The Sandman (TV Series)

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"Dreams do not last long in the mortal world... Nightmares seem to thrive there."

The Sandman is a 2022 Netflix show, based on the comic book series of the same name by Neil Gaiman. It premiered on August 5, 2022.

A hundred years ago, a sorcerer called Roderick Burgess tried to imprison the Angel of Death. He ended up miscalculating, capturing a mysterious man with a helmet, ruby and a pouch of sand. On finding out the man is the Lord of Dreams, Roderick tried to use Dream's captivity to bargain for powers.

Dream is now free. He has taken revenge on his captors. There is a problem, however: most of his realm's dreams and nightmares are running rampant on Earth. Dream has to get them back, by any means possible, before they harm humanity. Some have already started the harm.

The series stars Tom Sturridge as Dream, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death.

Tropes used in The Sandman (TV Series) include:

Abusive Dad: Roderick Burgress is not winning any father of the year awards. He physically abuses Alex, blatantly using him as a servant rather than a son.
Actually Pretty Funny: When he and Rose manage to enter Jed's mindscape, Dream smiles when he sees a little boy in a cape and mask approach him, saying that he is the Sandman who must face the King of Nightmares. Dream is very amused and asks if that's what Gault told Jed what Morpheus was. It's implied he finds Jed adorable in the getup. Rose is more down-to-earth, reassuring Jed that she's here to help her little brother and they're not going to fight him.
Adaptation Distillation: Neil freely admits that he was making up as he went when writing the first comics' run of Sandman, hence why stuff like the Vortex's true vortex had inconsistent details. Forty years and hindsight allow him to tighten the timeline. Namely, Dream and Lucienne, rather than admiring Rose as the vortex, are cautious about if her powers will awaken.
Adaptation Expansion: The Corinthian gets more to do here by appearing in the first arc rather than being the Arc Villain in Doll's House. Dream ended up on Earth hunting down the Corinthian, who escaped to become a real-life nightmare. That allowed Roderick Burgess to capture him.
Adaptational Attractiveness: John Dee in the comics was a shriveled man with a haunted expression in his eyes. As David Thewliss plays John, he is fairly handsome, just looking lost before realizing he can get his ruby back.
Adaptational Heroism:
- For what little it's worth, John Dee has a smaller body count compared to his comic counterpart. He doesn't want to kill anyone stopping him from getting his ruby, and spares Rosemary, giving her his amulet of protection. And indeed when he gets the ruby, rather than use it to kill people For the Evulz, he notes how everyone in the diner has dark secrets and uses its power to make all the negativity and resentment come out, along with the passion and confessions.
- One for Dream; while he does save Rose's life in the comics, he does plan to kill her if her Vortex powers awaken which they do, explaining that if he doesn't, she'll have the power to destroy Earth and infinite worlds. Here, he's adamant that despite her powers, she's not the one causing the problems in the Dreaming and agrees to help train her on how to use them to find Jed, if she helps him track down errant dreams. Lucienne and Gilbert know that he will have to kill the vortex eventually, but Dream delays it because he doesn't like killing and becomes fond of Rose's company. Rose is the one who offers to sacrifice herself so that she doesn't hurt her friends or family, realizing that her powers are too dangerous after they inadvertently empower the Corinthian.
- One thing in the Corinthian's favor: he does not prey on children, and he doesn't kill everyone that he meets. Heck, he even sleeps with Carl when the latter hits on him, and refuses to eat his eyes. His Establishing Character Moment in the comic is showing him preparing to murder a teenaged kidnap victim in a hotel tub. One thing to his credit is that when he kidnaps Jed after murdering Clarice and Barnaby, he does not lay a finger on the kid, and even treats him to ice-cream while bargaining with his sister.
Adaptational Personality Adjustment:
- Lucien in the comic was more of The Caretaker of the Dreaming, who fusses over Morpheus when the latter collapses. Lucienne, in contrast, is portrayed as a Hypercompetent Sidekick that is not afraid to speak her mind to Dream about if it's safe for him to travel to Earth alone, has been running the Dreaming when he's held captive for a hundred years, and sends a raven to help him when he hunts down his tools. While Lucienne reasonably fears that if Dream loses his temper that he will send her and Fiddler's Green to Eternal Darkness, she also stands up to him if he's being unreasonable or narrow-minded.
- Joanna Constantine II is more flippant than her comic counterpart John Constantine was with Morpheus. When Dream showed up on John's doorstep, he tiredly agreed to help the King of Dreams. Joanna tells Dream that he has to wait while she handles another exorcism and negotiates to get her fees tripled. Unlike John, who is fairly careful with his artifacts, Joanna reveals she left Dream's bag of sand at an ex's place after ghosting her. She goes My God, What Have I Done? after learning this careless act led to Rachael trying the sand due to not knowing any better, getting poisoned and dying.
