As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Harun al-Rashid's Baghdad, a Crowning City of Awesome.
Dream- One word, from the first issue: "Shush." For context, Alexander Burgess, son of the sorcerer Rodrick Burgess, realizes that he's dreaming. And the Lord of Dreams, whom he had allowed to stay imprisoned, is standing right in front of him with a disgusted, Tranquil Fury expression. Immediately, Alexander tries to deny that he did anything wrong, and Dream gives him a dignified Big "SHUT UP!". Dream proceeds to deliver a "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how he and his father caused chaos with their selfish desire for power, because there is a damn good reason that mortals aren't allowed immortality. Alexander weakly says they wanted Death instead of him, and Dream bluntly tells him that he and his father were very lucky that they didn't take his sister. Those that break the rules must be punished, and Dream traps Alexander in nightmares forever, where he will constantly think he is waking, but never actually will.
- Any moment where Dream laughs. Or rather, both moments where Dream laughs.
- During Dream's quest to reclaim his tools, he travels to Hell to confront a demon who has claimed his helm. Dream is forced to duel with the demon through use of symbolism ("I am a snake..." "I am a mongoose, which kills the snake..."). When the demon gets up to "I am all-encompassing destruction, and the end of all that is," Dream simply responds "I am hope." The demon can't think of anything to top that.
- Even better? Unlike in the later adaptation, Dream figured it out and specifically guided the duel to that point, as he knew the demon would be unable to top it.
- And when Lucifer threatens to imprison Dream in Hell, just for the there of it, Dream reveals that Hell has no power over dreams: "What power would Hell have if those imprisoned there were not able to dream of Heaven?" Dream walks out of Hell untouched.
- It's revealed in The Sandman: Overture that 'Hope' is not an intangible concept, but a real person who accompanied Dream and helped him save the universe. And she, after the death of her family and being faced with the City of Stars, is the one who utters "I am Hope" against real, unimagined obliteration. It is through her that the universe is reset to prevent its own destruction, and only Dream (and a few powerful others) remember who she ever was.
- When Dream defeats Dr. Destiny. Destiny believes he's killing the Dream Lord by destroying the Ruby, when in fact he unleashes all the power Dream had placed within the Ruby to control the realm of dreams. Morpheus wins... by seemingly losing the fight.
- Dream saves Rose's life when Funland tries to strangle her, even though he makes it clear her living is an inconvenience since she is the vortex that will cause a dream apocalypse. She called his name, not realizing who she was invoking because Gilbert had written it on a piece of paper and forbidden her to speak it until she was in trouble, and so he comes to the rescue. Dream puts Funland to sleep with a distracting dream and tells Rose she needs to live and get out of there now. She gets the memo, even when semiconscious and struggling to breathe.
- Dream peers into the dreams of the serial killers' convention in "The Doll's House" and recognizes that they're all deluding themselves. In their minds, they all have elaborate self-justifications that cast them as heroes or victims. He destroys these dreams, leaving them to cope with being "nothing but people who kill other people": the art makes it clear that for some, if not all of them, being restored to sanity was a Cruel Mercy indeed. At the very least, one guy knew he was a monster and wanted help for it; one can hope that Dream's reality check helped him.Dream: The dream is removed, I say to you that you shall always and forever know exactly what you are, and just how little that means.
- In the Season of Mists story arc, Dream determines to travel to Hell once more to free his imprisoned lover Nada. Even knowing that Lucifer swore his destruction should he return, Dream still makes the attempt, even giving Lucifer due notice that he was coming. Dream is shocked to arrive in an emptied Hell, as Lucifer uses the occasion to abdicate his throne... and leave the ownership of Hell to Dream to dispose of. "Perhaps it will destroy you," he says, "perhaps it will not. But I doubt it will make your life any easier." Then he vanishes, laughing.
- At the end of The Doll's House arc, Dream is furious enough at Desire that they have to remind him that they are siblings (and as we later see, harming family brings the Kindly Ones down on you). Dream then pulls Desire's hair back and very calmly says "Mess with me or mine again and I will forget that you are family, Desire. Do you believe yourself strong enough to stand against me?" Desire, who has been treating their confrontation as a joke until then, takes the threat completely seriously.
