Dreaming (DC)

The Dreaming is a dimension that features in DC Comics.

History

The Dreaming was an other-dimensional realm that encompassed the dreams of living beings and was overseen by Dream of the Endless. Upon establishing the Dreaming, Morpheus created a number of tools to administer the realm. (Sandman v2 #2)

After his imprisonment, the realm began to suffer as it began to decay and crumble without its creator. The process was slow at first as Dreamworld came to transmute over the course of a century. (Sandman v2 #2)

The Flash Barry Allen at one point had to enter the dream of his ailing wife Iris West to save her from a dream of Death. (The Flash v1 #175)

Overview

In appearance, the Dreaming was a metaphysical plane of symbol, belief, and imagination that is ever-changing. The inhabitants of the Dreaming are called dreams and nightmares, often they are gods, myths, and even ordinary human beings who later became dreams.

It was known by other names including the Dreamworld, Dreamtime and as the Unconscious. The Dreaming was as much a part of Dream of the Endless as he was of it. The realm was said to be infinite though bounded on every side and outside of it there was only infinite dust as well as dark. The realm possessed old laws with all the beings within it bound by them and having to confirm to them. (Sandman v2 #2)

Morpheus has been described as an incarnation of The Dreaming and there's a direct relation between both beings, as such, it accommodates to Dream's wishes and it is what he wants it to be, it's also affected by his feelings and condition, that's why when he was imprisoned, The Dreaming was collapsing as he was. Morpheus can also create portals to The Dreaming in the waking world and portals in the Dreaming to the waking world; he can cross between both worlds; he can create and destroy beings or places.

Locations within the Dreaming included:

• Gates of Horn and Ivory : a doorway leading to Dream’s Castle that was carved by Morpheus when the world was young and order was needed. (Sandman v2 #2)
• Fiddler's Green :
• House of Mystery :
• House of Secrets :
• Eve's Cave :

The Dreaming is inhabited by dreams, nightmares, places and other entities. According to a census taken by Lucien, the Dreaming's librarian, there were about eleven thousand and sixty-two creatures living in the dreaming, however, the amount is constantly changing for some of them are destroyed and others created.

There were a number of tools created by Dream to administer the realm which included:

• Pouch of Sand : (Sandman v2 #2)
• Dream’s Helm : (Sandman v2 #2)
• Dreamstone : (Sandman v2 #2)

The Dreaming can be affected by many factors, but one of the more dangerous was a vortex. A vortex was a real person who somehow becomes the center of The Dreaming and capable of destroying the barriers between dreams making it gather into one, which eventually collapses upon itself and damages The Dreaming beyond repair.

Inhabitants

• Morpheus : Dream of the Endless was the founder and creator of the Dreaming where he ruled as its monarch. (Sandman v2 #2)
• Lucien :
• Abel :
• Cain :
• Corinthian :
• Brute :
• Fiddler's Green :
• Merv Pumpkinhead :
• Fashion Thing :
• Matthew the Raven :

Notes

• The Dreaming was created by Neil Gaiman where it made its first appearance in Sandman v2 #2 (February, 1989).
• The Dreaming received an entry in Who's Who in the DC Universe v1 #15 (January, 1992).

In other media

Television

• In Supergirl, a Dream Realm appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Arrowverse in the episode "Nightmare in National City". It was the source of power for the Naltorian Dreamers. When the Dorians invaded the temple of the Oracle of Delphi in 1100 BC, the Oracle hid the Dream Totem in the safest place she could think which was within the Dream Realm.
• In The Sandman, the Dreaming appeared in the setting of the live-action Netflix adaptation. After 100 years away due to being captured by mortals, Morpheus returned to The Dreaming to learn that it had been falling apart and decaying in his absence. Not only that, but some of the dreams and nightmares abandoned their posts as well. Some went looking for him, while others thought he had left them, as he wouldn't be the first Endless to do so. Dream insisted that wasn't the case and that he intended to bring everyone back. However, doing so proved more difficult than he initially imagined, as he was too weak to reconstruct his domain without his tools, which were stolen. And so, Morpheus called upon The Fates to learn the location of his sand pouch, helm, and ruby. Due to the emergence of a Dream Vortex, who was brining down the walls between dreams, The Dreaming began to experience seismic activity and damage, which Morpheus tracked down to Hector and Lyta, who had not only reunited in The Dreaming, but conceived a child as well. Dream returned Hector to his appointed place before informing Lyta that he would allow her to keep the baby for the time being, but due to the nature of its conception, one day, he would come for it.

Appearances

• Sandman v2:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry

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