Info

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〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: The Corinthian (II)
CHARACTER AGE: 29 (appearance), 3 (actual), centuries old (mentality)

SERIES: The Sandman (including the backstory provided in the prequels The Corinthian: Death in Venice and The Sandman: Overture, but excluding anything from the off-shoot series The Dreaming)
CHRONOLOGY: Post "The Wake", the end of The Sandman series
CLASS: Anti-Hero. Ish.
HOUSING: Maurtia Falls #006

BACKGROUND: The world of The Sandman spans multiple worlds and dimensions, unified by the idea of the Endless (seven familial incarnations of concepts who have existed since the merging of Time and Darkness, considered above the gods) and the power of belief and story. Much of the comic series focuses on Dream of the Endless and his realm the Dreaming, which is populated by his creations: dreams, night terrors, and nightmares.

The Corinthian is a nightmare, and the second of his kind. The first Corinthian was created many centuries ago by Dream, shaped to be a young man of ordinary build, with shock white hair and two mouths where his eyes should be. The Dream King's intention was "a nightmare created to be the darkness, and the fear of darkness in every human heart. A black mirror, made to reflect everything about itself that humanity will not confront". But when Morpheus was for a time held captive, his kingdom thus abandoned and his creations free to roam, the first Corinthian seized the opportunity and left the Dreaming to enter the Waking World, an act forbidden without permission. Worse yet, he became a serial killer, preying on young men and eating their eyes, breaking the Rules of the Dreaming that a creature of Dream could not take or interfere with the life of a Dreamer in their waking life (at least without reason or direction).

For many years the first Corinthian continued on in this fashion, inspiring other serial killers by spreading his darkness, until finally Dream broke free. He found the Corinthian at a serial killer convention, disappointed to find that not only had the nightmare broken the Rules, but his intention had been corrupted-- his dark mirror had become nothing more than a common, twisted murderer, leaving a wake of other common murderers, teaching nothing. Displeased with his creation, Morpheus unmade him, saving his essence (a small, three-mouthed skull) for later use.

Years later, Dream remade the Corinthian, using the essence of the first but heavily remodeling his vision. This Corinthian would be loyal and less petty, without the base corruption of his first attempt. Morpheus sent his remade nightmare to retrieve the human child Daniel Hall, born of the Dreaming and stolen by Loki, the Norse trickster god of fire, and Puck, a trickster of the fae. Along with Matthew, the Dream Lord's raven, the Corinthian tracked down the boy, fought Loki, and strangled the god into unconsciousness before taking his eyes. Daniel was safely returned to the Dreaming, and protected by the Corinthian during the invasion of the Dreaming by the Furies. When Morpheus was killed, the boy took up his mantle to become the new Dream.

Up until the end of the comic series the Corinthian was an able and faithful servant, feared but respected.

PERSONALITY: The Corinthian is markedly inhuman in nature. While he can display all the human habits and emotions of a mortal, his own experience of them is incredibly muted. As his purpose is partly to inspire fear in others, for example, he feels little of it himself, and can be recklessly determined in his actions without worry for his own life. When protecting the child Daniel, for instance, he was approached by Lady Death and stepped up to fight her without second thought, saying "I know you. If you try to touch the child, I will try to stop you, though it means my death also." Likewise, while he can show hints of affection and attachment (such as a fondness for the raven Matthew), and he can display sympathy after a fashion, it would be dangerous for anyone to assume the nightmare to respond as a human would to any given situation, or to believe he could be persuaded based on any appeal to emotion.

The Corinthian has, as his name might suggest, a devil-may-care attitude, that for the most part is relaxed and subdued. When Matthew expressed worry that they'd be discovered while breaking into a morgue, the Corinthian shrugged off the concerns, calmly saying that if any police showed up they'd simply kill them. Really, unless the situation hits one of his few pressure points (such as going against his master or his master's orders) he's likely to be the most relaxed man in the room. The nightmare is also entirely without shame, chuckling away the attempts of others to chide him; his nature is his name, and to be a corinthian means to be "debauched in character or practice; a licentious libertine". Expect no falseness from the nightmare either: meant to reflect the awful yearnings and natures of those who hide from them, the Corinthian detests lies and masks. He will always be truthful, always direct. After all, what could be more terrifying than the truth?

