The Final Bosses of My Childhood (Part 1: The Kirby Series [Nightmare])

(Credit to the background art goes to Bruh_Dah_ on the r/SmashBrosUltimate reddit page)

I feel it's only appropriate to post this here since it covers many games all from respective franchises seen in Smash Bros.

What if you considered the bosses or final bosses of your childhood games to be your personal arch nemeses?

Think back to all those games you grew up playing, how you as a kid struggled your way to get to the finish. What bosses or final bosses gave you the whupping of a lifetime, intense frustration like you've never felt before? Bosses that made you feel true humility and then ultimate gratification once you've beaten them after so many attempts?

What enemies resonated with you so much that you could call them 'your' true rivals or enemies?

With that said, I would like to share some of mine with you in this fun and short lil look back post series I'm doing. Feel free to share your personal childhood rivalries and how they made you feel too!

Nightmare

Kirby's Adventure was one of my personal favorites, among the DS games Super Star Ultra and Canvas Curse. I played Adventure on the Wii, and since I have a lot to say about Nightmare, I'll dedicate this post solely to him.

Nightmare is the final foe of Kirby's Adventure, effectively the second primary antagonist (or the first if you wish to cut King Dedede some slack, because we all know he's not all that bad of a guy) of the entire Kirby saga.

Nightmare, by his nature and namesake, is the embodiment of bad dreams who appeared from nowhere to inhabit the Fountain of Dreams, infecting the currents with bad dreams and thereby tormenting the once peaceful and sleepy Dream Land. King Dedede destroyed the fountain's centerpiece, the Star Rod and split its pieces amongst his friends to stop Nightmare from using the fountain's full power. Kirby, unaware of what was going on, assumed that Dedede was up to mayhem again and aimed to reassemble the Star Rod and return it to the Fountain of Dreams. When he succeeded in doing so, Nightmare appeared from the fountain, and so Kirby took chase after him with Dedede's help, using the sparkling might of the reforged Star Rod to destroy Nightmare once and for all, freeing Dream Land from his terror.

For me, defeating Nightmare felt so sweet because Kirby's Adventure, being much older (and more aesthetically interesting game in comparison to its Nightmare in Dream Land GBA remake imo) made it a lot more challenging at times than the rest of the series following it. I've had quite a few game overs on my way to the fountain, but it was an unforgettable experience all around.

I also have a very personal attachment to Nightmare because especially as a child, I'd have dreams almost every night, and a lot of the time, I'd wake up from some pretty unpleasant visions or nightmares, some of which have even made me lose sleep at night because I worried if I shut my eyes, I'd see the same nightmare again since it wouldn't leave my mind after waking up. To conquer your nightmares is empowering, to know that I can sleep peacefully knowing that if I ever run into a bad dream again, I can easily brush it off and get back to getting the sleep I need.

He's also appeared in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! as the series overarching villain, and while I didn't watch the entire series episode for episode, I was there for the long final episode series where Kirby finally dukes it out with Nightmare (called "eNeMeE" in the show, a goofy play on the word "enemy").

In the animated series, eNeMeE is a galactic overlord hosting a floating fortress in space who dominated the entire universe with his monsters and defeated all the Star Warriors, save for Pop Star and its otherworldly resident Kirby. eNeMeE is also the owner of the Night Mare Enterprises, a side business dedicated to assisting up-and-coming villains (like King Dedede and his henchsnail Escargot [feels bad that he has to be named after the food]) by enlisting monsters to Pop Star to defeat Kirby and take over, while also swindling the selfish King out of his fortune in the process, truly despicable.

Eventually Kirby finds out about his Star Warrior heritage and the source of all the monsters and with everyone's help, goes to the floating fortress to challenge eNeMeE and end his evil reign over the cosmos, bringing peace to not only Pop Star, but everywhere else.