Nightmare Phenomenon

The Nightmare Phenomenon is a phenomena caused by the Nightmares created by Gate in Mega Man X6, that affect Reploids' DNA data and even the environment. Gate was able to create this by analyzing a piece of Zero's DNA, found by him in the remains of Eurasia.

The Nightmare Virus is a specialized enemy that looks different from nearly every other enemy in Mega Man X6. The player gains Nightmare Souls (A bluish orb) by defeating the Nightmares. Also, they'll infect and take control of Rescuable Reploids if given the chance, turning them into Mavericks.

There are also two Nightmare bosses: One Nightmare similar to Zero called the Zero Nightmare, and two giant Nightmare masses that are the first boss of the final stages called Nightmare Mother.

Nightmare Souls
Whenever the player defeats a Nightmare Virus in a level or defeats the Maverick at the end of a level (Nightmares yield a blue Soul, worth 8 points, and Maverick bosses yield a green Soul, worth 200 points,) they will receive a Nightmare Soul. The number of Nightmare Souls collected determines the Maverick Hunter rank of the character that took it and how many parts can be equipped by that character. After defeating the Zero Nightmare and High Max (Or simply waiting; if you wait to a certain point in the game without beating the Zero Nightmare or High Max, they disappear), Dynamo will appear and challenge the player to a fight if they enter a hidden zone. Hitting Dynamo with his weakness (Rainy Turtloid's ability) will cause him to drop a green Nightmare Soul; this can be done up to four times per battle.

Zero Nightmare
The Zero Nightmare is an off-colored (Pink armor with teal-ish eyes and purple hair) Nightmare similar to Zero. He is the first boss of the hidden areas. He attacks similar to Zero did in X5. When he is defeated, Zero will become playable. He is weak to the Z-Saber, a possible reference to Metal Man, as both are weakest against their own signature weapons. It's implied in the game that he originated from bits of Zero's remains.

Nightmare Mother
The Nightmare Mother (ナイトメアマザー) is the boss of the first part of Gate's Lab, two giant masses of Nightmare DNA that spin through the room, stopping every so often to open its "eyes" to attack. Its weak point are its mechanical eyes, which are weak to the Metal Anchor.

Nightmare Virus
The Nightmare Virus (ナイトメア・ウィルス) is an enemy found in almost every stage, (except the intro level and the first Secret Laboratory level). They can attack the player by shooting at them, or getting close and touching them. They leave Nightmare Souls when destroyed. If the player doesn't take the Nightmare Soul before it vanishes, the Nightmare Virus will reappear, but only one time and it will not leave a Nightmare Soul when destroyed again.

When it is in the same screen of a Reploid in need of help, it will try to turn them into a Maverick. If the Nightmare Virus is not destroyed or the Reploid is not rescued before the Nightmare Virus gets close to the Reploid, the Reploid will turn into a Maverick and attack the player. If a Reploid with a item is turned into a Maverick, the item will be lost forever.



Nightmare Bug
Nightmare Bug is a bug enemy that flies near the player. It appears in the stages of Commander Yammark, Shield Sheldon and Blaze Heatnix.



Nightmare Insect
Nightmare Insect (ナイトメア・インセクト) is a mantis enemy that appears in Commander Yammark's stage. If they are destroyed with any weapon other than the Yammar Option, you will have a quick chance to get by before they regenerate.



Nightmare Pressure
Nightmare Pressure (ナイトメア・プレッシャー) is the sub-boss of Metal Shark Player's stage. Presumably, it is the core of the trash compactor that antagonises the player throughout the stage. The compactor (but not the Boss) returns in Gate's stage if you choose Zero.



Nightmare Snake
Nightmare Snake (ナイトメア・スネーク) is the name of the five red Mechaniloid sub-bosses in Blaze Heatnix's stage. They look more like large red rings rather than snakes. They can only be defeated by destroying the four green cores.



Hazards and other effects

 * Nightmare Cube: An obstacle that appears in the stages of Metal Shark Player and Shield Sheldon. The red and brown ones can be destroyed with weapons gained from Ground Scaravich, while the rest can only be moved by the same attacks.
 * Nightmare Dark: A portion of the screen will be black, and visible/semi-visible portions will be moving in a pattern that reduces visibility, increasing the difficulty of clearing by a sizeable percent. It happens in the stages of Commander Yammark and Rainy Turtloid.
 * Nightmare Fire: Fire balls that appears in Blizzard Wolfang's stage.
 * Nightmare Iron: The iron plates that appears in some stages.
 * Nightmare Laser: Lasers in Shield Sheldon's stage. They're needed to complete the puzzles there.
 * Nightmare Mirror: A shadowy form of X or Zero that sometimes appears in Rainy Turtloid's and Blizzard Wolfang's stages. It will have the form of Zero if the player is using X, and the form of X with Zero.
 * Nightmare Rain: The rain in Rainy Turtloid's stage and Gate's stage if you chose X.
 * Nightmare Random: Round and square rocks that appears in Ground Scaravich's stage and the 2nd of the final stages (where you have to fight through two stages consecutively without resting).