various cracks on his mask are made.

In the past, Death sported a much more intimidating look. He wore a grim-looking skull mask. He also had black claws instead of hands with his signature “Death” written on the right forearm, and a deep, menacing voice. He has been shown to have skeleton hands during the scene of flaying of Asura. He also additionally possessed more, human-like large gloves.

Death also sports the largest seen soul within the series, spanning to be as large as the entirety of Death City. His soul is pale yellow/golden colored with three spikes emerging from the top right, in which resembles that of his own mask.

Death's appearance in the manga.

Death's soul in the manga.

Lord Death's full body appearance and face shot in the anime

Death's appearance 800 years ago in the anime.

Death's soul in the anime.

Power

Manga

Lord Death's soul is far larger than the likes of Mifune, who is mentioned to have a specially large soul known as a Mighty Soul.

In battle, he was able to critically injure Arachne to near death and defeated Asura in the past.

When using his wavelength in his Parent's Seven Rays techniques, Kid's attack proved powerful enough to kill the Horror Dragon that gave Spartoi trouble and obliterated Noah (Greed).

Additionally, he is intimidating enough to have cause genuine nervousness within Medusa and Shaula, the latter petrified in fear enough to have been impaled by the Spring Bird Attack technique.

Official statements from guidebooks

His specialty is noted to be the "Power of a "God"" ("神"としての力, "Shin" to Shite no Chikara) due to his extreme power. Given the size of his soul, his power makes him virtually unapproachable by anyone in the world, making him the most powerful being.

Official statements from Atsushi Ōkubo

In an interview, Atsushi Ōkubo stated that if he could be any character, he'd be Lord Death due to him being a powerful character.

Special Abilities

Original Form (本来の姿, Honrai no Sugata): Death's actual form is hidden underneath both his cloak and mask. Little information is known for Death's original form, though he has revealed that he has a regular face underneath his mask. Additionally, his cloak has a connection to his own being in some manner like that of Death the Kid's cloak when he acheived his true form.

• Lines of Sanzu (ザ ライン オブ サンズ, Za Rain obu Sanzu): Death possess the Reaper trait known as the Lines of Sanzu, which serves as the source of his vast powers and designates him as a true Reaper (真の死神, Shin no Shinigami) due to having all three of the lines connected.
• Shapeshift (形体変化(けい たいへん), Kei Taihen): Death is capable of changing the appearance of his cloak (which appears to be a natural part of him), giving him a far different appearance. He can also alter the size of his own body and limbs.

• Freighting Form: Prior to the founding of Death Weapon Meister Academy, Death's form was far more menacing. Though he possessed a mask and cloak, both were different; his robes are more jagged and his mask resembles more closely to a skill. His mask doesn't convey his emotions.
• Kid-Friendly Form: After the founding of Death Weapon Meister Academy, his appearance was altered to look more friendly with foam-like gloves and his cloak appearing less jagged.
• Giant Skull Form: He can also change his hands into that of catpaws as well as maintain a form of a giant skull during the depiction of the battle between himself and Asura that resulted in his sealing.

Magic (魔法, Mahō): As a true Reaper, Death has a vast amount of latent, magical abilities in which he can call upon at will. Some of the unnamed powers he possesses includes spontaneously materialize objects such as a mandolin and is often used in his humor and to comedic effect and materialized Crona's contract.

• Shinigami Powers (死神の力, Shinigami no Chikara): Originating from the Lines of Sanzu, Death possesses incredibly powerful, latent divine powers and techniques fitting the motif of skulls.
• Sealing (封印, Fūin): Death is proficient at creating seals capable of holding an individual as power as a Kishin. He is also able to create a bag made up of Asura's skin in order to contain his body, soul and madness wavelength.
• Unnamed Catoptromancy Magic: He can also interact with mirrors and magical-like mirror mediums like his own mirror, choosing the reside within it, hold conversations towards another, or use as a surveillance device similar to a witch's crystal ball.

Death's wavelength used by Kid's Parent's Seven Rays technique.

Soul Wavelength (魂の波長, Tamashī no hachō): Death possesses a significantly power soul wavelength, referred to as the power of a "god" ("神"としての力, "Shin" to Shite no Chikara) and is, as such regarded as a his specialty. His wavelength's destructive power is at a level in which Death the Kid, using a portion of it in his one-time techniques proved sufficient enough to kill the Horror Dragon and Noah (Greed) in a single attack.