- Hob Gadling was a Technical Pacifist in the comics; he loses any fights where someone targets him. The show has him take on Lady Johanna Constantine I's goons with his fists, to protect Dream.
- Greek muse Calliope in the comics is a Broken Bird and all-around Nice Girl. While she is nice in the show, she's much more defiant towards Erasmus when the latter has imprisoned her, and later Richard Madoc when he takes ownership of her. Calliope outright tells Richard that if he wants her ideas honorably, he would free her and then worship her, as the muses used to be worshipped. She also more actively plays The Long Game when the Fates tell her that only her ex Dream can save her; Calliope reads the newspaper and sees the Sleeping Sickness has ended. Knowing what that means, she contrives a Distress Call by writing "Morpheus" on a piece of paper. When Richard says the name aloud and burns the paper, she doesn't react, because saying Dream's name will summon him. Calliope also tells Morpheus she wants to be free, but doesn't want him to think that he still owns her as a wife. She specifies that she doesn't want Richard to be hurt later. Unlike in the comic where Calliope looks at Richard with pity after Dream curses him, she gives a tiny smile.
Adaptational Villainy: The Burgesses had one thing in their defense in the comic book; they had no idea about the harm they were causing to the world and had mistaken Dream for Death during his centuries-long captivity. When the Corinthian tells Roderick, as well as Alex, what they really imprisoned, Roderick uses Dream's items to make himself rich. Alex has it worse in that he nearly frees Dream a few times, but hesitates.
Adaptational Weakling:
- In the comic book The Sandman, Lord Morpheus is pretty powerful even after spending seventy years in captivity. He remakes his Dream palace with a simple gesture, and only needs a few days of bed-rest. In the show, Dream doesn't even get that owing to a hundred years in captivity; he can barely move a few pieces of rubble, and refuses to rest or get food. He has to sacrifice Cain and Abel's gargoyle Gregory to receive enough power to summon the Fates and receive answers about his tools' location.
- Hector and Lyta Hall were superheroes in the Golden Age as The Sandman and Fury respectively. When Dream invades Jed's mind, where a dead Hector and living Lyta are imprisoned, Hector attacks what he thinks is the King of Nightmares and at least tries to fend off what he thinks is a supervillain. It does nothing to Dream, who bursts out laughing on hearing that Hector calls himself the Sandman, but it's implied he was formidable in life, and confirmed in the Justice Society of America series when Hector and Lyta continue their superhero work. In fact, it's implied that Lyta's hero moniker and previously rebooted backstory as Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor's daughter was what allowed her to summon the Kindly Ones to avenge her son Daniel, whom she thought Dream had kidnapped. The series, to avoid having to explain thirty years' worth of comic continuity, makes them both ordinary architects and Hector died in a random accident. What's more, Hector is more accepting if saddened when Dream breaks it to him gently that he can't stay in the Dreaming as a ghost, and Lyta can't stay with him, before sending him to Death's realm.
- Comic-book Gilbert realized that he couldn't take on the Corinthian after recognizing him, but realized that the latter had kidnapped Rose's brother Jed and rescued the boy while the latter was doing "cereal" con activities. Here, Gilbert doesn't have that opportunity; Corinthian recognizes him at the Empire State Hotel when the latter is helping Rose search for Jed, and is willing to kill another runaway dream to hold onto Rose. Realizing he has no choice, Gilbert leaves a message for Rose at the hotel desk and turns himself into Dream and Lucienne, begging them to punish him if they must but please save his human friend Rose Walker and her brother.
- While Choronzon looks tougher in this version, he is a coward who needs Lucifer to fight on his behalf; in the original version, he fought Dream personally.
Adult Fear:
- The scene where Mr. Kincaid finds out his daughter Unity is asleep and not waking up, and realizing that she's not responding to him. He orders his wife to call the doctor, fearing Unity must be deathly ill. As Dream narrated, Unity wasn't the only one that fell victim to this sleeping sickness. Others had chronic insomnia or somnambulism.
- The sad part about Death going about her rounds is that everyone she reaps has very mundane deaths. A violinist recites a prayer in Hebrew before he passes on sleeping peacefully, a husband drowns while on vacation with his wife and begs Death to let him tell his wife the code to his phone, a baby succumbs to SIDs while the mother is getting a bottle, and Franklin dies in a random street accident.
