10 Secrets Of Neil Gaiman’s Death Of The Endless
1. Mortal Once A Century
Death takes a mortal form for a day, once a century. She sometimes takes a human form but not always. It was during a period that Death was more somber and cold that one of the souls she took asked “How would you like it?” She resolved to live a day as a mortal to better understand the souls she takes and decided that people would rather meet a friend at the end of their life.
In 1880, she spent a day as a peasant girl on the Yangtze River, listening to the grand schemes of a handsome ox-cart driver. In the 20th Century, she was a young woman named Didi who pulled a suicidal young man named Sexton out of the town dump. Together, they wandered around the town while also being pursued by the Eremite, who wanted Death’s Ankh so that he could gain her power.
Things seemed to fall into place for Didi. She was given food when she needs it, was let into a show she wanted to see, and when the Eremite stole her Ankh, she simply got another from a street vendor. Before Didi died and met herself, they helped the insane vagrant Mad Hattie find her heart, and Sexton found the will to live.