Dream worlds (also calleddream realms,illusory realms, ordreamscape) are a commonplot device in fictional works, most notably inscience fiction andfantasy fiction. The use of a dream world creates a situation in which a character or group of characters is placed in a marvelous and unpredictable environment and must overcome personal problems to leave it.
The dream world commonly serves to teach somemoral orreligious lessons to the character experiencing it – a lesson that the other characters will be unaware of, but one that will influence decisions made regarding them. When the character is reintroduced into the real world, usually when they wake up, the question arises as to what exactly constitutesreality due to the vivid recollection and experiences in the dream world.
According toJ. R. R. Tolkien, dream worlds contrast withfantasy worlds, in which the world exists independently of the characters in it.[1] However, other authors have used the dreaming process as a way of accessing a world which, within the context of the fiction, holds as much consistency and continuity as physical reality.[2] The use of "dream frames" to contain a fantasy world and explain its marvels has been criticized, with the device becoming less prevalent as a result.[3]
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A similar motif,Locus amoenus, is popular in medieval literature, especially allegory and romance. A dream world is sometimes invoked indream visions such asThe Book of the Duchess andPiers Plowman.[3]
One of the best-known dream worlds isWonderland fromLewis Carroll'sAlice's Adventures in Wonderland, as well as theLooking-Glass world from its sequel,Through the Looking-Glass. Unlike many dream worlds, Carroll's logic is like that of actual dreams, with transitions and causality flexible.James Branch Cabell'sSmirt, along with its two sequels, form an extended dream, with most of the action taking place in a dream world.
The action ofThe Bridge byIain M. Banks takes place in a dream world. Other fictional dream worlds include theDreamlands ofH. P. Lovecraft'sDream Cycle andThe Neverending Story's world of Fantasia, which includes places like the Desert of Lost Dreams, the Sea of Possibilities and the Swamps of Sadness. Dreamworlds, shared hallucinations and other alternate realities feature in a number of works byPhilip K. Dick, such asThe Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch andUbik. Similar themes were explored byJorge Luis Borges inThe Circular Ruins.
InThe Wheel of Time book series, "Tel'aran'rhiod" is a dream world that exists in close proximity to the real world, with objects and physical locations that do not frequently change in the real world having parallels in Tel'aran'rhiod. Ordinary people can occasionally enter Tel'aran'rhiod during their sleep, with events that occur within having physical consequences; a person that dies in Tel'aran'rhiod will never wake up again, and in several cases, it is shown that physical injuries sustained there persist in the waking world. Tel'aran'rhiod can be controlled similar to alucid dream, and several characters in the series can enter and manipulate Tel'aran'rhiod at will while asleep.[4] Detaching oneself from Tel'aran'rhiod can allow a person to see directly into the dreams of others or enter them, but this carries risks, especially if the inquirer has a particularly strong emotional bond with the dreaming person. It is also possible, yet highly taboo, for a person to physically enter Tel'aran'rhiod with their actual body, rather than just metaphysically while asleep, though this risks disturbing the fabric of the dream world.
Paprika (1993) byYasutaka Tsutsui is ascience fiction novel that involves entering dream worlds using technology.[5] In the book, dream monitoring and intervention as a means of treatingmental disorders is a developing new form ofpsychotherapy in the near future. Unrest ensues when a new psychotherapy dream-analysis device is stolen, allowing the assailant to enter and manipulate people's dreams.
In the 1971 feminist science fiction novelThe Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You, the Kin of Ata maintain the real world through their dreaming, making the real world a form of dream.
In the1939 movie,Oz fromThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz was altered from a fantasy world in the novel to a dream world ofDorothy's; characters who were independent inhabitants of Oz were transformed into dream parallels of introduced Kansas characters.[6]
In the 1999 filmThe Matrix, Neo and humanity live inside a dream world, with their brains hooked up to a computer network that creates this dream world.[7] However, some may argue that this is not a dream world, as it seems completely normal and indistinguishable from reality aside from time differences. In the 1980s, theNightmare on Elm Street series of horror films introduced a dark dream realm inhabited by the supernatural serial killerFreddy Krueger.
In the filmSharkboy and Lavagirl, the main characters enter a world dreamt up by Max in order to save the real world.[8]
In the filmMonkeybone, Down Town is the purgatory-themed land of nightmares where comatose people go.
Dreamworlds also appear inTotal Recall andVanilla Sky.
Paprika (2006), ananime film adaptation of the 1993 novel of the same name, involves entering and manipulating dream worlds using dream-analysis devices.
The 2001 filmWaking Life takes place almost entirely in a dream realm.
