Sandbox / Soul Series Soul Edge And Nightmare

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Original Timeline

Soul Edge

Inferno

Origin: Astral Chaos

Weapon (SE) - Soul Edge (male & female)

Weapon (SC onward) - all weapons

The physical embodiment of the titular Artifact of Doom Soul Edge, though only when it brings forth its own dimension, Astral Chaos. Inferno is invisible and intangible in the real world up until Soulcalibur III, when Zasalamel allowed it to animate Siegfried's trademark blue armor, turning it into Nightmare. In Soulcalibur IV, Inferno — as Nightmare — reclaimed Soul Edge and became its physical manifestation, but was unable to unleash his full power without a proper host and was defeated.

Originally, Inferno was a more powerful version of Cervantes with more powerful attacks, but in later games, he is a mimic character with a few exclusive moves of his own. In the first game, he was known as 'Soul Edge', but was changed to Inferno in Soul Calibur to differentiate him from the sword.

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• Anthropomorphic Personification: It is the personification of Soul Edge's will.
• Arch-Enemy: To Siegfried. Inferno was responsible for corrupting him and turning him into the first Nightmare.
• Artificial Stupidity: His constant spamming of that torpedo attack in Soul Edge makes him laughably easy to ring out simply by leaping over him as he rushes.
• Big Bad: Of Soul Edge, Soulcalibur,and Soul Calibur II, being the physical form of Soul Edge.
• Dem Bones: In Soulcalibur II, he appears as a flaming skeleton.
• Demonic Possession: It takes over anyone who takes ahold of Soul Edge and uses their body to gather souls in the corporeal world (Inferno himself cannot exist outside of the Astral Chaos dimension until Zasalamel forces him to be bound to the Azure Knight armor in III) via slaughter. Inferno needs to have a host to unleash his full potential, which is why he's so fixated on Siegfried. The process of being possessed by Inferno and Soul Edge is called "Malfestation".
• Ditto Fighter: He mimics other characters' movesets, but also has exclusive special moves.
• Enemy Within: For those who seek to wield Soul Edge.
• Enemy Without: To Siegfried as Nightmare in III and IV.
• Evil Is Burning Hot: In all of his appearances, he is wreathed in flames.
• Final Boss: Most prominently in Soulcalibur II, though he's also in essence the Final Boss of Soul Edge (see "One-Winged Angel" below) and Soulcalibur.
• Flaming Skulls: In Soul Edge, he was basically "a firespawn with Cervantes' clothes and a skull head", and in Soul Calibur II, where he is a malformed skeleton that is Wreathed in Flames.
• Grand Theft Me: If the wielder of Soul Edge is unable to best Inferno in a Battle in the Center of the Mind, then he/she will become the sword's host. And even if they do win, it's only a matter of time...
• Humanoid Abomination: Those who he possesses are turned into this.
• Leitmotif: ''World Atlas Collapsed'' and ''Doubtful Judgment''.
• Made of Evil: Soul Edge was once a normal blade until it tasted too much blood on the battlefield, giving it sentience and an evil soul (Inferno).
• One-Winged Angel: In Soul Edge, Inferno possesses Cervantes's corpse to fight Siegfried, functioning as this for the Dread Pirate.
• Outside-the-Box Tactic: Throws do about as much damage as normal against him, while normal attacks do roughly 3/4 their usual damage.
• Power Limiter: As Nightmare in III and IV, it was unable to unleash its full power without a host and lost to Siegfried.
• Promoted to Playable: Unplayable in the arcade versions, but became unlockable in the home versions of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. He remains unplayable in the home versions of II though.
• Seven Deadly Sins: His voice samples in Soulcalibur are named after them.
• Shapeshifter Weapon: Inferno can create weapons out of its body to accomodate any style he's willing to use.
• Tin Tyrant: Manifests as Nightmare in Soulcalibur Legends, and is Nightmare in Soulcalibur III and IV.
• Wreathed in Flames: In all of his appearances, his body is constantly aflame.

Soul Edge

The titular Artifact of Doom, Soul Edge was once a two-handed sword that, over years of being bathed in blood, developed a demonic soul called Inferno. Claimed and subdued by the Hero-King Algol, Soul Edge was stolen by his son Arcturus and quickly took him over. Algol was forced to kill his son, and out of a desire to destroy the cursed sword, forged Soul Calibur out of a purified shard of Soul Edge. Soul Edge was passed down through the ages until it fell into the hands of the pirate Cervantes de Leon, who wielded it in the form of two longswords. One of its halves was shattered by the ninja Taki, and the remaining half was claimed by Siegfried Schtauffen, who became Nightmare. Siegfried eventually escaped from the sword's control and sealed it with Soul Calibur, but Inferno escaped into his discarded armor, becoming the second incarnation of Nightmare. Zasalamel split the two swords apart and it was claimed by Nightmare, who wielded it against Siegfried and was defeated. As revealed in IV, Soul Edge is now an otherworldly force of evil that seeks to devour all life, contained in the form of a sword.

