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The Endless (Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Delirium, and Despair) are a group of fictional beings appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics imprint Vertigo. The characters embody powerful forces or aspects of the universe in the comic book series ''The Sandman'', by Neil Gaiman. They have existed since the dawn of time and are thought to be among the most powerful beings in the universe. They are distinct from and supposedly more powerful than most gods. Dream is the protagonist of ''The Sandman'' series, but all of the Endless play major roles. The Endless are a somewhat dysfunctional family of seven siblings. They may appear in different forms, but usually have light skin and black hair, with the exception of redheads Destruction and Delirium. Their appearance can change to fit the expectations of others. When asked by Marco Polo if he is always so pale, Dream〔The Sandman Vol.6: Fables & Reflections, p.145, Vertigo, ISBN 9781563891052〕 replies, "That depends on who's watching." ==Function and domains== 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; as Sto-Oa says of Death in ''Endless Nights'', "She ''is'' Death, just as ''he'' is Dream, and that one is Desire." In ''The Sandman'' (vol. 2) #48, Destruction gives a further description of the Endless: "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." 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 the Universe may attempt to replace that member by putting some of their essence within a mortal, as it did with Wesley Dodds, who received a fraction of Dream's soul while Dream was imprisoned. Each of the Endless has a realm in which they are absolutely sovereign. Within their realm, each member of the Endless has 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. Destiny is also able to call his siblings by using his gallery of portraits. 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 not only ends lives, but also begins them. Destruction has an interest in creative pastimes, including art, poetry and cooking. Dream seems to have some power to shape reality, as seen in ''The Sandman'' (vol. 2) #18, ''A Dream of a Thousand Cats'', 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. It is likewise hinted that Despair defines hope and Destiny defines freedom. It is also known that an Endless can have some degree of influence over other Endless' realm. This was apparent in Dream's case, who on multiple times shows some control over mortal souls, without the consent of his sister Death. He was able to hide some ghosts in his kingdom, banish others to the afterlife, and even condemn several souls to Hell - but this may simply be because he is also The Prince of Stories (that is how he could free the dead Prez from Boss Smiley, the king of this world, even though Death could not do it herself). Another example is when Destiny seems to be able to bring ruins to the Necropolis Letharge, after its inhabitants refused to burry the missing First Form Of Despair (then again, maybe he simply indirectly asked Destruction to do it). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Endless (comics)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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