Dream (comics) - The Dreaming

The Dreaming

Morpheus lives in a castle at the heart of his realm, "the Dreaming". Both the castle and the rest of his realm are mutable and change often, often at Morpheus' will, although the realm is itself an aspect of Morpheus, whose resistance to change (and difficulty changing) is a theme throughout the series. Morpheus maintains both the castle and the realm, as with all aspects of his appearance, in a half-accommodating, half-terrifying state, simultaneously acknowledging both the courtesy due to others and the attention due him as the realm's master, and indeed the pleasantness and terror of dreams themselves.

Morpheus is the only one of the Endless known to populate his realm with speaking characters — a multitude of beings, dreams and nightmares he has created as well as entities from other realms, live in the Dreaming. These include the narrators from older DC horror comics, including Cain and Abel, and Fiddler's Green, a sailor's dream of paradise who emulates G. K. Chesterton when in human form. He recruits or creates (or re-creates) servants to perform roles he could easily carry out himself, including the reorganization of the castle and the guarding of its entrance. Although this is not explicitly stated in the series, Gaiman has said that he "always assumed" Morpheus had once been alone in the Dreaming and that he populated it because he wanted company.

Other than Morpheus himself, the most important inhabitant of the Dreaming is Lucien, who was the first of Dream's ravens and is now the Librarian of the Dreaming. Dream gives Lucien the authority to manage affairs in the Dreaming on several occasions when Dream must travel outside to the waking world. The character originally appeared in the 1970s DC comic Tales of Ghost Castle, which lasted for only three issues (and was apparently killed off in Secrets of Haunted House #44). Lucien and Cain have a similar appearance as both were originally created by the same artist.

Other notable inhabitants include:

• A pumpkin-headed scarecrow named Mervyn who carries out errands around the castle and helps with the physical maintenance of the Dreaming.
• A Faery named Nuala who has affections for Morpheus that are not returned, and who plays an unwitting part in his downfall.
• A raven named Matthew who travels through the waking world on errands for Morpheus, usually as a scout or spy. Matthew was formerly a mortal man (Matthew Cable) and a character in DC Comics' Swamp Thing who died in the Dreaming. As a new inhabitant of the Dreaming, Gaiman used Matthew as a way to explain some background information to the audience.

Morpheus' realm at any moment is also full of all creatures who are dreaming at that moment, although these seldom appear in the comics panel. Several comics in DC's Vertigo line have been set in the Dreaming, most notably a series of the same name (chief author Alisa Kwitney).