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• Achilles' Heel: Soul Edge's eye is vulnerable to piercing attacks, and attacking it can disrupt its control over its host.
• Arch-Enemy: To Soul Calibur, it’s Good Counterpart.
• Artifact of Doom: Is incredibly ancient, and seeks to devour all life.
• BFS: Soul Edge was once an ordinary two-handed sword, but by the time of the main series, its most common form is of a massive sword with an eye in its hilt.
• Big Bad: The main one for the whole series.
• Bishōnen Line: Fits this trope the best way that an inanimate object can. Soul Edge's most common form is closer to a messy heap of red flesh rather than an actual sword, but when it finally becomes complete during IV, it takes the form of a solid, proper-looking zweihander. By V, it's back to its original "heap of flesh" form as it recuperates from its defeat, but when it finds a very suitable host in the form of Pyrrha, its blade once again becomes much sleeker (as pictured above).
• Bling-Bling-BANG!: The sword that would one day become Soul Edge was an ornate greatsword. Its Nauplius form, depicting the "young" Soul Edge wielded by Algol and Arcturus many years ago, still looks like one even with Soul Edge's corruption beginning to grow over it.
• The Corruption: Soul Edge's evil energy taints the souls of those who are exposed to it, turning them into Malfested. Most Malfested are indistinguishable from humans except for pale skin, red eyes, and homicidal tendencies. Others, like Nightmare and Necrid, undergo grotesque metamorphoses as a result of exposure to particularly potent doses of Soul Edge's power.
• Demonic Possession: If the wielder of Soul Edge is weak-willed or unable to best Inferno in a Battle in the Center of the Mind, then he/she will become the sword's host. And even if they do win, it's only a matter of time...
• Determinator: The only ones able to successfully resist its influence were Algol and Pyrrha.
• Dual Wielding: Took the form of two longswords when wielded by Cervantes.
• Eldritch Abomination: While it started out as an ordinary sword, according to Darth Vader's intro in IV, Soul Edge is the physical manifestation of "[a being] that could best be described as a convergent energy [form]". Furthermore, when damaged, it retreats into an Eldritch Location called Astral Chaos and either repairs itself or scatters its shards around the world, and its power transforms those infected by it into monsters called Malfested.
• Empathic Weapon: Has a mind and will of its own (see Inferno above), and actively tries to influence and take over its wielder.
• Eternal Recurrence: The Soul series' motto isn't "a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold" for nothing. Soul Edge awakens and claims a host in order to destroy/conquer the world. Soul Calibur awakens and claims a host to seal/shatter Soul Edge. Once Soul Edge regains enough power to take a new host, the cycle repeats, and it's been going on for millennia with neither weapon being powerful enough to fully destroy the other.
• Evil Counterpart: It’s one to Soul Calibur, both are ancient and powerful swords that have spiritual beings in them and both were wielded by different individuals. But while Soul Calibur is a holy sword of light, Soul Edge is a demonic sword of darkness.
• Evil Weapon: Soul Edge used to be a normal sword, but after centuries of being soaked in blood, it became a shapeshifting demonic weapon with its own mind and will.
• Eyes Do Not Belong There: Has an eye in its hilt, and some of its forms are studded with eyeballs.
• Holy Burns Evil: The only times Soul Edge has canonically been destroyed were by holy weapons like Sophitia's Omega Sword and Soul Calibur.
• Humanoid Abomination: Not Soul Edge itself, but Charade, who is a conglomerate of Soul Edge's shards in the shape of a human skeleton with an enormous eye in its ribcage. Nightmare in III is Inferno possessing Siegfried's discarded armour, and in IV said armour has become an extension of Soul Edge itself.
• Hungry Weapon: Soul Edge is ravenous for the souls of any and all who stand before it, growing stronger with each kill.
• Fisher King: Its power taints the city of Ostrheinsburg, turning it into a cursed place that is haunted by the ghosts of those who have died there.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Was once a normal sword, but by consuming the blood and souls of countless people, it became something much more.
• Instant Allegiance Artifact: It corrupts whoever wields it regardless of their intentions, and only a handful of people have been able to successfully resist.
• Living Weapon: It's a sword made of twisted flesh, metal, and bone, with a huge eye in its hilt.
• Made of Evil: Soul Edge was once a normal sword until it tasted too much blood on the battlefield, giving it sentience and an evil soul called Inferno.
• Man Behind the Man: The puppet-master pulling Nightmare's strings.
• Mind Manipulation: It can read the souls of its wielders, and seeks to manipulate or outright control them into serving it.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Its Complete forms when wielded by Nightmare in SoulCalibur II and III are lined with fangs.
• More than Mind Control: If it doesn't outright take over its host, it manipulates them to serve its interests.
• Morph Weapon: A key feature of Soul Edge is that it will take the form of whatever weapon the user is most comfortable using. When Cervantes used it, it was two separate swords referred to as "Male & Female" (the Male sword being the long sword and the Female sword being the shorter wavy sword). The Female blade was shattered by Sophitia and the Male blade was picked up by Siegfried, who became Nightmare and wielded it as a zweihander because that was his weapon. Later on, Pyrrha wields Soul Edge as a short sword and shield, like her mother. Cervantes also reclaimed a piece of Soul Edge during the events of Soulcalibur II and III, during which it replaced his longsword (Acheron) but Cervantes continued to use his shorter pistol sword (Nirvana). Soul Edge/Inferno itself takes a liking to Siegfried and prefers to stay in the great sword form, which is why it manipulated Graf Dumas to stick with the One-Handed Zweihänder style in V that Nightmare had been using during III and IV (assuming that it was Raphael under the armor, this is quite a difference to what he would be accustomed to).
• Omnicidal Maniac: Its raison d'etre is to kill.
• Pillar of Light: Due to being imbalanced after its Female half was destroyed, when Soul Edge Male claimed Siegfried as a host, it unleashed the Evil Seed, which infected thousands of people with its power and scattered shards across the world.
• Power Limiter: Despite Inferno-as-Nightmare collecting almost all its scattered shards in IV, Soul Edge wasn't able to unleash its full power due to needing a proper host. After recovering from being shattered in V's opening cinematic, Soul Edge forced Siegfried's style on Graf Dumas in an experiment to see if it could take a host while retaining its favorite form. However, it found that in order to unleash its full potential, it still had to take on a form suited to its wielder. As such, it was delighted to claim Pyrrha as its new host due to its fragment inside her containing memories of Sophitia — who had once destroyed it — and Pyrrha being skilled in Sophitia's fighting style, which it wanted to use against Soul Calibur.
• Sealed Evil in a Duel: In III, Siegfried attempted to destroy Soul Edge with Soul Calibur, but failed due to Inferno escaping into his discarded armour and only ended up merging the swords into the Soul Embrace.
• Shapeshifter Weapon: Can change shape to accommodate its wielder's fighting style.
• Soul-Cutting Blade: Soul Edge cuts and consumes the souls of its victims.
• Soul Eating: Devours the souls of its victims to become more powerful.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Due to information not traveling as fast or reliabliy in the 16th century, Soul Edge's reputation has been skewed, particularly in the eyes of Mitsurugi and the Korean fighters, who see it as a powerful weapon that will end the firearm age before it ever starts and a salvation that will drive invaders from their shores respectively. Characters like Sophitia, on the other hand, know its true nature and stop at nothing to see it destroyed.
• Weapon Wields You: Soul Edge has possessed everyone who wielded it except Algol.
• Worf Had the Flu: It's purportedly the most-powerful weapon in existence aside from its counterpart Soul Calibur, but it's almost never seen at full power due to Sophitia shattering half of it at the end of Soul Edge. Even when Inferno-as-Nightmare collects most of the shards in IV, it's still unable to release its full power due to needing a compatible host and it is shattered again by Siegfried in the opening cinematic of V.
• Wrecked Weapon: One half of it was shattered at the end of Soul Edge, and following that Nightmare's goal — as well as that of several other antagonists and protagonists — is to collect the scattered shards.
• Yandere: It seems to have a fixation on either reclaiming or killing Siegfried.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: As the Embrace of Souls in IV.
• Yin-Yang Clash: With its Unholy Holy Sword counterpart Soul Calibur.

Nightmare (Siegfried)

Your nightmare has begun!

Origin: The living incarnation of the cursed sword, Soul Edge

Weapon: Soul Edge, great sword form

Voiced By: ^note Nobuyuki Hiyama (Soulcalibur, Soulcalibur II, and Soulcalibur VI); Ted D' Agostino (Soulcalibur II; English), Kirk Thornton (Soulcalibur VI; English)

The main antagonist of the series and wielder of Soul Edge. The original Nightmare was Siegfried Schtauffen, who took up the moniker when he became possessed by Inferno at the end of Soul Edge. In Soulcalibur, Nightmare assembled a team of villains - Ivy, Astaroth, and Aeon - to act as bodyguards, conquered the city of Ostrheinsburg, and conducted a campaign of slaughter spanning all of Europe in an attempt to reassemble Soul Edge. Before he could do so, he was defeated by Xianghua, the wielder of Soul Calibur. With Soul Edge damaged and weakened, Siegfried regained control of his body, but was eventually repossessed because he had kept the cursed sword out of fear others would fall victim to it. In Soulcalibur II, Nightmare resumed his campaign until he was confronted by the French aristocrat Raphael, who he easily defeated. When Raphael stabbed Soul Edge's eye in a last, deperate attack, Siegfried regained control of his body and sealed Soul Edge using Soul Calibur.

For tropes applying to the second Nightmare, see here. For tropes applying to the third Nightmare, Graf Dumas, see here. For tropes applying to Nightmare's appearance in the New Timeline starting from Soulcalibur VI, see here.