- Rose's quest to find her little brother Jed after their parents separated in a divorce. Since their parents died recently, she wants to to become his guardian and reunite with him. The foster care agent is no help, refusing to give information because she says that Rose can't raise Jed with her lack of income. She finds out belatedly that his foster parents were abusive, and a serial killer kidnaps him as bait. Rose has no choice but to meet with the Corinthian at a designated spot, preparing to exchange herself for her little brother.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: One man begs Death to let him talk to his wife, to say goodbye and give her the code to his phone so she has the travel information for their vacation. She apologetically shows him that he drowned a few minutes ago, so it's too late.
Ambiguous Gender:
- While Lucifer is portrayed by a woman, it is not made clear if the character is female or androgynous - likely, Lucifer could appear as anything they desire, and other characters use gender-neutral pronouns as reference. When Neil Gaiman himself was inquired on the matter of pronouns, "usually I, but we when being formal."
- Much like in the comics, Desire has no set gender; mortals view Desire as whatever they find desirable.
Bait and Switch: When Dream tells Rose that Matthew will help her in the real world, serving as his eyes and ears, Rose spots a bird on the beach. She goes to talk to it. Matthew is a few feet away; he corrects her that she was talking to a crow, while he is a raven. Good thing too, since the Corinthian was a few feet away as well.
Becoming the Mask: Downplayed; Gault's intention was always to protect Jed, but she took the form of his mother Miranda Walker to make his dreams sweeter and more comforting. She goes Mama Bear when Dream breaches her barriers, ordering Jed not to confront the "King of Nightmares" and later seething to Dream that Jed is being abused in the waking world.
Bigger Bad: The finale of season one makes it clear that Dream's sibling Desire orchestrated almost all the hardships and trials he went through up to then, and is likely plotting even more.
Bittersweet Ending: How season one ends, much like the first two comic arcs. Rose and Jed reunite, and Unity instructs her solicitor to ensure that Rose becomes Jed's legal guardian so that foster care can never take him away again, no matter where they reside. Rose mourns Unity when the latter dies to save her as well as the fact that Unity never got to meet Jed, but Unity says she doesn't regret giving her great-granddaughter a chance to live. Hal moves in with Lyta, Carl and Rose to pursue his stage dreams in New York while Lyta and Rose commit to raising Lyta's baby as a platonic couple, with Jed as the unnamed baby's uncle. Barbie and Ken may have broken up, while Chantal and Zelda buy Hal's house. Rose also mourns saying goodbye to Gilbert who has resumed his place as Fiddler's Green, but Gilbert promised that she could always visit him; she writes a book about what happened, which is quite good according to Lucienne. Lyta lives in fear that Dream will eventually claim her baby, as he said he would, while the Lords of Hell pressure Lucifer to take revenge against Morpheus for humiliating her. Dream remakes Gault into a dream as an apology for being so callous to her while planning to save the Corinthian as a WIP; the season ends with Gault flying into the Dreaming, excuding sheer joy.
Black and White Insanity: John Dee has this problem; his mother was a Consummate Liar, and his nightmares indicate that she tried to kill him. As a result, he hates liars. The reason why he spares Rosemary, however, is she explains that people lie out of fear. Fear that they will die, or their loved ones will be hurt. Realizing that he's scaring her, John gives her his amulet of protection, promising that now she won't ever have to lie anymore or live in fear. In the diner, this mindset and his power with the Ruby leads to multiple heart-to-hearts between characters, an orgyfest, and eventually violence where John Dee compels everyone to die. Dream has to point out the obvious: if you see their deceptions in a black-and-white context, it means that you don't see their hopes and dreams. Because dreams are fundamentally lies with grains of truth, and they motivate people to act and improve their lives.
Bullying a Dragon: Roderick Burgess makes demands of the captive Dream when learning what he really is from the Corinthian. Dream says that even if he could give those gifts, honor and dedication to his duty would have compelled him to refuse. He gets his revenge once he's out on Alex.
Cain and Abel: The Trope Names appear in episode 2, and the Trope itself is downplayed. Cain assaults and murders Abel frequently (Abel cannot permanently die) but it seems he can't help himself, given his role as the First Murderer and Abel being the First Victim. Most of the time, they get along just fine.
Cardboard Prison: Subverted with the mental hospital where John Dee resides, unlike with Arkham Asylum in the comics. There are security guards on every level; the one on John's floor is on a first-name basis with him and will shoot to kill, apologetically. Unlike when Dream returned John Dee to Arkham and exiled him from the Dream Realm in the comics, here he puts John in a peaceful sleep and tucks him into bed. It's implied that John will spend the rest of his waking life there.
The Cavalry Arrives Late: Dream arrives to confront John Dee just as he's killed all the diner patrons that were trapped with him. He doesn't react, except to ask if it was necessary, and pointing out that none of the people were liars. The episode ends with him walking away from the burning diner, having reclaimed his tools.
