NiGHTS (ナイツ Naitsu), also spelled as Nights, is the NiGHTS series' main protagonist. NiGHTS is a First-level Nightmaren who was created to do evil, but they decided against it and betrayed their own kind.
NiGHTS is a genderless being according to the game's director, Takashi Iizuka, who is up to the player to interpret.[2] Their gender and pronouns are up for interpretation by each individual player, as everyone has different dreams. However, NiGHTS is occasionally referred to with male pronouns in the games' canon.
Naoto Ohshima created the original design of NiGHTS themself, with Kazuyuki Hoshino being the character designer for NiGHTS into Dreams. When Sega announced the sequel game, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Ohshima had already left the company by that point, so Hoshino was placed in charge of all character design for NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams.
In an interview, Ohshima revealed that the major influence in the creation of NiGHTS was the wish to make a positive character who would be suitable for the dawn of a new era, a character who would be ready to greet the 21st century. Someone people would look at and think, “the future looks bright”.[3]
According to Yuji Naka, NiGHTS symbolizes "The Shadow" archetype from the works of the psychoanalysts Carl Jung about human subconscious[4] and they have a jester-like appearance because jesters can look cheerful and happy, but also evil and mean spirit, fitting with the world of the dreams thematic.[4]
Also according to Yuji Naka, they wanted to differ NiGHTS' name from the word "Nights." Therefore, they had the idea of writing all of the letters in NiGHTS' name but the "i" in uppercase, an idea imagined from the gem on NiGHTS' chest.[4]
Character Information[]
Backstory[]
NiGHTS was created by the God of Nightmare, Wizeman the Wicked. Being one of Wizeman's strongest creations, their purpose was to do evil, destroy the world of dreams and steal a type of human's dream energy called Ideya, so that their master could open a portal to the Waking World.[5] However, NiGHTS disagreed with their creators goals and rebelled against Wizeman and fellow Nightmarens.
To protect the world of dreams, NiGHTS has the assistance of human children, who allow NiGHTS to use their Ideyas (dream energy) to make them powerful enough to fight against the Nightmarens.
Physical Appearance[]
NiGHTS has a thin, humanoid form, beige skin, large bluish-purple/purplish-blue eyes with cattish slitted pupils, and razor sharp shark like teeth. They also have large, black eyelashes. They wear a violet and dark purple-striped, two-horned purple jester cowl on their head.
NiGHTS' hands and head are not connected to a visible body, with a physical form being on inferred based on their clothes. Much like Reala, NiGHTS also lacks a nose.
NiGHTS as they appear in NiGHTS into Dreams.
In NiGHTS into Dreams, NiGHTS wears a purple and white unitard or possibly purple unitard with a white shirt, the sleeves are baggy with purple and yellow cuffs. NiGHTS' clothes are embroidered with silver thread on the arms and legs. They also wear a small sleeveless pink vest with yellow trim and 4 yellow star-like buttons on it, with 2 on the left side, and 2 on the right side.
In the sequel, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, NiGHTS' attire is mostly the same. For example, they still wear the same white shirt with purple and yellow cuffs. however, they now wear a pink and red small sleeveless vest accented with yellow star buttons and yellow trim, with blue crystal studs in the collar. A small orange ruff collar is located inside the jacket collar.
NIGHTS' boots are half pink and purple, striped with yellow in between. NiGHTS also has silver thread symbols on their arms and legs, giving them a more regal appearance than their first appearance.
A notable feature on NiGHTS is the large pinkish-red jewel on their chest. While the purpose and origin of this jewel is unknown, some fans believe the jewel is a part of the red Ideya, which represents bravery. It is worth noting that, in the Archie Comics published mini-series, NiGHTS into Dreams, the jewel is shown to be a shard of a red Ideya sphere that broke off and latched onto NiGHTS' chest. Since the Archie comics series is set in its own continuity, this is a non-canon explanation that is exclusive to the Archie comics series.
Personality[]
NiGHTS showing to be mischievous.
NiGHTS is very mysterious and graceful, at the same time, mischievous and playful. Being very free spirited, they won't follow anybody's orders unless they want to. According to the NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams manual, NiGHTS likes to scare and make fun of people, and they don't have a strong sense of right and wrong.[6]
Despite being the savior of the world of dreams, NiGHTS still appears to have some devious Nightmaren traits within them. This is shown in the NiGHTS Storybook, where NiGHTS is arrogant and rude towards Elliot, despite the latter helping them. When Reala imprisoned NiGHTS inside an Ideya Palace, neither NiGHTS nor Elliot knew how to break through it. Yet, NiGHTS would still act like this was Elliot's responsibility and order him to find a way out by himself. As Elliot didn't know what to do, NiGHTS would insult him. The Storybook also shows that NiGHTS is very childish and naive, as when Reala challenges them for a game, they fail to notice it is a trap.
