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This article is about Roderick Burgess from the comic series. You may be looking for Roderick Burgess from the Netflix adaptation.


Roderick Burgess is an English man infamous for the capture of Dream.

History[]

Born Morris Burgess Brocklesby, in Preston, Lancashire, England, he was raised in a wealthy industrial family. Newspapers stated that he was born in 1872, however his tombstone would feature a different date, 1863. As Roderick Burgess, he was the Lord Magus of the Order of the Ancient Mysteries, which he founded as a young man. In 1904 he purchased the Sussex manor, "Fawney Rig", adding Gothic additions to the house which served to prepare it for becoming the main base of his Order. He was determined that his mystical society and its accomplishments would prove him the greatest magician of his day. Ruthven Sykes emerged as his second in command.

At some point a scandal broke out in London which involved the Order of Ancient Mysteries. The police had raided a house in Belgravia which involved a naked woman and several socially prominent members of the Order. The scandal was reported widely throughout the newspapers, which led to several other scandals. Unperturbed by these scandals, Burgess decided to retreat back to Fawney Rig.[1]

In 1916, he attempted to capture Death, but instead entrapped Dream (Morpheus) as he was returning after a significant event far from Earth. The event and the long journey back had weakened him considerably, and he was returning in a vulnerable condition. It was only because of this vulnerability that the spell cast by Burgess was able to capture him; it was a fluke that he was able to succeed in capturing one of the Endless at all.

Burgess took Morpheus' helmet, his bag of sand, his ruby, and his clothing, then sealed him in a glass bubble behind a magic circle in the basement. Throughout the rest of his life, Burgess tried to bargain with Dream for immortality in exchange for release. He never succeeded in making Dream say even a single word. Meanwhile, the imprisonment of Dream caused the sleepy sickness throughout the waking world and initiated the unraveling of the Dreaming.

Still imprisoned, Dream watched Burgess fall apart, bitter and angry over his mortality. In 1947, Roderick died after a heart attack. His son, Alex Burgess, succeeded his father, inheriting the estate, the notorious magical order, and the imprisoned Dream.[2]

Physical Appearance[]

Roderick is an older white man with a shaved, bald head.

Personality[]

Arrogant and ruthless, Burgess is willing to kill to achieve his ends.

Relationships[]

He has a strained and prickly relationship with his son, Alex.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Magic:
    • Summoning: Using a spell from a grimoire he accomplished in summon one of the Endless. Though it was dumb luck more than a prove of skill.
    • Cursing: For years Roderick sent death curses to Sykes, only stopped by his protection amulet. Eventually he succeed in killing him in a gruesome way.

Trivia[]

  • Given Burgess' constant determination to one-up Aleister Crowley, it's ironic that they both died in the same year.

References[]

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