The Gods of Life and Death are characters featured in Legend of the Three Caballeros. They are two deities who live in the mystical realm of the Valley of the Thirteen Heavens in Mexico. They are voiced by Grey DeLisle and Eric Bauza respectively.
Background[]
According to legend, the Gods of Life and Death choose mortals to fight for them in at the Arena of Champions within a three-round match, so that there can be a winner of the match, where it is known that one survivor will win and the other one will fall. According to them, it is explained that the battle between life and death is an ancient tradition (also a symbolic tradition). Whenever the third round ends in the Arena of Champions, the surviving contender is declared the winner who survives while the one who loses will fall, much to Xandra's worry about the match being dangerous to Panchito.
Although seen in disguised forms (consisting of the Beautiful Chicken and the Handsome Gaucho), their true forms do not appear until the end of the episode where they reveal their true forms. The Handsome Gaucho wears a purple gaucho outfit as his name suggests with skull patterns all over him and later at the end of the episode, he is revealed to be a skeleton deity to represent himself as the God of Death, though he shows an interest to Xandra who mistakens her for his interest. The Beautiful Chicken is a green anthropomorphic bird in a red dress with yellow and blue patterns all over her. Though she shows an interest with José Carioca, she doesn't speak much. Later, she is also revealed to be a snake deity to represent herself as the Goddess of Life.
Role in the series[]
In "Mexico à Go-Go", Xandra and the Caballeros arrive at the Temple of the Sun where the Handsome Gaucho (as a hooded figure) then warns the Caballeros and Xandra that the Temple of the Sun has only two exits: life or death as the contest of fates will decide who will survive and who will fall. After Donald thanks him for advice, he then warns the Caballeros and Xandra that he will be watching them as the group arrives in the Valley of the Thirteen Heavens.
During a conversation with José, Xandra then discusses with him about Panchito being treated as the messenger of the God of Life to which the Beautiful Chicken appears and offers José to dance with her. Later, Xandra then thinks to herself that she is not the only one seduced by the nonsense about Panchito to which the hooded figure arrives where he reveals himself as the Handsome Gaucho where he dances with her. José then shows the Beautiful Chicken about doing magic tricks with his thumb while Panchito is signing autographs to a group of fan girls who are all named "Chica". Xandra then later shares her story with the Handsome Gaucho about her encounter with the seven-headed Hydra to which as he explains to her that this relationship has to end. Later, the priestess then tells the crowd that is is time for the ceremony where it is explained that the messenger of life sent by the God of Life has to deal with the messenger of death sent by the God of Death who is Baron Von Sheldgoose assisted by Felldrake and Leopold the Horrible.
During a match at the Arena of Champions, Xandra sees the Handsome Gaucho and the Beautiful Chicken watching the match to which as Xandra sits next to the two, the Gaucho explains to Xandra that the battle between life and death is an ancient tradition (also a symbolic tradition). the Handsome Gaucho explains that the gods of life and death are immortal as they choose mortals to fight for them so that there can be a winner where he explains to her that one will live and one will fall, warning Xandra that the wrestler who loses will die. Xandra feels worried about Panchito's fate after listening to what the Gaucho told her; Xandra then arrives at the ring and warns Panchito that this match is being used as a fight to the death where one survivor will live and the other one will fall. In a plan to avoid finishing off Sheldgoose so that all wrestlers would survive, José, Donald, Xandra, Felldrake, and Leopold also join in the battle as the heroes and villains fight against each other during the tournament. As Xandra, the Caballeros, Sheldgoose, Felldrake, and Leopold are still fighting, the third round ends as the brawl is halted. The Handsome Gaucho approaches Xandra who asks her that he wants a fair fight at once. Suddenly the Handsome Gaucho reveals himself as a skeleton deity who represents himself as the God of Death. As the spectators see the God of Death in the ring, they run away in fear upon seeing the skeleton deity.
As the spectators escape, the God of Death introduces himself to Xandra. He then explains to Sheldgoose that he brought a foreign object into the ring during a wrestling match (which is against the rules), to which Sheldgoose is disqualified from the match. He also explains Panchito that he brought in his allies to help him win the match (also against the rules) as Panchito is also disqualified. Panchito asks the skeleton deity to know that if both competitors are disqualified so that both can return home, to which he explains to Panchito that the competitors do not return home. He then explains to both of them that they broke the rules, resulting in Panchito and Sheldgoose losing the match. It is explained that the competitors who break the rules during the match lose and receive a penalty, which is death. As a result, José, Panchito, Donald, Sheldgoose, Felldrake, and Leopold receive their punishment for their disqualification.
Xandra alone faces the God of Death who explains to her that there is no room for immortals in the afterlife. He then calls the Beautiful Chicken who then reveals herself as a snake deity representing herself as the Goddess of Life. The skeleton deity then explains to the snake deity that she won again fair and square just as the Gods of Life and Death both leave the arena. Xandra is then left in the empty arena alone, much to her frustration.
By the events of "Mt. Fuji Whiz", José, Panchito, Donald, Sheldgoose, Felldrake, and Leopold are sent to the Underworld by the God of Death after being disqualified from the wrestling match. They attempt to find ways to return to the living world before it is too late. The Caballeros manage to survive and return to the real world in time, followed by Sheldgoose, Felldrake, and Leopold who are later fired by Devil Donald for being bad employees in the Underworld, sending the three back to the real world (the three also manage to survive).
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- The Beautiful Chicken's appearance (green skin and red dress) is akin to that of a quetzal, a type of bird part of the Pharomachrus genus found in cloud forests in Mexico and other neotropical regions of Central and South America. Ironically, when she is revealed to be a snake deity with feathers on her head, she almost resembles a feathered serpent (specifically some types of feathered serpents such as Quetzalcoatl and Kukulkan).
- The God of Death revealing his true form appears to have a striking resemblance to Mictlāntēcutli, one of the most prominent deities associated with death in Mesoamerican folklore.