Despite these negative traits, NiGHTS still knows when they have to be mature and serious. They also care about their friends. This was shown in NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, where NiGHTS didn't want to go to the Sky Concert with Helen at first, but once they saw it was important to her, they changed their mind to please her and in the storybook, where they congratulated Elliot for his bravery and kept him calm during the fight against Wizeman. This indicates that NiGHTS may have started caring about Nightopia and the humans after starting the rebellion.
NiGHTS appears to dislike revealing their identity as a Nightmaren to visitors, and gets displeased when Reala refers to them as such. In Journey of Dreams, Helen is horrified to learn that NiGHTS is a Nightmaren, which upsets NiGHTS so much that they fail to notice Reala paralooping Helen. This likely shows that NiGHTS wants to be friends and feels rejected when people judge them for being a Nightmaren. Curiously, in the NiGHTS Storybook, they didn't mind when Elliot found that out.
Relationships[]
Visitors[]
NiGHTS is kind toward the children in both games, helping all four of them to defeat Wizeman on two separate occasions. NiGHTS shows the children around different Dream Worlds and works together with them to dispatch numerous Nightmaren and overcome their fears.
Owl[]
NiGHTS seems to have mixed feelings about Owl, finding him quaint yet tiresome. They tends to act rudely towards Owl by being extremely quick to interrupt or push Owl out the way when he tries to teach something. NiGHTS is likewise testing of Owl's patience, but Owl refers to NiGHTS as a "carefree rascal" in a friendly manner.
Wizeman[]
NiGHTS has a particular hatred for Wizeman, having disagreed with his goals and is glad to put an end to them. It's unclear as to the exact reasons, though it seems likely that at the very least, NiGHTS simply values freedom for himself and others. He is NiGHTS's creator.
Reala[]
NiGHTS and Reala's relationship is awkward and seems to reflect mutual feelings of betrayal. NiGHTS tries to brush Reala off while Reala tries to persuade NiGHTS to return to Wizeman, before the situation escalates into a fight.
Abilities[]
Flight[]
The power of flight is one of NiGHTS's most iconic traits.
NiGHTS possesses great flight capabilities and is fast and graceful; this is notable among Nightmarens[7], which typically fly. In NiGHTS into Dreams, NiGHTS can fly through a hoop to activate a Trick Ribbon, which allows the player to gain points by performing stunts.
Dualizing[]
NiGHTS has the ability to Dualize with Visitors. With this at their disposal, NiGHTS and a visitor can assimilate with one another or become in sync. To achieve this, the two must touch or hold hands. While they are Dualized, the Visitor literally becomes NiGHTS and either one can be in control of the other's movements, mostly NiGHTS. This also helps them to escape the "NiGHTS Capture" as Dualizing with a Visitor who possesses the Red Ideya of Courage is enough to break NiGHTS free of the inescapable cage. This is a required ability when using NiGHTS in both games.
Drill Dash[]
NiGHTS can also use an attack called the Drill Dash, which is the most basic attack. With this ability, NIGHTS is able to attack and defeat a simple Third-level Nightmaren. The Drill Dash can also help NiGHTS move or fly twice as fast merely to catch up with Goodles in NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. The drill dash is a possible reference to Sonic the Hedgehog's Spin Dash as both abilities require a form of spinning (Sonic spins into a spiky ball while NiGHTS spins into a spiral or a screw) and can be used to attack enemies and move faster.
Touch-Dash[]
When NiGHTS grabs third level Nightmarens, they can drill dash into them, throwing the Nightmarens back with more strength.
Strength[]
To some extent, NiGHTS is shown to have strength above that of a normal person as they can move objects and wound creatures (or in which case a Nightmaren) three to four times their size.
NiGHTS is able to transform into a boat and a roller coaster, as well as rolling up in a ball to slide down slippery slopes, this being a possible reference to Sonic Team's title character, Sonic the Hedgehog.
In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed, NiGHTS is able to take the form of a race car, a speedboat, and a jet plane.
In NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, certain transformations, such as a dragon (impervious to wind), rocket (acceleration), and dolphin (swim in water) require the use of Persona Masks.