• Madness Wavelength (狂気の波長, Kyōki no hachō): As one of the Great Old Ones, Death possess a madness wavelength at a god's level that was stated to be equal to Asura. His very existence drives men to madness.

• Madness of Order (規律の狂気, Kiritsu no kyōki): Considered to be the true of power of a Reaper, this form of madness is a intense force capable of suppressing human emotion, leaving only a mechanical cycle of life and death. Effectively the opposite of the madness of fear, it is capable of counteracting it at the expense of human emotion. Due to his faith in humanity, Death doesn't voluntarily use this force.

Meister Techniques (職人の技, Shokunin no Waza): Death is shown to be a capable meister skilled in using what is assumed to be death scythes; a master of using a scythe, he is expressed to be at his most powerful while partnered with Death Scythe and has been seen able to go toe-to-toe with Asura and take the upper hand. He is employs a aggressive style of fighting that allows him to use a scythe with one or both arms even with Kishin-Hunt active.

• Marksmanship (銃撃技, Jūgeki Waza): Able to act as a gun-type meister, Death is an capable marksman and sniper. With the Bowgun-Type Rifle weapon form, his compressed wavelength is great enough to have destroyed Arachnophobia's demon tool, the madness cannon.

Wavelength Control (波長コントロール, Hachō Kontorōru): Death has a proficient level of control over his own soul wavelength that makes him capable of holding a death scythe. His control over his own soul allowed him to bound his very soul into Death City to prevent Asura from escaping his prison for eight hundred years without assistance.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (体術(たいじゆつ), Taijutsu): Death has some considerable amount of physical prowess, possessing a techniques within his arsenal capable of dealing damage to the likes of Asura and one defeated Asura in the past without the necessity of a weapon. He also once battled Arachne and delivered near-fatal blows. In the anime, much of his style seemingly consist of using his elastic ability and great strength when not in use of a scythe.

Reaper Physiology: Death's physiology is far more advanced than most races. As a Reaper, his body repels everything, including the likes of poison and dye. He's also able to stretch out his body parts such as his arms and hand as well as contort his body to enable himself to move faster.

• Regeneration (再生, Saisei):He also showcase the ability to regenerate his body after Asura drilled through the latter in seconds (he lacks this ability in the anime).
• High Physical Abilities (高い身体能力, Takai karada nōryoku): Death possess powerful physical abilities that makes him for more than a match for Asura, capable of physically chopping him a distance away with his strength alone and survive being skewed by the Kishin. In the anime, Death is also capable of surviving tremendeous by Vajra, move at incredible speeds to keep up with Asura in battle,and outpace Asura's laser attack to Azusa Yumi and Death the Kid. He also managed to survive the Lost Island explosion caused by Arachne's demolition of the demon tool facility.
• Immortality (不死, Fushi): As a true Reaper, Death is immortal and has lived for over 800 years. It is possible this immortality is similar to Asura's own, who inherited his immortality from Death due to being the embodiment of his fears (and fear itself as a result).

Robot Pilot: While using the Death City Robot, even without having operated one before, Death displayed immense skill in piloting the robot, controlling it so effectively that he swiftly defeated Arachnophobia's mech piloted by Mosquito.

Intellect: Being the Reaper, he has a high amount of knowledge of souls and is to thoroughly explain how the Demon Weapons were created, displaying intelligence in the subject. He is also shown to be knowledgeable in several types of magic, such as Soul Protect and the Spatial Magic used to trap him, and was even aware of Eibon's Chapters in the Book of Eibon.

Spatial Sense: Death is capable of sensing space when he explained to Kilik the effects of the Independent Cube.

Weaknesses

Death Claw reaching the limit of Death's soul.

According to Franken Stein, due to the sealing of Asura via rooting his soul, Death is unable to travel beyond the realms of his own soul, which encompasses the entirety of Death City. For Death to move, it would require the movement of the entire city itself, even If Asura is released. This fact was later used by Asura to escape from his fight with him.

