Azrael is a personification of death appearing in the Biblical Book of Tobit and in the Qur'an. He is depicted as an angel under the command of God. In Islam, he is an archangel.

See Death (personification) for more information.

Azrael in fiction

In Terry Pratchett's novel Reaper Man, Death has a brief conversation with Azrael, who he addresses as "Lord" and who he is described to be an aspect of.

The novel Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman includes the Angel of Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who calls himself Azrael.

A number of fictional characters have been named after the angel Azrael, including a sorcerer's pet cat in The Smurfs, a recurring character in Batman comics (see Azrael (comics)), and a fallen angel in the movie Dogma (though that film gives the Loki-like character the name Azrael, and the Azrael-like character the name Loki). In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the chief human rebel against God is called Lord Asriel.

In Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed, Murata Azrael is the name of the leader for Blue Cosmos, an extremist group dedicated to eradicating genetically enhanced humans (the coordinators).

There is also a novel "Azrael" by the german author Wolfgang Hohlbein. Azrael is a codename for a special drug to enhance human skills for military purposes.