NiGHTS can create small portals, called Paraloops, with the "Twinkle Dust" that emits from its hands by flying in a circle. This ability sends who or whatever gets sucked into an unknown space, but in NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams the Paraloop simply sends Nightopians (and apparently Nightmarens) to the My Dreamworld. This ability is also useful in collecting Blue Chips and certain other items. NiGHTS' Paraloop is considered a hammerspace for the items they collects and a portal to other locations for creatures.
Touch-Loop[]
When NiGHTS grabs third level Nightmarens, they can make a loop around them and cause the creature to disappear.
Dream Flute[]
If counted as an ability, NiGHTS possesses what is called the dream flute, which is an invisible or otherwise imaginary instrument that NiGHTS plays, usually when they are alone, to keep themselves calm, relaxed and at peace. When one hears NiGHTS playing the flute, the music is almost always the melody of the theme song, "Dreams Dreams".
Gender Debate[]
The characters of NiGHTS into Dreams' (especially NiGHTS) is an infamous detail which has caused much confusion among the community. For years, fans have questioned if NiGHTS is actually a boy or a girl.
However, according to developer Yuji Naka, "Men or women, we all have dreams, so I thought that the residents in the dream world shouldn’t have a gender, rather, the form of the characters should be determined by the person who is dreaming."[4] This confirms that all residents of the Night Dimension are genderless, with this including NiGHTS, Reala, Nightopians and Owl.[4] Some Night Dimension residents such as Puffy, Bomamba and Queen Bella, have a very feminine design and are referred to by female pronouns and others, such as Reala, Jackle, Donbalon and Chamelan, have a more masculine design and are referred to by male pronouns, however, they are all confirmed to be genderless.
Despite being genderless, NiGHTS has been referred to as "he" occasionally due localization and the age of the game, even getting nicknamed "Mr. NiGHTS" a few times, such as in the comics and storybook. In 2020, the SEGA Forever YouTube channel released a trivia video about NiGHTS into Dreams and referred to NiGHTS with gender neutral pronouns. [8] However, according to Takashi Iizuka, "NiGHTS is neutral, and therefore has no gender. The impressions of the character with regards to gender are totally up to the player."[2] In other words, despite being referred to by male pronouns in the canon, it's not wrong to refer to NiGHTS by using "she" or "they" and interpret them as such, because NiGHTS is actually completely up to the player to interpret.
History[]
NiGHTS into Dreams[]
NiGHTS, Elliot and Claris, from NiGHTS into Dreams.
NiGHTS is a Nightmaren from the Night Dimension, created by Wizeman the Wicked, whose purpose was to steal Ideyas from humans, colorful crystalline orbs which represent human dream energy. Once Wizeman collects enough Ideyas, he will be able to open a portal to invade the real world and rule it all.[5] However, NiGHTS was very mischievous and disliked being ordered around, leading them to start a rebellion against Wizeman.[9] As a punishment, NiGHTS was imprisoned inside an Ideya Palace in Nightopia.[9]
In the Waking World, a boy, named Elliot Edwards, and a girl, named Claris Sinclair, both had rough a day. During their sleep, a Nightopian appears in their dreams and begs them to save the world of dreams from Wizeman with the help of NiGHTS,[5] a request which they accept. [5]
Elliot and Claris find NiGHTS in their dream worlds, imprisoned inside an Ideya Palace. Before having any chance to interact with them, Elliot and Claris are attacked by Nightmarens, who take all of their Ideyas but the red Ideya of courage, for being too powerful for them. Thanks to the red Ideyas power, the visitors are capable of freeing NiGHTS from their prison for a limited time by dualizing with them. Once they are free, NiGHTS helps the children recover their stolen Ideyas and fights against Wizeman's minions, but their freedom is only temporary. If time runs out, NiGHTS will be pulled back to the Ideya Palace, leaving the child to find their way back and try again.
Once NiGHTS and the children defeat all of Wizeman's strongest Nightmarens, Wizeman himself will imprison NiGHTS on the top of the Twin Seeds tower and will send Elliot and Claris flying off onto a broken floating piece of asphalt, making it impossible for them to release NiGHTS. But for Wizeman's surprise, Elliot and Claris courage grows so strong, that they jump from the asphalt and start flying by themselves. Once the two children recover their stolen Ideyas one last time, they reach NiGHTS and release them from their prison. As the trio is reunited, NiGHTS, Elliot and Claris, merge together into two NiGHTS and fight against Wizeman. After defeating their creator, NiGHTS mysteriously disappears, leaving Elliot and Claris alone in the dream worlds.
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams[]
NiGHTS, Elliot and Claris, from Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams.
In Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, NiGHTS helps Elliot and Claris on their quest to find the missing christmas star from the Twin Seeds Christmas tree. The children find NiGHTS imprisoned inside an Ideya Palace in Spring Valley and just like in NiGHTS into Dreams, they can release NiGHTS from their prison for a limited time, by merging with them. After clearing the only level in the game, it is revealed that Gillwing is with the missing star. Thanks to NiGHTS, Gillwing is defeated and Elliot and Claris recover the missing star. However, it is soon revealed that the whole story was a dream and both NiGHTS and the mysterious star disappear as Elliot and Claris wake up.
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams is a single level demo game, which featured many date-related events. Around the Christmas season, NiGHTS' outfit changes into a red and white Santa-like outfit to match the change in scenery and by playing the game on April 1st, NiGHTS evil sibling Reala will take their whole as the playable character, while NiGHTS replaces him in his boss battle. These features reappear in the NiGHTS into Dreams HD remasters released for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, as Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams comes along these versions.
In NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, NiGHTS continues being a free spirited, rebellious Nightmaren, always doing whatever they want. In this game, NiGHTS has an Owl friend and they come into contact with two new Visitors from the city of Bellbridge, William Taylor and Helen Cartwright.
The visitors first meet NiGHTS at the Dream Gate, where they dualize with NiGHTS to fly around and have fun. After a while, NiGHTS, Owl and the Visitors are surprised by doors to Nightopia appearing at the Dream Gate, which were created by the visitors red Ideya. NiGHTS is excited to explore the new worlds, but is followed by Reala, who imprisons NiGHTS in a NiGHTS Capture as a punishment for their rebellion. However, thanks to the visitors' red Ideya, NiGHTS can be freed from their prison for a limited time by making the visitors merge with them.
After destroying the NiGHTS Captures and facing off some of Wizeman's minions, Will and Helen start a quest with NiGHTS to recover the four Ideyas they have missed on their way to the Night Dimension. According to Owl, once the children retrive them all, peace will be restored in Nightopia and their hearts will win over the Nightmarens.
As they adventure throughout the dream worlds, NiGHTS and the visitors battle vicious 2nd Level Nightmarens and even Reala himself on an occasion, regaining each child's Ideya in the process. Once they recover three out of four Ideyas, Wizeman runs out of patience and decides to punish NiGHTS by himself. Wizeman attacks NiGHTS and Helen at the Dream Gate and drags both into the Dark Ocean, promising to reset NiGHTS by replacing their mind and soul with a more obedient one. But before that happens, he leaves NiGHTS chained at Bellbridge clock tower for unknown reasons.
Will and Helen are so determined to save NiGHTS, that their Ideya of courage grants them with the power of flight and together, the visitors find NiGHTS at the top of the Bellbridge tower and save them in time before Wizeman resets NiGHTS. As the trio is reunited, NiGHTS, Will and Helen, merge together into two NiGHTS and to fight against Wizeman. After defeating their creator, NiGHTS is last seem watching Wizeman fade in a bright light.
Secret Ending
In the True Endings, the final Ideya of Hope appears on the Dream Gate's staircase. But the moment NiGHTS is about to get it, they are surprised by Wizeman, who knocks NiGHTS out and drags them down with the Yellow Ideya. Just like in the normal ending, Wizeman promises to reset NiGHTS, but once again, all he does is leaving NiGHTS chained at the Bellbridge clock tower and the two Visitors save NiGHTS before Wizeman resets them.
NiGHTS fading away.
In this ending however, the trio is surprised by Reala, and so NiGHTS must battle him a final time to reach Wizeman. As darkness envelopes Bellbridge, the three Dualize and face Wizeman the Wicked together. But in this ending, Wizeman reveals that if NiGHTS destroys him, all of his creations will be destroyed as well, including NiGHTS themself. The children can't bear to lose NiGHTS but are reassured of their own strength and free will, so they work together to defeat him. After NiGHTS, Will, and Helen defeat Wizeman, NIGHTS delivers a final bow before fading away into white light.
It is unclear whether or not NiGHTS "disappeared forever" as after the credits, the child of choice is seen sleeping in their bed and then the camera pans out towards the clock tower where the player can sees NiGHTS on the top of the spire, imaginary flute in hand, peacefully watching over the city. It is possible this meant disappearing from only Will and Helen's dreams forever and not the Night Dimension in general.
NiGHTS is playing their flute, surrounded by Nightopians, when Reala appears and challenges them for a game to see who flies higher and faster. Due to their naivety, NiGHTS fails to notice that this is a trap and accepts the challenge. When NiGHTS is distracted, Reala imprisons them inside an Ideya Palace and leaves.
