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Also, with the deemphasis of puzzles also comes significantly fewer platforming challenges. While the previous games had extended platforming segments that felt inspired by moments in older Ratchet and Clank games, this game lacks any of that, as platforming now only serves as a brief change from straight up walking. Not that it was missed, but alongside the other games, it is another notable change.
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The Wings of Icarus allow Kratos to hover in the air for an extended period of time. However if the wings are out for too long, then they will dissolve, resulting in Kratos going into a free fall.... unless he on top of an updraft, in which the wings don't deteriorate.
After learning that War is imprisoned and awaiting his sentence for his part in the End War, Death acts to save his life. Knowing that he won't be able to prove War's innocence, he instead acts to absolve his brother by seeking a way to resurrect humanity. Actually Pretty Funny: At the end of II, he lets out a small laugh when he realizes that after all this hardship, slaying Absalom again, ending Corruption, and finally standing in front of the Well of Souls, he still has no idea how he's supposed to use it to resurrect humanity.
Authority Equals Asskicking: The Leader of the Four, and the mightiest among them.
Anti-Hero: Death is described as an arrogant, sarcastic, cold and calculating individual, alongside being resourceful and opportunistic. Despite having done things that can be called "evil", ranging from genocide, destroying worlds and creating weapons of world-ending power, there is a bit of good in him. He bears much burden and guilt for some of his past actions, such as the creation of the Grand Abominations, and he is very much capable of doing tasks for others that would offer him no benefit long term save for their gratitude.
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: The in-story explanation developers have explained for his lack of a block maneuver relates to Death being too arrogant to believe someone could ever strike him. The only time he'll block in gameplay is he's using a buckler, and actual shield. Curiously, this contrasts his behaviour in The Abomination Vault, where he repeatedly blocks enemy strikes with Harvester as well as his actual shield.
The Atoner: Feels guilt over his part in the genocide of the Nephilim (more so than any of the other Horsemen, and at the very least the one the slowest to forgive himself about it), the creation of the Grand Abominations and other crimes. This does not, however, mean he is willing to revive the Nephilim if he needs to choose between them and humanity. There's also the fact, as the Crowfather's spirit notes, oblivion and final rest is far kinder than leaving their spirits trapped in their And I Must Scream fate within the amulet.
"The Abomination Vault" also shows he has guilt over creation of the Grand Abominations, especially since he played a part in it, and hid them away to cope with it. The same book hints that these aren't the only things he has guilt for. What they are exactly hasn't been made clear.
Back from the Dead: Dies to revive humanity, but comes back from the Seventh Seal being broken.
Badass Baritone: Michael Wincott provides his distinct low and gravelly voice. Guttural Growler: Doubles as this.
Bad Boss: While Death loves his brothers and sister, he's not above punishing them harshly when they've angered him. One such an example is War, whose left arm was chopped off by Death when he refused to return to the Charred Council when ordered. However, he has his moments of Benevolent Boss (see trope below).
Badass in Charge: Of the Horsemen. As a Firstborn, he was also in charge of the Nephilim in general. And even when it's implied that Death doesn't care too much of the position, that doesn't mean he tolerates insubordination.
Badass Boast: "All who live know my name. All who oppose me shall know death."
Barbarian Long Hair: He has unkempt long black hair, which combined with his shirtless appearance and eagerness for combat, makes him look very barbaric.
Berserk Button: Apparently people referring to Lilith as his "mother" is not something he's fond of. Especially when the person referring to her as such is Lilith herself. Bringing up War's "crime" strikes a nerve with him whenever anybody does it.
Let's just say that trying to harm his brothers in general is not a good idea... Unless, of course, you want him to hunt you down and rip you apart in the worst way possible.
Death: An attack on my brothers is an attack on me. Benevolent Boss: Flip-flops between this and Bad Boss. Despite being harsh to them, Death will go out of his way to save his siblings when they're in need. Darksiders 2 is the perfect example of this, as his entire motivation is proving that War is innocent of his supposed crime.
