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.

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

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

The Devil: Gimme Your Soul Cuphead: What Soul

That was an impressive battle

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.

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

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.

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

Man forgot one thing he needed to defeat Cuphead: Parry.

Dexter Manning (aka the guy who played a bunch of roles in SmashBits Animations' videos) as the Devil? Honestly, good descision. The guy deserves the recognition.

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.

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

A little theory I have for the nightmare forms are different for each of them. Cuphead's Nightmare form is a sort of rage-ish form that he transforms into when he gets angry enough, Sans' Nightmare form is an extra life basically, and Bendy's Nightmare form is sort of a last resort thing.

So short yet managed to be the most badass fight scene ever.

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

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.

“Ah Cuphead i didn’t expect the new look you finally decided to join my team?” -Top Ten Words before disaster

RIP Mugman he was a gentleman

Moro even though you don’t work on indie cross anymore, I still have to give you all the credit because you were the one who kept this project going till the end. If it wasn’t for you this amazing mod wouldn’t have been finished.

(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.

"Don't deal with the Devil." Heh, more like "Don't deal with the Dishes."

The scary part about this is that in the actual game, Cuphead and Mugman only DEFEATED him, not KILL him. Nightmare Cuphead easily clapped him AND made him his bitch, barely even moving. Gives me shivers down my spine.

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.

Although this isn’t canon to indie cross itself, from what is being shown to us this takes place after BF beats Cuphead. Cuphead realizes what he has done to Mugman and tries to save him only to fail. In his hour of guilt, anger, and desperation some third party force comes and grants the vulnerable Cuphead dark immeasurable power so that he can not only take out the devil but also BF if he should ever return, thus kickstarting Cuphead’s nightmare mode.

1:21 en ese momento el diablo sintió el verdadero terror

In my opinion, this is how the Cuphead series should have been and not a comedy without boring and aimless lore, we want pure and simple Cuphead action.

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

Damn, when Cuphead was unable to save his brother- he looked like his worst fear came true, and I guess it did.

Dude literally imagine something so evil that you end up rooting for the devil himself

0:23 Achievement Obtained!: Missed it by an inch!

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.

1:32 felt like a real “Right, that does it, GO TOUCH GRASS *_*N O W !”*_* moment

I noticed that in Bendy and Sans's Nightmare Forms they retained their mental minds who are fully aware of their actions and are still themselves, unlike Cuphead's Nightmare Form here who behaves more aggressively, either from the intense emotional distress of loosing his brother basically anger and targeting the devil that I think who has his brother's soul Idk... cuphead's nightmare form design here looks more like a Corrupted Form of Fanon Lemon Monster so cool🔥:0

Wow! It looks so high-quality and cool!!

-Shows up at his front door unannounced -Runs hands -Puts him in his own chair -refuses to elaborate Cuphead grindset

People saying it isnt supposed to be the aftermath, Jesus its titled indie cross aftermath, that being the main weeks and NOT THE NIGHTMARE SONGS. Anyways, beautiful animation as always.

You are a master at continuing inde cross characters especially cuphead

Congrats on hitting 500k subs

Here's some references I found; 0:17 Death Animation for Mugman 1:19 Satanic Funkin' Idle 1:39 Bat out of Ear thing 1:55 Devil's Gambit by TheInnuendo POSE 2:13 KNOCKOUT 2:20 Devil in Chair 2:23 Cuphead's Satanic Pose in the Cuphead BAD ENDING

The funny thing Ive noticed is that if you pay close attention, the *one* time Cuphead gets off-balance is when the devil says "thats it, Im taking your soul." Looking at Cuphead's expression then, it seems like the devil very nearly up and one-shot this guy.

I like how the devil was still able to fight Cuphead without his weapon showing that even without his weapon he is still a formidable foe even though he lost

WAIT A MINUTE!!! Was that Dexter Manning voicing The Devil? Wow he’s really going far nowadays. Great Job sir :)

given it's nightmare cuphead and the devil, this will most likely be a prequel to devil's gambit and i'm hyped for it.

Twist: nightmare cuphead is actually just a speedrunner who knows exactly how the game works and basically just is a legend at the game.

Ok, this was god damn amazing. Earned a sub from this alone holy shit

they should add this so that the first time you play Devil's Gambit, this plays before the song starts.

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

Despite you no longer working on indie cross, it’s nice to see the content you make man. Keep up the good work and I’ll definitely donate to your ko-fi when I get the chance.

THAT'S THE FRICKING CUPHEAD WE NEED AND LOVE

How Did I not see this until now!?!? 😱 BEAUTIFUL!!!

With the devil fighting what is essentially a super-powered cuphead, he honestly put up a good fight. The nightmare forms are powerful, but the devil (and in a way, BF) shows that they can be beaten.