Stuck inside the Ideya Palace, NiGHTS starts playing their flute after accepting the fact they can't do anything to escape. Their music attracts Elliot, who was exploring the world of dreams and releases NiGHTS by using a mysterious red light which fuses them. As they are flying through Nightopia, NiGHTS and Elliot befriend each other when the Nightmarens start attacking and Reala returns. Reala reveals to Elliot that NiGHTS is a Nightmaren, which shocks Elliot and makes him panic. Reala takes this opportunity to unfuse NiGHTS and Elliot and imprisons NiGHTS again. Reala then, sends Elliot to the top of a cold and dark cliff, stranding the boy alone.
Scared and alone, Elliot starts hearing NiGHTS telling for him to dive into the darkness under the cliff. Despite his fear, Elliot trusts NiGHTS and starts glowing red, being granted the power to fly by himself, which surprises and scares Reala away and releases NiGHTS from the prison. As NiGHTS and Elliot were celebrating Reala's defeat, Wizeman attacks and wraps both of them into deep darkness. However the trust between NiGHTS and Elliot allowed their courage to create a tiny light, which absorbed all of the darkness as the duo dived towards, making Wizeman flee. Nightopia was finally saved from the Nightmarens.
In the first issue, NiGHTS and Reala had captured the two perfect dreamers and their red Ideyas, which Wizeman would use to open a portal for the Waking World. But it is at that moment that NiGHTS starts their rebellion and runs away with the red Ideyas. NiGHTS flies to the portal connecting both worlds, where they pretend to send the red Ideyas to the Waking World. Along the way, they befriend two Nightopians called Napp and Snuze. With NiGHTS sending the red ideyas to the Waking World, Wizeman would now have to wait 100 years to get the next two perfect dreamers; these would be Elliot and Claris. Despite succeeding at stopping Wizeman's plan, NiGHTS is captured and imprisoned inside an Ideya Palace.
After a century, NiGHTS is still locked in the Ideya Palace, when Snuze sends Elliot to release them. Wizeman sees this through one of his all-seeing palms and sends Gillwing to fight them. During the battle, NiGHTS hears a cry for help from Claris, who is being attacked by Puffy and goes assist her. They dualize with Claris and they manage to defeat Puffy.
NiGHTS speaking through Elliot in the Waking World.
In the second Issue, NiGHTS dualizes with Elliot again to finish fighting Gillwing. However, as Elliot has to wake up, they switch bodies, resulting in Elliot staying in Nightmare fighting Gillwing in NiGHTS body, while NiGHTS goes to the Waking World to protect Claris through Elliot's body. NiGHTS was looking for Claris at the Twin Seeds Museum when a Shleep finds her first and makes Claris fall asleep, sending her to Nightmare, where she is attacked by Gulpo. NiGHTS goes back to their body and unfuses with Elliot, who was fighting Jackle, to assist Claris. After leaving a hint on how to defeat Gulpo, NiGHTS goes back for Elliot and together, they defeat Jackle.
In the third Issue, Elliot and Claris wake up. Alone, NiGHTS is attacked by both Reala and Wizeman, who defeat and imprison them in Twin Seeds. However, they are rescued by Elliot and Claris and they all fuse and defeat Wizeman once and for all.
NiGHTS fading away while Roger takes them to his house.
In the fourth Issue, NiGHTS goes to the Waking World and slowly starts to fade away. Off screen, Reala orders Roger Wilkeah (Elliot's basketball rival who had joined forces with the Nightmarens in the previous issues and was giving his dream energy to Reala) to find NiGHTS and make sure they completely disappears. At the end of the fourth issue, Roger finds NiGHTS and starts taking them to his house.
In the fifth Issue, Roger leaves NiGHTS to fade away in his house's basement. However, Elliot, Claris, Napp and Snuze arrive at Roger's house, make him fall asleep and rescue NiGHTS.
In the sixth Issue, Elliot and Claris start taking NiGHTS to a portal located at the Twin Seeds tower, which will send them back to Nightopia. When NiGHTS was about to reach the portal, a sudden explosion at the tower combines with the energy of the ruby on their chest and makes a portal open, which Reala uses to go to the Waking World. NiGHTS and Reala battle each other, while Roger meets up with Elliot and Claris, who convince him to stop giving Reala his dream energy. Without Roger's dream energy, Reala becomes weak and drained of energy, giving NiGHTS the opportunity to escape from him and goes back to Nightopia.
NiGHTS appears in the LCD adaptation of NiGHTS into Dreams, as a playable character. Just like in NiGHTS into Dreams, the visitors are capable of freeing NiGHTS from their prison for a limited time by dualizing with them.
