Which Heroes Struggle With Controlling A Demonic Scythe In Fiction?

Maka Albarn from 'Soul Eater' deserves a huge mention here, even though her scythe, Soul Evans, is her weapon partner, not a demonic entity itself. The entire premise is about her preventing him from becoming a 'kishin' or demon weapon by resonating with his soul and maintaining their wavelength. The struggle is mutual—Soul fights his own demonic impulses as a weapon who could devour human souls, and Maka's purity and willpower are the only things keeping him from tipping over. It's a co-dependent control issue, which flips the script on the 'hero vs. evil weapon' dynamic. They have to control the demonic aspect together, making it a partnership struggle rather than a solo one.

It's interesting how this theme often gets tied to reapers or death-associated characters. The scythe as a tool of harvest naturally leans into demonic or corrupting imagery because it's already a symbol of ending life. When a hero uses one, the story almost always forces them to confront the moral weight of that symbolism. Does wielding it make them an agent of death, even if they fight for good? That philosophical struggle is usually wrapped up in the literal difficulty of controlling the weapon's power or hunger. You see it less in traditional high fantasy and more in anime-inspired media and serialized web fiction, where blending weapon personas with the wielder's psyche is a common narrative device.

Riven from 'League of Legends' lore has a broken blade, not a scythe, but the archetype is similar—a warrior haunted by their weapon's past and its connection to a dark cause. Actually, thinking about it, MORTIS from 'Brawl Stars' is a literal grim reaper struggling with his own existence, though it's more humorous. The demonic scythe wielder trope is everywhere if you look at indie games and webtoons. There's this one called 'Kill the Dragon' or something where the lead is a regressor bound to a scythe that feeds on dragon hearts, and it constantly whispers to him. The control struggle is the main plot driver.

Most of the obvious answers are from anime and games, but this concept pops up in darker fantasy novels too. There's a character in one of Trudi Canavan's later 'Magician' books, I think, who bonds with a scythe-like weapon forged from a demon's essence. The struggle is less about loud, angry resistance and more about a slow, chilling erosion of their personality and memories. Every time they tap into its power, they forget a piece of their past. That's a terrifying form of 'control'—you might command the weapon in battle, but you're paying for it with your very identity. It's a subtler, psychological horror take on the idea.

I also feel like some versions of Death from the 'Discworld' series, while not a 'hero' in the traditional sense, grapple with the existential weight of his role. His scythe is just a tool, but the duty it represents is the thing he struggles to understand and sometimes rebels against. It's not a demonic struggle, but a cosmic one, which hits similar thematic notes about wielding a power fundamentally about endings. That might be a stretch for the prompt, but it's an adjacent interpretation that I find really compelling.

Yeah, Ruby and Maka are the big two. Honestly, I think the trope is a bit overdone now in web serials—every other 'system' or 'regressor' story has a protagonist looting some ancient cursed reaper weapon from a dungeon. The struggle becomes a stats game, not a character one. I prefer when the weapon itself has a personality, like Soul Evans, so the conflict is a dialogue, not just an internal willpower check. The demonic scythe is cool visually, but without that relational dynamic, it just feels like another power-up with a downside.

Straight off the top of my head, I'd say Ruby Rose from 'RWBY' is the most iconic modern example. She literally names her high-caliber sniper-scythe 'Crescent Rose,' and while it's not demonic in the traditional sense, the show's later lore heavily implies her Silver Eyes and connection to the God of Light create a thematic push-pull with more destructive forces. Her struggle isn't about the scythe being evil, but about wielding a weapon designed for reaping on a scale that matches her idealistic heroism. The scythe becomes an extension of her internal conflict between being a protector and a destroyer.

Another angle is Ragna the Bloodedge from the 'BlazBlue' series. His weapon, the 'Azure Grimoire,' isn't a scythe by default but can manifest as one, and it's intrinsically linked to the Boundary, a chaotic void-like entity. He spends the entire narrative battling the corrupting influence of this power and the 'Black Beast' within him. Controlling it is less about skill and more about not being consumed by its world-ending potential. It's a classic 'power too great for any one person' trope, with the scythe form representing that deadly, harvesting potential.

Then you have characters from light novels and webcomics, which play with this trope constantly. There's a whole subgenre where the protagonist gets bound to a sentient, cursed scythe that thirsts for souls, and their character arc is about resisting its bloodlust while using its power for justice. It's a physical manifestation of the 'deal with the devil' trope. The struggle isn't just technical; it's a daily moral and psychological war, which I find way more interesting than a simple weapon mastery plot.