“ | The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. | „ |
~ H.P Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror |
Introduction
Beyond-Dimensional Existence is the state of existing beyond dimensions. In the majority of cases, this will be referring to characters who are timeless and spaceless. That is to say: A "beyond-dimensional" character does not take up any volume whatsoever, nor does it occupy a position in spacetime, nor does its continued existence trace a path through it. They are, as such, much different from 0-dimensional characters, who simply have no extension in any dimension and still occupy spatial location.
Furthermore, while dimensional structures are always material composites, which can be divided into different parts and be expressed as the sum of these parts, undimensioned characters have no parts whatsoever, not being composite beings in any physical sense. Indeed, although a 0-dimensional point has no spatial parts which it can be divided into, even it can still serve as a part of a larger spatial composite, whereas undimensioned beings cannot.
Portrayal-wise, they could also be shown viewing a lesser plane as fiction, thus ontologically transcending its dimensions, while still operating on a higher notion of dimensionality native to their greater reality.
More rarely, it can also refer to characters who simply surpass conventional dimensionality, so to speak, "by excess of size." For example, by embodying the collection of all possible dimensional spaces, which is not itself a dimensional space in the same manner its components are.
Classification
Type 1: Characters who lack spatiotemporal features entirely, while not actually being superior to them in nature. They are simply ontologically different from any dimensional construct, but can ultimately still be comparable to dimension-bound entities in terms of raw power. Due to being aspatial and atemporal, they are obviously immune to conventional Spatial Manipulation and Time Manipulation, and since they are not part of the spacetime continuum, they usually have Acausality (Type 1)
Note, however, that simply being incorporeal is not sufficient for this ability. The character must specifically not be a part of space at all, while incorporeal beings (e.g. Ghosts) can still have extension in it, despite their lack of bodies.
Type 2: Characters who exceed dimensionality, which may occur in the following ways:
1) As mentioned before, by a certain "excess of size," in which an object (Or collection of objects) is simply too large to be a dimensional space in the conventional sense. For instance, the Universe of Sets, which contains all mathematical set-structures, and therefore all spaces in which dimensions are defined, being larger than all such spaces. Characters of this nature are Low 1-A.
2) Through a qualitative superiority over lesser things, which is to say: Ontologically surpassing all the contents of a lower reality, and being above their physical composition and differentiation. Characters of this nature don't simply lack all physicality and composition (As in Type 1), but surpass it altogether, being of a wholly superior nature that is not reachable by lower states of existence.
As a default, statements of being "above dimensions" are set at Low 1-A, and the same is applied to statements indicating superiority over "All of space and time," and similar. However, if they are applied to realms that can be inferred to surpass the very composition of the lower reality (e.g. Realms that are, themselves, non-composite, such as conceptual domains, or often, voids of nothingness), then 1-A is the most appropriate rating for them.
Furthermore, keep in mind that Type 2 Beyond-Dimensional Existence (In particular the latter variant) is not simply a combination of a non-dimensional state of existence and greater raw power than all dimensional structures in a cosmology – Though that is a necessary condition to qualify for it, it is not a sufficient one. Instead, the non-dimensional state of existence must be the direct cause of the character/realm's superiority over dimensions. A simple example being voids of nothingness that lack space, time and physicality entirely, but are nonetheless "vaster" than physical reality in some way, with common imagery being the universe as a small object encompassed in such a backdrop.