Graf Dumas (Nightmare)

## Personal Info

Gender: Male

Height: 5’10 (178)

Weight: 336 (152)

Weapon: Zweihander Soul Edge

Weapon Name: Soul Edge

## History

Soul Calibur 5

After its destruction by Soul Calibur, Soul Edge was
shattered, its fragments scattered across the world. However, minions still
loyal to the cursed sword managed to track down the shards, and reassembled as
much of the sword as they could. Five years later, Soul Edge regained
consciousness and possessed a new host, which it had prepared as an experiment
to see if it could maintain its preferred form while taking a new host. Unlike
the Azure Knight who had swept through Europe as a genocidal monster, this
"new Nightmare" preferred subterfuge and diplomacy. He assumed the
name "Dumas", and became part of the inner circle of Emperor Rudolf
II of the Holy Roman Empire. He became the Graf, or Count, of the Kingdom of
Hungary. From this position he would sent his servants to regain the missing
Soul Edge fragments while organizing purges against innocents he deemed
"malfested" in order to harvest souls to bolster his strength.

In 1607, "Graf Dumas" manipulates Patroklos into
slaughtering "malfested" by claiming to help him search for his
missing sister, Pyrrha. Eventually, Patroklos violently leaves his service and
flees. Later, after reuniting with his sister, he encounters "Dumas",
who has reached his full power and reveals himself as Nightmare. He attacks
Patroklos but is stopped by Pyrrha, who becomes truly malfested. With his power
restored, Nightmare and his corrupted followers cause war throughout Central
Europe. At Castle Denevér, he is defeated and killed by Z.W.E.I., Pyrrha
becomes the new host of Soul Edge. Pyrrha is then defeated by Patroklos, and in
the end both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur are sealed back inside the Astral Chaos.

## Critical Edge

**Dark Reconquista**: Nightmare holds his sword up, calls for it, saying
"Soul Edge", and does one heavy vertical slash to knock his opponent
to the ground while saying "Burn!".

The actual slash is delayed while Nightmare holds up his sword for about 1
second. Attacking him while he holds up the sword will cause a Guard Impact and
trigger the slash, which deals about a 3rd life bar of damage. If he's not
attacked in the meantime, the slash causes more than half life bar damage,
however, it can be easily dodged moving horizontally or stepping back and like
most critical edges, can be blocked. Also, due to the delay, it can be canceled
by grappling the opponent.

## Weapon Arts

**Grim Lord**: This Weapon Art is basically his Brave Edge from SCV
called Grim Lord's Auto-da-fe. It consists of four hits: the first one is a
rather strong middle kick attack, which works like a launcher, so that the next
high Break Attack can catch an enemy in mid-air. Then, time slows down a bit,
and the camera changes its angle as Nightmare is holding his opponent in his
twisted arm and then unleashes the most damaging blow with a bursting sound,
which is also a new addition, by emitting dark red energy which surrounds him,
forming a sphere. After being blasted by this energy sphere, an enemy also
receives minor damage by falling on the ground. None of these three moves stun
an enemy. During the attack Nightmare says: "No escape" and sometimes
adds "Shatter!" at the end. This Weapon Art provides a safe start
(you totally won't be interrupted) and a decent medium range. It's abilities to
chain combos got a little expanded, since now after its last strike you can
follow up with some guaranteed hits, though another Grim Lord, as before, can
be avoided by an enemy's Ukemi and after certain attacks, like Shadow Crusher,
it can't extend a combo anymore. An enemy's Soul Break (the only one or the
last one) may also ruin the most damaging part of the attack in case the first
strike misses (or he blocks it) and the second one hits and performs a Soul
Break. You can catch an opponent with that attack both when he's in mid-air and
lying idly on the ground. It's same punishable as before, as enemies can crouch
under the second high attack, but at any rate, now it enables you to interrupt
an opponent in the middle of series of his attacks. On top of all, it still has
great wall combo opportunities.

**Bloody Invasion**: That's yet another Nightmare's Brave Edge and Break
Attack at the same time. Its SCV name is Bloody Lord's Invasion. At the
beginning he raises his hand and then hits it heavily against the ground saying
"Run if you can" and creating a tremor. It always stuns an opponent
and it causes Guard Burst if an enemy guards against it. The range of this
Weapon Art is short, though due to the tremor you may call it medium. It has a
completely safe but rather slow start, too slow to use it several times in a
row. In fact, the only combo it can extend is a wall combo. If this single
attack is landed successfully on a standing opponent, you won't be able to
create any combo after it (besides a single lower kick), but if an enemy is damaged
by it while lying or in mid-air or just stunned by the tremor, you'll have a
chance to continue attacking him.

