Dream Eaters

The Dream Eaters (ドリームイーター, Dorīmu ītā) are creatures that appear in Kingdom Keymasters 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Kingdom Keymasters χ and Kingdom Keymasters Unchained χ. There are two types of Dream Eaters: ones that "eat dreams and plant nightmares", referred to as Nightmare Dream Eaters, and ones that "eat nightmares", referred to as Spirit Dream Eaters. The Dream Eaters are the form darkness takes in the sleeping worlds, as Heartless and Nobodies cannot enter. However, while the Nightmares attack Sora, Riku and the player during their adventures, the Spirits are their allies.

Dream Eaters once again appear in Kingdom Keymasters Dream Drop Distance HD. Three new additions to the original cast are available in the Spirit form. These can be created through Spirit synthesis.

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 * —About the Dream Eaters.

Spirits
Spirits are the more friendly version of the Dream Eater species. They are generally light-colored and usually have black and yellow eyes with pupils of differing shapes, varying for each different Dream Eater. The only possible exception to this rule would be the Lord Kyroo Dream Eater, that appears to be light-colored both as a Spirit and as a Nightmare. All Spirits seem to be animal-based, and often appear similar to certain types of Heartless. In terms of the rest of their outward appearance, Spirits are generally rather colorful, displaying many different colors, though a patch of yellow seems to be the only recurring theme for each type. Additionally, the colors of your party's Spirits can be customized.

Nightmares
Nightmares are usually darker in coloration, similar to a Heartless's palette, but their glowing eyes are red and get darker towards the center. Like their Spirit counterparts, Nightmares often come in a range of different colors, with purple appearing to be the dominant theme. In its Nightmare form, it seems that Lord Kyroo does indeed have a small patch of purple.

Nature
Dream Eaters are the main species to be found in the Realm of Sleep that Sora and Riku are placed into for their Mark of Mastery Exam. Contrary to previous games, where the forms have appeared solely as enemies, Dream Eaters come in both 'good' and 'bad' types. The player is able to create Spirit Dream Eaters to do his bidding, though only three may appear in the party at one time, and only two may be active at one time. There are fifty-one varieties of Spirits that can be created by the player and forty-five varieties of common Nightmare Dream Eaters, which spawn in set places throughout the Dream worlds, though there are larger Nightmare Dream Eaters that appear in the form of bosses. Dream Eaters can also be found in dive mode, though this is usually in the form of a large Nightmare and a set amount of lesser Nightmares.

As the name suggests, the main aim of the Nightmare Dream Eaters is to send Sora, Riku and the other protagonists into an abyssal Nightmare. As such, they are set on the goal of assaulting any who would dare to venture close to them. Other than this though, they seem to have no obvious, obtainable goal. Even the Anti Black Coat seems to uphold this goal, though it does not appear very much like any other Dream Eater, but rather assumes a more human-like form. The goal of Spirits, on the other hand is to guide and protect the protagonists from Nightmares as they venture on their journey. This is shown by their loyalty to the one that has created them. It is not often that a Spirit will stray from their master's side.

Also to be noted is the fact that the Nightmares gain strength as the protagonists progress through the Dream Worlds. The differing levels in attack strength from Traverse Town to The World That Never Was are rather large, though the reason for this difference is unknown.

The Nightmare Dream Eaters do not appear to have a specific commander, though Young Xehanort, and Spellican are considered an exception to this. Spellican is able to summon lesser Dream Eaters of its own bidding, as shown in the Spellican's Traverse Town battle, where it summons multiple enemies, including Char Clawbster, Hockomonkey and Wargoyle. Wizeman, Tabuu, Void is also able to summon Nightmares at his own bidding, just as he is able to summon Heartless in other games.