Doctor Manhattan vs Dream/Morpheus (Sandman)

[JohnDiggle]

Can Doc do anything to hurt Dream?

[Shai-Hulud]

Can Doc do anything to hurt Dream?

Doc would scanalyze Dream down to his most basic metaphysical essence. "Why, you're a sentient quantum waveform!" And then just annihilate him via manipulation of the quantum-level whatever-it-is that Dream is composed of.

[Alan2099]

This is actually an interesting one. Dream has been hurt by things less powerful than Dr. Manhattan, but they've also suggested that was because Sandman was "playing by the rules," so it's possible that it might not have hurt him if he didn't want it to.

On the flipside, while Dr. Manhattan can warp time, space, and the molecules of everything around him, Dream can make reality sit up, beg, and play fetch. The guy has made people that were actually places, and took places and made it so they never actually existed in the first place.

You can't even argue that it would be a quick draw, as Dr. Manhattan can be in two places and times at the same time, while Sandman has encountered things that he himself wouldn't even do until decades later.

If I'm forced to make a choice though, I side with Dream, as Manhattan's powers have to at least made some kind of comicbook sense, while Sandman don't have to have any logic at all.

[Sophicles]

I don't think there's anything Manhattan could permanently do to Dream, barring erasing sentient thought/imaginations from every living being in existence across all universes... and even then it may not rid the Endless for good.

But he could certainly win by incapacitating or trapping Morpheus. Roderick Burgess did it with a simple ritual, even though he didn't manage to cast the spell correctly to trap the Endless he was originally targeting, he still managed to trap Morpheus for a good century.

What's stopping Manhattan from just recreating the exact same scenario and circumstances to recreate that ritual and the glass prison and trap Dream again?

[BitVyper]

So I don't know any of this more recent Doctor Manhattan stuff with him being omnipotent and creating universes and whatever. I'm just going to assume his power has been scaled up into high cosmic status. That said, part of what allows him to be Dr. Manhattan is a specific combination of personal qualities and skills - having been trained in a slow, methodical assembly of tiny tiny parts, being a highly skilled atomic scientist, a clockwork perspective of the universe, and a few other traits. I suspect there's a personal quality in here that could be rationalized as a dream and taken away with a word.

[Jcogginsa]

Whether we'e counting the original comic as Manhatten's only feats is important. Because with just Watchmen his powers aren't nearly as high scale as they're often made out to be

[Shai-Hulud]

Whether we'e counting the original comic as Manhatten's only feats is important. Because with just Watchmen his powers aren't nearly as high scale as they're often made out to be

Nothing in OP limiting Doc to just the original graphic novel.

In the relatively recent mini-series event, "Doomsday Clock," Doc's powers go way, way beyond just manipulating atoms. He perceives the entire metaversal structure of reality and plays with it like a child's building blocks.

Yes, it's kind of ridiculous. Honestly, I think it would've been better to just let all the characters from Watchman sleep peacefully after the original series, but, well, comics.

[Ptrvc]

Nothing in OP limiting Doc to just the original graphic novel.

In the relatively recent mini-series event, "Doomsday Clock," Doc's powers go way, way beyond just manipulating atoms. He perceives the entire metaversal structure of reality and plays with it like a child's building blocks.

Yes, it's kind of ridiculous. Honestly, I think it would've been better to just let all the characters from Watchman sleep peacefully after the original series, but, well, comics.

Less of a comic thing and more of a "corporate ownership of intellectual property thing", I think.

[Zagreus]

This would be a fun one to write... but I'd have Dream come out on top, if I was writing it. Probably with a misdirect that would make it seem like Manhattan was having the upper hand for a period of time. Though I can certainly see someone else looking at it another way.

"This has been entertaining for a time, little godling, but playtime is over..." then Dream throws Doctor Manhattan into a never-ending nightmare scenario where he is plagued again and again by memories of all the people he has lost, and vestiges of his lost humanity- his ex-wife, Silk Spectre, his father, tormenting him for eternity. The humanity that he feels he has 'transcended' hitting him full in the face, unescapably, and Doctor Manhattan is revealed to be Jon Osterman intellectualizing and using his powers to prevent himself from feeling anything: emotionally underdeveloped.

(Anyway, that's how I'd write a confrontation between the pair...)