The Dream Vortex is a special entity that appears only very rarely, with the ability to connect the dreams of other beings, a dangerous ability that can eventually cause the destruction of the Dreaming. Unity Kinkaid was supposed to be a Vortex, but Desire's intervention confuses the issue, and eventually Unity's granddaughter, Rose Walker, becomes the new Vortex. Just before Dream can kill Rose, Unity appears and explained that she should have been the Vortex, asking for Rose's heart. Taking the heart, Unity becomes the Vortex and dies.
Vortex is also the name of several characters from the DC Universe. The first Vortex is a man possibly named Pogus who was an enemy of Supergirl. The second Vortex was a member of the Doom Patrol who joined the team at the same time as Faith, Nudge, and Grunt. In the New 52 continuity, Vortex was the Zebra-Man, an enemy of Batman and a former inmate at in Arkham Asylum.
Dream Vortex was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg, first appearing in Sandman (Volume 2) #10 (1989). Pogus was created by Len Wein and Bob Oksner, first appearing in Adventure Comics #414 (1972). The Doom Patrol member was created by John Byrne, first appearing in JLA #94 (2004). The Zebra-Man version was created by David Finch and Paul Jenkins, first appearing in Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 2) #1 (2011).
