NIGHTMARE CUPHEAD VS THE DEVIL (INDIE-CROSS/WHAT-IF)

NOTE: DO NOT REUPLOAD MY ANIMATION VIDEOS OR YOU'll GET A STRIKE (Reaction videos are good)

Other credits are in the video

[moro_production]

I think I should address this in Every Indie cross animation:
Indie cross (THE FNF MOD) is no longer being directed by me and I am no longer on the team either, I am still gonna do Indie cross animations it's just not gonna be associated with the FNF mod
I might do more of these Aftermath Videos but Keep in mind that None of these are actually coming to the mod

[yeibersonxz]

I know this is probably not canon within the mod, but it still helps us to give us an idea of what happened to the devil in Devil's gambit.

[bren]

From this perspective, I realize that a character's Nightmare form must be some kind of ultimate version of themselves. The strongest they can be and the hardest they can be to defeat. It explains why the Nightmare songs are the hardest in Indie Cross.

[doodlebug]

I love the Devil's dialouge being fully written out, but it gets interrupted, as if Cuphead wasn't supposed to do that.

[dyl]

I love this animation. The fact that cuphead looks back at when he accidentally shot mugman, shows that he really cared from his perspective. During knock-out we don't see that look on his face, and this animation enhances that. This is a really major part of the lore in indie cross.

[tarantula-sbog]

0:53 judging by what the devil said I can speculate two things that cuphead went on a killing spree around the devil's casino or he went on a mass genocidal rampage around every inkwell aisle or even both

[Introduceelnombredetucanal]

I will only say: I love the symbolism of the song and the title with what happened before, Gambit is a chess mechanic that consists of sacrificing a pawn to get some kind of compensation, in chess it is usually represented as reviving some piece that you have lost, which applies to cuphead who lost mugman and in return became his nightmare form, which is reinforced when you see that the devil sees them as simple pawns, the piece that is usually sacrificed in chess, turning cuphead "from a pawn to a queen" the piece with most moves and therefore the strongest

[Rash_Entity]

That's a nice reference at the end! For the people that don't know cuphead too well, the pose nightmare cuphead does after he yeeted the devil on his throne, is actually the exact same from the bad ending from the devil's boss fight where you accept the deal.

[declynam]

The detail of the devil shaking his ears when cuphead appears behind him just shows how much effort they did

[Hahabuddyhahlol]

The Devil Weakest To Strongest Powers And Abilities
Dodge 1:12
Flying 1:52
Pitchfork 1:26
Summon 1:41
4 Fireiceballs 1:37
Pitchfotk Shield 1:15
Great Shield 2:03
Give Me Your Soul! 1:32
Fire Pitchfork 1:19
Rage Mode! 2:08
Nightmare Cuphead Weakest To Strongest Powers And Abilities
1:25 Punch And Kick
1:05 Split Gun
1:10 Split Ring
2:00 Consecutive Normal Split Guns
1:46 Finger Split Gun
1:55 Purple Bomb Split Gun
1:27 Purple Split Laser Gun
2:08 Knock-Out Arrow Gun Split Blast

[cantmakeacreativename]

I think the scariest thing about Cupheads nightmare form is that he’s practically invincible.

The thing about Cuphead is that he’s VERY fragile. Implied by the game to only be able to take three good hits at most. His strength lies in his ability to dodge and react quicker then his opponents.

Here, the Devil can’t even lay a scratch on him; and Cuphead isn’t even attempting to dodge any of his attacks. Heck, he doesn’t even flinch.

Add in a couple new variations of his older powers, and at this point, he’s truly at his best.

