User blog:BigBadSquid/PE Proposal: Wizeman the Wicked

Since Darkrai did so well last time, I have another nightmare demon on my mind to talk about.

What's the Work
NiGHTS is a very underrated video game series made by Sega (the same creators of Sonic the Hedgehog franchise). In this series, you take control of a being called NiGHTS that flies around the world of Nightopia, which is this alternate universe connected to the world by people's dreams. NiGHTS flies around and collects Ideya (which are these crystal balls that represent people's courage, purity, intelligence, growth, and hope) for two random kids with fears about the real world. They also battle monstrous creatures called Nightmarens that spread nightmares to people. Introducing the leader of the Nightmarens, Wizeman the Wicked.

Who is Wizeman the Wicked? What has he done?
Little is known about his history, but it is stated that Wizeman was a wise man (no pun intended) who lacked any Ideya when he visited Nightopia, and something caused him to become something worse. He despises all happiness in the world, so he created his own dimension in Nightopia called Nightmare. If any of you have a nightmare, blame this guy. Anyways, he sends his Nightmarens into Nightopia where they can spread nightmares among the visitors of Nightopia, not to only give the visitors nightmares, but to spread the dimension of Nightmare so Wizeman can take over all of Nightopia, reshape it in his image, and give everyone permanent nightmares. Then one of his creations, the titular NiGHTS, turns against Wizeman and decides to help the visitors on their behalf. Should one of the Nightmarens fail to defeat NiGHTS, Wizeman horribly, horribly punishes them in very cruel manners, such as crushing Donbalon in his hand and sending Bomamba down to the deepest depths of the world of Nightmare and towards oblivion. Even his right-hand Reala is insulted and threatened on a regular basis, despite being Wizeman's strongest underling and "right-hand man".

That ends the basis of NiGHTS into Dreams, but in NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Wizeman surprisingly becomes much worse than he regularly is. Some parts later into the game, after Reela takes the kids hostage for NiGHTS to return to Wizeman's sides, Wizeman doesn't automatically brainwash NiGHTS instantly; instead, he imprisons them in a cage and tortures them with his magic until they give in. The kids return and set NiGHTS free, but Wizeman reveals his collection of souls his Nightmarens stole from Nightopia, where the consciousness of people are trapped in a permanent nightmare they can't wake up from. He reveals that his plan, once he takes over all of Nightopia, is to curse everyone into endless nightmares so Wizeman can toy with their souls. He shows NiGHTS an example by attempting to curse the kids, but they break out of it and they defeat him. His plan to doom all of Nightopia is foiled, but as he says, "as long as darkness exists within the hearts of humans, then I... and the nightmares... shall never be destroyed."

Mitigating Factors
The only problem with mitigating factors for Wizeman is his backstory, which none of it is known other than he was a human before becoming a god of nightmares. However, even if he did have a Fredrian excuse to explain how or why he turned evil, I think it can be ignored given his personality as a despicable tyrant who wants to drown everyone's dreams into endless nightmares for him to sadistically play with for all eternity. He will destroy everything that stands in the way of his goals, including his own henchmen when they fail him.

Heinous Standards
Easy win. None of the Nightmarens other than Wizeman and Reela are given distinct personalities that make them stand out. Reela does some bad things such as torment the kids and attempts to kill NiGHTS, but Wizeman goes much further by tormenting the kids, NiGHTS, and every creature in the real world by cursing them into endless nightmares forever.

Final Verdict
Out of all of Sega's villains outside Sonic, Wizeman stands out as one of the worst villains imaginable from his actions alone. That is why my final verdict is yes.