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Humans
Alex
Alexander "Alex" Carter
A 20-year-old college student who suddenly finds himself back in Dreamland after his last dream about it eight years ago. He enters it by putting on a sword necklace which represents the Sword of the Kings he accidentally struck the dragon Nicodemus with in the last childhood dream.- Always Save the Girl: As Nastajia's love interest, he puts her first even in times of worldwide crisis. He refused to aid Nicodemus in stopping the Nightmare horde in favour of finding Nastajia and bringing her back safely to Ashendel, leading to Nicodemus revoking his ability to enter Dreamland. Later, when he asks Niviene if her ability to pass objects between worlds via the magic looking glass could be used for people, she states that sending something that big through would be far too dangerous. He does it anyway, pulling her through to Earth away from Abaddon and pushing himself into Dreamland, resulting in a massive magical explosion. It luckily turns out for the best since it takes out half of Abaddon's army and Alex is saved from dying by Excalibur's scabbard, but that doesn't change the fact that he did it out of reckless devotion to Nastajia. He then proceeds to ask the King of Dwarves to invade the most heavily fortified part of the Nightmare Realm with no plan, little magic, a damaged ship, and a badly wounded crew.
- BFS: The Sword of the Kings in his possession, to complement the whole chosen one thing he has going.
- The Cassandra: In the beginning, no one in the real world, even his twin, believes that Dreamland is real.
- Chosen One: His basic role in the story. Although, it was meant for his older twin Dan. Niviene, the Lady of the Lake believes in that too along with the other descendants of King Arthur.
- Collapsible Helmet: Comes with the Elven armor Alex receives.
- Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: In his last childhood dream, he wanders into a cave, finds a cool new sword, and... is accosted by a dragon.
- Famed In-Story: He finds he's this among the teddies' village when he returns to Dreamland as an adult.
- The Hero: In spades. As the comic goes on, he becomes more responsible and thoughtful.
- Powered Armor: He wears a magical version crafted by the Elves.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Nicodemus revokes the curse he put on King Arthur's descendants barring them from entry to Dreamland, which returns Alex's ability to enter Dreamland back to Dan, after Alex declares that he would put the entirety of Dreamland at the mercy of the Nightmare horde to ensure that Nastajia is safely back in Ashendel.
- Youngest Child Wins: Born 5 minutes after Dan and can enter Dreamland despite Nicodemus' curse.
Dan
Daniel "Dan" Carter
The older twin brother and roommate of Alex.- Badass Normal: Despite not being able to enter Dreamland, he collaborates with Alex to draft up a successful battle plan for the Centaurs.
- Cannot Dream: As part of Nicodemus' curse, which prevents any of King Arthur's descendants from entering Dreamland. Subverted after he lifts it.
- Cannot Spit It Out: To Nicole in later chapters. They eventually become a couple.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Upon gaining the ability to dream, and in turn enter Dreamland.
- Imagination-Based Superpower: Dan is trained in lucid dreaming techniques. As a result, he is able to conjure a suit of armor his first time in Dreamland (not that he really needs it).
- Instant Expert: Daniel once he is able to enter Dreamland, tying to his intellect and extensive research into Dreamland beforehand.
- Nerds Are Sexy: It helps that he is the twin brother of the good-looking protagonist.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Dreamworld!Dan. He is trained in lucid dreaming techniques and thus has total control over his dream form. As a result, his dream form cannot be damaged by anything Abaddon can throw at him.
- The Strategist: Draws up army plans for the Centaurs based on information shared on their transdimensional pouch without ever having set foot into Dreamland.
- Super-Strength: One of Dreamworld!Dan's abilities.
- Walking Spoiler: Pertaining to his identity as the true heir to Dreamland and what he can do after being able to dream.
Nicole
Nicole
A prospective medical student in Alex and Dan's university, and also their good friend.- Arbitrary Skepticism: Very skeptical of Dreamland, even when faced with proof she supplied.
- Big Damn Heroes: Thwarts a Nightmare Realm creature (twice!) just in time from strangling Dan to death in the real world.
- Childhood Friends: With Felicity. Alex knowing of her brings Nicole out of her skepticism for good.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Dan achieves this with Nicole.
- Improvised Armour: Dons one made of Alex's hockey uniform in anticipation of Abaddon's army entering the real world.
- Nerds Are Sexy: Not bad in looks herself, like Dan.
Dreamlanders
In General
- Alien Blood: Most of the non-humanoids have green blood.
- Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Dreamlanders come in all shapes and sizes running across the mythological spectrum, with species including centaurs, elves, rock giants, merpeople, fairies, dwarves, etcetera.
Nastajia
Nastajia Ashenheart
The Princess-turned-Queen of the Elven Kingdom, Ashendel. She was one of Alex's childhood friends in Dreamland. With her parents missing for years, she has matured into a very brave, capable, but cold lady.- Action Girl: She can do a lot of damage with a bow and arrow.
- Conveniently an Orphan: Subverted. Finding her parents is a major plot point, and they are finally reunited in Chapter 21 in the battle against Abaddon's forces.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Warms up after getting into a relationship with Alex.
- One-Woman Army: Her excursion to the Nightmare Realm.
- She Is All Grown Up: Nastajia's debut as a adult has her grown up to be quite a charming woman with revealing clothing compared to what she looked like in her childhood.
Kiwi
Kiwi
A fairy. She was one of Alex's childhood friends in Dreamland.- Genki Girl: She's very cheerful and positive even in the face of a full-scale war against Abaddon.
- Impossibly-Low Neckline: Her current clothes.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Packs a punch fending off creatures of the Nightmare Realm.
- She Is All Grown Up: Much like Nastajia, though as a fairy, she remains very small.
Paddington
Paddington Rumblebottom III
A rock giant. He was one of Alex's childhood friends in Dreamland.- Gentle Giant: Not as menacing as he appears to be.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Is also a dance instructor.
- Squashed Flat: Gets squashed by a cyclops' foot after trying to reason with him during a flashback to Alex's last childhood dream in Chapter 1.
Bognok
Bognok
The King of the Dwarves.- The Atoner: After defying Nicodemus from years of loyalty.
- False Friend: Betrayed Oberon, the King of the Elves for siding against Nicodemus even though they were close.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: When ordered to go into the Nightmare Realm by Alex with no plan, little magic, a damaged ship, and a badly wounded crew, he asks if there's any ale left.
- Large and in Charge: Is at least three times the size of a normal dwarf.
- Oxymoronic Being: He is a giant dwarf. Let that sink in.
Nicodemus
Nicodemus
The tyrannical, draconic ruler of Dreamland.- Big Bad: Nicodemus starts out as this, but turns out to have been an Unwitting Pawn of the real Big Bad, Gilgamesh, the ruler of the Nightmare Realm and usually referred to by Abaddon as The Dreamer.
- Disc-One Final Boss: No, it's not over after he is defeated and deposed.
- Evil Chancellor: Used to be one of these.
- Evil Gloating: He taunts Dwarven King Bognok that he lied to the Dwarves that they have always sided with the King of Dreamland; in actuality there were rebelling Dwarves when Nicodemus usurped the throne, but they were dealt with.
- Kill It with Fire: This is basically what he does.
- Never Found the Body: He sinks beneath the waters after being severely wounded. Naturally, he turns up again later in the Nightmare Realm. This is immediately lampshaded, with Alex and Nastajia discussing how obvious it is that Nicodemus survived.
- The Nose Knows: One of his abilities.
- Painting the Medium: His dialogue is written in a yellow word balloon with red outline and text.
- Redemption Equals Death: He sacrifices his own Life Energy to make up for letting Gilgamesh kidnap children, reviving the children Gilgamesh killed.
- Scars Are Forever: He still has the scar
Alex gave him accidentally gashing his right eye eight years ago. - They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Nicodemus insists on the title "King" to Oberon, who vehemently disapproves along with the rest of the Elven Kingdom.
- Treacherous Advisor: In the past. Notable in that he actually told his liege he would betray him, though only if he kept trying to bring more humans to Dreamland.
- Unwitting Pawn: Tricked into believing that the humans had attempted to invade. He felt that he was protecting Dreamland from humanity and from war with the Nightmare Realm by siding with Abbadon. But in actuality, he fell right into Abbadon's hands.
- Villainous Breakdown: Completely loses his composure when the Sword of Kings tells him to his face that Arthur is long dead and Alex is his successor, as well as the fact that Alex is not the first born of his generation, finding a loophole in one of Dreamland's rules and undermining the dragon's claim to the throne.
- Warts and All: When he tells Dan he is mortally wounded and does not expect to outlast the day, Dan promises that history will remember both the good dragon and the bad.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: What Gilgamesh tells him as he is critically wounded, as he turned on Gilgamesh when he learned what Gilgamesh was planning to do to Dreamland.