In the 2010 filmInception, main characters create artificial dream worlds which they can bring others into without them knowing. This can involve 'Extraction', stealing memories and secrets, 'Inception', planting an idea into the mind, and others.[9]
One of the earliest newspaper comic strips wasLittle Nemo which had a dream world theme where the dream world was called Slumberland and was ruled by King Morpheus.
WriterNeil Gaiman was tasked with re-imagining a Golden Age character "The Sandman". In his version, the Sandman becomesDream, the Lord of Dreams, known under various aliases, includingMorpheus andOneiros, who is the personification of dreams. The dream world in the comics was also called "The Dreaming". At the start of the series, Morpheus is captured by an occult ritual and held prisoner for 70 years. In the modern day, he escapes and avenges himself by defeating his captors, after which he sets about rebuilding his kingdom, which has fallen into disrepair in his absence. Later comics reveal that Dream is the source ofWesley Dodds' prophetic dreams. It was also revealed that the previously known "Dream Dimension" that itsSandman Garrett Sandford and his later successorHector Hall can only leave for an hour a day was just a "Pocket Dream Dimension" established in the mind ofJed Walker byBrute and Glob.
Dream worlds also appear inRozen Maiden, the Outback(s) ofThe Maxx, the webcomicThe Dreamland Chronicles, and the filmSailor Moon Super S the Movie: Black Dream Hole.
InClamp manga series such asX/1999,Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle andxxxHolic, the dream world is important to the events that occur within each story. It is later revealed inxxxHolic that the dream world itself is its own world, as part of the Clamp multiverse. Similarly, in theBone graphic novel series by Jeff Smith, the primary plot device is a dream world called "The Dreaming". It exists independently from the real world, and it is described similarly to a river, being said to "flow" through people in "currents".
CITV's 1990s animatedchildren's television series,The Dreamstone, takes place in the Land of Dreams and the Land of Nightmares.
InJay Jay the Jet Plane, adventures where air-breathing jet planes cannot go, such as underwater and in space, happen as dreams.
The 1998Star Trek: Voyager episode "Waking Moments" uses several dream realms and false awakenings.
In theUFO episode "Ordeal", Foster's abduction and rescue is explained as a dream.
Season 8 ofDallas was retroactively explained, at the start of Season 9, as a dream had byBobby Ewing.
In theXena: Warrior Princess episode, "Dreamworker",Morpheus: God of dreams abducts Gabrielle to take as his bride, withXena pursuing them into his realm, the DreamScape, to stop the impendingforced marriage.
TheDoctor Who episode "Amy's Choice" depicts multiple dream worlds, which were induced by a parasitic seed. Dreamworlds are revisited in theDoctor Who Christmas special "Last Christmas", which depicts dreams within dreams caused by mind-leeching aliens.[10]
TheDimension 20 season "The Unsleeping City" imagines New York City as being an adjacent realm to the Sixth Borough, known as Nod or the Dreaming. Future seasons of The Unsleeping City posit additional dream realms such as the Bay of Slumber, an adjacent realm to San Francisco, and the Deeper Dreaming, home to ancient and terrifying dream beings akin to the work ofH. P. Lovecraft.
InStardust Crusaders, the third part ofJoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Mannish Boy and his Stand, Death 13, putJotaro Kujo, along with his friends and grandfather, in a dream world that takes the form of an amusement park.
TheAmerican Dragon: Jake Long episode "Dreamscape" had Jake Long traveling through the dreamscape and contending with aChimera.
TheXiaolin Showdown episode "Dreamscape" had a Shen Gong Wu called the Shadow of Fear entering anyone's mind and making their worst fears real.
TheGravity Falls episode "Dreamscaperers" takes place in the dream realm. Gideon Gleeful summons a dream demon,Bill Cipher to invadeStan Pines's mind and steal the combination to his safe.Dipper Pines with his sisterMabel and friendSoos also go into Stan's mind to stop Bill from finding out the combination.[11]
InArcher, seasons eight to ten take place in three self-contained universes after protagonistSterling Archer is shot and falls into a coma, experienced in a vivid dream-like state that coincides with a deeper exploration of his psyche.[12]
InMickey Mouse Funhouse, the episode "Dream a Little Dream" reveals that there is a location based on the dream world called the Land of Dreams which can be accessed by Funny using his funhouse tricks on anyone sleeping within them.
