| ROSE WALKER | BIOGRAPHY |
| Created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg |
PERSONAL DATA
Identity: Public
Occupation: Writer, Babysitter
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Miranda Walker (mother), Burt Paulsen (father, deceased), Jed Walker (brother), Desire (grandfather), Unity Kinkaid (grandmother, deceased), Ezra Paulsen (paternal grandfather, deceased), Destiny (great-uncle), Death (great-aunt), Dream (great-uncle), Destruction (great-uncle), Despair (great-aunt), Delirium (great-aunt)
Base of Operation: Seattle, WA
Gender: Female
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Currently brunette (previously blonde, purple, and multicolored)
First Appearance: Sandman Vol. 2 #10 (November 1989): "The Doll´s House"
Creators: Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg
| Dreams are weird and stupid and they scare me - Rose Walker Quote taken from Sandman Vol. 2 #15 |
OVERVIEW
A young woman whose destiny became linked to the Dreaming and the Dream of the Endless.
HISTORY
The long imprisonment of Morpheus (Dream) away from the Dreaming caused a great number of people to fall into deep comas, including Unity Kinkaid. Unity was destined to be the next vortex, a mortal who briefly becomes the center of the Dreaming. The vortex destroys the barriers between sleeping minds until every dreamer is caught in one large dream. The vortex then collapses, destroying the minds caught inside and damaging the Dreaming beyond repair. Because Unity was unconscious, she never manifested as the vortex. Instead, she was raped in her sleep by Desire and the trait was passed down to her grandaughter Rose. -Sandman Vol. 2 #15
Rose grew up in New Jersey with her mother. Her father left when she was fourteen, taking her younger brother Jed with him. Rose's best friend was a girl named Judy, who killed herself while under the influence of Doctor Destiny.
Rose and her mother were invited to England to meet Unity, who revealed her genetic relationship to the two women [Sandman Vol. 2 #10]. Rose was sent back to the United States to find her brother Jed. She moved into a house in Florida owned by Hal Carter, a local drag queen. While living in the house she became acquainted with Gilbert (really Fiddler's Green, one of the many hearts of the Dreaming), and the Spider Women, Chantal and Zelda. -Sandman Vol. 2 #11
Rose managed to track down Jed to the house of some cousins in Georgia, who were secretly keeping him in the basement like a wild animal. She showed up only to find the cousins dead due to the untimely arrival of Morpheus, and Jed gone. Rose and Gilbert checked into a motel where a serial killer's convention was being presided over by the Corinthian. She was attacked by one of them, but saved by Morpheus. Gilbert found Jed in the trunk of the Corinthian's car. -Sandman Vol. 2 #14
Jed was taken to the hospital, and eventually Rose was sent home. She fell asleep and started to break down the walls between dreamers. Morpheus stopped her and announced that he would have to kill her. He was interrupted by the arrival of Unity, who took Rose's heart into herself and became the vortex. Unity then died, and Rose was free to live her life -Sandman Vol. 2 #15
Rose and her family moved to Seattle, where Rose stayed in her room for six months. She eventually traveled, taking an interest in writing professionally.
Moving to Los Angeles, she stayed with Zelda, who was dying from AIDS. When she was not visiting Zelda in the hospice she babysat for her downstairs neighbor, Lyta Hall. Zelda gave Rose a message from her grandmother, prompting Rose to return to England -Sandman Vol. 2 #61. While there she slept with one of the family lawyers, Jack Holdaway, and became pregnant by accident. Rose also got to speak with Desire, although briefly. -Sandman Vol. 2 #64-#65
When Rose returned to the states Zelda had already died. Rose contacted Hal and the two of them attended Zelda's funeral. She later attended the wake and funeral for Morpheus, along with Jed. She encountered Lyta Hall once more, who advised Rose to kill her baby. Rose decided to keep it. -Sandman Vol. 2 #70-#72.
POWERS AND WEAPONS
As a dream vortex Rose had the ability to break down barriers between dreamers, and eventually destroy the dreaming. She was also a magnet for stray dreams, eventually running into all of the inhabitants of the Dreaming who had gone missing during Morpheus' absence.
Because of her Endless lineage Rose ages very slowly. Despite being in her mid-twenties, she continues to maintain the appearance of a teenager.
CHRONOLOGY
For a definitive list of appearances of Rose Walker in chronological order click here