- Dream's Curb-Stomp Battle against Azazel when the latter is enraged by a decision Dream made and thinks he has consumed him and is preparing to devour his soul, only to discover that he is now in a bottle in Dream's hand. Dream did not escape from him and then suck him into the bottle or anything, he simply caused reality to restructure itself so that he was free and Azazel wasn't. He then asks the assembly of gods and demons if anyone else has a problem with his decision. Wisely, they do not.
- Dream's appearance at the end of A Game of You, where he arrives in the skerry (dream pocket dimension) through which the protagonists have been struggling for days, and simply unmakes it. It is no challenge for him in any way, he simply erases the land and everyone in it, ending the tiny world with perfect dignity — and it does look tiny when compared with the majesty of Dream. Even though we already know in theory that he's omnipotent within the Dreaming, we have so far only seen minor glimpses of his power, but this is the moment where the extent of his might is truly driven home in one of the most literal examples of a Deus ex Machina you'll ever see.
- The moment is further emphasized a moment later when he offers Barbie a boon, and when she asks him if he would be able to recreate the entire land the way it was before, complete with the resurrection of all her friends, he casually says "Certainly," without any sign that it would be difficult or tedious for him.
- We do not often see Dream furious. But when he finds out what Brute and Glob have done...Dream: They know the law. My law. And they have wantonly defied it. Did they think they could hide from me? I do not know what game they are playing. But I know this. I am angry, Lucien. And it's my move.
- A moment that's quite small in one way, but massive in another way because of how weak Dream was at the time: in Soft Places (one of the stories in Fables and Reflections), a young Marco Polo meets Dream in a time-warping desert right after the latter has escaped from Burgess and is so weak he can barely do anything. Without hesitation, Marco gives Dream some of his precious water (pretty awesome in itself, considering he was running the risk of dying of thirst), and asks if Dream can send him home. Dream says that he might not have enough power left to help himself if he helps Marco, but helps him anyway, because Marco offered him help and Dream always repays his debts and does what his code of honour tells him, even if it's to his own detriment. While it's a Foregone Conclusion that he'll make it back to his castle, the fact that he collapsed and had to be carried to Cain and Abel's house by Gregory the gargoyle shows just how close Dream came to really finishing himself off by helping Marco.
- At Dream's wake, everybody who dreams attends. Up to and including Darkseid. Really shows how high up the cosmic hierarchy Dream is, that even the God of Evil, a force of pure tyranny that regards entire opposing worlds as nuisances and whom even Superman struggles to defeat, must pay his respects
Death
- Gaiman used Death very sparingly because he only wanted her to appear personally if it was going to be awesome. In general, the series follows that rule. Her first appearance reveals that Death does her work with dedication, sympathy, and love. It's also revealed that she regards Mary Poppins as a good life guide, and loves her younger brother but sometimes feels that he needs a quick loaf of bread to the head.
- The suicidal Urania Blackwell is filled with delight when she realizes she's met Death. Urania's decision to ask Death for assistance in suicide might be controversial, but Death herself is sensible: at first, she urges Urania to go on living, but accepts her decision to die with respect and sympathy.
- When six of the Endless confer at the start of Season of Mists, Desire begins to sneer at Dream and brings up Nada just to twist the knife: Death very calmly advises Desire to shut up — now — if they ever want to speak again. And Desire shuts up.
- The Kindly Ones are unleashed and on a rampage. While avenging a legitimate grievance, they are The Juggernaut... Dream has no chance of stopping them. Yet when they discover Death and Dream having one last brother-sister moment and begin to gloat, Death suddenly snarls at them to back off. That's not a confrontation the Kindly Ones seem eager for: they give her long enough to say goodbye.
- Death's last appearance in the main series is a visit to Hob Gadling in "The Wake," to let him know that Dream (at least, the Dream he called friend) no longer exists. It's a little moment, but shows that she still remembers the little details and is looking after the loose ends her departed brother has left behind.
- Death in The High Cost of Living thrives on Refuge in Audacity. She tells the lead Sexton, whom she rescues from a trash pile, that she is Death, and obviously he doesn't believe her. For one day, she is allowed to be a human girl named Didi, with all of her memories intact, with only a few dollars and two pennies to her name. She befriends Sexton and helps him with a quest to find Mad Hettie's heart. When an old man named Erasmus tries to capture her, Didi's first response is to say that the henchman he injured needs help. She remains calm and optimistic as Sexton says they need to find a way out of this locked room, reassuring him things will work out. While her time ends, just as she gives Sexton a peck on the cheek and a reason to live, Didi says to Death that she didn't regret any moment of it.
