In the full game, there will be ten rivals for the ten weeks of 202X Mode, with one rival appearing each week. Only Osana Najimi and Amai Odayaka appear in the game, but they have all been introduced in a video.
They're the most important people to eliminate, as they all have a crush on Taro Yamada (with the exception of Hanako Yamada and Megami Saikou). If the rival is not eliminated by the end of their week, they will confess their love to Taro (or make him promise to never have a significant other, in the case of his sister) under the Confession Tree behind the school on Friday, and the player will get a Game Over. A girl confessing to a boy underneath a cherry tree is a cliché in anime and will be drawn upon in the game.[1] Each rival in the game is an anime archetype,[2] inspired by popular concepts and stereotypes. However, not all of them will be based on a "dere" archetype.[3]
In the debug builds, there were no actual NPCs who function like proper rivals, so there was no way to win the game yet. Instead, there were test rivals that were used in testing rival eliminations.
In the full game, they will not be in the school until their week comes. Each rival will be introduced via a cutscene conversation with Info-chan.[4] The rivals from weeks two to ten will each have a reason for not coming to the school for the previous weeks of the game. They will also have a short cut-scene that shows how they met Taro and why they are attracted to him.[5] Some of the cut-scenes will be humorous to balance out the other dark elements of the game.[6]In 1980s Mode, rivals are introduced during Ryoba's monologues on Saturday.
Taro will not fall in love with girls of his own accord. He will start to develop a crush on a rival if she has five interaction events with him. There will be one "event" with Taro each day, with the final event being a love confession. It is possible for Ayano to sabotage each event, leaving the rival to be rejected by him.
Even though the main object of their desire is Taro, all rivals will have a secondary crush on another male student. This allows the main character to matchmake every rival with their suitor as a way of eliminating them. If the player chooses to make Taro female, then all of the rivals will be directly bisexual and/or pansexual, and Taeko will be homosexual, bisexual or pansexual.[7]
Every rival wears special stockings to make themselves stand out and will have unique panties[8] that suit their personality.[9] In the future, rival hairstyles and accessories might be unlocked after beating the game once.[10]YandereDev has considered the idea of allowing the player to dress up as any of the rivals after eliminating them.[11]
As the game progresses, each rival is more difficult to defeat than the previous one, sometimes because of popularity.[12]
Rivals are seen outlined in red in Yandere Vision, although this outline might have other identifications, as traumatized students also have a red aura. These rivals will have a "Red String Of Fate" connected to Taro.
The rivals will be able to realize that the player is stalking them, and react accordingly.[13] However, they will never know that they have competition for Taro.[14]
Test Rivals
NOTE: These rivals are only for testing and are not rivals in the final game. Currently, there have only been four test rivals.
Sumire Saito is a test rival of Yandere Simulator Prototype. She hasn't appeared in the game ever since. She was looking the same as Ayano Aishi, except that she had different stockings and her hair and eyes were yellow. Her name is taken from character with the same name from the manga K-ON!. Her name was later reused and changed for Sumire Saitozaki.
Rival-chan uses the original model for Osana Najimi, so they are often confused with each other. Rival-chan only existed to test the red rival outline of Yandere Vision and to stand in for Osana. She now shares the same appearance as Raibaru, Osana's friend and constant companion.
Kokona Haruka was the second test rival. Unlike her predecessors, she was not removed from the game, and is now a normal student with no crush. She canonically had a crush on Taro before the events of the game, but it was brief as Kokona realized that they have nothing in common.
202X Mode Rivals
This section contains spoilers. You have been warned!
All rivals have been officially created, planned out,[15] and designed since February 2016.[16] Back in late November 2015, an artist had created full-body illustrations for every rival character. YandereDev asked for a few modifications, and then promised that he would officially reveal all of them in his upcoming Rival Introduction Video.[17]
Only Osana Najimi, Amai Odayaka, Kizana Sunobu, and Megami Saikou currently exist in the game. Osana is fully functional. Amai Odayaka is "released", but not "finished". Kizana Sunobu also makes an appearance in the game and could've been added with the JSON files, just like Osana used to, but was quickly removed due to the fact that she was only added for a video. Oka Ruto was in the game for a decent amount of time before getting pulled for the development of her as a rival. Muja Kina was in the game as the nurse before getting replaced by the official nurse, because Muja is only a substitute nurse. Osoro was added for a video, without full AI and was just walking endlessly. Hanako was fully implemented as an alter-ego named "Nemesis" which only appears in Mission Mode and Horror Prototype Mode. Megami Saikou can be seen on the laptop in Student Council room and/or if Ayano kills a student council member.
