Thessaly

Origin

Thessaly is an ancient Greek witch who first appeared in the Sandman series.

Creation

Thessaly was created by Neil Gaiman. She is named after the district of Thessaly in Greece. Her alias later on, Larissa, is the name of Thessaly’s capital city. The region of Thessaly is also known as the land of witches.

Character Evolution

Thessaly is a cold character. She is driven by self preservation and has no problem with killing. Thessaly isn’t at all malicious harming only those who would attempt to harm her.

At some point in the past Thessaly was involved with Dream but it ended badly.

Major Story Arcs

A Game Of You

In the story A Game Of You she ended up living in an apartment building with Barbie, Wanda, Foxglove, Hazel and a man named George. Thessaly kept to herself in the building until she was nearly killed by a creature called the Cuckoo who lived in Barbie’s dreams, that was acting through George. Thessaly murdered George, then decapitated him, bit out his tongue and put nails through his eyes to keep them open and used her magic to make him talk. Thessaly found out the Cuckoo was behind the attack and along with Hazel and Foxglove using her magic she got the moon to allow her to journey into the Dreaming to kill the Cuckoo. Thessaly using the moon to transport herself to the Dreaming had dire consequences on the real world and caused a storm. Thessaly’s apartment building was destroyed and Wanda another resident of the building was killed.

Thessaly meets the Cuckoo but it uses mind control on her rendering her defenseless. With Thessaly rendered inactive, the Cuckoo carries out her plan and destroys the dream land of her birth. With the dream land destroyed, Thessaly, Hazel, Foxglove and Barbie were trapped. Barbie was granted a boon by Dream. Thessaly wanted Barbie to wish for the Cuckoo to be killed but Barbie refused and asked for all four women to be returned to the waking world safe.

In the “Wake” Thessaly displays genuine grief at his death and cries.

Thessaly has continued to have adventures of her own in two limited series.

The Thessaliad

In the first of the two series, The Thessaliad, a Fetch is sent to claim Thessaly’s soul for the Death Gods. Thessaly then embarks on a quest to hunt down those responsible.

Witch For Hire

In the second series, Witch For Hire, Thessaly is lured into becoming a monster hunter by Fetch, who tracks her down in Italy. The events of this arc take place two years after The Thessaliad. Thess tricks Fetch, and traps him inside a mirror when she discovers that he has been manipulating her.

Powers and Abilities

As a witch, Thessaly utilizes all forms of magic. She has stated that she does not believe in cultural barriers when it comes to magic, and will use spells, charms and powers from all countries and belief systems, as such distinctions cease to exist at her level of magical ability. She is also remarkably intelligent.