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MDA's Guide to making a nightmaren

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MDA's Guide to making a nightmaren Empty MDA's Guide to making a nightmaren

Post  TheMajesticDreamingAngel Mon May 23, 2011 6:10 pm

Comments: I'm not sure what posessed me into making this, but I thought it would be useful for anyone who wants to make an authentic fan character that happens to be a nightmaren. This is the guide I use every time I make a nightmaren, so I hope you enjoy and find it useful!

On a side note, I do not mean to offend anyone if I accidently do in this guide.



MDA's guide to making a nightmaren!

Step one: Making a design---

Sorry. This is not step one. Otherwise, you're nightmaren will not be authentic.

The real step one is to choose a fear to base your nightmaren off of. Why is this? Here is the logic behind the madness:

Let's take a look at NiGHTS and Reala. They look like Clowns a little, right? Want to know why? Because they are the fear of clowns. Nightmarens are made from nightmares, derp! So, wouldn't logic have it that nightmarens are based off of a certian fear? Fears are actually a big part of this guide, which is why Choosing a fear is the best for step one. You'll understand more how it plays into key later on.

Step two, fit into a class.
Do NOT just choose a class for your nightmaren to be in. "Oh, well I'm going to be original and make then third/second class!" or "Well mine is super duper powerful so it'll be in the first class!" No. No. No. Absolutely wrong.
The nightmaren's strength and class all base apon the fear you chose. Say you chose the fear of clowns. That fear is very common around the world in children and some adults. It is a fear that gives many, many people nightmares. Thus, anything related to the fear of clowns is infact a first class nightmaren, such as Reala and NiGHTS.
Another example, that actually may surpass the fear of Clowns is the Fear of ghosts. Which is why my character Sceil, whom is a ghost nightmaren, is high in the first class rank.
Here are some examples of Nightmarens in their respective classes (Games only):

1st class: NiGHTS, Reala
2nd Class: Gilwing Gulpo Jackle Puffy Clawz (Into Dream) Donbalon Chamelan Cerberus Girania Bomamba Queen Bella (JoD)
3rd Class: I would rather not look up all of the names for the minor enemies from the games, you all should know that 3rd Class nightmarens are the weakest form of nightmarens, found during the levels.
Classless: Special cases, tend to be weakest of all but can be as powerful as a second level nightmaren. However, there are certian things that can make a nightmaren unable to be put into a certian class. We'll get to that later.

Alright, now you may be asking that is going on here. If Reala and NiGHTS are first class because they are the fear of clowns, then what are everyone else? Jackle looks like a clown, so under my logic wouldn't he be with the other 1st class? No, there's more to my logic than the nightmaren's appearance.

To name each nightmaren by fear isn't that difficult once you think long and hard about it. Here, I'll list everything for you:

Gilwing: Fear of monsters- What? Why such a ridiculous fear? Exactly. As an adult, you lose the fear of Monsters because you have more things to worry about then big, giant, flying dragon creatures. Thus only very young children are afraid of what lays in their closet. Then leading to Gilwing being a second level.

Gulpo & Girania: Fear of being eaten alive/The fear of piranahs- Exact proof that there can be more then one of each fear. A lot of the nightmarens in the second class actually are in pairs. Anyway, these two have a nack for gobbling you up for their middle day snack. Their fear is mostly found in, shockingly, older children who are less naive of the world. Because of lacking fear from the younger children, it is a second class fear.

Jackle & Chamelan: Fear of risk- This one took me a little to catch onto because of Jackle's appearance, but I knew these two shared a common fear. I disregarded Jackle's known appearence and stared deeper into his lack of appearance. I first noticed his lacking of a body, who wouldn't. The use of cards put the idea into my head that both are like playing a game of cards. High risk is high return, however a good deal of people are afraid of taking risks. There is also sometimes the lack of skills and "Luck" -thus the lack of Jackle's body and Chamelan's ability to turn invisable- can lead you to disaster. Thus, the fear has been set.

Puffy & Donbalon: This one I'm having a bit of difficulty with. They are both round balloons of sorts that you have to push into spikes. Disregarding their abilities to crush you -Or rather trying not to be mean- These two could be the fear of flying or height, though I know that fear to be a very common one in all age groups, so I'm forced to believe that this is a rather mean fear, please do not be offended, but... The fear of large people? I know that a very young child being picked up by a rather large adult has a good chance of getting scared because of the size difference. Really, it's all up to you on these two. That, or it could be the fear of balloons, or rather, the noise of a popping balloon...

