The Sandman/Characters: Difference between revisions

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This is the character sheet for ''[[The Sandman]]'', in all its [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] glory.

 

 

=== Morpheus ===

 

The protagonist of the series - thin and pale-skinned with black hair and black eyes that mirror eternity; gloomy and melodramatic, has great belief in duty and rules. All-powerful ruler in his domain of dreams, less powerful outside. Had love affairs with several women (including a witch, a goddess, and the queen of the realm of Fairie) over the eons, but all except the most brief affairs ended badly. Fathered a son, Orpheus, with the Muse Calliope. Sentenced his lover Nada to an eternity of imprisonment in Hell for hurting his [[Pride]], and finally forgave her only after 10,000 years.

'''Dream''': "..." }}

 

* [[Aloof Big Brother]]

* [[Anti-Hero]]

* {{spoiler|[[Driven to Suicide]]: This is the most common interpretation of the series' plot.}}

* [[Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette]]

* [[Fatal Flaw]]: Implied to be his [[Lack of Empathy]].

** Or, more precisely, his sense of duty and tradition (remember all true Fatal Flaws are admirable to some extent). As Neil Gaiman summarized the series, {{spoiler|"The Lord of Dreams learns that one must change or die, and makes his decision."/spoiler}}

'''Morpheus:''' No. I could not.

'''Death:''' No, you couldn't, could you? }}

* [[Good Is Not Nice]]: Dream takes his responsibilities very seriously - and rightly so, since he does things like routinely prevent the world's collapse - but they include some necessary cruelties. He creates nightmares right alongside pleasant dreams (the Corinthian, for example, is definitely ''supposed'' to be terrifying and murderous, just not in the way he chose to be), and said collapse-prevention involved taking the life of an otherwise pleasant person who had no inkling of the danger they posed. And these are the ''necessary'' cruelties - he's also stunningly vindictive and holds long, long grudges while not quite comprehending how ''his'' actions might hurt anyone else.

* [[The Gump]]: Was involved in the careers of [[William Shakespeare]] and Joshua Norton, among others.

 

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=== Daniel ===

[[File:Sandman_DanielHall_2851.jpg|frame]]

* [[Divine Parentage]]: Supposedly they are all offspring of Time, with Night being the mother of Dream, at least.

* [[Fisher King]]: Each has a domain, and within it, he or she is the only power that matters, and [[Screw the Rules, I Make Them| that power is complete.]] While some do indeed have a [[Sacred Hospitality]] policy, it is wise for a guest to also observe it.

* [[Power Limiter]]: While nearly omnipotent and omniscient, there is a set of ancient rules that each must follow, although nobody knows who imposed them or enforces them. An Endless cannot spill the blood of another Endless, and doing so causes the offender to forfeit the protection of his/her other siblings. Also, they are forbidden from entering a crypt within the Necropolis Litharge where their funeral garbs are kept; exactly ''why'', only they know.

** Some rules seem to be unique to only one of them. For instance, some beings are above Death's jurisdiction and cannot be taken by her; the only named being is Lucifer Morningstar, but there may be others.

* [[Blind Seer]]: Perhaps. He definitely ''looks'' blind ... but there are those who say that far from being sightless, Destiny's eyes can see everything all at once, in every time and place. He just doesn't limit his vision to a single where and when.

* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: Sort of. He dislikes getting involved in people's troubles, but will if it's in his book.

* [[In the Hood]]

* [[Non-Linear Character]]: On occasion, he'll mention in advance he's going to say something "in error" several minutes before he proceeds to do so, and then act like he didn't mean to say it. Don't think about that too hard, it'll make your head explode.

* [[Prophet Eyes]]

* [[The Watcher]]

 

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* [[Now What?]]: What will happen when she finally ''is'' the last living being in the universe? She has an answer, one that's somewhat cryptic: "I'll put the chairs on the tables, turn out the lights and lock the universe behind me when I leave."

* [[Perky Goth]]: Arguably an [[Ur Example]].

* [[Raven Hair, Ivory Skin]]: Nearly everyone in and out of universe agrees that Death is the most attractive woman in the series.

