NiGHTS

NiGHTS or Nights is the main protagonist of the NiGHTS series, developed and published by Sega.

Appearance
NiGHTS has a thin, humanoid form, beige skin and large bluish-purple/purplish-blue eyes with vertical slit pupils, like those of a cat or a snake. NiGHTS' hands and head are not connected to a visible body, with their body seemingly made only apparent by their clothes. Much like Reala, NiGHTS also lacks a nose. One of the key characteristics of their design is that they wear a violet-striped, two-horned purple jester cowl. Due to the fact that NiGHTS is never shown to remove their jester cowl, it can be assumed that the cowl is a part of their body.

In NiGHTS into dreams, NiGHTS wears a purple and white unitard or possibly purple unitard with a white shirt, the sleeves are baggy with purple and yellow cuffs. NiGHTS' clothes are embroidered with silver thread on the arms and legs.

In the sequel, NiGHTS: Journey of dreams, NiGHTS's attire is mostly the same; they still wear the same white shirt with purple and yellow cuffs. however, they now wear a pink and red sleeveless jacket accented with yellow star buttons and yellow trim, with blue crystal studs in the collar. A small orange ruff collar is located inside the jacket collar. NIGHTS' boots are half pink and purple, striped with yellow in between. NiGHTS also has silver thread symbols on their arms and legs, giving them a more regal appearance than their first appearance.

A notable feature on NiGHTS is the large reddish-pink/pinkish-red jewel on his chest. The purpose and origin of this jewel is unknown, most of the community believe the jewel has some sort of connection with the red Ideya, which represents bravery. (in the Archie comics mini-series, the jewel is shown to be a shard of a red Ideya sphere that broke off and latched onto his chest).

History
The character's first appearance was in the video game NiGHTS into Dreams... for the Sega Saturn, released in 1996. This title was also released for PlayStation 2 on February 21, 2008.

The second game in the series, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, is for the Nintendo Wii. NiGHTS also appeared in the sampler game Christmas NiGHTS for the Sega Saturn.

Other appearances
NiGHTS has appeared in numerous other games besides the series, including Sonic Adventure (in the Casinopolis zone), Sonic Adventure 2 (in the City Escape and Radical Highway levels), Shadow the Hedgehog, as in Lethal Highway, the title screen appears in a billboard without any text, and also in Sonic Adventure 2, the player can raise a Chao that resembles the character. NiGHTS also appears in Sonic Pinball Party, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Sega Superstars, Sonic Battle, Sonic Shuffle, Sonic Riders (as a secret character), and is in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. NiGHTS is also a playable character in Sega Superstars Tennis, and is the flagman in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.

NiGHTS has also made a guest appearance in Phantasy Star Online I &amp; II Plus, in an Episode 2 quest.

Personality
NiGHTS is a mischievous, rebellious Level-One Nightmaren who broke free from Wizeman's control. Often getting imprisoned, it is up to the visitors (Elliot and Claris in Into Dreams or Will and Helen in Journey of Dreams) to use the power of the Red Ideya to free NiGHTS, chase enemies, and get the keys to destroy the cages holding NiGHTS.

NiGHTS' personality is sort of a far cry from Sonic's. Both hate being imprisoned or contained, and each loves adventure. However, Sonic runs at supersonic speed, while NiGHTS flies at a speed that was never mentioned at all.

Abilities
NiGHTS is a "Playful Rascal", and though they may be playful, they possess several abilities to defeat Nightmarens.


 * Flight: NiGHTS almost never leaves the air. it flies everywhere, and flying is the main part of both games.


 * Drill Dash: NiGHTS uses dash to travel at high speeds and attack enemies, though it makes it harder to control. There is a 'Dash Meter' on the bottom of the screen that shows the amount of 'Dash Power' you have left. Dash Power is regained by flying through rings, which are scattered everywhere in the levels.


 * Dualize: The Ability NiGHTS holds that may be his most peculiar. Dualizing with Visitors allows the visitor dualizing with NiGHTS to become one being alongside it. They share the same body (NiGHTS's) but it is very unclear who does all the controlling! You have to be careful at times because if the Mindsight is too far from NiGHTS, you can't control it and NiGHTS will start flying on his own uncontrollably!


 * Acrobatics: NiGHTS, spending 99.9% of his time in the air, has grasped the advanced areas of flying. it can pull off somersaults, twists, and weaves with no problem.


 * Paraloops: A very important ability. A substance called Twinkle Dust falls from NiGHTS' hands when it flies. If you make NiGHTS fly in a circle and the strands of Twinkle Dust meet each other, it will form a paraloop, which is like a little black hole. It sucks in Nightmarens in a snap and attracts items to NiGHTS!


 * Push- Not the official name, but anyways, NiGHTS uses this ability to grab onto enemies and launch them away! Your main dispatch method against Nightmarens. It can also be used to fire objects. (Such as meteors in the battle agains Reala in Journey of Dreams)


 * Shapeshifting: In Journey of Dreams, NiGHTS gained the ability to change forms (Though this was seen as Bobsled NiGHTS in Into Dreams, it was expanded in Journey of Dreams) using Golden Persona Masks obtained at the end of each level. The 3 Personas are:
 * Dolphin Persona: Turns NiGHTS into a Dolphin, allowing them access to hidden treasures underwater.
 * Rocket Persona: Turns NiGHTS a rocket (And a funny-looking one at that) that allows them to glide at extremely fast speeds. Useful in catching Goodles and grabbing their keys.
 * Dragon Persona: Turns NiGHTS into a Dragon, giving them unparalleled power. They can use this to surpass strong winds, and their Dash ability is a bit faster form.


 * Flute: Not a gameplay ability, it is cool nonetheless. NiGHTS can put its hands to his mouth to make it look like it's playing a flute. Here's the catch-The sounds really come out! The song that NiGHTS plays is "Dreams, Dreams" and it usually plays two lines of this song with his flute: "In the nights: dream delight, I want to see you standing there..."

Trivia

 * NiGHTS is genderless like all Nightopians and Nightmarens, but is called brother by Reala, and by fans is sometimes generally referred to as a male (although some fans call them a female, due to their femmine appearance and voice).