Way back when I was a child, I decided to create five characters that guarded the five different parts of the Ultibed, which you have to build to talk to the Zeekeeper in Dream Team. Remaking them turned me into a female version of Pi'illoper (who is a HUUUUUGE Pi'illo fanatic). @boom-fanfic-a-latta helped me name them over on Tumblr.

Strati is a muscular Pi'illo who lives somewhere near the summit of Mt. Pajamaja. His case, the pillowcase-like garment over the Pi'illos' heads, is gray and resembles a rock. The brown headband that he wears is visible beneath it. His dark brown hair is concealed by his case. He wears stiff clothing that is chipped at the bottom and made of stone from the mountain. His wristbands have spikes facing the outside and are also made of stone. His small legs are covered by brown "pants."  

Most of the time, Strati is a metaphorical dormant volcano. He takes his job very seriously, so he always keeps his guard up. It is very easy to annoy him and make him erupt, but he is still passionate and motivational. He acts as the leader of the group, the bed frame that holds them all up. He values belief in yourself, perseverance, the strength needed to carry on in life, and never giving up no matter what. These powerful feelings of strength that your good dreams give you are what he and the Pajamaja Rock Frame represent. 

Strati is very physically strong, and he has enhanced stamina. He can easily break a boulder in two; he could be able to bench-press a Mega Pi'illo. He is also able to stir up minor earthquakes, and he can control the flow of lava. However, Strati can only do these things if he is along a fault line or if he is in a place with lava around him. Even with enhanced stamina, he will get tired out if he uses his abilities for too long. Since strength is at Strati's core, his powers run on his emotional strength; if Strati is discouraged and lacking in motivation, then his enhanced physical strength will slip away, and he will not be able to use his powers at all. 

Princess Dozelia, aka Dozie, lives in Pi'illo Castle with her older brother, Prince Dreambert. She is the youngest of the guardians. Beneath her pink case with white trim and yellow and blue edges, her hair is jet black. Most of the time, she wears cases with a covering that only wraps around her shoulders. Sometimes, she wears cases with a cape attached to them as a homage to her brother. She wears a hidden blue collar with small Zeekeeper feathers on it and a pink dress with yellow and blue at the edge of it like her case. Under her dress, her "pants" are a tinted salmon color. 

Dozelia has always had bright eyes filled to the brim with wonder. She has a very bright spark of imagination in her heart. She loves to make art projects, and she can get super caught up in making her creations look nice. She bursts with so much creativity, she used to paint on the castle walls when she was a little girl. She is very sweet, emotional and innocent. She is also ladylike, and enjoys more feminine things. She believes that the world is a wonderful place with so many marvelous creations, so she is kind to everyone she meets. Dozie tries to be brave for the sake of her people since she loves them all very much, so she makes sure to use her imaginative abilities for the good of others. Dozie is pretty fidgety, unable to stay completely still. She hums to herself a lot, and she is sensitive to loud noises. 

The world can tap into Dozelia's imagination, allowing whatever she thinks of to manifest into reality. This can happen with living creatures and objects. For example, when Dozie thought of needing a weapon once, a sword appeared in her hand. Despite this, she does not have good skill with it. What Dozie creates with her mind can enter and exit the dream world with her. They can be good and friendly things or bad nightmarish things depending on how Dozie is feeling. If Dozie is not feeling wondrous or creative, so if her sense of wonder is gone, then she will not be able to create anything.

Poppy is a girl around Dozelia's age. She is the second youngest guardian. She lives in Mushrise Park with her most prized possession: her flower garden. Her case is shaped like a purple flower with smaller yellow inner petals. Underneath it, she has puffy blonde hair. Her clothing looks like a flowery plant growing over a piece of Mushrise Tree, with a rainbow effect to it. Her short sleeves are red, and the petals on her clothing go down from orange to green. She also has green "pants."

Poppy is a merciful soul who, like Dozie, has compassion for everyone. She is nonconfrontational, peace-loving and cheery. Poppy does not support violence in the slightest and is normally patient and friendly with everybody. She is like a flower fully in bloom, ready to be used as a peace offering. If that flower is poked around or picked, however, Poppy will get as prickly as a cactus and attack whoever irritated her with little hesitation. In general, Poppy has sworn to protect the people and her friends in the name of peace. She is like the team's headboard; she gives them support, keeps Pi'illos from falling off the bed of order and harmony, and keeps their walls from falling apart. She absolutely loves gardening. 

