Headcanons

There exist great repositories in various fandoms of headcanons, places where fans can gather, exchange ideas, and compare notes. This is the NiGHTS fandom's. Please read the About page!

[nidheadcanons]

Do you believe that Reala can shapeshift into a Visitor’s loved ones just to trick them? Seeing as he can shapeshift, it wouldn’t surprise me. Also, how would he deal with a clever Visitor that can outsmart him?

On one hand, all of NiGHTS’s canon forms have them still fundamentally looking like NIGHTS, in terms of coloration, detail, clothes, etc.

On the other hand, the nightmaren in the cutscene dream sequences do completely blend in as humans.

So there’s a case for Reala to do either.

Personally, I hc that he can, but dislikes doing so, because he hates looking like a Visitor. As for the second question, presumably he would keep trying until he succeeded in taking down his prey.

[nidheadcanons]

After a… less that stellar performance in NiD, Wiseman stripped Puffy down to their base components and morphed them into a more horrifying form. Their arms became more noodle-like, their voice became almost comically squeaky, and the whole rabbit motif was scrapped in favour of a more clownlike take. Wiseman dubbed this recycled Nightmaren “Donbalon”, as well as giving them a message: “Fail once more, and your consequence shall be far more dire.”. Needless to say, Donbalon failed…

[nidheadcanons]

Dream creatures of all kinds feed on the feelings of others.

Nightopians gain energy by instilling positive feelings in others

Nightmarens gain energy from instilling negative feelings than others.

There are some creatures that can change polarity or be more ambiguous.

NiGHTS, by the way, has learned how to be kind and make friends, and has found it to be extraordinarily good for them.

(Honestly? Someone please use it.)

[nidheadcanons]

How do you think Reala would react to meeting a Visitor that can never feel fear?

I don’t think Reala would waste much time with a Visitor like that. Reala doesn’t have the same interest in Visitors NiGHTS does; they’re just tools or the source of Reala’s next harvest of ideya, so if they met someone they couldn’t scare, I think they would just... leave that person alone.

Kind of a boring answer, but.

[nidheadcanons]

NiGHTS will sometimes hide in Octopaw’s jar so she can cuddle him. 

Octopaw is very timid but is sometimes up for cuddles.

[nidheadcanons]

I think, story-wise, Selph would have been Nights’ replacement in Wizeman’s army after Nights rebelled.

Lord Wizeman made Selph to basically be Nights, but better. Selph can fly faster, turn quicker, strike harder, and take on more forms than Nights (and probably Reala) can. Selph can also change color. Because Selph knows he’s (?) one of, if not, the best Nightmaren Wizemen ever created, Selph has an ego and is a narcissist, but he tries to hide these traits from visitors initially.

As a boss, Selph would kidnap and hide Nights in Nightmare. He would then take on the appearance of Nights and try to trick Claire and Eliot into duelizing with him. The character you don’t play as falls for the ruse. Selph would duelize with the visitor, trap the visitor in the fusion, show his true appearance, and then bring the visitor directly to Wizeman, who would then take the all of the captured visitor’s ideya by force. The player character has to find a way to catch up and defeat Selph before Selph reaches Wizeman. Stage hazards would probably be involved. For example, tricking Selph to look into a mirror would cause him slow down or stop to admire himself for a moment. Once defeated, the other character is free, but the fight with Selph has brought both Claire and Eliot into Nightmare, where Nights is trapped and Wizeman can come face-to-face with the troublesome visitors for the final level.

The theme, “Know Thyself,” refers to how your character fights Selph alone and using only your character’s abilities, cunning, and strength.