Character Development: Mentioned by Gilbert about Dream after surrendering to him and Lucienne. He says that the Dream he knew would never have apologized for being an ass or insensitive, but Dream just sincerely apologized to Lucienne for inadvertently belittling her years of managing the Dreaming while he was away. Lucienne is more skeptical, saying that Dream's moods change and they may both end up in the darkness if his temperament sours. Ultimately, however, Gilbert ends up being right; Dream ends the season as a more merciful Lord of Dreams. He doesn't punish Gilbert for deserting, spares Rose until he thinks he absolutely has to kill her, and promises her that she and her brother will have peaceful dreams on learning they are related. What's more, he remakes Gault as a dream and apologizes to her for being callous about what she wanted, and oblivious to how even dreams and nightmares change over time.
Cool Uncle: Dream finds out in hindsight that he was this to Rose on learning that Desire was her great-grandparent who impregnated Unity. Rather than deal with the vortex as her powers awakened, Dream answered Rose's questions when she ended up in his throne room, and offers her Matthew as protection and a confidante while they work together to find Jed. Later he taught her how to use her powers to locate Jed's dreams, and allowed the siblings a few minutes to talk before waking them. It's not until he absolutely has no choice that he prepares to kill Rose, and she's fine with it on learning that if her powers get out of control, she could destroy the whole planet and multiple worlds. After Unity takes Rose's place as the vortex and dies, she reveals inadvertently that Desire was her lover, meaning that Rose and Jed are Dream's great-niece and nephew. Dream immediately promises Rose that she and her brother have suffered enough, and he will make sure their dreams are better than they were now that she is an ordinary girl. Rose ends the season grieving Unity, but grateful that she finally found Jed.
Cuteness Proximity: Despite himself, Dream smiles when he sees a little kid in a cape and mask charging at him, playing the part of the Sandman in his dream. Rose has a delayed reaction, asking Jed if it's him. Jed takes a moment to recognize his big sister as well since it's been a few years.
Developing Doomed Characters: The adaptation of "24 Hours" does this with the people that John Dee traps in the diner. They are eventually compelled to murder and maim each other, or die by suicide, but the women when ordered to tell John Dee his fate warn him that his future has hospital beds and prison bars. We find out that Bette has been crushing on Marsh for years only to learn that he's gay, and Bette makes it a habit to set up people of the opposite sex in the attempts to give them "happy endings" though she hopes one day to write a book about her customers. Turns out the so-called happy couple both have their ambitions overriding their love on their fifth anniversary, with Garry resenting that Kate doesn't respect him as she's the CEO of a pharmaceutical company where they work and Kate knowing that Garry is cheating on her. Judy receives more than a label as a "domestic abuser"; she talks with Rose via video call and admits to Bette that she knows she's not good enough for Donna because she smacked the latter and they've been having problems for a while.
Earn Your Happy Ending: For Jed, season one shows how hard his life was, with his dad isolating him from his mother and sister, so he didn't even know his mom died. Then he's adopted by an abusive couple that keeps him for the monthly stipend, and the social worker assigned to him is dumb enough to not see through Barnaby's polite exterior. Corinthian proceeds to kill his "aunt and uncle", kidnap Jed and use the kid as bait to lure Rose to the Empire State hotel. Fortunately, thanks to Gilbert and Dream, Rose and Jed escape the serial killers after Morpheus takes care of the Corinthian, and Unity ensures that Rose lives to become Jed's legal guardian. The Time Skip shows him taking his uncle duties to Lyta's baby seriously.
Even Evil Has Standards:
- John Dee feels guilty for scaring Rosemary as she begs him not to kill her dog. He doesn't have a gun, fortunately, but he does have the amulet of protection. John gives it to her, saying that now no one can ever harm her.
- The Corinthian looks like he's quietly seething when Jed reveals he's run away a lot from Barnaby and Clarice, but Barnaby always hunts him down. He reassures Jed that Barnaby won't be able to hurt him again, relating that someone is hunting him down as well. While at the con hotel, he gives Jed as many treats as he wants and instructs him to stay in his room until Rose arrives.
Everyone Has Standards:
- Joanna Constantine is selfish and pragmatic, showing no qualms about exorcising a demon in front of his bride-to-be. She also begs Dream to not leave Rachel dying in pain, knowing that it's her fault Rachel ended up in this state.
- Likewise, Dream understands Joanna's cynicism better when seeing her nightmares of failing to save Astra from a demon exorcism gone wrong. He tells her that he's sorry that she suffers them, and bargains to make them vanish if she gets back his pouch.
- Matthew is appalled when he learns that Dream condemned a woman to hell for rejecting him.