As of 28th of September, 2016, the 202X rivals have been revealed in the Rival Introduction Video.
Osana Najimi is the first rival in the full game, and appears in the demo. She falls under the tsundere archetype and is Taro's childhood friend. They walk to school and home together everyday, since they live very close to each other. If Osana is eliminated, it will have a bigger effect on Taro's sanity compared to anyone else. Her best friend, always beside her, is Raibaru Fumetsu. She acts like a personal bodyguard to Osana, which will make eliminating her very difficult.
YandereDev has mentioned that Osana essentially functions as a tutorial rival.
Amai Odayaka, the president of the Cooking Club, is the second rival. She is a warm, gentle, kind-hearted girl. She is a "big sister" or "onee-chan" type character.[2] YandereDev has revealed that she can be eliminated with the "Drive to Murder" elimination, however as of now, it's still not avaliable in-game.
Kizana Sunobu, the president of the Drama Club, is the planned third rival in the full game. She is one of the popular girls in school and believes she is superior to others, akin to royalty. She dreams to become an actress in the future. Due to her popularity in school, most people will be following her resulting in difficulty to eliminate her. [18]
Oka Ruto, the president of the Occult Club, is the planned fourth rival in the full game. She is considered a cross between the Hex Maniac from Pokemon: X and Y, Tharja from Fire Emblem: Awakening, and Tomoko from WataMote.[19] She is an outcast and considered creepy by many.
Asu Rito, the swim team captain and the president of the Sports Club, is the planned fifth rival. She will be perpetually positive and energetic, and can be described as a 'Genki Girl'.[2]
Muja Kina, the student nurse, is the planned sixth rival.[22] Her character trait is unintentional sexual innuendos.[23] She is pure and innocent.[24] She will receive training from Nasu Kankoshi. Muja will disappear from the school after her week is over, even if she is eliminated peacefully.[25] Though she would most likely stay as a trainee/intern if she is eliminated non-lethally.[26][27]
Mida Rana, the substitute teacher, is the planned seventh rival. The teacher's trait is intentional sexual innuendos,[23] and she will be sultry and seductive.[24] She can be called upon by a Teacher's Pet if they discover a corpse or witness a murder. Ayano will be able to match her with a student.[28] She will disappear from the school after her week is over, even if she is eliminated peacefully.[25] Though she would most likely stay as the Kocho Shuyona's secretary if she is eliminated non-lethally.[26]
Osoro Shidesu, the leader of the delinquents, will be the planned eighth rival. Although she will not be evil,[31] it is known that she has been suspended from school for something gravely serious. Not only that, but she is the strongest and most dangerous girl in school.[30]
She is the leader of a gang, and she always has her cronies nearby.[32]
Hanako Yamada, Taro's younger sister, is the planned ninth rival in the full game.[33] Her appearance has been updated as of November 28th, 2015.[34] She is not in love with her brother, nor does she lust sexually after him, but she loves him so much that she does not want him to get a girlfriend, as she wants all of his attention.[35] She is said to be a year younger than Taro[36] and two school years behind him.[37]
Megami Saikou, the Student Council president, is the planned tenth rival in the full game. She will be a lot like Nayuta from Yumina the Ethereal VN.[38] She will also be a strict disciplinarian.[39] She will be the most popular girl in school.[40] She is also going to be the hardest rival to eliminate, due to a number of reasons, such as being impossible to beat in a fight (invincible self-defense) and being near the Student Council. She also has a chip implanted in her so that Saikou Corp knows where she is at all times.
Like Story Mode, there are ten rivals, with one appearing each week. There is also a tutorial rival that only appears in the tutorial.
The rivals in 1980s Mode all have a crush on Jokichi Yudasei. The player character is Ryoba Aishi, Ayano's mother, and the yandere from the Mysterious and Basement Tapes. Jokichi Yudasei is also Ryoba's senpai.