Big Brother Instinct: Nothing will keep him from aiding his family in the second game. This includes dooming most of the rest of his race to oblivion if necessary, though that in and of itself can be considered a Mercy Kill given their current state.
Blood Knight: Death is always eager for a fight.Thane: This blade is more ancient than you, rider. And taller to boot!Death: I shall break both it, and you, down to size. There's even a counter in the game for tracking how much blood he spills.
The Berserker: Unstoppable is Death's take on this trope, especially when upgraded with higher chances of dealing critical hits, absorbing health/wrath and inflicting high counts of increasing damage from various abilities.
Combat Parkour: A vital combat mechanic in Darksiders II. Instead of blocking like War could do in the first game, Death dodges instead, which is crucial in surviving all of his battles.
Combat Pragmatist: While he does have a sense of honor, when it comes to a fight Death will use any means necessary to gain the advantage as befitting his opportunistic mindset. This is best displayed at the end of The Abomination Vault, where he convinced Azrael to use his illusions to disguise himself as Raciel to distract Hadrimon. Death: You two do realize that we won? Azrael: I dislike the deception you had me orchestrate. Masquerading as a demon is bad enough, but abetting the murder of an angel in the guise of his lost love? I feel... soiled. I understood the urgency when you came to me, but I wish I'd not agree to this. War: It may be a victory, brother, and a necessary one. But there is no honor in it. Death: Foolishness. It never matters how you win; only that you do.
Comically Serious: Thinking Death has been sent by the Dead King's Chancellor to kill him, Draven's first words to him are a Badass Boast that he's beaten death once before and can do so again. Death has the rather deadpan response of:Death: I have no idea what you are talking about.
Composite Character: The series combines the Biblical Pale Horseman and modern depictions of the Grim Reaper.
Cool Mask: He is never seen without his white executioner's mask. Averted with his Heroic Sacrifice in the finale of the sequel, where he finally takes off the mask before casting himself into the Well of Souls (though we don't see his face)..
Dark Is Not Evil: He's the Grim Reaper with deathly pale skin, long black hair, a skeletal motif and a creepy white mask and personality-wise, he's not the most approachable person, to say the least. But he also went out of his way to help his brother, stood alongside his siblings and against the rest of his species to protect humanity, revealed that long after the slaughter he wished it was possible to do things differently, and ultimately proves to be much more noble then he wants you to believe.
Deadpan Snarker: No pun intended, of course. Although much more conspicuous in the novel, Death has a habit of making some sarcastic one-liners to... well, almost everyone. No one is safe from his sarcasm... not even his brothers and sister.
Determinator: In a similar vein to War, Death shows himself to be rather persistent.
The Dreaded: The most feared of the Four Horsemen, who themselves are already The Dreaded. Several characters willing to pick a fight with the others clam up when Death rears his head, and those that don't are either powerful enough they could take him in a fight or just think themselves above him.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Emphasis on pale skinned. Death is insanely pale (his own bone-white mask is only a few shades lighter) to the point where in certain lighting, it actually looks like his skin is changing color.
Exposition Fairy: Dust serves as Death's familiar and guide. However, it only helps find paths and important things in the environment (including Notice This style glowing) and cannot speak.
The Faceless: Even when he takes off his mask in the ending of Darksiders II, his face is never shown. It's possible to manoeuvre the camera in such a way that you can glimpse under the mask, but his in-game model does not have a face under the mask, just an empty hole.
Flash Step: Teleport Slash sees him perform one, coupled with the aforementioned slash attack.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: In the novel, Death possesses a regenerative healing factor that enables him to heal even lethal wounds. However, this was not applied to Darksiders II, most likely for reasons involving that it would make the game too easy for players.
In several cutscenes, he displays the ability to use his Reaper Form regardless of whether or not the player has the energy for it, and in a number of times actually flies while transformed, something impossible during gameplay. It should also be noted that despite the creative team claiming that Death doesn't block because he's arrogant to the point where he believes nobody can hit him, he can still be seen blocking in the cutscenes.
