The Mall Shoppers (デパートの人, Depāto no hito) are a group of NPCs that can be found wandering around in the Mall.
Overview[]
They are similar in shape to normal humans, with the exception of their varying colors and lack of facial features. Upon interaction, they become deformed and walk faster, away from Madotsuki.
If the Stoplight effect is used to freeze them, their bodies will distort slightly, though they will return to their normal state once unfrozen, even if they have been distorted beforehand. When the Knife effect is held, they will quickly run away, whether they are distorted or not. They show the standard attraction reaction when the Cat effect is used while they are in their normal state, though using the Cat effect while they are distorted makes them quickly run in a different direction instead of being drawn towards Madotsuki.
They are visually similar to the Maussan Bros in the Sky Garden.
Appearances[]
Obasan[]
A purple madam with brown hair that carries a green handbag and wears a dark red sweater, a blue skirt, and pink shoes. She is located near the Mall's escalator. When she is distorted, she holds her hand up, her hair puffs up, and her stomach is cut as red drops fly out of it.
Fat Guy[]
A fat man with blue skin and fuchsia hair. He wears a light blue shirt, dusky green jeans, and is either shoeless or adorned in dark blue shoes. He is located in the southern part of the Mall. When he is distorted, his hair appears to lift upwards. He faces backwards at certain points, and his body puffs in and out, with his stomach occasionally having an inward dent.
Gray Lady[]
A nervous-looking female that has gray skin and dark hair, wearing a dark brown shirt, peach color skirt, and purple shoes. She is housed in the northeast part of the Mall. When she is distorted, she begins to stumble as she walks and looks around frantically.
Green Man[]
A green-skinned man with muddy-looking hair, wearing a pea green shirt, dark blue pants, and purple shoes. He is found in the northwest part of the Mall. He resembles Shitai-san to some degree. When he is distorted, his arms flail around as he continues walking around.
Twintail Girl[]
A little girl that has pink skin and maroon twintails. She is dressed in a lilac shirt and a pink pearl skirt with purple shoes. She can be found in the southeast part of the Mall. When she is distorted, she will perform various actions depending on what direction she moves. Her twintails will flip while moving north, her head will pop on and off while moving east, she will hold up her arm as a line appears across her face (possibly an eye or mouth) while moving south, and her stomach will bloat when moving west.
Blue Boy[]
A little boy that has blue skin and red hair, wearing blue clothes and green shoes. He is stationed in the southwest part of the Mall. He is also the only still one, and will not move until the Cat effect is used. When he is distorted, his neck appears to become elongated and twist backwards.
Interpretation[]
There have been some theories that link the Mall Shoppers to other NPCs in the game. For example, the Green Man heavily resembles Shitai-san in his coloration and the Twintail Girl resembles Monoko (her twintails even twist in a similar manner to how Monoko's do during her event). It's possible that the Mall Shoppers are people Madotsuki knew in the real world, though their specific features have been simplified or distorted in her dreams.
Since the Mall heavily resembles a hospital in some aspects, the Mall Shoppers could also represent various people admitted to a hospital. Many of the shoppers show distorted behavior that appear to be associated with injuries, such as the Fat Guy and Obasan's open stomachs and the Blue Boy's twisted neck. This could possibly relate to the theme of traffic accidents often speculated to be in the game, as those who survive serious car accidents are usually taken to hospitals to recover.
Trivia[]
- Considering that Yume Nikki appears to have some elements inspired by the Mother series, it's possible that Obasan specifically is based on the Cranky Lady enemy from EarthBound/Mother 2. Both have purple skin, wear red, and carry around a handbag.
- The overworld sprite for the Cranky Lady (as well as some other human-like enemies in EarthBound) also has light blue skin, which may have inspired the Fat Guy or Blue Boy shoppers.
Gallery[]