In addition, Death also doubted his own power to finish off Asura without Death Scythe on hand, in which case is most likely due to the latter's Immortality. Also, when Asura suddenly fired a powerful blast from Vajra to Death The Kid,Thompson Sisters,and Azusa Yumi and forced Death to protect them with his body as they would have certainly been killed, it is shown that if caught off guard and forced to take a sufficiently powerful attack, Death could be incapacitated and even critically injured.

Equipment

• Death's Cloak: A long, dark, and jagged cloak worn by Death. It has transformative-like properties in which allows him to appear less menacing compared to his appearance from 800 years ago. It can also repair itself from damage.
• Death's Gloves: Death's special, white foam finger-like gloves that is used to cover his skull fingers and is used as a weapon and is connected to Death's being. It's capable of having writing on it such as "Stop" on Death's whim.
• Death's Mask: A special skull mask used to cover Death's real face in which is capable of conveying his emotions. He also appears to have a special connection to it, cracking for each of the Lines of Sanzu connected by Death the Kid.

Partnered with Spirit Albarn

• Demon Scythe (魔鎌, Magama): Although not having been seen wielding it, Death's current weapon partner, Spirit Albarn, makes him a scythe-meister. He once stated he could of defeated Blair with one strike with Spirit on hand. Spirit later claimed that had he been present with Death at Asura's revival, he would of likely had beaten Asura.

List of techniques

Hand-to-Hand Combat techniques

Shinigami Chop.

• Shinigami Chop (脳天直撃死神チョップ, Shinigami Choppu): One of Death's signature moves he executes a simple but powerful karate chop. While usually a punishment technique, it's serious applications are capable of injuring Asura and was speculated to be capable of ending Blair in one hit.
• Special Attack: Coffee Table Flip: A technique in which Death uses both of his hand to sweep under the opponent, flipping them over as a result into the air. (Game Only)

Soul-Sensing Abilities techniques

• Soul Perception (魂感知, Tamashī Kanchi): Death possesses a unique variation of this technique that precedes the human's use of it due to being a Reaper. His version allows him the capability of discerning features of a soul as well as the good and evil present within a soul, being the only known individual capable of doing this due to his standing. However, Soul Protect is still capable of rendering his variant of soul perception useless.

Wavelength Control techniques

• Soul Resonance (魂の共鳴, Tamashī no Kyōmei):Death is capable of sending his Wavelength to his Demon Weapon for them to amplify and send back to him (and repeat the process over). Additionally, he is advanced enough to perform this process almost instantly with Death Scythe as his weapon. Template:Anime Only
• Wavelength Release (波長放, Hachō Hō): A simple technique in which Death expands his wavelength enough to release the cap on his power, allowing him to perform more of his special techniques or ultimate. It can also act offensively and push those close to him away (Game Only)

Shinigami Powers techniques

Death Claw.

• Death Claw (死神クロー, Shinigami Kurō): Death calls out four shadowy claws from his body, with black skulls at the end of them. The nature of this attack is mostly unknown, though it can be assumed that the attack slashes or grabs an opponent as well as being capable of ripping the skin off of it's target.
• Death Block:Death can creates a powerful shield that resembles his mask to protect himself that was strong enough to briefly keep Asura at bay using Vajra as a drill, although he was eventually overpowered. He can also use the shield offensively, as he used it to try and crush Asura in his fight with him.
• Collect (回収, Kaishū): As a Reaper, Death is capable of collecting souls and storing it into his body.
• Confiscation (没収, Bosshū): Death can also confiscate the Soul Collection of a Demon Weapon, in which will render them back to their state prior to collecting souls, whether they're evil or pure. However, this doesn't change their status they may have attained such as that of a Demon Sword

Shinigami Shockwave.

• Katsu (喝, Katsu): A powerful yell in which allows Death to channel powerful energy around him, powerful enough to destroy Asura's Skin Wrappings.
• Shinigami Shockwave (死神衝撃波, Shinigami Shōgekiha): A followup to Katsu, Death attacks with electrical-like shock waves powerful enough to destroy Asura's Skin Wrappings.
• Teleportation (瞬間移動, Shunkanidō): Death has shown the capability of teleportation from a position to inside a Pyramid within Lost Island.
• Doll (人形, Ningyō): Dolls are animated beings in which can be created by Death. Resembling himself in appearance, these dolls are often used as training dummies in Death Weapon Meister Academy. Their abilities, depending on the type of doll, are seemingly derived from some of Death's own capabilities, such as the usage of large gloves and the ability to create and utilize Poison Needles.

