Final Fantasy 14's Endwalker expansion introduced a new DPS job, Reaper. The physical melee class uses a massive scythe to attack enemies and can use a voidsent avatar to give them powerful abilities. According to Final Fantasy 14's lore, the class was founded by Garlean farmers who were driven away from their homelands and had to bind themselves to voidsent for survival.
There is no doubt that the reaper class was inspired by the Grim Reaper, but there is more to the Grim Reaper than meets the eye. The figure known throughout popular culture today is an amalgamation of different folklore from around the world. Celtic folklore especially played a part. To understand the cultural roots behind Final Fantasy 14's Reaper, one has to look at Celtic folklore figures like Ankou.
A Look Into Reaper Celtic Folklore
The first folkloric figure worth examining in terms of Reapers is the Ankou. In Breton, Cornish, Welsh, and Norman-French folklore, Ankou is a servant of death. Just like Final Fantasy 14's Reaper gear, Ankou is said to wear a black robe and large hat that hides his face. Of course, he also has the massive and iconic scythe. There are extra details that have little to do with Final Fantasy 14's Reaper as well. For example, Ankou is said to have had a cart pulled by four black horses
Ankou seems to be the most like Final Fantasy 14's Reapers, but Celtic folklore actually has many figures associated with death. Another is known as Dullhan, but it exists as a headless horseman that holds its own head and uses a whip rather than a scythe. There are also Banshees, which are female spirits that wail to alert an oncoming death. Not all are even humanoid, with one folktale being an enormous hound known as Cu-sith whose barks could rip the souls of people.
A Deeper Look Into Ankou
Ankou, like most folklore, was inspired by even older legends. The Breton folklore of Ankou is believed to have been inspired by Thanatos. The name should be familiar for gamers that played Hades, as Thanatos is the Greek personification of death. The scythe weapon comes from the idea that death reaps human life much like how humans reap their crops after they grow and ripen. In modern times, scythes are tools not used by everyone but in the past when these folktales were born, farming was a way of life and scythes were very familiar to the average person.
A popular version of Ankou legend believed that every graveyard had its own Ankou. The Ankou would be a role taken by the last soul to die in the village before the year ends and would be replaced every year with a new soul. Ankou, while having the wide-brimmed hat, cloak, and scythe, also was known to be tall, white-haired, and sometimes have two ghosts assisting him. These ghost partners are very likely the inspiration behind Final Fantasy 14's voidsent that assists the Reaper class.
The Lore Behind Final Fantasy 14's Reaper
Outside of design, the Reaper class is pretty unique and has its own story unalike Celtic folklore. The Reaper class being founded by Garlean farmers is unique to Final Fantasy 14 and fits well into the lore since Garleans cannot use magic. It makes sense that farmers with no magical talent would call out to voidsent for help. Back when Reapers were part of the Empire, they also serve roles a little similar to Dark Knights of Ishgard in that they cut down corruption. The Ankou has no such backstories, as they are typically depicted as undead and care little for what happens in the lives of the living.
Rather than the Reaper lore, the level 80 Reaper gear set is the real connection to the Ankou. No other version of death in folklore is known for both a wide brim hat and a dark cloak. The Grim Reaper has a hood and Japanese Shinigami are depicted in many ways with no clear standard.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.