Destruction
- There are supposed to be seven Endless, but in modern times there are only six. When Destruction discovers that the human race is the latest species to wonder, "Are not energy and gross matter interconvertible?" he foresees the likelihood of humans destroying themselves, realizes that he's sick of the Dirty Business of his particular domain, and walks away from it. As a result, he is quite possibly the most content of all seven of the Endless.
Delirium
- Baby sister Delirium tells Destiny, eldest of the Endless, to more or less shove it. This from the girl who is all too happy to make flying frogs and chocolate people, talk to fish, and forget to pay attention to gravity. When she gets serious, she's as scary as an angry Death.
- All the more awesome when you stop to consider that in order to do that, she has to force herself to not be herself.
- It's actually a bit more awesome than that: for the younger Endless, meeting the other half of your responsibility's coin seriously messes with them. Delirium, however, can switch the Sanity on, even if it hurts... and, then switch it back off. Plus, she gets away with it. She's already paid the price, and that's her tragedy; but, the result is full-on awesome, as well. Death seems the only one able to switch her opposite side on at will without abdicating... and, even she has that once-a-century price attached to that.
Dream-Daniel
- Dream-Daniel has little screentime, owing to the fact that the series ends with Dream's death, but he makes a mark.
- Unlike Dream, who doesn't seem to have respected when his creations wanted to stay dead, he respects Gilbert's wishes when the place requests that he be allowed to pass on, since then his life would have meaning.
- As Dream-Daniel points out to Hippolyta, the fact that she murdered an Endless means that she broke the rules of the Dreaming, and now will have all of Dream's friends — and some of his enemies — on her tail. He's not happy with her for doing it, even while knowing she was doing it to rescue him from what she thought was a kidnapper and murderer. Yet Dream-Daniel ameliorates her sentence: he still has to exile her from the Dreaming when the funeral is over, but also grants her his protection. He also hints that her sentence may change in the future. Sure enough, when Lyta and a resurrected Hector do superhero work and die in the line of duty, Dream-Daniel is able to revoke her exile and welcomes his parents into the Dreaming.
Others
- For the Sandman series itself, it's the most highly regarded Vertigo title ever.
- A Midsummer's Daydream was the first (and only) comic, ever, to win the World Fantasy Award for best short story. The rules were changed to prevent it from happening again.
- Desire attempts to seduce Joshua through a Snake Oil Salesman offering him the most beautiful women, starting to describe them in ever more disturbing detail. In response, Joshua...gets angry at how inappropriate the conversation is and walks away.Desire (furious): He had no protection! He should have been mine!Dream (placidly): He has his dignity.
- Joshua Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico dies of a heart attack on a cold January day, collapsing in the street poor and destitute with only a few pennies to his name. Before Death comes to take him, Despair has to admit failure, because for all his suffering and poverty, Joshua Norton never despaired. The narration informs us that his funeral was attended by over 10,000 mourners, and Death tells him that of all the monarchs she has met (which is every in history), he is her favourite.
- Mervyn's Dying Moment of Awesome, taking a machine gun to the Kindly Ones. "I'm your worst nightmare. A pumpkin with a gun."
- Nada tells Dream exactly what she thinks of his haughty, jaw-droppingly inadequate apology ("I think I might have acted wrongly. I think perhaps I should apologize," doesn't really cut it when what you've done is condemn someone to ten thousand years in Hell for hurting your pride). She tells him he makes her sick and slaps him in his own domain, fully aware of how powerful he is and the extent of his temper. Dream draws himself up and tries to be furious, and she stares him down. His next apology is far more contrite. It's very clear why Nada was once a queen and why these two were once lovers.
- Hob Gadling in his last story. He's had every suffering, misery, and guilt 500 odd years can throw at him, and has discovered that his only constant friend through all that is gone...and still wants to keep going.
- When Lucifer quits and leaves Hell, a few rogue demons refuse to believe that Lucifer is really who he says he is, and ask increasingly aggressive rhetorical questions about whether the lord of Hell would do something like this. Lucifer's response is, quite calmly, "The Lord of Hell will do what he damn well likes. Leave. Now. All of you." They do.
- The reincarnated Corinthian gets one when he not only sees straight through Loki's deception (which had Matthew fooled), but then strangles the god unconscious, despite the latter shapeshifting into various forms to escape, and failing to get more than a slight "Ow" when he turns himself into fire.