Powered up Witch-Hunt techniques

Kishin-Hunt.

• Kishin Hunt (鬼神狩り, Kishingari; FUNimation "Kishin Hunter"): A more powerful variant of the Demon-Hunt technique of. Using his own wavelength instead of the usual Anti-Demon Wavelength, this technique acts as not only as a bane to the preceding beings affected by Witch-Hunt and Demon-Hunt, but can slay even a Kishin. When used against Asura, it was able to cut off his arm unlike Maka's own. Template:Anime Only

History

Long ago, it was said that Death created the normal world, though much of the true details behind the proces remains unknown. Being a Reaper, he maintained world order by hunting both Evil Persons and evil witches that threaten the world order.

Eight Centuries Ago

Eight hundred years ago in an unknown time, Death himself shared an association with both Eibon and Arachne. He'd also assist Eibon with the creation of his Demon Tools, including contributing to the creation of the Eternal Spring and putting his signature into the Demon Tool itself.

Realizing the destructive power of Witches and their control as well as being exceedingly crafty, he and Eibon realized a new power needed to be created as a means to combat the Witches. With the Great Sorcerer inspired by Excalibur, he thought up the concept of the Demon Weapons. While both assess it's possibility, Death himself later found the experiment to be inhumane once he realized it required the sacrifice of a Witch's soul. He along with Eibon had the experiments stopped and abandoned, sealing away the information.

Death traveling to Lost Island.

Having been spied on by Arachne, she later stole the blueprints on what was assumed to be the Demon Weapons and lured Death onto Lost Island with the knowledge of her having the blueprints. Stealing it for herself, she also planned to blow up Lost Island while Death himself was on it to hide "BREW" and attempt on his life. Taking the bait, Death himself flew to the island.

Death wounds Arachne and hunts for her.

However, although the island exploded, he survived the explosion and continued to hunt Arachne. Eventually, Death would corner the Spider Witch at Loew Village. Both him and Arachne entered a battle, with the Reaper utterly taking the upper-hand and injuring her and wounding her badly to the point she chose to fled. He hunted across the woods within Loew Village but doesn't find the Spider Witch and even assumed that she died due to succumbing to her injuries.

Death as he is informed about the status of the Witches in the East.

Desiring to become a God of Absolute Order, Death would cut his "fears" loose from himself and turns his fears into the fragment and first born son: Asura. Throughout Asura's life, he would be trained with his father being his master. Around this time after the Demon Weapons were created, the Eight Warlords also came into fruition, with Meisters and Weapons who served under him collecting the evil souls of individuals on Shinigami's List. At one point, Death and the Warlords enter a strife with the Witches in the East. He later learn from a Warlords that by the time other members arrived to fight them, Asura had already killed off all of them by himself.

Death skinning Asura alive.

After learning of Asura's status in breaking the rules by consuming innocent souls on his list and became a Kishin, the Shinigami later confronted the newly made Kishin. Both gods entered a battle but Death emerged as the victor, defeating Asura. Conflicted with Asura's Madness spreading and unable to kill him, he opted to instead to seal him away. He would skin Asura alive, drawing out all of his blood before stuffing his dried up body and soul into a sack made of his own skin to contain his body, soul, and Madness. Death also anchored his body and soul in the land around them, sacrificing his mobility to suppress the Kishin from awakening.

On April 2, the DWMA was founded with several intention and objective; train and supervise Meisters, and Demon Weapons at a young age as a tactic to prevent a Kishin from being born, gather Demon Weapons to trained them to use and control their power, and to prevent the resurrection of another Kishin overall.

Post-DWMA Founding

After founding the DWMA and the land in which sealed away Asura became known as Death City, Death himself recognized that due to his appearance that he couldn't talk to children and intimidated them. In order to combat the disadvantage as a headmaster of a school he changed his appearance to look more cartoonish and silly, replacing his more intimidating mask for a silly one and spoke in a far more silly voice.

