Roderick Burgess (Sandman)

Burgess is a magician rather in the vein of the real Aleister Crowley. With a group of devotees (who address him as 'Magus') he conducts magical rituals. The series starts with Burgess' attempt to capture and bind Death, which fails, capturing Morpheus instead. Burgess keeps Morpheus trapped in a glass globe for the rest of his (Burgess') life, attempting to bargain with him; Morpheus remains silent. Burgess dies of old age, still attempting to get a response out of Morpheus. His order passes to his son, Alex.

Burgess is a bald-headed, slightly pot-bellied man with a large hook nose with something of the look of a gypsy about him. He is ultimately self-centred; the success of his order is all important to him, and the point of the order is to bring money and power to himself. His relationship with his son seems slightly distant, but not unkind.

See also: Characters in The Sandman.