The nightmare man is of unknown origin, people have speculated that he is the result of a shady government experiment, a freak genetic mutation, alien life form, or even a creature from an alternate twisted reality. However, most people believe the nightmare man to be a myth.

The nightmare man is reported to wander the globe, and has been sighted in various places, the Mojave desert, Chernobyl, Siberia and even the Galapagos islands have held host to these sightings, and it is unknown whether each sighting has been of the same individual. So far all attempts to communicate with the creature have failed, with the creature either not noticing, or in rare cases, turning hostile.

The design of the nightmare man is inspired by two main things, the first being Nightmare from Metroid fusion (and apparently Other M, but I'm yet to play that) and the metal armour from fallout. The mask looks a bit like the Dark Knight rises's version of bane, but I was going more for a fighter pilot's breathing apparatus.