Once they are free, NiGHTS must recover the stolen Ideyas and fights against Wizeman's minions, but just like in the game, NiGHTS' freedom is only temporary. If time runs out, NiGHTS will be pulled back to the Ideya Palace, leaving the child to find their way back and try again.
NiGHTS makes numerous appearance in most of the modes of the NiGHTS Dream Wheel slot machine. In the game's main mode, NiGHTS can be seen floating on the left side of the game's roulette.
In the "Free Spin Bonus" game, NiGHTS appears flying and winking to the player, and when the "NiGHTS WILD FREATURE" is activated, NiGHTS will appear playing flute on top of the Bellbridge clock tower.
In the "Skill Bonus" game, NiGHTS sometimes appears flying through the roulette.
In the "Flying Bonus" game, NiGHTS appears flying through the sky as the player collects rings.
NiGHTS appears in the Eyetoy party game, Sega Superstars, in a NiGHTS into Dreams thematic mini game. The player controls NiGHTS by rising their arms into a "flying" position and the mini game's goal is to collect all of the Ideyas.
NiGHTS appears as a playable character in Sega Superstars Tennis, where they are an All Round type character, a trait shared with Reala and Amy Rose. This means that NiGHTS, while not excelling in any particular stat, has no significant deficits in any either.
For their super move, NiGHTS will make the ball travel in a corkscrew loop and if the opponents hit it back, they will teleport to a random location of the tennis court.
NiGHTS racket is purple and has a purple rhomb on its net, most likely referencing the red ruby on NiGHTS chest.
In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, NiGHTS makes an non-playable appearance as the flag person who waves the checkered flag at the starts and ends of the races.
Steve Lycett, producer at Sumo Digital, said that NiGHTS could potentially become a DLC character if the game became successful.[10] However, later that year, Sega announced that they no longer planned to include any downloadable content after the release of Metal Sonic and the Death Egg Zone track.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed[]
NiGHTS as a car in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
NiGHTS is featured as an unlockable character in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, where they can be bought with 80 stars in the World Tour, though this is lowered to just 40 stars in the Nintendo 3DS version of the game. NiGHTS themself turns into the vehicle while a Nightopian drives them.
When NiGHTS uses their all-star move, they shapeshift back into their normal form and drill dash into the other racers, all while a remix of "Message from Nightopia" plays in the background.
Sonic Riders series[]
NiGHTS has appeared as a playable character in the Sonic Riders series.
NiGHTS is an unlockable character in Sonic Riders, being one of the three Sega guest characters, along with Ulala from Space Channel 5 and AiAi from Super Monkey Ball. To unlock NiGHTS, the player must beat all of the Babylon Rouges missions.
In this game, NiGHTS is a Fly type, meaning they can fly through floating rings spread throughout the courses.
NiGHTS main and personal Extreme gear is called the Night Sky, a purple board type extreme gear which according to its description, was created in Twin Seeds and designed for a Nightmaren, that is NiGHTS.
For attacks, NiGHTS will shock the opponents with an angry face at Level 1, hit them with a kick that glitters at Level 2 and make the opponents dizzy with the drill dash at Level 3.
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity[]
NiGHTS in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
NiGHTS is the only Sega guest character to return to the Sonic Riders sequel, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, where Ulala and AiAi were replaced with Billy Hatcher from Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg and Amigo from Samba de Amigo respectively. To unlock them, the player must beat all of the Eggman's missions.
NiGHTS is once again, a Fly Type character and the Night Sky returns as their main and personal Extreme gear. In attack mode, NiGHTS will start flying and will attack the opponents with the Drill Dash.
Worlds Unite[]
NiGHTS in Worlds Unite.
NiGHTS joins Sonic and Mega Man's Unified Army to stop Sigma's conquest of the Multiverse in Worlds Unite.
NiGHTS and Reala were fighting at the Dream Gate when Sigma sends Storm Eagle and Storm Owl to attack their world. NiGHTS and Reala stop their battle and join forces for once, only to fight against the new enemies. After a while, Miles "Tails" Prower and Air Man arrive to help and together, they defeat the Mavericks.
Tails and Air Man ask NiGHTS and Reala if they would like to join the battle against Sigma. NiGHTS greatly accepts the invitation while Reala on the other hand, doesn't, however he is ordered by Wizeman to join forces with them, as Wizeman does not want Sigma to challenge his conquest for Nightopia.
Cameos and References[]
Sonic Games[]
The NiGHTS-themed pinball table, from Sonic Adventure.
