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Nightmare (Marvel Comics)
Encyclopedia
Nightmare is a fictional character
, a supernatural
being who has appeared in many Marvel Comics
stories, most commonly as one of Doctor Strange
and Ghost Rider
's major enemies.
and Steve Ditko
in Strange Tales
#110 (July 1963), the same issue which featured the first appearance of Doctor Strange.
Nightmare is a demon from the dimension Everinnye, like his "cousin", the Dweller-in-Darkness
. Nightmare is dependent on the human race's need to dream. Without this ability, Nightmare would cease to exist, but humanity would go insane. At one point Strange and Nightmare had to join forces to prevent that from happening. Nightmare has run afoul of Spider-Man
, Captain America
, Ghost Rider, Dazzler
, Wolverine
, and the Hulk
on different occasions. Nightmare also served under Shuma-Gorath
and warned Strange that the demon would be a force that even the Sorcerer Supreme would have trouble defeating, and he once joined the Fear Lords, a group of supernatural creatures who fed on fear, to attack Dr. Strange together. Their plans were undone when D'spayre
tricks him into competing with the Dweller-in-Darkness
over who could frighten humanity more.
Nightmare is the father of the Dreamqueen
, a similar being who rules her own "dream dimension". She was conceived when Nightmare raped a succubus
named Zhilla Char.
Nightmare's realm is not part of The Mindscape, but the Sleepwalkers
are aware of him and consider him an enemy. Because Sleepwalkers do not have to sleep, Nightmare has never been able to affect or dominate them. He sought to do this through the hero Sleepwalker, who had been connected into the brain of the human Rick Sheridan. Nightmare sent Sleepwalker back to his own realm, with a monitor to assure the hero Rick was not being tormented. Rick was being tormented, with the intent of driving Sleepwalker mad and thus giving Nightmare access to the minds of Sleepwalker's people. The hero was not fooled and sacrificed his return home in order to stop Nightmare.
Later, Nightmare was able to access human minds through the concept of the 'American dream'. Many people who were deeply patriotic or had achieved a degree of success through hard work were going on violent rampages. Nightmare was soon stopped by the combined forces of Captain America
, Sharon Carter
, and S.H.I.E.L.D.
In the Tempest Fugit storyline of The Incredible Hulk it is revealed that Nightmare has been plaguing the Hulk for years with hallucinations, misdirections, and manipulations of reality, by empowering himself from the effects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. His second, more benevolent, daughter Daydream is also introduced in this storyarc. Nightmare here claimed that this daughter was conceived by forcibly entering the mind of the Hulk's late wife, Betty Ross Banner, raping her in her sleep, and is temporarily killed by the Hulk in retaliation.
When Hercules and the God Squad
needs to make their way to the Skrull
gods' realm during the Secret Invasion
storyline, they require a map of the Dreamtime
, and barter with Nightmare for it. Nightmare agrees, in exchange for access to the fears of the five gods; however, he actually intends to use these divine fears to conquer the world. Hercules and the others escape his realm, having stolen the map via trickery as Mikaboshi had created a shadow duplicate of himself to fool Nightmare. Nightmare summons up an army of monsters to attack them, but they escape.
Nightmare later attempts to revenge himself on Hercules by manipulating the supervillain Arcade
into trapping Hercules and Deadpool
in a labyrinth they constructed. The ploy fails, and Nightmare withdraws.
He later plots to conquer the entirety of fiction, adding it to his realm of nightmares, but was defeated by the Fantastic Four.
In the Avengers: The Initiative
Special, it was revealed that Nightmare is Trauma
's father, which explains Trauma's fear powers. He later manifests on Earth and proves to be a problem for the Avengers Resistance and the Initiative.
During the Chaos War
storyline, Amatsu-Mikaboshi
(now adopting the title of Chaos King) has amassed an army of alien slave gods and is attempting to destroy absolutely everything and become the only being in the Universe once more. He travels to Nightmare's realm while they are trying to torment Hercules with visions of Amatusu-Mikaboshi and quickly defeats the demon. Nightmare attempts to join Amatsu-Mikaboshi's forces but the ancient force of nature doesn't get tricked by his begging and destroys the heart, apparently killing Nightmare. His apparent death is felt by those who have psionic powers and it is later revealed that those who fall asleep enter into a state of berserk rage. Amatsu-Mikaboshi steals Nightmare's powers and minions.
