La Muerte's History
La Muerte is a supporting character in The Book of Life.
She first entered the plot of the film when she and her husband Xibalba made a bet concerning which of the mortals, Manolo Sanchez or Joaquín Mondragon would marry Maria Posada.
Despite being as old and ancient as time itself, La Muerte retains her vision of youth and radiant beauty. She is made entirely of white sugar candy with knee-length black licorice hair and multi-colored glowing eyes and with her aqua eyeshadow that are in shades of gold and red. She wears a red dress decorated with cempasuchil (Mexican marigold flowers) all over her dress and marigold flowers with lit white wax candles at the hem of her dress.
She also wears an extremely large, wide-brimmed sombrero bedecked with more lit candles and marigolds (her favorite flower), small skulls, pink-plumed, curly, swirly feathers and palm leaves. She also wears a circular gold locket on a choker.
La Muerte is a kind, truthful, sweet & generous goddess whose belief in the goodness and pureness of mortal-kind stems from her own heart, as well as from that of the departed and deceased mortal people who are now her citizens and subjects. She cares for everyone and anyone, no matter who they are, and will assist anyone who is need of her help, believing humankind to be completely pure. While La Muerte is very forgiving towards those who truly want to repent, she is also well known for her weakness for wagers. The only known bad side to her is when someone (i.e. Xibalba) cheats in wagers and bets, making her angry despite her sweet disposition.
La Muerte and her husband, Xibalba, have been estranged for over a thousand years. Due to having a previous bet, in which Xibalba cheated, she rules the Land of the Remembered, while he rules the bleak Land of the Forgotten. Upon arriving at San Angel together to observe The Day of the Dead festivites, La Muerte remarks that Xibalba's heart has become as dark and cold as the land he now rules. The two have different ways of valuing human beings, as showed when La Muerte stops Xibalba from 'taking' an old man's life. When Xibalba begs for her to trade lands with him, LaMuerte playfully teases and scolds Xibalba reminding him that he is down there by his own doing. She also says that he "is not the man [she] fell in love with all those centuries ago."
Hoping to distract his wife and make a play for the Land of the Living, Xibalba suggests they make another wager. La Muerte is enraged at first, but accepts the idea of a betting game. This leads them to finding Manolo, Joaquin, and Maria playing together. This leads to La Muerte choosing Manolo as her champion and blessing him to always have a good and pure heart. As part of the bet, La Muerte makes her husband promise not to interfere with the affairs of man should he lose the wager. Xibalba agrees and the wager is set.
La Muerte reappears on the day Maria returns to town at the bullfighting arena where she slaps Xibalba for staring at Maria and cheers for Manolo when he appears in the arena. She appears after the fight when Manolo sings and Maria hears his anguished song, observing that the mortal girl was moved by Manolo's words. La Muerte appears again, when Manolo serenades Maria on her balcony.
She is not seen again until Manolo, along with his mother and grandfather, reach the Land of the Forgotten to tell her that Xibalba cheated in their wager. Upon learning of this, La Muerte roars in anger. Xibalba appears, thinking his wife wishes to see him and reconcile. Instead he sees Manolo and his relatives along with his infuriated wife. Learning about Xibalba's whole scheme involving the two-headed snake staff, and the Medal of Everlasting Life, La Muerte, along with Carmen and Manolo, demand Xibalba assist in bringing Manolo back to life. When he refuses, La Muerte tries to persuade him by calling him "Balby", but when he still refuses she becomes angered until Manolo suggests the alternative of his own bet. Offering up the right to give the Land of the Forgotten to her husband, La Muerte convinces Xibalba to give Manolo a fair chance.
La Muerte watches as Manolo meets his worst fear in the bull arena, and is happy to see him emerge victorious, as is the Candle Maker, and, to some extent, Xibalba. The three of them then give Manolo his life back. Later, the three of them use their powers on The Day of the Dead to bring Manolo's deceased family back to help defend the town. After the town is saved and the Medal returned, La Muerte and Xibalba reconcile on the top of the church.
Back in the present day, the tour guide Mary Beth finishes her story and then leads the detention children back out to their bus. Waving goodbye, and saying one of the names of the youngest girl the guide reveals herself to have been La Muerte the entire time with the intention of teaching those children something about living and life.
