John Dee (Prime Earth)

New 52

Following the cosmic upheavals of the Rebirth period, this character's history was revised.

Current Origin

John Dee was born to the magician Ethel Cripps, and is mentioned by Ethel to be tied to the Burgess Family. Alex Burgess never became the magician his father Roderick was, but John Dee became.^[8] At some point, John Dee became a powerfull sorceror known as "Doctor Destiny" and the current owner of the Dreamstone.

New 52

Earlier Events

John was active since at least the 16th Century and is known to have fought the demon Choronzon. Dee's spells wereused to help the Justice League Dark fight their first enemy Enchantress.

At some point in time, the Cult of the Cold Flame made a deal with Destiny to help him get the mystical Dreamstone which he could use to manipulate Dream energy.

Horror City

Some time later, the Cold Flame enacted their plan and allowed Destiny to steal both the Dreamstone and the House of Mystery from Constantine, using it to capture the Swamp Thing. He tells Swamp Thing that he and the House play a key part in the "Coming War".^[9] When Constantine, Xanadu, and Deadman head to the house to encounter Destiny, Xanadu does not recognize him and he reveals that she is his mother.^[6]

Xanadu confirms that he is telling the truth and Frankenstein attacks him, but Destiny was protected by the demon N'aal, who leads Frankenstein away and entraps him within the Den of the Firefeeders. Between magical attacks, Destiny explains his tragic history and enraged by his taunts, Xanadu attacks him and explains that she left him because he was a monster. As she attempts to kill him, Constantine warns that the Cult of the Cold Flame is merely using him to get control over the House of Mystery.

Meanwhile, Swamp Thing uses the wood from the House to create an army of supporters to fight Destiny's nightmares, and given that the House of Mystery has a mind to possess, Deadman is all-too-eager to possess it, opening doors to helpful horrors, and entrapping Destiny within a mass of vines. Destiny sneers that all of his efforts were for Xanadu and for himself. He also remarks that she ought to have learned by now not to keep secrets, and she spits that the moment she first held him, she had seen the monster he would become in the future, knowing that if she didn't leave him, she would be forced to kill him. Borrowing Frankenstein's sword, she raises it over her head and for his forror, she cuts the ruby from his chest, reducing him to nothing.^[7]

Forever Evil

John Dee was later seen alive during the Earth 3 Crime Syndicate's Invasion and was among the villains recruited by the Syndicate to join the Secret Society of Super-Villains.^[10]

DC Rebirth

Following the DC Rebirth event, Doctor Destiny was restored to his pre-Flashpoint incarnation. Eventually, John was trapped by Superman and Nightwing while they tracked various threats from the original timeline, and Destiny confronted the hero in Superman's dream-recreation of this timeline's Bludhaven.^[11]

John Dee was later apparently kidnapped by Amanda Waller and put on her Task Force XI, a "Suicide Squad" of telepaths made to combat Brainiac.^[12]

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Infinite Frontier

Dawn of DC

Knight Terrors

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Magic
  • Immortality: In the original timeline, John Dee had been around since the 1500s.^[13]
  • Telepathy

Abilities

• Occultism

Weaknesses

• Power Instability: Inability to dream had turned him into a twisted, skeletal wreck of a man; while better, he is still extremely feeble.
  

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Dreamstone: The Materioptikon, also known as the Dreamstone, was Dr. Destiny's signature weapon, allowing him to project people's dreams onto reality. The Dreamstone is one of twelve stones crafted by Dream of the Endless.
  • Reality Alteration: He acquired reality-warping powers great enough to create entire realities out of dreams and memories, even without the stone itself in his possession.
  • Eldritch Blast^[6]

Notes

• Doctor Destiny was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky, first appearing in Justice League of America #5. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Doctor Destiny first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Justice League Dark #19 by Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes, and Mikel Janín.
• Although Dee made his first appearance in Justice League Dark #19, he was originally mentioned in Justice League Dark #5.
• In the original timeline of Prime Earth, John Dee was born in the Middle Ages and was son of Madame Xanadu; however, the Rebirth restored his original connection with the Burgess family and became once again son of Ethel Cripps, like in the Pre-Flashpoint continuity.

Related

• 45 Appearances of John Dee (Prime Earth)
• 10 Images featuring John Dee (Prime Earth)
• 1 Quotations by or about John Dee (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: John Dee (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Vertigo Character
This character exists under the Vertigo Imprint which is intended for Mature Readers.Their continuity takes place within the context of Vertigo titles although they may cross over into regular DC continuity.

Superman Villain(s) This character has been primarily an enemy of Superman in any of his various incarnations, or members of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Villains category."

Justice League Villain This character is or was primarily an enemy of the Justice League, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Justice League Villains."

Suicide Squad member This character is or was a member of the Suicide Squad, a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for commuted sentences, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Suicide Squad members" category.

Secret Society of Super-Villains member This character is or was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a cadre of super-villains who band together to accomplish feats no one super-villain can do alone, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Secret Society of Super-Villains members" category.