Grim Reaper: Looks even more like the traditional version in his Reaper Form. Bonus points since he actually is the Grim Reaper.
Hand Cannon: Redemption, which unlike Mercy can actually deal some good damage to enemies. Subverted as it actually belongs to Strife.
Healing Factor: In the comics and books, Death has an extraordinary regenerative power, able to heal from War stabbing him with Chaoseater without batting an eye and in The Abomination Vault taking blows from the nephilim sword called Affliction, which inflicts poison and causes any wounds its victims receive from it to rot, and being able to heal from them (with difficulty) while the likes of Heaven's best medicines could only prevent the rot's spread. In his fight with the corrupted angel Makhala, she manages to literally reduce him to an upper torso and head and he manages to regenerate it all in short order.
Heroic Neutral: Has shades of this. All he really cares about is keeping his family safe and doing his job of maintaining the Balance. Then events get War involved, and the Balance part goes out the window. He then spends a good deal of his time doing whatever it takes to clear his brother's name and undoing the effect of the crime, even if it requires lending a helping hand to the various denizens of the five realms.
Heroic Willpower: The Abomination Vault shows that if one isn't careful while wielding a Grand Abomination, they will start to go insane as the weapons' hatred overwhelms their minds and dredges up their darker emotions up to and including the Abomination using them as a Meat Puppet. Death's willpower is such that he can suppress even a fully-awakened Abomination's influence on his mind.
Hesitant Sacrifice: With the twist being that he's perfectly fine sacrificing himself to revive humanity and save War, but his hesitation comes from the realization that if he does this, the souls of the nephilim will be sacrificed forever and he will have finally finished the job he started thousands of years ago but hesitated to end then out of guilt. Death noticeably pauses and eyes the miasma coming off the amulet fragments and listening to the whispers of the nephilim's souls before he finally makes the choice to do it anyways.
Honor Before Reason: Subverted. Death doesn't care for things like honor, but he seems to have some respect for those that follow this trope (or at least War). In fact, he's very opportunistic. Though his Jerk with a Heart of Gold tendencies sometimes place him as this on accident.
Howl of Sorrow: Occurred to him right after he was done slaughtering the Nephilim, complete with Skyward Scream.
Hyperspace Arsenal: Not as much as War with the weapons he directly equips, but he's still capable of pulling out weapons bigger than he is mid-combo.
I Did What I Had to Do: His justification for wiping out his own people, since he believes they were too dangerous and too irredeemable to be kept among the living. It becomes apparent, however, that he sometimes second-guesses that fateful decision, and of all the Horsemen he has kept the guilt of the deed the longest and hardest.
I Have Many Names: People refer to him as the Reaper, Pale Rider, Kinslayer, and Executioner among others.
The Immune: No matter how much Corruption he wades into, sometimes grabbing corruption bombs with his bare hands, he never shows symptoms of infection throughout the whole game. Lampshaded by the Final Boss, who says he was the one who performed the act of Genocide from the Inside that created the Corruption in the first place, so it stands to reason that he's a Typhoid Mary. Alternatively, since the Corruption originated from mutating Nephilim corpses, the Nephilim Horsemen's genetics are similar to the disease's genetics and are unaffected as a result.
In the Hood: In his Reaper Form, his face is never seen.
Insult Backfire: Sometimes, his snarking doesn't always end in his favor, either when someone expresses thorough disapproval of his put-downs, or snark back harder (especially in the book).
I Regret Nothing: Or so he claims. Whenever confronted of his guilt over betraying and wiping out his people, those exact words are his response, but a lot of other characters can see that it's all Blatant Lies, sensing that he still does have remorse over said betrayal. In a private moment with the Crowfather's spirit, he admits that if he had the chance, he would have saved Absalom rather than kill him if he could go back to that moment. It's definitely more obvious in the novel The Abomination Vault, where the story is told from his point of view. At one point, Death clarifies to the Keeper that while he may regret the necessity of his actions, he refuses to regret the performance of them.