Clawz: The fear of wild cats/Black cats- Simple enough, right?

Cerberus: The fear of myths- For those of you who don't know this, Cerberus is a greek mythical giant three headed dog. The story itself could probably give a good scare to a group of young children.

Bomamba: Fear of witches- Again, easy enough.

Queen Bella: Fear of Spiders- A fear I even suffer from. Simple enough.

Alright, so those are the fears that I saw in each second level nightmaren, example of pairs of the same fear, ectect.
I do believe that you've noticed, the more common the fear, the powerful the nightmaren. So, logically, 3rd Class nightmaren would be uncommon fears, like the fear of Butterflies.

Wait, before I leave, what are special cases? They include nightmarens not born of nightmares, but rather created with a different entity. For example, My character Learta was created solely on ideya, not nightmare. Though she is a classless or special case, She does eventually grown onto a fear; The fear of memories/past. Another case is the logic of nightmarens breeding together. If nightopians can breed with themselves and nightmarens can breed with nightopians, then obviously the logic is that nightmarens can breed with eachother. The end result is a nightmaren that shares two fears rather then just one, and can end up with split personalities, Such like Zephen, a nightmaren created by a friend of mine. One more special case is, shockingly, are mepians. They are born of nightmare and dreams, thus being gray creatures and most of the time, very weak. The last example I have is an odd one created by my friend, but human made nightmarens are special cases as well. Whether it'd be the subconsious of a mad scientist that's turned itself into a half nightmaren, or the creation of a nightmaren by the mad scientist, it counts as a special case since neither can really posess a fear.

With this in mind, you can now create your characters Design, personality, backstory, ect ect! Have fun making your nightmaren! Be creative~! Don't limit your imagination, anything goes with Nightmarens, as long as they stick to their fear.


Edit: I guess I forgot to add this, but I'd love feedback from you all that have read this! Whether or not it's a comment or a vote, please do tell me how this guide is to you!




Last edited by TheMajesticDreamingAngel on Thu May 26, 2011 5:47 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Added on something)
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Post  SiLK Thu Jun 23, 2011 1:34 pm

Not bad, your theories make a lot of sense.

I would argue a few points though, just because I'm a nitpick like that.
I'm not disagreeing, just pointing out my own observations. Smile

Gulpo also represents a fear of electricity. Gulpo is a water creature who is also electrical, and water conducts electricity.

Don't forget that Nightmaren are very personalized. The only exception was when Elliot faced Claris' nightmare, Gillwing in Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams (If you want to count it as having happened and not just a delusion brought on by hypothermia XD )
As a rule, the Nightmaren is crafted by the individual's fear. Which is why if you're not afraid of monsters, you're probably going to have a more human looking Nightmaren coming to pester you.
I think this is true to a lesser extent in JoD, but in the first game, each kid had their own set of Nightmaren and only NiGHTS and Wizeman were encountered by both Elliot and Claris.

Jackle's cards are actually Tarot cards, not playing cards. Tarot is a scary subject in itself. It can be used to try to communicate with the dead, or to see the future. Jackle uses it as a weapon. Since jackle's theme is "The mantle" (referring to Jackle's cape), I would speculate that Jackle is the unseen. That hidden danger lurking somewhere in the dark. Jackle is also somewhat insane. That big grin and shrill shriek?
Claris must have a deep fear of the dark and the occult! Or at least that's the conclusion I drew. Everyone's free to draw their own.


Puffy is an opera singer with rabbit features. There's symbolism there, since animals often represent something in dreams. Maybe Elliot's a little scared of rabbits? Maybe Puffy's womanly attributes come from a fear of older women? (an aunt pinching his cheek perhaps?)
You could argue that the singing is a point, but then Elliot has no trouble with Claris, the singer. So I think it's more than overly abundant female attributes are associated with opera singers.
Puffy's also covered with gems and expensive looking costume pieces, and dwells in an ornate banquet hall. So she could represent greed and gluttony as well.