Fire-Forged Friends:
- Gilbert and Rose bond when he prepares to defend her from muggers, and they team up to beat the tar out of her would-be attackers. She thanks him, and he walks her home. Later, he accompanies her on a road trip when the Corinthian calls and says that he has Jed. It gets to the point where Gilbert surrenders to Dream to save Rose and Jed, and later asks Dream if he can die in Rose's place.
- Likewise, despite Dream making an ally of Rose out of necessity-- there's hope that if he helps her control her powers that he can find Jed as well as the errant subjects of his kingdom, and not have to kill Rose if her powers start causing a dream apocalypse -- his firm guidance means that they get along pretty well. Even though he says that it's time for them to wake up once they locate Jed and Gault, he gives Rose and Jed time to pass important information to each other about Jed's location, and orders Rose to find her brother in the waking world. There's a bit of a road bump when he sends Hector out of the Dreaming and claims Lyta's baby as his, but Rose ultimately realizes that Dream is on the side of humanity when he reveals her powers are apocalyptic and saves her and Jed from the Cereal convention.
Foreshadowing: In episode 2, Dream has to ask Cain and Abel to return their gargoyle Gregory to him, asking Gregory to give up his existence for the Dreaming. Both brothers beg Dream not to do it, saying they'll give their lives for their friend; Dream says that he can't because he didn't make them, and thus their sacrifice wouldn't give him the power he needs to summon the Fates or rebuild the damage to the Dreaming. A similar scenario plays out in the season finale where Gilbert politely asks Dream if he can die in Rose's place, "humbly offering" his life for a human friend he values highly. Dream tells them with a tearful expression that Gilbert isn't a vortex, so his death would be senseless, so he cannot accept that offer.
Gilded Cage: At the Empire State Hotel, the Corinthian sets up Rose and Jed in a nice hotel suite after saving them from Fun Land. They're free to order room service and enjoy amenities on his tab. Jed is terrified after learning that he's a killer, after the man rescued him from Clarice and Barnaby, while Rose can't believe the man who reunited her with her brother is one of Dream's nightmares. He tells Rose he's not keeping them locked up; she has a room key and is free to keep the door barred to him. In fact, he thinks it would be safer if she didn't trust him. The issue is there are a bunch of serial killers in the con that would love to prey on them, so it'd be safer for them to stay put and get some rest while he does his guest of honor ceremonies.
Graceful Loser: Zigzagged. Lucifer may not like Dream per se, but she respects him. When he wins their battle of wits, she forfeits the helm on the demon owner's behalf but says that nothing protects him in Hell so why should she abide by Sacred Hospitality? Dream points out that Hell would have no power over the damned unless they would dream of Heaven. She lets him go without further argument, though Matthew can see that she's furious.
Heroic Sacrifice: Rather, villainous one; Ethel Cripps comes to visit her son John Dee in a mental hospital. She warns him that Dream is coming, but he scoffs that she said that every day they had to move to new towns. Realizing he needs proof, Ethel removes her necklace of protection and gives it to John, saying it will keep him safe from the Sandman. She proceeds to die in front of him, confirming that even if he gave it back, it would be too late for her.
Honor Before Reason: Dream notes he could have talked to Alex when the latter asked as a youth to not hurt him if he frees Dream. The problem is that Alex killed Jessamy, and broke a rule of the Dreaming. So Dream remained silent. Death calls out Dream for this later, saying that his stupid honor is why he was kept captive for so long.
Hope Spot:
- Joanna Constantine realizes that she left the bag of sand at her ex's place. Rachel answers the door, upset that Joanna ghosted her, but willing to hear her out if Joanna apologizes since she was worried Joanna's line of work had killed her. Joanna does, saying that it was stupid and selfish of her to leave without even a note. It seems they can at least part civilly and Dream can get his pouch. Then Rachel dissolves into dust, and Dream awakens Joanna. It was a nightmare caused by the sand afflicting the apartment. The real Rachel is dying in bed; she unknowingly used the Dream Sand and it reduced her to a shell of her former self.
- After the battle in Hell, Dream is relieved that the ruby is in a warehouse with no guards or protection. He cups it, only to realize something is wrong. The jewel knocks him out, just as John Dee arrives to claim it.
- Rose cheers with relief when from the information that Jed gives her in the mindscape, she finds an address for him and the names of his foster parents. Then she arrives to the place and police cars are surrounding it. Corinthian beat her to the house, killed Barnaby and Clarice, and took Jed to ensure that Rose would meet with him.
