The Gatekeeper is the host for the Nightmare video board game. He is
really the best part about the game; for the innovative aspect, if you
actually care about the design of board games, and for the comedic aspect, if
you don't.
Basically, the concept of the game is for the players to move around the board
and collect keys. Pretty simple, but the catch is that you put on a video
while playing, and every once in a while this character called the Gatekeeper
pops up on the TV screen and gives instructions. The Gatekeeper is apparently
some sort of a cantankerous hermit who wears a tattered potato-sack hood.
At the beginning of the game, he has the appearance of a middle-aged European
man, (and the accent to go along with it), but as the game clock advances,
he ages and winds up looking like Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars.
During the game, the Gatekeeper addresses the individual players, by calling
them by their pre-assigned number or the colour of their game piece.
Sometimes, he calls for the oldest or youngest player by calling old one or
young one, respectively. The "rule" is, whenever he calls for you, you
must respond by shouting "Yes, my Gatekeeper!".
One of the more hilarious aspects of the Gatekeeper and Nightmare is the
insults that the Gatekeeper is prone to dish out on the players. The
following is a compilation of some choice Gatekeeper quotes (these are
paraphrased from memory, please excuse the lack of historical accuracy):