View source for Yume Nikki:Uboa

{{Template:NPCBox
| headercolor = #000000
| headerfontcolor = #ffffff
| image = Uboa.png
| location = [[Yume Nikki:Poniko's House|Poniko's House]]<br/>[[Yume Nikki:Uboa's Trap|Uboa's Trap]]
| name = Uboa
| role = Traps Madotsuki in Uboa's Trap
| size = Standard
| killable = No
}}
'''Uboa''' (ウボァ) is a character that appears in Poniko's Room in the [[Yume Nikki:Pink Sea|Pink Sea]] during an [[Yume Nikki:Events#Uboa|event]].

==Overview==
Uboa is a round figure resembling a black mass with a white face. Its normal appearance consists of a smiling face with a squinting left eye and a resting right eye with a crack above it. Its facial appearance changes when interacted with and in Uboa's Trap, morphing into a distorted face will smaller eyes, nostrils, and what appears to be lips or rows of teeth.
[[File:Uboa2.png|right|thumb|Uboa's altered expression.]]

Uboa does not appear until the event associated with it is triggered. To activate the event, the player must travel to Poniko's House in the Pink Sea and turn off the lights in her room using the light switch found right beside the door. If the room simply turns dark and Poniko is unchanged, [[Yume Nikki:Madotsuki|Madotsuki]] must leave the room, reenter, and turn the lights off again. Continuing this process has a 1/64 chance of changing the room into a distorted version of Poniko's original room, now replacing the blonde girl with Uboa.

Once Uboa is summoned, Madotsuki can not leave the room or flip the light switch back on, with the latter action only causing the screen to flash white. Interacting with Uboa will send the player to [[Yume Nikki:Poniko's House#Uboa's Trap|Uboa's Trap]], a looping area in the White Desert filled with white liquid and a [[Yume Nikki:Bloody Touching Monster|towering, bleeding creature]] grasping melting mountains in the background. Uboa can also be found here in its distorted appearance. The only way to leave this area is to either pinch Madotsuki awake or use the [[Yume Nikki:Effects#Medamaude|Medamaude]] effect.

==Trivia==
*Due to the nature of Uboa's event and the disturbing appearance of the character itself, Uboa is often hailed as one of the reasons ''Yume Nikki'' grew in popularity in the West. Uboa saw heavy usage in Internet memes and edits during the early 2000s shortly after the character's discovery, typically depicting the character in a more humorous fashion.
**Due to its popularity, Uboa's character and event are commonly parodied or imitated in various ''Yume Nikki'' fangames. The character itself has also gone on to make cameos in various Internet media and appears to have inspired the designs of characters such as the [https://undertale.fandom.com/wiki/W._D._Gaster Mystery Man] from ''Undertale'' and [https://imscared.fandom.com/wiki/White_Face White Face] from ''IMSCARED: A Pixelated Nightmare''.
*The sound effect that plays when the player touches Uboa is the same one as when a [[Yume Nikki:Toriningen|Toriningen]] traps the player.
[[File:UboaEventEmpty.png|thumb|right|230px|The empty Uboa event if Poniko is killed first.]]
*Uboa will not appear if Poniko is killed, even if the event is activated. This forces Madotsuki to pinch herself awake or use the Medamaude effect if the Uboa event is triggered after killing Poniko.
*The background noise that plays when Uboa appears is the same as the music for [[Yume Nikki:Guillotine World|Guillotine World]] slowed down by half.
*Uboa's name originated from a 2channel post describing how to activate Uboa's event. The initial post simply reads the instructions to activate the event before adding "ウボァー" to express the shock the event may give the player.
**The phrase or "scream" used to express the event in the post references a line of dialogue from the character Emperor Mateus from ''Final Fantasy II'', with the phrase also being a 2channel meme at the time of the post's creation.
**Additonally, the characters that make up Uboa's name (ウボァ) do not normally go together in Japanese, with the effect of the name being similar to ''Cthulhu'' or ''Astfgl'' in its "wrongness".
*Both the [[Yume Nikki:Alley Demon|Alley Demon]] and [[Yume Nikki:Pier Monsters|Pier Monsters]] share a vague resemblance to Uboa.
*In the [[Yume Nikki:Official Manga|manga]], Uboa is given a ponytail and movable arms, likely to more closely resemble Poniko. Its body is also much more blanket-like, sporting visible ruffles on its body.

==[[Yume Nikki:Theories|Theories]]==
Due to the unique nature of the Uboa event, it is largely believed to hold some significance to an event that may have happened in the real world involving Madotsuki. The nature of being trapped in a room and being forced to interact with an unpleasant force has led some to believe the event may depict an assault or may be symbolic of Madotsuki isolating herself and having to face her thoughts within her dreams.

Another common interpretation of Uboa is that it may be an alternate form of Poniko, or Poniko may not exist at all and was simply a disguise used by Uboa for an unknown reason. This is evidenced by Uboa taking Poniko's place in her room, no matter where she has walked, and the absence of Uboa after Poniko has been killed, confirming they are the same entity. This interpretation could make Uboa based on the [[Wikipedia:Nuppeppō|Nuppeppō]] of Japanese mythology, which is stated in some texts to play tricks on people by disguising as a human and then interacting with real humans to let their guard down, only to surprise them by revealing they are a yōkai. The common interpretation of the Nuppeppō's appearance, a pale creature with a large and wrinkly head, could also somewhat match Uboa in description, especially with their altered appearance in Uboa's Trap.

==Gallery==
<gallery orientation="none" spacing="small" captionalign="center">
Uboaroom.jpg|Uboa in Poniko's House.
Uboa.jpg|Uboa as they appear in the manga.
</gallery>
[[Category:Yume Nikki Characters]]
[[Category:Yume Nikki Events]]