* [[Samus Is a Girl]]: Meta example. Death was mentioned several times before actually appearing, and Gaiman's writing at first seemed to suggest he intended readers to assume the character was male and menacing... until she actually appeared.

* [[The Atoner]]

* [[Awesomeness By Analysis]]: Thanks to his domain, he can see patterns everywhere.

* [[Black Sheep]]

* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]

 

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=== Desire ===

[[File:749044-2_desire_large_8411.jpg|frame]]

=== Lucifer ===

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* [[Breakout Character]]: Got his own comic book series, [[Lucifer (comics)|Lucifer]].

=== Azazel ===

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* [[Living Shadow]]: Perhaps. The art is a little unclear.

=== Choronzon ===

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=== Remiel and Duma ===

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* [[Break the Haughty]]: Remiel is not altogether happy about being ordered to maintain Hell.

=== Calliope ===

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* [[Ancient Greece]]

=== Loki ===

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* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]: With a shout-out to [[The Farmer and the Viper]] from Odin; it's in Loki's nature to lash out at those who help him, as much as it's in Cain's to attack his brother.

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=== The Presence ===

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* [[The Ghost]]: Never manifests in person (uh, sort of, we're talking an omnipotent omnipresent omniscient deity here, just roll with it), but is obviously spoken of and performs offscreen actions that shake the foundations of the universe.

=== Puck ===

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* [[The Fair Folk]]: A ''very'' traditional example. He is not a pleasant creature.

=== The Three ===

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* [[The Hecate Sisters]]

=== Titania ===

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* [[The Fair Folk]]

=== Barbie ===

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* [[Creepy Child]]: The Cuckoo, {{spoiler|the child version of Barbie who has become the evil ruler of her dream land and suffers severely from [[Not Growing Up Sucks]].}}

=== Foxglove and Hazel McNamara ===

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* [[Babies Ever After]]

=== Jed Walker ===

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* [[Children Are Innocent]]

=== John Dee/Doctor Destiny ===

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* [[A God Am I]]: When he attempts to take over the dream-world.

=== Lyta Hall/The Fury ===

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* [[Action Girl]]

=== Maisie Hill ===

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* [[Crazy Homeless Person]]: A subversion. Whatever craziness she's shown was a result of her phobia of dogs.

* {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Barbie only survived the destruction of the apartment building because Maisie shielded her body.}}

* [[Sassy Black Woman]]

* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?]]: She doesn't like dogs. When pressed into why, she replies "...I just don't."

=== Norton I, Emperor of the United States ===

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* [[Historical Domain Character]]/[[Reality Is Unrealistic]]: Yes, boys and girls, the United States [[wikipedia:Joshua A. Norton|did have an emperor]]... and he was [[Crazy Awesome]].

=== Orpheus ===

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* [[Ancient Greece]]

=== Rose Walker ===

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* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]

=== Prez Rickard ===

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* [[Canon Immigrant]]: From a short-lived DC title that supposed an 18-year-old would get elected President. Prez cameoed in an issue of Supergirl, which established him as a character proper in the DCU.

=== Roderick Burgess ===

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* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Or rather, did you just imprison the ''Dream King'' in your basement? (He did, and it was a terrible, ''terrible'' idea.)

=== Thessaly ===

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* [[Ancient Greece]]

=== Wanda ===

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* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: {{spoiler|After Wanda's death, her parents have her buried under her original name, Alvin. But, Barbie sees Wanda one last time in a dream, with the most gorgeous and anatomically correct female body, with Death. Death and Wanda wave goodbye to Barbie before she wakes up.}}

* [[Fiery Redhead]]

* {{spoiler|[[Killed Off for Real]]: Wanda dies along with Maisie Hill when Hurricane Lisa destroys the apartment building.}}

* [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?]]: Needless to say, Wanda's parents are quite ashamed of her for her "sinful ways".

 

=== [[William Shakespeare]] ===

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* [[Author Avatar]]

[[Category:The Forties]]

[[Category:The Great Depression]]