Yume Nikki:Toriningen

Toriningen
Basic Info
Role	Trap Madotsuki in isolated areas Changing the menu theme (Mall Toriningen)
Collectibles	None
Events	None
Location	Various
Other
Size	Standard
Killable?	No

Toriningen (鳥人間, "Bird-humans") are a certain group of characters in Yume Nikki.

Overview

The Toriningen are tall, humanoid characters with long snouts and squinted eyes. They come in three variations, each with a different hairstyle: twintails, ponytails, and bobbed hair. The three types also wear different outfits, depending on their hairstyle:

• The twintails Toriningen wears a brown striped shirt with long sleeves, blue pants, and brown shoes.
• The ponytail Toriningen wears a purple long-sleeved dress shirt, a patterned pink skirt, and gray shoes.
• The bobbed hair Toriningen wears a purple striped dress with blue sleeves and green shoes.

In their lunatic forms, their eyes will turn bright pink as their pupils move around wildly. They also stick out their tongues in this form and will pursue Madotsuki.

When in their normal state, the Toriningen will not harass Madotsuki and will simply wander about like normal NPCs. When stabbed with the Knife effect, they will turn into their "lunatic" forms instead of dying and will pursue Madotsuki until she is caught, sending her to an isolated area in one of the other dream worlds. The only way to escape these isolated sections is by waking up or using the Medamaude effect. If one Toriningen is stabbed and turned into the lunatic form, all of the other normal Toriningen will turn lunatic as well.

How the three types of Toriningen appear as Lunatics. Their eyes shift back and forth as they walk.

Lunatic Toriningen can be avoided by using the active function of the Triangle Kerchief effect, which renders Madotsuki invisible to them unless she interacts with them directly. They may also be immobilized using the Stoplight effect, which freezes them in place when the light is red. Another useful effect to consider is the Bicycle effect, which can help Madotsuki outspeed most of the Toriningen.

Locations

Toriningen are spread diversely throughout numerous dream worlds, appearing in many different locations.

Face Carpet Plaza

1. A lunatic, ponytail Toriningen is found near the center of the map. It will trap Madotsuki in the Neon Tile Path.

Snow World

1. A sane, bobbed Toriningen is found near a solitary igloo. Traps Madotsuki in Hell.
2. A lunatic, bobbed Toriningen is found inside one of the five grouped igloos. It traps Madotsuki in Hell. Only appears if the Toriningen wandering around outside is made into a lunatic.

Candle World

1. A sane, ponytail Toriningen is found near the bed. It also traps Madotsuki in Hell. This Toriningen becomes abnormally fast when made lunatic.

Checkered Tile Path

1. A lunatic, bobbed Toriningen is found in Section 1 near the pyramid. Traps Madotsuki in the Docks.

Number World

1. A sane, twintails Toriningen is found in the Bed Room. Can trap Madotsuki in the Number World or the Lamp World. It also allows Madotsuki to access Mini Hell when made lunatic.

Guillotine World

1. A lunatic, twintails Toriningen. Traps Madotsuki in Hell.
2. A lunatic, ponytail Toriningen. Traps Madotsuki in Dense Woods A.

• There is a 1/8 chance that Madotsuki will find herself in an alternate version of this room, inhabited by six Toriningen instead of the usual two. These all have the same characteristics as the two in the smaller version of the room.

Hell

1. A lunatic, ponytail Toriningen. Traps Madotsuki in Dense Woods A.
2. A lunatic, twintails Toriningen. Traps Madotsuki in the Teleport Maze.
3. A lunatic, bobbed Toriningen. Traps Madotsuki in the Sky Garden

The Wilderness

1-3. The three Toriningen here are having a party and are not capable of being made lunatic, due to the fact that Madotsuki is blocked from reaching them by vegetation.

Mall

1. A lunatic, twintails Toriningen is found behind the counter in The Shop. She appears to be friendly and cannot harm Madotsuki. She allows the player to switch between the original menu color scheme and two others, the black and red version being somewhat rare.

Trivia

• The Toriningen may be inspired by various yōkai of Japanese folklore:
  • Their long snouts may make them based on the Tengu, which sport similar long noses.
  • They may also be based on the Baku, which are characterized by having a long snout and their tendency to devour nightmares, befitting of Yume Nikki's dream theming.
  • Another possible inspiration could be the Onmoraki yōkai, which are bird-like demons with human faces and glowing eyes. The Onmoraki's name is also a pun on various Buddhist themes, which may relate to the various pieces of Buddhist imagery and symbolism in the game.

Theories

The Toriningen are unique among the many characters found in Yume Nikki in that they are one of the few who can be considered "enemies" in the game. It's possible that this status as a hostile enemy-like character came from something that happened to Madotsuki in the real world.

Bullying may have lead to doubts about her own appearance.

One common theory relating to the Toriningen is that they symbolize bullies in the real world. They often act as a group to hunt down Madotsuki. Even if just one passive Toriningen is harmed and a successful escape is made, other passive Toriningen around the dream world will turn hostile. They are also known to trap Madotsuki in isolated locations, which may relate to Closet Madotsuki, a duplicate Madotsuki who is found trapped inside a closet. This could show an instance in which Madotsuki was trapped or locked away in the real world as a result of being bullied. It should also be noted that in the Checkered Tile Path, where Closet Madotsuki is found, a hostile Toriningen can also be found. Similar closets also appear in Number World, where another Toriningen is, and throughout Guillotine World, which has many hostile Toriningen. The Toriningen's method of trapping Madotsuki in small, isolated locations could also reflect Madotsuki's living conditions in the real world, where she is restricted to living in a single room. The Toriningen are also shown to party without Madotsuki in the Wilderness, which could either be a form of social exclusion or show that Madotsuki yearns to make friends but feels unable to.

The Toriningen could also symbolize Madotsuki's views on other girls or women, beauty, and physical appearance. The Toriningen are shown to have much neater clothing and hairstyles than Madotsuki, though they have squinted eyes, long tongues, and elongated snouts, which could be an exaggeration of makeup or applied beauty products. This could have possibly affected Madotsuki's view on her own appearance, leading to different effects such as the hair-related effects and body-related effects such as Fat, Midget, and Buyo Buyo. This also relates to the bullying theory discussed above, as she may have been insulted for her appearance, leading to these effects.

It should also be noted that their appearance is similar to the player character in NASU, one of the few points of visual stimulation that Madotsuki has in the real world. It's possible that their appearance in her dreams was influenced by her playing the game, as both the Toriningen and NASU resemble bird-like humanoids.

Gallery

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  Animated sprite sheet.

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  A Toriningen chasing Madotsuki in the Face Carpet Plaza.

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  One of the Toriningen found in Hell.

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  A sane Toriningen from the manga.

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  A lunatic Toriningen from the manga.

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  A Toriningen chasing Madotsuki in the Face Carpet Plaza in the manga.

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  A group of Toriningen from the manga.

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  A Toriningen in Snow World from the light novel.