Gods of death appear in almost every mythology and religion, but they rarely do the same job. Some, like Thanatos in Greek mythology, are death itself; others, like Hades, Osiris, Hel or Mictlantecuhtli, rule the land of the dead; and others, like Anubis or Yama, guide and judge the souls who arrive there. Below are the best-known gods and goddesses of death from different cultures, with what each one actually does.
Several of these figures belong to religions that are still practised today, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Yoruba religion and Haitian Vodou. For those, the entries describe what believers hold, not “myths” of a vanished people.
Hades – Greek God of the Underworld
Hades was the son of Cronus and Rhea and the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He ruled the underworld that also took his name, together with his wife Persephone, and was guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus. Hades did not kill anyone: he kept order among the dead and made sure no one left. The Romans merged him with their own underworld gods as Pluto, a name meaning “the rich one”. For how he fits among the Olympians, see our Greek gods family tree chart.
Thanatos – Greek Personification of Death
Thanatos is death itself in Greek mythology. Hesiod calls him a son of Nyx (Night) and brother of Hypnos (Sleep), and Homer describes the two as twin brothers who carried the body of the slain hero Sarpedon home to Lycia. He is usually shown as a winged young man, sometimes holding an inverted torch, and his Roman counterpart is Mors.
Anubis – Egyptian God of Mummification
Anubis, shown with the head of a jackal, was the Egyptian god of embalming and mummification and the protector of cemeteries. He ushered souls into the afterlife and attended the scales during the Weighing of the Heart, where a person’s heart was weighed against an ostrich feather representing ma’at to decide whether they could enter the realm of the dead.
Osiris – Egyptian Lord of the Dead
Osiris was the lord of the dead and of rebirth. In the best-known story his brother Set killed him, and his wife Isis gathered and restored his body so that he could rule the afterlife. He is shown with green skin, a sign of regeneration and growing crops, holding the crook and flail.
Hel – Norse Goddess of the Dead
In Norse mythology, Hel is a daughter of Loki who, according to the Prose Edda, was appointed by Odin to rule a realm of the same name in Niflheim. She receives those who die of sickness or old age, and the same source describes her as half blue and half flesh-coloured. Those who fall in battle go instead to Odin in Valhalla or to Freyja in Fólkvangr.
Yama – God of Death and Justice in Hinduism
In Hindu belief, Yama is the god of death and the judge of the dead, who rules the realm of the departed and is the protector of the south. He is often depicted as a dark-complexioned man riding a buffalo and carrying a noose or mace to capture souls, while his record keeper Chitragupta tracks each person’s deeds. Yama was later adopted into Buddhist, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese tradition as the king of hell, known in China as Yanluo Wang and in Japan as Enma.
Izanami – Shinto Goddess of Yomi
Izanami is the creator goddess of Shinto tradition who, with her husband Izanagi, gave birth to the islands of Japan and many kami. After she died she went to Yomi, the shadowy land of the dead. When Izanagi followed her and saw her decaying body, he fled and sealed the entrance with a boulder; she vowed to destroy 1,000 of the living every day, and he answered that he would give life to 1,500.
Mictlantecuhtli – Aztec Lord of Mictlan
Mictlantecuhtli was the chief Aztec god of death and king of Mictlan, the lowest and northernmost section of the underworld. He was depicted as a blood-spattered skeleton or a figure wearing a toothy skull, with a headdress of owl feathers. He ruled Mictlan with his wife, Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead.
Ereshkigal – Mesopotamian Queen of the Underworld
Ereshkigal ruled Kur, also called Irkalla, the Mesopotamian land of the dead. She is the sister of the goddess Inanna, whose descent into her sister’s realm is one of the oldest surviving myths. In later tradition she rules the underworld with her husband Nergal.
Mot – Canaanite God of Death
Mot is the Canaanite god of death and the underworld, known from the clay tablets of ancient Ugarit. In the Baal Cycle he is the great enemy of Baal, the god of rain, and Baal himself warns that Death can swallow a victim like a lamb in his mouth.
Oya – Yoruba Orisha of Storms and the Dead
Oya is an orisha of winds, storms and change in Yoruba religion and in traditions that grew from it, such as Santería and Candomblé. She is the only oriṣa able to command the Eégún, the spirits of the dead, and so is closely tied to death and the ancestors. In the same tradition, Iku is the personification of death itself.
Baron Samedi – Lwa of the Dead in Haitian Vodou
In Haitian Vodou, Baron Samedi is a lwa (spirit) of the dead and the head of the Gede family of spirits, together with his wife Maman Brigitte. He is pictured in a top hat, black tail coat and dark glasses, like a corpse dressed for burial, and is associated with tombs and cemeteries. He is found at the crossroads between the worlds of the living and the dead: when someone dies, he digs their grave, greets their soul and leads it to the underworld.
Morana – Slavic Goddess of Death and Winter
Morana (also Marzanna) is a Slavic goddess linked to death, winter and the rebirth of nature. In a folk custom that survives in the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia, people burn or drown an effigy of Morana to celebrate the end of winter.
Hine-nui-te-pō – Māori Goddess of Night and Death
In Māori tradition, Hine-nui-te-pō is the goddess of night and death who receives the spirits of the dead in the underworld. The hero Māui tried to win immortality for people by passing through her body while she slept, but she woke and crushed him, and Māui became the first man to die.
Supay – Inca God of the Underworld
Supay was the Inca god of death and ruler of Uku Pacha, the underworld. Under Spanish rule his name came to be used for the Christian devil, which is why he is often described as a demon, though the original idea was more neutral.
Other Death Deities at a Glance
- Ankou (Breton folklore): a figure with a scythe who collects the dead in a creaking cart; the role was said to pass to the last person to die in a parish each year.
- Persephone (Greek): queen of the underworld beside Hades.
- Charon (Greek): the ferryman who carries the dead across the river.
- Ah Puch or Kisin (Maya): names given to the Maya death god.
- Erlik (Turkic): ruler of the underworld.
- Libitina (Roman): goddess of funerals and burials.
Gods of Death FAQ
- Who is the most famous god of death? Hades, Anubis and Osiris are the most widely known in the West; Yama is central to Hindu and Buddhist teaching about death.
- Is Hades the god of death? Not exactly. Hades rules the dead; Thanatos is death itself. Hades’ brother is covered in our facts about Zeus.
- Is Thanos a god of death? No. The Marvel villain is a fictional character, though his name echoes Thanatos; see is Thanos a god of death.
- Who is the Norse god of death? Hel rules the dead who die of sickness or old age, while Odin and Freyja receive those killed in battle.
- Who is the Japanese god of death? In Shinto tradition, Izanami rules Yomi; in Japanese Buddhism, Enma judges the dead.
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