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The Nightmare (ナイトメア Naitomea) is a powerful biomechanical life-form created by the Galactic Federation for military purposes that possessed gravity-manipulation abilities.[1] Nightmare appears as a boss in both Metroid: Other M and Metroid Fusion, in which Samus has to defeat the creature while enduring its gravity-manipulation abilities.
Story[]
Samus first encounters the original Nightmare in Metroid: Other M while on her journey to Sector Zero on the BOTTLE SHIP. During this encounter, Nightmare's faceplate is destroyed while colliding with the walls due to the malfunctioning of its gravity manipulator, until the beast finally crashes to the ground. When Samus returns to the area, Nightmare reawakens and attacks again, forcing Samus to defeat it again. This second battle ends in Nightmare exploding into pieces, leaving only the head intact with the rest of its body parts scattered. Its corpse continues to lie on the ground until the Galactic Federation thoroughly investigates the BOTTLE SHIP, seemingly salvaging the remains of the creature and transporting it at an undetermined time to the Biologic Space Laboratories research station.
The B.S.L. station later succumbs to an infestation by the X Parasites, and during it, Samus is sent to investigate. When she leaves Sector 5 for the first time, the rebuilt Nightmare breaks loose, and she can catch glimpses of its silhouette flying around behind large windows (possibly part of its containment tank), causing the entire room to shake violently. It also appears when she is entering and leaving Sector 5 while obtaining the Power Bombs. After Samus obtains the Plasma Beam, Adam detects an explosion in Sector 5 and tells her to investigate. As she arrives at the entrance to the sector, Adam finally informs her of Nightmare's continued existence. Samus finds most of the arctic sector in ruins and by exploring further, she eventually finds the X-infected Nightmare in an electronic junkyard. Unlike on the BOTTLE SHIP, the organic part of Nightmare's face appears to deteriorate and constantly melts away over the course of the battle; the cause is unknown, but the decay makes the creature all the more frightening once its mask is destroyed. Eventually, Nightmare exposes its Core-X and is absorbed by Samus, who regains the abilities of her Gravity Suit.
Battle[]
Attacks[]
Nightmare's gravity manipulator allows it to control the gravity around it, which it puts to deadly use in combat. Using the gravity manipulator, Nightmare can increase gravity to slow down opponents or decrease the gravity to leave opponents helpless in midair. It can also use the gravity manipulator to create large vortex-like gravity wells to attract incoming Beam shots and Missiles. In terms of offense, the creature is outfitted with a multi-laser system on its arms. It can shoot lasers from its mouth, as well as bombard opponents with small and large energy spheres.
Metroid: Other M[]
Nightmare[]
Nightmare in Metroid: Other M.
Nightmare floats in the middle of its room, firing energy blasts at Samus. It will occasionally spin in one place, firing lasers, and may even try to ram Samus. Nightmare will manipulate gravity and will slow Samus down, allowing it to attack her more easily. To disable Nightmare's gravity manipulator, Samus must shoot repeated Beam shots at it. Interestingly, the gravity manipulator pulls her shots towards it, even though in Fusion, Beam shots are unaffected by gravity manipulation. Eventually, Samus will freeze its gravity manipulator, causing it to momentarily shut down. Samus is able to utilize this period of normal gravity to fire at Nightmare's face with Super Missiles or Missile Launcher (its faceplate reflects Beam shots), otherwise the Missiles would collide with the ground. This will destroy the faceplate and Nightmare's gravity powers will go out of control, causing it to slam into the walls of the room twice before falling to the floor. Believing Nightmare to be dead, Samus ventures off to Sector Zero.
Nightmare Unmasked[]
Samus about to fire a Missile at Nightmare.
