Endless (comics)

The Endless

The Endless, as depicted on promotional artwork for The Sandman: Endless Nights (clockwise, from left): Death, Destiny, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Delirium, and Despair. Art by Frank Quitely
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance The Sandman (vol. 2) #1 (January 1989).
Created by Neil Gaiman
In-story information
Member(s) Destiny
Death
Dream
Destruction
Desire
Despair
Delirium

The Endless (Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium) are a group of fictional beings appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics imprint Vertigo. The characters embody powerful forces or aspects of the universe in the comic book series The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman. They have existed since the dawn of time and are thought to be among the most powerful beings in the universe.[1] They are distinct from and supposedly more powerful than most gods. Dream is the protagonist of The Sandman series, but all of the Endless play major roles.

The Endless are a somewhat dysfunctional family of seven siblings. They may appear in different forms, but usually have light skin and black hair, with the exception of redheads Destruction and Delirium. Their appearance can change to fit the expectations of others. When asked by Marco Polo if he is always so pale, Dream[2] replies, "That depends on who's watching."

Function and domains

The Endless spend most of their time fulfilling their functions as embodiments of natural forces. For example, Death leads the souls of the dead away from the realm of the living, while Dream oversees the realm of dreams and imagination ("The Dreaming") and regulates dreams and inspiration. One notable facet of their depiction is that none of them are "representations" or "personifications" of their function, they simply are their function; as Sto-Oa says of Death in Endless Nights, "She is Death, just as he is Dream, and that one is Desire." In The Sandman (vol. 2) #48, Destruction gives a further description of the Endless:

"The Endless are merely patterns. The Endless are ideas. The Endless are wave functions. The Endless are repeating motifs. The Endless are echoes of darkness, and nothing more... And even our existences are brief and bounded. None of us will last longer than this version of the Universe."

Some of the Endless are more dedicated to their tasks than others. The younger Endless, especially Desire, are known to play games with mortal lives. Destruction, often called "The Prodigal", abandoned his duties altogether. If one of the Endless is destroyed, then he or she will be replaced by another aspect of their role, but this does not occur if they are simply absent or inactive. In such cases, the aspect of existence supervised by that member of the Endless becomes more random and chaotic. During this time the Universe may attempt to replace that member by putting some of their essence within a mortal, as it did with Wesley Dodds, who received a fraction of Dream's soul while Dream was imprisoned.

Each of the Endless has a realm in which they are absolutely sovereign. Within their realm, each member of the Endless has a gallery containing symbols, or sigils, of the other Endless. The Endless may contact each other by holding the appropriate sigil and calling for that member of the Endless. Destiny is also able to call his siblings by using his gallery of portraits.

In addition to overseeing their own sphere of influence, the Endless also help to define their own opposites. This dualistic aspect of the Endless has been confirmed in the case of Death, who is present at the beginning as well as the end of every life. Destruction has an interest in creative pastimes, including art, poetry and cooking. Dream seems to have some power to shape reality, as seen in The Sandman (vol. 2) #18, A Dream of a Thousand Cats, in which a large number of entities, dreaming of an alternate reality, create said reality. Also, Delirium has some kind of strange logic that only makes sense to her, but that allows her to understand things that others do not.

In the Sandman Overture, it was revealed that under some conditions, some Endless can fool other Endless by trickery. Indeed, Desire was capable of posing as an aspect of Dream (The Dream Of Cats) and create a supposed Dream Vessel. It was convincing enough to fool both Destiny and Dream (but not Delirium).

The exact limits of the powers the Endless may/must use are subject to debate - but are set by rules (such as Dream being forbidden to kill dreamers, unless they become a vortex - in which case, killing becomes an obligation). It is unknown if the Endless are allowed/capable/supposed to use their powers on those more powerful or more ancient than them.

Origin

The origin and exact nature of the Endless is unknown. Few hints are ever given in the series as to exactly why the Endless exist. They seem to be natural forces. They have at times been described as "a creation of the consciousness of living beings".[1]

The Endless are as old as the concepts that they represent. The Endless are said to be older than the fairyfolk, gods, and other supernatural beings. Their exact ages in years are unknown, but they are known to have existed long before life on Earth; in Brief Lives, Destruction says that he has performed his duties—not counting the previous three centuries—for 10 billion years.

In The Sandman (vol. 2) #5, "Passengers", Dream is recognized by the Martian Manhunter as the dream god on ancient Mars, as well as in the Endless Nights chapter "Dream: The Heart of the Star", which takes place before our Sun's planets have "awakened" with life. Dream states in The Sandman (vol. 2) #16 that once another world was lost to a vortex. Death has claimed that she was there when the first living thing stirred, and Destiny has said that Dream gave the Earth itself the fond dream of being able to support life. Dream, according to Abel, was created shortly after Death, as living things are born before they can dream.

One of the few references to any sort of parentage for the Endless is in The Sandman (vol. 2) #70, where some sentience in the Necropolis Litharge that guards the symbols of each of the Endless wails "like a mother sorrowing for her departed child." In The Sandman: Overture #5, it is revealed that the father of the Endless is Time, their mother is Night.

The Endless

The Endless are not known to have proper names, although Dream has a habit of collecting different names for himself. They are each known by their respective function.

False Endless

Several entities have falsely claimed to be members of the Endless. Dread of the Endless attempted to conquer the Dreaming in the comic of the same name. She presented herself as Dream's sister. In a Lucifer storyline, Titans Gyges and Garamas identified themselves as Duplicity and Deceit in an attempt to gain control of the Heart of the Dreaming.

References

  1. 1 2 Jimenez, Phil (2008), "Endless, The", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 115, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017
  2. The Sandman Vol.6: Fables & Reflections, p.145, Vertigo, ISBN 9781563891052
  3. Sandman: The Wake
  4. Gaiman, Neil (2014), The Sandman Overture #3

Other sources

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