The Corinthian carries some of the arrogance of his predecessor, including his cocky attitude, though he is without the first's delusions of grandeur (the first considered serial killers to be like kings) and feels no need to boast his abilities. Also as with his predecessor, he enjoys the kill and the eyes he's able to consume in the Dreaming, as is his nature. The difference between them in this regard is that the new Corinthian resists the urge to kill for personal pleasure. However, those that try to harm the nightmare, threaten his Lord, or otherwise obstruct his duties (granted to him by his Lord) are considered fair game for his knife. The Corinthian still takes delight in "awful things", after all, and though he's not as prone to uncontrolled sadism as his predecessor was, he's still attracted to darkness.

While an admittedly terrible, eye-eating nightmare, the Corinthian can be social and friendly when it suits him, even charming, although on the whole even Matthew has to admit he's "a creepy bastard". Nightmares of the Dreaming are mostly independent creatures, and while Corinthian does spend a lot of time alone, curiosity is often what drives him past this, another parallel back to the first Corinthian, who partly left the Dreaming because of his fascination with the Waking World.

As the second of his kind, the Corinthian harbors some inner identity issues, and has the memories of his predecessor up until the first Corinthian's illicit foray into the Waking World. After recounting one of these memories (confused and vaguely troubled by it), Dream's librarian Lucien reminded the nightmare that the memories were not his own. The Corinthian only calmly replied, "They are all I have." The first Corinthian is a shadow across all he is and all he does, and with only three years to go on since his creation, the nightmare is only beginning to know and distinguish himself past his purpose.

POWER:
Nightmare Physiology (canon)
. Immortality: No aging, no need for sleep or sustenance (though he is capable of both). Being a creature of the Dreaming, The Corinthian also heals wounds much faster than living creatures. It is not instantaneous and does not include regeneration, but minor cuts would knit together in a matter of minutes, with larger wounds taking more time. In a prequel it was revealed that when the first Corinthian died in the Waking World he would continue on by infecting and taking over the body of the one who killed him, but this ability will be nixed for the purpose of the game. Instead, the Corinthian can be killed to the point of needing nanite resurrection, but it would require severe injury such as complete immolation, decapitation, drowning, etc.
. Enhanced Strength: The Corinthian is possessed of superhuman strength. It is not to the level of being able to lift cars into the air or bend steel, but it would be difficult to impossible for even a bodybuilder to match him in ability.
. Eye-mouths: Instead of eyes, the Corinthian has two small mouths in his sockets. He can see perfectly well out of them as long as there is some amount of light to use, and they are capable of both speech and breath. Their jaw strength is enough to bite the fingers off a human hand. Should the Corinthian wish, he can also hold the eyes of another inside them, and in the case of eyes taken from someone who suffered a violent death, he would be able to view what they saw before they died.

Nightmare Ability (canon)
. Species Differentiation: The Corinthian can distinguish between mortals and spirits/gods/other by sight. This does not include being able to name what they are, only to know whether something is a mortal dreamer or not.
. "Darkness" detection: A vague sense allowing him to distinguish those with darker sides to their personality or darker desires from those without.
. Dream walking/corruption: When in the Dreaming the Corinthian is able to enter the minds of dreamers and rot their dreams into nightmares. Because he is now trapped in the Waking World, this ability will have limitations. While the Corinthian will be able project himself inside the mind of a Dreamer, he will need to be within a reasonable distance of them (i.e. he could be outside their apartment building, but not two blocks over) and can only enter and influence the mind of one Dreamer at a time.

Soothsayer (non-canon)
Characters within ten feet of the Corinthian will be unable to knowingly lie, either audibly or visually. This also means that illusions will not work within the sphere of this influence. A character attempting to tell a lie will slip naturally into speaking the truth. Unintentional lies and lies of omission will remain unaffected, and this ability will not work over electronic devices.