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• Badass Cape: Soulcalibur VI adds a tattered black cape to his Soulcalibur design.
• BFS: Nightmare wields Soul Edge in the form of a zweihänder. Soul Edge specifically altered Graf Dumas' memories so that it could retain that form.
• Big Bad: In SoulCalibur and SoulCalibur II, since he is the primary holder of Soul Edge.
• Blood Knight: Oh, hell yes. Nightmare exists solely to feed Soul Edge the souls of those foolish enough to face him in combat.
• Body Horror: Soul Edge's possession does this to any of its wielders, usually warping their right arm into a hideous and grotesque set of talons. Siegfried was no exception. His "Siegfried!" appearance took this further, with his armor being even more organic, as if it were a fusion of flesh and metal.
• Card-Carrying Villain: When he's not referring to himself as "the greatest Nightmare", he's ranting about how he will drown the world in blood and darkness.
• Catchphrase: "Blood, darkness, COME UNTO ME!", "I will show you the greatest Nightmare!" and "Need more souls!"
• Chekhov's Gunman: He first made an appearance in Siegfried's bad ending from Soul Edge and served as an extra costume for him in Soul Blade ("Siegfried!") with no ending. Suffice to say, few thought this development would be canon. Nightmare's entire existence serves an as aversion to No Canon for the Wicked.
• Continuity Nod: In Legends, Soul Edge appears in its Cocoon form when Siegfried finds it, which is how it was depicted when wielded by "Siegfried!"
• Cool Sword: Evil and creepy as it is, there's no doubt a massive sword that looks as if it's made of flesh and sporting a living eye isn't attention-grabbing.
• Divergent Character Evolution: A quite justified example. As Nightmare was Siegfried in SC and II, his moveset was pretty much the same as his. Since he became a different character in III, his fighting style had become much more unique, gaining a different stance and a lot more moves.
• Dual Wielding: In the ending cutscene of Siegfried's bad ending in Soul Edge/Blade, a picture of "Siegfried!" wielding two Soul Edges is shown.
• Early-Bird Cameo: In Soul Edge as "Siegfried!" Had that design of his been carried over to subsequent games, Nightmare would have instead been "The Crimson Knight."
• Evil Overlord: Took over the city of Ostrheinsburg and turned it into a place of ghosts, monsters, and Malfested.
• Evil Redhead: In his 1P outfit in II has a long mane of red hair.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Subverted. In Soulcalibur, a lot of Nightmare's dialogue is just Siegfried's dialogue but modified with slower speed and a lower pitch. Starting with II, there is no modification whatsoever and it became traditional for the character to speak in a raspy tone that was dark, but not baritone.
• Eyes Do Not Belong There: He occasionally has extra eyes on his mutated arm.
• Fallen Hero: Subverted in that Siggy wasn't exactly the nicest or noblest of souls in his debut, but becoming the host of the cursed sword is still a pretty damn hard fall.
• Feathered Fiend: Nightmare had a malfested hawk as a pet, as seen in the opening of SoulCalibur II.
• Foreshadowing: In II. His third alt. is that of a fully human Siegfried and his ultimate weapon is the Soul Calibur. Nightmare's ending even has Siegfried break free and throw Soul Edge into an endless chasm. All of this perhaps served as a clue towards Siegfried's character progression in the next game.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: A young boy goes from the leader of a band of thieves to the greatest evil the world has ever known thanks to the evil influence of one sword. And yes, the pun is intended.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Nightmare's databook entries and brief cutscene appearances illustrate that he is a lot faster and stronger than his playable self indicates.
  New Legends of Project Soul: *regrading Graf Dumas* "The maddened 'Azure Knight' Nightmare is capable of destroying several mounted and heavily armored soldiers with a single sweep of the massive Soul Edge, and can pull out his victims' very souls using his misshapen right arm." ... "Nightmare fights using powerful moves that take his physical body beyond its usual limits, and a purple flame that eats through his own flesh while burning his victims. To some, Nightmare could very well look like a tragic victim of the cursed blade's power as he stirs up a storm of destruction that devastates his body nearly as much as it does the world around him."
• Hades Shaded: In II, what little skin that's visible beneath his armor is reddish brown.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Since his debut in SC, he became the main villain of the franchise, appearing on all following games and even becoming the mascot for Project Soul (although who was inside the armor itself has shifted over time).
• I've Come Too Far: In Sophitia's rival cutscene in Soulcalibur she claims to want to save Nightmare/Siegfried, to which his response is that there is "no turning back". This scene is echoed in Soulcalibur VI with Sophitia and Nightmare's unique match intro.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Similar to Siegfried, his moveset includes a stomp, but only one. He takes it a step further by allowing you to charge it to be unblockable, causing the background of the game to darken and flames to surround his foot.
• Large Ham: DOESN'T! EVEN! BEGIN! TO! DESCRIBE! HIM!
• Legacy Character: An interesting example as the character who left the title behind continues to persist in the storyline (Siegfried in Calibur and Calibur II, then was Soul Edge/Inferno for III and IV). After being slain, a new host takes his place seventeen years later.
• Lightning Bruiser:
  • Depending on the skill of the user, evaluations of this will vary wildly. It's not uncommon for many a ragequitting scrub to claim he is a Game-Breaker, while in contrast many competitive players consider him exceptionally mediocre as he is incredibly unsafe when blocked for the most part. His ability to dish out damage is not in question, except when facing a clever foe that has mastered Just Guard...
  • In the series lore he is definitely one, moving with inhuman speed and strength, and being capable of mowing down entire armies by himself. Perhaps the closest the games have ever come to actually realizing this are II, in which he was considered one of the most top tier characters in the game due to his high damage, long range, and deceptive mobility that contributed to some extremely deadly mix-ups, and VI, in which the movement speed has seemingly been tripled and he has been shown to have extremely brutal-looking attack strings and new extensions to existing ones.
• Master Swordsman: Has Soul Edge's knowledge of multiple fighting styles, but primarily utilizes Siegfried's self-taught zweihander techniques.
• Meat Puppet: Nightmare serves as a puppet for Soul Edge's will.
• Monster Lord: As the wielder and avatar of Soul Edge, Nightmare is the lord and master of the Malfested, those afflicted with the cursed sword's demonic energy.
• Moveset Clone: Started out in SC as one for Siegfried, but gradually gained his own moves and stances. See Divergent Character Evolution above.
• Obviously Evil: You can have your pick of what stands out to you but the best bets are the gigantic mutated right arm.
• Omnicidal Maniac: "All life is but prey to satiate his hunger." Yeah, this is clearly a guy we can trust.
• One-Man Army: All incarnations of Nightmare have been shown capable of annihilating entire armies on their own.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Not so much in the actual game, where he's one of the 'big' character, but his official height is stated to be 5'6", due to being based off of Siegfried. Some thought this was a little ridiculous.
• Playing with Fire: In a contrast to Siegfried's new ice powers in IV onwards, Nightmare gains fire moves.
• Power Dyes Your Hair: Siegfried, naturally blond, exhibited this when under Soul Edge's control, with a side order of Power Makes Your Hair Grow, as evidenced by their long manes of red hair in SCII.
• Pun: Several of his quotes deal with nightmares. His most iconic of the bunch?
  "I will show you the greatest nightmare!"
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: EVERY! WORD! OUT! OF! HIS! MOUTH!
• Puny Earthlings: His view on humans. It's hard to tell where this ends and Humans Are Bastards begins.
• Red Baron: The Azure Knight, due to his dark blue armor.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When in control of a human host, Nightmare has red sclera and yellow irises.
• The Right Hand of Doom: His monstrous, three-digit claw, a physical symptom of his Malfestation. As "Siegfried!", his mutated arm was instead his left arm.
• Series Mascot: After the Soul series got popular enough to warrant its own separate developer team, namely after Soulcalibur II, Nightmare became the logomark of Project Soul up until SCV.
• Shoulders of Doom: His right shoulder has spikes projecting from it.
• Spikes of Villainy: His right shoulder and arm have spikes on it.
• Tin Tyrant: Played straight by his 1P costumes, where he is clad in a blue suit of armor, but usually averted by his 2P costumes.
• Transformation of the Possessed: Due to Malfestation, Siegfried developed red sclera and yellow irises, reddish-brown skin, and a malformed right hand often studded with spikes and extra eyes.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Nightmare lacks the form and finesse of Siegfried, but makes up for it by hitting hard and hitting fast.
• Villain-Based Franchise: The canon ending the games usually go by changes between games and as such a couple characters can be called "'The Hero'" thanks to having the one true POV for that one game, but the lynchpin tying the franchise toghether is Nightmare.

