The 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 Primordials.
Description[]
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 Death, 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.
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.
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.
The Endless spend most of their time fulfilling their functions as embodiments of natural forces. For example, Death leads the souls of the dead away from the realm of the living, while Dream oversees the realm of dreams and imagination ("The Dreaming") 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.
Members[]
| Image | Name | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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Destiny | The oldest of the Endless, Destiny appears as a blind man dressed in grey or brown robes, carrying a large book, the Cosmic Log. The book is chained to him, or he is chained to the book, and within the book is written the entire sum of existence, past, present and future. Destiny seems the most possessed by his function and responsibilities of any of the Endless. He rarely demonstrates much personality. | Active |
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Death | Death appears as a level-headed young Goth woman. She wears a silver ankh (representing the afterlife), which serves as her sigil. She has a marking similar to an Eye of Horus around her right eye. She prefers to dress and act casually, and is on better terms with Dream than any of the other Endless. She spends one day out of every century as a mortal, living and dying on Earth. | Active |
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Dream | Dream's usual appearance is as a tall, pale man with wild dark blue-black hair. He dresses in a shapeless cloak of "night" with "flames dancing in its folds". His eyes are pools of shadows with glimmers of light within. He is known by many names, most commonly "Morpheus". He has a long history of insensitivity towards others and must come to deal with his past cruelties. He is very concerned with fulfilling his responsibilities. | Active |
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Destruction | A very large, robust man with red hair, who sometimes appears bearded and sometimes shaven. Destruction abandoned his responsibilities as one of the Endless three hundred years ago, causing much conflict between him and his siblings. Since abandoning his realm, the other Endless usually refer to him as "the Prodigal" or "Brother" rather than "Destruction". He has a passion for creative and constructive endeavors, but little talent. | Inactive |
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Desire | Desire is androgynous, capable of appearing as a man, a woman, neither, or both. Desire has a cruel streak and a long-standing rivalry with Dream. Its sigil is a silver-tinted glass heart shape. Although Desire is Despair's twin, in a sense it is older than Despair. | Active |
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Despair | Twin sister to Desire. A tall, obese woman with grayish skin and irregularly-shaped teeth. Her body is also tattooed with intricate red lines. She is also much more talkative and self-assured. However, she still behaves in a cold, quietly intelligent manner. | Active |
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Delirium | The youngest of the Endless, Delirium (previously known as Delight) appears as a young girl whose form changes the most frequently of any of the Endless, based on the random fluctuations of her temperament. She has wild multicolored hair and eccentric, mismatched clothes. Her only permanent physical characteristic is that one of her eyes is emerald green (usually the right side) and the other pale blue with silver flecks (usually the left side), but even those sometimes switch between left and right. | Active |
