Monsieur Death was a personification of Death or the Grim Reaper. In September 1916, a soldier in the trenches of Verdun began praying with his rosary before going into battle. Another soldier told him that it would do no good, since Monsieur Death would take whom he wanted. The prayer soldier was killed in the charge, and his body, still clutching the rosary, fell into the trench near Indiana Jones.