The Endless are a family of beings who appear in
American comic books published by
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
. The members of the family include
Death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
, Delirium, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Destruction, and
Dream
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
.
The Endless characters were created by
Neil Gaiman and first appeared in the comic book series
''The Sandman'' (1989–1996). They embody powerful forces, or aspects, of the
DC Universe
The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...
. They are depicted as among the most powerful beings in the DC Universe,
distinct from most gods, as gods are created by mortal belief. Dream is the
protagonist of ''The Sandman'' series, but all the Endless play major roles in it.
The Endless are a
dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such ...
of seven siblings. They appear in different forms but are most often depicted as having very white skin and black hair, with the exception of redheads Delirium and Destruction. Their appearance often changes to fit the expectations of those they meet or the situation they are in.
Function and domains
The Endless spend most of their time fulfilling their functions as embodiments of natural forces. For example,
Death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
leads the souls of the dead away from the realm of the living, while Dream oversees the realm of dreams, nightmares and imagination. 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
Destruction may refer to:
Concepts
* Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger
* Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism
* Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kin ...
gives a further description of the Endless:
"The Endless are merely patterns. The Endless are ideas. The Endless are wave function
A wave function in quantum physics is a mathematical description of the quantum state of an isolated quantum system. The wave function is a complex-valued probability amplitude, and the probabilities for the possible results of measurements ...
s. 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
The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development 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 they 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 sovereign. Within their realm, all members of the Endless have a gallery containing symbols, or
sigil
A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit. In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner ...
s, 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 summon his siblings by using his gallery of portraits, whether they want it or not (as seen in ''
The Sandman: Overture'').
In addition to overseeing their sphere of influence, the Endless also help to define their 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 and use some of their powers (either directly or due to some specific kind of logic). Indeed, Dream was capable of saving the dead Prez from Boss Smiley, while Death could not do it herself (this is because Dream is also The Prince of Stories – which allows him some control over the afterlife). Desire was capable of posing as an aspect of Dream (The Dream of Cats), creating a dream Vessel that was supposedly created by Dream. It was convincing enough to fool both Destiny and Dream (but not Delirium).
The exact limits of the powers the Endless may 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 capable to use their powers on those more powerful or more ancient than them; when at one point Dream heads into Hell to rescue a former lover of his, he admits that his power will allow him entrance, but that he does not know if he would be able to defeat
Lucifer
Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...
, who is a former archangel created by
The Presence (the DC comics analogue of God).
Origin
The Endless are as old as the concepts that they represent. The Endless are said to be older than the fairy folk, gods, angels 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
The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and designed by artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" ...
as the dream god on ancient
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
, as well as in the ''
Endless Nights'' chapter "Dream: The Heart of the Star", which takes place before our
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
'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 and their mother is Night. Night is accompanied by Dusk, who was described by illustrator J. H. Williams III as a "distant sister" to Dream although Neil Gaiman has said this was just J. H. William III hypothesizing and there is nothing in canon that says she is related to them. The script only calls her an attendant. ''The Sandman: Overture'' also reveals that Time and Night are not on friendly speaking terms.
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.
*:
The oldest of the Endless, Destiny appears as a blind man dressed in grey or brown robes (purple in earlier comics), carrying a large book, the Cosmic Log. 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 responsibilities of any of the Endless. He rarely demonstrates much personality. His sigil is his book. His speech appears as a regular word balloon with letters in italics. In his garden are paths souls walk along as they fulfill their lives. Destiny is the only sibling who did not originate in ''The Sandman''; he was created by
Marv Wolfman
Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's '' The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's ''The New Te ...
and
Bernie Wrightson
Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...
for ''
Weird Mystery Tales
''Weird Mystery Tales'' was a mystery horror comics anthology published by DC Comics from July–August 1972 to November 1975.
Publication history 100 Page Super Spectacular
The title ''Weird Mystery Tales'' was first used for '' DC 100 Page S ...
'' in 1972.
