Nightmare Fuel / CVGW James

All spoilers will be unmarked ahead. You Have Been Warned!

And yes, in case you can't tell, that is blood on his armor.

It really says something when a fanfic writer has so many stories on his plate that he has enough of a certain genre to warrant its own page.

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Original Stories & Characters

• Let's start off with the guy pictured: that's Z'or'ogh-Ro'gon, a multiversal conqueror made by James. Not only is he manipulative, not only does he revel in destruction and death, but he has the power to skin his victims, obliterate armies and civilizations, destroy planets, alter reality, and so much more. Turns out, that arena where the Jokers fought was a universe he already conquered. That's not even getting into the OTHER versions of him that are out there. That's right; the Z'or'ogh that was killed at the end of this one story? That was just one version of him. And just so we're clear, this isn't a character James made just for the DC-verse; he was made for any universe he feels like terrorizing; Sonic, Mario, Zelda, Marvel... basically the usual franchises James writes for.
• Long ago in 2017, James drew Sha'D'Oh Nightmare, a dark overlord who waged war against many peaceful worlds and even came back from the dead many times. He makes his first story appearance almost five years later in "Eggman's Shadow Nightmare Trial", where he captures Dr. Eggman with plans to recruit him in his plans to Take Over the World. Of course, Eggman doesn't submit... but Sha'D'Oh Nightmare corrects this resistance by torturing him, outsmarting his escape attempts at every turn the entire story. With nowhere left to escape or fight back, Eggman submits and agrees to help Sha'D'Oh Nightmare in any way he wants. You read that right: Sha'D'Oh Nightmare broke the Mad Scientist into working for him. Of course, the temptations of world conquest didn't hurt either.
  • Something similar would later happen in "Octo-Trouble With Overlords", this time with DJ Octavio as Sha'D'Oh Nightmare's victim and latest recruit. Octavio does put up more of a fight than Dr. Eggman did, but he still lost in the end. By the way, the events of both stories are a prequel to a particularly big story James has planned for the future, meaning we haven't seen the last of Sha'D'Oh Nightmare.
  • Sha'D'Oh Nightmare can also apparantly hack into TVs, as seen in this drawing, which is a dark take on an old advertisement for The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.
• On December 19th 2022, James released a picture of another terrifyingly evil Original Character named Ahl'zu'ohra'g'augh, who's basically like Z'or'ogh-Ro'gon, but even worse. Whereas Z'or'ogh is a conqueror, Ahl'zu'ohra'g'augh is a destroyer with the capability of wiping out civilizations, having an insane amount of power—as in, not even needing an army—and an even more insane kill count. The description for him in the linked artwork will tell you more.
  • Check out the character's first story appearance in "Apokalypse of Ahl'zu'ohra'g'augh", where, long story short, he successfully destroys the home planet of freaking Darkseid.
• Lots of people like cats and think they're cute... but you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who's that big of a fan of cat zombies. "Attack of The Cat Zombies", an original tale by James, follows young Hans Shtrudle as he tries to survive these creatures. Doesn't help that it takes place in Postwar Germany, post-World War II, in the year following the end of the war.
• For AI-related horrors, there's "The Day My Computer Took Over The World". When young Jorge Andwen was sick one day, he confided in his advanced computer Mr. Happer about the evils of the world despite how happy he and his family is. This proves to be a mistake, as Mr. Happer is convinced that it has to rid the world of all evils itself. It goes as well as expected...
• One original story James made is "The Hideous Lake Terror". Mat Breyves was enjoying a nice night swimming at a lake with his girlfriend Trista Lyrano... a lake where a dangerous monster, Kil'um' Crymenal Streinglur, is residing, as the camp caretaker tries to warn them. And just in case you think the monster is make-believe, some time after their make-out, Mat and Trista come across the corpse of one of his victims, and according to the camp caretaker, it wasn't the monster's first kill, and if it weren't for the brave couple that successfully fought him and defeated him, it wouldn't have been the last.

