Nightmare King

"You think you can hide? I know exactly where you are."

- The Nightmare King

The Nightmare King is the ruler of the dreaded Nightmare Land and the main antagonist of Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. He was voiced by both Tarō Ishida in the Japanese adaption and Bill Martin in the English adaption.

Biography
The origins and history of the Nightmare King are unknown, but he is apparently the embodiment of nightmares, he rules over Nightmare Land, a dark world which represents all the fear and darkness of the world's nightmares. At some point in the past, he was imprisoned beneath Slumberland by his enemy King Morpheus, he was lock behind a giant door which all residents of Slumberland were forbidden to open lest the evil king be set free again.

During the movie, Morpheus summons a young boy named Nemo to Slumberland to be his heir and playmate to his lonely daughter, Princess Camille. Nemo is a boy who suffers from constant nightmares and while his parents say the reason is because of his habit of sneaking pies late at night, it's strongly hinted several times that the Nightmare King may, in fact, be the one responsible for his endless nightmares.

When Nemo is brought to Slumberland, the Nightmare King is released after Nemo unlocked the door that Morpheus warned him not to open. Nemo rushes back to Morpheus' castle in time for his coronation ceremony, where Nemo is handed the royal scepter, the only thing capable of defending Slumberland in the event of the Nightmare King's return. In the middle of a dance session between Morpheus and Professor Genius, the Nightmare King reaches the castle and steals Morpheus away. As the partygoers search for a scapegoat, Flip reveals Nemo to be responsible for the Nightmare King's escape.

Nemo awakens in his home, which floods with seawater and ejects him into the ocean. Genius discovers Nemo and tells him not to blame himself for all that has happened. When the two return to Slumberland, Flip reveals that he has a map to Nightmare Land, where Morpheus is currently being held. Nemo, Camille, and Flip set off in a tugboat in search of Morpheus.

They are soon sucked into a whirlpool and find themselves in the monster-infested Nightmare Land. The trio comes across a group of shapeshifting goblins who wish to aid in the quest to find Morpheus. The Nightmare King sends a flock of giant bats creatures to seize the rescue party. Nemo attempts to use the scepter, but once again awakens back in his bed. The goblins appear in Nemo's room and the group travels together to the Nightmare Castle within the Nightmare Land by flying through a hole in the sky called the "Gate of Wind".

At his castle the Nightmare King is informed that Nemo has been terminated but his giant manta ray soon informs him that Nemo is in the castle with the sceptor, enraged the Nightmare King absorbs his army due to their failiure. He then sucks Nemo and his friends into his lair where he demands possession of the scepter. When Nemo fails to reply, the King reveals the Professor, Princess Camille, and Flip whom he has imprisoned in giant reliquariesand begins to taunt the boy. When even this fails, he tops it off by imprisoning King Morpheus in a reliquary of his own right before Nemo's eyes.

Nemo tries to save him but the Nightmare King has his giant sting ray try to kill him but Nemo soon destroys it with the scepter. He again asks Nemo to give him the sceptre because, after all, Nemo cannot even remember the words necessary to use it. Nemo refuses and valiantly uses the scepter to fight off the Nightmare King by destroying his hand. Now enraged, the Nightmare King tries to absorb Nemo and his friends and finish them for good. In a last desperate effort, Nemo barely manages to say the full incantation to the scepter and use it's full power at the cost of his own life(though he quickly revived by King Morpheus shortly after) to destroy the Nightmare King once and for all, ending his evil reign along with Nemo's own nightmares.

Sometime afterwards, Slumberland celebrates the fall of the Nightmare Kingdom. After which Nemo returns home and once more awakens in his room, this time peacefully, now forever free from his endless nightmares do to the Nightmare King's destruction.

Videogame apprearance
The Nightmare King appears as the primary antagonist and final boss of both the 1990 Nintendo videogame Little Nemo: Dream Master and the 1990 Capcom arcade game Nemo. In both games he sends both his army of nightmarish denizens of the Nightmare Kingdom and evil boss monsters to invade Sumberland and to destroy Nemo but Nemo took on and beaten his minions and than defeated the Nightmare King himself.

Trivia

 * The Nightmare King bares strong resemblance to Chernabog.
 * He also resembles Black Doom from Shadow the Hedgehog