We explore the energy landscape for a four-fold telomere repeat, obtaining interconversion pathways between six experimentally characterised G-quadruplex topologies. The results reveal a multi-funnel system, with a variety of intermediate configurations and misfolded states. This organisation is identified with the intrinsically multi-functional nature of the system, suggesting a new paradigm for the classification of such biomolecules and clarifying issues regarding apparently conflicting experimental results.D.C. acknowledges the Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trusts for Ph.D. funding. T.C. acknowledges funding from EPSRC Grant No. EP/I001352/1. S.P. and P.D. acknowledge support from “DYNAMO” ANR- 11-LABX-0011 and PSL (Paris Sciences et Lettres). J.S. was supported by Czech Science Foundation Grant No. 16- 13721S. D.J.W. acknowledges funding from EPSRC Grant No. EP/N035003/1