I have noticed this about a lot of things but when the main character of a story get an "Evil form" one of the first things that they do is go and kill the big bad of the series to put the scale of their power into perspective.Just look at the devil. In the original game normal Cuphead has a pretty hard time defeating him in battle,but here the devil cant even make a scratch on Cuphead. The closest thing to pain that we saw Cuphead experience was when the Devil tried to take his soul and even at that he barely flinched.Seeing the main villain of the series swatted like a fly is kind of unsettling because it shows that even the supposedly most powerful person in the base series was nothing compared to the evil hero.Just look at Dr.Eggman in Sonic.Exe. Sega spent time creating a formidable villain over the span of like 10 games,but Xenophanes just tears through that reputation turning the doctor into a shell of his former self.I mean Eggman is being controlled by Xenophans and cant do anything besides call for help and stall his master.

Good reference! The background in the end is actually the background of Devil's Gambit! ( I'm gonna hear Devil's Gambit right now )

Honestly, this animation had me thinking..if Cuphead can beat the devil, can he beat Chalice? She’s practically invincible, and since she’s dead she could still put up a fight.

0:23 cuphead failing to parry his brother back to life is the most depressing thing ever 😢

Can we talk about how Devil says "THAT'S IT! TAKING YOUR SOUL!", and when trying to do so realizes Cuphead *has* no soul anymore after losing his brother and becoming the nightmare version of himself

you won't live to regret this...LETS ROCK

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

every sound I could recognize from smash bros ultimate 0:32 galeem fighter clones 0:35 galeem electric ball 1:11 super scope charge 1:16 notification and boss death sound 1:38 detonate sound from 1:42 mii gunner dash attack 1:45 landmine 1:50 I sadly don’t know this one 2:09 mii gunner charge blast also at 1:32 he says “that’s it, gimme your soul” edit: SENPAI NOTICED ME

1:27 Nice reference to how nightmare cuphead was originally meant to have a lazer attack instead of his current one

This is amazing!

Excuse me, what? This is the sickest video ever. Holy shit congrats!

I feel like the only way indie characters could become into their nightmare form of their character is if they fail to save someone they care about deeply, or if they have multiple bad emotions at once. Seeing from cuphead becoming his nightmare version, he probably got overtaken by it due to the stress of not being able to save his brother in time. It probably made him stressed, pissed, and sad. I feel like the thing that makes the characters their nightmare form could be some sort of corruption as well. And their perfect chance to corrupt them is when the character is having multiple bad emotions at once. It explains why the nightmare characters are probably the most powerful and most indestructible version of themselves. It explains why the nightmare songs in FNF indie cross are the hardest. I mean, I know this isn't related with the FNF mod, but i can't see to have what more has in store for the future Indie Cross animations. We might get more meaning to the lore of Nightmare Sans and Nightmare Bendy.

My theory (and yes i know this animation isnt canon): It seems that the nightmare versions of video game characters that are already effected by the indie portals are triggered when they are in a bad situation. For cuphead, it was the lost of his brother, not being able to save him in time. Cuphead gets mad easily, so he might be blaming boyfriend. However, cuphead didn't just go to murder the devil for no reason at all. Cuphead somehow knew that boyfriend would be back (remember the nightmare songs), so he needed to make sure that nothing would stop him, and he needed a good area for it maybe? So after taking over Inkwells hell, he had a good chance for boyfriend to come back, where Cuphead would try to kill him on the spot. But if boyfriend wins that rap battle, then does he just use actual attacks to kill him like in the cutscenes? Sans triggered his nightmare mode when bendy nearly killed him, but in his mind or soul, somehow he knew about the nightmare mode, since he was able to control the portal. He then kills bendy in his beast form too easily, as he says bendy is weaker in that new form. It then says to be continued, so maybe bendy will go in his nightmare form? The portals seem to be using videogame characters as puppets in a few ways...

damn you're good at animating

The Cuphead veteran who knows everything about the game and who already knows how to pass it a million times and knows powerful techniques XD

*love how they just start playing tennis whilst battling* 1:42

I know it’s not exactly ‘corrupted Cuphead’, but honestly I do get reminded of the corruption when I look at his face. Those teeth and eyes especially (when you can faintly see them) give off that impression to me. It’s not actually corrupted Cuphead, as badass as that would be. But this is close enough to it.

Imagine if Nightmare Cuphead was playable, where you had to die right after your invincibility wore off, then playing a transformation cutscene, giving you a new move: "Demonic Peashooter". It's peashooter but pink and more damage, with a flame effect too. It's basically invincibility but it lasts longer except for one thing, you do get hit still, it just takes more hits to lose HP. After using it once, you can use it as a super.

1:59 sounds like nightmare Cuphead is laughing, it’s like Cuphead enjoys the defeat of the devil.