Current Era

Death giving his son a lesson on balance.

Fifteen years ago, Death created another fragment and second son: Death the Kid. He would limit the power from his Lines of Sanzu and purposely made him immature as an attempt to ensure he doesn't turn out like his eldest son as well as learn fear and raised similar to that of a human. Throughout his childhood, he would train and teach him what it meant to be a Reaper. In one of his lessons, he explained the true meaning of being a Reaper. He informed a young Death the Kid that although people see them as beings that preside over order or absolute authorities on maintaining order, the real purpose of a Reaper is balance.

Realizing the the DWMA student Justin Law was too reliant in his worship to him and needed to experience friendship, Death assisted and contribute into making Justin Law a Death Scythe and placed him in a position in which centered around earning other's trust in hope he'd gain a friendship.

Synopsis

Death Fest arc

Death along with all the Death Scythes from around the world and Death the Kid arrive as DWMA CIA agents Akane☆Hoshi, Clay Sizemore watch DWMA students Meme Tatane, Anya Hepburn, Tsugumi Harudori perform their Soul Resonance attack Shaula Gorgon. Delivering an ultimatum to the Gorgon witch, he watches as she is killed while uttering his name as her last words.

Prologues arc

Death speaks to Maka and Soul from his mirror.

After collecting her 99th Evil Person soul, Maka calls Death to his Death Room Mirror to inform him of her and her partner's progress. Witnessing his own weapon partner's strife with both Soul and his difficulty with gaining Maka's affections, he steers the subject and warns Maka and Soul of the dangers of collection the final Witch soul to create a Death Scythe. After being reassured by the pair, he ends the call. As Death Scythe sulks in a corner, he threatens to administer a Shinigami Chop.

Death and Death Scythe watches Maka battle Blair.

When Death Scythe returns from Chupa♡Cabra's, Death informs him in the situation of Maka facing a "Witch". He stops Death Scythe when he wants to go out and assist Maka, remarking that although one swing or chop would suffice that it's not really the "problem". He watches in surprise as Soul "decides" to become Blair's weapon based on her sex appeal, threatening to chop when Death Scythe supports him from afar. He also watches as Soul and Maka learned that Blair wasn't actually a Witch, sympathizing with them. When Spirit annoys Death with his comments, he chops him and watches Death Scythe fawn over Blair on the floor.

Being called via a Shinigami Smoke Bomb, Death questions the progress of the assassination of Al Capone and finds that Black☆Star and Tsubaki Nakatsukasa failed to perform the task and administers a chop to the cocky assassin when offered a autograph. He then offers them a "challenge" to quicken their pace in their Soul Collection, informing them of individuals with a Mighty Soul and a nearby possessor: Bodyguard Mifune. He also tells them of the Witch, Angela Leon, and before he could finish informing them about her, they leave and ignore the headmaster.

Death speaks to Kid, Liz, and Patty about their Soul Collection.

Called by his son Death the Kid, he casually compliments his stripes and Soul Collection though reminds him that he's a Reaper and doesn't really need to collect souls. When Kid gives his reason, he informs him that he'll have to collect twice the souls with Liz and Patty as his chosen weapons. When asked how he can gather all the souls needed at one, Death informs him of the a necromancer Witch's plot in Pyramid Anubis involving the creation of Mummies. As he takes the task, Death tells the Thompson sisters of his appreciation of their hard work and that he's counting on them to help out Kid. When Death learns of the destruction of Pyramid Anubis, he confiscates all of Death the Kid's Soul Collection as punishment.

Remedial Lessons arc

Shinigami calls Maka, Soul, Black☆Star, and Tsubaki to his room. There he tells them about a mission he wants them to take extra lessons. When Maka and Soul express their disapproval, he reminds them of their duties, and that they all have accumulated a total of zero souls. Shinigami then begins by informing them about Sid Barrett, a former teacher who who died, turned into a zombie, and began attacking students. He tells them the reason he attacks students and about the man who is responsible for Sid's transformation. Finally, Shinigami wraps things up by threatening to expel them should they fail.