Nightmare has been shown capable of simultaneously subduing two Earth demigods, an Eternal, an Elder God, and a genius-level human teenager with ease through magic while assessing their worst fears from the darkest crevices of their minds, and was shown to be capable of sustaining reasonable physical harm with one strike from Hercules.
, Nightmare appeared as a demon who entered Doctor Strange's mind and plagued it with nightmares. When Spider-Man entered the building, Nightmare moved to Spider-Man's mind and plagued him with nightmares. Doctor Strange eventually entered Spider-Man's mind via a spell and vanquished the demon Nightmare. Nightmare can shape shift into different forms based on the victim's memories. His main appearance was as a half-rotted, grey corpse.
During the events of Ultimatum, Nightmare escaped Dr. Strange's Sanctonum after the Ultimatum wave broke the building's seal. Nightmare then possessed Dr. Strange's body before confronting Spider-Man and the Hulk. Nightmare attacked them both, plaguing the Hulk with nightmares of hundreds of dead bodies, and Peter with the various villains he fought in the past as well as a decayed Uncle Ben. However, upon solidifying into a young looking purple being, the Hulk attacked him in response to the nightmares, causing Nightmare to jump into Dr. Strange's Orb of Acmantata. The Hulk attacked the orb resulting in a large explosion.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
being who has appeared in many Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
stories, most commonly as one of Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 ....
and Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider (comics)
Ghost Rider is the name of several fictional supernatural antiheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Night Rider and subsequently to Phantom Rider.The first supernatural Ghost Rider is...
's major enemies.
Publication history
The character was created by Stan LeeStan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
in Strange Tales
Strange Tales
Strange Tales is the name of several comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. It introduced the features "Doctor Strange" and "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and was a showcase for the science fiction/suspense stories of artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and for the...
#110 (July 1963), the same issue which featured the first appearance of Doctor Strange.
Fictional character biography
He is the evil ruler of a 'dream dimension', where tormented humans are brought during their sleep. He roams this realm on his demonic black horned horse named Dreamstalker. He appears as a chalk-white man with wild green hair, a green bodysuit, and a ragged cape. He was the first foe met by Strange, when a man who was having troubled dreams went to Strange for help, though it is revealed this is due to him committing a murder. Later Nightmare imprisons several humans in his dimension, but Strange frees them. When Doctor Strange forgot to recite a spell before he slept, Nightmare started tormenting him, before Strange was freed after tricking Nightmare by casting an illusion of an enemy of his.Nightmare is a demon from the dimension Everinnye, like his "cousin", the Dweller-in-Darkness
Dweller-in-Darkness
The Dweller-in-Darkness is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a demon, one of the Fear Lords, who has clashed with Doctor Strange.- Publication history :...
. Nightmare is dependent on the human race's need to dream. Without this ability, Nightmare would cease to exist, but humanity would go insane. At one point Strange and Nightmare had to join forces to prevent that from happening. Nightmare has run afoul of Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, Ghost Rider, Dazzler
Dazzler
Dazzler is a Marvel Comics superheroine, associated with the X-Men. She first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #130 ....
, Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
, and the Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
on different occasions. Nightmare also served under Shuma-Gorath
Shuma-Gorath
Shuma-Gorath is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard, best known for his later interpretations as a demonic enemy of Doctor Strange in Marvel Comics publications. He is also well known for being an unconventional playable character in the Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom video...
and warned Strange that the demon would be a force that even the Sorcerer Supreme would have trouble defeating, and he once joined the Fear Lords, a group of supernatural creatures who fed on fear, to attack Dr. Strange together. Their plans were undone when D'spayre
D'Spayre
D'Spayre is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a demon, and was one of the Fear Lords. He has been opposed by Spider-Man, the Scarlet Spider, Man-Thing, Cyclops, the Juggernaut, Doctor Strange, Cloak & Dagger, and the New Avengers. He first appeared in Marvel Team-Up v1 #68...
tricks him into competing with the Dweller-in-Darkness
Dweller-in-Darkness
The Dweller-in-Darkness is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a demon, one of the Fear Lords, who has clashed with Doctor Strange.- Publication history :...
over who could frighten humanity more.