Moeko Rakuyona is the second rival in 1980s Mode. She is a tomboy who spends time with the rainbowboys, as she is more comfortable around boys than girls.
Sonoko Sakanoue is the tenth and final rival of 1980s Mode. She is The Journalist's apprentice and a former (but returning) student at Akademi. She is investigating Jokichi.
Endless Mode Rivals
In Endless Mode, the game will randomly generate a rival each week for an unlimited number of weeks until Ayano gets caught. The player will have to stalk Taro until they identify the newest rival.[4] They will not have special stockings. They will have the normal functions of a rival, and the player will be able to eliminate them the same way as any rival in Story Mode.
Possible DLC Rivals
YandereDev has stated that he might consider creating DLC rivals in 2014. These rivals would either be non-canon, or would require unique coding to be implemented.[41] If DLC rivals do get added to the game, they would most likely appear after Megami's week.[42]
According to YandereDev in 2017, he's still considering this idea, including Kokona as a DLC rival.[43]
As of now, nearly all of the elimination methods are implemented. As of now, Osana can be used for all of the elimination methods that are implemented. These elimination methods include:
There will be 17 elimination methods that will work on all 10 rivals. Each rival will also have at least one unique elimination method[51] that is exclusive to that specific rival.[52] In fact, it is possible that in the full game some methods will be tied to scripted events which only involve the rival.[53] The rivals were built around their elimination methods.[54]
Once a rival has been eliminated non-lethally, they become a regular NPC and all "normal NPC interactions" become available to them.[55]
The player will not be able to threaten or intimidate rivals, only directly eliminate them, whether it's violently or peacefully.[56] Blackmail will not be available either because the game is about taking direct action against Ayano's rivals.[57]
Trivia
Two testing rivals got removed, and two rivals are still in the game. However they're no longer rivals, and Rival-chan's name changed into Raibaru Fumetsu, which she is now an obstacle.
At one point, there was an elimination method that was similar to tampering with the school diving boards so that the rival would smash their face into the ground, but it was criticized for being "too Looney Tunes".[58]
If the player elimates a rival early, the player has an option to skip forward to the next week, or play through the current week.
There is an old post detailing all ten of the rivals.[59] Although outdated, some information has persisted and remained in the game's plan, such as Osana Najimi and Mida Rana.
There is a page that shows most likely outdated designs of a few of the rivals. The artist mentions that they are subject to heavy change, as well. YandereDev linked to the page in older comments on here.
A car bomb would be an appropriate way to eliminate one particular rival, but this is not very yandere-like.[60]
Certain rivals may be capable of self-defense, but Osana Najimi is not be one of these, since she is a "tutorial" rival.[61] Some rivals are the type of people who would be able to catch a knife if it was thrown at them, even if their back was turned. Muja and Mida, however, are not.[62][63]
Only one or two rivals will ever directly confront Ayano,[14] and they, including a third rival who can defend herself, will fight in manners completely different from one another.[64]
Koharu Hinata had a crush on Taro in the September 18th, 2015 Build, and was, therefore, a rival. This mistake was fixed in the October 8th, 2015 Update.
All of the rivals will be on good terms with Taro. If he sees them covered in blood, he will not assume they committed a crime. But, if one of the rivals is arrested, Taro will be in disbelief, and will think that is what they were really like.
It will be impossible to get rid of one rival to instantly cause the elimination of another.[65]
Each rival's birthday will fall on a different month of the year.[66]
YandereDev released a parody of a popular Christmas song on December 26, 2014, which contained two possible rival names: Miyuki-chan and Sadako-chan. The name Miyuki was later used as the name of the protagonist in Magical Girl Pretty Miyuki, a popular anime in Yandere Simulator. It is unknown if the name Sadako will be in future used as well.
YandereDev later revealed that he only used those names because he thought they were common, generic Japanese names.[67]
YandereDev also revealed he wants names that reference who the character is. For example, Taro's childhood friend is named Osana Najimi because osananajimi (幼なじみ) means "childhood friend" in Japanese.[68]
The very first silhouettes of the DLC rivals seen in The Curious Case of Kokona Haruka were not original art, and in fact, characters from other media.
