Death, the Pale Horseman

The character of Death in On Black Wings is a very strange one. I wanted him (or it) to be strange, mysterious, out there, and just plain weird. Death doesn't care about much, taking sides, standing on top of piles of rubble and cackling like a super-villain, or even playing a major role in the story. Death, like death is in real life, ever-present, careless, and a constant. It felt wrong to turn death into some lich-king like force of evil, standing there making threats with a sword, and with bombastic purpose and silly monologue-style speeches.

Death simply doesn't need any of that, death is what it is, and it is a force with so much power it can just observe and manipulate events as it sees fit.

Jessica seems to understand this character a little better as well. When she first encounters Death, it is a strange episode where she is transformed by him. Death does touch her, and tries to change her, but she resists. After the two come to an understanding, she figures out what it wants, and then she goes from being her poorly-dressed, insecure teenaged self into something more in line with what the villainous forces want her to be. After this point, she walks with evil as one of them. She may not realize it at first, but she undergoes a transformation that puts her on the path of darkness.

The clothes make the woman, and the clothes she is given in this scene reflect her image of what an angel of death should look like. The image does come from pop-culture, and this again is intentional. If this is a dream, then the images and transformations she is going to go through reflect the experiences and influences on her life. If a female angel of death is supposed to wear costume-play cheesecake armor in games, comic books, and pop-culture - then that is how she is going to see herself in her reality.

Again, the state she is in is supposed to be almost nightmarish and in a state of semi-conscious thought, influences from the real world slip in and affect the perceptions she has of even herself. Those clothes? Possibly a figment of her imagination.

Possibly.

She calls it somewhat slutty-looking armor, but it grows on her, and she has some funny moments with it later when she asks for a decent pair of pants from one character. It is probably a tragedy she accepts it, but then again popular culture does, so she just goes with the flow. She has bigger things to worry about throughout the book, so her self-image is a bit of lighthearted fun, and there is a reason for it all later on, even if you see the justrification as being only in her mind.

Death stays in the backdrop for most of the book, but the impact of his role in the plot plays a central role in the events that happen. The plot is about death, the entire scheme is about taking over the world through the forces of death, yet Death the character sits back, provides the tools needed, and watches and waits. This is true to the character I wanted, and the role the character of Death plays.

There is a moment in the final act where we wonder which side Death is really on, when something horrible comes out of the earth and we see the immense power Death (possibly) wields. Death seems to be placing its bets with War on that moment, or is he? Is it truly Death's creation? We are left to wonder, and this isn't cleared up on purpose because there is a lot she doesn't understand. Also, I don't feel the need to explain everything, in terrible events like this, there is a lot we don't understand, so this mammoth evil appears, and we are left wondering who and why. It's what I intended, and the pieces need to be put together by the reader.

Though if there's a takeaway here, it is through the character of Death she is transformed into something new, and that mirrors the message throughout the book. It is a force of change in her life, mostly for the worse by setting her down a road of darkness, but it is ultimately a moment that defines her as a heroine.