Nightmare (Inferno)

The Nightmare will devour your soul!

Origin: The living incarnation of the cursed sword, Soul Edge

Weapon (III): Phantom Soul Edge, great sword

Weapon (IV): Soul Edge, great sword form

Voiced By: ^note Fumihiko Tachiki (Soulcalibur III; Japanese), Kosei Hirota (Soulcalibur IV and Soulcalibur Legends; Japanese), Patrick Ryan (Soulcalibur III; English), Michael McConnohie (Soulcalibur Legends and Soulcalibur IV; English)

In Soulcalibur III, the sorcerer Zasalamel bound the disembodied Inferno to the discarded azure armour, allowing Nightmare to be "reborn". Nightmare and his new servant Tira aided Zasalamel in tracking down Siegried, and he reclaimed Soul Edge, becoming an extension of the cursed sword. In Soulcalibur IV, Nightmare sought to restore Soul Edge completely so that he could devour the souls of all life on Earth and plunge it into complete despair, but was ultimately felled by Siegfried.

For tropes applying to the original Nightmare, Siegfried, see here. For the third Nightmare, Graf Dumas, the new Nightmare, see here.

In III, Nightmare he gained a new fighting style which focused less on mixups and more on pure power. He is now a space-control character whose effectiveness depends on whether he can gain momentum quickly. In later games, he becomes more geared to pushing the opponent where he wants them to go, and has various tools to force them out of the ring.

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• Animated Armor: After Siegfried stabs Soul Edge with Soul Calibur, Inferno possesses Siegfried's discarded armour, though he cannot use his full power or sustain himself without a human host.
• Arch-Enemy: To Siegfried, moreso in this form than when it was the embodiment of Soul Edge. His fixation makes him seem caught between making him pay for putting him in this situation (forcing him to be bonded with the Azure Knight armor) and trying to turn Siegfried back into his corporeal host.
• Belly Mouth: In III he has a mouth across his chest, and in IV he has one that goes all the way around his body, separating his (floating) torso from his lower body.
• BFS: Out of obsession with Siegfried, Nightmare retains the use of Soul Edge in the form of a zweihänder.
• Big Bad: Of IV and he serves as one of the final bosses of the game.
• Blood Knight: Oh, hell yes. Nightmare exists solely to feed Soul Edge the souls of those foolish enough to face him in combat.
• Body Horror: In III, Nightmare has mouths in his shoulder and chest. In IV, his body is a fusion of metal and bone.
• Card-Carrying Villain: When he's not referring to himself as "the greatest Nightmare", he's ranting about how he will drown the world in blood and darkness.
• Catchphrase: "Blood, darkness, COME UNTO ME!", "I will show you the greatest Nightmare!" and "Need more souls!"
• Continuity Nod: His look in Soulcalibur IV is partially based off of Night Terror, meshed with his Soulcalibur III look.
• Death from Above: In III, he gains an attack throw in which he stabs a grounded foe and then calls down lightning to smite them.

• Devour the Dragon: Plans to do this to Tira. Whether or not that counts as a Kick the Dog or a Pet the Dog moment depends on your interpretation, seeing as Tira wants her soul to be consumed by Soul Edge so she can become one with the sword.
• Divergent Character Evolution: A quite justified example. As Nightmare was Siegfried in SC and II, his moveset was pretty much the same as his. Since he became a different character in III, his fighting style had become much more unique, gaining a different stance and a lot more moves.
• Dragon Ascendant: Nightmare works for Zasalamel in order to reclaim Soul Edge, and literally backstabs him in III's alternate ending in order to become Night Terror.
• Enemy Without: Of Siegfried. He used to simply be Siegfried's evil alter ego, but in SCIII they became separate entities with Soul Edge's will possessing Siegfried's armor. After retrieving Soul Edge in IV, Nightmare became the a physical manifestation of the cursed sword.
• Evil Overlord: Took over the city of Ostrheinsburg and turned it into a place of ghosts, monsters, and Malfested.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Starting in IV, Nightmare has a booming, distorted voice.
• Eyes Do Not Belong There: He occasionally has extra eyes on his mutated arm.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • Nightmare's databook entries and brief cutscene appearances illustrate that he is a lot faster and stronger than his playable self indicates.
    New Legends of Project Soul: *[regrading Graf Dumas]* "The maddened 'Azure Knight' Nightmare is capable of destroying several mounted and heavily armored soldiers with a single sweep of the massive Soul Edge, and can pull out his victims' very souls using his misshapen right arm." ... "Nightmare fights using powerful moves that take his physical body beyond its usual limits, and a purple flame that eats through his own flesh while burning his victims. To some, Nightmare could very well look like a tragic victim of the cursed blade's power as he stirs up a storm of destruction that devastates his body nearly as much as it does the world around him."
  • What exactly his 2P outfits are meant to be isn't 100% clear. His 1P outfits in both games he's taken this form don't leave much to debate, it's clearly a suit of armor that has been taken over by an evil spirit (especially IV as the armor has become so corrupt by Inferno's soul that the torso has turned into a ball of energy). However the 2P outfits aren't as heavily armored, revealing that he seems to have a body of some sort. This is most noticeable in III, as the exposed parts of his alternate outfit are flesh-like (his alternate in IV is more like a lava monster's body but a body nonetheless).
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: In III and IV he had glowing red eyes because he lacked a host.
• Hades Shaded: In III, what little skin that's visible beneath his armor is reddish brown.
• Hannibal Lecture: Delivers a SOUL-crushing one to Siegfried in the latter's ending in III.
  "You will never run away from your sin! You have no right to live! It is a sin for you to be alive!"
