Destiny

"You were created and gifted by five of the Endless, but you can neither dream nor, ultimately, destroy, and that shall be your triumph and that shall be your tragedy."

- Eblis O'Shaughnessy

Destiny is the first and eldest of the Endless.

Like the rest of his siblings, Destiny is neither a mortal being nor a god; he is the personification of Destiny itself. As the universe came into being, so it would be that it would come to its final destiny, its end. Destiny's realm is "his Garden", a hedge maze that can be reached through all mazes. At its center is his castle, complete with silent "fluttering" attendants.

If family meetings are called, Destiny is usually the host.

10 billion years ago
Destiny came into existence once sentient lifeforms capable of having a destiny appeared in the universe. Destiny was one of the Endless, personifications of ideas and concepts that were tied to life, and were fated to fulfill their functions until the universe ended, and all life disappeared from the cosmos.

80,000 years ago
After Despair was murdered, Destiny and the Endless went to the Necropolis to put her body to rest. The Necropolitans had long lost their passion for their job, and didn't know about the Necropolis' arrangement with the Endless, so they laughed at them when they asked for Despair's remnants and the Book of Rituals. Destiny revoked the Necropolis' charter, causing it to be destroyed. The village of Litharge was granted a charter by the Endless and became the new Necropolis.

1695
Destruction called a family meeting of the Endless, and announced to Destiny and the others that he was abandoning his duties and taking his leave for good. Destiny was not surprised by this turn of events.

Destiny read about the battle between his brother Dream and Dr. Destiny in his Book of Souls, and almost hesitated to turn to the next page.

Modern Era
At one point, to his surprise, the Three Fates appeared in Destiny's garden, and he was promoted to call a family meeting for a purpose unknown even to him. At the meeting, Desire taunted Dream for condemning a former lover to Hell. Death agreed with Desire that Dream had been unfair, and so Dream left to free the woman from imprisonment. As soon as Dream left, Destiny declared the meeting over. Fate had taken a hand with Destiny.

Destiny read about the end of the events he set in motion in his cosmic log. Lucifer Morningstar abandoned Hell, and gave the key to Hell to Dream. It was voluntarily taken from Dream by the angels Remiel and Duma, who ruled Hell under the direct command of the Creator.

Dream and Delirium asked for Destiny's advice on finding their lost brother Destruction. Destiny told Dream that he should drop this business, as it would lead to his death, but Destiny knew he would continue his search for Destruction despite this advice, so he advised him to seek out the oracle Orpheus.

Appearance
A blind man, Destiny appears as a man with a hooded cloak of an indeterminate color of brown, gray, and sometimes purple. He is chained to a book, which contains the story of everyone and everything.

Sometimes things appear in his book before they happen, and sometimes as they happen.

Personality
Destiny rarely, if ever, actively involves himself in anything. His duty is merely to read and observe through his book, and he carries it out assiduously. But every great once in a while something will make him step beyond the normal bounds of his duty.

Destiny rarely displays any strong emotions; he is mostly shown to be Stoic and unmoved, with no emotional response. Destiny focuses solely on his purpose, and as such discourages most of the Endless' tampering with the mortal realm. Destiny does at times express discomfort at certain moments and even does try to give ambiguous suggestions to his siblings who seek his guidance.

Despite Destiny being regarded by the Endless as the wisest of the Endless, Delirium has pointed out that "there are some things that are not in your book."  This is proven by the fact that even Destiny does not know why Delight became Delirium.

The only strong display of anger seen from Destiny came in the Sandman: Overture, when a sailing ship not recorded in his book appeared in his realm. Believing it to be Dream's he angrily called his brother, going so far as to pull Dream out of a black hole in order to demand the ship be removed from his garden. He was noticeably forceful in this exchange, forcibly summoning Dream despite his brother's reluctance to come.

Powers

 * Personification of Destiny: One of the seven Endless, inconceivably powerful beings, Destiny is both lord and personification of all destiny and freedom, He had god-like powers and absolute power over his realm, a garden containing all possible destinies of present, past and future. Destiny has power over predetermined course of events, as well as the absence of necessity and constraint in choice.
 * Immortality: Destiny was ageless and virtually immortal.
 * Vast Knowledge: Destiny knows all there is of the past, present and future.
 * Magic
 * Divination: Destiny was blind but could see the tiniest details throughout the cosmos and see the patterns living beings made on their paths through life
 * Metamorphosis: Destiny could change his appearance and clothing.

Weaknesses

 * Ancient Rules: Despite his great powers, Destiny, like the rest of the Endless, was bound to a complex set of rules and customs.
 * He cannot spill the blood of family, or he is no longer protected as the personification of Destiny from the other Endless.
 * He cannot fall in love with a mortal, or the mortal's downfall is assured.
 * Challengers of the Unknown: The challengers exist outside of Destiny's control. They do not appear in the Book of Souls and are capable of changing predestined events.

Behind the Scenes

 * Destiny is the only member of the Endless that is not created by Neil Gaiman.