Dream characters

Lately I've been giving a lot of thought to people, animals, and entities that we encounter in our dreams. There is a philosophical/metaphysical question that has been surfacing repeatedly for me..

What is the nature of the characters we encounter?
Can we always consider them to be an aspect of ourselves, as a rule?
- All dream characters are internal archetypes and without us dreaming them, they would not exist.

Or do they have consciousness independent of our own?
- These characters are archetypes that are universal, and DO exist in the non-material realm, regardless of whether we encounter them or not.

Is it both?
- The archetypes exist independently, but we encounter them because a part of them is shared with a part of ourselves.

Or sometimes one, sometimes another?
- Some characters are only reflections of our own consciousness, while others are independent, self-conscious entities whom we encounter.

Perhaps these questions are creating unnecessary divisions.
- We are all one entity at the core of being, so really there is no such thing as an 'independent' entity.

However, we experience ourselves as being independent.. do they?

Are we encompassed within the archetypes.. enveloped in their reality, or is the other way around?

Both?

..So many questions!

It is never so important to have the right answers as it is to have the right questions.

I would say both.