The Grim Reaper

The Grim Reaper is a legendary creature, not often seen, but highly feared. As such, it is often used in stories meant to scare children into good behavior. These stories have been told for so long that they have drifted and split apart, but there are a few things they tend to have in common. The protagonist is someone with an undesireable trait, such as greed, who indulges freely in their vices. The people around them try to convince them to stop, but this has no effect. They then try to stop them with force, through confinement, mutilation, or any other means, but the protagonist is clever, and evades them, getting away with their crimes with no consequences. This changes, however, when the grim reaper appears to them. They attempt the same clever tactics against it, but to no avail. They are slain without mercy, and their soul is stolen.

These tales are, of course, only effective for so long, as the child soon sees them for what they are. Older children and adults often don't believe in the Grim Reaper at all. In truth, the Grim Reaper does exist, but it is nothing like how it's depicted in these children's' stories. It is a personification of death, and brings death according to its own inscrutable agenda. Owing allegiance to no god, celestial, or fiend, it works alone to hunt down those who offend it, often those who evade death for far too long. The Grim Reaper is not a graceful guide of the dead, as some other stories claim; that is the role of the psychopomps. The souls of those killed by it are permanently destroyed.