Our subconscious sometimes brings up our deepest fears, causing us to have terrifying nightmares. When we wake up from these nightmares, we are pleased to discover that it was all a dream and that things could have been a lot worse. But, what if it was, in fact, a lot scarier? Imagine your darkest nightmares becoming a reality, and you being forced to live them out. This supervillain, who poses as a tangible embodiment of nightmares, brings one’s greatest fears and nightmares to life and utilizes them as a torture tool. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Nightmare, the terrifying ruler of a place within the dream reality, who first debuted in Strange Tales #110.
Despite the fact that Nightmare is most commonly connected with Doctor Strange, he has a long history of torturing numerous people in the comics. Even if Nightmare is defeated, he will never be entirely destroyed. He will be able to maintain his skills for as long as there are dreamers in the cosmos. As a result, this supervillain was worshipped as a deity, and he gathered a legion of devotees. These disciples acted as his bodyguards and even carried out some of his directives.
Nightmare dons a fitted green costume with a cape and traverses the realm on his demonic horse, Dreamstalker, with his demonic visage, lifeless eyes, and long hair (that was originally green but later changed to black).
The figure has long been recognized as one of Marvel Comics’ most terrifying villains, lurking in the shadows and depths of our nightmares. With fingers crossed, we expect to see more of him on the big screen in the near future!
Lord of Dreams Nightmare Origin Explored
So, where did this villain originate from? Nightmare’s origins, much like the other Fear Lords, remain a mystery, and few knew anything about his origins or even his existence. The Fear Lords were creatures who dwelled in others’ fears and obtained their power through them.
The nightmare was not only a conceptual entity, a part of all existence but also considered to be a deity. Like the Dweller-in-Darkness, The Nightmare was born in the Everinnye realm. However, the dweller soon followed the way of the ‘Shamblu’ and severed his head to exist only in physical form. Consequently, he turned his back on his fellow dwellers and then tried to seek contact with Nightmare, who he considered to be his cousin as they were from the same realm. The nightmare did not want to be related to him after knowing his origins. In the Dweller’s eyes, it was the Nightmare who had humiliated himself by taking on his form and living in exile in the Lower Universes.
In his early years, Nightmare controlled the Nightmare Realm, which was one of the many Splinter Realms that formed the Dream Dimensions. The Splinter Realms were overlooked by the ‘Lords of the Splinter’, who conducted gatherings only twice in a span of the forty-seven thousand years that preceded the modern age. It is unclear if Nightmare contributed to the gatherings, or was even a member of this overlooking parliament.
His skills of extracting one’s fears and worst nightmares and wielding them as tools of torture made him one of the most powerful beings across all the realms. Of course, his power caused him to have many enemies that included the denizens from the neighboring Realms of Madness, a monster by the name of ‘Gulgol’ that is always awake as well as his own personal hell of a nightmare, Gnit.
To fight off these enemies, Nightmare had his own group of an army that included Doggerel, Succubus, a group of ‘Hanon Tramps’ who killed people in their sleep as well as a Siluarian Guard with a captain that guarded the gates of his citadel. He also joined forces with the Shuma Gorath to pursue his own goals.
Around 800 years ago, he even fathered a demoness’s daughter ‘Dreamqueen’. Since Nightmare uses his powers of possession over other beings, it is deemed that this resulted from him raping the demoness ‘Zilla Char’. Years later, he meddled even in his daughter’s schemes on earth. His mischief on Earth was not just limited to that, as he was also known for being present during major historic events and disrupting historical figures’ lives by giving them nightmares.
Some of these included him giving ‘Marie Antionette’ a nightmare while she was awaiting trial in 1792; forcing her to live through the siege of Versaille again and again. He even caused President Abraham Lincoln nightmares for months on end during the 19th century, transporting him to the graves of the troops he ordered to their deaths during the American Civil War.
He continued to wreak havoc even in the modern age. Once a young Peter Parker and his Uncle Ben were attacked while they were fishing, which was proven to be a bad dream. Later, as Peter was about to fall asleep again, Nightmare resurfaced and proceeded to feast on his nightmares, when Stan Lee struck him using a sports racket and caused him to flee. For years, the Nightmare even tortured the Hulk with horrors in his nightmares.
In more than one instance, The Nightmare possessed male bodies and used them as a vessel to impregnate women, thus fathering many hybrid offsprings who wander on the face of the earth. Karl, a worshiper of the Nightmare and a member of his cult, once willingly let the Nightmare use his body as a vessel to sleep with Naomi, another cult member.
When Naomi ran away from the cult, the Nightmare let her wander away with the intent of letting his offspring live among humans. The child born, Terrence Ward, possessed abilities to shapeshift into a person’s worst nightmare. The villain also claims to have a daughter ‘Daydream’ who was conceived by him and the Hulk’s deceased wife, Betty Ross, when he entered her dreams and sexually assaulted her. According to some legends, Daydream’s existence resulted from him seducing a mortal woman in her sleep.