Poppy can grow plants and flowers as her powers, but when it comes to the plants in her garden, she prefers to grow them the normal way. She can make the plants' stems grow as tall as she wants to and make their roots as long as she wants to. She can make any type of flower blossom  instantly, from daisies to apple blossoms to fire flowers. Poppy cannot use her powers if she is not feeling at peace or if there are high levels of negativity and distrust between her and her allies. If she's not at peace with you, she might not be able to wrap you up with plant stems, but she can punch you pretty hard. She'll then frantically apologize and ask for your forgiveness. 

Sandy is the oldest of the guardians, and he lives in Dozing Sands. He cuts his grayish hair very short. His case is more square with gold trim. His case and his clothing are colored with very light greens, blues, pinks, yellows and purples like the Dozing Mattress itself. He wears a large gold necklace and gold bands on his forearms. The bottom of his case has two strands of fabric hooked to it that Sandy wraps around his arms. His "pants" are colored gold.

If it's hard to aggravate Poppy, then it's almost impossible to aggravate Sandy. Sandy is seen in a perpetual state of calm, relaxation and tranquility, and normally, he goes with the flow of things. He only ever gets upset if the situation is looking too bad. He tries his best to act as the mattress to the team; he provides them comfort and support. He is the most reasonable and smartest member of the group as far as they know, but there are times when even Sandy doesn't know what he's doing. Sandy strives to provide feelings of calm tranquility for everyone. If they are stressed or upset, he will try to help them feel calm again. Sandy likes to spend his time chilling out in the Dream World, and he also enjoys collecting crystals and rocks. 

If Sandy is in a place with turbulent winds, he is able to stop the winds from blowing so hard to make the air still again. He cannot control the weather, but he is able to slow down a sandstorm, and he can stop the heavy winds of a thunderstorm. Sandy can also crystallize his body into Dozing Ore. In this form, he is almost impenetrable. He turns himself into Dozing Ore as an emergency guard for himself, or so the other guardians like Strati can use him as a club-like weapon. To turn back, Sandy must have an "anchor" in mind; if it weren't for his strong sense of justice and his love for the world, Sandy would lose himself and be a crystal forever. Sandy will not be able to do all of this if he is upset by something since he must remain calm.

Davy is the second oldest guardian, and he resides in Driftwood Shore. His case is in the shape of a seashell, and he sticks a reddish-orange starfish to it as an accessory. Hishair is brownish-blonde and wavy. The top side of his clothing is blue and decorated with pebbles and pearls, and the bottom side resembles a driftwood jellyfish. He wears an orange bracelet with a pearl on it on his left wrist. Under his jellyfish, he has cyan "pants."

Davy is a happy and cheerful fellow. He is incredibly optimistic, and he is a social sea butterfly. He is a playful guy, and he likes to organize treasure hunts for himself and others to enjoy. Davy likes to keep everything in order, so he keeps everything in his house organized and clean. Davy also really loves to make people laugh and smile, so he's always up for having a little fun. He likes feel-good stories with plenty of humor and whimsy. The reason Davy stays in a cheery state is because he aims to bring joy to people's dreams. He wants people to wake up with something to smile about. Similar to the functions of sheets, Davy tries to protect everybody's happiness and ensure a smooth, soft life for them. He is a huge animal lover and an excellent swimmer. 

Davy can float on water seemingly effortlessly. This ability allows him to ride waves, surfing without a board. If Davy is anywhere near water, he can bring the nearby water to him. Davy is also able to communicate with animals that live in the sea or on the beach, so he can call them if he needs help. He is also able to breathe underwater, so he spends much of his time in the sea. Because Davy's sea powers run on his feelings of happiness due to him representing joy, they will not work if he is feeling sad or unsatisfied.  

Strati gets along well with the other members of the team, and they see him as a good leader with a heart of solid gold. He captains them in battle and motivates them to move towards victory. If they're hurt, he gets them help.

Poppy thinks of each of her friends very fondly, and she helps to keep them on good terms with each other. What she and Sandy represent in dreams (peace and calm) is often interlaced, so she loves his levelheadedness and sense of calm. While she isn't too happy with his hostility to new faces, Poppy respects that Strati is at peace with himself in his own way. She and Princess Dozelia are in a romantic relationship with each other, and they love each other a lot.

Davy would be considered the comic relief of the team, which is understandable since he enjoys making them laugh. He's even able to make Strati laugh. Being the friendliest member of the team, Davy treats his friends very kindly and does his best to keep them happy. 

Sandy enjoys being around the team, and they count on him to help them relieve their stress. Sandy is okay with whatever his friends may do as long as it does not harm them, him or anyone at all. What he and Poppy represent is intertwined, so he likes how Poppy does her best to stay calm and at peace and to keep everyone peaceful. 

