Death


 * See also Death of the 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Halloween event

The realm of the Grim Reaper is accessed when new players die for the first time. In effect, he acts as the "death tutor". The Reaper will explain about death, item losses, and gravestones. The player may exit at any time through the exit portal. One's gravestone's timer is paused whilst one is within the dimension of the Reaper. The player is, at this time, "dead". The player is only allowed this one time, the first time they die, though they apparently pass through this every time upon death. You may walk around in the death dimension but you should talk to him. You can come here again, but if you die with 4+ items,you can never go back again.

The Grim Reaper was part of the:

2007 Halloween event

2009 Halloween event

2010 Halloween event

He owned a house located in the Dark House Portal south of Falador near Malignius Mortifer. He ordered the player to do his house chores because his servant has recently passed away from the Grim Reaper's death touch. One of the first tasks the player had to do was to find the skull of the servant in the Grim Reaper's Garden. The next task was to reorganise his items in the correct spot in the western room. By using his diary, the player could effectively put his items in order. Afterwards, the Grim Reaper told the player to try out his obstacle course on the second floor, used to keep his servants on their toes. The player had to do this twice, and after that, he had to talk to the Grim Reaper to receive the Grim Reaper Hood and a new Zombie Hand emote (and the Scared emote if the player was not present for the 2005 or 2006 events).

The obstacle course involved in this event was very similar to an agility course. Similar to how the Easter 2008 event involving a chocatrice gave free players a look into Summoning or how the Easter 2009 event involving catching Easter Implings gave free players a look in Hunter, this gave free players a look into Agility.

Temple Knights' Dossier of Grim Reaper.
The following text was published on Postbag from the Hedge #35

In the Postbag it said:

''The Wise Old Man has been at it again, leaving documents on his desk for any passing skull to look at. He didn't seem to mind me publishing the last Temple Knight's dossier, so please enjoy some notes about another of Draynor's VIPs, the Grim Reaper.''

The dossier
Subject: 'Grim Reaper, The'

Status: Under surveillance

Level: MAROON MENACE

Estimated Threat Level: TERMINAL

Age: Infinite

Gender: Male

Place of Birth: Unknown

Aliases:
 * Death
 * Destroyer of Life
 * Nigel

Distinguishing Features:
 * Scythe
 * Robes
 * Underweight

Known Affiliates
The Grim Reaper has many, many, many affiliates. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Reaper's crimes, none of these affiliates (aka victims) are available for comment at this time. Our agents are developing a new sort of commorb that would allow us to conduct interviews with some of the suspect's victims. The Grim Reaper occasionally recruits a servant for his headquarters, but once employed, they are never heard from again. GR's most faithful companion is a skeletal hellhound that answers to the name 'Muncher'. Muncher is highly dangerous and should be approached with extreme caution. Eye-witnesses have reported numerous occurrences of adventurers being killed after attempting to stroke the hellhound.

Personality
Few agents have been able to spend enough time in the Grim Reaper's presence to learn about his personality. Intelligence has been able to recover a document code-named 'Death Diary'. Said document contains evidence from the Reaper himself, in the form of diary entries. The diary suggests that the Grim Reaper is clumsy, often causing damage to objects and beasts without intending to. The Reaper appears to care deeply about his work, and he does not have enough free time to keep his headquarters in a hygienic state.

Distinct Talents
The suspect's most worrying skill is, without a doubt, his ability to reap living souls. GR is RuneScape's most talented reaper; in fact, his customary black robes are no ordinary vestments, but the legendary Reaper skillcape. In the darker times of RuneScape, the Grim Reaper was revered for being the greatest reaper in all the lands. During this period, he gained large amounts of publicity. At the height of his fame, the GR toured Gielinor, wowing crowds with his talents and his catchphrase of 'Gotta reap 'em all'. The catchphrase even featured on a lucrative range of reaping-themed merchandise, little of which has survived to the present day. GR's celebrity was relatively short-lived, and nowadays he is much more reclusive, no longer performing public reapings.

In addition to reaping, the Grim Reaper has a keen interest in campanology. The suspect is the undisputed world champion of belltolling. His title has remained undisputed for many years, simply because no-one dares to challenge him. At his last competition, no judge, competitor or crowd member survived. GR was declared winner by default, as reported by the only surviving witness, a zombie that happened to be passing on its way to terrorise a local village.