**Soul Wave**: It's his regular single attack, but now it works and looks
in a slightly different way. At the beginning of the animation the camera zooms
in, Nightmare bows down, crossing his hands and storing energy, as we can see
electric bolts gather around him. A stage starts to shake and by straightening
up and shouting "Hate!" Nightmare releases a crimson energy sphere
now accompanied with an additional ring of light and explosion sound. If you
have a closer look at this move in SCV, you'll see, that in case Nightmare is
damaged during its activation, the sphere will change in terms of looks and
distance. And that's the sphere that we have here, more broad and less bright.
This attack doesn't stun an opponent and provides medium range, since a shock
wave may affect him even at distance. Now it has an immediate safe start and
Guard Impact goes off once a single hit activates it, saving Nightmare from
receiving any damage. By the way, it can be activated both before and after the
animation, and it works even with low moves, so you certainly won't be
interrupted. Whether Guard Impact has been activated or not, the damage remains
the same. Its start is now way quicker and you can use this Weapon Art in the
middle of a combo, but you won't be able to add anything guaranteed after it.
Nonetheless, if your enemy is hit by it while in mid-air, it will be possible
to follow up with some guaranteed combos and another Soul Wave will be a
guaranteed hit too. Lying opponents can be damaged by it as well, though
without a combo opportunity. Moreover, this Weapon Art can cause a wall hit
(only with standing opponents), works nicely you are attacked from behind, can
be used to extend a wall combo, hitting an enemy against the wall once again
and cannot be punished in contrast to its SCV version, so don't be shy to use
it randomly.

**Death Row**: This is a part of a Brave Edge move called Death Lord's
Annihilation. There are two hits in this Weapon Art. The first one is a high
punch which knocks an enemy down and then goes a middle long-range stabbing
Break Attack with Nightmare whirling his sword in colored flames and saying
"Ravage!". He pushes forward twice (during the first and the second
strike), which makes the range of the first attack medium, but it's a
long-range Weapon Art judging by the second strike, that is more damaging by
the way. If the second strike is delivered successfully, bursting sound can be
heard, the camera angle changes and time slows down for a while. It has quite a
quick start, the attack itself takes a little time, and in addition you can't
be interrupted by any of the coming attacks. Though there's a chance you'll
interrupted between these two attack in case the first one misses. However, you
surely won't be punished if an enemy blocks the second attack. Both of the
attacks will be performed even if they miss. With the first move from original
Brave Edge removed, now it turns into a guaranteed combo if it hits an enemy in
mid-air, but it requires perfect timing, as you may slip under an enemy because
of its quickness. Enemies on the ground still won't be affected by it and it's
hard to extend wall combos with. It will be possible to perform guaranteed
combos after it if the whole Death Row is successfully performed on a standing
opponent. None of its attacks stun an opponent and both of them can hit him
against the wall (only while standing).

**Dark Reconquista**: That's Nightmare's Critical Edge with a few
technical alterations. During this single medium range vertical Break Attack he
says: "Soul Edge, burn!". A noticeable feature is that the sword
always has a yellow flame when Nightmare delivers a blow. Basically, it works
the same way as in SCV, but now it doesn't have a long version and there's no
more cracks under his feet. The attack triggers almost immediately after
pressing, so now it can pretty easily extend a wall combo and catch enemies in
mid-air or on the ground. This will lead to further stun (or just stun) and
that's when you can extend a combo and even use this Weapon Art twice
consecutively. Otherwise, it will have the same effect as in SCV and you won't
be able to add anything after it. Guard Impact won't go off if an enemy's attack
is low, and its start can be regarded as slow, because you may be interrupted
by all sorts of attacks before the animation, so be careful with timing. Its
damage remains the same regardless of Guard Impact activation, but it improves
greatly under the influence of Counter Attack. Dark Reconquista has become more
easy to use in combat in terms of chaining, but it has lost its Guard Impact
potential, since now it wouldn't work on low attacks, and isn't really safe in
general, although if an enemy blocks it, there's no way you can be punished.