So I'm pulling a blank after a Cerberus and a Grim, duhhhh. What creatures are associated with or symbolize death.

It can really be any mythology.

And yes I need it for one of my fics, and I really really don't want to use a grim or a thesteral.

 

Some might just be bad omens, but crows, owls, vultures.

 

Let me google that for you, you lazy cunt. D8

First two results are what you're looking for I think. D8

If you're looking mythology based, just add mythological to the google search. >_> The Celtic one looks decent. The Myth Encyclopedia may have some stuff as well.

 

Most animals don't so much represent death- most just simply symbolize bad things. Snakes, for example, are the closest I can thnk of, as they represent Rebirth. Crows and Ravens are bad omens, and symbolize coming battles, famines and the like. Then, you also have the Cats of Ancient Egypt.

As for magical creatures, you've got Banshees from Irish folklore who screeched outside the house of someone who either has a relative about to die, or were about to die themself.

From Norse mythology, you have Valkyries, Odin's handmaidens who would take the spirits of fallen warriors to Valhalla.

 

A whale symbolizes death...

I guess you learn something new everyday...

 

Pretty much any animal that feeds on carrion, but the first creature that I think of when ever that question comes up (an it does come up, surprisingly) is the crow.

Really? Huh. Can't imagine that being scary though.

Ron looked into Harry's teacup. "I see...a whale." Dun-Dun Duuuun.

Edit: Oh yeah, and owls. Just thought of Julius Caesar, seeing as my class went over that little omen quite a few times when reviewing for a test.

 

Sparrows are considered to be psychopomps (creatures that guide the souls of the dead to the afterlife) too.

 

Don't forget jackals! Hounds of any kind, really--like death, they don't stop until they hunt you down. D: My first thought was crows, though.

 

Obvious answer: Vultures.

 

I read that and immediately thought of Aquaman from the DBZ Abridged series.

 

So, what?

Harry's animagus form is going to be a Valkyrie? I'll bet some screwed up bastard already wrote this fic.

 

Dark butterflies/moths. Associated with valkyries are ravens or swans.

A whale symbolizes death... umm where, in Moby Dick?

 

Snakes, dogs, horses, cats, spiders, scorpions... about every animal is considered a good and/or bad omen somewhere. Condors, while carrion eaters, were one of the three holy animals in incan mythology, and represented the sun. Spiders are symbols of creation, sex, and fertility on one hand, and of war and death in the other. If I remember correctly, a cat guarded the gates to the otherworld in one celtic myth, and even buddhists don't like them because they didn't cry over Buddha's death. Horses, who are loyal, strong, powerful, noble, and fertile carry death and the apocalypse...

So, depending on the context, I guess you could make a case about adorable cute bunnies being the avatar of death.

 

Lol, a thestral.

 

You were saying?

 

Funny thing is death!bunny had crossed my mind. Depending how I write the scene I could go for the ridiculous and make it something like Moby Dick or a Voldebunny, but it is up in the air.

I am intrigued by the moth/butterfly thing; what it lacks in badassery it makes up in being different.


TheHeir~ True to form even after being on here for two years. "lol"

 

Dude, there already is a death!bunny, has no one here seen Monty Python?

 

Look two posts above you. If you can't even spot an oblique reference I'm afraid I'm gonna have to revoke your Pythoncard.

 

I usually associate gerbils and guinea pigs with death, but I have been informed recently by a number of people that this is not normal.

I am writing this comment out because Vash beat me to the punch in telling your lazy ass to use The Google to find The Answer.

 

I saw the post, however the person above me must not have got the reference or ignored it.