NIGHTMARE RACERS
Hello everyuma! Today we're talking about Suzuka's nightmare racers!!
For those unaware, in Suzuka's chapter of the main story, she goes through a race populated by blackened, terrifying mobumas. I haven't gone through her story myself yet, so I'm not sure why this happens, but what I do know is that it does.
On first assumption I assumed these were just unique mobs created to fill this specific role. Placeholders, like they usually are.
BUT THEY ACTUALLY DIRECTLY MATCH PREEXISTING MOBUMAS!!! WHICH MEANS WE CAN FIND OUT EXACTLY WHO SUZUKA'S NIGHTMARE RACERS ACTUALLY ARE!!!
This might not seem like a big deal but it IS TO ME!! Not only is it just. Cool.
THEIR NAMES DIRECTLY MAKE REFERENCES TO WHAT PERSONALITY THEY HAVE!!! WE HAVE THE RARE CHANCE TO DIRECTLY KNOW ABOUT THE PERSONALITIES OF MOBUMAS!!!!!!!!!
The list of mobs that reference their personalities are,
Wistcraft: Tenacious
Ribbon Operetta: Dignified
Reed Photobook: Confident
Ribbon Lullaby: Daring
And my personal favorite of these, Yappy Lucky: Mischievous
Not only do these provide peeks into the characters as a whole, but they provide a whole new perspective to their designs!!
Yappy Lucky's pose is reserved and polite, but she's directly stated to be mischievious. Could it be an act? Her eyes, with this point of view could imply a cunning mind. Therefore, is her racewear also part of her act? The traditional innocent white and gold, with the gold tinted slightly as a hint to her true nature.
Reed Photobook's design just compliments the stated confidence. Her outfit is bright and colorful, with an eager pose, and narrow eyes, she's someone who has the prize in her sights and is confident she'll be taking it. With the Photobook name, I could see her character taking a photographer theming. The kind of character who says "C'mon trainer!! You'll need to take your camera, cuz this race I'll be stunning!" I could see her having a camera to take pictures of things outside racing as a hobby.
Wistcraft's entire design and naming scheme screams confident smart girl. The Wist part of her name is an archaic term for the past tense of "wit." Y'know like the stat. And it could also be a play on "witchcraft." Her pink sleeves and white bow give a sort of magical girl energy, but the red in combination sort of makes me think of...Santa... Her "tenacious" description could fit into the play on witchcraft, and her general theming. She's an incredibly academically successful student who spends her time crafting potions and spells to become even better! Like.. Tachyon or Sweep Tosho or something. She's tenacious and always at work, constantly trying to improve.
Ribbon Lullaby's pose and eyes scream confidence, and her "daring" description definitely fits that. Meanwhile her name, racewear, and hair all scream "sleepy." Stamina is consistently her best or 2nd best stat, I could see her having a lot of energy for races but not much else. Or being the type of confident to go "I could do this race in my sleep!!" and then pass out the hour before it.
Ribbon Operetta, lastly, is the Dignified racer. Which is interesting, because her design generally says more "Childlike confidence" to me. She's pumped up and confident. Perhaps...too confident. She's one of the mobs who gets a debuff skill!! Having defeatist of all skills! As a mob, I could see this playing into the Dignified personality. She expects so highly of herself that when she gets to the end of the race she starts to criticize every little mistake until she doesn't even want to run anymore. Her name is Operetta, so she could be like a mini Opera O. Someone who puts themselves up, expecting nothing but the best. Except unlike Opera O, she's unable to reach the pedestal she makes for herself. She's small and inexperienced and doesn't have the same drive that Opera O does.
Side note???
This is Brown-Haired Racer?????? Jewel Crystal??? Who notably?? Does not have brown hair?????????? It could be that all of this is a lie but as mobuma fan and representative, I'm electing to believe that Jewel Crystal's grey hair is dyed and she's wearing contacts and when she raced against suzuka she really did have brown hair.
And those are all the interesting things I could gather about Suzuka's nightmare mobs!! Although there's definitely more little details about them I probably missed,,, @umamusume-mobs Your baby is in this one!!
Lastly, for those curious, the full list is.
Dignified Racer = Ribbon Operetta Petite Racer = Awilda Bespectacled Racer = Vital Dynamo Dark haired Racer = Jagdplaute Daring Racer = Ribbon Lullaby Mischievous Racer = Yappy Lucky Long Haired Racer = Dominant Power Tenacious Racer = Wistcraft Confident Racer = Reed Photobook Brown Haired Racer = Jewel Crystal Black Haired Racer = Mini Rose
Now I'll be off for now, but don't forget to tune in again for more mob rambles!!