*
Death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
: Death appears as a level-headed young
Goth
A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were:
*Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history
*Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history
Goth or Goths may also refer to:
* Goth (surname) ...
woman. Her appearance was inspired by Utah-based performer Cinamon Hadley, a friend of illustrator Mike Dringenberg. The character wears a silver
ankh
Progressive ankylosis protein homolog (ANK ilosis H omolog) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ANKH'' gene.
This gene encodes a multipass transmembrane protein that is expressed in joints and other tissues and controls pyrophosphat ...
(representing the afterlife), which serves as her sigil. She has a marking similar to an
Eye of Horus around her right eye. Her personal realm/domain is the Sunless Lands. Death prefers to dress and act casually and is on better terms with Dream than any of the other Endless. Her speech is presented in regular letters in a regular balloon. She spends one day out of every century as a mortal, living and dying on Earth. She is by far the most pleasant of The Endless, being kind and personable to almost everyone; encountering her upon dying feels like "meeting an old friend". However, she is capable of intimidation: in "Season of Mists", she browbeat Desire into silence; and in "The Kindly Ones", she ordered The Furies to be silent so that she and Dream could speak.
*
Dream
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
:
**Dream (Morpheus): Portrayed as both lord and personification of all dreams and fictional stories. His face and physique are based on the amalgamation of
Neil Gaiman in his twenties,
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...
's frontman
Robert Smith, ballet dancer
Farukh Ruzimatov
Farukh Sadullayevich Ruzimatov (russian: Фару́х Садулла́евич Рузима́тов; born 26 June 1963) is an Uzbek-Russian ballet dancer. Since 2018, Ruzimatov has been artistic director of the ballet company at Navoi Theatre i ...
and
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
frontman
Peter Murphy. Journalists have listed Dream among the best comic book characters. Dream's usual appearance is as a tall, pale man with wild dark blue-black hair. He dresses in a shapeless cloak of "night" with "flames dancing in its folds". 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 sigil is his dream-helm, made from the spine and skull of a long-dead god. His personal realm/domain is called "The Dreaming". His word balloons have wavy edges and a black background outlined in white, with white lettering.
**Dream (): Morpheus' successor appears as a tall, pale young man with white hair and a white costume. Like Morpheus, his eyes are formed by shadows with a glimmer of light in their center. Before becoming the new Dream at the end of ''The Sandman'', he was a young boy named Daniel, which he later retains as a name. Daniel was gestated in dreams for two years, the child of
Lyta Trevor-Hall and the ghost of
Hector Hall
Hector Hall is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in DC Comics's '' Infinity, Inc.'', '' Sandman'' and '' JSA''. He has gone by the names Silver Scarab, Sandman, and Doctor Fate.
Publication history
Hector Hall first appeared in '' All ...
. He is generally softer in his approach than Morpheus. Daniel carries an emerald eagle stone, although his sigil remains the same (that of the dream-helm). His word balloons are similar to Morpheus', only with a white background and black lettering.
*: A very large, robust man with red hair, who sometimes appears bearded and sometimes shaven. Destruction abandoned his duties as one of the Endless three hundred years ago, causing much conflict between him and his siblings. He did so out of a refusal to be responsible for the scientific destruction following the enlightenment. Since abandoning his realm, the other Endless usually refer to him as "the Prodigal" or "Brother" rather than "Destruction". He has a passion for creative and constructive endeavors, but little talent. His sigil is a sword. His text is regular, in a balloon with a bold outline.