Nightmare is the father of the Dreamqueen
Dreamqueen
The Dreamqueen is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.-Fictional character biography:The entity known as the Dreamqueen is the daughter of a succubus named Zhilla Char, and Nightmare, ruler of the Dream Dimension. Her birth killed her mother, and gave the Dreamqueen all her memories...
, a similar being who rules her own "dream dimension". She was conceived when Nightmare raped a succubus
Succubus
In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
named Zhilla Char.
Nightmare's realm is not part of The Mindscape, but the Sleepwalkers
Sleepwalker (comics)
Sleepwalker is a Marvel Comics character created by Bob Budiansky. He is named after his race, and is the star of a self-titled comic book which ran for 33 issues from June 1991 to February 1994, with one Holiday Special. All but two of the issues were written by Budiansky, with Tom Brevoort and...
are aware of him and consider him an enemy. Because Sleepwalkers do not have to sleep, Nightmare has never been able to affect or dominate them. He sought to do this through the hero Sleepwalker, who had been connected into the brain of the human Rick Sheridan. Nightmare sent Sleepwalker back to his own realm, with a monitor to assure the hero Rick was not being tormented. Rick was being tormented, with the intent of driving Sleepwalker mad and thus giving Nightmare access to the minds of Sleepwalker's people. The hero was not fooled and sacrificed his return home in order to stop Nightmare.
Later, Nightmare was able to access human minds through the concept of the 'American dream'. Many people who were deeply patriotic or had achieved a degree of success through hard work were going on violent rampages. Nightmare was soon stopped by the combined forces of Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, Sharon Carter
Sharon Carter
Sharon Carter, alias Agent 13, is a fictional character, a secret agent in the Marvel Comics universe. She is an ex-field agent of S.H.I.E.L.D...
, and S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
In the Tempest Fugit storyline of The Incredible Hulk it is revealed that Nightmare has been plaguing the Hulk for years with hallucinations, misdirections, and manipulations of reality, by empowering himself from the effects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. His second, more benevolent, daughter Daydream is also introduced in this storyarc. Nightmare here claimed that this daughter was conceived by forcibly entering the mind of the Hulk's late wife, Betty Ross Banner, raping her in her sleep, and is temporarily killed by the Hulk in retaliation.
When Hercules and the God Squad
God Squad (comics)
God Squad is the name fictional comic book character Amadeus Cho gave to a team of gods brought together in the Marvel Universe to face the oncoming Secret Invasion...
needs to make their way to the Skrull
Skrull
The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
gods' realm during the Secret Invasion
Secret Invasion
"Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008....
storyline, they require a map of the Dreamtime
Dreamtime
In the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
, and barter with Nightmare for it. Nightmare agrees, in exchange for access to the fears of the five gods; however, he actually intends to use these divine fears to conquer the world. Hercules and the others escape his realm, having stolen the map via trickery as Mikaboshi had created a shadow duplicate of himself to fool Nightmare. Nightmare summons up an army of monsters to attack them, but they escape.
Nightmare later attempts to revenge himself on Hercules by manipulating the supervillain Arcade
Arcade (comics)
Arcade is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Arcade first appeared in Marvel Team-Up, vol...
into trapping Hercules and Deadpool
Deadpool (comics)
Deadpool is a fictional character, a mercenary and anti-hero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, Deadpool first appeared in The New Mutants #98 Deadpool (Wade Winston Wilson) is a fictional character, a mercenary and...
in a labyrinth they constructed. The ploy fails, and Nightmare withdraws.
He later plots to conquer the entirety of fiction, adding it to his realm of nightmares, but was defeated by the Fantastic Four.
In the Avengers: The Initiative
Avengers: The Initiative
Avengers: The Initiative was a comic book series from Marvel Comics. Written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage with artwork initially by Stefano Caselli, Steve Uy and Harvey Tolibao, the series dealt with the aftermath of Marvel's Civil War crossover Avengers: The Initiative was a comic book series...
Special, it was revealed that Nightmare is Trauma
Trauma (comics)
Trauma is a fictional comic book character. He is a teenage superhero in Marvel Comics' shared universe, the Marvel Universe...
's father, which explains Trauma's fear powers. He later manifests on Earth and proves to be a problem for the Avengers Resistance and the Initiative.