Shinigami is later seen watching the students battle Sid through his mirror. Kid eventually appears. They soon discuss who it was that killed Sid and turned him into a zombie. Later, when the culprit is revealed to be Dr. Stein, Shinigami explains that not only was the current Death Scythe, Spirit, originally raised by Stein but that he was the strongest student to ever graduate from the DWMA.

Later, Shinigami and Kid are both commenting on the battle between Stein and the students. Kid is noticeably surprised by Stein's feats while Shinigami simply explains everything to Kid. Kid is soon unable to watch the onslaught brought on by Stein and wishes to aid them, but is stopped by his father, who states that this is for the DWMA students. Kid then decides that, henceforth, he will be a the DWMA student.

Shinigami appears on Kid's first day of school to pick him up. Seeing Kid on the floor, passed out, reminds Shinigami how much of a handful Kid can be.

Demon Sword arc

Shinigami is talking with Tsubaki Nakatsukasa about the Demon Sword Masamune Nakatsukasa who is walking the path of a Kishin. He asks if she is ready for the mission. Tsubaki accepts it. Shinigami is later talking to Stein about Masamune. Stein believes he should be the one sent for the mission. Shinigami replies that, since the Demon Blade is Tsubaki's brother, it takes precedence over him being a threat to the DWMA. In Shinigami's next scene, he is watching the battle. When Kid asks what happens, Shinigami asks Stein to explain.

When Black☆Star and Tsubaki return from their mission, they are surprised to see their friends there, waiting for them, to congratulate them for obtaining their first soul.

Black Dragon arc

Sometime later, Shinigami is visited by his son, Kid, after his mission. Kid feels that, as a Shinigami, he must inquire about "The Kishin closest to us". He feels that it is related to his father being unable to move from the DWMA.

Kid brings everyone's attention to Shinigami, so he may give a speech; though Shinigami simply thanks everyone for their efforts and calls that his speech.

Eventually, Medusa enacts her plan and manages to seal Shinigami into the party room. Kirikou then proposes that Shinigami escape through a mirror. Shinigami responds that it is impossible, as the space is isolated from the rests of the world. In the next scene, Shinigami is discussing with Sid, who confirms that Medusa was a Witch.

A Fight to the Death at the Anniversary Celebration arc

Shinigami soon commands the attention of the children in the room and origins explaining to them the origins of the Kishin who was sealed beneath the DWMA.

When the children sent to stop Medusa fail, resulting in the awakening of Asura. Asura quickly escapes from his imprisonment and into the sky of the DWMA, where he is greeted by Shinigami. The two exchange dialogue concerning each others change of appearance. The conversation ends when Shinigami threatens to "kill" him again and delivers a Shinigami Chop, sending Asura spiraling down and crashing into the ground below. Asura only laughs, and tells Shinigami how he forgot how painful it was to have all his skin ripped off. He asks Shinigami to help him remember the pain as he sends his scarves of skin towards Shinigami. Shinigami counters by blasting away the scarfs, sending down a shockwave that travels to and damage Asura. Asura recovers, and propels himself to Shinigami, intent on drilling through him with his weapon. Shinigami summons a shield to block the attack, but it is quickly overcome and Shinigami is subsequently run through by Asura. Livid, Shinigami threatens to rip Asura's skin off once more and summons his Shadow Skull Arms. Before they could reach Asura, they are repelled by the very same force preventing Shinigami from leaving Death City. Before escaping, Asura tells Shinigami that he predicts they will never meet again, and with that he leaves Shinigami along with Death City behind as he ascends through to the skies.

As Asura leaves, the dark clouds that surrounded the DWMA clear up. Shinigami settles onto the ground, with Sid awaiting him. Shinigami tells Sid that the children underground are the highest priority and also tells him to contact all Death Scythes in the world to meet at Death City.

Four Death Scythes and Stein discussing current situation.

Shinigami is with Sid, who informs him of the 3 Death Scythes who answered the call and the remaining who could not. Later, Justin is sorrowfully asking Shinigami why he is not speaking to him, until his earphones are kicked off by Spirit. With that settled, Shinigami thanks all the Death Scythes who made it and begins to bring them up-to-speed with the current situation of Asura. After the explanation, he forbids Spirit from leaving the DWMA and, to strengthen the DWMA, he partners Stein with Marie. He also delegates Azusa with the task of using her vision to search for Asura, while simultaneously taking over Marie's position of Death Scythe of Australia. Finally, he leaves Justin with no special task aside from living happily, with a sense to kill. He dismisses everyone, but tells Spirit to stay. In Spirit's flashback, Shinigami tells him to keep a close eye on Stein.

