The Princess/The Nightmare

> I wonder how many times I'll get to play with you before you break.
>
> **The Nightmare**

## Gallery

After your attempt of abandoning the Princess in the basement went wrong, **the Nightmare Princess** now desires to escape the cabin to wreak havoc and terror on the outside world. Trying to slay her now is difficult, since just being around her terrifies you, but it's either that or living a waking nightmare.

## Description

**The Nightmare Princess** is encountered in Chapter II: The Nightmare, if the Player chose to leave the Princess in the basement instead of slaying her or freeing her. The Nightmare is the Player's perception of the Princess as a terrifying nightmare entity whose mere presence causes so much horror that it kills him.

### Physical Appearance

As the Nightmare Princess, the Princess takes the form of a haunting and terrifying ghost-like figure. Her hair has taken a darker shade from the Princess' usual blonde, and in place of a face is a cracked, doll-like mask. Beneath the mask, only her large eyes and lips stand out amongst a void of blackness. Her crown is ordinate and regal. Her body is all black, including her dress, and she wears long, velvet opera gloves. She does not have legs, instead her dress is tattered from the lower body, giving a greater impression of a ghostly figure. Unlike most forms of the Princess, the Nightmare is completely unshackled (it helps that there is no longer a wall to chain her to).

In Chapter I, after the Player commits to leaving the Princess in her prison, she becomes a ghostly, wailing figure who flickers in and out of reality. Her eyes bulge and she shambles towards the Player before his body gives out.

### Personality

> Ah, and there's the fear.
>
> The Nightmare, after nearly collapsing every one of your organs just by grazing your neck.

The Nightmare is cruel yet playful. Her mask gives the impression that she is always smiling, and she takes pleasure in seeing the Player struggle to stay alive in her presence. One of the more malicious forms of the Princess, the Nightmare gleefully describes their goal to be to leave the cabin in order to spread terror

* **A tender heart**: Deep down, however, is a saddened and lost soul who only seeks companionship. She knows only how to hurt people, and felt the only way to convince the Player to let her leave was to scare him into submission. If the Player refuses to slay her or free her from the basement, she remove her mask and allows the Player to see her innermost self, where the Narrator describes how the cycle of death and rebirth has made her lonelier and worse. The Shifting Mound explains that she wanted the Player to understand her, and a scene from her perspective implies that she was greatly saddened by his rejecting her.

### Powers & Abilities

The Nightmare has the natural ability to cause people's organs to shut off and eventually die if they are in her presence. She can overcome the Voices' attempts to keep the Player alive simply by touching him.

The Nightmare has full control over the basement, transforming it into an endless void that can twist and turn however she pleases. She can appear and reappear wherever she wants. She can choose if and when the basement stairs appear, and even if she is killed, the void remains unchanged, trapping the Player until he ends his life with the Pristine Blade or expires from starvation.

Despite her spectral figure, the Nightmare is not intangible and can be killed by a stab to the heart. Like all other forms of the Princess, she cannot leave the cabin of her own accord or without the consent of the Player.

## In Chapter I: The Hero and the Princess

Instead of slaying or saving the Princess, the Player chooses to leave the Princess in the basement. Scurrying up the stairs, the Player locks the basement door and barricades it with the nearby table. He sits by the cabin door, trying to block out the sounds of the Princess banging on the door, wailing and threatening to "pick him apart piece by piece" him.

After some time, the Player, having fallen asleep, suddenly awakens to the sight of the basement door open, the table flung to the side. The Princess, with a twisted visage, flickering in and out of reality, slowly approaches the Player. As she gets closer, his body slowly begins to shut down before he perishes from sheer terror.

The Princess then tried to leave the cabin, but was unable to, and she then became trapped in the basement once again.

## A Terrifying Vessel

> This one is filled with sadness. A doll abandoned to the company of her darkest impulses. She desires only companionship, but the only thing she knows is how to hurt. She will make for a tender heart.
>
> The Shifting Mound

The Player allowing the Princess to escape the cabin will have her claimed by the Shifting Mound. Like all vessels, the Nightmare is no longer capable of thought, though the Shifting Mound senses sadness in her heart, despite her ill intentions towards the Player and the world.

In the endgame, if the Player confronts the Shifting Mound and has given her the Nightmare as one of her vessels, the Shifting Mound will use her perspective as the Nightmare to argue.

## Trivia

* If the Player leaves the Princess in the basement after leaving to retrieve the Pristine Blade, a unique sprite of the "proto-Nightmare" has the right arm she removed to slip her chains follow her. Unlike the rest of her body, the severed arm does not flicker, even if the "Flickering Images" effect is on. This effect does not carry onto the formal Nightmare Princess, though she will remember the events.
* The Nightmare and the Drowned Grey are the only forms of the Princess without blonde hair.

## Gallery

### Final Game

The Nightmare creates the stairs to the basmeent.The Nightmare pushes the Player into the void.The Nightmare cocks her head.A playful Nightmare.The Nightmare sheds a single tear.The Nightmare calls the Player a coward.A playful Nightmare.
### Demo

The Nightmare from the demo.The Nightmare achievement from the demo.
### Concept Art

Concept art for the Nightmare.A sketch of the Nightmare (twitter)