Editing List of The Sandman characters (section)

===Cain and Abel===
{{main|Cain and Abel (comics)}}

'''Cain''' and '''Abel''' are based on the Biblical [[Cain and Abel]], adapted by editor [[Joe Orlando]] with [[Bob Haney]] (writer) and [[Jack Sparling]] (artist) (Cain), and [[Mark Hannerfeld]] (writer) and [[Bill Draut]] (artist) (Abel). They were depicted together in Abel's first appearance, and parted to their respective Houses at the end of the story. Although Cain would abuse Abel, he was not shown killing him until ''Swamp Thing'' vol. 2 #33. In ''[[Cassandra Peterson|Elvira]]'s House of Mystery'' #11, Cain expresses shock at having killed his brother in recent times. In the same issue, a contest-winning letter establishes that Cain and the House exist both in the dream world and the real world, and that only in the dream world does Cain continue to harm Abel. In ''The Sandman'', Cain is shown to kill Abel quite often. In issue #2, Lucien calls this unusual and recent.

Originally, they were the respective "hosts" of the [[EC Comics|EC]]-style [[horror fiction|horror]] [[comic book|comic]] anthologies ''[[House of Mystery]]'' and ''[[House of Secrets (DC Comics)|House of Secrets]]'' which ran from the 1950s through 1983—Cain debuting in ''House of Mystery'' #175 (1968) and Abel in ''DC Special'' #4 and ''House of Secrets'' #81 (both 1969). During the 1970s, they also co-hosted the horror/humor anthology ''[[Plop!]]''. They were also both recurring characters in DC's ''Elvira's House of Mystery'' (1986–1988).

In 1985, the characters were revived by writer [[Alan Moore]], who introduced them into his ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' series in issue #33, retelling the Swamp Thing's original origin story from a 1971 issue of ''House of Secrets''. [[Gary Cohn (comics)|Gary Cohn]] and [[Dan Mishkin]] included them in the pages of ''[[Blue Devil (DC Comics)|Blue Devil]]'' in 1986. [[Jamie Delano]] also occasionally used them in a [[cameo role]] in his title ''[[Hellblazer]]''.

In Gaiman's ''Sandman'' universe, the biblical [[Cain]] and [[Abel]] live in the Dreaming at Dream's invitation. This is based on the verse in the Bible which says that Cain was sent to live in the [[Land of Nod]]. They live as neighbors in two houses near a graveyard: Cain in the broad [[House of Mystery]] and Abel in the tall [[House of Secrets (DC Comics)|House of Secrets]]. According to their appearance in ''Swamp Thing'', the difference is that 'a mystery may be shared, but a secret must be forgotten if one tries to tell it'.

Gaiman's Cain is an aggressive, overbearing character. He is a thin, long-limbed man with an angular, drawn face, glasses, a tufty beard, and hair drawn into two points above his ears. He has been described by other characters as sounding "just like [[Vincent Price]]".<ref>''e.g.'' by the raven [[Matthew Cable|Matthew]] in ''Sandman'' #40, p9.</ref>

Gaiman's Abel is a nervous but kind-hearted man. He also has a stammer. He is somewhat similar in appearance to Cain, with a tufty beard and hair that comes to points above his ears, though his hair is black rather than brown. He is shorter and fatter than Cain, with a more open face. It is eventually learned that the only time he does not stutter is when he is telling a story or when he is dead.

Cain kills Abel frequently and in many brutal ways, whereupon Abel later returns to life. He often expresses hope for a more harmonious relationship with his brother.

Cain and Abel own a large green draconic [[gargoyle]] named [[#Gregory|Gregory]], who also made his debut in ''House of Mystery'' #175. In the first appearance of the characters in ''Sandman'', issue #2, Cain gives Abel an egg that soon hatches into another gargoyle, a small golden one. Abel names the gargoyle "Irving". but Cain insists that the names of gargoyles must always begin with a "G.", and Abel (after another death and resurrection) renames the gargoyle "[[#Goldie|Goldie]]", after an invisible/imaginary friend to whom Abel told his early ''House of Secrets'' stories. A letter in issue #91 was attributed to Goldie, who claimed that it was herself depicted on the cover of issue #88.

They shelter Dream until his strength is restored following his 72-year-long imprisonment. In the fourth [[story arc]], ''[[The Sandman: Season of Mists|Season of Mists]]'', Cain is sent to [[Hell]] to give a message to [[Lucifer (DC Comics)|Lucifer]] because Cain is protected by [[Curse and mark of Cain|a curse]] that would deter Lucifer from harming him. Cain and Abel also aid [[#Corinthian|The Corinthian]] with the child [[Daniel Hall (comics)|Daniel]] during ''[[The Sandman: The Kindly Ones|The Kindly Ones]]'', the penultimate story arc of the series. Abel is one of the victims of the [[#Three|Furies]] in this series and is brought back to life by the new [[Daniel Hall (comics)|Dream]] at Cain's request.

In the podcast, Cain and Abel are voiced by Michael Roberts and [[Kerry Shale]].

In the [[Netflix]] series ''[[The Sandman (TV series)|The Sandman]]'', Cain and Abel are portrayed by [[Sanjeev Bhaskar]] and [[Asim Chaudhry]] respectively.