- The Doll's House:
- Gilbert's Establishing Character Moment, which soon becomes heartwarming. He walks in on an already awesome moment for Rose, who is doing her best against would-be muggers. Before she can throw a punch, Gilbert politely suggests they leave the young lady alone, or things will get ugly. He proceeds to demonstrate, with his cane. When they're all scattered, Gilbert doesn't even have a scratch on him.
- Gilbert manages to pull one-up on the original Corinthian; realizing the latter is at a hotel where he and Rose are forced to stay, Gilbert goes Oh, Crap!. He instructs Rose to stay in her room and recite Morpheus's name in case of emergency, before running off. It turns out he figured out that the Corinthian had taken Jed hostage, and where the nightmare's car was. By the time Gilbert reunites with Rose, he reveals he found Jed, unconscious and dehydrated, but alive, and is carrying him protectively. They get him to a hospital, and he survives the night. This doubles as Heartwarming Moments because Gilbert reveals he did it because he cares for Rose, and wasn't able to comfort her when she found out Jed was missing and his guardians were dead.
- The minute that Gilbert finds out Rose is the vortex, he returns to the Dreaming and tracks down Dream, who is explaining to Rose why she needs to die before the end of the night. Gilbert says that he is sorry for deserting but does not regret his time in the human world. Knowing that Dream punishes deserters, Gilbert's request is that if he is to be punished, let him die in Rose's place. He holds Rose, prepared to go out comforting someone he loves. What does Dream do? Punish this rebellious creation? Submit him to a Fate Worse than Death? No. Dream refuses to hurt Gilbert, aka Fiddler's Green, at all, even looking teary-eyed. He apologizes that because of Rose's powers, only another vortex could die in her place. Dream also forgives Fiddler's Green, acknowledging the human world would be tempting to someone like Gilbert.
- Dream is going to kill Rose Walker because she's the Dream Vortex, and if she's allowed to live, the Dreaming and possibly the entire world will be destroyed. Who saves the day? Unity Kinkaid, a frail old woman who spent most of her life asleep, even as she was being raped and gave birth to her daughter Miranda, Rose's mother. Unity arrives in the Dreaming looking as young as she did when the sleeping sickness first hit, and orders Dream to take her instead, because Unity was supposed to be the Vortex instead of Rose. Unity is one of the only people who isn't terrified of what Dream is capable of, and is one of the few people who can get away with insulting him straight to his face. Unity, knowing she's about to die anyway, tells Rose to give her whatever it is that makes her the Vortex so Unity can die in her place.
- How Hob Gadling became immortal: he simply decided to not die.
Dream: Did I hear you say that you had no intention of ever dying?
Hob Gadling: Um, yeah. YEAH. That's right. It's a mug's game. I won't have any part of it.
Dream: Then you must tell me what it's like. Let us meet here again, Robert Gadling. In this Tavern of the White Horse. In a hundred years. - Fables and Reflections:
- In Thermidor, Johanna Constantine and Orpheus bring about the ruin of Maximilien Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror using music. This performance alone justifies the Sandman audiobook series, and the chapter even ends with an encore so you can enjoy the song without the story talking over it. Even more awesome, her original plan was to get into France to find Orpheus, get out, and go home. Robespierre deliberately hunted them down because even if Orpheus's head wasn't real, the myth of its existence was enough to threaten the "rationality" of the time. It's safe to say that he bit off much more than he could chew. Johanna and Orpheus discuss calmly that if they don't handle him, Johanna will be losing her head as well.
- As in mythology, Orpheus was so good at singing he calmed Cerberus, made Charon beg him to keep playing, and even made the Furies cry, which Persephone says is unheard of. Hades and Persephone are moved by his music and agree to let him try to bring Eurydice back. In the Sandman continuity specifically, he has the bravery to demand Death let him see them to save Eurydice. With one look into his eyes, even Death agrees to let him try.
Death: So you made it here. I'm impressed. What do you want?
Orpheus: A wedding gift. To replace the one you took from me.
[...]
Death: You could go to the Underworld. You could even come back. All that has to happen is that I agree never to take you. But there's a catch. Rules.
Orpheus: I don't care about the rules. There are always rules. All I care about is Eurydice.
Death: Look me in the eyes, Orpheus.
[Beat Panel]
Death: Okay.