As Samus leaves the area after inspecting Sector Zero, Nightmare's body suddenly reanimates to attack her once more. This phase is called Nightmare (Death Mask) (ナイトメア (デスマスク) Naitomea Desumasuku).[2] Nightmare does not have the same attacks as before, but instead, will now fire three larger, slower energy blasts at a time and a laser from its face, as well as use its gravity manipulator to create gravity wells that suck in all of Samus's beam and Missile fire. If Samus touches a gravity well, it deals minor damage to her. While a gravity well remains in the room, Samus can go to the opposite side of the room in order to damage Nightmare, as the vortex will then suck the blasts and Missiles to the creature. Occasionally, the unmasked Nightmare will fall to the ground, only to rise up again. Nightmare is also much easier to deal with now that the Gravity Feature is activated. When defeated, it will explode, leaving the arms and tail shattered into pieces and the destroyed body lying on the ground, officially defeated.
The body and shattered remains of Nightmare will remain on the ground until the post-credits sequence.
Metroid Fusion[]
In Metroid Fusion, Nightmare has three phases, excluding its Core-X form.
Phase 1[]
Nightmare manipulating gravity.
During this phase, Nightmare will remain in front of Samus and shoot laser beams from its arms at regular intervals. These lasers can be difficult for Samus to jump over, as it shoots them in a spread. Its weak point is the gravity manipulator - the glowing purple protrusion connected to its central body. Normally, its arms will be blocking it, so Samus must lure Nightmare up by jumping high, then coming down and getting a shot or two at it using the charged Plasma Beam or an Ice Missile. Once it has been sufficiently damaged, the battle enters its second phase.
Alternatively, Samus can stay under Nightmare in its first phase, as the creature only remains in one spot while hovering horizontally, and whenever Nightmare will come down, Samus can roll into Morph Ball mode and stay out of harm's way, then come back and shoot the manipulator with more Missiles and charged shots.
Phase 2[]
Nightmare's grotesque face under its plate.
Nightmare's gravity manipulator activates, weighing Samus down and making her Missiles drop midflight, forcing Samus to rely on her charged Plasma Beam, or hit with Missiles at point-blank range. Nightmare will begin to move slowly back and forth, and a slimy, green substance begins to ooze from the now-open "eyes" in its faceplate. After receiving sufficient damage, Nightmare's face mask and gravity manipulator both explode, returning gravity to normal.
Phase 3[]
Nightmare will begin to move slowly forward while firing its lasers, and then fly erratically around the room, becoming difficult to dodge. Its exposed face functions as its weak spot. Samus must utilize the ladder and the Space Jump to effectively avoid attacks and aim counterattacks. After flying around the room, it will go back to moving forward slowly and firing beams.
When Nightmare (along with its Core-X) is defeated, Samus can absorb the Core-X to restore her Gravity Suit.
Official data[]
Metroid: Other M Premiere Edition[]
- Bosses (p. 19)
- Nightmare
- "Nightmare is a gravity-controlling monster that can weigh you down. During battle, Nightmare has two forms. At first, its face is covered by metal mask that shields Nightmare's true form. Nightmare's biggest weakness is its tail. With it, Nightmare controls gravity. If the tail is frozen, then Nightmare's hold over the gravitational pull is hampered. Use your Charge Beam to freeze Nightmare's tail, then use Super Missiles to destroy its mask."
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U trophy[]
"This biomechanical organism was created in secret by a group of scientists employed by the Galactic Federation. That six-eyed face would give anyone nightmares, but Samus mustn't hesitate to blast away at it! That ugly mug is the weakest spot on Nightmare's otherwise armored body."
Other appearances[]
Metroid Dread[]
Flashback in Metroid Dread.
Nightmare makes a cameo in the opening prologue of Metroid Dread, appearing alongside fellow Metroid Fusion bosses Arachnus, SA-X, and Omega Metroid while confronting Samus Aran. This specific scenario does not occur in canon and simply uses artistic license to summarize the events of the game's story.
Super Smash Bros.[]
Non-canon warning: This article or section contains information that may not be considered an official part of the Metroid series in the overall storyline by Nintendo.
Nightmare appears as a Trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, using its unmasked model from Other M.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nightmare is an Ace class Primary Spirit that can only be obtained by enhancing a Lv. 99 X Parasite, referencing Nightmare's appearance as an X host in Fusion. Just like the X Parasite, it is an Attack type, giving it advantage against Grab types and disadvantage against Shield types. In addition to two slots for equipping Support Spirits, Nightmare grants its user the Lifesteal skill, which steals an opponent's health with each hit. Interestingly, Nightmare's Spirit is depicted with previously-unreleased artwork that appears to be a variation of its Other M concept art.
