Nightmare (Soulcalibur)

Nightmare (ナイトメア, Naitomea) is a fictional character in the Soulcalibur series of video games. The evil possessor of Siegfried Schtauffen (ジークフリート・シュタウフェン, Jīkufurīto Shutaufen)'s body, he later becomes an entity entirely separated from Siegfried in Soulcalibur III onward. Nightmare is the living incarnation of Soul Edge and a vessel for Inferno.

Nightmare first appeared in one of the possible endings and as an alternative skin for the Siegfried character in the game Soul Edge. In the sequel Soulcalibur, he was given a name and featured as a central character. Ever since then, Nightmare has been a major antagonist, with his ownership of Soul Edge making him the objective of many other characters in the story. Nightmare has served as a recurring antagonist in contrast to the protagonist role played by Siegfried, as well as serving as Siegfried's archenemy until Soulcalibur V, where Graf Dumas (actually Raphael Sorel) becomes the new host for Nightmare/Soul Edge/Inferno. In Soulcalibur VI, which serves as a reboot, Siegfried is once again Nightmare/Inferno's host once more.

Nightmare has appeared in all the sequels to Soulcalibur with visual differences between each game. His fighting style was altered from Soulcalibur II to Soulcalibur III after Siegfried became a separate character.