Felicity
Felicity
A thief from Astoria that Alex meets in his adult journeys on Dreamland.- Barefoot Cartoon Animal
- Cat Folk: She's also a cat burglar.
- Cannot Spit It Out: To Alex (to a lesser extent), but he's already involved with Nastajia.
- Childhood Friends: With Nicole. Thanks to Niviene's efforts, they are reunited years later.
- Conveniently an Orphan: Seems to be the case as she has been a thieving street rat since she was a kid.
- Disney Death: She was poisoned by the Wraiths while on her mission to retrieve the Tablet of Pendragon, but revived thanks to the Guardians' intervention and Excalibur's scabbard.
- Interspecies Romance: Picks one up with one of the Guardians (humans descended from Ancient Egyptians).
- Last of Her Kind: She is the last Tigrin known to still exist, the rest of them having been wiped out by the Wraiths of the Nightmare Realm.
- Street Urchin: Felicity grew up in the streets of Astoria and knows nothing of her origins.
Niviene
Niviene a.k.a. The Lady of the Lake
A mermaid with magic powers living in the depths of the sea who is also the pivotal Lady of the Lake in the legends involving King Arthur.- Cast from Lifespan: Uses her magic to open a portal between Dreamland and Earth meant only for small objects. Alex forcefully pulls her through away from Abbadon, putting a serious strain on her and causing her to age rapidly.
- Put on a Bus: After being reunited with Merlin, they decide their time in the world is done and depart from the battle after sabotaging Gilgamesh's Portal Network. They do end up returning to perform the coronation of the next Dreamland king.
- Rapid Aging: A while after being forced onto Earth through her water portal by Alex and she is grey-haired and her body frail and wrinkled.
- Really 700 Years Old: Has lived far longer than mermaids are normally able. She was rumored to have become The Ageless thanks to the magic she learned from Merlin. In actuality, she owes it to the Sibu Issahir Amelu, the plant stolen from Gilgamesh in his quest for immortality.
The Dreamer (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Gilgamesh
The first human to set foot on Dreamland and also its first king. He believes he is the rightful king throughout, maintaining his long-comatose body off nightmares from kidnapped children for several millennia. He commands the Nightmare Realm, its creatures collectively known as Abaddon who manipulated Nicodemus on his behalf. The final arc of the story focuses on revelations about him and his re-awakening.- Ambiguously Human: He is said to be human, but he is far larger than it is possible for a human to be. Which is appropriate since he's actually a demigod.
- Big Bad: He turns out to be the real one, to whom Nicodemus was an Unwitting Pawn. Most of the plot's conflict is a result of his own desires.
- Decapitated Army: The monsters of Abaddon have been of one mind with him for so long that they become simple beasts with his death.
- Explaining Your Power to the Enemy: He gloats to Dan and Alex that he cannot be harmed because of his power to switch between his earthly and dream bodies at will. His earthly form cannot be harmed by dream weapons and his dreamland form cannot be hurt by earthly weapons. The brothers' response is to stab him with both of their weapons simultaneously.
- Healing Vat: He has been preserved in one of these for over three thousand years.
- Hive Queen: As the King of the Nightmare Realm, he became this to Abbadon, a series of nightmare creatures sharing a single mind under his control.
- Immortality Immorality: Has been keeping himself alive for several thousands of years by feeding on the nightmares of children.
- Immortality Seeker: His motive, unsurprisingly as the original immortality seeker. He was the first human to cross over into Dreamland and asked Abbadon for immortality. Abbadon was able to give it to him, but not the kind he hoped for since it left him locked in a Healing Vat.
- No Body Left Behind: When Alex kills his real body, it collapses into a small pile of dust.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Gilgamesh intends to conquer Earth after becoming immortal... by razing the entire planet to rubble and killing everyone on it first.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: The reason the Nightmare Realm has been kidnapping the dream forms of children? He needs them to power his Healing Vat with their nightmares.
- Public Domain Character: :He's Gilgamesh, and his quest for immortality actually succeeded beyond our world.
- Semi-Divine: As in mythology, he is a demigod.
- Soul Eating: Eventually goes beyond consuming the nightmares of children and starts devouring their very souls, killing them.
- Spikes of Villainy: The armor conjured on his Dreamworld self has this design.
- Take Over the World: His next objective after attaining immortality.
- Walking Spoiler: He's a key character in the story's endgame.
