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 (a single religion may have separate deities performing both tasks). 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 (as well as everything else). 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

Yoruba

Akan

Afroasiatic Africa

Somali

Afroasiatic Middle East

Canaanite

Egyptian

Mesopotamian

Western Eurasia

European

Albanian

Balto-Finnic

Balto-Slavic

Basque

Celtic

Germanic

Etruscan

Greek

Roman

Western Asia

Elamite

Hindu-Vedic

Persian-Zoroastrian

Ossetian

Uralic

Asia-Pacific / Oceania

Far East Asia

Korean

Chinese

Emperor(s) of Youdu (Capital City of the Underworld) Judges of the Ten Underworld Courts The rest only have surnames including Li, Yu, Lu, Bi, Lu and Xue. Four Kings of the Underworld Ghost Kings of the Five Regions Ghost Kings of the Five Regions (Ver.2) Governors of Fengdu Imperial Censor of Fengdu Four Generals of the Direct Altar of Fengdu Eight Generals of the Inner Altar of Fengdu Eight Generals of the Outer Altar of Fengdu Ten Masters of the Underworld (Note: in some versions, Xie Bi'an and Fanjiu are the Bai Wuchang and Hei Wuchang, respectively.) Four Strongmen of Fengdu Two Agents of Fengdu Wardens of the Nine Prison of Fengdu Administers of the Six Paths of Rebirth of Fengdu Judges of Fengdu

Japanese

North and Central Asian mythology

Oceanian mythology

Southeast Asian mythology

Philippines

Vietnam

American mythology

Aztec

Cahuilla

Guarani

Haida

Inca

Inuit

Latin American Folk Catholicism

Maya

Narragansett

Taíno

Umbanda and Candomblé

Haitian Vodou

Gede lwa