Lord of Nightmares

The Lord of Nightmares is the demiurg of the Slayers universe. It has no defined sex, however most people tend to think they is a woman because of the final chapters of Slayers Next. Unlike most creator deities in fiction, the Lord of Nightmares ("LoN") is not considered benevolent and humans don't worship them. Even among those steeped in the magical arts, few are aware of their existence, however the Mazoku or "demon race" are, and refer to them as "the Mother of All". Other names given them include: Lord of Dreams that Terrify; He Who Shines Like Gold upon the Sea of Chaos; The Golden Lord; and L-Sama.

The Lord of Nightmares created not only the entire Slayers multiverse, including the futuristic galaxy portrayed in Lost Universe) and two other known worlds including the realms of Chaotic Blue and Death Fog. Both Shabranigdo, the devil figure of universe where Slayers takes place, and his rival Ceiphied are her direct creations. Some have theorized that the Lord of Nightmares did this simply because she wanted to watch gods, demons and mortals contend because it would be amusing, a hypothesis adopted by Valgaav in Slayers Try in his attempt to remake the world. Others have theorised that Lord of Nightmares requires the chaos of battle for sustenance.

As few humans are aware of the Lord of Nightmares; even fewer actually seek her attention. Only Lina Inverse has been known to directly use the power of the Lord of Nightmares in spells, and this she does with great reluctance. Spells that call upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares are notoriously unreliable, with failure frequently having devastating consequences. The most notable of such spells, the Giga Slave, could theoretically destroy existence itself if miscast. Only Lina Inverse knows this spell and she has so far been unwilling to teach it to anyone else. In the beginning of the series, she also knew little about Lord of Nightmares, and using the bits she learnt, she created an incomplete form of Giga Slave used to defeat a piece of Shabranigdo in Slayers. At the end of Slayers Next, Lina is goaded into casting the Giga Slave, which in reality was a spell to summon the Lord of Nightmares itself. The price of the spell was surrendering her body to host the Lord of Nightmares.

Lord of Nightmares bears a striking resemblance to the goddess Tiamat of ancient Babylonian mythology.

Unlike the Dark Lords, whose power is called upon by sorcery, the Lord of Nightmares is her power itself, and can withhold it if she chooses: "Her mind is her power, and her power is her mind." When LoN inhabits a human body, that body glows in a golden aura.

Source: Wikipedia