There was originally going to be a short loli rival, but YandereDev is opposed to the idea now because of all the work and problems it would create.[69]
If the rivals were in Hogwarts, most of them would be Gryffindor.[70]
Only rivals will have dark secrets, not regular NPCs,[71] with the exception of certain characters like The Journalist.
Pregnancy is a possible dark secret of one of the rivals.[72]
If the rivals have siblings, they do not attend Akademi.[73] The only exception to this rule is Hanako Yamada.
Some of the rivals are intended to be likable people who do not deserve to die, possibly making the player feel some guilt or pity for whatever they do to them.[74]
YandereDev's current plan as of January 14, 2016 does not include a rival who Info-chan will refuse to help kill or torture.[75]
Implementing the ability to disguise Ayano as a rival is very tricky, so it cannot be guaranteed.[76]
YandereDev is considering an old idea of taking trophies from rivals, but it is a low priority.[77]
YandereDev likes the idea of breaking into a rival's home and smashing her possessions, but this would only happen if a small town is added.[78]
Killing a rival who is also a club leader will not shut down the club; each club that contains a rival in it will have one more person in it than usual so that it can stay open even though someone died. A substitute will take the place of the normal club leader.[79]
Each rival's personality will be demonstrated through unique animations that other NPCs do not possess. Similarly, they will also react to Ayano's presence in ways that other NPCs do not.[13]
In one or two cases the player will be able to use a former rival as a "tool" to help eliminate a future rival. However, this won't be the case with all rivals.
Befriending a rival may supply Ayano with a permanent reputation gain of +1, per befriended rival.[80]
A befriended, former rival may comment on Ayano not interacting with Taro.[80]
Although most rivals travel to school through walking or taking a train into town, Megami will arrive by helicopter.[81]
YandereDev is considering the idea of having a rival's ghost appear where they were killed.[82]
Some of the rivals inherited their interests from their parents.[83]
Although Osana is the first rival, Oka Ruto was the first rival to be implemented in Yandere Simulator and is not a test rival as Oka was implemented in the November 15th 2015 build but she got removed in the August 18th 2018 build.
If they are eliminated peacefully, they will stop using the Lovestruck persona and will change their persona according to their character except for Osana.
For example, Honami Hodoshima is a shy bookworm. If she is eliminated peacefully, she will stop using the Lovestruck persona and will use the Coward persona from Week 4 onwards.
Megami is the only one of the rivals who doesn't blush, this is because she doesn't have a crush on Taro.
Rejected 1980s Rival Concept.
It was confirmed that 11 rivals (excluding Sumire Saitozaki) were originally planned for the 1980s Mode. However, one of the rival's concepts, codenamed "Gloomy," was eventually rejected.[84]
Her personality would have been shy, gloomy, and asocial.
During her week, it would be raining, and a thunderstorm would take place. An aspiring meteorologist, she would have spent most of her time outdoors to study the thunderstorm and gather data during the rain.
Her canon elimination would have been getting electrocuted by her equipment.
Since Ai Doruyashi shares the same canonical elimination with her, it is most likely that she would have been the sixth rival in 1980s Mode before being replaced by Ai.
YandereDev think's it would be cool for each rival to have 'an "appreciation day"', where rivals would get fan art and other related stuff on their day.[85]
Ayano and Ryoba regard their rivals as threats and obstacles. They do not see the rivals personality, traits or flaws, rather, they just perceive the girls as threats.[86]
Ryoba's analyzation of their personalities in her monologue doesn't change her opinion about her rivals.[86]
This is how an Aishi would think about their rivals.[86]
When a rival is matchmade with her suitor, she tells her suitor about her problem, for which the suitor will solve for her.[87]
All 202X rivals will have the lovestruck persona.[88]
According to YandereDev, Ritsuko is the richest 1980s rival. While the other girls come from similar families with little to no differences in wealth.[89]
The 1980s rivals were not intended to be counterparts of the 202X rivals.[89]
The majority of the rivals from 1989 now reside in Tokyo.[90]
According to YandereDev, in any timeline where Taro Yamada got with a rival, or the latter got with their suitor, they would eventually have a child together.[91]