Trial Enrollment arc

Sid, asks Shinigami what they should do with Crona. Shinigami tells him to start a trial period starting the next day. Later, Shinigami asks Sid about Crona's condition, who replies that Crona is coming along fine. As such, he partnered Crona with Maka to investigate an incident of a Golem attacking people. Shinigami is surprised, and tells Sid to call Stein so that he can hear his opinion. Stein soon answers his call and tells Shinigami that The golem is possessed by Arachne. Stein proposes himself to be sent, but Shinigami stops, for he has already sent Justin.

Shinigami cogitates about the sudden news of Arachne, and recalls his battle against her during the Grim Times. Shinigami admits he never considered Arachne would separate herself into tiny spiders to hide the fact that she was alive. He worries that he now has to face Asura and Arachne.

Reunion Express arc

Shinigami congratulates Sid and Nygus on successfully completing their mission and asks if they had obtained the blueprints for The Moral Manipulation Machine. Sid says yes and confirms that it is a fragment of Eibon's Book. Nygus asks if they should destroy it. Shinigami denies the proposition. As Nygus and Sid leave, Shinigami grimly tells them to keep it a secret.

Shinigami is seen in his room with Justin and Spirit. Because Justin can't read his lips, he delegates Spirit with the task of relaying his speech to Justin. Shinigami changes Justin's mission to an assignment of acting as the "legs" of Azusa and investigator. The goal being to flush the Kishin out by causing a ruckus. Justin gladly agrees.

Shinigami informs Stein of Arachnophobia's current plans to obtain Brew. In preparation for the big battle, Shinigami tells Stein to help the students progress in duel arts.

"BREW" - The Tempest arc

Shinigami expounds the past of the Lost Island, an island, just north of Alaska, where the demon tool "Brew" was located, for over 800 years prior to the beginning of the series. It was previously a settlement for numerous witches, featuring a large construction facility for demon tools, but an accident annihilated the entire facility and it's population along with it. He tells them of the conditions of the magnetic environment, that being no one can stay in there for more than 20 minutes lest their body be destroyed.

When the mission for Brew is over, Maka calls Shinigami via mirror, to inform him on the failed mission. Shinigami is tacitly distraught, but tells them all worked hard.

Later on, Shinigami is with Spirit who discusses Stein's recent plunge into insanity, despite Marie's healing wavelength. Shinigami, although hesitant of the prospect, decides to call "Internal Affairs". Spirit is against this decision, and questions Shinigami on his current suspicious eyes. Shinigami remains adamant and orders Spirit to call "Him".

Clown arc

Shinigami speaks with Azusa, who reports to him the unceasing attacks by Arachnophobia. The result being the East Asia section and the Africa section being heavily damaged. The two continue to discuss Arachne's advantage over them until Sid appears and informs him of the person who had divulged the information on the three hiding witches appearing. Sid states that the person was placed in prison. Shinigami, puzzled by this, asks why. Sid explains off screen that it was Medusa.

Operation Capture Baba Yaga Castle arc

Shinigami soon discusses with Spirit whether or not they should have an audience with Medusa. Ultimately, in light of their current position in the battle against Arachne, Shinigami decides to hear Medusa and tells Spirit to bring her to his room. When Medusa is brought to him, a few words are uttered by Shinigami before he hits her with a Shinigami Chop. Spirit attempts to calm him down, but Shinigami says he wanted to hit her once, for now. After some antics, The three discuss the deal Medusa had proposed: the disclosing of the location of Baba Yaga's Castle and how to capture it, in return for her leading the operation.

During the DWMA's raid on Arachnophobia's castle it has been shown that the Sanzu Lines that are in Death the Kid's hair are some how related to Shinigami's own powers since once Kid activated one of the lines it caused him to fall to the ground and proclaim to Death Scythe that he is proud of his son's progress. Spirit's concern over Shinigami at this point suggests that the Sanzu Lines aren't entirely a positive thing, yet the god stills tells his Weapon to cheer up, saying that any parent would be proud at their child's achievements.