History
Our investigation has revealed that the Grim Reaper has been ‘alive’ for many centuries. Some say that he is immortal; others say that he is simply undead. All agree that he performs a necessary but terrifying function, and that RuneScape would be a very different place without him. Recommended Action: Careful surveillance, from a safe distance. When modified commorb is complete, use it to communicate with the suspect’s past associates.



Trivia
Grim Reaper Grim Reaper
 * There is another NPC, Death, who may or may not be the same person as the Grim Reaper. It is unknown what relation, if any, the Grim Reaper has with Death. What can be observed, however, is that Death appears as people die and seems quite melodramatic and mean, while the Grim Reaper seems to handle what happens afterwards (in the case of players, introducing them to the concept of respawning) and is relatively friendly and helpful. Death's examine text (during 2010 Halloween event) is 'Do not fear the Reaper', probably meaning that both are indeed the same person. "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" is also the name of a song by Blue Öyster Cult.
 * The Grim Reaper being an expert in belltolling may be a reference to John Donne's poem Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, in which the phrase "for whom the bell tolls" is used to refer to death. Ernest Hemingway would later use this phrase as the title of one of his novels. Alternatively, it could be a reference to the More Cowbell skit and its association with Blue Oyster Cult's Grim Reaper-themed song "Don't Fear the Reaper".
 * In certain circumstances, it is possible to see his combat level.
 * A Postbag from the Hedge later revealed that the Grim Reaper has the catch phrase, "Gotta reap 'em all." This is a pun on the catch phrase "Gotta catch 'em all" from Pokémon.
 * In the same Postbag from the Hedge it was said his customary black robes act as the legendary Reaper skillcape.
 * It was unclear what connection the Reaper has with the RuneScape gods for a long time until the release of the 2009 Hallowe'en event. It appears that the entire event is based on keeping within the Edicts of Guthix, which proclaims that the Grim reaper must have a hood, robes, a scythe, a skeletal form and have a spooky domain which must have spiderwebs as decoration.
 * During Halloween 2007, if a player read the Varrock Herald it would mention a man in black robes wandering around RuneScape stealing peoples lives.
 * When talking to the Grim Reaper the player goes slightly mad at the fact that they have died and does a unique chathead animation. This was unique, until the release of Rune Mechanics and after the 2010 Easter event, where talking to Fluffy about the wonderful day will yield this animation. With the release of Quiet Before the Swarm, an NPC named Commander Korasi seemed to have this chathead icon halfway during the quest after the player finds out something from a perpetrator's mind. After Quiet Before the Swarm, when you tell Jessika that Commodore Mathias and the other Void Knights got killed by an ambush of void creatures while sailing to Port Sarim, Jessika reacts by having this chathead animation.
 * During the 2009 Hallowe'en event, the Grim Reaper does a coin roll with a death rune in his left hand.
 * The Grim Reaper is the one of the few NPC's to have their fingers shown on their body. The other NPC's with fingers are: several Demons, Crawling Hand, Creeping hand, Zombie hand, Glod, Fear reapers, Otherworldly beings, Zabeth Corvid, Papa Mambo and Avalani.
 * According to the dossier, the Grim Reaper was the Champion of a Belltolling contest, but nobody survived. The only witness was a "zombie" about to terrorise the near town.
 * If you try to open the world map in his room it says: "It would be unwise to open the world map in Death's realm."
 * In his room when you first die you keep equipment worn on death worn, immplying the death hasn't/doesn't register until you leave. Grim 2.png
 * His pet, Muncher, is in the office with the Grim Reaper.
 * There seems to be a chess set on his table in the office.
 * If a player's first death takes place within Daemonheim, they will not visit the Grim Reaper's office then or upon their first death outside.
 * Grim Reaper has an "awesome" personality, though he doesn't want people to know about that.
 * In the 2010 Halloween event, it is revealed that the Grim Reaper is a massive fan of Zabeth Corvid and the Adamantite Damsel.
 * After completing the 2010 Halloween event, Zabeth Corvid tells the player to tell Grim that "every rose has its thorn", a reference to the song of the same name by Poison. This is also a reference to "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" when they are asked what the meaning of life is, Death says the line "Every rose has its thorn".
 * After completing the 2010 Halloween event, if a player asks about 'every rose has its thorn' they will get a reply saying it happened '...a long time ago, in a dimension far, far away." This is a reference to Star Wars: 'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away."