The Corinthian

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

The Corinthian is a fictional character in Neil Gaiman's series The Sandman. He was first seen in The Sandman #10 (October 1989), which is part of The Doll's House. The Corinthian is a nightmare created by Dream, who eventually destroys him for going rogue, and for failing to fulfil his original design, which was, in his words, to be a "black mirror" made to reflect the darkness that humanity could not confront in itself. Dream later recreates him with "some changes", though the exact nature of these changes is not explicit.

History[]

Not much is known about the Corinthian prior to the events of the story, but he always seemed to resent the boundaries between the Dreaming and the waking world. He at one point convinced his master to take him on a supervised trip of Paris, where they encounter Destruction. While Dream was distracted, the Corinthian took the opportunity to eat the eyeballs of an ape being dissected by a researcher. Centuries later, he would sneak to the waking world and plan to murder a young man. Discovering this, Dream confronted the Corinthian, informing the nightmare that the boundaries between sleep and waking were critical, and that he intended to unmake the Corinthian for breaching them. The Corinthian was saved when Dream was pulled away by the universe. The Corinthian then fled.

During Dream's imprisonment, the Corinthian traveled the United States, murdering young men^[1]^[2]^[3] and subtly influencing others into indulging in homicidal impulses. They called themselves the Collectors, and the Corinthian became something of a celebrity to them.

At a convention of the Collectors where the Corinthian was giving a speech, Dream appeared, chastising the nightmare for doing nothing of purpose while walking the world. Refusing to return to the Dreaming, the Corinthian challenged Dream, but was quickly unmade.^[4]

Several years later, Dream made a new Corinthian. Though a different entity, the second incarnation possesses the memories of the first and regards his predecessor as himself, but seems more loyal to Dream. Along with Matthew, they searched for the missing Daniel Hall, eventually finding him and bringing him back to the Dreaming. The Corinthian was present when Daniel became the new Dream, and he attended the funeral of Morpheus.

Physical Appearance[]

The Corinthian is generally an impeccable dresser and will often wear only white clothing, but his most notable physical feature is his lack of eyes: in their place, two rows of small teeth line each eye socket, which he often hides with sunglasses. He can speak, eat, and even respire through these mouths. He does not seem to suffer in any way from his lack of eyes, and indeed claims to be able to see very well; he is shown driving adequately, even while wearing sunglasses at night. He is, however, fond of taking the eyeballs of his victims and "eating" them by placing them in his eye sockets.

Personality[]

True to his purpose as "black mirror of humanity" the Corinthian is a vicious and bloodthirsty individual who genuinely enjoys indulging in cruel, sadistic and murderous behavior.

The first Corinthian was also a narcissist who boasted about all the serial killers inspired by him; he saw himself as invincible. However, the second Corinthian, though he shared the murderous ways of his predecessor, was calmer and more loyal to his creator.

Powers[]

The Corinthian is able to possess human beings. When he assumes control of a new host, the eyes are consumed and replaced by teeth, and the hair of the victim turns white. During the process, the eye sockets bleed profusely. All other physical characteristics remain the same for the host. This lets the Corinthian jump between bodies, and even show himself as his victims if he is able to hide or explain the physical changes. Consuming the eyes of his victims allows him to view what they have viewed in their lives and in some cases even see the future. Note: This power was only portrayed in The Sandman Presents spin-off comics and has never been used by Neil Gaiman who has said he does not consider it canon.

The second incarnation of the Corinthian is skilled at hand-to-hand combat. He is extremely resistant to damage and seems to be completely fearless. During his search for Daniel Hall in the Norse land of Svartalfheim, the Corinthian, with little effort, snaps the neck of a supernatural wolf with his bare hands, and later sees through the deceptions of the Norse god, Loki, and defeats the deity in single combat.

Behind the Scenes[]

The Corinthian's calling card of removing the eyes of his victims recalls E. T. A. Hoffman's 1817 short story The Sandman, where the sandman of that narrative is said to steal the eyes of children who would not go to sleep and feed them to his offspring on the moon.
The intention behind the Corinthian's name was to portray him as cool and charismatic, but spoiled. The name intentionally incorporates a wide range of associations, from the 17th century slang word for a "licentious rake", to a Biblical reference and the stereotype of historical Corinth as a decadent culture, and even "fine Corinthian leather" in car advertisements.^[5] Gaiman later specified that on top of that the nightmare literally originates from Corinth.^[6]
Neil Gaiman has stated that the first Corinthian ate eyeballs instead of having sex, but he was homosexual in that he preferred to consume the eyes from boys.^[5] The second Corinthian is featured with a boyfriend as written by Caitlin R. Kiernan in The Dreaming.