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Kishin Battle arc (anime only)

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Hunt arc

He put Crona on his Shinigami's list and the Spartoi received the order to execute her/him. Meanwhile, Shinigami and the other Death Scythes found out from Tezca Tlipoca that the Kishin may have been hiding on the Moon. Shinigami asked if it was true and Tezca said that while looking for Justin's soul he was able to sense a small reaction from the moon. Since his body was destroyed by Justin, his soul was still able to be reflected by the mirror and he contacted them through this method. Maka and Soul came running in to tell them that they have found the Kishin as well. Her soul perception was able to sense his soul in the moon. Marie said that was great of Maka to find the Kishin. Maka said that while sky whale hunting she felt the atmosphere in the higher level was thick and that she was looking for Crona's soul. Sid said now they know for sure that the Kishin's lair is at the Moon. Nygus asked about what they should do. Spirit said that he was grateful for Maka to find the Kishin, but as her father he can't allow her to fight the Kishin. Stein said to organize a team to suppress the Kishin. Stein wanted Kid off the mission from Spartoi so that as a Shinigami his skills are needed. He asked if that was ok. Shinigami said that would be fine since they will be fighting on the moon and Kid's skateboard skills are best suited for this mission and because this battle was to regain "peace" back to the town.

Shinigami signed. Spirit said that was rather irritating. Shinigami agreed. He said that Kid was a fabulous Shinigami already. When Kid does become a completed Shinigami it wouldn't matter if he was unable to move. However Kid's eyes has become rather cold and that irritated him. Spirit said that when Kid does become a completed Shinigami, he will understand. Whatever he chooses, he will probably not be able to see his smiling face ever again.

War on the Moon arc

Shinigami sends his troops to fight Asura on the moon and communicates with Tezca that he fears that Crona and Gopher will cause a four way struggle for the Kishin. In addition, Shinigami made negotiations with the witches in order to stop the Clowns' regeneration.

Shinigami was with Risa, Arisa, Free, Eruka, Kim, Jacqueline, Kid and the Thompson sisters for the Witch alliance.

Dark Side on the Moon arc

Excalibur observes the death of his friend

Death watches his son and the members of the DWMA who battle Asura on the Moon. When Kid begins to align his last Line of Sanzu, Death's mask begins to crumble away, and his sanzu lines appear on top of Death. As he watched Kid connects his lines, he proclaims that he is very proud of his son. Death then tells Excalibur to watch over his son and his peers, which the Holy Sword promises to do. After Kid's last Line of Sanzu line connects, the rest of Death's mask crumbles and robes drop into the ground, empty, indicating that Death has passed on while Kid becomes a full-fledged Shinigami.

Trivia

• Though Death's face has yet to be seen, Death has mentioned that he has face behind his mask and Kid, in the anime, has also has commented that Death rarely takes off his mask.
• Death doesn't seem to possess any sort of internal organs or even blood, a trait unique to him and not to his sons for unknown reasons.
• Death's prominent symbol on his mask was based upon the symbol involved with the character "Shotaro" and his "Kyoukotsu" in Atsushi's earlier series B. Ichi.
• Death seems to be the Christianity figure, God, within the universe of Soul Eater, and is even referred to as the "Father" as well as worshipped.
• In both the Japanese and English-language versions of the anime, Death's voice changes to that of 800 years ago when angered. Instances include when he battles Asura in Death City in "Episode 24" and in the Death Room in "Episode 48", and even when he intimidates Spirit to speak with Justin Law in "Episode 31".
• During the A Fight to the Death at the Anniversary Celebration arc, Kid and Dr. Stein confirm that Death anchored not only his soul but his body to the spot of land that would become Death City in order to prevent Asura from escaping, hence making Death and Death City one and the same. This oneness between Death and his city may clarify the name and imagery of death and skulls found in Death City: the city itself may be an extension of Death's own body.
• Death's character was inspired by the horror movie character, Jason Voorhees. Ohkubo intended to to make a frightening but "classy" and popular character that is nice and ambivalent. Furthermore, Ohkubo has also stated that if he were to choose any character to be, he'd choose Lord Death because of him being a powerful character.