Fanfics

• Thought the Redeads from The Legend of Zelda were scary? Well, have fun reading about them in "Night of the Redead", where they terrorize Hyrule in a Zombie Apocalypse.
• "Norman Osborn in Mephisto's Realm" gives us Norman Osborn encountering Mephisto in basically Hell after his death in Spider-Man... and being tortured by him for his crimes as the Green Goblin for all eternity. And by "tortured", we mean "being worshipped as the Green Goblin". It's an Ironic Hell at its finest.
• "Anakin Skywalker vs Darth Vader". Encountering and doing battle with the dark lord you will eventually become isn't exactly a fun time.
• "The Phantom Platypus of Doom" starts off with a ghost story told by DB Platypus; the story of a platypus who annoyed people by blowing a whistle. Finally having enough, the people he annoyed beat him up one day, destroyed his whistle, and killed him. He killed all of them back as a ghost for revenge, and travels the multiverse to cause destruction. And then it turns out that the Phantom Platypus is Real After All! Here's what he looks like.
• "Mina Mongoose and the Terrifying Tails Doll". After returning home from a concert, Mina Mongoose finds a doll made in Tails' likeness at her doorstop. She takes it inside, it shows signs of being alive, and... let's just say she's in for a crazy night.
• "Ghost SMG3 and the Axol Menace" presents an evil Axol from another universe as the main antagonist. Not only did he destroy Inkopolis and the Mushroom Kingdom, but he killed the good SMG3 from his universe, turning him into a ghost. Since this was made before SMG4's Genesis Arc, this is essentially Ax0l before Ax0l.
• For fans of Star Wars, there's "The Padawan and the Sith Lord on Ilum". It stars Original Character Daniel Star'lyte... and puts him through hell. A Jedi Padawan in the darkest cave of the planet Illum, he managed to obtain a Kyber Crystal and got out his lightsaber, when a vision of a Sith Lord appears before him. Turns out that Sith Lord is none other than the Emperor himself, and this encounter makes Dan one of the only Padawans to be aware of him years before the Jedi Purge. At the end of the encounter, before the Emperor vanishes, his final threat to Dan is that, even if he gets stronger, he can't stop the Sith's endgame to execute Order 66. And Dan is going to be haunted by this for years, all the way to the end of the Clone Wars when the event happens. After the encounter, he is left questioning what Order 66 is and is plagued by nightmares of the event happening. Worse, years after that day on Ilum, Dan figures out the truth about the Emperor only minutes before Order 66 comes down and does survive the event, but not without suffering some trauma. Afterwards, he goes on to wander the galaxy for a decade as the Empire grows in power, carrying the knowledge of the Emperor's true identity. Worse still, if the Emperor learns he survived and figured out his identity, Dan will be in graver danger as Imperial forces will be after him relentlessly, hunting him across the galaxy.
• There's quite a bit of nightmare fuel to be had in "Jokerverse War", courtesy of both all these iterations of The Joker at each other's throats and the one who brought them together (read: kidnapped them all and trapped them into a strange dimension akin to War World): the aforementioned Z'or'ogh-Ro'gon. His plan is to watch all these Jokers kill each other, then decide which one is the strongest so he can force the last remaining Joker to aid him in his takeover of the DC-verse. Additionally, he has a machine that brings the Jokers that were killed back to life so they can resume their fight to the death with each other over and over again. If it weren't for Arthur Fleck, their fight could have lasted decades with Jokers fighting each other non-stop, which could have caused massive damage to the fabric of reality while Z'or'ogh continued his conquest. He may have been defeated after all this, but more likely than not, nobody will ever truly know what actually happened and Arthur, the man who saved the multiverse, went home to be arrested for what he did to Murray Franklin, and the people of that universe's Gotham have no idea of the multiverse and its horrors.
• "Senbo and the Starved" primarily features Starved Eggman going after Senbo, a young teenage boy, for the sole purpose of cannibalizing him, something he wasn't known to do in the source material he came from. Even though Senbo kills Starved in self-defense and makes it out alive, it was still pretty creepy. Turns out, that's not even the end of him, because he (or rather, a version of him from an alternate universe) comes back again in the story's sequel "Senbo and Starved: Thanksgiving Comeback". He's just as bloodthirsty in that story as he was in the last one, if not more so, going after Senbo, his turkey, and his family, forcing the poor kid to enlist the aid of his old enemy (and old idol) Saiko for a remote chance of surviving.
• "Don't Hug Meggy and Desti, We're Scared", as the title suggests, is "Don’t Hug Me I’m Mario" with Meggy and Desti^note surviving here in an alternate universe in Mario and SMG4's places, trying desperately to escape the demented teachings of the suddenly hostile Don't Hug Me I'm Scared gang. Yes, they managed to freak these girls out.
• With The Mean One coming soon, James felt inspired to make his own take on that horror movie's spin on The Grinch by pitting him against SMG4's version of Mario in "Mario and The Mean One". Twisted Christmas doesn't even begin to describe it.
