Figment 2 pre-release
The Jester in Figment 2 is not actually a nightmare.
In the playable prologue, the Jester somehow survives Dusty's onslaught despite seemingly being killed. This could be a sign he is not a nightmare.- He represents regression. The Jester sings about letting go of responsibility and autonomy instead of just being an idiot and having fun. While not necessarily fear, everyone has moments where they wish they could forgo all duties and go back to a time in their life before they had so much work to do.
- Confirmed. He's a part of the mind like Dusty and Piper, one that had been forgotten years ago.
Figment 2 post-release
The four nightmares across the two games represent the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Conquest/Pestilence and War are easy to determine for the most part. However, for the Fear-Of-Loss and the Black Hog, they could represent either of the two remaining horsemen.- With the traditional list:
- Conquest: The Spider Queen. She is a monarch who wants to take over the world of the Mind, and she has a white mask, the color of Conquest's horse.
- War: The Plague. He is violent and temperamental, and his mask is red, the color of War's horse.
- Famine:
- The Fear-Of-Loss: This is a less literal interpretation. Famine is certainly a type of loss, although he represents all kinds of loss.
- The Black Hog: He's a big, fat piglike monster, and pigs are often associated with gluttony, which can lead to a famine. Also, when he is deprived of the darkness he likes, he reveals his true form as a small, frail creature.
- Death:
- The Black Hog. He outright says "Pitch black death awaits you" in his song, and he threatens to devour Dusty and Piper, one of the most direct death threats in the entire series.
- The Fear-Of-Loss: Death is one of the most traumatizing types of loss, which is fitting for him because he claims to represent a much deeper fear than the other Nightmares. The Fear-Of-Loss entered "The Mind's" mind because he had a very close brush with death.
- With the list that includes Pestilence:
- Pestilence: The Plague, obviously. He represents the fear of disease.
- War: The Spider Queen. Her intended conquest of the Mind could be interpreted as her waging war on the Mind.
- Famine and Death: See above.
The four nightmares represent a Four-Element Ensemble.
- The Plague: Fire. He has a hot-tempered personality, wears a red mask, and sings about how sickness makes you heat up.
- The Spider Queen: Air. Her song has a light and breezy sound to it. Her mask is white, a color typically associated with air elementals.
- The Fear-Of-Loss: Water. He creates waves of darkness that look a bit like water waves. He is battled in the rain. Floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis can certainly cause different kinds of loss for people.
- The Black Hog: Earth. Pigs are associated with mud and filth. He's a Mighty Glacier, a trait often associated with earth elementals.
