In THE LAST GHOST, the Death that comes to end a person's life depends on the nature of the cause of death. There are 16 deaths, called Fatalities, in the book. Over the next 16 days, we will meet one Fatality each day, and discuss which heartbreaking fictional character death belongs with each character.
Meet the Second Fatality, Accidental Death, Commonly Referred to as Orcus
"Just then, one of the Fatalities that did take murder cases from time to time, Orcus, saw them. Orcus was a much older death than either Woe or Alexi, but he looked genteelly handsome, and like Alexi, had a mischievous glint in his eyes. However, where Alexi was golden all over, he looked as if he was made of silver."--The Last Ghost
Orcus is one of the oldest deaths, the first of the Unexpected Deaths. The Fatalities' personalities are based on their natures, so as Accidental Death, he would seem to be impulsive, random.
According to the CDC, Accidents (unintentional injury) are the fourth leading cause of death, and includes falls, motor vehicle accidents, and sports and recreational injuries.
*SPOILER ALERT*
In literature, this is a crowded area. Car accidents have taken Tom's mistress, Myrtle, in The Great Gatsby, Charlotte Haze in Lolita, and Mia's entire family in If I Stay. Cars are very dangerous in literature!
As the world grew more populated by humans, other Fatalities would help Orcus with this massive case load and he would focus on very dramatic, multi-casualty accidents--plane crashes for example, or massive ship wrecks.
Due to his flair for drama, it is reasonable that Orcus would have been the Fatality for Jack Dawson in Titanic. Poor Jack. Whether or not they both could have fit on the door is a constant debate in my circles (I don't think they would have, to be honest) but his loss is crushing.
"I don't know about you, but I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about all of this."--Jack Dawson, Titanic
What other accidental deaths in fiction broke your heart? What other fictional deaths do you think would have resulted in Orcus?