• "Pooh and Spaghetti", based on Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. Like with The Mean One, James was so inspired by the then-upcoming slasher film involving beloved childhood characters that he felt compelled to write his own version of it starring SMG4's characterization of Mario. So, here he is, fighting off the masked animal men to protect both his spaghetti and his life. Unlike "Mario and The Mean One", however, there are a few twists and turns beyond fighting for survival. For one, Pooh and Piglet are victims as well due to the murders tarnishing their childfriendly reputation, and the only reason Mario knows about the danger in the first place is because they warned him. Most importantly is the Scooby-Doo-esque unmasking; Fake Piglet is the infamous psychopath Enzo, and Fake Pooh is Slender Man. Keep in mind that Slender Man's a good guy (or at least not 100% evil) in the SMG4 canon, and we find out that he's only in all of this because Enzo made him Brainwashed and Crazy.
• What happens when an attempt to bring Meggy back to her Inkling form has Gone Horribly Wrong? You get Failed Metamorphosis Zombie Meggy, originally created by Jed22EXE. This alternate universe version of Meggy was created when SMG4 tried to bring her back as an Inkling by putting ink into her, only for the ink to overflow Meggy's bloodstream and kill her, turning her into a zombie. The first thing she does upon receiving this ghastly form is go after her friends and kill them. After terrorizing her homeworld, she breaks into a tech lab and steals the equiptment necessary for multiverse travel, allowing her to put her new plan into motion: kill all the Meggys in the multiverse to, in her words, "end their misery", with the Meggy the audience is following nearly becoming her next victim. Twice, actually.
• Apparently feeling one Twisted Christmas story for 2022 wasn't enough, James wrote "Santa Mario Wants Mario's Liver", a story based on a certain meme, where SMG4 Mario encounters another Mario dressed as Santa who tries to... well, what do you think?
• Chalking it up to three Twisted Christmas stories for 2022, James made "Dedede's Santa Stew". Not only does he kidnap Santa Claus with intent to cook him into stew... he actually succeeds in the end. And you thought Dedede was at his worst in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!...
• Lara Croft getting turned to gold by Goldfinger in "Golden Love". James' illustration of this scene was released simultaneously with the story. Thankfully, this hasn't killed her, and its effects are reversible.
• "Trapped in the Ruins" is an Immediate Sequel to SMG4 Movie: It's Gotta Be Perfect, where we see Peach exploring the castle as it's slowly being consumed by the very monster that ate it whole and rendered it impossible to return. She comes across the self-loathing messages SMG4 left himself, as well as some tentacles from this monster ruining the castle further while simultaneously attacking her Toads. As soon as she realizes that there is simply no escape, all she could do is scream Mario's name.
• "Tifa Lockhart's Peril" is pretty self-explanatory, as Tifa nearly falling off an unstable bridge to her death is the story's basic premise, though thankfully she lands in Cloud's arms instead.
• "Godzilla: Unearthly Nuclear Horror" is a story of Godzilla's rampage as he terrorizes Japan. This includes eating someone, leveling an entire city, blowing up the moon, and ravaging the countryside.
  • For more stories themed around Godzilla, there's "Haunting Echos", told from the perspective of a former Japanese soldier named Entὀshi Kemarὕko. The story goes into graphic details of what Entὀshi witnesses, from the air battles to the damage left by the monster.
  • What makes "Haunting Echos" particularly interesting is the lack of dialogue in the entire story. "What Happened in 2023?", yet another story about Godzilla's destruction, functions similarly, though there is one piece of dialogue at the end. And a journal entry from Alexsey at the beginning and end of the story.
• If you've read the SMG4 fanfic Saiko Rocks, you may remember reading about a brief Offscreen Moment of Awesome, where the SMG4 gang rescue Tari from Dr. Sheridan's insane experiment. Enter "The Madness of Doctor Sheridan", James' depiction of that experiment; specifically, a mind control experiment. In it, Tari finds herself in a simulation where everything seems normal; she has her normal friends and normal home. But as soon as Tari points out several details that are way off (e.g. Meggy being an Inkling after officially turning human and SMG4 wearing purple when he usually wears blue), the simulation turns into a nightmare, causing everyone save for Mario to glitch out and attack her. Even when she barely makes it out of the simulation alive—and manages to get a message out to her friends—the mad doctor still isn't finished yet, punishing Tari for seeing through his illusion with electric torture. Thank goodness her friends arrived when they did...
• "Puss and The Sith" is a fun story about Puss In Boots fighting Darth Vader... that ends with Vader overpowering Puss with the Force, making him realize this is a fight he can't win. Not only that, but as revealed in The Stinger, the aforementioned Sha'D'Oh Nightmare is behind Vader entering the Shrek universe. He's clearly planning something big...
