Who are the Endless from The Sandman?

Dream of the Endless serves as the lead character in the Netflix series but it is revealed that he is not the only one of his kind.

When Roderick Burgess aims to capture the Angel of Death, his amateur spell pulls in Dream instead. When The Corinthian shows up to ensure that Dream is imprisoned properly, he mentions The Endless and how Death has a family of her own including Dream.

The Endless are beings of great power that embody different natural forces of the universe. They are a family of seven siblings that do not always get along with each other.

Dream

Dream is depicted as a loner who is so focused on his duty to govern the Dreaming that he makes no real friends or connections. Even his own subjects appear to fear or loathe him because of his disposition.

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Dream with his helm

After being imprisoned for over a century, Dream holds a lot of hate for humanity and he’s not too fond of seeking help either. He prefers ordering people around and getting his way but after his disappearance, he has lost his credibility.

Along his journey to rebuild the Dreaming and recapture his lost creations and tools, Dream learns a little more about what it’s like to be kind and compassionate and humble.

Death

Death is Dream’s older sister and she drops in to check on him after he’s found moping by himself. She invites him along as she goes around collecting souls that have reached their time and talks to him about her experiences with humanity and how they changed her own attitude towards her responsibilities.

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Death advises her younger brother

Death is the reason Dream met Hob Gadling in the first place so he has her to thank for one of his longest friendships.

Desire

Desire is Dream’s younger sibling and they have a long-lasting rivalry with Dream. Death mentions that at a recent family dinner, Desire and their twin, Despair missed Dream’s presence only because they lacked a sparring partner.

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Desire has very distinct golden eyes

Desire has always tried to make things troublesome for Dream, causing him to fall in love with a woman many centuries ago before the woman ultimately betrays him.

Desire is also responsible for giving Unity Kincaid a child and making sure one of her descendants becomes the dream vortex, forcing Dream to kill a child of the Endless. The plan eventually fails and Dream confronts Desire, warning them not to get to his dirty tricks again.

The rest of the Endless

Despair is Desire’s twin and she makes a very brief appearance as Desire wishes to share their plan for hurting Dream. The other siblings are only mentioned in the first season with Desire throwing out Delirium’s name and Dream including Destiny’s name in his warning.

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Desire’s “twin”, Despair

Even Destruction is referred to by his alternate name, “The Prodigal”, a few times.

In the comics

The Endless have the same dysfunctional dynamic as their comic counterparts with Desire and Dream constantly butting heads with each other. They each have a sigil which is briefly seen in the series as well.

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The Endless siblings

Destiny is the oldest, followed by Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium. There have been two different Dream and two different Despair in the comics.

Destruction gave up his duty and realm and after abandoning his post, the others began referring to him as “The Prodigal”.


Also Read: How and why was Dream captured in The Sandman?

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