Destiny (DC Comics)

Destiny
Destiny of the Endless from Sandman #21. art by Mike Dringenberg Malcolm Jones III.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Weird Mystery Tales #1 (July–August 1972)
Created by	Marv Wolfman Berni Wrightson
In-story information
Team affiliations	The Endless
Notable aliases	Mister Destiny[citation needed]Potmos
Abilities	nigh-omnipotent/omniscient aspect of destiny and freedom

Destiny is a DC Comics character created by Marv Wolfman and Bernie Wrightson,^[1] first appearing in Weird Mystery Tales #1 (1972), and was regular host of that series for the first fourteen issues, after which he hosted Secrets of Haunted House.^[2] He is one of the Endless in Neil Gaiman's comic book series, The Sandman.^[3] In The Sandman Special #1, he was also referred to by his Greek name, Potmos. In 1997, he starred in an eponymous three-issue limited series written by Alisa Kwitney.

Destiny is portrayed as a tall figure, obscured within a purple or brown robe and cowl. He reads from a large book, originally known as the Cosmic Log, chained to his right wrist, which contains all past, present, and future events.^[2] He does not leave footprints, nor does he cast a shadow. Destiny is blind, although this doesn't appear to hinder him and it has been stated that, opposed to simply being blind, Destiny '...sees everything.' He is always calm, detached, and somber even in extreme situations.

Early appearances

Superman meets Destiny

Like Lucien, Cain and Abel and some other Sandman characters, Destiny first appeared as host of a 1970s DC horror comic, Weird Mystery Tales. There was, of course, no mention of his family, though a more traditional version of Death did appear in it. In his earliest appearances, he was less of a storyteller than an introducer, as most of his stories were actually told by Jack Kirby's Dr. E. Leopold Maas, an investigator of paranormal phenomena.

Destiny began appearing in some of the stories beginning in issue #10 (though he said that as all the stories he tells deal with destiny, he is in all of them, as well). By issue #15, Eve had taken over the series, and had been wheedling in since early in the run. Destiny now hosted a new title, Secrets of Haunted House, which was initially hosted by all four characters. The other hosts regarded him as the dullest storyteller, and as the hosts supposedly controlled the letters pages (responses were written in-character), that attitude was generally reflected there as well. For his birthday, Cain, Abel, and Eve gave him a sampler that said "If you're so smart, why don't you have your own book?"^[4] although, being blind, he would be unable to read it. Later, he was said to be the son of a "Mrs. Emma Destiny," but as this was in a letters column, it may have been intended as a spoof.^[5] Destiny left the series after issue #39, after which it was hosted by Abel. (House of Secrets had been canceled, and the House was said to have been torn down.)

Destiny met Superman in Superman #352, preventing Superman from helping people in order to break a forming destiny of Metropolis becoming dependent upon him, and met the New Teen Titans on several occasions, all of these written by Wolfman.

According to Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #6 (1985), Destiny is "the one being who has been able to resist Zeus' unlimited powers." It refers to the Cosmic Log as Book of Souls. It reports "Cosmic Observer" as his occupation and "inapplicable" for the field, "Known Relatives."

The Sandman

In The Sandman, Destiny is revealed in issue #7 as the eldest of the Endless. Destiny's realm is The Garden of Forking Ways, where he continually walks its maze-like paths. His book, referred to as the Book of Destiny rather than the Cosmic Log, is his sigil in the galleries of the other Endless.

He is the least characterized and least used of the Endless in the series. Though he was first depicted in the series in a picture at the end of the first collection, his first actual appearance is in the fourth collection, Season of Mists. In a quiet way, he seems to direct the family affairs of the Endless; it is he who calls the family meeting that begins Season of Mists.

The Books of Magic

Destiny makes a brief appearance in The Books of Magic's fourth issue "Book IV: The Road to Nowhere". In it, Mr. E takes Timothy Hunter to the end of time intending to kill him. Destiny confronts them because they do not belong there. Death appears because it's time for him to die. In his final moments, Destiny remarks that he thought the end would never come and that he would never get to the last page of The Book of Destiny. He then vanishes. Before she finally ends the Universe Death sends Timothy Hunter back to his own time and forces Mr. E to find his own way back.

Lucifer

In the series Lucifer by Mike Carey, Destiny is shown talking to Lucifer. Both seem to have a contempt for each other, where Lucifer favors chaos and freedom, and Destiny favors order and control. Lucifer seems to be less powerful than Destiny, as even Lucifer is bound by Destiny's book.

Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold

Destiny is also featured in the three-issue miniseries Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold, authored by Alisa Kwitney with art by Kent Williams, Michael Zulli, Scott Hampton, and Rebecca Guay. Destiny is there shown transforming the son of Byzantine Empress Theodora into a pestilence-bearing Horseman of the Apocalypse. The Horseman spreads bubonic plague throughout eras of human civilization while searching for a woman he can love and spare. The frame story focuses on the Horseman's appearance in the 21st century, where he offers a glimpse of Destiny's book to the frightened survivors of the latest plague.^[6]

Recently

Destiny met Chronos, Walker Gabriel in Chronos # 9, where it is revealed his book can be changed, and entire sections can be warped or erased, albeit at great personal cost; this applies with even more force when a time traveller such as Gabriel attempts to change the timestream to satisfy a personal wish. In Gabriel's case, he manages to save his mother from an early death, but in the process erased himself from history. Destiny also met Lobo and Supergirl in his labyrinth in The Brave and the Bold volume 2, #4. He is more nervous and absent-minded in his demeanor, as a result of having to give up his book.

Destiny lost the Book of Destiny in the opening storyline of the new Brave and the Bold series, and when Lobo and Supergirl arrive in his garden he speaks about how it was intended to reach the four men who existed outside its pages, in the process waylaid by the Luck Lords in a bid to reshape reality. As it turns out, the Challengers of the Unknown were these men, the recipients Destiny had sent it off to be procured by. After a struggle between all factions at the culmination of the arc, the Challengers arrive by Zeta Beam to Rann and acquire the book after defeating the opposition and defeating the Luck Lords. After, it was to be in their care.^[2]

After this arc, the book remained in the Challengers' hands; the Challs consulted it to follow the plan of an ancient alchemist, Megistus. Within the pages, they followed the stories of several relics Megistus sought for a master plan; amongst these were some of the most dangerous objects on the DCU. The Warlock of Ys, an old Antimatter Universe foe, even manifested on Challenger Mountain by constructing a shell for himself out of the pages of the book. Destiny himself appeared in the underground lair of the Challs, showing them his book for the final time as a reward for their sacrifice and service in defeating Megistus, in issue #12; the book revealed June Masters, an unofficial member of the Challengers, had cheated Death and managed to escape, blasting herself out of the book much like the Challengers.

Inspiration

Destiny bears a striking resemblance with The Thing that is Neither God nor Beast,^[7] Trogool, a character created by Lord Dunsany in his first book The Gods of Pegana in 1905.

There there is neither South nor East nor West, but only North and Beyond; there is only North of it where lie the Worlds, and Beyond it where lies the Silence, and the Rim is a mass of rocks that were never used by the gods when They made the Worlds, and on it sat Trogool. Trogool is the Thing that is neither god nor beast, who neither howls nor breathes, only IT turns over the leaves of a great book, black and white, black and white for ever until THE END.

And all that is to be is written in the book as also all that was.When IT turneth a black page it is night, and when IT turneth a white page it is day.Because it is written that there are gods -- there are the gods. Also there is writing about thee and me until the page where our names no more are written. Then as the prophet watched IT, Trogool turned a page -- a black one, and night was over, and day shone on the Worlds. Trogool is the Thing that men in many countries have called by many names, IT is the Thing that sits behind the gods, whose book is the Scheme of Things.

Destiny's Book

The book contains everything that was, is, and will be. It is chained to Destiny's wrist. Destiny is blind, yet can somehow read from the book. The book is said to not have a separate existence from Destiny in the Lucifer series, so that Michael Demiurgos could not take it away and read from it. Destiny claims he cannot read aloud from the book because then the book becomes an element of the story it tells, which would cause disaster. However, the Challengers of the Unknown and others in new Brave and the Bold series possess the book without Destiny present and can read aloud information from the book. It may be concluded that Destiny was lying to Michael. Another possibility is that the Challengers of the Unknown's existence outside the book caused the normal rules governing the book to be altered. Once, Cain and Abel tried to steal Destiny's book from a pedestal, on the grounds that it would make him unable to tell stories.^[8] They had previously tried to hide it from him in a room full of duplicates.

The book represents a predestination philosophy. Everything that will happen was known must happen when the book was first written at the dawn of time. This is not always the case, because we have seen times in the new Brave and the Bold series where the book changes.

It is presumed that Yahweh is the author of the book. The script of the book changes after Yahweh abandons his creation, presumably implying that Elaine Belloc, Yahweh's granddaughter has now taken over Yahweh's position.

See also

• Characters of The Sandman
• Destiny (Marvel Comics personification)

References

1. ^ Weird Mystery Tales #4 letter column
2. ^ ^{a b c} Wallace, Dan (2008), "Destiny", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 100, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017 
3. ^ Jimenez, Phil (2008), "Endless, The", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 115, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017 
4. ^ Secrets of Haunted House #5
5. ^ Secrets of Sinister House #11
6. ^ Irvine, Alex (2008), "Destiny", in Dougall, Alastair, The Vertigo Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 57, ISBN 0-7566-4122-5, OCLC 213309015 
7. ^ http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_Peg%C4%81na#Of_the_Thing_that_is_Neither_God_nor_Beast
8. ^ Secrets of Haunted House #18.

Other sources

• Bender, Hy (1999), The Sandman Companion, New York: Vertigo DC Comics, ISBN 1563896443 

External links

• Destiny Chronology on DCU Guide