[videogamesdensetsu]

NiGHTS into Dreams… / ナイツ (Saturn - Sega - 1996) Source: Sega Magazine 3 - January 1997

[dreamerpenelopi-blog]

Scrapped Reala Race #2 (with Helen, presumably Memory Forest)

ナイツは、あの<cFFFF00ff>牢屋<r2,ろうや><c>に閉<r1,と>じ込<r1,こ>められておる！ <c00FF00ff>ナイツを助<r1,たす>ける<c>んじゃ！

また会<r1,あ>ったねぇ… ビジター…

わざわざ別<r1,べつ>の世界<r2,せかい>に 飛<r1,と>ばしてあげたのに まさか戻<r1,もど>って来<r1,く>るなんて 恐<r1,おそ>れ入<r1,い>ったよ…

こいつが 私<r1,わたし>と同<r1,おな>じナイトメアンだってこと… 教<r1,おし>えてあげただろ？

ナイツが どこの誰<r1,だれ>だって 関係<r2,かんけい>ない！

ナイツは… わたしの 大切<r2,たいせつ>な友<r1,とも>だちだから！

キサマ… 下賤<r2,げせん>な小娘<r2,こむすめ>の分際<r2,ぶんざい>で…

この私<r1,わたし>の手<r1,て>を… 許<r1,ゆる>せん！！

きゃっ！

おっと！

勝負<r2,しょうぶ>は レースでつけるんじゃ なかったのかい？

ナニ！

それとも… 空<r1,そら>のレースじゃ オレたちには敵<r1,かな>わないってか？

ナイツ… キサマ…！

いいだろう… まずは 望<r1,のぞ>み<r1,どお>りの方法<r2,ほうほう>で お前<r1,まえ>たちに 敗北<r2,はいぼく>を味<r2あじ>わわせてやろう…

そして そのあと じっくりと ビジターの心<r1,こころ>を 切<r1,き>り刻<r2きざ>んでやる…！

大丈夫<r3,だいじょうぶ>！ オレたちなら 負けやしないさ！

うん…

よぉし リアラ！ 始<r1,はじ>めようぜ！

So, we meet again, Visitor.

I must say that I’m flattered. I sent you all the way to another world, and you still came back to see me.

Has NiGHTS finally admitted, then, to being a Nightmaren like me?

It doesn’t matter WHAT NiGHTS is…

What matters is WHO NiGHTS is… And NiGHTS is my friend!

You… irritating little… child!

I will not tolerate such insolence!

Aah!

Hey!

I thought we were going to settle things with a race, weren’t we?

What?!

Or are you going to finally fess up that you’re no match for us?

NiGHTS… Don’t be ridiculous!

Very well, then. We’ll do it your way. And you will not succeed.

And when you do fail, I will destroy the Visitor’s soul once and for all!

It’s all right, Helen. We won’t lose!

Okay.

All right, Reala! Let’s go!

[nidheadcanons]

Nightmarens have bodies kind of like dolls, and they can be broken and put back together. Sometimes as punishment for insubordination, Wiseman would break them. The marks across Reala’s arms and legs are places in which they’ve had to be put back together. NiGHTS actually has more of these marks, obscured by their clothes.

[nidheadcanons]

Nightopia/the Dream World is a slice of the astral plane. That explains how it fits into/works with the world of humans, and why it’s easy for humans to cross over when they’re sleeping, since astral projection is based in meditation/entering a different state of mind. 

[nidheadcanons]

Mushy stuff because no shame. :D When NiGHTS runs away and discovers what Nightopia’s really like, you bet he cries, not only is he free, but everybody’s so nice…so many people are nice to NiGHTS even though he’s a Nightmaren. Everybody’s vicious in Nightmare and he is so, hopelessly unprepared. It even takes it a moment to sink in instead of feeling condescended or thinking he’s tricked people like how he was created to, when it does his mind is just blown.

[nidheadcanons]

Nightmarens really like custard. 

[infinitybillion-stars-deactivat]

"Christmas NiGHTS" Bonus Content!

It’s that magical time of the year when Nightopia gets a little more festive as the Christmas spirit transforms Spring Valley into a winter wonderland.  Here are a few little surprises to look out for during this cheerful interval:

In “Winter NiGHTS” mode, look out for constellations in the skies over Nightopia.

“Jack Frost’s Chime” remixes itself based on the Nightopians’ feelings towards NiGHTS.  If they reach maximum happiness, you’ll be able to hear little stylized snippets of favorite holiday tunes mixed into the BGM!

