Ruin - The Dreaming: Waking Hours

Created by Dream of the Endless in the fields outside the Palace of Dreams, Ruin—so cruelly named—was dismissed as a failure, a pitiful creation unworthy of his maker’s vision. Heartbroken, he obeyed Dream’s command to fulfil his purpose: guiding a young dreamer with a religious calling alongside the angel Jophiel.

Their vision—a dream of Joan of Arc’s martyrdom—collapsed into chaos when Ruin fell in love with the dreamer, twisting the scene into a nightmare of demons and shadows. His emotional breakdown terrified the dreamer and enraged Jophiel.

Believing himself truly cursed to ruin all he touched, Ruin was banished to the Box of Nightmares, where his siblings tormented him. Still, he never forgot the dreamer and vowed to find him again—to show him something beautiful.

With help from the night hag Dora, Ruin attempted to escape the Dreaming through the dreams of Lindy Morris, accidentally trapping her in the Sleeping World. Seeking to right his mistake, he turned to the exiled Jophiel, who reluctantly introduced him to Heather After, a powerful sorceress and descendant of Roderick Burgess.

Not wanting to endanger his new allies—especially after Heather summoned Puck the Hobgoblin—Ruin travelled to World’s End to find Dora. Together, they located Lindy and, despite interference from Brute, Glob, and even Dream himself, Ruin succeeded in returning her safely to the Waking World.

When he faced Dream again, Ruin pleaded to surrender his immortality in exchange for the freedom to love and live as he chose. Intrigued, Dream granted his request but vowed to keep watch over his creation.

No longer a fugitive, Ruin returned to Jophiel and asked to live with him. Though hesitant, the angel agreed, finding Ruin’s sincerity unexpectedly endearing—if somewhat chaotic.

Later, Ruin joined Heather and Jophiel on a mission to Faerie to stop a civil war between loyalists of Titania and Auberon and the usurper Queen Nuala. The mission went off the rails, and Ruin was forced to take a life in self-defence—an act that shattered him. Wracked with guilt, he came to believe he was inherently dangerous, made only to inspire fear.

Crossing from Faerie back to the Dreaming and then the Waking World, Ruin helped Todd rescue Heather and return her safely to New Jersey—where he finally met Ben, the dreamer from long ago.

Stunned to find Ben alive—and even more so to learn his feelings were returned—Ruin took him to the Dreaming, where Ben reassured him that leaving the Church had been his own choice and that Ruin was not a curse, but loved.

When Dream tried to separate them, Ruin stood his ground, calling on Heather for help. After a tense standoff, Dream relented, allowing Ruin to live freely in the Waking World. In a rare act of mercy, he acknowledged that even nightmares have a place in the tapestry of dreams.

Finally free from Dream’s shadow, Ruin began a new life with Ben.