- It seems all's well that ends well in the season one finale. Rose gains control of her powers and helps Dream take down Corinthian as well as the "cereal" congoers, escaping with Jed in tow. She tells Jed that they have a great-grandmother, who will ensure that Jed will never go to foster care again and they can be together. Lyta goes into labor, but her vital signs are good and all of her friends are fussing over her. Then Rose falls asleep, and her powers go out of control again, merging everyone's dreams in her rental and causing a giant sinkhole. She futilely tries to save her friends, holding onto Hal as he screams for her to help him. This leads to another Hope Spot when Jed becomes his Sandman guise and attempts to fly to Rose and stop the sinkhole... only for it to grab him as well. Dream fortunately stops the chaos before Rose accidentally kills everyone, telling her that he can mend the damage but no one is out of the woods yet. Rose then understands why the vortex has to die, because she doesn't want to cause the apocalypse. She's not happy about it, but more accepting.
I Gave My Word: Dream takes his promises seriously. It's why he meets Hob Gadling faithfully for several centuries and feels guilty when Roderick makes him miss the latest appointment. He agrees to help Rose find Jed, since something has locked away Jed from the Dreaming, if she helps him find errant dreams and nightmares, accepting his assistance with controlling her powers. When they find Jed, Dream takes a surrendering Gault and says it's time for everyone to wake up, but gives the siblings time to talk, long enough for Rose to get a clue about her little brother's address.
Karmic Jackpot:
- Despite the fact that Gault was meant to be a nightmare, she instead deserted the Dreaming to protect Jed and give him an escape from his nightmarish existence in foster care by posing as his mother Miranda. She surrenders to Dream without a fuss when he breaks through her barriers with Rose's help, spending her last moments before her punishment explaining she wants to inspire people, not scare them. Even Lucienne disapproves of her punishment, telling Dream that in his absence, many of his subjects had to take on duties and make hard decisions. realizes that Gault is right and remakes her as a beautiful dream]. Lucienne is pleased, and Gault enters the Dreaming with a smile and laugh. Dream also apologizes to her, saying it was wrong of him to expect that everyone would be the same after a hundred years.
- It's revealed that Gilbert is actually Fiddler's Green. He surrenders to Dream when the Corinthian is preparing to exchange Jed for Rose, saying he'll accept any punishment but please save Rose and her brother. He also gives their location, allowing Dream to track down Corinthian and take him down with Rose's help. Dream doesn't punish Fiddler's Green for desertion, merely ordering Gilbert to resume his place in the Dreaming. Thanks to Unity, Rose gets a chance to live, and Gilbert can provide a haven for her in his world when she sleeps.
Large and In Charge: Lucifer, ruler of Hell, as portrayed by Statuesque Stunner (6'3) actress Gwendoline Christie, is certainly this.
Living MacGuffin: Rose Walker becomes this for the Corinthian in the present day. The reason? She is a Vortex, a rare mortal imbued with the powers of the Dreaming. The Corinthian can siphon those powers away from her to become strong enough to defeat Dream. He forgets something, however: Rose can also empower Dream and the Dreaming now that she knows how to use these gifts. Rose quickly turns the tide when Dream tells her how powerful she is.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Dream realizes with horror that Desire was the one who impregnated Unity in her sleep. He says aloud after Unity dies that it means that Rose and Jed are descendants of the Endless, his great-niece and nephew. No wonder she had a connection to the Dreaming. He tells Rose she's free of future torment now she's a normal girl, and advises her to live her life.
Mama Bear:
- Gault surrenders to Dream and sheds the glamour of posing as Miranda Walker when he and Rose enter Jed's mindscape, ordering the kid not to confront "The King of Nightmares". She explicitly says that she went against her purpose as a nightmare because Jed is being abused in the waking world and she wanted to protect him from it. While she calls out Dream for not wanting to accept change as he sentences her to a thousand years in darkness, she trusts that he and Rose will find Jed in the waking world. Realizing Gault is right, Dream restores her, but makes her a dream this time to inspire others as she wanted.
- When realizing that Dream will have to sacrifice her great-granddaughter to save the Dreaming, Unity quickly tracks him down and explains that she has to die instead. Unity was supposed to be the original vortex but due to conceiving a child in sleep, it passed onto Rose. She orders Rose to give her heart, and once she is the vortex, says that Dream has no reason to hurt her great-granddaughter so leave Rose alone. Unity breaks the ruby heart and dies in peace.
My God, What Have I Done?: The reason why Joanna doesn't stay close to any romantic partners is because her line of work -- demon exorcisms for fees-- can get them killed. She's horrified on learning that her carelessness with Dream's bag of sand ended up indirectly poisoning Rachel, and not even Dream can cure her.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Happens at the end of "24/7". John Dee made two crucial mistakes that allows Dream to defeat him: he gives up his amulet of protection to Rosemary, and he smashes the ruby in an attempt to kill Dream. Without the amulet, Dream is free to torment him with nightmares of his childhood, and the ruby contained most of Dream's powers. Dream gets his powers back, and swiftly shows John that he lost with this miscalculation.