Irony: Despite saving the whole of creation from The Corruption along with most of the sane individuals he comes across, he ends up failing in his main goal of saving War. Indeed, he dies at the very end, and War is the one who saves him.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Try as he might to deny it, he's actually this. While he's snide and willing to do morally questionable things, he's still an honorable warrior, shows concern for those under him and anyone he helps (his brothers and the Makers/Hellguard, respectively), offers his aid to the Makers in overcoming corruption almost unconditionally, and Uriel even acknowledges his noble nature when he does the same for her. Then there's the fact he stood up for all of mankind when his kinsmen wanted to slaughter us and take our world over. That was nice of him. As Karn puts it:Karn: You're a good man! Much more than your name would imply.
Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: While technically all of the Horsemen are guilty of doing this to the Nephilim, Death bears the biggest brunt of it as "The Kinslayer" for not only leading them into their rebellion, but personally killing the Nephilim's leader and his own brother Absalom himself. Ironically, he's also the only one of the four shown to still be struggling with the guilt of doing it.
Lightning Bruiser: Subverted. In contrast to War, Death's more of a Glass Cannon. However, with the appropriate gear, he can be made very resilient.
Locked Out of the Loop: He finds to his growing annoyance there's much about the Tree of Life he was never told by the Council and was pretty much left completely in the dark about the Well of Souls. As the Crowfather tells him, the Council did this because they didn't want him or the other Horsemen getting second thoughts about their genocide of the nephilim and attempting to bring them back.
Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: One of the Grand Abominations he has in his possession is Mortis, a buckler that can block and negate any attack small enough for it to cover Death from. Of course, what makes Mortis so dangerous is that it will then unleash a burst of profane energy that will target a loved one or ally from the attacker's memories and kill them. At full power, the Abomination's counter could hit a target from across a planet, and even in a weakened state as shown in The Abomination Vault it could still protect Death from the One-Hit Kill of the fully awakened fellow Abomination Black Mercy.
Magikarp Power: His offensive Necromancer tree abilities, mainly Exhume and Murder, start off less powerful than his Harbinger tree abilities, but catch up later in the game once the upgrades for them start getting purchased, since the damage for them comes from inflicting repeated hits, therefore increasing their damage and effects which will start to pay off later.
Mad Artist: Unlike War, who sees killing as a duty, Death sees it as an art.
Made of Iron: In The Abomination Vault and the tie-in comic, he endures the likes of Chaoseater being driven through his chest without so much as flinching, and tanks numerous attacks capable of obliterating Angels, constructs, and even fatally injuring his brother, War.
Magic Knight: Contrasting with War relying on brute strength, Death relies almost equally on his Wrath abilities and weapons.
Mercy Kill: He can receive several requests in the second game to do this to certain bosses. Ultimately sacrificing the nephilim's souls to revive mankind can also be seen as this as well, since as the Crowfather's spirit tells him, they've been suffering an And I Must Scream fate ever since he pulled their souls into the amulet.
Morph Weapon: Harvester has the ability to transform with a thought from Death into whatever implement he needs at the moment.
Multi-Melee Master: Axes, hammers, bucklers, armblades, scythes... Could be related to the fact that those could be considered "instruments of death," which would tie-in with Death's view on killing. Blade on a Stick: Specifically glaives.
Blade Below the Shoulder: Armblades give him the removable variety.
Carry a Big Stick: Maces.
Drop the Hammer
Evil Weapon: "Possessed Weapons" grow in strength when "fed" inventory. Unlike most other examples of this trope, there aren't any consequences. And with the right build on him and the possessed weapons properly leveled, he's pretty much invincible.
Power Fist: Gauntlets and Bucklers.
Wolverine Claws: Claws.
My Greatest Failure: In his more private and vulnerable moments, he seems to consider slaughtering his fellow nephilim without finding a more peaceful way to stop them to be this, even admitting t