[ToadetteTails]

(Note: I know Mr. Nighteye isn't the director of Indie Cross; and that these videos aren't associated with the actual mod. However, I still wanted to come here to cook up a potential theory looking into why this happened)

So, we're still (slightly) confused about the 'Nightmare' characters and how they originate. But I think I've partly got it. I'll be taking reference from the songs from the original week to come up with this, so take all of this with a simple grain of salt, okay? Here we go:

As we all know, the original week comes first (with the 'aftermath' in the title being a reference to this). This video is essentially an aftermath of the Cuphead week, as we see *nothing* about Sans or Bendy, ruling out the possibility that it's an aftermath of all three weeks combined. Anyways, from Snake Eyes, Technicolor Tussle and all the way to KNOCKOUT, we see Cuphead growing progressively more and more frustrated and trying even harder with each and every song. When we reach KNOCKOUT (and possibly throw a 'FC' at Cuphead's face), we see clearly that Cuphead isn't just angry, but that he has also reached a breaking point (very clear with his insane facial expression during the end cutscene).

This brings us to this video, an aftermath of the Cuphead week. We get to see that the thing that broke Cuphead... was the loss of his brother that he accidentally shot during KNOCKOUT. He tries to parry the ghost of his brother's ghost to save him, but fails, losing his brother (no extra lives or retries this time!). This is when we see the ''Nightmare Virus'', which is what I'll be calling it, take over and corrupt the poor Cup-shaped hero, turning him into his nightmare incarnation.

This also concludes what happened with the Devil, too. Later, big ol' tenacious D is seen sitting in his throne, when he suddenly asks "Where the hell is everyone?". To me, this emplies that, in his madness-driven state, Cuphead went on a killing spree, unable to control himself. Suddenly, Cuphead appears infront of big D, only to teleport right behind him (nothing personal, big guy!). The Devil then tries to ask Cuphead if he wants to "join his team", only to be rudely interupted by his finger gun. It seem snow that Cuphead thinks the Devil has the soul of his friend (implied by the shape of The Devil's head appearing in his eyes before he transforms) and now wants him dead. After a bit of a brawl, he completely assimilates the devil, leaving him dead in his chair, almost like a 'trophy' of some kind. I also think the name of N-Cuphead's song (Devil's Gambit) and the Devil asking him to join his team actually go hand in hand.

Let me define what a 'Gambit' is. The dictionary definition for 'gambit' literally means "a clever risk", like the one the Devil took when he tried to steal the souls of Cuphead & Mugman; and also here where he asks Cuphead to join his team. The song literally means "a clever risk the Devil took, which went wrong, meaning certain consequenses for the Devil". In this case, it meant that (ironically) the Devil has his life taken from him by the very being he swore to take the soul of.

Anyways, that's essentially my theory done. Let me know what you think.

[joshonamous]

The final damn frame was one of the most clever call backs to the actual game, where, as the devil states, Cuphead and Mugman join the Devil’s team and are seen laughing as the devil sits in his throne, whereas this time, Cuphead seems to be the only one finding this whole thing funny

[Dashephardcomitslabor]

The Devil: Gimme Your Soul
Cuphead: What Soul

[apgsbuddy]

The fact that the fricking DEVIL was DEAD in his chair really sets the tone for the song.
Can't wait!

[TheAdvertisement]

1:04 Lol love how the full text appears like the Devil's talking in game, despite Cuphead interrupting him.

[marxiplier]

It nice to see your still working on some Indie Cross content, even if your no longer part of the development of the mod.

I hope they keep the story that you’ve been building up to since Tricky, rather than replacing it with another generic Daddy Dearest wants BF dead plot line.

[leamangubat]

1:42 "hey wanna play some ping pong?"
"Sure lets do it"

[ThePittCrazy]

Una buena explicación del por qué existen los nightmare... Epico!!!

[masterblaster]

This was just perfect.
Sad we won't get this type of animations on indie Cross anymore, I would have liked that you were still part of the team like the main animator, most of the others said that you would have been better in the role of the main animator, and It even seems like they would like It, at least for example brightfyre said "we had our ups and downs with moro, but he was a great friend to all of us (most of the time) throughout development, please don't harass him"
So they don't hate you, if thats why you won't go back to indie cross.