Sonic Adventure: There's a NiGHTS thematic pinball table with NiGHTS themself making two brief appearances. It is also possible to make the Chao look like NiGHTS by giving them flying animals.
Sonic Shuffle: Playing Sonic Shuffle on December 24th will make NiGHTS appear and replace Lumina as the game's guide.
The NiGHTS Chao, from the Sonic Adventure series.
Sonic Adventure 2: There are NiGHTS posters in the City Escape level and a NiGHTS hotel in Radical Highway. Like in Sonic Adventure, this game features the ability to make the Chao look like NiGHTS by giving them flying animals.
Sonic Pinball Party: There are seven NiGHTS thematic pinball tables. NiGHTS themself also appears and interacts with Sonic. Together, NiGHTS and Sonic save Amy and Tails from Eggman hypnotic control.
Sonic Battle: NiGHTS appears in the Speed Demon minigame, where they can be seen flying in the background.
Shadow the Hedgehog: A NiGHTS Billboard can be see at the beginning of the Lethal Highway level.
Sonic Unleashed: In some cutscenes, it is possible to notice that Doctor Eggman has a Sega Dreamcast and a few games on his Eggmobile. In one of the scenes, it is possible to notice that NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is among the games. [11]NiGHTS can be seen in the game's box art.
Sonic Generations (3DS): The NiGHTS hotel from Radical Highway in Sonic Adventure 2 reappears in the 3DS version of Sonic Generations in the same level.
Sonic Lost World: NiGHTS makes a small cameo in Sonic Lost World, at the end of the Nightmare Zone DLC, where they paraloop Reala.
Sonic Runners: NiGHTS appeared as an unlockable buddy for a limited time twice. First appearing in their NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams outfit and later in their Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams outfit. NiGHTS (Journey of Dreams outfit) gives the player a big combo bonus after a loop and Christmas NiGHTS may reduces the game speed at random.
Sonic Forces: There is a downloadable NiGHTS costume for the Avatar.
Sonic Colors Ultimate: NiGHTS makes a cameo as two profile icons, one of them has NiGHTS in their NiGHTS into Dreams outfit, the other one has NiGHTS in the Christmas NiGHTS outfit.[12]
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog: NiGHTS makes an appearance on a sign near the ceiling of a game room, with the words "NiGHTS Pinball" next to them.
Sonic Superstars: An unlockable robotic version of NiGHTS appears in the game. To unlock it, it is necessary to get a perfect in a checkpoint bonus stage.
Other Games[]
Shenmue: NiGHTS appears as a capsule toy.
NiGHTS in Phantasy Star Online.
Phantasy Star Online: In Phantasy Star Online, there is a moment where a young boy of a Lab researcher reveals to the player that he had a strange dream where he met a "man with a strange purple outfit", who played hide and seek with him and promised to give a gift to the boy if he went to seaside. As the boy's mother won't allow him to go to the seaside, the boy asks for the player to get his gift for him. When the player reaches the seaside, it is revealed that the "man with a strange purple outfit" was NiGHTS, who asks to play hide and seek with the player. If the player finds four Ideyas, NiGHTS will be found, and they will gift the player with a disk. The game also featured an unlockable NiGHTS into Dreams minigame called "NiGHTS ~ Score Attack ~", where the player controls NiGHTS through Spring Valley.
NiGHTS in SEGAGAGA.
SEGAGAGA: NiGHTS is one of the many Sega characters to make cameos in SEGAGAGA, as a background character during some cutscenes.
NiGHTS in Billy Hatcher.
Billy Hatcher & the Giant Egg: NiGHTS appears as an assist character in this game. The player can make NiGHTS drill dash into enemies. The NiGHTS Score Attack minigame from Phantasy Star Online also reappears in the game.
Sega Splash! Golf: NiGHTS appears as an optional coach for the player.
Samurai & Dragons: NiGHTS appears as a card.
Phantasy Star Online 2: NiGHTS appears as a statue.
Yakuza 5: NiGHTS appears as a crane game figure.[13]
Sega EARTH UFO CATCHER: NiGHTS appeared as a two star prize.
Mentions and References[]
Burning Rangers:Elliot mentions NiGHTS in one of his emails.
Feel the Magic XY/XX: NiGHTS hat is an unlockable costume for the girl.
Phantasy Star Portable 2: There's a NiGHTS costume for the playable characters.
Project X Zone 2: Segata Sanshiro mentions NiGHTS in one of his pre-battle dialogues.[14]
Other Media[]
NiGHTS in Game Gag 1P Comic Sega-hen.