Even with their weaknesses, Dozelia loves all of her fellow guardians greatly, and they treat her respectfully since she is the princess and the younger sister of their future emperor. (In my version of M&L,  Pi'illo Island is part of an empire.) Her friends love her for her and not just her status. They adore her creativity. Poppy and Dozie are both feminine girls who are attracted to feminine women, and they love each other for themselves. Something they enjoy doing together is gardening. They even fell in love in Poppy's garden. Poppy encourages her girlfriend to openly communicate her feelings with her. 

Dozelia looks up to her older brother and loves him very much. They were very close when they were young, and Dreambert liked to paint the walls with her even if he knew it would get them in trouble. Dozie believes that Dreambert will be a much better ruler than her since he is better at talking and listening to the people. She also knows that he has learned more about government and politics than she has. Dreambert finds his sister's kindness and sense of wonder inspiring to him; he loves her, he just wants to keep her safe, and he wouldn't have her any other way. 

The guardians are all very good friends with Bedsmith. When they're not too busy and they have some time to kill, they'll get together with Bedsmith in Somnom Woods or somewhere else to have a good time. Bedsmith considers them to be a friend group, and even if they don't see 100% eye to eye, the others agree with him. In fact, they consider him to be a part of the team. Bedsmith constantly tells Dozelia to tell her brother he said hi and that he still wants to nap on him.

Now to explain where the guardians came from. For as long as anyone on Pi'illo Island can remember, there are five very important attributes of happy dreams: strength, wonder, peace, tranquility and joy. And long, long ago in the old days, when nightmares threatened the dreams of the Pi'illo people, five among them rose to protect them. These brave Pi'illos each displayed an attribute of happy dreams that were admirably powerful. They decided to wish on the Dream Stone for special powers associated with the traits they displayed that would use for the good of their people. If they were able to stop something bad from happening, then they were going to do it. It wasn't just the people- they also devoted themselves to protecting their homeland. To reward these heroes, five bed parts were built from the five attributes, and when put together by a Bedsmith, they could be used to make contact with the Zeekeeper. If these parts fell into the wrong hands, bad things would happen, so they took it upon themselves to guard the part that matched with their personality. In doing so, they were keeping the Bedsmiths safe. Their brave contributions to keeping the island and everyone on it safe were honorable and greatly appreciated. They all lived very long and happy lives. Many, many years later, when Antasma rose up, five Pi'illos named Strati, Dozelia, Poppy, Sandy and Davy did as well. They decided to follow in these ancient heroes' footsteps and take on their great responsibilities. They wanted to defend their homeland, so they wished on the Dream Stone for powers that suited them best, and they spent a great amount of time learning to use them. Each of them guarded a bed part that matched up with their character, making sure Antasma wouldn't try to steal them. They didn't want him to force the Bedsmiths to build them and call up the Zeekeeper for evil reasons. The five new guardians helped out greatly in the fight against them, but even they couldn't escape the black rain of nightmare chunks. When Mario and Luigi freed them a long time later, they agreed to help them out in the fight against Antasma and Bowser, eager to see each other and their loved ones again. Even after the Ultibed was built, the new guardians still continued to do their jobs of keeping their home safe because no one knows what could be out there. 

Here are some extra things to know about them:
- Strati's name is based on strata, which are layers of rock in the ground.
- Poppy's name is because poppies are used to help people fall asleep.
- Sandy's name is because of the molten metal that gets cast in sand.
- Davy's name is a reference to Davy Jones's locker, a metaphorical term referring to the seabed.
- Strati seriously can bench press Mega Pi'illos. He has done it to a pair by the names of Mega Blake and Mega Kent.
- Dozie would be a huge fan of Disney movies and Studio Ghibli movies.
- Dozie has hair as black as ebony because her personality is similar to Snow White's.
- Poppy has poofy blonde hair because her personality is similar to Perfuma's.
- Strati often braids his hair and stuffs the braid within his case.
- The reason Sandy cuts his hair short is because of how he lives in the desert.
- Sandy was born into a family of Deco Pi'illos.
- Sometimes, Davy will take off his case when going swimming to let his hair float around him.
- It is canon that Dozie is autistic.
- It's also canon that she and Poppy are both lesbians.
- To learn to use her weapon better, Dozie has spent some time in the battle ring.
- Poppy, Sandy and Strati have little dwellings built within the places you find their parts. Davy lives in a dwelling under the sea, and Dozie has her own room in the castle (which she has painted the walls of).  

(I explained all this in a stupid and convoluted way, I know...)