THIS... THIS JUST MAKES DEVIL'S GAMBIT SO MUCH DARKER...

My idea:nightmare form is when a character has lost everything. This is why they give in so easily to the power and get taken over. Their only objective at that point is to become stronger.

I noticed the moves Cuphead is using are Hot-Pink Colored Variations of different shots, He’s seen using Pink Versions of EX Moves for attacks like Charge, Converge, Roundabout, and a few others.

You did really good on that animation

I dunno why this is called the aftermath but I guess it would explain why the devil was dead in his chair in the background of Devil's Gambit. Also aftermath means what would happen after something else happened before the aftermath? Meh I dunno how to explain

1:55 that pose looks familiar.

The animation is soo good and soo detail keep going

in my opinion, Cuphead and bendy don’t have consciousness of who he is in nightmare form, they just fight. but nightmare sans does, because in part 2, and 3 he is speaking and can control it

Even if this isn't canon in the mod, you made it look so well, as if Cuphead actually DID this to the Devil. Well done. Edit: I said, "Even if this isn't canon in the mod." Isn't = Not. I never said that this was canon. I said it LOOKED well as if it WAS. Get it through y'all heads man.

Wow, that explains a lot of things. Too bad we won't see things like that in the MOD. But at least you explain what the Nightmare versions are. Seeing the beating that the devil took and how he died is incredible

This animation is fire, if this was an anime I would watch all of it 🔥

This is smooth nice job Moro

One thing no one talks about is how cuphead acts like a zombie, he doesn't talk and doesn't stop to look at his power, it's like he was turned into a beast

"Ah Cuphead!, I Didnt expect the new look! "You fina-"

This is a certified standing here i realize, you were just like, trying to make history, but whose to judge from right or wrong, when guard is down i think we will both agree, that violence breeds violence, but in the end it has to be this way

0:45 You can literally see the devil in his eyes when he looks at the camera

A sad thing to think about is that Mugman's ghost pops out at the end of the song and cutscene. This implies that he was still alive, laying helplessly as he waits for Cuphead to do something, in which, he was too late.

Assuming Bendy and Sans also get animations like this, what if in a future version of Indie Cross, they get put into cutscenes before the Nightmare songs? Skippable, of coarse, just maybe have BF warp back in at the end.

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

you did a great job on this one

I would like to think that some kind of inter-dimensional force sort of enters worlds that boyfriend recently visited, possessing whoever boyfriend raps with and enhancing their powers far beyond anything in that world, making the character affected the most powerful person in their world (if they were already the most powerful person, their power would just spike). This forces boyfriend to go back and beat the entity possessing the characters he’s already “defeated” but having to fight them with maximum power, thus giving us the nightmare songs. A fun little side thing, imagine goose having a nightmare song, white flames and angelic wings, the goose turning into a swan. That would be hilarious.

I'm Interested to how Sans turns into Nightmare Sans, assuming this follows the story of Indie Cross, Sans dies in the Genocide ending, and he leaves BF on friendly terms during the Pacifist ending, so either he didn't die in the Genocide ending or some unknown entity corrupts him after the Pacifist ending. Edit: So someone named Luffydestroyer, actually suggested that Frisk could have reset the timeline in the Genocide ending seeing as they died as well, and considering Sans ability to retain knowledge from other timelines, so it wouldn't be too far fetch to think that Nightmare Sans originated from the Genocide Ending. Edit2: Ok so I just realized that this entire discussion on our theories on how Sans might turn into Nightmare Sans is all based on a big hunch that Frisk can respawn in Indie Cross.

This is epic ngl Bro U worked hard I bet so goooooood jobbbb

That Intense Piano At This Time 2:09 Is Very Good Bro-

I liked how Moro used the charge shot effect from SSBU for when Cuphead was, well, you know, charging his mega shot. Makes it more funny when you remember Cuphead is an available skin for the Mii Gunner, who uses that sound effect for the charge shot.

At least he went out fighting like a champ. Good on you, Devil. But man, Cuphead just _barely_ missing trying to parry Mugman back to life… that shit hit hard. I was legit half-convinced Cuphead was gonna try to exchange his soul for his brother’s and _then_ kill the Devil, but this is even more brutal. 100% sick all around tho!

0:59 I like the little detail where the Devil’s ears twitch a tiny bit when Cuphead appears next to him in the chair.

this needs to be used for the last episode for the cuphead show

I imagine that this takes place in an alternate timeline, which branches off from Indie Cross based on the fate of Mugman. In Indie Cross itself, Mugman is only KO'd by Cuphead's blast because it only goes "A KNOCKOUT!" without making the "player death" sound, because there would be no reason for Mugman to only have 1 HP at that point, and there are no instakills in Cuphead (as far as I'm aware).