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The Endless (Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium) are a group of beings who embody various aspects of the universe in the DC comic book series The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman. They have existed since the dawn of time and are thought to be some of the most powerful (or at least influential) beings in the Sandman universe, and play a central role throughout the series, Dream being the main protagonist.
The Endless are a dysfunctional family of seven siblings. In their commonest forms, they all have white skin (though Destruction, Delirium and Destiny tend to be much less pale) and most have black hair, but their appearances and personalities vary wildly beyond that. They have some degree of control over the concepts they represent, but, like the gods of Sandman, they are also shaped and influenced by the subconscious expectations and beliefs of mankind. In particular, Dream's appearance varies a great deal based on who is observing him.
Functions and domains
The Endless spend most of their time fulfilling their functions: in Death's case, by infusing life in newborns and leading the souls of the dead away to their destinations; in Dream's case, by overseeing the Dreaming and regulating dreams and inspiration; and so on. However, 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, and one of the Endless, Destruction (often called "The Prodigal"), abandoned his duties altogether. When this happens, apparently that aspect of existence just becomes totally random and arbitrary, rather than being supervised by any individual. However, if an Endless dies, he or she will be replaced by another individual assuming the same role.
Each of the Endless has a realm, a place of uncertain location, geography, geometry and physics in which they are absolutely sovereign. The Endless are generally uncomfortable in each other's realms, and do not travel between them unless they absolutely have to. Death is the exception, as she goes wherever she needs to. Within their realm, each member of the Endless has a gallery. In the gallery hang picture frames containing symbols of the other Endless, or sigils. Holding one of the sigils and calling for the one it represents is a way for the Endless to contact each other. Destiny is also able to call his siblings with his gallery of paintings of each of them.
It has been speculated within the series that, in addition to overseeing their own sphere of influence, the Endless also define the opposite of the concepts they represent. This dualistic aspect of the Endless has been confirmed at least in the case of Death, who not only ends lives but also begins them. It has also been supported by Destruction's interest (though perhaps not skill) in many creative pastimes, including art, poetry and cooking, though this may be a recent attempt on Destruction's part to rebel against his own nature rather than an inherent part of his role and function.
If this trait extends to the other Endless as well, then Delirium may also define sanity, Despair hope, Desire fulfillment (or perhaps contempt or apathy or hate), Destiny freedom, and Dream reality. (Despair and Desire have also been noted as opposites, since to desire something by nature means that it is unobtainable, and thus despair is born.) This belief rests on a notion of Gaiman's that contrast and limitations are necessary for anything to be considered valuable: without death, life's beauty would be ignored and squandered; without despair, happiness (or hope) would be meaningless; without madness, there would be no sanity to speak of.
Origin
The origin and exact nature of the Endless is unknown, and few hints are ever given in the series as to exactly why the Endless exist.
The Endless are as old as the concepts that they represent, and although exact ages for any of them are unavailable (only relative ones are), they are known to have at least existed for far longer than life on earth have. This is possible because of the existence of many advanced alien civilizations from long before the creation of the earth in the Sandman's universe (and DC Comics continuity in general) that many advanced alien civilizations existed long before the earth did.
This is shown in Sandman #5 "Passengers" when Dream is recognized by the Martian Manhunter as the dream god on ancient Mars, as well as as in the Endless Nights chapter "Dream: The Heart of the Star", which takes place before the Sun's planets have "awakened" with life.
One of the few references to any sort of parentage for the Endless is in The Sandman #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." The significance of the Necropolis to the Endless remains one of the largest mysteries of the series.
The Endless
The Endless are not known to have names (except in the case of Dream, who collects them). They are instead known by their respective function, but it's implied that their function needn't define them. The Endless are, in order of age (though Desire and Despair are twins):
- Destiny: A blind man dressed in grey or brown robes who carries a large book with him. The book is chained to him, or he is chained to the book, and within the book is written the entire sum of existence, past, present and future. Destiny seems the most possessed by his function and responsiblities of any of the Endless, rarely demonstrating much personality, and he more often observes events than causes them. His symbol is his book.
- Death: A spunky, attractive, level-headed goth girl wearing an ankh (representing life) and often marked with a spiral Eye of Horus tattoo under one of her eyes. She prefers to dress and act casually, and is on better terms with Dream than any of the other Endless. Her symbol is the ankh.
- Dream:
- Dream (Morpheus): A tall, pale man with wild dark blue-black hair who tends to dress in a shapeless purple cloak. His eyes are pools of shadows with glimmers of light within. He is known by many names, most commonly "Morpheus." He has a long history of insensitivity towards others, and throughout The Sandman he must come to deal with his past cruelties. He is very concerned with fulfilling his responsibilities. His symbol is his dream-helm. He eventually died.
- Dream (Daniel): Morpheus' succesor and a similarly tall, pale man but with white hair rather than black, also preferring to dress in a white outfit, that unlike Morpheus' remains the same. Like Morpheus his eyes are formed by shadows with a glimmer of light in their center. Before his installment as the new Dream at the end of The Sandman, he was a young boy named Daniel, son to Hector Hall and Lyta Trevor-Hall. He is generally softer in his approach than Morpheus. Daniel carries an emerald eagle stone, although his symbol remains the same (that of the dream-helm).
- Destruction: A very large, robust man with red hair and a beard in the past, though he has none presently. He abandoned his responsibilities as an Endless several hundred years ago, causing much conflict between him and his siblings. He has a passion for creative and constructive endeavors, but little talent. His symbol is the sword. There is some question as to whether or not he is still Destruction after abandoning his realm, and he is most often referred to as "the Prodigal" or "Brother."
- Desire: A beautiful, slim, androgynous, and pale Endless with a cruel streak and a long-standing rivalry with Dream, Desire has no definite gender. Her/his symbol is a heart shape. Although Desire is Despair's twin, in a sense she/he is older than Despair; this specific incarnation of Despair is the youngest of the Endless due to the original Despair's death under unknown circumstances.
- Despair: An obese, short, nude, greyish Endless with irregularly-shaped teeth and a quietly intelligent, dully cold manner. She has a habit of carving her flesh with a hooked ring that she wears. This hooked ring is also her symbol. In her first form, Despair had many of the physical qualities as her latter form, but her skin was a healthier fleshy color tattooed with intricate red lines. She was also portrayed as much more talkative than her current incarnation.
- Delirium: A young girl whose form changes the most frequently of any of the Endless, based on the random fluctuations of her temperament. She tends to have wild and colorful hair and eccentric, mismatched clothes. Her only permanent defining characteristic is that one of her eyes is green and the other blue, but even those sometimes switch between left and right, or, if she absolutely has to become as orderly as possible, become the same color. She was once Delight, but some traumatic event caused her to shift into her current role. Her symbol is an abstract, shapeless blob of colors.
See also
"Endless (comics)"