Characters / Nightmarish

The Characters in General

• Color-Coded Characters:
  • Drac - Red
  • Scrap - Yellow
  • Phantom -Purple
  • Jekyll/Hyde - Blue
  • Medusa - Green
  • Axel - Orange
  • Lawrence - Pink
  • Gill - Cyan
  • Aziza - White
• Cute Monster Girl: Parodied. They're all rather adorable-looking humanoids based on different horror monsters who have a Tim Burton-esque style and can also be rather destructive and murderous sometimes.
• Really 700 Years Old: They’re young adults by paranormal standards, but they’re older than any human alive. Drac is 665, Scrap is 297, Phantom is 132, Jekyll/Hyde is 159, Aziza is 2897, Medusa is 2268, Axel is 708, Lawrence is 103, and Gill is 107.
• Was Once a Man: Half of the cast used to be human before their deaths and resurrections. These include Axel, Aziza, Drac, Phantom, and Jekyll.

The Nightmarish 9

Axel Horsmann

A former legend of a certain area, The King of Nightmaria and the Master of the castle.

• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Described as one.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": When he was first introduced, he was only known as the Headless Horseman. It wasn't until an update on the character list that his name was revealed.
• The Good King: While his rules are a bit chaotic, he does care for his subjects.
• Headless Horseman: Duh.
• Punny Name: Horsmann.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Loves unicorns (his steed is one, even) and treats carving his pumpkin heads like putting on makeup.

Aziza

The Queen of Nightmaria.

• Ascended Extra: Goes from neighbor to queen as of 2020.
• Butt-Monkey: Her introductory comic in the original series has her sarcophagus break because the castle's music is that loud. This died down in the later versions.
• Chummy Mummy: Unlike her allies, Aziza lacks any violent bone in what's left of her body, and is overall a soft sweetheart.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Wants to live her life in Nightmaria and adapt to modern times just like a human would.
• Mummy: The living mummy of a long-dead Pharaoh, who in sharp contrast to the luxurious look of ancient Egypt would rather be a softer cottagecore type.

Alcina "Drac" Dracula

The count themself, who moved in and became royal adviser after their castle was destroyed by an angry mob.

• Adaptational Gender Identity: Dracula was a cis man in the original story and almost every adaptation has him be such. Here, the 2018 series had them as a trans woman, and while 2020 had them go by dominantly masculine pronouns for a while, 2022 would have them be genderfluid.
• Big Eater: Consumed enough blood to have her stomach rupture offscreen.
  • He also ate one or more whole pizzas, considering the garlic poisoning the following night Worth It.
• Daywalking Vampire: Apparently vampires being harmed by sunlight only works in movies.
• Explosive Breeder: Said to have a LOT of vampire kids, many from different mothers and fathers.
• Jerkass: While a bit tamer than their inspiration, she's still not a pleasant person, tending to disregard warnings and calling Jekyll a "fucking nerd" in an older comic.
• Trademark Favorite Food: It's no shock that being a vampire, he has to drink blood. The main thing is, for her it's her energy drink.

Project Frankenstein a.k.a "Scrap"

The creation reviled by his creator, and royal guard leader.

• Adaptation Species Change: The original monster was very human-looking, albeit doomed by Uncanny Valley. Here, they're a patchwork beast of various animals, best described as a "walking taxidermy".
• Frankenstein's Monster: Hilariously enough while their intelligence is more closer to the original story, they actually look much more animalistic than other examples.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Officially listed as an animal hybrid in the 2022 Instagram bios. Apparently, they're made of too many animals for Silverpen to list.
• Perpetual Frowner: Doesn't smile often, if at all.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Not too fond of the chaos that goes around in the castle.

Erik "DJ Phantom" Aria

The ghost of a certain Phantom, also housekeeper and musician.

• Adaptational Species Change: An actual phantom here rather than a deformed human. Justified, as it's been over 100 years since his story (which is semi-canon), so he's definitely dead now.
• Ambiguous Gender Identity: Currently referred to with both "they" and "he" pronouns.
• Butter Face: The rest of his body is slender and attractive, while his face looks pretty ghastly. Being The Phantom of the Opera, this was kind expected.
• Manchild: Said to be immature, such as claiming to have slept like a baby... and meaning that they started crying upon realizing they pissed themself.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Looks like a traditional ghost in the reboot.

Dr. Helena Joudai-Jekyll/Elaine Hayate-Hyde

The spirit of the two-faced doctor, and the castle's scientist and medic.

• Adaptational Gender Identity: Nightmarish has them be genderfluid with any pronouns.
• Big Eater: Hyde.
• Cool Shades: The current design for Hyde.
• Demon of Human Origin: His demonic status after death was a side-effect of the formula.
• Hidden Eyes: As Hyde in the original. He trades them for Cool Shades in the reboot.
• Hulking Out: Aside from drinking caffeine or feeling mischievous, it's said Jekyll also becomes Hyde when angry.
• Jekyll & Hyde: Yep.
• Living Shadow: In recent versions, they're a shadow spirit, being an undead form of the original Dr. Jekyll.
• Nice Guy: Jekyll, though there are said to be times they're a bit self-centered.
• Our Demons Are Different: They were outright said to be a demon in the previous versions, but it's still suggested a shadow spirit is a demon type.
• Race Lift: White European in the original source and most adaptations, but is reimagined as half-Japanese here.
• Shout-Out: When both are active as of 2020, they're conjoined at the waist CatDog style.
• Slime Girl: As established in the 2022 Instagram bios, they're a shadow spirit that's 60% HJ7,^note That was the name of the formula in the musical. giving off this vibe.

Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale

The wardens of the castle's dungeons.

• Comic Trio: An odd variation. Medusa is an idiotic leader, Euryale is the complainer but she's much more passive, and Stheno is there for the ride, though still aware of what's going on.
• The Ditz: Medusa.
• Expy: A trio of animalistic characters in green, red, and blue? One's a trouble maker, another is short-tempered, and the third is timid? One wears a hat, another wears glasses? Hmmmm...
• Gorgeous Gorgon: Of a sort. They're portrayed as looking like Snake People with leechlike hair as opposed to the more traditional human-with-snake-hair interpretation, but regardless they're still rather cute.
• The Stoner: Pun intended.
• Snake People: As opposed to looking like human women with snakes as hair, they're portrayed as this, though still with rather snake-like hair.

Lawrence/Luna Lycan

The castle gardener, who has a beastly side.

• Adaptational Gender Identity: While the character initially went by he/him like their main inspiration, 2023 onward has the character be nonbinary, their pronouns going by they/them.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Lawrence Talbot suffered Alternate Identity Amnesia when it came to his lycanthropy. Luna Lycan on the other hand can turn at will and retains their memory and sapience, and even when forcibly turned under the full moon, they are aware of what they're doing, but unable to control themself.
• Alliterative Name: As of 2020, their name is Lawrence/Luna Lycan.
• And I Must Scream: Lawrence knows what they do during the full moon, but they're unable to control their lupine instinct for the most part.
• Anthropomorphic Shift: Inverted in two different ways.
  • Within the series itself, Lawrence initially started as just an anthropomorphic wolf that just so happened to be called a lycanthrope, but as Silverpen got more comfortable with using traditional horror tropes, they became more and more like a traditional werewolf, their wolf form's final design on all fours.
  • And compared to their inspiration as well. Talbot's werewolf form was very much humanoid, looking more apelike than canine. Lycan's beast form on the other hand is undoubtedly a wolf, ironic considering their Adaptational Intelligence.
• Composite Character: While name and backstory wise they're meant to be Lawrence Talbot (even being named such in earlier versions), their connection with botany and the And I Must Scream nature of their lycanthropy more alludes to Wilfred Glendon, and the general appearance of their wolf form is best described as a slightly more "accurate" take on David Kessler's.
• Little Bit Beastly: Their standard form has them retain lupine eye ducts, fangs, extra body hair, claws, and even paw pads.
• Werewolf Theme Naming: Lawrence Lycan.
  • 2023 onwards has them also go by the alternative name Luna.
• Werewolves Are Dogs: Older drafts had this be played straight, as not only was their occupation based on dogs tending to dig holes in their owners' yard, but they also initially wore nothing but a collar, had cars on their like list and mailmen on their dislike list, and had one comic about them being colorblind. In later versions, these are done away with, as while Lawrence still is a gardener, wears a collar, and is colorblind, these have nothing to do with their lycanthropy.
• Wolf Man: Was portrayed as an anthro wolf in previous versions, but the recent take has them following the traditional werewolf tropes, particularly giving them a more human form.

Gill Blue

The royal chef from the Black Lagoon.

• Cloudcuckoolander: Said to have to most outlandish personality.
• Fearless Fool: Not afraid to cut his own arm off just to cook fish as dinner.
• Fish Person: He's the Gill-Man, after all.

Waffles Walker

An amnesiac zombie fished from the dumpster, and castle maid.

• Ghost Amnesia: Waffles can't remember her human life or her cause of death. While seeking this out isn't her main goal, she's still a bit curious about it.
• Sweet Tooth: Craves candy as much as they crave vital organs.

Blobette

Alien slime that was genetically altered, serves as the Shaduo's assistant.

• Fat Idiot: Downplayed. She's notably chubby to fit her basis, and is said to be a naïve klutz.
• Slime Girl: Her genetic alterations include giving her a more humanoid form.

Other Characters

Jack Griffin

The neighbor.

• Demoted to Extra: Goes from royal adviser to neighbor in the reboot.
• Flat Character: So far the one with the least characterization. This is why he was Demoted to Extra in the reboot.

• No Social Skills: Said to be asocial.

The Monsters of Gorey Graveyard

26 monsters that live in the graveyard next to the castle. All of them are based on "A Gorey Demise" by Creature Feature. They were to mostly appear in time cards in comics after their introduction.

• Beast Man: Eric, Johnny, Nicki, Reyna, Urich, Willow, and Yessie resemble an anthropomorphic worm, snake, spider, raccoon, horse, deer, and bird respectively.
• Buried Alive: How Eric was killed.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Only Olive appeared once in the whole series, and they have yet to be seen in later versions.
• Eyes Do Not Belong There: Frank, who was stabbed through the eye, becomes some sort of creature who has eyes all over him.
• Gender Flip: Willow was known as Will in the original song.
• Irony: A majority of them have become something that resembles what killed them. For example: Johnny, who was bitten by snakes, resurrected into a Snake Person, and Olive, who took drugs, (or in the song's words, "Lived life too fast") became a monster made of crystal meth.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: They're said to all be siblings. And there's 26 of them.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Zack looks like a deranged amalgamation of a couple of different animals, to reflect his insanity.
• Snowlems: Tori resurrected into this, having froze in the snow.
• Undead Child: Greg is technically one, (though he's also an embryo-preserving robot) as he died in the womb.
• Was Once a Man: They all used to be human before they died.