Night

This article is about Night from the comic series. You may be looking for Night from the Netflix adaptation.

"Before the beginning was the night. And the night was without boundaries and the night was without end."

Mother Night is a cosmic being introduced in The Sandman: Overture, the embodiment of the absolute emptiness that predates creation.

She is revealed to be the mother of The Endless with her consort, Time.

History[]

It is unknown how Night came to exist. She is the mother to the Endless, but has little interest in her children.

Night was first seen in Overture, bathing in a pool of darkness in her realm, and singing a tune that catches the attention of her son, Dream. After visiting his father, Dream goes to his mother where she is seen to be more humble than Time. After hearing Dream out, she offers him sanctuary in her domain where he will be provided with a small imitation of his realm, but Dream declines prompting Night to kick him out, condemning him to the black hole he used to access her realm.

Appearance[]

Night's physical form is a portly woman with long black hair who strongly resembles her daughter Despair. Her skin is night blue and contains the night sky. She wears a lavender dress with black and blue embroidery.

Personality[]

Night is disconnected from all things in reality and is utterly self-centered. It is commented that she plays favorites with her children, ignoring some while adoring others. Given that she shrugs off Dream’s comment on her neglect of her youngest daughter, Delirium, without much of a reaction, it appears she lacks empathy. As shown, Night rarely leaves her own realm and enjoys her own privacy, having been stated to have not had any contact with her children, other than brief visits from Destiny and Delirium, for a long time. This is seen where she was unaware that her daughter Despair had died and become a new aspect of herself and did not know that her younger son Destruction had abandoned his realm and responsibilities and began wandering.

She does, however, display some attachment to Dream. She fondly calls him “darling” and various other monikers, and offers to provide him sanctuary and happiness in her realm as the universe ends, saying that he would be able to see her whenever he wants. She is angry when he refuses, calling him selfish. Neil Gaiman, the writer of The Sandman said that Night plays favorites with her children.

Despite not having a very close relationship with her children and her generally neglecting them, Night has been shown to have a better understanding of them than they themselves. This is seen where she was able to tell that Dream and Desire possessed many similarities in personality despite their disdain for each other and was able to tell what Dream really wanted from her during his visit.

She shows detachment to her surroundings and doesn't often show strong emotions. She does, however, get angry at Dream for causing her inconvenience.

Despite her no longer wanting to contact her former lover, Time, Night has shown to have some attachment to him. As seen where she was genuinely surprised and delighted when Dream told her that Time missed her.

Powers and Abilities[]

Little is known of Night's abilities, but it is said her physical form is beyond any level of the "event" concept. As shown from her son’s visit, Night’s power was implied to greatly surpass her children’s.

Darkness Personification: As described by her son, Night is the personification of the endless darkness before creation and of which it will return to when it ends. Night herself is the metaphysical manifestation of space and has divine omnipotent power and authority over darkness, space and existence and has absolute control over it and everything linked to it. With these powers, she is almost completely omnipotent.
Omnipresence: As the very embodiment of the primordial night, Mother Night is present in every shadow, every silence, every corner of the universe. Her essence permeates the darkness between the stars, forgotten dreams, and unspoken fears. This omnipresence grants her an expansive awareness and a profound knowledge of hidden secrets. She can appear anywhere in the mortal world or in her own realm woven with darkness, ever silent, elusive, and shrouded in unfathomable mystery.
Immortality: As the personification and manifestation of the endless darkness before and after creation, Night is older than creation itself and will be around long after its gone. Night’s immortality was implied to surpass that of her children and she will likely outlive them all.
Umbrakinesis: As the ancient embodiment of primordial darkness and the Mother of the Endless, Mother Night possesses absolute dominion over all forms of darkness and shadow. Her control extends beyond mere absence of light—she weaves the fabric of night itself, shrouding reality, veiling truths, and cloaking even time and thought in impenetrable blackness. Her power is not only elemental but existential, for from her darkness, all beginnings stir and all endings dissolve.
- Reality Manipulation: As a cosmic being of one of the fundamental forces of creation, Night was implied to possess immense power over reality and could manipulate it freely to suite her own needs and wants. Like her former lover and children, Night possess her own realm where is the absolute sovereign and reality conforms to her will.
  - Creation: As the manifestation of the infinite space of the endless darkness before and after creation, Night can freely create anything she desires within her realm. She could even make entire realms within her own, as shown when she offered to create a copied version of Dream’s realm within her own for him to live in to protect himself from end of creation that he had unwittingly triggered and populate it with copies of the residents of his realm and even a new lover to keep him company and within her reach at any time.
- Law Manipulation: As the primordial entity that preceded all things, Mother Night can create or influence the laws that all creatures are bound to follow. As hypothetically implied by Night, should she and Time work together, it could be possible for them to rewrite the laws of the universe, albeit due to their estrangement, this is unlikely.

Behind the Scenes[]

She is based in the Greek goddess, Nyx.