• Inspired by "Ready to Ride?..." (and made on the same day), James made "Don't Look At The TV!", a horror story where Mario, SMG4, and a version of Desti that survived the Anime Arc have to avoid looking at the TV. Doing so will result in bad things happening. What kind of bad things, you may ask? We don't know! The story doesn't say, nor does the author. Though, given the abandoned city setting, one can probably make their own conclusions.
• Also inspired by "Ready to Ride?..." (but made a day later) is "Tari's Troubling Terror". Taking place right after the events of that episode, Tari panics when the TV—the same one she and Meggy saw back at Wren's house in "We Interrupt This Broadcast...", mind you—starts to display threatening messages to Tari that make her feel uneasy and unsafe. The "HELP.bsp" is incorporated into this too, as Tari finds herself isolated in a cold, dark room, with the voice of the TV continuing those threatening messages and asking her if she's ready for the show.
• Did you think the wolf from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was scary? Well, enjoy reading about him in "When Desti Met The Wolf", where Desti, once again surviving in another universe, comes across the wolf wanting to take her life. Those who watched The Last Wish will remember that this is the personification of Death, and just like he didn't believe in cats having nine lives, here he doesn't believe in alternate universes either. And just like Puss In Boots before her, Desti has a hell of a time fighting this guy off.
• Amy running out of oxygen while underwater in "Sonic Saves Amy From Drowning", thanks to Eggman's robots. The story's DeviantArt link has a nice illustration of the very peril Amy was in, so sweet dreams!
• "Lara Croft Among Us" is a Crossover between Tomb Raider and Among Us, where Lara Croft finds herself in the very situation the latter game is known for: a Paranoia Fuel-filled murder mystery where anyone, including her, could be next. Sure enough, after the death of Cyan-Blue, the imposter chose to go after Lara specifically, clearly seeing her as a threat... which isn't surprising, given her height compared to the typical Among Us character. She probably would have died if it weren't for the imposter-identifying gadgetry Deep-Purple gave her, as well as her retaliating by doing what she does best: kicking ass.
  • If that crossover wasn't scary enough, there's also "Lara Croft & The Slender Man", where Lara finds herself in a dark forest being apprehended by—who else?—Slender Man. Not SMG4's friendly parody version of him either... this is the real deal, and he wants to kill her. Notably, his attempts on her life made her, an Action Girl always ready to kick ass, unnerved like you wouldn't believe.
• While Hal Monitor showcases a lot of Police Brutality in SMG4's videos, most of it is Played for Laughs. Not in "Rise of A Robo-Cop", an Origins Episode of the character, which portrays them in a more serious light. In his defense, the guy who harassed and threatened a woman had it coming, and simply went to jail for his crimes. Later in the story, however, when Hal catches the criminal that murdered two Toads, he decides the most fitting punishment is the electric chair, firmly believing the poor bastard is Beyond Redemption... if his "Reason You Suck" Speech didn't make that clear. After all, like his father told him, death is inevitable. And yes, James describes the electrocution to the best of his ability, right down to the exact same number of volts used to kill people in real life.
• Those who saw SMG4's Anime Arc may wonder... what would Axol have been like if he was the villain like he was originally intended to be? "The Rogue Axolotl Anime Artist" provides a potential answer, where, after discovering a way to enter the multiverse, he breaks into Melony's house (while she's taking a bath, no less) and offers her a chance to become one of his waifus. And by "offer", we mean he tries to seduce her with some rather unflattering and unchivalrous comments, then by threatening to kill her current boyfriend, Jaxl, if she doesn't submit. If it weren't for Melony pretending to give in to Alt. Axol's demands (and seducing him for good measure), the story could have ended a bit differently...
  • On the topic, Alt. Axol wasn't shown to be the nicest to the harem of waifus (read: Sex Slaves) he already has, as the women were crying or otherwise suffering with him.
• Following the Given Name Reveal of the mysterious TV entity that's been lurking in the SMG4 universe—Mr. Puzzles—James made a story of him up to his old tricks, "Desti on Puzzlevsion"... a Desti from an alternate universe, of course. In it, Mr. Puzzles kidnaps Desti via Knockout Gas and has her star in one of his "shows", with One-Shot Wren as one of his willing actors, killing Desti over and over in the exact same manner as he does to Meggy in SMG4 Movie: WESTERN SPAGHETTI. This is all a prequel to a particularly big project RusSniper_45 is working on. Here's the trailer to it.
• Sonic getting hypnotized by the Blood Red Queen of Hearts to kill his wife Vampirella and all the vampires in "Sonic and The Queen of Hearts". There's an illustration of her doing it in the story link, by the way. Don't worry, though; he snaps out of it in the following story "Hypnotized Hedgehogs and Evil Queens".

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