Parting Words Regret: The last thing Alex says to his father before killing him by accident is that Randall would hate his father as much as Alex does.
Perky Goth: Death, much like she is in the comics.
Pet the Dog:
- While the Corinthian is mad at Ethel for refusing to help him fight Dream, and sending him back to the Dreaming with her amulet of protection, he doesn't hold it against her son. When John Dee escapes the hospital, Corinthian offers his coat, saying that he doesn't need it back when John gets to his destination. Sure, there was a selfish reason in that John is the only one who can probably get rid of Dream forever, but this is the Corinthian we're seeing. Later, when Carl housesits for Rose and Lyta, the Corinthian doesn't kill him and instead sleeps with Carl, before flying to England to meet Unity.
- When it seems like John Dee is going to kill Rosemary after she transports him to the warehouse, he gifts her the amulet of protection instead when she answers honestly that she's scared that he'll hurt her dog. John says that he won't need it anymore once he gets his ruby.
Pragmatic Villainy: The Corinthian tells Roderick Burgress how to keep Dream captive indefinitely as well as who he really is. He says it's in their best interest that Dream never escapes because he knows his creator will not be nice the minute he gets his powers back.
Punch Clock Villain: The modern-day guards that accidentally free Dream are paid grunts. One even theorizes that he is a Dracula, a vampire. When he is free, he simply knocks them out before going to avenge himself on Alex.
Race Lift: Death usually takes the form of a Caucasian woman in the comics; here she appears as African-American. Also true for many minor characters, including Rosemary (Caucasian to African-American, episode 4), Grace and Kelly (both Caucasian to African-American, episode 5) and "Dog Soup" (Asian to African-American, episode 9).
Rebellious Prisoner:
- Dream himself refuses to cave into Roderick Burgess's demands to give him his son back, or Alex's later pleas to not hurt him or his lover if they free him. He remains silent, determined to wait them out until an opportunity to escape appears.
- Unlike in the source material, where Calliope was a Broken Bird after decades in captivity, this Calliope remains willful despite Erasmus Fry and later Richard Madoc raping her for ideas to finish their books. She tells Richard outright that muses reward worshippers, and don't respond to bribes of flowers or perfume when he attempts that. When the Fates tell her that only Dream can free her, and Dream is in captivity she figures out Plan B: play The Long Game by waiting until Dream gets free a few years later and sending a Distress Call to him. Richard sees her writing Morpheus on a piece of paper and says the name aloud before burning it, not knowing that saying Morpheus summons him, and so does the smoke from his chimney. When Dream comes to help Calliope, he says he will if she lets him, and not because they used to be married but because Richard hurt her. Calliope specifies she doesn't want Richard hurt, just persuaded to free her because technically he broke no pre-established law and he has to free her of his volition. Dream curses Richard with an abundance of ideas, when Richard refuses to release Calliope, saying he needs her inspiration, until he agrees to release the muse. When Richard feels the onset of the curse and confronts Calliope, asking what that strange man in a nightmare did to him, she gives a defiant smile before revealing he met The King of Dreams and the father of her son Orpheus. She said she didn't want Richard hurt, and technically Dream does not hurt him. View the scene in its gloriousness.
Refuge in Audacity: What is one way to get the Corinthian's attention? Copycat his kills. Corinthian tracks down the copycats and asks why he shouldn't murder them in turn. They Squee and reveal they are big fans of him, explaining they run a "collectors" convention. Would he like to be the guest of honor? Corinthian accepts, amused by their audacity.
Replacement Goldfish: Subverted. Because Jessamy died trying to save him, Dream is not into taking a new raven with him on Earth. Matthew acknowledges that he's not Jessamy, whoever she was, but he knows humans better than Dream does. Dream eventually concedes when Matthew refuses to leave his side.
Rule of Three: In the second episodes, the Fates allow Morpheus to ask them three questions, one to each Fate.
Scenery Porn: Almost every scene in the series is breathtaking, as befits a story where the protagonist is the embodiment of Dreams.
Shapeshifter Showdown: What the Oldest Game between Dream and Lucifer is, sort of. It seems like a psychological battle without physical change, but each strike one makes upon the other is a physical wound.
Spared By The Adaptation: In the comics, John Dee shot Rosemary as soon as she served her purpose. He spares her after she honestly answers that she's scared of him, and gifts her with the amulet of protection, seeing a lot of his mother in her. John says now she won't ever have to lie, or fear for her life ever again.
Summon Bigger Fish: When Gilbert realizes that the Corinthian is holding Jed hostage and wants Rose in exchange, he immediately returns to the Dreaming and surrenders to Morpheus, leaving a message for Rose that he has to "go home". He says punish him for deserting, but save Rose and her brother! Morpheus is more than happy to do that, since he's been hunting the Corinthian for a while now. Turns out that it was the right call, since the Corinthian was close to becoming invincible with Rose's powers.
