Lanius Nightshade

"Welcome to existence, where eminence is ephemeral."

- Airmid Valerian's diary

Lanius Nightshade is Godfather Death himself - and has been so for centuries, ever since the very beginning of his tale.

Personality
Most people would describe Lanius as idealistic. This reaper is lost in his own world - his own little mental utopia. He's wholesome, he thinks humanity is inherently good, and operates on that basis.

He's utterly reliant on people's opinions on him. He's self-conscious, and always wants to be seen as cool and respectable and worthy of admiration. Determined to a fault:
 * Due to this, Lanius has a habit of feeling persistently terrible over his mistakes, and always tries to hide them.
 * He's currently working on admitting his wrongs and owning up to his errors, but it's been a habit that's developed over centuries, and it's terribly hard to rid himself off.
 * He's also working on not relying on external validation. He thinks himself superficial for that, and hates it.
 * Usually uses that determination to make himself appear as benevolent and awesome as he wants to be.
 * Stubborn in his beliefs - particularly wants to prove that all people are made equal, that equal opportunities exist for all. Pushes for a certain egalitarianism, not merely in healthcare, but in all sense of the word.

Easily emotional, sentimental and attached to people:
 * This is why other reapers think he's too soft.
 * It also ties back into the whole idealistic/believes in the inherent good of humanity part (which, isn't a bad belief, mind you).
 * He's very proud of his children (the physicians, but also kids in general) and wants them to succeed! He's trying his best! He wants to emotionally support everyone!

Other points:
 * wants to be "cool" and "hip with the youth"

Appearance

 * skeleton dad
 * he's tall and awkward and mostly appears in the form of a skeleton
 * when he's not a skeleton, he's an old man and looks like Peter Capaldi

Interests and Hobbies

 * Well-read, fascinated by Western medicinal history and the path of scientific achievement.
 * Highly values medicine.
 * Public Health, and advancing the state of Public Health is something that's very important to him.
 * (Due to recent developments in biomedical history, his job has become much more lax over the past century.)
 * Here, relevant xkcd.
 * Digs philosophy - in particular, moral/ethical philosophy, mortal-questioning-sort-of-philosophy and also the philosophy of science (think: Kuhn and Popper)
 * Wants to be hip with the kids, so has engaged himself with social media and memes
 * Has his own website, where everything is pink, sparkly and filled with gifs.

How It Goes
"Once upon a time, there was a man with thirteen children… That’s how my story starts, isn’t it? A man, trapped in a poverty cycle, desperate to have some hope for a child he was cursed with by a failing healthcare system, illiteracy and lack of proper anatomical understanding."

- The Regrettable Accounts of Godfather Death

Wikipedia page

How does Lanius come into this?
The Regrettable Accounts of Godfather Death should catch you up to speed.

Opinion on Destiny
"Listen, I know what people say. Learn history or you’ll see yourself repeating it. Yet consider: I was so embarrassed by my past mistakes that I wanted no one to bring them up."

- The Manhunt/Chapter 18

If it isn’t obvious, Lanius clearly hates his destiny.

It hurts to send a child you’ve raised to their death. It hurts that said child dies believing that they betrayed you. It hurts knowing that you have no choice but to do this - or you risk losing everything - your job, your livelihood, all that you ever loved.

To him, destiny is a vicious cycle and fate is a cruel goddess.

Right now, he's trying his best to change the events of his tale. But large changes in storytelling get noticed - large changes are dangerous and draw attention to your own rebellion. So, instead, Lanius is working on changing his tale bit-by-bit, generation-by-generation, but is absolutely distraught that he has to sacrifice generations of bright doctors just to appease both himself and the system.

Parallels

 * He's a Grim(m) Reaper, he's German, he fits pretty much all the prerequisites of the figure of Death in the fairytale as outlined by Grimm.
 * Although technically he's Godfather Death, Lanius is more like a father.

The Council of Reapers
So, in my pocket universe/headcanon, basically, there's several Grim Reapers in this world. Each Reaper reaps different kinds of death, at different assigned locations, which makes things smooth and efficient. In Lanius' case, he reaps deaths from bacterial/viral infections in Central Europe.
 * Oh, he was prolific in the 14th and 18th centuries.

The Council of Reapers are one of the highest order of Reapers - they manage other Reapers, they do paperwork, they make sure no one is cheating the system. The only reason why Lanius is so pedantic on making sure people who are meant to die actually die is because he's afraid of invoking the wrath of the Council.

The Council isn't quite fond of Lanius. As per norm, he's too idealistic, he's too emotional, he's not a top-notch reaper, at all. But nevertheless, they give Lanius praise, they give him accolades, a good pay and a nice house, because Lanius is the titular figure in the most iconic fairytale featuring the figure of Death. In return, Lanius has to keep up with his role as Godfather Death - and demonstrate that testing the fate of Death itself has severe, ultimate consequences.

Lanius, as mentioned above, fears the Council. He wants to desperately fight against them, to get them to stop forcing this destiny upon him, but is not able to do it obviously and blatantly. He can only do it with subtlety and time, which is a huge stress for him.

The Physicians

 * His children. Alright, his godchildren, but in his heart, they're all his kids to him.
 * He loves them. Most of them Asclepius Hemlock is dead to him, anyway.
 * Airmid Valerian is the current physician.
 * Lanius is very fond of his son. His easily riled-up, overtly passionate and driven son.
 * However, due to recent events, there's a strain in their relationship. Lanius lied to Airmid, concealed some details and pulled on puppet-strings behind the scenes, so there's a loss of trust between the two men.

Other

 * He's on an okay note with the Headmasters Grimm, being part of the Grimm Division and all.
 * Milton Grimm thinks that Lanius is far too idealistic - unreasonably so for a Reaper, and one working with the Fairytale Authorities, at that.
 * Oh yeah, he kind of made a deal with Bastion Fanfarinet
 * That would be fascinating to hear about, but unfortunately, no one by the name of Bastion Fanfarinet exists.

Quotes
"People– humanity– Well, we’ve changed a lot over time. But then again, we’re still the same. You might look up to the old greats, but upon realisation and scruntisation, you’re just as great – and just as terrible – as them."

- The Manhunt/Chapter 17

"So, to all those people who talk of the past with a glint in their eye. They can go back there and churn their butter and die young from childbirth."

- ("Perhaps we can send the anti-vaxxers with them," added Airmid Valerian)

"Let it be said: although education generally makes one more intelligent, it never does well to doubt those not given such a glorious opportunity. Illuminating thoughts can fall from the homely mouths of peasants, and this man saw reality as clear as any professor."

- The Regrettable Accounts of Godfather Death

Trivia

 * Lanius is Latinised Dutch for butcher.
 * ie, the butcher, the baker, the candle-stick maker
 * I don't know where baking comes into this, I'm sorry.
 * I also don't know why I picked a Dutch name instead of a German one.
 * Nightshade is a group of angiosperms, most well-known of which would be belladonna. Nod to the Death aspect of him.
 * The first physician (as least, in Zena's retelling) was also given the surname of Nightshade.
 * I don't know where else to put this, but here, have a little message. It's never too late to improve. It's never too late to stop striving. You can be better than before, you will be better in the future. Self-improvement is a persistent journey, and I hope that can be highlighted in a character who's lived for centuries.