• Heel–Face Turn: In Broken Destiny, he becomes a Non-Malicious Monster. This is not meant to be taken seriously at all.
• Humanoid Abomination: In III and IV, Nightmare has no host and is Inferno sealed in Siegfried's old armor, and by IV the armor has become an extension of Soul Edge itself.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Since his debut in SC, he became the main villain of the franchise, appearing on all following games and even becoming the mascot for Project Soul.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Siegfried destroys Nightmare and Soul Edge itself by stabbing it through the middle with Soul Calibur. Unfortunately, Soul Edge re-materializes at some point during the time skip, and finds a new host.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Similar to Siegfried, his moveset includes a stomp, but only one. He takes it a step further by allowing you to charge it to be unblockable, causing the background of the game to darken and flames to surround his foot.
• Large Ham: DOESN'T! EVEN! BEGIN! TO! DESCRIBE! HIM!
• Legacy Character: An interesting example as the character who left the title behind continues to persist in the storyline (Siegfried in Calibur and Calibur II, then was Soul Edge/Inferno for III and IV). After being slain, a new host takes his place seventeen years later.
• Lightning Bruiser:
  • Depending on the skill of the user, evaluations of this will vary wildly. It's not uncommon for many a ragequitting scrub to claim he is a Game-Breaker, while in contrast many competitive players consider him exceptionally mediocre as he is incredibly unsafe when blocked for the most part. His ability to dish out damage is not in question, except when facing a clever foe that has mastered Just Guard...
  • In the series lore he is definitely one, moving with inhuman speed and strength, and being capable of mowing down entire armies by himself.
• Looming Silhouette of Rage: In the opening movie for III.
• Made of Evil: In III and IV, Nightmare is Inferno possessing Siegfried's discarded armor.
• Master Swordsman: Has Soul Edge's knowledge of multiple fighting styles, but prefers imitating Siegfried's swordsmanship.
• Monster Lord: As the wielder and avatar of Soul Edge, Nightmare is the lord and master of the Malfested, those afflicted with the cursed sword's demonic energy.
• Moveset Clone: Started out in SC as one for Siegfried, but gradually gained his own moves and stances. The storyline reason for this is during Soulcalibur and Soulcalibur II, he is Siegfried, using his body and memories to fight with a zweihander-sized Soul Edge. Starting with III he separates from Siegfried, who continues using many of the same moves from his debut in Soul Edge, while Nightmare carries over a few of Siegfried's attacks into his new style, which is a One-Handed Zweihänder form that focuses on overwhelming offense instead of Confusion Fu. This fighting style has stayed with all entities who bear the name "Nightmare" from III onwards, including Retconning the events of Soulcalibur in Soulcalibur VI to now incorporate this fighting style even when Nightmare shared Siegfried's body.
• Obviously Evil: You can have your pick of what stands out to you but the best bets are the gigantic mutated right arm or (in IV) the gaping maw with the glowing core.
• Omnicidal Maniac: "All life is but prey to satiate his hunger." Yeah, this is clearly a guy we can trust.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: Starting in III he wields Soul Edge with one hand.
• One-Man Army: All incarnations of Nightmare have been shown capable of annihilating entire armies on their own.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Not so much in the actual game, where he's one of the 'big' character, but his official height is stated to be 5'6", due to being based off of Siegfried. Some thought this was a little ridiculous.
• Playing with Fire: In a contrast to Siegfried's new ice powers in IV onwards, Nightmare gains fire moves.
• Power Dyes Your Hair: Siegfried and Raphael (naturally blonds) exhibited this when under Soul Edge's control, with a side order of Power Makes Your Hair Grow, as evidenced by their long manes of red hair in SCII and SCV.
• Power Echoes: His voice is distorted by a low growl starting in III.
• Power Incontinence: Tira's ending in IV hints that Nightmare cannot sustain himself or fully control Soul Edge's power without a human host, which is confirmed by New Legends of Project Soul.
• Pun: Several of his quotes deal with nightmares. His most iconic of the bunch?
  "I will show you the greatest nightmare!"
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: EVERY! WORD! OUT! OF! HIS! MOUTH!
• Puny Earthlings: His view on humans. It's hard to tell where this ends and Humans Are Bastards begins.
• Red Baron: The Azure Knight, due to his dark blue armor.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Without a host in III and IV, Nightmare has red Glowing Eyes of Doom.
• The Right Hand of Doom: His monstrous, three-digit claw, a physical symptom of his Malfestation. As "Siegfried!", his mutated arm was instead his left arm.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: He is Inferno sealed in Siegfried's old armour.
• Shoulders of Doom: His right shoulder has spikes projecting from it, and in III had a mouth and mandibles.
• Spikes of Villainy: His right shoulder and arm have spikes - and in III a mouth — on it.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Soul Edge (Phantom) was created by Inferno out of its memories of Soul Edge and Nightmare's armor.
• Tin Tyrant: Played straight by his 1P costumes, where he is clad in a blue suit of armor, but usually averted by his 2P costumes.
• Too Many Mouths: In III he has a fanged maw on his right shoulder and another on his chest, and Legends adds a third one to his left knee.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Nightmare lacks the form and finesse of Siegfried, but makes up for it by hitting hard and hitting fast.
• Yandere: His obsession with Siegfried has been lampshaded by Tira, and he tries to force Siegfried to reclaim Soul Edge in Legends. Even when Soul Edge acquires a new host, it tries to maintain Siegfried's fighting style, which is referred to as being "What the sword desires."

