Toriningen is a name given to certain characters in Yume Nikki. They have a long pointed snout for a nose that some consider to be beak-like, hence their name, meaning "bird person". Normal Toriningen will not harm Madotsuki, but those with purple eyes and what appears to be a tongue or blood coming out of their mouth teleport her to an enclosed area with no escape. (Except Medamaude and waking up.) Stabbing a normal toriningen makes all Toriningen go into this "odd" state until Madotsuki is caught or wakes up.
Lunatic Toriningen can be avoided by using the Triangle Kerchief effect and pressing 1, rendering Madotsuki invisible to them unless she interacts with them directly. Also, the Stoplight effect can freeze them in place when the light is red. Toriningen are immortal, and it is possible to stab them one or two times during the transformation phase to no avail. Lunatic Toriningen are completely unstabbable (also like Uboa).
The Toriningen and Uboa are the only characters considered "enemies" in the game, since they both teleport Madotsuki to a closed-off area. One particular odd Toriningen behind a desk will change your menu color randomly. There are three variations, (Pig tail, cut-off pigtail and straight hair), with its respective demented state.
The player character in Nasu has a similar snout. Toriningen can be portrayed as tengu imagery present in Yume Nikki. Even more, a mythical Japanese creature called the dream eater is characterised as having a long snout, and can be seen as a dreamer's antagonist since it obviously eats their dream.
Known Toriningen locations
- In the Forest World, heading to the upper right and going between two sculptures reveals the Face Carpet Plaza with a Lunatic Toriningen in it.
- Through a door in the Number World is a room with lots of beds and a normal Toriningen. Entering a part of the wall that is bleeding will take you to the Guillotine Room, which contains two Toriningen but seems to be full of them due to its small size. Stabbing a sane Toriningen may cause this room to become larger and contain more Toriningen.
- Part of Wilderness A has a Toriningen Party: three normal Toriningen having a picnic.
- The Candle World contains a sane Toriningen that becomes insanely fast when made lunatic.
- Hell contains many Toriningen that, although easily avoided, tend to block the path you wanted to take.
- In a room in the Mall, there is a Lunatic Toriningen behind a desk. She appears to be friendly and allows you to switch between the original menu color scheme and two others, the black and red version being somewhat rare. She cannot harm you.