Non-canon warning: Non-canonical information ends here.
Trivia[]
- Nightmare's gravity manipulation stops when the rotating generator at the bottom of its torso is destroyed.
- In Fusion, the gravity manipulation affects both the Gravity Suit and Omega Suit, despite the former nominally countering such effects.[citation needed]
- If Samus shoots Nightmare's body after the second battle, her shots will pass cleanly through it. However, the Wave Beam in Other M can only shoot through transparent objects.
- Nightmare's arms in Fusion can block Plasma Beam shots, preventing the Beam from piercing through.
- Nightmare's unmasked form in Other M is named Nightmare (Death Mask) (ナイトメア (デスマスク)) in Nintendo Official Guidebook for Metroid Other M. A death mask is a model of a deceased person's face.
- The Nightmare's first battle in Other M shares its theme with Goyagma. The second battle uses music shared with the fights against the Brug Mass, Fune, and Namihe. In Fusion, Nightmare has its own battle music.
- The sounds that Nightmare makes in Other M appear to be screeching cries of a baby.
- In early Metroid Fusion prototypes, a copy of Nightmare's room can be found located within Sector 6 (NOC).
- In a prototype version of Fusion, Nightmare's arms will knock back Samus multiple times, damaging her for each hit. In the final game, Samus's invincibility frames protect her from the arms, as with most attacks.
- In Nightmare's Room in Other M, there is a mechanical device in the center of the floor that resembles the Gravity Suit power-up from Super Metroid.
- In Fusion, Nightmare has three turrets on each arm, while in Other M, it has four turrets on each arm. It is possible that the X reconstructed Nightmare from scraps in the electronic junkyard without any prior knowledge, placing three turrets per arm, instead of four when the Galactic Federation first built it.
Gallery[]
Metroid: Other M[]
Metroid Fusion[]
.png "Nightmare phase 3 (face 2).png (20 KB)")
.png "Fusion Nightmare sprite (normal).png (6 KB)"){kind=icon}
(first phase)
.png "Fusion Nightmare sprite (dead).png (4 KB)"){kind=icon}
References[]
- ^ Adam: Apparently, it was a bio-mechanical organism designed for military applications... It possesses uncommon power and can manipulate gravity. Nintendo R&D1. Metroid Fusion. Nintendo. English. 2002-11-17.
- ^ Nintendo Official Guidebook for Metroid Other M
| Biomechanical | |
|---|---|
| Hybrids | Asborean • Chozo Statue • Darkling • Dark Samus • Dark Suit • Light Suit • PED Suit • Samus Aran • Omega Suit |
| Biomechanical | Aurora Unit • Security Robot B.O.X. • Cortex Chamber • Dark Diligence Drone • Dark Ingsmasher • Dark Quad • Fusion Suit • Mother Brain • Nightmare • Quadraxis • SA-X • Space Pirate Boarding Pod |
| Cyborgs | Crash Pillar • Ghor (-G) • Kyratian • Leviathan Battleship • Pirate Militia • Preed (Dark) • Puffer Mine • Ridley (Meta/Omega/Proteus) • Samus Aran • Slench • Space Pirate • Weavel • Zebesian (Cyborg/Super) Large Leviathan-class armed ship • U-ton |
| Bioweapons | |
|---|---|
| Space Pirates | Bombu • Class I Energy Harvester • Elite Pirate • Megaroid • Metroids • Mimic • Omega Pirate • Phazon Elite • Preed • Puffer Mine |
| Galactic Federation | Cyborg Zebesian • Nightmare • Queen Metroid • Super Zebesian • Unfreezable Metroid • X Parasite (desired) • SA-X (desired) |
| Other | Kanden • Quadtroid |
| Related | Bioweapon Research Center • Project Metroid Warriors •Special-forces unit |