Roderick Burgess

Roderick Burgess is the person who started Dream's spiral to his death.

In 1916 Burgess captured Dream, accidentally, while trying to capture Death. He keeps Dream imprisoned in a glass bottle and people began to succumb to the "sleepy sickness," in which people would fall asleep and not wake up.

Roderick Burgess died in 1947, 41 years before Dream finally escapes captivity.