Derek Swan was a dreamwalker who used his visions of other worlds to create paintings.
History[]
Derek was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation, in Oglala Sioux. He was descended from a line of medicine men, tracing all the way to the shaman Black Elk. Because he was a dreamwalker, Derek could see other worlds, including the Apocalypse World. Derek turned these visions into paintings and tried to make a living selling his paintings, even doing an article on his process and paintings. However, Derek was unsuccessful in making a living through his painting and fell behind on his rent. Derek ended up falling in love with a woman named Paula and they began dating.
Derek eventually met fellow dreamwalker Kaia Nieves. Derek became amazed by Kaia's power as she was the most powerful dreamwalker he'd ever met. Derek began corresponding with Kaia through email and trying to train her in how to use her powers. However, due to Kaia's power focusing on the Bad Place and leaving her with scars, Kaia rejected Derek's attempts to help.
In 2017, while living in Bismarck, North Dakota, Derek was contacted via email by the Nephilim Jack posing as a collector. Having read Derek's article, Jack had realized that Derek was a dreamwalker and the key to Jack being able to open a rift to Apocalypse World so that he could rescue Mary Winchester. After bidding goodbye to Paula, Derek met with Jack and was at first dubious about Jack's request to dreamwalk Apocalypse World until Jack offered to pay him.
Sitting with his feet in a basin of water, Derek dreamwalker into Apocalypse World and located Mary. Jack connected with Derek's mind and was able to use Derek as his eyes to attempt to rescue Mary. However, Derek was not strong enough to hold the connection and Jack's attempts began to hurt him. Jack stopped before Derek could be harmed and Derek directed Jack to Kaia for help. He also pointed Jack towards the Wind Caves as a good place to open a portal.
Shortly after Jack left, Derek was visited by two angels looking for Jack. The angels tortured Derek for information until he broke and directed them to Kaia. To cover their tracks in an effort to keep the Winchesters from finding out, the angels smote Derek. His body was discovered shortly thereafter by Paula.
Derek's murder was passed along to Sheriff Jody Mills by a friend of hers in the Bismarck PD. Jody, a hunter who was looking for Jack, contacted the Winchesters and informed them that Paula had identified a man matching Jack's description as having visited Derek before his death. After Paula confirmed Jack's identity, the Winchesters suspected that Jack murdered Derek while trying to find Lucifer.
Derek's correspondence with Kaia led the Winchesters to her in an attempt to find out more about dreamwalkers. When the Winchesters discovered Jack with Kaia, they learned that Jack was innocent in Derek's murder and that he had been trying to rescue their mother with Derek's help. As the Winchesters attempted to get Kaia to help them save Mary, Jack showed Kaia what he saw when connected with Derek's mind while Derek was dreamwalking, helping to convince Kaia to help them.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Dream Walking - As a dreamwalker, Derek was capable of visiting alternate universes in his dreams. Derek had enough control to choose which world he visited and even coach another dreamwalker in how to properly use her powers.
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- He was the first known dreamwalker in the series.