Donbalon on the other hand, is a gypsy in a sort of floating carnival, which brings us back to the occult. That sort of gypsy outfit, the earrings, boa, circus wagons, is associated with fortune telling. Shape aside, Donbalon reminds me more of Jackle than Puffy.
Donbalon is also covered in patchwork, so there's an element of disarray there. Donbalon's costume needed patching, was there something in the dreamer's subconscious in need of repair?


Clawz is blue, not black. Otherwise, you're off to a good start there. Clawz also moves more like a gorilla thna a cat, with the hunched stature. And how does Clawz attack? Rockets and explosions!
The setting is a clock tower, so aside from the fear of explosions and fire, heights could be the fear represented there. Clawz's appearance really plays no role in that battle, the threat comes from having to avoid being hit by rockets.

Bomamba - eh, too easy. Witches are scary sure, but that's too similar to what Jackle and Donbalon represent to some extent. Let's look at the battle.
Bomamba uses cats as weapons. Easy enough, the dreamer's mind chose a witch to represent this fear, and cats and witches go together like bread and butter. But the main challenge is the tilting. You have to tilt Bomamba's platform to win, so that must be representing something. JoD's nightmares are less based on Jungian imagery and psychology than the original game though, so I'm not sure what fear is represented there.


Bella - Spiders yes, also fire and lava. There's a height aspect, too. And why is the spider a queen?
Clearly, something is going on in the dreamer's head that isn't fully covered, since the game wasn't polished enough before it went up for sale. if they had spent more time finishing it up, we might have learned the reason for this. I'm sure it's deep and insightful, Nightmaren usually are.


mepians - Owl said something to the effect that dreams and nightmares have the same origin. This is proven by the fact that they can interbreed in a way. (or as close as dream critters come) When they make contact, they produce an egg with attributes from both "parents"
Whether it happens from two Nightopians hugging, or a minion being thrown into a Nightopian, the result is the same. So it's really not as strange as it sounds to have a hybrid character.
It's not original, but it's not very far from canon.
(One note - mepians have been known to eat Nightopians, so maybe the nightmare side is more dominant?)




My own Nightmaren are all over the place and most are really bad because of the nonsense i made them for.
But my favorites are Shara and Willow. Shara is a shadowmaren, small and even less tolerant of light than other Nightmaren. She acts primarily as a spy and fits into that fear of what's moving in the dark.
Willow is a treemaren. She looks just like a weeping willow tree, and acts just like one, until a target comes into range. Then you have the old living tree monster, which is a pretty common fear. How many stories have trees that resemble clawed hands and gaping mouths?

I also have Wazp, who just like the name sounds, is a giant wasp or hornet.
They are all second class. I do have many first class characters, but since they're not as original, I try to avoid using them.

I also have a fan dreamer who was introduced in my CNiD adaptation. Keane is just a crazy kid, a little confused as kids will be, and he loves the holidays. he's not a bad guy, he's just very gullible. We all know the trouble that can cause... XD


Anyway sorry for the length, I didn't mean to reply with my own essay!
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Post  TheMajesticDreamingAngel Fri Jul 01, 2011 11:05 pm

Cx I was beginning to think no one would read this!

This is more like a guide than an actual "This is how it is" sort of thing. Cx

I agree that Nightmarens are indeed more personal than how I portrayed them, however I was more on the lines of the fact that some people share the same fear. That's why I tried to pair up the ones that looked similar or had similarities. Though, The more "personal" the fear, or the more irrational fears, the lesser the power. Like in Journey of Dreams has third level butterfly nightmarens -which I dubbed The fear of butterflies Cx-

I am going to just point out that the Cerberus in JoD might not have been following what you are saying, Since Wizeman and Reala had talked about Cerberus like they had previous experiences with him, And NiGHTS' reaction to Cerberus' mention -fearfully stepping away from Reala- also implies that Nightmarens might not be assigned to just one visitor. I'm not sure, but that's how I see it.

Gulpo can emit electrical abilities? Wow. I suppose I need to stop beating that thing so fast Cx

I heard they were Tarot cards, But when I look at the boss himself I sometimes swear I can see an Ace of diamonds card being thrown at me -eye's playing tricks?- Though the fear of the unseen can sort of relate to the fear of risk.

When I was looking at Donbalon and Puffy I wasn't looking at their costumes too in depth -because from a short stare both look like they're in clown costumes to me- I was looking of how they were killed: Popping.

