The Nightmare

The Nightmare
Gender	Male
Skin Color	Red
Eye Color	White (SMS) Orange (SMS2)
Appearance	21

“	I am pain. I am torture. I am death.	”
	— The Nightmare, 123 Slaughter Me Street 2.

"The Nightmare" is a demon and one of the antagonists in the 123 Slaughter Me Street series. In 123 Slaughter Me Street, his head only appears after the end credits. "The Nightmare" also appeared as the main antagonist and secret character in 123 Slaughter Me Street 2.

He eventually appeared in 123 Slaughter Me Street Retro as a boss in three levels.

Appearance

In the first game, his visible red, furry head sports gray horns which point downwards. He has glowing white eyes with black sideways slit pupils and a round pink nose. He also has a big, wide mouth and sharp white teeth where the gums are visible. He lacked the ears he now has.

In the second game, his physical appearance takes on a more monstrous form, with large, sharp white teeth as well as spikes on his chest and leathery wings. He has orange cat-like eyes, long black horns, and fur only on his head. He still has his round pink nose. His body is more grotesque and has a more scaly-like texture as well. He also has no limbs and large goat-like ears. He has black spikes on his front and red fur going down his small hump-like back.

Gameplay

123 Slaughter Me Street

He only appears as a cameo appearance at the end of the game, and his full body is not seen. He is a 2-D image in a fire background. After "chomping" the black screen as the credits end, he seems to stare directly at the player with his eyes glowing brightly. A deep laughter is also heard. The Nightmare then slowly floats away into the darkness.

It is unknown what significance he has to the story at this point, and it is possible that he was responsible for the game taking place.

123 Slaughter Me Street 2

"The Nightmare" now takes a bigger role in the prequel while his whole body is now revealed.

From three cutscenes after beating some levels, he speak lines of dialogue in the form of a poem with a demonic voice. These lines are in order:

“	These hands of mine you did not make, much less my breath you stole its shape!	”
	— After completing Level 3.

“	Brought up you did, in Mulciber-mind, from the Stygian pit, a darker kind.	”
	— After completing Level 6.

“	Diminished on stage! To bumble, to kid. Now we played you... The deed YOU did!	”
	— After completing Level 8.

From outside of the yard, "the Nightmare" will sometimes open the shed's door revealing himself while the shed seems to burn with flames. Once he opens the shed door, he will say "I am pain, I am torture, I am death." and start flying towards the player. The player needs to run, otherwise, Nightmare will catch and kill them. Note that it is better for the player to quickly head back inside the house when this situation occurs.

He also appears on the TV on Level 10: What Have You Done, but can't hurt the player through the T.V; only from outside. While speaking from the TV, his words are in reverse.

123 Slaughter Me Street Retro

The Nightmare appears as a boss in three out of ten levels. His two main attacks are hovering above the player and spawning smaller versions of himself.

Symbolism

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This article or section contain speculation, so please keep that in mind while reading.

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From the second game, "the Nightmare" may represent Tim Denson's daughter's drawing of an owl as seen from the refrigerator in the kitchen. While observing this drawing, the owl looks eerily similar to "the Nightmare" as his appearance may be based on either the real-life great horned owl or long-eared owl, and especially colored in red. The owl could be the girl's favorite animal as the Nightmare is based. Furthermore, the drawing of an owl landing on the person's head looks similar to the scene from the opening cutscene where Tim Denson becoming insane with the Nightmare being seen, as "Nightmare" is responsible for tempting Tim to make him murder his own daughter.

His appearance and the way he speaks to Tim Denson from the opening cutscene to kill may be similar to Satan (the Devil) from the Bible - Both Satan and "the Nightmare" have a similar appearance (as Satan is pictured in other media as a red horned creature) and tempt their victims to do something wrong.

Trivia

• The Nightmare may be based off the popular Jim Henson's Muppet character Elmo from Sesame Street.
• "the Nightmare" is the only known character from the entire series to speak.
• His early model from the second game look slightly different from his final build with a rather wide smile and lack of fur on his head instead having scales.

  

• Interestingly, the Nightmare from the second game's teaser looks nearly identical to himself from the first game's credit.
• He is the shortest puppet in the entire series.
• Strangely, from the second game's opening intro, the Nightmare's appearance looks similar to him from the first game and the teaser art with his horns pointing down and lack of ears, despite him giving a new look for the game. It is unknown why, but it is theorized that it may be one of the Nightmare's spawns that previously appeared in Retro as smaller versions of the Nightmare which could explain why it looks different compared to the Nightmare, or it may be just another different puppet. If it is true, then the Nightmare's "smaller spawn" appeared in the first game and corrupted Tim Denson all along.
• From one of the screenshots during the second game's development, the Nightmare is seen flying inside the house from the second floor. He was never seen doing that in the final game, however.
• The Nightmare is the only antagonist in the second game to make an appearance in the first game albeit as a cameo.
• The Nightmare is also the only antagonist who is set to appear in every game and is also the only antagonist in the first and second games to be a demon instead of a puppet.