The Flaming Four Horsemen: Death Quiz

Answer: Pale Rider

The title for "Pale Rider" comes from Revelation chapter six, the chapter that speaks of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. As the movie begins, 16 year-old Megan is reading Revelation out loud, "And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth beast said: 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death." Then Preacher rides by and Megan continues, "And Hell followed with him." (Rev. 6:7-8a KJV) The clear implication is that if Clint Eastwood's character is not Death himself, he brings death with him. Eastwood as producer and director was very careful to leave the Preacher's identity and motives a mystery, in a way mythologizing the character.

It is interesting to note that of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, only the rider of the pale horse is given a name, Death, and yet in the movie Eastwood's character is unnamed. Death is the fourth and final rider and hell or Hades follows after him. The part that Megan does not quote in the movie is the end of verse eight, "And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." Although the movie leaves this part out, it could be argued that the movie is in fact a visual representation of this part of the verse. The Preacher certainly brings death and the sword to the world as it exists in this little mining community. It is clear that the Preacher has a history with the gunmen who come to town to face him. Right before he kills the final gunman, a look of recognition comes over the gunman's face as if he is seeing someone who should be dead. Once the Preacher sees this look of recognition and fear, he shoots him dead.

This question was created by tazman6619.

Answer: Despair

In the game, Death has set forth to clear War's name from events set in motion from the first "Darksiders" game. Death is voiced by the actor Michael Wincott, known for his film roles in "The Crow" and "The Three Musketeers". In the "Death Lives" trailer for "Darksiders 2" it states, "What starts with War, ends with Death". That statement could be very prophetic, as THQ, the owner of Vigil Games who was the developer for the "Darksiders" series, filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

This question was created by zonko.

Answer: Ringing of a bell to announce a death

This is now a much dated custom that involved the ringing of the bell at the actual time of passing, and then again on the morning of the funeral. There were various methods of tolling in different regions, and these were used to indicate the ages and even the sexes of the departed. The death knell is also known as the 'tolling of the bells', 'the funeral toll', 'the passing bell' and 'the dead bell'.

This question was created by pollucci19.

Answer: The Shangri-Las

"Leader of the Pack" was one of the classic teen tragedy songs - girl falls for biker, father doesn't approve, she breaks up with him, the biker rides away on a rainy night and "look out, look out, look out!" The banning of the song by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) created great controversy at the time. Apart from its death theme, there was complaint about its violence, immorality and, strangely, the use of a motorcycle effect on the recording. This followed the fate of a song by British singer Twinkle, 16 year old Lyn Ripley, whose recording "Terry", which involved a motorcycling boyfriend dying in a crash, was also banned for similar reasons earlier in the year.

There is also some irony here. Shangri-La is a fictional place described as a mystical, harmonious valley - not the sort of place where death would stalk! The original Shangri-La was a utopia located in the Himalayas, known to be a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. The term 'Utopia' was coined by Sir Thomas More in 1516, and described a society possessing desirable characteristics or qualities.

This question was created by VegemiteKid.

Answer: Karoshi

The term 'karoshi' is used to classify sudden death resulting from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as stroke and heart attack, due to work-related stress. Karoshi is an issue for concern in Japan where working as many as 60 hours or more per week is common.

This question was created by purelyqing.

Answer: Robert Redford

Robert Redford as Death was very patient and, some might even say, kind. Redford showed up at the woman's door as a wounded police officer. He first had to convince the frightened woman to let him in and then ultimately to trust him and allow Death to take her away, so that she would leave her physical body and home behind. The woman had been frightened of anyone since she saw Death take someone years earlier. When she realized he was Death, she was at first angry at his betrayal, but eventually she saw him as gentle and caring. His final words at the end were, "You see. No shock. No engulfment. No tearing asunder. What you feared would come like an explosion is like a whisper. What you thought was the end is the beginning."

Steve McQueen and Paul Newman never did a "Twilight Zone" episode, though McQueen's appearance on an Alfred Hitchcock episode is often mistaken for a "Twilight Zone" story. William Shatner appeared on a few episodes, most memorably as a terrorized passenger watching a strange being attack his airplane in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet".

This question was created by TAKROM.

Answer: Battle of the Philippine Sea

Fighter squadron VF-10, known as the Grim Reapers, took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Due to heavy losses taken by the Japanese planes, the battle was known by American pilots as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. The VF-10 squadron flew in the Pacific area of the war, and also took part in the Battle of Guadalcanal. VF-10 was disbanded after the war in November 1945, but the name of the Grim Reapers was taken up by the VF-101 Squadron, which entered service in the early 1950s, until it was disbanded in 2005. Three generations from the same family flew for the Reapers, and at the closing ceremony they were awarded the squadron's flag.

Some of the planes flown by the VF-101 squadron had a reaper emblem on the tail of the aircraft.

This question was created by zonko.

Answer: Ship

Nitschke's plan was to operate a so-called 'death ship' in international waters, thereby evading anti-euthanasia laws. For a very short time, laws in the Northern Territory permitted assisted suicide, but the federal government stepped in to prevent the practice. Nitschke developed a series of methods to assist suicide, and his 'death machine' was acquired by Australia's Science Museum, effectively removing it from use.

This question was created by VegemiteKid.

Answer: Human female

Death is one of the four cosmic beings who were formed after the creation of the universe. The others are Oblivion and the twins Infinity and Eternity. The four are considered to be siblings who are also rivals. Death constantly fights to upset the balances against Eternity, whilst Oblivion is pitted with Infinity. Usually known as Lady Death, she has also appeared as Mistress Death in the guise of a young girl. It is rare to hear Death speak, and she usually communicates her thoughts and wishes through the agency of servants. Blessed with the power to both take and restore life, she resurrected the Eternal deviant, Thanos, in the hope that he would work alongside her to overcome Eternity. This worked well until Thanos became infatuated with her and Death realised that he would be unable to deliver what she required of him. This relationship has formed one of the major story arcs at Marvel for these characters.

This question was created by pollucci19.

Answer: Raven

The use of the word 'nevermore' was a nod to Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven", first published in 1845. Poe's choice of the raven was no accident. Clearly, as he admitted, he was influenced by the use of the raven in Charles Dickens' "Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty", but Poe also understood the mythological significance of the bird. As a student of the macabre and one of the first practitioners of American horror, Poe was well versed in the raven's history. The poem is one of loss and longing to which the raven fits perfectly.

In Celtic mythology, ravens were closely related to Morrigan and Badb, and through them to battles, warriors, and death. In Norse mythology, Odin has two large ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who bring him news of the world and are closely associated with bloodshed and battle. In Native American cultures, the raven is many times associated with the coyote and both are seen as messengers between life and death. Ravens are also associated with death in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.

This question was created by tazman6619.