Death (mythology)


 * For the Eternal known as Death, see Death. For other uses see Death (disambiguation).

Duroc, more commonly known as Death, was a mysterious being and a figure in legends. It was present to Suzie Costello and Owen Harper in the afterlife, and was believed to be a personification of death. Owen stated that its name means "hunger".

Biography
Duroc was both worshipped and feared by Weevils. Once in 1479, it manifested itself in Cardiff after a girl named Faith was brought back to life with the resurrection gauntlet. Duroc killed twelve people, but Faith managed to stop it before it could collect a thirteenth victim, which would have enabled it to enter the universe completely. (During this time, contemporary chroniclers also recorded the presence of Weevils, which seemed to have inspired imagery of the Grim Reaper.) In the early 21st century, Duroc used the newly-resurrected Owen Harper as a gateway into the Universe, and possessed him repeatedly. While doing so, it repeated "I shall walk the earth and my hunger will know no bounds" in a strange language.

Eventually, Duroc fully possessed Owen's body and crossed into the physical universe. Outside of Owen's body, Duroc had a physical form; a human skeleton shrouded in grey vapour. It travelled to St Helen's Hospital and began killing and collecting the souls of the staff and patients that Torchwood failed to evacuate from the hospital in time. It claimed twelve of the thirteen souls it needed so it could fully enter the universe, but before it could claim a thirteenth soul, Owen used faith to literally fight off Duroc and dissipate its energy, sending it back to the darkness. (TV: Dead Man Walking)