Dreamwalking

Dreamwalking
Users	Stephen Strange † Stephen Strange † Wanda Maximoff † Stephen Strange
Appearances
Movie	Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

"There is a spell, contained within those pages, corrosive to the soul, a desecration of reality itself. Dreamwalking."

―Baron Mordo^[src]

Dreamwalking is a magical practice within the Darkhold that allows sorcerers to possess another counterpart of themselves in the Multiverse.

History

Used by Supreme Strange

"One night you called us all together, confessed that you had been dreamwalking, and in your words, things have gotten out of hand. You never told us the details of what had happened, only that you had inadvertently triggered an incursion."

―Mister Fantastic to Doctor Strange^[src]

On Earth-838, as Thanos waged his war to balance the universe, Doctor Strange resorted to dreamwalking in an attempt to find a way to stop him, as he thought the solution lied in the Multiverse. Even though he had no success, Strange kept dreamwalking until he unwillingly caused an Incursion, destroying his Variant's universe. Guiltridden, Strange confessed his deed to the Illuminati and relinquished the Darkhold's evil.

Used by Sinister Strange

Upon not being able to stay with Christine Palmer, Stephen Strange decided that no Variant of his in the Multiverse could have a happy ending with Palmer, according to him, he wanted to deprive his Variant of having the same fate.

Strange used dreamwalking to possess Variants around the Multiverse and force them to kill themselves, eventually causing an incursion on his own universe.

Used by Scarlet Witch

"Wanda, stop. You've possessed an innocent woman, but you can still do the right thing. Let her go."

―Mister Fantastic to Scarlet Witch^[src]

Scarlet Witch possessing her alternate self

When trying to find a universe where her children are alive and well, Scarlet Witch used the Darkhold to dreamwalk into Earth-838. She took over the body of her counterpart and used it to travel to the Illuminati Headquarters. She used the body to break into the headquarters, destroy the Ultron Sentries and slaughter the Illuminati. She chased after Doctor Strange, Christine Palmer and America Chavez into the Gap Junction, where she destroyed the Book of Vishanti and used Chavez's powers to throw Strange and Palmer into another universe. After using Chavez's powers again to send herself back to Earth-616, she left her counterpart's body, ceasing the dreamwalking spell and allowing her other self to awaken.

Used by Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange possessing his alternate self

"Dreamwalking, you hypocrite!"

―Scarlet Witch to Doctor Strange^[src]

When Doctor Strange became stranded in the alternate reality belonging to his Sinister self, he used this reality's copy of the Darkhold to dreamwalk into the corpse of his alternate self, whose body was left behind on Earth-616. Possessing this now zombified body, Strange traveled to Darkhold Castle to battle Scarlet Witch and save America Chavez. However, dreamwalking into a corpse also summoned a small army of the Souls of the Damned, which with effort he subdued and shaped into a ghoulish cloak to help defeat Maximoff. Strange used this body to encourage Chavez into learning to use her portal powers correctly. After Chavez then made Maximoff realize the errors of her ways, Maximoff decided to destroy the Castle and every Darkhold in the Multiverse, and Defender Strange's body went down with the castle as 616 Strange returned to his own body. As a result of his dreamwalking, Strange developed a third eye. Because he dreamwalked from an alternate reality, it caused an incursion that needed to be fixed.

Capabilities

"A dreamwalking sorcerer projects their own consciousness from their universe into another, possessing the body of an alternate self. They may puppeteer this unholy doppelgänger, and pursue their enemies from afar. The possession is not a permanent link between realities, but in the fleeting time they dreamwalk, they can do irreparable damage to the universe they invade."

―Baron Mordo^[src]

• Astral Projection: The dreamwalking spell allowed the caster to project their consciousness into the body of a version of themself in an alternate universe. They then have complete control over the body of their counterpart and can use it in any way they please. Though this spell does not last very long, and requires a functioning Darkhold or the Darkhold Castle.
  • Necromancy: The caster can reanimate a deceased Variant of themselves by dreamwalking into their corpse. However, this is a transgression of the natural laws, and doing so causes the Souls of the Damned to be summoned and attack the caster in both realities. Casters can also develop extra body parts like a third eye as a side effect.
  • Mind Imprisonment: To effect possession, the caster imprisons their Variant's mind within their own subconscious to ensure absolute control of the Variant's body. The spell can be broken if the Variant's mind is freed from their subconscious prison.
  • Power Bestowal: The caster, upon possessing their Variant's body, ends up transferring their powers to the Variant and thus allowing them to be used in another universe. But when the spell ends and the caster's consciousness returns to their universe, the Variant loses access to the powers that they once acquired during possession.
• Multiversal Manipulation: Constant and excessive use of the dreamwalking spell causes the caster to unintentionally manipulate and destroy multiversal edges that prevent incursions between universes from taking place, these incursions can be incredibly dangerous, potentially causing the total destruction of the Multiverse, with all universes colliding each other and destroying each other. Sinister Strange and Supreme Strange unintentionally initiated incursions as a direct consequence of the constant and excessive use of the dreamwalking spell.