Timothee Volant

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Tom Sturridge

**Timothee Volant** is a French pureblood wizard, and maternal great-grandfather of Lyra Black and Alain Volant. He is the husband of Aveline Rosier and the father of Jean-Pierre Volant. He has a brother named Matthieu and a sister named Adrienne, and his parents are Manon Dumont and Aloysius Volant.

## History

### Early Life

He was abused as a child. He was obese and developed an eating disorder, leading him to be skin and bones as an adult.

## Physical Description

### Dream/Morpheus

He almost never laughs out loud - or even smiles.

## Personality

Though ultimately a heroic character, Dream has many flaws. He has trouble catching sarcasm and jests, causing him to often appear cold and humorless. Dream can be insensitive, self-obsessed, and slow to forgive or forget what he perceives as slights. He has a long history of broken romances, and is shown, both directly and by implication, to be prone to harsh reactions when his relationships fail.

As Mervyn Pumpkinhead remarks after the end of one of Morpheus' romances, *"He's gotta be the tragic figure standing out in the rain, mournin' the loss of his beloved. So down comes the rain, right on cue. In the meantime everybody gets dreams fulla existential angst and wakes up feeling like hell. And we all get wet."*

There is a long-standing enmity between Morpheus and Desire, stemming from Desire's involvement in the breakup of one of Dream's romantic relationships (seen in Endless Nights). Near the end of the Brief Lives story arc, Desire says of Dream: *"He's stuffy, stupid, and thinks he knows everything, and there's just something about him that gets on my nerves."* Desire's self involvement, by definition, being even greater than Dream's.

It is implied that before his imprisonment he was in some ways colder and more blind to his flaws, and much of *The Sandman* is focused on Morpheus' desire to atone for his past behavior such as helping past lovers Calliope and Nada. Morpheus has great pride that does not tolerate damage or embarrassment, examples include banishing Nada to Hell for rejecting him, and being angry (originally) at the notion presented by Hob Gadling that he is lonely and needs friends.

Morpheus is constantly aware of his responsibilities, both to other people and to his realm. He is detailed and exacting in their fulfillment, as noted in *Season of Mists*, where Morpheus is described as, "*Of all the Endless, save perhaps Destiny, he is most conscious of his responsibilities, the most meticulous in their execution."* He shares a close, reciprocal bond of dependence and trust with his elder sister, Death.

During the course of the series, Morpheus consistently strives for understanding of himself and of the other Endless, especially his elder sibling Death, but he is ultimately undone by his most tragic flaw, his innate inability to accept change. This is especially ironic considering that the nature of dreams are constant change. As Lucien remarks in The Wake when asked (by Matthew, the raven) "*Why did it happen? Why did he let it happen?*", "*Charitably...I think...sometimes, perhaps, one must change or die. And in the end, there were, perhaps, limits to how much he could let himself change.*" In a last gut-punch of ironic underpinning, by the series final story arc Morpheus had become a kinder version of himself, more able to forgive, and better able to love.

Morpheus is noted in *Season of Mists* as *"accumulating names to himself as others make friends, but he permits himself few friends."* He is given more names in *The Sandman* than any of the other Endless, far beyond the many translations of *Dream*.

A very different version of Dream was shown in Endless Nights where he had a positive relationship with Desire and was very happy. However, this changes during the events of the story in Endless Nights.

Following his reincarnation, Dream is noticeably kinder, something the denizens of the Dreaming are quick to comment on. He pets the Hippogriff (something he had never done before) and freed Lyta Hall and Alexander Burgess, judging that revenge was a "road with not endings."

## Relationships

He has had a history of romantic involvements, all of which ended poorly for various reasons. Despite his cold exterior, he is often passionate and infatuated with his lovers. Whenever his respective relationships end, he is often crushed and goes into a state of depression. Dream seldom mentions his past relationships, they usually are only mused upon by his siblings.

## Relationships

* Aveline Rosier
* Jean-Pierre Volant
* Elise Beaufort
* Jacques Moreau
* Babette Moreau
* Linette Volant
* Mother
* Father
* Lyra Black
* Alain Volant

## Possessions

* **Wand**: Chestnut and Unicorn Hair
	+ According to Garrick Ollivander, this was a most curious, multi-faceted wood, which varied greatly in its character depending on the wand core, and took a great deal of colour from the personality that possessed it. The wand of chestnut was attracted to witches and wizards who were skilled tamers of magical beasts, those who possessed great gifts in Herbology, and those who were natural fliers.

However, when paired with dragon heartstring, it might find their best match among those who were overfond of luxury and material things, and less scrupulous than they should be about how they were obtained. Conversely, three successive heads of the Wizengamot had possessed chestnut and unicorn wands, for this combination showed a predilection for those concerned with all manner of justice.
There was an old poem which included this wand wood: "rowan gossips, chestnut drones, ash is stubborn, hazel moans". Garrick Ollivander believed that there was some truth in this rhyme.