Summary
- Death is compassionate, greets humans at birth and death, understands humanity.
- Dream protects dreams, seeks redemption, questions his role among the Endless.
- Desire embodies lust, envy, plays cruel games, unsettles and challenges Dream.
The Sandman is one of the most beloved comic series of all time. Neil Gaiman's creative exploration of the different powers that work on humanity and how they interact not only with humankind as a whole, but with each other in their cosmic relationships is thoughtful, epic and, often, beautifully written.
As Netflix's second season of their adaptation releases and all seven of the Endless finally take their place on the big screen, fans who have not delved into the comics are likely to be a little left behind. Some of the bizarre attitudes to their work, strange appearances, and alliances are complex, sprawling over the millennia during which these siblings have loved and hated each other. Here are all seven of the Endless, explained for first-time watchers or those who haven't yet experienced the incredible comics.
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7 Death
The Kindly Face That Is The Last Any Mortal Sees
Death is the most compassionate of the Endless. She not only takes away life from those who die, but is also there to greet them at the moment they are born and will see every person twice to welcome them to the world and then see them off.
In her first appearance in the Sandman comic and TV show, 'The Sound of Her Wings,' Death shows how caring she is for humanity. She tells Dream that when the Universe dies she will "put up the chairs, turn off the lights, and lock the doors behind me when I leave." Compared with the other Endless, Death is sensible, and knows her responsibilities are important. In the comics, Death has an Eye of Horus painted under one eye, and lives one day as a mortal every century to better understand humanity.
6 Dream
The Embodiment Of Imagination And Aspiration
The Sandman himself has a long and tragic history in his role as protector of humanity's dreams. Those who dream pass into his realm, The Dreaming, where Morpheus rules entirely. He is one of the most meticulous in his responsibilities of all Endless. His duty is to shape both humankind's aspirations, and create characters who inhabit The Dreaming who visit the dreams and nightmares of others.
Dream is a tall, thin man who is startlingly pale. Since his imprisonment at the hands of Roderick Burgess, Dream's outlook changed. He began to seek redemption for some of his harshest reactions, most of which occurred as part of his many tragic romances. As Dream grows closer to humanity and relies more on the friendship of his older sibling, Death, he begins to question his role in the Endless and what the seven should stand for as a whole.
5 Desire
Lust And Attraction Made Divine
Often the villain of the stories in The Sandman, Desire is the embodiment of envy, need, and craving, and often meddles in the affairs of humans for their own entertainment. Considered by the other Endless to be cruel and brutal in the way that they enact their power, Desire has an unknown score to settle with Dream and uses their powers to doom Morpheus to plenty of tragic romances that will leave Dream hurt and jaded.
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Desire's realm, The Threshold, is a huge flesh replica of Desire, projecting some of their narcissism and self-importance. Often teaming up with the younger of the Endless, Desire is an unpredictable issue in Dream's plans.
4 Destiny
Audience To Everything That Ever Has Been Or Will Be
The eldest of the Endless wields a strange book, chained to his arm, that holds everything that has ever happened and ever will. Destiny is usually calm in a way that can seem cruel to readers, but this is mainly due to his role as the observer of all things. He knows everything that will happen, and so he is never surprised. Of the Endless, he is the most distant and uninvolved.
Rarely acting with any emotion and preferring to stay with his book inside his realm, Destiny only acts when doing so is necessary in the book, making it hard to know when he is acting of his own free will or if his will exists at all. His realm, the Garden of Forking Ways, is a labyrinth filled with diverging paths that mean countless decisions that will lead you wherever Destiny perceives.
3 Destruction
Retired And Reinvented Endless
Dream's younger brother, Destruction, is often referred to by his siblings as 'The Prodigal,' because of the way he left his role as the embodiment of ruin and creation. When humanity began to unlock some of the secrets of the universe using science, Destruction decided that he did not want to be responsible for what humans were doomed to do to each other in the future.
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After leaving his realm, the Fulcrum, which is suspended between explosion and fallout, he began to travel with a talking dog and a newly discovered artistic streak. In the comics, Destruction urges Dream to embark on a journey of self-discovery, as he has. While his art is often described as poor, he finds meaning in the act of creation, despite himself. A tall and muscled man with ginger hair who used to wear the clothes of a soldier, this Endless is now a nomad in colorful clothes who cares deeply for his siblings, but will not return to his damning role.
2 Despair
Greedy For Pain
Despair appears as a ghostly white, hunched woman who acts reserved and distant in most interactions. A mysterious menace who finds joy in the pain of others, she is the most unnerving of the Endless, partly because of her appearance but also because she seems to relish the despair that she causes as part of her role.
She is the twin of Desire, and often joins them in their twisted games that toy with the lives of mortals as well as the other Endless. Her symbol, a ring with a sharp fishhook fitted to the outsider, is often used to tear at her flesh in a self-soothing manner. Despair resides in the Gray Realm, where she is surrounded by mirrors that allow her to watch the suffering of humanity.
1 Delirium
A Changed Endless, Now Unorganized And Rambling
Delirium was once 'Delight,' and her unorganized thoughts affect her appearance. With garbled speech and vibrant colors, Delirium is the hardest of the Endless to pin down. The madness she embodies often comes across in her speech as she loses track of conversations and voices her thoughts out of order. Her rapidly changing mood affects her coloring and appearance.
Normally, she appears as a young, short girl with one bright green eye and one blue, with hair that changes color from panel to panel in the comic. Her swinging mood can either lead to her acting without mercy to punish those who upset her, or to being excited and amused by horrific circumstances. She is closest to her older brother, Destruction, and is distant from Dream in her initial introduction in the comics. All the same, her ability to inflict madness on people and the compassion all of her siblings have for her make her an important part of the pantheon of the Endless.
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