In theBluey episode "Sleepytime",Bingo has a dream where she and her stuffed toy rabbit, Floppy, explore theSolar System.[13]
The video gamesThe Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening andSuper Mario Bros. 2 take place in a dream of the Wind Fish's, whomLink must wake up, andMario's respectively.[14][15]
InDragon Quest VI, the game is split between two worlds initially known as the Real World and the Phantom World, named such because any being from the Real World is rendered unseen by the inhabitants of the Phantom World, like a phantom, and are only capable of becoming visible after drinking a specialelixir. It is later revealed that the Phantom World is the true Real World, while the former Real World is called the Dream World, created from the dreams of the people of the Real World, in which each inhabitant has a Dream World counterpart. The main antagonist of the game, Deathtamoor, seeks to merge these worlds with his own "Dark World" in an attempt at world domination.[16]
Alundra follows the titular protagonist, a dreamwalker who can enter people's dreams, which he uses to help the locals of a village, who are suffering from recurring nightmares that sometimes cause death.
In the first two games of theEarthBound series, the protagonist (Ninten inEarthBound Zero andNess inEarthBound) must travel to a dream world named Magicant. However, the two Magicants are different from each other. Ninten visits his Magicant, which is light pink and has seashell spires and clouds, multiple times during the story, until it is revealed to not be his own Magicant but a collection of the memories of his great-grandmother Maria. Ness's Magicant is a surreal, spacelike land in a purple sea that he only gains access to once he records the eight melodies into his Sound Stone.
TheKlonoa series follows the titular protagonist, a Dream Traveler called upon to restore balance to dreamworlds that are in peril, such as Phantomile inKlonoa: Door to Phantomile and Lunatea inKlonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. Similarly, theNights series, whose title character is a protector of dreams, prominently features the dreamworlds Nightopia and Nightmare, which collectively make up the Night Dimension.
InFinal Fantasy VIII, the main group of protagonists experience the lives of three soldiers,Laguna,Kiros, andWard in what they call "the dream world", which is actually the past, through a mysterious and gifted woman who is acquainted with both parties.Zanarkand inFinal Fantasy X and itsHD remake was a dream, along with the main character,Tidus.
InSonic Shuffle, Maginaryworld is a dream world which a fairy asks the playable characters to help save from the antagonist Void by collecting Precioustones.[17]
InMario Party 5, Dream Depot is a world where all dreams go, whichBowser andKoopa Kid seek to conquer.[18]
Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams takes place in the real world as well as the Dream World, home to the Staff of Dreams.
InYume Nikki, Madotsuki explores dreamworlds that are part of her dreams.[19]
InDreamfall: The Longest Journey andDreamfall Chapters, protagonist Zoë Castillo can travel to Marcuria by dreaming. There is also a third world called 'Storytime' inspired by the AustralianDreamtime myths, which is the place of creation and where every story begins and ends. Zoë must stop a corporation called WATI-Corp, which wants to steal dreams and memories from people through their new entertainment device: the Dreamachine which allows people to make lucid dreams.
InFallout 3, a main storyline quest involves the protagonist, the Lone Wanderer, entering a virtual reality simulator, referred to as "Tranquility Lane", a dream world simulation of a 1950s suburban neighborhood.
InDriver: San Francisco, protagonist John Tanner falls into a coma following a car accident. The game takes place in his dream, but he is unaware of this.
InMario & Luigi: Dream Team, there are stone pillows thatLuigi can use to summon a portal to his dreams, allowingMario to jump in and rescue the Pi'illo trapped within the pillow. In Luigi's dreams, Mario is accompanied by a version of him named Dreamy Luigi, who possesses various powers, such as cloning himself and growing to a giant size.[20]
InPokémon Black and White and its sequelPokémon Black 2 and White 2, players can tuck in one of their Pokémon via the system Game Sync, allowing them to play with the Pokémon in an alternate world called the "Dream World".[21]
InKingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, as part of their Mark of Mastery exam,Sora andRiku are sent to the Sleeping Worlds, worlds that remained in a state of sleep after being destroyed by theHeartless rather than being restored, to unlock the seven Sleeping Keyholes. While Sora explores these worlds, Riku instead explores his dreams of the worlds as aDream Eater.[22][23]
Tales of Maj'Eyal features theSolipist, a class who believes the world is their own dream, although this is closer to theDream argument than solipsism, granting them psychic powers based onlucid dreaming.
Bloodborne takes place in, or partially in, a dream realm, with areas such as the Nightmare of Mensis and the Hunter's Dream.[24] The city the game takes place in is implied to be a collective, self-sustaining dream that its inhabitants contribute to.
Omori takes place in the real world as well as Headspace, a dream world which the protagonist Sunny created to suppress his trauma of his sister Mari's death.[25]
InHonkai: Star Rail, Penacony, known as the Planet of Festivities, was originally a prison planet used by the Interastral Peace Corporation to exile criminals until it fell under the influence of Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony. As a result, it became a renowned, luxurious cosmic resort through the Dreamscape, a system that harnesses memoria to the power of collective dreams, forming twelve dream worlds corresponding to a "moment" on the clock that provide different forms of leisure and entertainment.[26]
