Sandman: You need to know these terms from the Netflix series

On August 5, 2022, the new DC series “Sandman” celebrated its premiere on Netflix. Neil Gaiman’s dark fantasy tale is based on the comic book series of the same name published by DC Comics from 1989 to 1996. It tells of Morpheus, the king of dreams, who was captured by occultists in the 20th century and is only able to free himself from their clutches 70 years later.

Since “Sandman” is set in the DC Universe, we’ll run into plenty of familiar faces throughout the show. But with its wealth of characters and allusions, “Sandman” can quickly overwhelm you.

The comics are crammed with terms that can be incredibly important but equally confusing. To make it easier for you to get started with the “Sandman” series, we have put together a small glossary with the most important terms for you.

You don’t need to be afraid of spoilers. We only explain the world structure to you, introduce you to the most important characters and give you an overview of the premise of the plot.

dreams

The protagonist of “The Sandman” is known by many names. His official title is Dream, but “The Sandman” is more commonly known as Lord Morpheus (Tom Sturridge). He is also called Oneiro, Dream Weaver, Lord Shaper or Lord L’zoril. Dream is one of the Eternals. His job is to take care of the need for dreams and stories.

The Endless

The Eternals, that’s what Dream and his six siblings are called.

• dream: The personification of dreams, stories and the unreal.
• death: She embodies the end of life. Death feels a deep connection to humans
• desire: Twin brother of Despair. He embodies desire. Desire is the most impulsive of all siblings.
• despair: Twin sister of Desire. She is the embodiment of despair. She wears a ring on her finger, which she regularly uses to injure herself.
• Destiny: The oldest and wisest of the Eternals. He embodies fate. Destiny is blind and chained to a book containing the history of everything and everyone.
• delirium: She is the youngest of the Eternals. Delirium used to be known as Delight, the embodiment of happiness. Even she doesn’t know exactly how she became delirious.
• Destruction: Dream’s younger brother, also known as Olethros. He is the personification of destruction, but sees himself more as the embodiment of change.

In addition to Dream, in season 1 we meet Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park) and Despair (Donna Preston). It is not yet known when Destiny, Delirium and Destruction will appear.

The Dreaming

The Dream Realm is Dream’s domain. This is where all mortals come when they sleep. The realm is a cosmic library that contains not only every book ever written, but every one we have ever dreamed of. From Jane Austen’s unfinished work to the novel we’ve been writing in our minds since adolescence, it all dwells here.

There are two gates in the dream realm, one made of horn and one made of ivory. Constructed from the bones of bygone gods who began a battle with Dream eons ago. These gates are guarded by three gatekeepers: a wyvern dragon, a griffin, and a hippogryph.

Dream’s palace is particularly magnificent. But “The Sandman” begins with the Dreamweaver being trapped in the mortal world, where he must endure for decades. During this time, Dream’s empire falls apart and when he returns, everything looks different.

The Helm, The Ruby, The Sand

The three artifacts, a helm, a ruby ​​and his bag filled with dream sand are Dream’s greatest treasure. They are his tools with which he can act as the king of dreams. That’s why getting those items back as soon as possible is his top priority.

• The helmet: Shaped like a gas mask, it offers strong protection. Without this, Dream feels vulnerable.
• The Dreamstone: A ruby ​​that contains many of Dream’s powers and makes dreams come true.
• The sandbag: Is filled with dream sand. This can put people to sleep or manipulate their dreams. In the wrong hands, it’s like a dangerous drug.

Hell (Hell)

Dreamland is just one of many dimensions in The Sandman’s world. Another is Hell itself, ruled by Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie). Comic book author Gaiman’s ideas about the devil draw on aspects of the “fallen angel”. Once the wisest and most powerful servant of God, Lucifer is now the ruler of Hell. That makes this realm a particularly dangerous place.

The Nightmare (Nightmare)

Aside from Dream, the dream realm is also populated with living dreams – the people we encounter when we close our eyes. But some of them turn out to be real nightmares, like the Corinthians (Boyd Holbrook). These particularly nasty dreams are designed to frighten or educate mortals. They can be very scary, but fortunately they can’t harm us in the real world, can they?

Matthew the Raven (Raven)

Life as the king of dreams can be lonely. That’s why Dream likes to be accompanied by a talking raven. He is his confidant, adviser, companion and interlocutor.

Matthew (Patton Oswalt) is a recently deceased human who has taken on the role of Raven. With his salty humor, Matthew the Raven is a very good balance to Dream’s doom and gloom. Many years ago, the librarian Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong) was the very first raven at Dream’s side.