Nightmare Topman is the twisted opposite of (guess who?) Topman and is a villain in the Mechanical Maniacs' series. He's a combination of Transmetal Topman and Geminiman Red. This is due to the unusual history behind his creation.
Personality[]
Nightmare Top is cunning and deceitful and craves upgrades to what he feels to be an inferior body. He's delusional - he believes himself to be from a place called "the Nightmare Dimension" and believes the world is his by right.
Nightmare Top is a planner. He's seen slowly gathering information and equipment to further his goals. He's patient and methodical. He would be an asset on a team of heroes if it weren't for his cruel streak.
Abilities[]
Nightmare Top seems to have a wide array of abilities and powers when first encountered, but in reality what he really has is all the abilities of both Topman's and Gemini's Transmetal armour , except that he can't split in two (or more) copies as Geminiman (along with their weaknesses). He views this as being too weak, however, and that's where his telepathic power comes in.
Nightmare Top can project illusions directly into a person's mind to mask his own abilities. For instance, if he shoots an Elec Beam it's likely just a Gemini Laser. Him firing a Hard Knuckle is likely a simple top. He can also make people believe he's flying away when he's really running somewhere nobody's looking. It's unknown whether N-Top himself is aware that he's no longer all-powerful or whether he's so far gone that he actually believes he's all powerful. Despite his delusions of grandeur, on some level Nightmare Top knows this charade won't last, so he limits encounters with the Mechs and prefers to use operatives.
General Cutman was in the process of upgrading N-Top, but was too busy to finish. The Scissor Army version lacks intelligent planning capabilities and hides completely behind illusions. However his ability to create duplicates had been restored.
After his body was destroyed he became more of a virus than a robot. At this stage he could still make people see illusions in the same way as before, but he was also able to inhabit a unit of Special Forces thanks to Borg technology located on the Ark where his full consciousness lay.
Series Information[]
One day Geminiman (Lennon) and Sparkman (Sean) were out for a stroll. Spark suggests some casual villainy, but Gemini's stomach starts hurting and he splits into two - one regular and the other with no personality. Gemini exposits about the dangers of this when a satellite comes crashing down on his twin and emerges as Gemini Red (played by Nightmare, later Spinning Demon). Red explains that he's truly Nightmare, from the Nightmare dimension intent on ruling the world and adding it to his collection (also that he's amazingly powerful, but limited in his Geminiman body). Nightmare agrees to join after the Mechs point out that many people are already out for world conquest and that he needs help (the Mechs, at this time, are also casually out for world conquest).
In time the Nightmare side of Gemini Red and his quest would be forgotten. At the end of Series 2 Gemini Red's body was merged back with Gemini Blue's and Nightmare inhabited the vacant Topman armour (CJ had left as Topman and left the Topman schematics lying around for the team).
"Scissor Army" Nightmare Top.
Topman's "Nightmare" side was mainly forgotten and only mentioned occasionally until the Mechs decide to call him out on it, demanding proof. Unable to call on any godlike power, Topman storms out and uses Teletraan 1's systems to diagnose his body to find any trace of his old Gemini red form (Teletraan 1 is the Ark's computer and the Ark was the Mech's base at the time), but it was corrupted and incomplete. Topman used Teletraan to patch up what remained of this form with his Topman body, but it unexpectedly activated a cloning code left over form the Geminiman components resulting in a separate entity - half Topman and half Gemini Red with all of Spinning Demon's old delusions. Seeing this happen made SD realize the truth about his own origins - as a humble satellite program gone buggy.
One of his first actions was to hire Carmen Sandiego to steal the Mech's base - the Ark. There he retrieved Mechs Energy, still trapped in a Pokeball. Nightmare Top immediately desired to upgrade a body he felt was weak and inferior. Using the Sinister Six he acquired Bizarro Shadowman's old CPU and employed Doc Robot (Cap N) to create Frankensteing out of all the technology stored within it's circuits (and a jolt from Mecha Energy to power it) although he was prevented from merging with it as planned due to the Wily Rescue Force double crossing him.
Nightmare Top would implant a virus into the Wily Rescue Force during his time with them in a plot to take control of the Special Forces. This would run counter to Mesmerman's own plot to take control of the Special Forces. The two fought it out with neither truly getting one over the other until they realized that their goals were foiled as they were busy fighting each other.
Whatever happened next is unknown, but it wasn't good for Nightmare Top. After the 15 year gap the Mechs were investigating and old Scissor Army base when they ran into the Ascendant Androids . When fighting them it was apparent to Hardman that none of their attacks did damage to him, but Needle and Shadow suffered a great amount. Using a Hard Knuckle against "Waveman" Hard managed to destroy a General Cutman upgraded Topman. What remained showed that he was never fully completed, thusly accounting for his absence during the War.
Nightmare Top wouldn't stay down, though. As explained he studied Bizarro's CPU with it's schematics of his various technologies - including the Borg hive mind. At that point the Hive mind was behind the Special Forces and N-Top had planned to use that to take control of them all. This stayed with him and he was able to download into the Ark (which was still hidden somewhere) and eventually take control of a contingent of Special Forces. His full plan was to download himself into Bizarro Shadowman's old body. This plan was challenged by the Sinister Six, who also gained control of the Special Forces, and Mesmerman, who also wished to make use of Bizarro's old body. Enraged at Mesmerman's appearance and blaming him for his torture at General Cutman's hands N-Top flew the Ark into the secret facility they were all in (which housed Bizarro Shadowman's body). This destroyed him, but no one else.
Writer's Notes[]
Nightmare Top was created as a way to explain Spinning Demon's (the Nightmare's) absurd origin created when he was much younger. Instead of a throwaway line of dialogue or something similar, Gauntlet made an effort to turn SD's request for an origin change into a villain for a particular storyline.
Nightmare Topman really was planned for use in the Business of War, but with so many Mech characters in the mix there was never time to use him. Everything about his Scissor Army persona and death was planned right form the start.