DeathPuss

DeathPuss is the slash ship between Death and Puss in Boots from the Puss in Boots fandom.

Canon
Death and Puss are canonically natural enemies with a mutual respect towards one another.

In canon, Death is depicted as an intimidating force of nature, the grim reaper himself. He is driven by his own anger towards Puss In Boots, the protagonist, after the hero wastes 8 of his 9 lives without any consideration towards his own mortality and the concept of death itself.

Through out the story, Death hunts Puss down, consistently instilling fear and anxiety into him that drives him on his journey to wishing back the lives he lost in order to "avoid" death and remain a legendary hero using the help of The Wishing Star.

However, Death himself does not take lightly to this, and makes an effort to take Puss' life numerous times until Puss is forced to realize the value of his own mortality and earn Death's respect by fighting for his life and finally accepting him as an undeniable fate that he cannot overcome.

Moments
''' The Bar. '''

Puss first encounters Death inside of an empty bar while bantering about not wanting to "retire" after losing 8 of his lives.

Death enters the scene with an ominous whistle that catches Puss' attention, until he sees Death sitting next to him at the bar counter. Death greets him with an eerie but respectful attitude, making an effort to compliment Puss' attire and even asking for his autograph on a wanted poster. Puss, however, takes discomfort from his presence, sensing the off-putting energy that Death puts off.

Puss automatically assumes Death is a bounty hunter when Death shows off his wanted poster, and the feline hero quickly challenges him to a fight, though Death is unprovoked by his efforts. It is not until Puss attempts to physically attack him does Death react aggressively, and he pushes Puss back with ease, even managing to cut Puss' forehead for the first time, leaving Puss stunned.

Upon defeating him, Death mockingly tells Puss to "pick up" his weapon, and Puss is filled with immense fear and reluctancy. The hero runs from the fight, abandoning his sword, and Death pursues him with a calm anticipation, even after Puss escapes the bar and leaves town.

 The Cave of Lost Souls 

Puss' fourth encounter with Death takes place inside of a location called "The Cave of Lost Souls".

During his journey to The Wishing Star, Puss becomes trapped inside of a cave that puts him face-to-face with all of his past lives instilled inside of crystals. He quickly learns how lonesome his life was, and how selfish he use to be after his lives attempt to convince him to abandon his friends and seek out The Wishing Star for himself in order to go back to being a lone hero.

Puss proceeds to attempt to leave the cave, not wanting to bother further with his lives, but is quickly stopped when Death enters the scene, re-igniting his fear.

Through-out this scene, Death begins to reveal to Puss his motives behind his aggression, emphasizing his power by smashing each crystal that represents Puss' lives. He tells Puss that he was always around to watch him lose every "frivolous" life he had, showing his proof by displaying 8 carved marks of Puss' lives on one of his sickles. Because of this, Puss realizes who he is, and Death confirms his suspicions by finally telling him that he is "death, straight up."

Death tells Puss he has come for him, but Puss responds with confusion, acknowledging that it is not his time to die yet. Death takes his concerns with amusement and confesses that he never liked the idea of cats having 9 lives. However, his prime source of bitterness is caused by the reality that Puss never valued "any" of his lives to begin with. Death believes he is doing a favor by wanting to kill Puss off early, having no faith that Puss will value his final life.

Puss runs away from him, barely managing to escape his grasp, until he is left running from his friends and directly to The Wishing Star where he decides to make his wish to have 9 lives again.

 The Final Battle 

Puss' fifth, and final encounter with Death takes place on top of The Wishing Star.

After fighting against Goldilocks and The Three Bears and Big Jack Horner to keep his chance to wish, Puss gains wise insight from his friend Perrito about how special a life can be. Perrito tells him that one life can be enough, but before Puss is able to make a decision, everyone including himself are stopped by the familiar sound of whistling.

Puss fearfully looks in the direction of Death, who strolls into the scene, sickles ready for action. Puss momentarily responds to Perrito's confusion towards this new opponent, saying "He is here for me".

Without any warning, Death uses his sickles to create a powerful barrier of flames, leaving Puss trapped and isolated from the help of his friends. Terrified, he looks at The Wishing Star map, seeming to debate whether he wants to wish for his lives back or not.

Death calls out his cowardice, telling him to fight. He throws Puss his sword, telling him to "pick it up" the same way he did in their first battle. Puss proceeds to remember all of his experiences through out his journey to The Wishing Star, only thinking about his friends and the love they shared with him for the first time in many years. It is in this moment that he realizes his life is worth fighting for, and that he does not have to live alone and stuck in his lonesome "Legendary" ways.

Death questions if his lives are "flashing before his eyes", but Puss confidently denies it, telling him that "just one" is all he saw. He has decided that he is tired of running for his life and proceeds to face Death head on, weapon in hand, much to Death's excitement.

The two proceed to fight, clashing blades and dodging one another. However, as the battle intensifies, Puss loses his sword once again, causing himself to be left seemingly defenseless and giving Death the advantage. But, just when all hope seems lost, Puss pulls out his "gatito blade", a newly acquired gift from his close friend, Kitty, which allows him to deflect a critical attack from Death just in time.

With a new determination, Puss manages to regain his sword and fight earnestly against Death with both of his weapons at the same time. For the first time, Death is pushed back, and Puss finally gains advantage over the wolf.

He kicks Death down, causing him to lose his sickles and fall back, putting distance between themselves. Then, in a show of true bravery, Puss gives Death one of his sickles back, telling him to "Pick it up". He then tells Death once and for all that he knows he can never defeat him, but that will not stop him from fighting for his life.

Fanon
Despite the two being enemies and the fact that Death wanted to kill Puss for wasting eight of his nine lives, it hasn't stopped the idea of shipping them together. Even though not everyone is fund of "Hero x Villain" or "Cat x Dog" ships, the idea isn't something new and are sometimes seen as creak ships.

There are theories that Death's is able to take on many forms and that his wolf form is simply due to Puss being a cat. Making sense that he would want to appear before Puss as member of the canine family, to ensure that Puss does fear him and what he brings. After Death decided to not end Puss, once the feline hero assured Death that he will take care of his remaining life, and the way Death told Puss that they'll meet again, it got people to wonder if Puss would welcome Death as a friend after he lives his life to the fullest. Similar to the youngest Deathly Hollows brother of the Tale of the Three Bothers from Harry Potter.

On AO3, DeathPuss is the most written ship for Death and the second most written for Puss. It is also the second most written ship in the Puss in Boots (DreamWorks Movies) and the Shrek (Movies) tags.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION