Endless

"We are not gods. Nor are we spirits or angels. We're not even "beings". We just...are. The Endless are merely patterns. The Endless are ideas. The Endless are wave functions. 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."

- Dream.

The Endless are seven siblings that embody seven different powerful forces or aspects of creation. They have existed since the dawn of time and are regarded as among the most powerful beings in existence. But even so, they are all individual beings, and have feelings, thoughts and personalities all their own yet they are distinct from and more powerful than most gods, even some weaker Primordials.

Overview
The origin and exact nature of the Endless is unknown. Few hints are ever given as to exactly why the Endless exist. They seem to be natural forces. They have at times been described as "a creation of the consciousness of living beings". Nevertheless, the Endless are regarded by all to be the main driving force of everything in all of creation. Basically, they are responsible for every single tale, event, or conflict that has ever been told. It has been proven that they are the children of Father Time and Mother Night.

The Endless are as old as the concepts that they represent. The Endless are said to be older than the fairy-folk, gods, and other supernatural beings. Their exact ages in years are unknown, but they are known to have existed long before life on Earth; Destruction says that he has performed his duties—not counting the previous three centuries—for 10 billion years.

Description
The Endless spend most of their time fulfilling their functions as embodiments of natural forces. For example, Departure leads the souls of the dead away from the realm of the living, while Dream oversees the all of thoughts, dreams, and imagination, and regulates dreams and inspiration. One notable facet of their depiction is that none of them are "representations" or "personifications" of their function, they simply are their function.

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 he or she 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.

In addition to overseeing their own sphere of influence, the Endless also help to define their own opposites. This dualistic aspect of the Endless has been confirmed in the case of Departure, 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, 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.

The exact limits of the powers the Endless may/must 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 allowed/capable/supposed to use their powers on those more powerful or more ancient than them; when at one point Dream heads into Hell in an effort 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, who is a former archangel created by God.

Personalities
The Endless seem to have some rules regarding the way they live their "lives" with some definite "no's" if they wish things to go well in the universe. One of these rules is that should you spill the blood of the family, harm shall befall the attacker as well.

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 he or she 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 existence may attempt to replace that member by putting some of their essences within a mortal.

Powers and Abilities
All of the Endless has a realm in which they are absolutely sovereign. Within their realm, all members of the Endless have a "gallery" containing symbols, or sigils, of the other Endless. The Endless may contact each other by holding the appropriate sigil and calling for that member of the Endless. Within these galleries, each of The Endless also possesses a sigil, though it is not necessary to hold the sigil when you speak to another Endless; it seems to be customary to hold it, tell your sibling that you hold their sigil, and then ask permission to enter their realm or call them into yours. Destiny is also able to summon his siblings by using his gallery of portraits, whether they want it or not

History
Although their true origins are unclear, there are some clues, most of them concerning what exactly The Endless are were revealed, through Destruction. It seems, after having abandoned his duty as one of The Endless he came to truly understand what The Endless are. He says that they are simply patterns, ideas, repeating motifs and make it clear that for their functions to be performed, no actual intervention is required on their part. In fact, he goes on to say The Endless have no right to interfere with the lives of mortals.

The Endless are not to be seen as gods, for gods need to be believed in to exist, The Endless will continue existing whether we believe in them or not, for they are The Endless.

Quotes

 * "Did you notice that every name of an Endless starts with the letter "D"?" - John Constantine.


 * "The Endless are merely patterns. The Endless are ideas. The Endless are wave functions. 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." - Dream.


 * "The Endless are primordial entities, primal sources from which the elements that formed Creation originated from. Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium - Such are the basic foundation of existence. Everything and anything in this world was, is, and will be built upon such concepts, and such, everything and anything all embody the possibility of becoming them. Even us, even you." - Matt Wright to Carl Black.

Trivia

 * One of the few references to any sort of parentage for the Endless is seen in the Necropolis Litharge that guards the symbols of each of the Endless wails "like a mother sorrowing for her departed child."

Image Sources

 * (Endless.jpg) Endless by chrisdejoya
 * (The Endless.jpg) The Endless by yienyien
 * (Neil Gaiman's Endless.jpg) Neil Gaiman's Endless by yienyien
 * (Endless-1.jpg) Endless by Kev Harper
 * (The Endless0.jpg) Sandman and the Endless by Jim Lee & Jeremy Roberts
 * (YZQDb.jpg) Endless by Sanna-U
 * (Little Endless.jpg) Little Endless by Jill Thompson
 * (Artbook cover naked by leocolapietroart dc29cf9-pre.jpg) ARTBOOK COVER NAKED by LeoColapietroArt