During the Chaos War
Chaos War (comics)
"Chaos War" is a Marvel Comics storyline that began publication in October 2010 across nine comic book series: the five-issue miniseries Chaos War, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, supplemented by seven branded miniseries or one-shot publications, and by three issues of Incredible Hulks, a...
storyline, Amatsu-Mikaboshi
Amatsu-Mikaboshi (comics)
Amatsu-Mikaboshi is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe, a supervillain and demonic god of evil who is best known as an enemy of Hercules...
(now adopting the title of Chaos King) has amassed an army of alien slave gods and is attempting to destroy absolutely everything and become the only being in the Universe once more. He travels to Nightmare's realm while they are trying to torment Hercules with visions of Amatusu-Mikaboshi and quickly defeats the demon. Nightmare attempts to join Amatsu-Mikaboshi's forces but the ancient force of nature doesn't get tricked by his begging and destroys the heart, apparently killing Nightmare. His apparent death is felt by those who have psionic powers and it is later revealed that those who fall asleep enter into a state of berserk rage. Amatsu-Mikaboshi steals Nightmare's powers and minions.
Powers and abilities
As a demonic entity, Nightmare draws power from the psychic energies of the subconscious minds of dreaming beings, especially those on Earth. He can control those who sleep and draw on the life essence, or astral forms of them. He can trap a sleeper's soul indefinitely but cannot affect an individual who is awake. However, his images and other creations can continue to haunt a person in their waking hours.Nightmare has been shown capable of simultaneously subduing two Earth demigods, an Eternal, an Elder God, and a genius-level human teenager with ease through magic while assessing their worst fears from the darkest crevices of their minds, and was shown to be capable of sustaining reasonable physical harm with one strike from Hercules.
Ultimate Nightmare
In Ultimate Spider-ManUltimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man was a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...
, Nightmare appeared as a demon who entered Doctor Strange's mind and plagued it with nightmares. When Spider-Man entered the building, Nightmare moved to Spider-Man's mind and plagued him with nightmares. Doctor Strange eventually entered Spider-Man's mind via a spell and vanquished the demon Nightmare. Nightmare can shape shift into different forms based on the victim's memories. His main appearance was as a half-rotted, grey corpse.
During the events of Ultimatum, Nightmare escaped Dr. Strange's Sanctonum after the Ultimatum wave broke the building's seal. Nightmare then possessed Dr. Strange's body before confronting Spider-Man and the Hulk. Nightmare attacked them both, plaguing the Hulk with nightmares of hundreds of dead bodies, and Peter with the various villains he fought in the past as well as a decayed Uncle Ben. However, upon solidifying into a young looking purple being, the Hulk attacked him in response to the nightmares, causing Nightmare to jump into Dr. Strange's Orb of Acmantata. The Hulk attacked the orb resulting in a large explosion.
Television
- Nightmare appears in The Super Hero Squad ShowThe Super Hero Squad ShowThe Super Hero Squad Show is an American cartoon series by Marvel Animation. It is based on the Marvel Super Hero Squad action figure line from Hasbro, which portray the characters of the Marvel Universe in a cartoonish super-deformed-style...
episode "Blind Rage Knows No Color" voiced by Jim ParsonsJim ParsonsJames Joseph "Jim" Parsons is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, with his performance often cited as a significant reason for the program's success...
. Iron Man, Thor, and Wolverine had to enter the dream realm in order to find help to stop Thanos' plot to use the Mind Infinity Gem to control Hulk in his sleep. When they encountered Nightmare, they ended up offering him membership to the Cheese of the Month Club in exchange for his help. When Thanos fell asleep, Nightmare used his abilities to make Thanos end up on a Sugar World board game causing Thanos to give up on his plot.
Video games
- Nighmare appears in the Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity GauntletMarvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity GauntletMarvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet is a continuation of the video game Marvel Super Hero Squad and it was released on November 16, 2010. Similar to the first game, it features cartoonish Super-deformed versions of the Marvel Comics characters, as seen in the Marvel Super Hero Squad toy...
video game voiced by Jim ParsonsJim ParsonsJames Joseph "Jim" Parsons is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, with his performance often cited as a significant reason for the program's success...
. He ends up fighting Hulk and She-Hulk for the possession of the Mind Infinity Gem.
External links
- Nightmare at Marvel.com