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    Nightmare

    Character » appears in 16 games

    The living incarnation of Soul Edge's pure, malevolent will. He is a brutally violent barbarian that loves nothing more than to kill and cause chaos in his wake as he collects the souls of his victims

    Short summary describing this character.

    Nightmare last edited by slayerfate on 12/22/23 07:10PM View full history

    Overview

    Once a name taken by Siegfried Schtauffen when he was possessed by the Soul Edge sword, Nightmare is now the blade's evil consciousness taken physical form through the same Azure armor that its host once wore. It wields "itself", the shapeshifting spirit sword Soul Edge, in the form used by Siegfried, an enormous zweihander, specifically to mock him. The more powerful Soul Edge becomes, the fleshier the sword becomes, and the less human Nightmare looks.

    Biography

    Nightmare, the "Azure Knight" is the name Siegfried took on after taking Soul Edge from a defeated Cervantes and battling Inferno. After Siegfried claims the sword as his own, a voice speaks to him. Soul Edge promised Siegfried the resurrection of his murdered father if he gathered enough souls. Unaware that this was a deception of the sword's power, Siegfried carried out a killing spree. Eventually he was fully corrupted by the sword and took on the name Nightmare. As Nightmare he continued to spread destruction and death across the land.

    In Soul Calibur II Nightmare continued his wave of destruction in order to restore Soul Edge to its complete form. To do this he recruited Astaroth, Ivy and Lizardman to speed up the process while he prepared the ritual to restore the sword. However while occupying his stronghold, his castle came under attack by Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi. Nightmare then encounters Raphael in the chapel of Osthreinsburg, and defeats him. However just as he goes in to finish him off, Siegfried begins to struggle for control of Nightmare. As a result Nightmare is left standing motionless. Raphael uses this opportunity to unleash an attack into Soul Edge's eye. This not only caused Siegfried to regain control of his body, but also released Soul Calibur from within Soul Edge. Siegfried drove the holy sword into Soul Edge sealing both swords power in what is called an embrace of souls. However before the seal was complete Inferno, the spirit of Soul Edge, was able to escape into the abandoned azure armor.

    In Soul Calibur III the abandoned armor and spirit of Soul Edge are found by Zasalamel. Using ancient magic he binds the spirit of Soul Edge with the armor, allowing Nightmare to once again roam the land. Nightmare restarts his journey with three goals in mind, encountering Siegfried, repairing Soul Edge, and finding a new host body, since his current form is simply an empty shell.

    Eventually Nightmare encounters Siegfried and they do battle. The explosiveness of the battle between the spirit sword and the cursed sword also causes the shards of Soul Edge, which were spread as the evil seed, to return back to the sword, making it whole again, and making Nightmare more powerful than ever before. Now all that Nightmare desires is to finally be rid of the spirit sword, Soul Calibur, and it will be free to rain destruction down upon the entire world, harvesting thousands of helpless souls.

    Design

    Nightmare (Siegfried)

    In Soul Edge/Blade Nightmare was originally just an alternate costume for Siegfried from a no input ending in which he is possessed by Soul Edge. The original Nightmare had crimson armor instead of azure. He also sported a fleshier look,like the sword itself.

    The Azure Knight
    The Azure Knight

    In Soul Calibur he finally became an official character instead of a palette swap. His armor was now azure instead of crimson. The fleshy design was also exchanged in order to give his armor a more metallic feel. Nightmare also had his own version of Soul Edge which was different from the one in Soul Edge/Blade (reflecting the fighting style of the person it possesses), now sporting a giant eye in the middle of the blade. Nightmare was very similar to Siegfried as far as his fighting style, with a few minor changes. As a sign of the increasing corruption of Siegfried, his right arm has transformed into a hideous mutated claw.

    In Soul Calibur II Nightmare style changed a bit, mostly with the addition of new stances. He helmet itself now sported a red mane. It is this version of Nightmare that has become the logo for Project Soul.

    Nightmare (Phantom)

    Nightmare (Phantom)
    Nightmare (Phantom)

    Soul Calibur III represented a big change in Nightmare as the first game in which the consciousness of Soul Edge and the Azure armor were working as one. His fighting style was drastically different from that of Siegfried’s which made him feel much more brutal. His design now included an increasingly inhuman arm which now formed a mouth at his chest.

    He created his own Soul Edge (Phantom) blade, which had the ability to take souls as the original Soul Edge, but was a fraction of the real evil blade's power. At some point Nightmare fought with Siegfried, who now had both Soul Calibur and Soul Edge and was travelling to find a place to either destroy them both or find somewhere suitable to hide them forever.