Nightmare (Graf Dumas)

My blade...has no equal!

Origin: The living incarnation of the cursed sword, Soul Edge

Weapon: Soul Edge (great sword)

Voiced By: ^note Yasunori Masutani (Japanese), Charles Klausemayer (English)

After the original Nightmare was slain by Siegfried, Soul Edge was shattered again but was reassembled by its servants five years later. Realizing that it could not unleash its full power without a host but desiring to retain its favorite form, Soul Edge conducted an experiment to see if it could do so by overwriting its new host's memories with those of its past hosts. Taking the name of "Dumas", the new Nightmare decided to forgo all-out slaughter in favor of subterfuge and politics. Proving his mettle by singlehandedly waging war against the Ottoman Empire, Dumas ingratiated himself with the court of Emperor Rudolf II and was appointed the Graf of Hungary. Using his position, Dumas instigated a crusade against the "Malfested" — actually innocent civilians — and began preparing for a war against the Ottoman Empire — all while gathering a secret army of Malfested and other monsters to conquer Europe. This new body was slain by Z.W.E.I, and Pyrrha succeeds him as the wielder of Soul Edge, becoming Pyrrha Omega.

For tropes applying to the original Nightmare, see here. For the previous incarnation of Nightmare, see here.

---

• The Artifact: Nightmare still wields his signature One-Handed Zweihänder despite the fact that it was previously established that Soul Edge adapts to the form of its host, and was only in that form because it belonged to Siegfried and the memories of it remained during Inferno's run. Here, the host this time is Raphael, and logically Nightmare should be using a rapier rather than a zweihander. The official justification is that Soul Edge prefers that form, though it comes off as weird because they didn't properly explain why a weapon beyond mortal understanding would prefer one shape over another, and it certainly didn't have any problem adapting to Pyrrha's style when she claims it. Of course, the real reason is that Nightmare is the Series Mascot, iconic for that weapon, and changing it just wouldn't be right.
• BFS: Soul Edge specifically altered Graf Dumas' memories so that it could retain this form, appearing similarly to when Siegfried wielded it.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Competes for the title with Tira and Elysium.
• Char Clone: As "Graf Dumas", as he wears a mask over the upper half of his face to hide his identity. He can wear the mask in-game, if you design a helmetless costume for him in Character Creation - The mask is a unique prop that automatically covers his eyes if no other face-concealing items are on his head.
• Charlie Brown from Outta Town: At first it seems like Graf Dumas is an original character made to fill the role of Nightmare. In actuality, he's Raphael in disguise.
• The Chessmaster: In contrast to his predecessor, this Nightmare operates primarily through manipulation, subterfuge, and politicking. Justified, as Soul Edge had become cautious following its prior defeat.
• Continuity Nod: Nightmare's look in V incorporates elements from all of the character's past outfits from Soulcalibur to Soulcalibur IV, although II is the most prevalent thanks to the bat-wing projections and mane of red hair. He wields a version of Soul Edge nearly identical to the sword's original, pre-IV depiction.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Ultimately defeated by Z.W.E.I. in Chapter 18, leaving Elysium as the Final Boss.
• Evil Chancellor: To Emperor Rudolf II as Graf Dumas.
• Evil Redhead: Similar to the previous Nightmare in II, he has a long mane of red hair.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Though there is much less distortion in his voice compared to the previous Nightmare, both actors use a booming voice in comparison to his "Dumas" identity.
• Extra-Strength Masquerade: His story-line in V reveals that he operates behind the scenes under the alias "Graf (Count) Dumas," ruler of the Kingdom of Hungary.
• Foil: In comparison to the original Nightmare. Whereas the original Nightmare was a hellbent murderer who did everything For the Evulz and had little in the way of schemes, this Nightmare is a pragmatic chessmaster who manipulates his way to the top through politics, all with the masterplan to Take Over the World. Another notable difference between the two is that the original put emphasis on himself ("you shall become my nourishment", "I want to hear your anguish"), while this Nightmare places emphasis on his weapon ("My blade has no equal!", "You only exist so that my sword skewers you!"). This is highlighted in-universe by Tira, who hates this Nightmare, viewing him as weak in-comparison to the original.
• Foreshadowing: His alias can be considered a clue to his true identity, since Alexandre Dumas was the French author of The Three Musketeers and Graf Dumas is actually Raphael, who is French and sometimes even looks like a musketeer.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: A cunning nobleman seeking to create the perfect world for the sake of his daughter, who has had little to no actual bearing in the story proper, now takes center stage as the villain.
• Interface Spoiler: If you load Nightmare into Character Creation and opt to craft a custom outfit for him, you get to see him without his helmet, revealing that he is none other than Raphael. Downplayed somewhat, in that this is never directly revealed in the game itself, only indirectly hinted at.
• In the Hood: His 2P outfit. It makes him look like a less-clothed Noob Saibot.
• Large Ham: While this Nightmare has shown to be very different from the previous, this remains the same.
• Legacy Character: This Nightmare is a completely different from the one in the previous games, with a new host and new personality.
• Leitmotif: ''Pavor Nocturnus''
• One-Handed Zweihänder: Like the version of Nightmare that existed in Soulcalibur III and IV, this new Nightmare wields the Soul Edge in BFS form with a single hand (and, again, it is his un-mutated arm).
• One-Man Army: New Legends of Project Soul describes him of being capable of decimating entire armies with Soul Edge's power flooding his body. His legendary combat prowess was what caused the Emperor to take interest in him, and give Dumas the political strength he needed to enact his plan.
• Replacement Goldfish: New Legends of Project Soul reveals that Graf Dumas was one for Siegfried, with Soul Edge attempting to maintain its zweihander form while still taking a new host. It was dissatisfied with the results, which is why it was happy to select Pyrrha as its next host.
• Sucksessor:
  • Tira hates what he's become because he's no longer slaughtering everything left, right, and centre and is instead trying to control the world rather than destroy everything on-sight. Tira being Tira, she believes that this is because he's an impostor.
  • Soul Edge itself sees Graf Dumas as this to Siegfried because it was unable to unleash its full power and retain its preferred form while being wielded by him.
• Take Over the World: His ultimate goal. Seeing as how Soul Edge takes on the memories and personality of its host, with Siegfried, he fought rather recklessly without much strategy. With Raphael as his host, however, Nightmare has become Soul Calibur's equivalent to Zero, as his new modus operandi involves manipulating governments to his advantage so he can secretly rebuild his malfested army of soulless slaves to rule Europe.
• Technicolor Fire: New Legends of Project Soul states that the purple flames he wields burn both his own flesh as well as that of his opponents.
• Tin Tyrant: He is the count of Hungary and wears a full suit of armor at all times, though in his human disguise he lacks a helmet.
• Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: New Legends of Project Soul makes it clear that Soul Edge is rather disappointed in Graf Dumas as far as hosts go, as trying to take over Raphael's body necessitated tampering with his memories to control him and keep its preferred form. The new Nightmare exudes more of Raphael's personality traits, and even after overwriting his memories Soul Edge couldn't unleash its full power without transforming to suit Raphael's fighting style. It's very telling that the sword is all too happy to bond with Pyrrha, who has been mentally broken by her brother's abandonment and possessed a fighting style it was eager to utilize against Soul Calibur.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: How does he fool everyone as Graf Dumas with his giant clawed arm? By hiding it and assuming a more presentable appearance, that's how. Dumas reveals his true identity to Patroklos by shapeshifting back into Nightmare.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: In addition to absorbing souls using Soul Edge, he can rip a person's soul out using his demonic arm.
• Walking Spoiler: The true identity of "Graf Dumas", the host he possesses in V, spoils the sudden changes in his design and personality. He is actually Raphael.

New Timeline

Inferno

Hellfire of Despair

My flame will burn bright again...and my rising shadow will blanket the world!

Origin - Astral Chaos

First Appearance: Soul Edge (1995)

Weapon: Soul Edge (Great Sword form)

Voiced by: None (In-Game), Ben Diskin (English, Story Mode)

The "living incarnation" of Soul Edge, Inferno is a demonic entity that dwells within Astral Chaos; corrupting those exposed to its dark power into the monstrous Malfested and devouring the souls of those slain by the cursed sword. With Nightmare and Cervantes as its puppets, Inferno seeks to reclaim the scattered shards of Soul Edge, destroy its nemesis — the spirit sword Soul Calibur — and raze the world with hellfire.

