Who's That Man?!

In the latest build of the game, I've made an addition to the "Anniversary" easter egg: there is now a man in a red jacket in the hot air balloon that was previously empty. Just like Midori in the hot air balloon across from him, this man waves enthusiastically at the player.

But...who is he?! Just who is this mysterious man?!

Well, if you've ever seen one of my Cameo videos, it's not a mystery at all: It's me!

For many years, people have been asking me if I would ever include myself inside of Yandere Simulator in some form. I've always answered "no" to this question; I've never wished to put myself inside of Yandere Sim. (There's a serial killer in the game! Why would I want to expose myself to that kind of danger?!)

However, when putting together the Anniversary easter egg, I decided that I did want to be in the game - I wanted to occupy a hot air balloon alongside Midori, waving to the player. So, I put myself into the game!

You might have a question: "What's with that outfit you're wearing?" In the past, I always depicted myself as a man with short black hair wearing a white shirt and blue pants. Now, I've suddenly upgraded to "Black hat, shoulder-length hair, goatee, red jacket, and black shirt." Why? What motivated the change?

To answer that question, we have to go all the way back to 2022! Back then, I was very committed to streaming games, and often streamed on a daily basis. However, I was too shy to show my face on webcam. Fortunately, there's an option for people who want to appear onscreen but don't want to show their real-life face: Vtubing! That's right - as early as 2022, I was making plans to become a Vtuber.

At Anime Expo 2019, I saw a black hat with the word "YANDERE" written on it. That hat screamed "I belong on YandereDev's head!" and I knew that it would be the perfect addition to my avatar.

I wanted my new avatar to feel like a "cooler, older" version of my original white-shirt avatar, so I decided on several changes that would make him feel like we were looking at an "upgraded" version of the previous avatar - longer hair and a goatee.

I didn't want people to say "Your real-life appearance doesn't match your avatar at all!" so I actually grew out my hair and grew a goatee in real life. In fact, I deliberately designed every aspect of the Vtuber avatar to be something that I could replicate in real life! For example...

One of my most favorite video game characters of all time is Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes. One of the things that makes him look like a total badass is his signature red jacket - so I decided that my new avatar would wear a jacket similar to the one that Travis wears. I even ordered a replica of Travis' jacket from Amazon so that I'd be able to "cosplay" as my own avatar.

(I also had plans to incorporate RGB lights into the jacket - real people have actually done that IRL before - but I'm not sure if I'll actually commit to that.)

Most streamers are a lot younger than me, and I'm getting...uh..."less young" with every every year. I thought that perhaps wearing shades might hide some of the wrinkles around my eyes, so I incorporated shades into the Vtuber's design, as well.

You'll notice an "artist glove" on his right hand. This is because he was designed during a period of time when I was trying to become a digital artist, and doing "art streams." During that phase, I was wearing an artist glove for at least one hour every day, and "artist" was starting to become a part of my self-identity. I wanted my avatar to be accurate to my mental image of myself (unlike the white-shirt guy), so an artist glove was incorporated into the Vtuber's design.

After deciding what traits the avatar should have, I described him to Yandere Simulator's lead artist, and she kindly illustrated him for me! You can find the concept art she drew in the image gallery attached to this post.

In the end, I gradually de-prioritized streaming, and decided to focus more of my time and attention on development, instead. I simply couldn't justify spending thousands of dollars to commission a Vtuber model, so the Vtuber design sat un-used on a folder on my computer for multiple years...

...until...

...someone requested a Cameo video from me.

I thought, "This request looks fun! But...I don't want to appear on camera. I don't feel cool. I don't like my own appearance." Then, I remembered all of those things I bought so that my real-life appearance could be accurate to my Vtuber's appearance. The hat. The jacket. With that stuff on, I'd feel a little bit "cooler" - a little bit more self-confident. I'd feel "cool enough" to appear on camera.

So, I put the hat and jacket on, and recorded the video. Didn't bother with the glasses - felt like it would be "too much." That video must have gone viral or something, because I started getting dozens of Cameo requests per day - an absolutely overwhelming amount! So, I slapped the hat and the jacket back on, and now - 522 Cameo videos later - it feels like "the new me."

So, when the time came for me to decide how to depict myself within Yandere Simulator, I knew exactly who I wanted to be: Not "boring white shirt" guy, but cool "Yandere Hat, Long Hair, Goatee, Red Jacket, Artist Glove" guy. (The glasses were modeled, too...I just have them toggled off right now.)

(Isn't it funny that, in each Cameo, I'm cosplaying as a Vtuber version of myself who hasn't even debuted yet? Ha ha ha!)

When I eventually return to YouTube, it would be cool to return with a brand-new set of character portraits. However, that would require a LOT of work from an artist, so I'm not ready to promise it at this moment in time. It's a "Maybe, we'll see..." at this point.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the origins of the brand-new YandereDev avatar! I hope you like him, because I'd definitely like to use him more in the future!