The Endless: DC's MOST POWERFUL Family! [Sandman]

Neil Gaiman's family of powerful entities, The Endless, are some of the most powerful beings in the DC multiverse and I'm going to do my best to break them down.

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Tags: #TheSandman #Sandman #DCComics

[ComicDrake]

I can't believe I have to say this, but this video is two years old and The Sandman has been out for multiple decades.

It's unreasonable to get upset that this video has "spoilers" because you only just now started to care because there's a Netflix show.

[s.asadeghi]

Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium
the WILL OF D

[freedom]

Having characters be so powerful, yet relateable is a very hard thing to do

[Kobolds_in_a_trenchcoat]

I actually like that DC needs Gaiman's permission to use these characters. I feel like they would be overused and over explained otherwise. These are very abstract characters and the more use = more explanation = probably less interesting. I may be wrong, maybe it would turn out great if they were used frequently, but I am not getting my hope's up that most writers will match Gaiman's talent.

[katelynpringle]

Delirium *does* also represent an opposing clarity. In a conversation with Destiny, she says that she knows things even he doesn't. It implies that while Destiny knows everything that has been and will ever be, Delirium knows everything else, the things that are outside existence.

[crazyfreak]

DC's Death is a very interesting character and personaly I find her far superior than Marvel's Lady Death. Just recently watched DC showshowcase: Death and in the end I was crying

[eman]

Yeah, Sandman likes to “sleep around”

[Jeffersonyuvens]

10:41 "despair defines hope"
Despair took part in the destruction of krypton, which ultimately lead to the existence of the ultimate symbol of hope in dc universe, the last son of krypton

Superman

[DinoRubble]

My most favorite moment of The Sandman is when asked what power do dreams have in Hell, was Morpheus’s simple response, what power would Hell have if its denizens could not dream of heaven?
I’m not saying there was an audible bitch slap, but everyone heard it. Never doubt the power of a dream.

[bluedotdinosaur]

An interesting detail, from Gaiman himself, is that each Endless simultaneously represents their opposite. They're each a yin and yang. This is easiest to see in Destiny: he represents fate, cause and effect, and the inescapable linearity of time. However, he also represents choice. While everyone has a destiny, they are also free to choose their path.

Dream represents both pure creativity and unbound feelings, but also logic, reason, and order. You can't have one side without the other to contrast it against. This is why Dream is very strict in following rules, can be cold and extremely rational, and constructs elaborate plans to manipulate events.

Death also represents life. She came to be happy and love life when she herself realized this while living as a mortal. Without birth there can be no death.

Destruction is also creation. This is why his realm, The Crucible, has an explosion at the center of it - matter in the process of being broken apart and flying off to become part of something new.

Delirium is simultaneously insight. Of all the Endless, she is the most intuitive and sees the patterns in reality others are blind to.

Desire, very ironically considering their arrogant and greedy nature, must also stand for the absence of self. Desire has always been the most self-blind, and in denial about the nature of the Endless themselves. Desire is too busy wanting things to see that desires always pass, and the self is an illusion. (This is, thematically, why Desire is never satisfied.)

Despair is, very simply, also hope. Without hope there can be nothing to suffer from and despair over. Despair will always focus a person on finding a way out of despair and move them towards hope.

[Panda_Roll]

I love the sense of irony Gaiman has. He gave Death an Ankh as a symbol. The Key of life is quite literally in Death's hands.

[NobodyC]

The Endless' domains:
Destiny-A massive, maze-like garden with large, decaying statues, monuments, and structures.
Dream-A fantastic castle embodying every fantasy and fiction ever dreamt of, while also embodying the pompous ego of its lord.
Desire-A tower complex molded in their image.
Despair-A hazy void of mirrors depicting people at their lowest.
Delirium-A dimension of colorful chaos and abstraction.
Destruction-Not a domain per se, but an island all to himself to practice whatever he wants, but can also pack up everything like his belongings or his house into a bindle and go wherever he wishes.
Death-A mundane, suburban house with pet fish, a framed Sears family photo of the Endless, and furniture topped with stuffed animals.

[Kristian.B.Kristiansen]

Yes, they are omnipresent and endless, but they have some hard limits. For instance, Dream was very clear about Lucifer Morningstar being far more powerful then him.
At one point Lucifer was close to "death" but when Death (the endless herself) showed up, he just stated, that he was beyond her, and she simply agreed.

Edit.; She showed up because of who he was, and she just wanted to talk to one of the two beings, that build the cosmos. Even though Lucifer was in his own parallel cosmos at the time.

[dakotamerriman]

I think Delirium might be a representation of knowledge and the human experience. She starts as Delight. Delight of learning new things, new experiences etc. but becomes from the stress of forbidden knowledge and being pulled in so many directions. Basically the embodiment of that one Lovecraft quote.

[TheCatWitch]

I love how Neil Gaiman was able to create such a fantastic and deeply complex universe out of some characters that DC Comics had practically discarded at some point. Now The Sandman will have his long awaited screen debut. I do hope the Netflix series does it justice.

[CatCamryn]

The audiobook is SO good. Dream's voice is absolutely perfect, thanks James McAvoy.

[internetgoat]

I've fallen in love with Death and how they represent her.
Makes me wanna embrace death easily
But seriously the personification to these concepts are so damn good it made me read everything related to it and I'm glad I did

[tyfenrir]

From her first appearance at the end of Sandman Vol 1, I was captivated by Death's character.

[rampantapart]

That quote that comes up about Death’s part at the end of the Universe comes up a lot and I see it interpreted several different ways. One is she will leave this reality when this is all over. The other is that she will effectively die herself. I’ve even heard that she will be the last thing in existence...forever. I don’t know which I find the most satisfying.

[denilsonthomas]

Comic Drake: “There’s been a lot of downfalls”
Also Comic Drake: shows a woman being pushed down a cliff