*: Desire is androgynous, capable of appearing as a man, a woman, neither, or possibly both (in the epilogue of ''The Sandman: Overture'', Despair refers to Desire as "sister-brother"; in ''Season of Mists'', Dream refers to Desire as “sibling”). Desire has a cruel streak and a long-standing rivalry with Dream, their relationship deteriorating eons ago after Desire caused Dream to fall in love with a woman who ultimately left him for another. Their sigil is a silver-tinted glass
heart shape and they live in a huge flesh-and-blood statue of themself called "The Threshold". Although Desire is Despair's twin, in a sense they are older than Despair. The current incarnation of Desire is the original one, while Despair is currently in her second incarnation. Desire's text is defined by a specific letter style in a normal balloon. In 2017, Gaiman stated that he decided to switch to using
singular they
Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'' and ''themselves'' (or ''themself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. It typically occurs with an unspecified antecedent, in sentenc ...
pronouns to refer to Desire, replacing his earlier use of "it" and "its".
*: Twin sister to Desire:
**The First Despair: In her first form, Despair had many of the same physical qualities as her later form, but taller and tattooed with intricate red lines. She was also much more talkative and self-assured than her later incarnation. She is occasionally mentioned in passing and is later depicted in ''
The Sandman: Endless Nights''. It is hinted that she may have been responsible for the destruction of the planet
Krypton
Krypton (from grc, κρυπτός, translit=kryptos 'the hidden one') is a chemical element with the symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas that occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere and is often ...
as a means to create the ultimate despair. It has been suggested that she was ''murdered'' and that the one responsible will suffer until the end of existence.
**The Second Despair: A short, obese woman with greyish skin and irregularly-shaped teeth. She is always naked. Despair has a cold, quietly intelligent manner. She has a habit of carving her flesh with a hooked ring that she wears, which is also her sigil. The second aspect is the one that appears throughout the main storyline. Despair's text is normal in a balloon with ragged-waved edges. She often associates with Desire but unlike Desire, she was fond of Destruction.
*: The youngest of the Endless, Delirium appears as a young girl whose form changes the most frequently of any of the Endless, based on the random fluctuations of her temperament. She has wild multicolored hair and eccentric, mismatched clothes. Her only permanent physical characteristic is that one of her eyes is emerald green (usually the right side) splattered with silver flecks and the other pale blue (usually the left side), but even those sometimes switch between left and right. Her
sigil
A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit. In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner ...
is an abstract, shapeless blob of colors. Her speech is portrayed in standard comic book block-caps, characterized by wavy, unpredictable orientation and a multi-colored
gradient
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the gr ...
background. She was once known as Delight, but some traumatic event (of which even Destiny does not know the particulars) caused her to change into her current role. Her sigil as Delight was a flower.
In other media
* The Endless appear in the TV adaptation of ''
The Sandman''. Dream, Death, Despair and Desire appear in the first season, portrayed by
Tom Sturridge
Thomas Sidney Jerome Sturridge is an English actor. His early films include ''Being Julia'' (2004), ''Like Minds'' (2006), and ''The Boat That Rocked'' (2009). He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in ...
,
Kirby Howell-Baptiste
Kirby Howell-Baptiste (born 7 February 1987) is a British actress. She has appeared as a series regular on ''Downward Dog'' (2017), '' Killing Eve'' (2018), '' Why Women Kill'' (2019), and '' The Sandman'' (2022). Her television appearances also ...
,
Donna Preston
Donna Preston (born 6 June 1986) is an English actress, comedian and writer, notable for appearances in ''Apocalypse Wow'', ''Hey Tracey!'' and ''Michael McIntyre's Big Show''. She appears as Despair in Neil Gaiman's '' The Sandman'' released on ...
and
Mason Alexander Park, respectively. Destiny, Delirium, and Destruction are mentioned in some episodes.
* Dream and Death also appear in
Joe Hill's graphic novel extended series ''
Locke and Key
''Locke & Key'' is an American comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, and published by IDW Publishing.
Plot summary
This plot is presented in chronological order. During the American Revolution, a group of ...
,'' in the
prequel story arc titled ''Hell & Gone.''
References
Sources
*
*
{{The Sandman
DC Comics deities
Fictional families
Mythology in DC Comics
The Sandman (comic book)
Characters created by Neil Gaiman
Comics characters introduced in 1989
DC Comics organizations
Comics about dreams