---

• Adaptational Intelligence: In the OT, Inferno didn't have much in the way of schemes and only wanted to kill everything in sight. Meanwhile, this version is The Chessmaster.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: He is the manifestation of Soul Edge's malevolent will within Astral Chaos.
• BFS: In a similar vein to how, in the original game, Inferno (then called "SoulEdge") used Cervantes' longsword/short sword style, in Soulcalibur VI Inferno sticks to Nightmare's One-Handed Zweihänder style and wields Soul Edge as a great sword.
• Call-Forward: He appears as Nightmare at the end of Siegfried's Chronicle of Souls, referencing his hostless tenure as the Azure Knight in Soul Calibur III and Soul Calibur IV.
• The Chessmaster: Oh, yes. He plays several characters like fiddles to his advantage, all of whom seek out Soul Edge for their own reasons. He controls Siegfried as his vessel, he strings Voldo along to kill people in order to harvest souls, he manipulates Ivy into working under him to keep a close eye on her as a spare vessel, and his shared love of destruction leads to a partnership with Astaroth.
• Composite Character: This version of Inferno combines aspects of the original with Night Terror, turning him into even more of a Humanoid Abomination that uses an enhanced-beyond-mortal-comprehension version of Nightmare's style.
• The Conspiracy: Inferno has a brand-new evil council as of the Version 2.30 story update, replacing his old inner circle which consisted primarily of puppets such as Ivy, Aeon, and Astaroth. Unlike last time, two members of his cabal are Chessmasters much like himself: former military commander Johan Durer, and a mysterious girl named Acht. He is also aided by Taoist mage Won Gabok and former Aval Organization member Curtis, who has been resurrected and brainwashed to serve him. Together, they are putting into a motion a much grander scheme to spread chaos and death across the entire world, instead of just Europe.
• The Corruption: Inferno is the manifestation of Soul Edge and the source of the Evil Seed that turns humans and animals into Malfested.
• Dem Bones: A fiery skeleton. It's more prominent this time around, as the skeleton aspect of him is much more pronounced than before.
• Demonic Possession: As the embodiment of Soul Edge's will, he is Nightmare's puppet-master — manipulating Siegfried through his sword form. After Siegfried breaks free of Soul Edge's brainwashing, Inferno starts directly seizing control of his body and eventually traps Siegfried's consciousness inside Astral Chaos.
• Evil Weapon: Inferno is Soul Edge, and can manifest his sword form at will.
• Final Boss:
  • Rather appropriately, he’s this for the main story in Soul Chronicle and for Siegfried’s chapter (which acts as a sort of epilogue for the SCI portion of the story).
  • He’s also this for the Legendary difficulty in Arcade Mode.
• Flash Step: Inferno’s take on Nightmare’s Grim Stride (called the “Vile Lord”) has him briefly blink out of sight while moving forward before reappearing closer to his opponent.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Soul Edge was once an ordinary sword, but by consuming the blood and souls of countless people, it became something much more.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Inferno is the greatest source of evil in the setting. He is the root from which the Malfested spring from and is the ultimate power behind the hosts of the Soul Edge, such as Cervantes and Nightmare.
• Humanoid Abomination: Whatever it is, it's not human, let alone particularly natural looking.
• Lightning Bruiser: As befitting a final boss-made-playable, Inferno is described as having "the destructive force of a landslide", can fly and teleport, and has a few Sword Beam and Spell Blade moves — in addition to telekinesis — that give him additional reach.
• Made of Evil: The manifested form of the evil sword’s tainted soul that normally only has domain in reality by corrupting the bodies and minds of those who would wield (or even touch) Soul Edge, the process of which is referred to as "Malfestation".
• Manipulative Bastard: A truly vile piece of work who knows how to play everyone to his advantage, usually by exploiting something they want or taking advantage of their weak mentality.
• The Man Behind the Man: As the embodiment of Soul Edge's corruption, Inferno is the true force behind Nightmare.
• More than Mind Control: A trait of Soul Edge's control is that Inferno's will effectively gets "filtered" through the host wielding it — rather than Inferno controlling the host like a mere puppet, the will of the host gets influenced and amplified by him. Thus explaining why Cervantes was a pirate, Siegfried still goes about his own (now twisted) desires, and much later on in V, why Raphael/Dumas is cautious and calculating, while Pyrrha is anguished and self-loathing.
• Moveset Clone: Averted for the first time, despite his fighting style being listed as "Whatever the fighting style of those under his control". While he shares his weapon and many attacks with Nightmare, he has a wide array of unique moves — making him closer to Night Terror from Soulcalibur III.
• Nested Ownership: He is shown manifesting Soul Edge to fight Xianghua — who is wielding Soul Calibur — and Kilik.
• No Fair Cheating: If he (or a custom character with his moveset) is used online, which can only be done via hacking, he'll instantly be KO'd. This wasn't always the case, but Namco was quick to patch it when it started happening.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Inferno desires to feast on the souls of every living being, manipulating and corrupting Soul Edge's wielders into helping it accomplish this.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: Unlike Soulcalibur and Soulcalibur II, where Inferno was a Ditto Fighter with access to some flashy spinning moves of his own, VI has him using a souped-up version of Nightmare's fighting style reminiscent of Night Terror's from Soulcalibur III.
• Our Demons Are Different: He is a fiery soul-eating demonic entity who corrupts anyone to grab Soul Edge's hilt — or even be exposed to its cursed power — into a Malfested slave.
• Persona Non Grata: Meta example. Inferno is so ridiculously overpowered that you flat-out cannot use him in online multiplayer, as he would be a prime Griefer magnet. While initially hackers found ways to play as him in the Steam version anyway, he was later patched to instantly lose if he (or his fighting style on a custom character) is used online.
• Purposely Overpowered: Thanks to all of the souls Soul Edge has consumed over the years, Inferno is ridiculously powerful in gameplay, to the point where he's explicitly banned from being played online because of it.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes are of a glowing red, fitting as the personification of Soul Edge.
• Satan: Appears to be a much more prominent motif here than it originally was. The fire has been changed from orange-yellow to hellish purple-red, his eyes glow red, the skeleton aspect is much more prominent than before, and furthermore he has added horns on the back of his skull that he didn't originally have, which evoke the image of the Devil.
• Secret Character: Inferno is unlockable by completing Soul Chronicle and defeating him.
• Slasher Smile: Inferno's face is permanently locked into this, and given that it takes the shape of a demonic, blazing skeleton, it is terrifying.
• SNK Boss: Inferno is a super-powerful version of Nightmare that has all of his Soul Charge abilities available by default as well as the teleportation, flight, and Devil Jin lasers that Night Terror uses. In addition to all of that, his Soul Charge gives him access to his original exclusive moves from Soulcalibur I & II, the "Roy d'" series, which causes him to spin around in the air with a moving hitbox and transition into various high-damage attacks that are almost impossible to defend against.
• Soul Eating: Inferno devours the souls of those who are slain by Soul Edge or succumb to the corruption of Astral Chaos, and is himself speculated to have originated as an amalgamation of the souls of the bloodthirsty and power-hungry warriors who have wielded Soul Edge throughout the centuries.
• Spin Attack: Inferno has a moves where he telekinetically twirls Soul Edge around himself to launch and juggle his opponent.
• Suddenly Voiced: In Story Mode, it is shown that he does have a voice. And much like Elysium, he disguises himself as someone important to those he manipulates. We as the audience hear his true voice, while his puppets perceive him as whoever he is disguising himself as. To Siegfried, he is his father Frederick, controlling him as Nightmare by whispering sweet nothings into his mind. To Voldo, he is the ghost of his dead master Vercci, stringing him along as a part of his game.

Nightmare

Azure Nightmare

Blood! Darkness! I shall drown the world in both!

Origin: The living incarnation of the cursed sword, Soul Edge

First Appearance: Soulcalibur (1998)

Weapon: Soul Edge (Great Sword form)

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

The feared Azure Knight, a Malfested warrior who wields the cursed sword Soul Edge and wanders Europe, slaughtering everyone he encounters. He reaps the souls of the living as if they were mere stocks of corn, and just the name "Nightmare" strikes terror into the hearts of men.

Nightmare is Mighty Glacier who's not particularly fast (though faster than others of this type), but can deal massive damage and has very good range. Many of his moves allow Nightmare to access a temporary Soul Charge state outside of Soul Charge itself for a short time. Overall, he's like his host Siegfried, but simpler with fewer stances and more feral attacks. His Critical Edge is unique, in that it's both unblockable and a Counter-Attack, making it one of the easiest in the game. Overall, Nightmare is an offensive powerhouse for players who just want to reap souls and rip their enemies into pieces.

