In [one of the] biblical legend[s]:
War uses a sword
Death uses a scythe
Famine uses a scale (flail)
Pestilence uses a bow
In B6:
War (Szuriel) uses a sword
Death (Charon) uses a staff
Famine (Trelmarixian) uses natural weapons (favored weapon being spiked gauntlet)
Pestilence (Apollyon) uses a scythe... that can transform into a bow
So... what am I missing here??? Why the drastic change of arms for 2 of the Horsemen? (2.5 if you count the scythe for Pestilence)
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Since when were the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse Archdaemon's from the plane of Abaddon?
The Pathfinder 4 horseman are inspired by, not copies of.
Well Charon is the barge man that sails you down the river styx and I believe he uses a punt in a lot of the art.
Staff is the closest correlation to a punt to my mind. Pahtinfder has already done the grim reaper with a scythe too.
Can't speak for Trelmarixian.
The weapons described for the Biblical Four Horsemen in pop culture - sword, scythe, flail, bow - are pretty much just that, pop culture references.
In the Bible the guy on the white horse is either Conquest, Pestilence, a bunch of other concepts, or even Christ himself, and he carries a bow.
The Red Horse guy is pretty much always War, and he carries a sword.
The Black Horse rider is also pretty much always described the same way, as Famine, with the scales he carries being used to weigh food. Though apparently they are also sometimes referred to as scales used to weigh taxes.
The Pale Horseman is the only one actually named - Death of course - and he is actually the only one not carrying anything. The scythe is completely an invention of Medieval fanfiction writers.
I'm just waiting for the other 4 horsemen to be published.
Can't wait to put my players up against Really Cool People.
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In the Bible the guy on the white horse is either Conquest, Pestilence, a bunch of other concepts, or even Christ himself, and he carries a bow.
I've never heard the interpretation that it was Christ, at least not in any significant capacity. And it wouldn't make sense given that he was the one busy opening the seven seals that summoned the four in the first place. Conquest is the traditional reading, Pestilence is the popular one. Not sure exactly how or why Pestilence got associated with him. I mean, plague/pestilence is mentioned in chapter 6 verse 7, but that seems to be referring to Death and his pal Hades more than anything else. I suppose if folks assumed that that passage referred to the four as a whole (sword for the red rider, famine for the black rider, plague for the white rider, and...just beasts of the earth for Death) that would make sense...though it kinda robs Death of his schtick.
EDUT: Did a little digging, because my curiosity was piqued. So, during the plague years in Europe, Death became associated with the bow, shooting darts of plague here and there (eventually the bow would be replaced with the scythe in the popular consciousness). But, if the associations between now and plague were strong, they could be retroactively applied to the bowman among the riders.
Also, looked up the the stuff about the white rider being Christ. Seems like some early biblical scholars played around with the idea, mostly due to the later appearance of Christ as a white rider later in the book, but it doesn't seems to have been terribly popular. Other interpretations include Victory and the Holy Spirit itself. Again, though, Conquest is the consensus.