Nightmare (Soulcalibur)

Nightmare
Soul character
Nightmare as he appears in Soulcalibur II
First game	Soul Edge (as Siegfried! and Inferno) Soulcalibur
Designed by	Aya Takemura (Soulcalibur II-IV), Takuji Kawano (Soulcalibur II-IV, Legends)
Voiced by (English)	Ted D' Agostino (SCII)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Nobuyuki Hiyama (SC, SCII) Fumihiko Tachiki (SCIII) Kōsei Hirota (SCL, SCIV) Yasunori Masutani (SCV)
Fictional profile
Fighting style	Original style
Weapon	Soul Edge (Zweihänder)

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

Nightmare first appeared in one of the possible endings 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 the main antagonist and owner of the powerful evil sword Soul Edge, and thus the objective of most other characters in the story. Appearing in every game of the series, 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 Soul Calibur V where a new Nightmare was there. Nightmare has appeared in all the sequels to Soulcalibur, visually different for each game. His fighting style was altered from Soulcalibur II to Soulcalibur III because Siegfried was now a distinct character in terms of both gameplay and story.

Even though Nightmare originally debuted in Soulcalibur, its predecessor, Soul Edge, featured a prototype of his character. In the home version, an extra character named "Siegfried!" was added as an unlockable character. "Siegfried!" was an alternate version of normal Siegfried taken from his no-input ending, where he was consumed by the cursed sword Soul Edge. This early version was much different from the former Nightmare, having crimson armor and a more flesh-like design, almost as if he were part of Soul Edge itself. He has no story nor ending, and only used Siegfried's Soul Edge without effects. In the conclusion of Soul Edge, Siegfried battled with the corrupted pirate Cervantes de Leon and eventually came into possession of the Soul Edge with its lingering spirit, Inferno. Soul Edge tempted Siegfried to wield it with a promise to resurrect his dead father in exchange for gathering souls for its consumption. Not knowing that he is just being used, Siegfried agreed and started killing people to gather souls. Eventually, Soul Edge consumed him and Nightmare is born.