Dream Eater

The Dream Eaters (ドリームイーター) are a species of creature introduced in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. As their name suggests, they reside in the Realm of Sleep, where they consume dreams. Dream Eaters fall under two major categories, Nightmares (ナイトメア), which eat good dreams and plant bad ones, and Spirits (スピリット), which only eat bad dreams. Nightmare Dream Eaters serve as the primary enemies in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, while Spirits serve as recruitable allies that Sora and Riku can collect.

Story
Following the defeat of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness at Sora's hands, a portion of the worlds attacked by the Heartless remain submerged in sleep. Though this means the Heartless cannot reach them, they are instead plagued by Dream Eaters, entities produced by the darkness present in these specific worlds and who seek the worlds' keyholes.

Design
Like the Unversed, Heartless, and Nobodies before them, the Dream Eaters come in a variety of sizes and shapes, although they appear to have a much higher range of color schemes than their predecessors, and often resemble animals. Each Dream Eater is adorned with an emblem which signifies whether it is a Spirit or Nightmare.

Dream Eaters are characterized by having colorful appearances. Nightmares tend to have darker color schemes, while Spirits have lighter, pastel colorations. Nightmares also tend to have round, red eyes which lack pupils, while those of Spirits tend to be yellow, blue or green.

The symbol of the Spirit Dream Eater is also present on the back of Riku's third outfit, while the symbol of the Nightmare Dream Eater is present on the visor of Ventus's helmet and the back of the Anti Black Coat's coat, although these have yet to be explained.

According to the April 2012 issue of V Jump, Recipes are involved in raising Spirit Dream Eaters. The February Special Trailer also depicted the Kingda Nyan as a "Rare Spirit". This implies that the Kingda Nyan, among a few others, is not a wild Dream Eater and is only obtainable through Special Recipes or AR Cards.

List of Dream Eaters
Notes:
 * Spirits or Nightmares marked with a check in this list have appeared in promotional material, but have not had an official picture released yet. Those marked with a question mark have had their opposite appear in promotional materials, but are not themselves confirmed to appear in Kingdom Hearts 3D.

Nightmare Bosses
Dream Eater Traumfresser