Though if you follow that route for Puffy, maybe she represents the fear of growing up / maturity, since her large... Erm... And the bunny ears remind me of play boy bunny.

I noticed Clawz was blue, but I always thought it was a rendering issue. Because in art, as I've learned, there is no true black. There are warm blacks and cool blacks, I figured Claws was supposed to be a rather light blue/black. As for Clawz's movement, er, that's not a gorilla. It's still more like a feline of sorts, since I've seen all three of my cats move in a way like that. The mice in the stage also suggest more of feline than ape Cx Though the rockets I didn't think much of. Though, as I've experienced, rockets are rather dangerous. Maybe Clawz is the fear of obtaining misfortune?

Teehee, Bomamba. Maybe She is the fear of lying? As you probably know, history has had it's down moments in panics of dark magic, and threw innocent women into large fires due to someone's lie of them being a witch.

As for queen Bella... Her bombs always reminded me of eggs and the stage itself was shaped like a web... But maybe she also can be corruption in power? Because Corruption can lead to hell, and Hell can lead to fire, which is close enough to Lava Very Happy

Mepians are characters that are common? I never knew that. I always saw mepians as creatures that are despised by those who are intelligent enough to have a sense of judgment, since mepians are still eaten by nightmarens... Though I never knew that mepians eat nightopians. That's a new one I'm going to have to remember.
Anyhow, Mepians are more like Grey then black or white. Though they still don't fall under a class since their "white" energy makes them not a nightmare.


I like the Wasp character. Sounds fun. Even though I'm terrified of things with stingers. Maybe that's why I like it so much.


This guide can help people make first class characters into better characters if you'd like to use it. though I can't really say if they're original or not, because I really don't know them all that well. I know I had to redesign my characters Xaviero and Ilaria (Thunder and wind respectively) So their designs actually matched their fear. Xie (Xaviero) and Ilaria, combined with another nightmaren my friend created called Hajiru -rain/water- have the same power as a weak first class nightmaren, Xie being the most strongest and Hajiru being the weakest. Their story is actually quite tragic...

I have... Two first class. Sceil the ghost nightmaren, who looks like this: http://xxgamerxgirlxx.deviantart.com/art/Nightmaren-ghost-197181320
Those four little doodles are his other forms. Upper left is his recovery form, where nothing can really harm him -unless you vacuum part of his matter away. Though you can't vacuum His whole entity or he'll turn into the upper right form, which is a bomb. The lower right is his Possession form, in which he can take over anything that has a weak will and control them for a short amount of time -which actually is a key part in one of my fanfictions I'm writing.- and his last form, the lower left, is his cannon arms form, which throws ghost fire at you.
Note that Sceil has some black markings all around him..? Those black markings are actually lack of matter, or to him, wounds that cannot heal completely. If Sceil had no wounds on his body, he would be completely white and lacking a face. At Sceils creation, he was born slightly deformed in not having a face. So to please his master, he shape shifted his arms into blades and carved out his face like a jackal lantern. Ironically, Sceil hurts himself more when he shape shifts then when he gains a new mark. It's obvious that Sceil is extremely loyal to his master.

My other first class nightmaren is named Raisor. I do not have a drawing of him uploaded yet, however he is the only nightmaren I have that can be mistaken as a second level due to his humongous size. Roughly the size of a house -or larger-, he is a withering carnivorous Daisy. Yes. A gigantic Daisy. But he has huge sharp teeth and large vine arms, so he's still pretty scary looking. He is the fear of Death, and his design comes from the praise "Pushing up Daisies", and his name is just a misspelling of Razor, which has to do with suicide and things of the sort. Raisor actually has a big role in the tragedy of Xie, Ilaria, and Hajiru, and the reason why Xie has a burning hate for flowers. Raisor is very mindless and partially blind from small eyes, so he can mistaken Xie for NiGHTS, or mistaken a tree that's shaped like a nightmaren for NiGHTS. It's rather stupid, but very powerful and very hungry.



Last edited by TheMajesticDreamingAngel on Thu Jul 07, 2011 2:41 pm; edited 2 times in total (Reason for editing : I decided to make it look neater. Sorry for the confusion, folks! I mean no harm.)
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