---

• Alternate Identity Amnesia: Initially, this was averted - while Nightmare is Siegfried's Superpowered Evil Side courtesy of being Malfested by Soul Edge, his mind is still Siegfried's — heavily warped by evil — and once his humanity is restored Siegfried remembers all the travesties he had committed as Nightmare. However, his extended Soul Chronicle added as part of Hwang's DLC pack reveals that — like in the original timeline — as Soul Edge regains its power it begins to directly take control of him and turn him back into Nightmare for increasingly long durations, with Siegfried having no recollections of the massacres he commits under its control. After Siegfried sacrifices his restored humanity in an attempt to save Soul Caliber from being consumed by Inferno, his re-Malfested body is under Soul Edge's direct control with Siegfried's consciousness trapped in Astral Chaos alongside Soul Calibur - though Acht reveals that this puts Soul Edge in an awkward position since it needs a willing — or at least compliant — host to unleash its full power.
• Badass Cape: Adds a tattered cape to his revamped I design.
• Barbarian Longhair: Nightmare is a bloodthirsty warlord who has long blond hair, which is exposed if his helmet is broken.
• BFS: His weapon of choice is Soul Edge manifested in the form of a massive greatsword.
• Big Bad: As he was before, Nightmare is the primary antagonist of the Soul Chronicle story mode in VI.
• Big Bad Ensemble: He's one of two primary antagonists of Soulcalibur VI as a whole, the other being Azwel.
• Blood Knight: Nightmare exists solely to feed Soul Edge the souls of the fallen, and thus revels in combat and slaughter.
• Body Horror: Breaking the armor reveals a possessed Siegfried with a horrible arm.
• Bond One-Liner: "This nightmare shall consume you!"
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: As far as Nightmare was concerned, Grøh was just another insect for him to crush, while the latter considers it his greatest failure and has to live with it. It's even more insulting than in Ivy's case as he doesn't even have unique dialogue vs Groh.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Siegfried is under the influence of Soul Edge, which impersonates his father's spirit to compel him to commit murder as Nightmare.
• Composite Character: While this version of Nightmare is Siegfried, he has distinct aspects taken from Inferno, the second Nightmare. This includes his One-Handed Zweihänder style that was introduced in III, the monstrous arm being as detailed as his more recent appearances, and the use of vocal enhancements to add to his presence when before he was just a Large Ham. He also has some lines taken from Graf Dumas, the third Nightmare.
• Compressed Hair: Nightmare shares Siegfried's back-length mane of hair, but in his case it's hidden under his helmet.
• Dark Age of Supernames: It's hard to get much darker than a name like "Nightmare". Maxi even hangs a lampshade on it, commenting that it seems a little over the top.
• Demonic Possession: In Nightmare's expanded Chronicle of Souls interlude, he is directly under the control of Soul Edge rather than being a Brainwashed and Crazy Siegfried — a Call-Forward to the events of Soulcalibur III and Soulcalibur IV.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Similar to Siegfried, he is resistant to Sophitia's attempts to redeem him, and when losing to a time out against her he'll angrily tell her he doesn't need her pity.
• The Dreaded: Nightmare's campaign of terror and slaughter has made him the most feared man in Europe and his reputation has spread to as far away as Japan.
• Evil Counterpart: To Kilik and Groh, being a malfested fighter who fights mostly without use of any magic despite having malfested powers.
• Evil Overlord: Took over the city of Ostrheinsburg and turned it into a place of ghosts, monsters, and Malfested.
• Enemy Without: In Siegfried's Chronicle of Soul, Inferno initially manifests as Nightmare before assuming its true form.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Speaks in a dark, demonically-enhanced baritone.
• Evil Weapon: Nightmare wields — or rather, is wielded by — Soul Edge, a demonic soul-eating greatsword made of flesh and metal, with an eye on its hilt.
• Fights Like a Normal: Despite VI making much heavier use of magical abilities than ever before, Nightmare's use of magic is mostly relegated to his Critical Edge and maybe a couple moves outside of it, despite the implication that Soul Edge has great magical power. Instead, Nightmare relies mostly on his brute strength, of which he has plenty to spare.
• Final Boss: Of easy difficulty in Arcade mode.
• The Heavy: While Inferno is ultimately the Final Boss, Nightmare is the antagonistic driving force.
• Hellish Horse: He summons a Malfested horse as part of his Critical Edge.
• He-Man Woman Hater: Downplayed. Nightmare patronizingly refers to every female fighter who isn't Taki, Ivy, Hilde, Setsuka or 2B as a little girl. This is a carry over from Siegfried's behavior in Soul Edge, who referred to Seong Mi-na and Sophitia as little girls and Taki as an impetuous female. Ironically, Sophitia is older than him and Hilde in the timeline of VI is 18 and younger. It seems he only refers to a female fighter as a little girl if he deems them immature which is the case with Sophitia because he looks at her attempts to redeem him with anger.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: None of his subordinates are certain what he's truly after. Likewise, Ivy and Astaroth aren't really all that loyal to him.
• I Hate Past Me: Nightmare regards his human self as their father's killer and in mirror-matches is hellbent on killing him.
• The Juggernaut: A lot of Nightmare's moves have him gain hyperarmor and/or have guard impacts.
• Large and in Charge: Inverted, Ivy and Astaroth are both taller than him.
• Large Ham: He is Nightmare after all. Just about every word is screamed, and amplified by magical energy to make it even louder.
• Legacy Character: According to Xianghua, Siegfried is merely the latest incarnation of Nightmare — a legendary monstrous warrior who appears and slaughters everything in its path. Cervantes de Leon and Zasalamel both served as prior incarnations, and in Siegfried's Chronicle of Souls a malfested NPC shows up looking to take the mantle for himself.
• Lightning Bruiser: Played with; He's still rather slow, but compared to the other hard-hitters, Nightmare moves fast.
• Meat Puppet: Nightmare is a slave to Soul Edge's will, little more than a puppet for the cursed sword.
• Mighty Glacier: Dishes out tons of damage even with just a few attacks, but is rather slow to attack.
• Mirror Match:
  • Whenever he fights Siegfried, this is the case. However, it should be noted that they have special dialogue that indicates that this fight is actually within the consciousness of Siegfried fighting the Nightmare persona.
    Nightmare: My father's killer, so we meet again!
    Siegfried: Admit it, we are the same.
  • Furthermore, there's special dialogue in the middle of the fight with their Reverse Edge.
    Nightmare: Have you confessed your sins?!
    Siegfried: Your terror ends with me!
• Monster Lord: Nightmare is viewed as the king of the Malfested, ruling from the fortress-city of Ostrheinsburg; and he even takes the time to bestow noble titles on the members of Schwartzstrom.
• Mythical Motifs: According to his concept art, his armor — a revision of Soulcalibur's "unicorn" suit, has been given a dragon motif.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His name is Nightmare! What would you expect?
• The Nicknamer: Nightmare loves to bestow titles of his own making onto those in his inner circle. Unfortunately for him, none of his underlings are very fond of them.
  Nightmare: As a token of my gratitude, I shall bestow upon each of you a title. Astaroth, you shall be "Sinister Sable". Lizardman, you shall be "Base Vert".
  Astaroth: (confused) Whuh? Thanks...
  Lizardman Chief: (implied disappointment) Gyurrrrrrl...
• Obviously Evil: His design doesn't exactly scream "good guy", what with the demonic red eyes and the mutated arm.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: Uses a single hand, his normal one no less, to carry Soul Edge. VI also implements a small Retcon by making it so Nightmare and Siegfried's fighting styles remain distinct as they have been since III (when Nightmare became an Enemy Without), due to Nightmare's fighting style being based on the memories of everyone who's ever wielded the Soul Edge rather than just Siegfried's memories. As such, Nightmare (Siegfried) in VI holds Soul Edge with one hand, as Nightmare (Inferno) did in III and IV.
• Pun:
  • His official title is "Azure Nightmare", a play on both his name and his Red Baron moniker.
  • His Critical Edge has him rush the opponent while riding a horse that's as black as night, that is to say, a Night Mare. A Mare is a female horse, and it's not uncommon to depict the physical manifestation of a Nightmare as a demonic horse.
• Purple Is the New Black: Well, Dark Blue, but the effect is same; Nightmare is a Black Knight and associated with darkness, befitting of the personification of Soul Edge.
• Red Baron: Known as the Azure Knight, as always.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Courtesy of Soul Edge's influence, Nightmare's eyes glow red.
• Sword and Fist: While all the characters are this by default, Nightmare stands out as he makes much more liberal use of his right arm.
• Through the Eyes of Madness: He's seen by all the world as a tyrannical Omnicidal Maniac who is after nothing but slaughter and chaos. While he is hellbent on killing everyone he comes across, the epilogue of his Soul Chronicle reveals that he's living with delusions induced by Soul Edge impersonating his father's spirit, beseeching Nightmare to feed it souls for "resurrection".
• Tin Tyrant: A villain clad head to toe in sinister armor, leaving only his eyes visible.
• Unskilled, but Strong: He's like a simpler Siegfried, being more feral, more offense-based, and with fewer stances. That said, like Siegfried, he's a Mighty Glacier that can tear through health bars like a chainsaw.
• Vocal Evolution: Due to Nightmare being Siegfried again, Nobuyuki Hiyama voices Nightmare for the first time since 2002's Soulcalibur II, but it's a very different performance. The first time, he was portrayed as a Large Ham but without much baritone or any enhancements. This time around, Hiyama adds a voice that sounds appropriately deep to match Nightmare's menace, and his voice enhanced further by effects. If you were to listen to Hiyama's performance in II and then his performance here without knowing they have the same actor, you may never guess they are the same.
• Voice of the Legion: In addition to his baritone, Nightmare's voice is enhanced by Soul Edge to make him sound more booming and evil.
• Weapon Wields You: Nightmare is Soul Edge's puppet, the sword having enslaved Siegfried to its will by impersonating his father before warping his mind and body into a bloodthirsty monster.
• You Killed My Father: In a match with Siegfried, Nightmare will accuse his human self of being their father's killer, and reaffirm his desire to use Soul Edge to avenge him.

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