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| “ | No one has even attempted what we will achieve tonight, Alex. To summon and imprison Death. This will be a triumph for the order. | „ |
| ~ Roderick to Alex before the ceremony. |
| “ | You! It's your fault! You! Damn you! You aren't Death, but you've lived forever. You haven't aged a day since we caught you. You could have given me power beyond my wildest dreams. I- I didn't have to get so old. I shouldn't have had to get so old. | „ |
| ~ Roderick ranting at Dream before his death in the comic. |
Roderick Burgess is one of the overarching antagonists of the Sandman comic book series from the DC Universe and the overarching antagonist of its 2022 Netflix adaptation.
He was a British cult leader of The Order of Ancient Mysteries. His main goal was to capture Death herself and spent much of his life trying to accomplish this. However, he instead captured and imprisoned Death's little brother, Dream, who he kept in his basement for the rest of his life. He was the father of Alex Burgess and John Dee, the lover of Ethel Krepps, and the great grandfather of Heather After.
He was portrayed by Charles Dance in the TV Show, who also played Mr. Benedict in Last Action Hero, David Carlton in Ali G Indahouse, Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones , the Master Vampire in Dracula Untold, Emhyr var Emreis in the Witcher video game series, and Alan Jonah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
Appearance[]
Roderick Burgess was an old man who was usually well-dressed unless he was wearing one of his cloaks for a ritual. In the comic, he was bald and in bad shape, while in the tv show, he has a full head of hair, beard, and seems to be much more fit.
Personality[]
Roderick Burgess was incredibly power-hungry, massively valuing wealth and influence over the people in his life. He was fairly intelligent and manipulative, although his massive ego often got in his way. He could be temperamental and was prone to lashing out, particularly when someone questioned his god complex. He had a crippling fear of old age and death in the comics, which was replaced with a sense of self-righteousness in the tv show.
Biography[]
Roderick was born in 1872 to a wealthy family living Preston, Lancashire, England. He was born under the name Morris Burgess Brocklesby but would later change it. As a young man, he would take on the title "Magus", meaning sorcerer, when he founded The Order of Mysteries. He purchased the Sussex Manor "Fawney Rig" to serve as the Order's base of operations and made Ruthven Sykes his right hand. Several scandals hurt Roderick's reputation and made him well-known to other cults and supernatural organizations. At some point, he had a son named Alex with an unknown woman.
In 1916, he managed to procure the Magdalene Grimoire from John Hathaway. With it, he hoped to capture and extort Death, and promised to bring back Hathaway's son in exchange for the book. However, the ceremony failed, and they captured Death's little brother Dream. Although he managed to obtain some wealth and power from Dream's possessions, these were stolen from him, leaving him with nothing but Dream himself, who he kept imprisoned in a glass dome in his basement. He spent the rest of his life failing to convince his prisoner to give him wealth power and immortality, before dying at an old age.
Differences Between Adaptations[]
- In the TV show, Roderick's initial motivation for capturing Death was to resurrect his son Randall, unlike his comic counterpart, who wanted to live forever.
- In the TV show, Desire had a hand in Roderick capturing Dream which differs from the comics where they were never said to have been involved.
- In the comic, Roderick never discovered who Dream was and built the glass dome on his own, while in the TV show, he was informed of Dream's identity and helped by The Corinthian.
- Although he was abusive towards Alex in both versions, he is only physically abusive towards him in the TV show.
- It is shown in the comics that Roderick blackmailed John Hathaway until he killed himself after the ceremony. This may have happened in the TV show, but it is never shown.
- In the comics, Roderick had no problems keeping Dream imprisoned, while in the TV show, he had to deal with his crow Jesamine, who Alex eventually killed.
- In the TV show, Dream's possessions were stolen from Roderick by his mistress Ethel Kripps, whereas in the comics, they were stolen by Ethel and Ruthven.
- In the comics, Roderick died of old age, while in the TV show, he was killed by Alex when the two had a fight.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Dark Magic: Roderick seemed to have an innate skill for dark magic, having the power to capture an Endless, and feat never before accomplished by a mortal. Although he was in far over his head, he did have some power.
- Occult Knowledge: Similarly to above, Roderick had an understanding of how magic worked, and was able to assemble most of the right resources for the Death capturing ceremony. He made himself well-known enough that he had several sorcerers following him.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Roderick Burgess is the second character to appear in the Sandman comic. This is not the case in the TV show.
External Links[]
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 Villains
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The Dreaming Hell Humans Fictional Fictional Others See Also | ||