Destruction (DC Comics)
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Destruction is one of the Endless, fictional characters from Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman.
He is the fourth eldest of the Endless, and is depicted as a big, red-haired, bearded man (somewhat resembling actor Brian Blessed; Gaiman has mentioned that he would like Blessed to play Destruction in the event of a Sandman movie). He is also known as Olethros. In appearances set in earlier centuries, he is depicted wearing military gear (such as a musketeer's uniform, or plate armour), though in more recent times he is shown in colourful clothes with no particular theme. When Delirium and Morpheus encounter him in the seventh collection of issues in the series, Brief Lives, he has taken to wearing his hair in a ponytail, and owns a talking dog, Barnabas. Since he abandoned his responsibilities there is no sigil in the galleries for him, though he keeps his own gallery (wherein is a sword, his sigil). His realm is not portrayed in the series.
Destruction abandoned his realm and his responsibilities some time around the turn of the seventeenth century. He did not cease to exist as the active aspect of Destruction, he simply stopped directing the affairs over which he has control. As he says, destruction did not stop, it was merely no longer his fault. Destruction features most prominently in Brief Lives, in which his siblings Morpheus and Delirium set out to track him down. When they finally meet they do not exactly argue but talk at cross-purposes; Destruction's choice of path baffles and to some degree infuriates Morpheus, while Destruction finds it hard to comprehend Morpheus' position and concentrates on trying to impart to him some wisdom on the necessity of change and self-knowledge. Delirium just wants her brother back; she is reliant on her siblings for support, particularly her elder brothers.
Destruction is self-obsessed in the most positive sense of that term; after giving up his responsibilities he concentrates instead on attempting to learn about his own nature and exert control over it. This is manifested in his deliberate attempt to subvert his own essential nature and create instead of destroying; he is shown at various points writing indifferent poetry, painting an indifferent picture, cooking a meal left untouched by those for whom it was intended, and brewing Greek coffee which Delirium fails to drink properly. It's likely that Destruction is inspired by Death's suggestion that everyone can know everything. He tells Dream in Brief Lives that each Endless is really a lord of opposites: life and death, dreams and reality, destruction and creation, destiny and freedom, etc.
[edit] Endless Nights
He reappears in the Sandman sequel Endless Nights, in the story Destruction- On the Peninsula, where he is shown guiding and babysitting Delirium after a mental breakdown, and assisting in the excavation of a site that contains relics from a possible future. When he reappears later in the book, it is during the story arc Destiny-Endless Nights. His statue in Destiny's garden is in line with the statues of the other Endless, facing the opposite direction, likely representing his aversion to his principles and obligations, and seclusion from his siblings, and his sigil and portrait (the fourth in chronologically-ordered row) in Destiny's gallery are draped with a cloth.
[edit] See also
| The Sandman (Vertigo) | ||
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| The Sandman Library | 1: Preludes and Nocturnes • 2: The Doll's House • 3: Dream Country • 4: Season of Mists • 5: A Game of You 6: Fables and Reflections • 7: Brief Lives • 8: Worlds' End • 9: The Kindly Ones • 10: The Wake • 11: Endless Nights |
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| from the World of The Sandman | The Sandman: The Dream Hunters • Death: The High Cost of Living • Death: The Time of Your Life • Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold • The Little Endless Storybook • Death: At Death's Door • Dust Covers - The Collected Sandman Covers 1989-1997 • The Quotable Sandman • The Sandman Companion | |
| Characters of The Sandman | The Endless: Destiny • Death • Dream • Destruction • Desire• Despair • Delirium | |
| Dreams and nightmares • Gods, demigods, and major personifications Angels, fallen angels, and devils • Immortals, witches, and long-lived humans • Fair folk • Mortals |
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| Other topics | ||
| Neil Gaiman • Other books and series | ||
