Netflix’s The Sandman became popular among everyone in a short time. And we also met a few of the Endless in the first season. But this July, the entire family is here; it’s more like a reunion. Let’s learn a bit about this mysterious and brooding family.

But first,

Who are the Endless?

They are the oldest family of anthropomorphic personified beings associated with life.

Destiny

The oldest of the Endless siblings, he wears a hooded cloak. He carries a book that has everything—past, present, and future—including the actions and fates of everyone, including the Endless. His realm is a hedge maze called the Garden, which can be reached through any maze. He is also blind.

The Endless often come together in his realm.

Death

Dream’s older sister. Her job is to guide people to Whatever Is Next. She comforts and empathizes with the mortals whose souls she guides. She is regarded as the kindest of the Endless siblings. She takes a mortal form every hundred years and thus manages to stay so connected with human experiences.

She has a gothic look and wears an ankh necklace as her sigil.

Dream

Dream, the main protagonist in The Sandman. Morpheus, Lord of the Dreaming, is responsible for all of humanity’s dreams and nightmares. It is said that when we go to sleep, we enter the realm of Lord Morpheus. Here on the shelves of his library are every book that is written or unwritten. Morpheus dies to be replaced by Daniel. Daniel was born human, but later transformed into Dream.

Morpheus is the third-born of the Endless, after Death. His sigil is a very fashionable helm, a helmet made from the bones of a dead god, capable of protecting Dream from almost any harm.

Destruction

Regarded as The Prodigal, among the Endless siblings, he was the peacekeeper. The missing sibling grew tired of his duties and responsibilities, and came to realize that he was an avatar for change. Sometimes during the Age of Reason in the 17^th Century, this realization made him abandon his realm and go into self-exile.

Desire

Next in line are the twins, Desire & Despair. Desire likes to poke around in others’ affairs. Desire is fluid in gender, and may change their image, but the golden eyes stay the same. They’re the cruelest in her family.

Their sigil is a shimmering red heart of cut glass.

Despair

The other twin of Desire and often their co-conspirator.  Despair is mostly naked in the comic, with her domain filled with gray mist. Only her rats live there, and she has a mirror which reflects the internal torment of the people she watches. The mirror is more like a window into suffering, hopelessness, and emotional collapse.

She is the only of the Endless to die, and gets replaced by another aspect of herself. The murder of the original Despair was never clear, how or why. Her sigil is a hooked ring, which she uses to tear at her flesh.

Delerium

Delerium once upon a time used to be Delight; no one knows. She is the youngest of the eldest and very wild. She frequently changes her appearance, sometimes her hair, then other times it’s her outfit style or color, as per her mood. Depending on what’s going on around her, she creates little manifestations of fish, butterflies, or bubbles. She has a different understanding of reality, albeit it may sound nonsensical. In ancient Greek, she is known as Mania with her brutal impulses. Her senses are at peak to identify emotions and sensations across all spectrums.

Her sigil is a pretty swirly thing. But it was a flower when she was Delight.

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The Endless siblings can be anywhere in the world at any given moment, they are omnipresent. They cannot harm one another, and if they do, they risk losing their power. They can’t fall in love with a mortal. Death is exempted from any kind of rules.

Images:

Books to familiarize yourself with The Endless:

1. The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes
2. Absolute Death
3. The Sandman: Endless Nights
4. The Sandman: Overture

^{Pic Credits: Courtesy of Vertigo/DC Comics}