Nightmare’s Encounter with his nemesis Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange was among his first opponents in the modern era. When Nightmare plagued the dreams of a dishonest businessman, Doctor Strange shows up and they end up fighting. Strange ends up invading his nightmares, and the villain manages to lock him inside the dreams, leaving his physical form exposed. Fearfulthat Strange will discover the truth about his crimes, and reveal it to the world, Nightmare then tries to kill him. However, Strange was able to leave Nightmare’s dimension due to the assistance of the Ancient One.
In order to defeat his nemesis and conquer the earth realm, Nightmare began capturing individuals in their dreams with the intention of discovering how to beat Dr. Strange and the Ancient One. Alas! His plan did not succeed as Strange managed to free the hostages before the situation worsened.
What Makes Nightmare So Dangerous
Nightmare can be labeled as a class three demon, with the power to capture an individual’s astral form as they slept. He’d then drag his victims to the Nightmare Realm, in which he would torture them in any manner he deemed fit. Since a majority of the people were uninformed of this supervillain’s existence, it made him easier to torture his victims. Nightmare’s ultimate ambition was to bring the entire waking world into his domain and agonize them all using his expertise with torture.
He also possessed the ability to be omnipresent, which helped him capture his victim’s astral forms without any detection. However, he can only prey on beings who were asleep and his powers would cease to exist if everyone stopped dreaming. Since this cannot happen as he can be defeated but never truly destroyed, he has been deemed an immortal being. Additionally, his abilities deteriorated outside his realm and he had to resort to other means to torture his victims. Though he cannot cause much harm while the humans were awake, the manner in which he weaponized their fears caused long-term effects and hallucinations, terrorizing his victims for ages after.
He could also take strength from the psychic energy of dreaming individuals’ minds and has the ability to forcibly enter other people’s minds. In this manner, he could assume control over their physical form, which is also how he fathered some of his offspring. However, this exploitation of women was nonconsensual since the men were unable to control their physical bodies.
In one instance, the Nightmare also assumed control over the Hulk’s body during his unstable phase and caused him to go on violent sprees.
The Nightmare lacked somewhat in his fighting skills, but he more than made up for it with his intelligence. Moreover, he had a surprisingly large amount of core strength and durability and even an army of succubi [lower beings in his dimension] to help him in physical fights. He could summon these fighters, or even use his horse, ‘Dreamstalker’. He also wields a weapon in the form of a wand ‘Mystic Prod’, that can create an inescapable maze.
In the comics, Nightmare has been depicted as powerful enough to fight off two earthly demigods, one eternal and an Elder God, through his powers and his magic skills.
Besides extracting one’s worst fears from their minds and bringing them to life, Nightmare can also cast illusions, teleport as a means of travel and use magic as well as possess bodies; making him a fearsome opponent in any fight!
Nightmare Rumored Villain of Doctor Strange 2
The producers of Dr. Strange have discussed introducing the Nightmare as a villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on previous occasions. Scott Derrickson [Director of Dr. Strange] has also mentioned his interest in including nightmares and exploring the Dream Dimension in further movies which only further intensifies the rumors.
As it adds up, Doctor Stranger in the Multiverse of Madness is slated to be Marvel’s first step in the horror genre. Since Dr. Strange has been this supervillain’s nemesis in the comics, one can surely expect his character to be incorporated into the timeline and finally get a role on the big screen! Of course, there is no official announcement regarding Nightmare’s appearance in the film, but we have good reason to hope for it!
Versions of Nightmare in various forms of media
The Nightmare pops up in various media and can be spotted in television shows and video games of the Marvel Universe.
A version of Nightmare, voiced by Jim Parsons appeared on The Super Hero Squad Show in an episode titled “Blind Rage Knows No Color”
Nightmare is also seen in the ‘Strange Days’ episode of the Ultimate Spider-Man TV show where Mark Hamill [known for voicing the Joker in various DC projects] lent his voice for this villain’s character.
Besides television, Nightmare also makes an appearance in the ‘Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet’ video game, wherein he is once again voiced by Jim Parsons. Here, the Nightmare fights against the Hulk and the She-Hulk over ownership of the Mind Infinity Gem.
This supervillain also appears in the Lego Marvel Superheroes, where he is voiced by Greg Cipes and wreaks havoc at a circus performance and sends the crowd in a frenzy. He ends up fighting against the Ghost Rider, who defeats him along with a helping hand from Hawkeye, Black Widow, and The Iceman.
Conclusion
Though not as widely known as other Marvel Villains, Nightmare is quite a menace! One does not want to fall on his radar and find themselves living their worst fears and nightmares. This villain is not going away anytime soon and as long, and will always be around as long as there are dreams for him to feed on. We can’t wait to see what further terrors he unleashes in the future, as we hope for his appearance in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness or any upcoming projects!