    Nightmare (Soul Edge)

    Nightmare (Soul Edge)
    Nightmare (Soul Edge)

    In Soul Calibur IV Nightmare's design again underwent drastic changes, as mind, soul and body (read: sword) were reunited.

    The mouth on his chest has now opened completely, his torso now consisting entirely of pure malevolent energy. His hair is now back in the form of purple smoke. This appearance can be seen as a half-way point between the Original Azure armor of Nightmare and the full form of Night Terror.

    Night Terror (Soul Edge Complete)

    Night Terror
    Night Terror

    When Nightmare has both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, both swords combine into the original Soul Edge, before Algol fought his son and created Soul Calibur from the resulting shards.

    Night Terror is the complete physical representation of Soul Edge's evil mind. It is many times taller and muscular than the average Soul Calibur character and sports giant flaming wings with which to fly (rendering impossible to score a ring-out when playing against him).

    As a secret boss in Soul Calibur III, Night Terror is not a playable character and players must not lose a single match in single player mode to face it. Otherwise Zasalamel absorbs Soul Edge and Soul Calibur instead, becoming Abyss.

    Endings

    Soul Calibur

    Nightmare has become Siegfried once more and the Soul Edge became an image of Frederick which Siegfried immediately strikes. At his father's grave, Siegfried vows to atone for the sin of killing his father.

    Soul Calibur III

    Nightmare is seen on top of a tower. Guards enter the area searching for him.

    The Input ending shows Nightmare turning into the horrifying Night Terror and destroying a statue, only to fly away sparing the guards lives.

    If no input is pressed Nightmare simply descends and murders the guards.

    Soul Calibur IV

    Nightmare is seen standing next to a defeated Siegfried. He states that the chains that have held him for so long are now destroyed. He gathers energy in his left hand, which goes into Soul Edge causing it to burn brightly. He slams the sword to the ground and the fire spreads, engulfing Siegfried's body. The screen goes black stating: The flames of the cursed sword furiously burn. The fires of hell will soon engulf the world in despair.
     

    Soul Calibur V

    Although unfortunately, Soul Calibur V does not feature individual character storylines, Nightmare plays a major role in the one storyline available. It opens with Nightmare, at a slightly lower power level than the previous game, posing as "Graf Dumas", a human nobleman playing the part of mentor and commander to the young warrior Patroklos Alexandra, who yearned to find his long-lost sister Pyrrha, and believed that Dumas was working to help him find her. Through this, Nightmare tricked him into murdering humans who threatened its plans by telling Patroklos they were Malfested, humans possessed by Soul Edge's evil like Tira, who had murdered Patroklos' mother Sophitia and kidnapped an infant Pyrrha. After Patroklos kills his final target, Nightmare casually reveals itself and that its words and orders were all lies, and that it had absolutely no idea where Pyrrha was. This horrified and enraged Patroklos, who was unable to catch up with Nightmare as he left, being slowed down by the monster's minions. Later, shortly after reuniting, Patroklos and Pyrrha were attacked by Voldo while travelling Europe together. It  seems Voldo was sent to kill them by Nightmare, though they managed to defeat him. As the climax of the story neared, Nightmare lead an army of Malfested in a campaign of murder and destruction, intending to gather more souls. However, he was tracked down by the werewolf Z.W.E.I., whose hometown had been destroyed by Nightmare, resulting in the senseless slaughter of many of his people. Fighting his way across the battlefield and easily trouncing the Malfested soldiers who attacked him, Z.W.E.I. cornered Nightmare and engaged it in battle, finally managing to kill the creature in combat. However, Tira had foreseen this, and had been secretly training Nightmare's replacement for years; long after the battle ended, Tira encouraged an emotionally tortured Pyrrha, now a Malfested herself against her will, to pick up Soul Edge and become its new host.

    Weapons

    • Soul Edge
    • Soul Edge Male
    • Soul Edge Phantom
    • Soul Edge Growth
    • Soul Edge Nauplius
    • Claymore
    • Flamberge
    • Great Blade
    • Giant Buster
    • Steel Paddle
    • Glam
    • Requiem
    • Faust
    • Soul Calibur
    • Soul Edge Complete
    • Soul Edge Final Form
    • Galley Oar (joke weapon)
    • Giant Squid (joke weapon)

    Stages

    • Ostrheinsburg Castle (SC)
    • Ostrheinsburg Chapel (SCII)
    • Lost Cathedral (SCIII)
    • Tower of Remembrance - Encounter (SCIV)

    Trivia

    • Nightmare originally appears in Soul Edge/Blade as an alternate costume for Siegfried labelled "Siegfried!"
    • In Soul Calibur II Nightmare has a third costume, that of Siegfried in his normal appearance.
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