This Is Gonna Suck: The Corinthian has this reaction when he realizes that Dream is free, a hundred years after telling Roderick how to imprison him. He decides to go out and take the fight to Dream, by reshaping the world.
Thou Shalt Not Kill: More a case of honor on Dream's part, but he doesn't like killing because it intrudes on his sister Death's realm. Death has her duties, he has his.
A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Inverted; Alex is afraid to free Dream throughout his life, despite knowing it's the right thing to do, because Dream never indicates if he or his lover Paul would be punished for being complicit in his father's crimes. It's likely that if he had done so as soon as he had the power, Dream would have made the sentence much lighter.
Truer to the Text: Compared to adaptations in general. The plot only diverges from the source with the time period; other than that, it is almost a one-to-one
The Unfavorite: Alexander is the living spare to his father Roderick. Roderick captured Dream because he wanted Death to restore his deceased son Randall.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- Morpheus acknowledges that it certainly wasn't Roderick Burgess's intention, but he caused harm to the Dreaming and the real world. Burgess trapped Dream mistaking him for Death, just as he was about to capture Corinthian. This would lead to the Sleeping Sickness, and allowing nightmares. What was definitely not an accident was Roderick keeping him imprisoned indefinitely, along with Alex doing the same.
- Gault certainly meant well when she tried to give Jed comfort in his dreams, but she unknowingly severed him from the Dreaming. Rose could have found Jed the minute she walked into Dream's throne room from Lucienne, and tracked him down before the Corinthian would use him as bait to lure Rose to the serial killers' convention. Dream says that he understands her good intentions but she didn't actually solve Jed's real problems, because dangers can happen when one lingers too long in a fantasy. Season one ends with him acknowledging that Gault was doing her best and remakes her as a proper dream, apologizing to her for his callousness.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid:
- Alexander is solemn as a child, obeying his father blindly, but certainly not evil. He's shown to be Nice to the Waiter as a teen, since his father treats him as an unpaid servant and not as a son. Alex is also the first person to ask Dream if he's all right while captive in the orb, showing genuine sympathy for him and apologizing for what his father did. His Start of Darkness is when he shoots Jessamy the raven for trying to free Dream as a test of loyalty to his father.
- We see John Dee as an innocent baby long before he comes the monstrous serial killer. His mother turned him into the monster, and she apologizes to him when giving up her immortality to protect him.
Wham! Shot: When Unity reveals that the person who impregnated her in dreams had golden eyes, Dream asks her to say that again. It then cuts to a shot of Desire.
What You Are in the Dark:
- After his father's death, Alex almost frees Dream. He has felt sympathy for the prisoner. It's only because the servants remind him that his father wouldn't want this that he stops. Dream pities him, understanding, but still plans to punish him for killing Jessamy.
- Gilbert turns himself into Dream and Lucienne when he realizes that the Corinthian lured Rose to the Empire State Hotel, using Jed as bait. He tells Dream quite honestly why he left-- to become human-- but says that he came back to save his human friend and will take any punishment as long as Dream rescues Rose and Jed from the Corinthian. His honesty and willingness to die for Rose makes Dream realize that he does not want to sentence Fiddler's Green to the darkness, as he did to Gault, and Fiddler's Green is allowed to resume his place in the Dreaming with no repercussions.
Worth It:
- Happens twice with Gilbert. When Dream confronts a surrendering Gilbert for running to Earth, Gilbert says that he wanted to become human, and doesn't regret understanding dreamers better. Later, when he reveals what he really is in the Dreaming, Gilbert apologizes to Rose when Dream cannot let him die in Rose's place. Before he becomes Fiddler's Green again, turning the barren wasteland into a green paradise, Gilbert tells Rose, "You were the best part of being human."
- Also happens with Unity. She trades her life for Rose's by becoming the Vortex as intended, using Rose's heart. Rose cries when Dream confirms that Unity died in front of her, apologizing. Unity smiles and says she doesn't regret giving her granddaughter a chance to live.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Unlike in the comics, where Corinthian explicitly eats boys' eyes, he only kidnaps Jed to lure Rose to him but has no intention of killing the kid. Some of it is Pragmatic Villainy, but you can sense that he targets adults. He instead bargains with Rose that if she surrenders herself in exchange, he'll return Jed unharmed.
Your Princess Is in Another Castle: Dream finally returns home, to the Dreaming. He finds out most of the denizens, including his subjects, have left. There are exceptions, like Lucienne who waited faithfully. Dream realizes he has to go back to Earth to find all the dreams and nightmares before they can prey on the living.