| FACTION | |
| The Nightmare Factory | |
| Classification: | Dark Kingdom |
| Origin: | Original Characters |
| Arc: | Arc I |
| Time period: | 1938 - 2006 |
| Location: | Worldwide, Tokyo HQ |
| Leader: | The Oneirovore |
| Surpreme Ruler: | Nightmare Goddess |
| Subgroups: | Nightmare Demolition Corps |
| Number of members: | Unknown |
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The Nightmare Factory is an emerging Dark Kingdom and the main antagonist of Arc I.
Background[]
Established and led by the enigmatic Oneirovore, the Nightmare Factory seeks to create and harvest fear and terror in its victims. Operating in many ways like an actual corporation, its operations are based around its facilities, where Nightmare Minions are created and let loose. Without further coordination, the Minions are let loose to seek out humans and instill fear by crude illusions. By coordinating Minions and information, facilities are able to torment chosen victims with tailor-made nightmare illusion, up to inducing debilitating trauma.
On a global scale, coordination of the Nightmare Factory is in the hand of the Board of Executives, which consists of several nightmare constructs created by the Oneirovore.
Aside from distributing its facilities further and harvesting fear, the Nightmare Factory attempts to finish its mysterious "Queen Project". This project involves breaking down the mental barriers protecting the remaining sanity of Yamaguchi Akiko so that she can be turned into a suitable vessel for the so-called Nightmare Goddess.
History[]
The Nightmare Factory was born alongside the Oneirovore and the first two executives (Kalik and Verse) in February 1938 in Nanking, China. Verse initially posed as a wandering merchant while Kalik hunted other humans for harvesting. The executives thrived, quickly asserting control of local businesses and harvesting the load of fear and terror during the chaos of WWII. Such was the amount harvested that Euz was created immediately after the war and Nott born in the United States during the 50's.
After the victory of the CCP and the ensuing crackdown on non-state owned corporations, the executives were spread into the neighbouring countries while the Oneirovore continued to rest in Nanking, absorbing nightmares born of trauma. Awoken in 1986 by a global increase of fear of nuclear energy in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, it began to reassert itself and started to actively dictate company policy, reforming into the Factory motif.
The location of the main company headquarters was moved to Tokyo, Japan in 1993 due to the increasingly global nature of Japanese corporations and a temporary economic crisis, which allowed the Nightmare Factory to cheaply acquire several smaller companies.
Methodology[]
The strict hierarchy enforced by the Executives leave the average Nightmare minion at a distinct physical disadvantage against even a baseline human. Without their capability of directing fear attacks at their opponents, Nightmare minions would be little more than cannon fodder. For this reason, solitary minions are most often only used to harvest fear or as guards.
Given no further guidance from the hierarchy - such as an Executive, a Facility Director, or even a Factory Building itself - Nightmare minions are incapable of using more than simple 'shock' tactics such as illusions invoking arachnophobia, catoptrophobia, or emulating sensations such as drowning. These easily incapacitate unprepared enemies or victims without magical or psychic resistance, even though those possessing nothing but a strong will can still overcome their fear.
With active guidance in place - either by an impromptu network of several minions overseen by a higher hierarchy figure, or by accessing previously collected data about the intended victim - Nightmare minions can tailor their attacks towards the mental weaknesses and traumata of their designated victim. Depending on the available data, this might be as simple as exploiting an existing fear of heights or as complex as exploiting the subconscious fears that the victim is not even consciously aware of.
Notable Members[]
The Oneirovore:
Leader of the Nightmare Factory. Possesses high levels of psychic abilities, enough to seemingly download and upload data directly into minds of others. Was also responsible for creating the initial Executives, though how exactly is as yet unknown since it has relied on Nott to do this since (in the creation of Mara and Kuroha).
Board of Executives:
- Verse: Head of Human Resources.
- Nott: Head of Research and Development. Created Executive Nanoha/Kuroha and is considered 'mother' by the same. May also have been the one to create Executive Mara when the 'Queen Project' needed its own overseer.
- Kalik: Head of Construction; nominal overseer of the Nightmare Demolition Corps.
- Mara: Head of the 'Queen Project'. Appears to rely heavily on numerical predictions and models to dictate her actions and grows angry when these are shown to be in error.
- Euz: Head of Business Expansion. Is 'retired' in order to provide the energy needed to create Dark Nanoha.
- Dark Nanoha / 'Kuroha': Head of Pest Control and Extermination. Nominally 'Kuroha' is an amalgamation of the four people that the Nightmare Factory was able to gather data on during the first raid by the MGLN group. Specifically - Nanoha, Vita, Signum and a little Zafira. This leaves her somewhat conflicted in thought as she, for example, remembers fighting with a device... except that device alternates between RH, Eisen and Levantine in her memory. This leads to some confusion. She is also heavily shackled by NF programming which has also distorted her already mixed-up memories to a point at which she currently considers Executive Nott to be her mother.
The Nightmare Factory in Battle Fantasia[]
After years of ineffectively battling the Nightmare Factory, Yamaguchi Akiko was driven to suicide.
The first attack against a facility was a success, with the attackers severely traumatized and forced to flee.