Game Gag 1P Sega-hen: NiGHTS makes small appearances in this manga series.
Hyperdimension Neptunia: Megami Tsuushin: NiGHTS makes a brief appearance and is referred to as "Mysterious Unidentified Flying Creature".
Sega Hard Girls: NiGHTS makes small appearances in the Japanese multi-media project, Sega Hard Girls. They were also the inspiration for the design of SEGA Saturn.
"Nightmaren of the first level created as Wizeman's right-hand man. Having the craziness of the original Nightmaren, the free wild character of this individual suffers much misfortune. Wizeman's spell is cast, confining the creature to the space of a dream. NiGHTS excels in flight ability compared to the other Marens. NiGHTS can fly as freely through the air as a fish swims the sea. If NiGHTS flies in a circle a hole can be made in the air, creating a deadly paraloop. Furthermore, since it's body can also be changed at will with shapeshifting, there's no place NiGHTS cannot venture to such as underwater or ice. Will the day come when NiGHTS will be released from Wizeman's spell and be free to fly the skies again?"[15]
"In their dreams Elliot and Claris have seen NiGHTS, a being capable of flying freely through the sky and performing the trickiest of aerial acrobatics. But what is NiGHTS? A spirit? A memory? Whatever he, she or it is, NiGHTS plays an important part in the upcoming battle with the evil Wizeman."[15]
"NiGHTS enjoys flying freely through the beautiful skies of Nightopia. Full of curiosity, NiGHTS loves anything new or unusual. When Wizeman, the evil ruler of Nightmare, attempts to take over Nightopia, NiGHTS is compelled to help Will and Helen fight back and restore peace to the land."[15]
Gallery[]
Click here to view gallery for NiGHTS (character).
Trivia[]
According to Takashi Iizuka, NiGHTS is technically a video game character that a person can actually really meet, as a person can meet NiGHTS during their sleep.[16]
According to Naoto Ohshima, NiGHTS is much like Peter Pan, as they are both magical beings who can do things humans can only do in their dreams.[17]
Both NiGHTS and Peter Pan also have the power of flight, do aerial moves like flips and twists, are childlike, never grow up or age and both take children with them on adventures in their worlds.
In the gamefiles of the Sega Saturn and Playstation 2 versions of NiGHTS into Dreams, there is an unused robotic version of NiGHTS which would be featured in the Stick Canyon level,[18] as a toy that the Nightopians in the level would play with.[19]
NiGHTS when the player fails at collecting an Ideya.
Stopping in front of NiGHTS will make them extend their hand to the visitors.
Passing near NiGHTS, but not dualizing with them will make them spin and put their hands on their forehead.
Ignoring NiGHTS will make them angry and NiGHTS will start to desperately wave to the visitors.
If the visitors go to far away from NiGHTS and later come back, NiGHTS will be standing inside the Ideya Palace in their idle animation. This NiGHTS's behavior is a bit harder to see, as NiGHTS will start moving once the visitors come closer to them.
Also, if the player runs out of time while controlling NiGHTS before collecting the lap's Ideya and goes back to the Ideya Palace, NiGHTS will be lying in the air and a force field will prevent the player from dualizing with them until the visitors collect the lap's Ideya.
In the Archie Comics, It is revealed that the ruby on NiGHTS' chest is a shard of the Red Ideya of courage which latched onto their chest.
It is also revealed in the NiGHTS Archie comics that NiGHTS rebelled 100 years before Elliot Edwards and Claris Sinclair were born, confirming NiGHTS age to be at least 100 year old. Reala, Wizeman, Jackle and Clawz were all witnesses of NiGHTS' betrayal, making them at least 100 year old as well.
It should be noted that both their ages and the meaning of the ruby could be different in the game series.
In NiGHTS into Dreams, when the time runs out and NiGHTS un-fuses with either Elliot or Claris, they say "Adeema", which means "Good-bye" in dream language, a fictional language created for the game.[4]
NiGHTS First4Figures statue.
NiGHTS is one of the two characters to have a statue made by First4Figures, the other being Reala.
NiGHTS is thought by some to be a minor Sonic the Hedgehog character since they were created by Sonic Team and were referenced several times within the Sonic universe.
NiGHTS' voice actress in Journey of Dreams, Julissa Aguirre, is also known for playing the voice of Fina from Skies of Arcadia.
The prototype of the NiGHTS plush from the NiGHTS into Dreams plush line has a fabric gem while the final plush has a plastic gem, but the Christmas NiGHTS plush has a fabric gem. It is unclear why this was changed for the Christmas plush.
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