In “Christmas NiGHTS” mode, Nightopians on the ground will chirp and whistle as usual, but sometimes they might trill a few notes from “Silent Night” and “Ode to Joy.”

Depending on your clock settings, the background skies and foreground snowfall in “Christmas NiGHTS” will change.  Here is a list of the different features and how to activate them!

Additionally, the Saturn version of the game has a bunch of unlockable goodies via Presents Mode, such as Link Challenge, Time Attack, Melody Box, Nightopian Collection, Karaoke, and of course, the infamous Sonic into Dreams segment :)

Have fun!

[nidheadcanons]

(kinda following from the last) NiGHTS mostly appears cute now because of it’s friendly and sunny disposition,but when it worked for Wiseman it was a lot more matching in regards to Reala; more scary and with “paint” on it’s face.

That said, even now, the way NiGHTS looks kind of depends on whether dreamers believe it’s is something to be afraid of. It’s not a major change, NiGHTS will just look a little fiercer and a little “blank”; hard to read in emotion or as if pretending.

[nidheadcanons]

While there isn’t really clear a clear boundary between how a nightmaren looks and how a dreamer perceives that nightmaren, a first level’s appearance reflects it’s own emotion and personality more, while second and third levels only change to match dreamers fears.

[nidheadcanons]

Is this blog dead or just pretending?

I’m not sure what you mean by pretending, but this is a submissions-based blog. Unfortunately, there are no submissions in the inbox and haven’t been in quite a while.

[nidheadcanons]

If Nightopians are created when Ideya collide, when are Nightmarens created? What is the dark energy that manifests the darkness in the hearts of Visitors?

Broken Ideya.

Broken (not fragmented) Ideya are Ideya whose cores are cracked. they no longer give off light energy but instead radiate a darkness representing the opposite of their original type (Cowardice, Ignorance, Hopelessness, Regression, Corruption). Unlike Nightopians, who wish only to play, beings created by the collisions of broken Ideya have an insatiable desire to destroy. Before Wizeman was born in the bowels of the Night Dimension’s shadow half, Ideya were broken when Visitors died without reuniting with the Ideya they were missing. The Nightopian dream worlds and the denizens sustained by those Ideya were consumed by the darkness.

Wizeman himself was created by the collision of one Ideya of each color, all broken. He developed an immediate distaste for Nightopia’s light and the Visitors who enjoyed it, his ultimate goal being to take down both groups permanently. He gave form to the dark energy around him and made it his kingdom. The bridge he is building to the Waking World is so vast, he needs thousands of Ideya—millions of fragments—to make it.

Third-Level Nightmarens are created from the collision of two cracked, non-Red Ideya. The similarity in origin they have to Nightopians makes it possible for them to interbreed. These “savage morons” do not have individual souls like their upper-level counterparts.

First- and Second-Level Nightmarens are formed by the collision of three to four cracked Ideya. First Levelers are the only ones created with broken Red Ideya. This may be why they generally have a will of their own and are less instinctive, though some anomalies exist among Second Levelers, as well. Nightmarens are said to have replaceable souls—these are experiments on Wizeman’s part, created by cracked Ideya that have had parts of their cores removed. Removing different pieces, and a different amount if pieces, results in a different character for every soul. The pieces that have been broken off are applied to the bridge to the Waking World.

Wizeman has abilities to create and destroy. Does Nightopia have an equivalent?

Owl was created with five normal Ideya colliding together, but lacking a Red and instead containing two Blues. His creative abilities are limited, but he can teleport and shapeshift into small beings (the old bird we know from JOD may not be his “original” form), and he has a long memory. He is connected with the good in Visitors’ hearts, as Wizeman is connected with the evil. Both are immortal. Owl hates the shadow half of the Night Dimension, but only because of the atrocities Wizeman commits to upset the balance of light and dark.

Ideya whose owners have passed away in the waking world return to Nightopia to sustain the dream worlds they create.

To summarize: Nightmare and all its residents are created from cracked, malfunctioning Ideya. Wizeman fragments corrupted Ideya to connect the Night Dimension to the waking world. Owl is his antithesis and counters his creative abilities with teleportation and shapeshifting.