Draft:Death (Puss in Boots)

Death, also known as the Wolf, is the overarching antagonist of the DreamWorks film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. He is the personification of death, who appears as a wolf in a black hooded cloak. During the events of the film, Death is intent on killing Puss in Boots because he wasted eight of his nine lives. Death has received positive reception by critics and been cited as a high-quality antagonist.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Puss, who recently discovered that he is down to his last life, goes down to the bar to relax. However, his relaxation is interrupted by a whistling noise, coming from the Wolf, who appears and sits next to Puss. Believing that the Wolf is just another bounty hunter, Puss boasts that he will clearly defeat him. Puss then draws his sword, but the Wolf slaps it out of his hand. The two then fight, but the Wolf easily defeats Puss. The fight concludes when the Wolf knocks away Puss's sword, and Puss flees.

The Wolf reappears when Puss, Kitty Softpaws, and Perrito are fighting Jack Horner, and again at the battle near the river. The second reappearance causes Puss to run into the Cave of Lost Souls, where he encounters the Wolf again. The Wolf reveals his true identity as Death and explains that he has come to kill Puss to punish him for wasting eight of his nine lives. Death explains that he has deemed Puss undeserving of his last life after he wasted the first eight. Death then terrifies Puss and chases him out of the cave.

Shortly after, Death arrives on the Wishing Star to battle Puss. Death slashes the ground to summon a ring of fire, to prevent Puss from running again. Death returns Puss' sword, telling the cat to pick it up so they can end this. Puss then begins fighting Death.

Puss clashes with Death and finally he gets the upper hand and disarms his foe. Puss acknowledges that he could never truly defeat Death, but now he has something meaningful to live for and so will fight to keep his last life. Death curses in Spanish out of rage, berating himself for "playing with his food". Death tells the cat that he was here to kill "an arrogant little legend who thought he was immortal", but he doesn't see that anymore. Death then walks off with a newfound respect for Puss in Boots.

Reception
Aidan Kelley of Collider calls Death one of the best animated villains of all time, stating that he can evoke "legitimate fear and intimidation". Jimmy Henderson, also writing for Collider, noted how Death causing Puss to bleed showed how severe the situation was.