The Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters make their debut in Poppy Playtime Chapter 4, though it might be somewhat disappointing to those of you who were hoping they’d have a larger role to play. Still, that doesn’t mean that these toys aren’t fascinating, so let’s take a look at who they are, what personalities they have, and what role they play in Safe Haven.
The line of toys clearly resembles the Poppy Playtime Smiling Critters, which also has eight toys in the group. The main difference is that they aren’t the stars of the show, as it’s not a Nightmare Critter who serves as the main antagonist of Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 – that honor goes to Yarnaby and The Doctor.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters:
Who are the Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters?
The Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters are a creepy line of toys that are ready and waiting for you in the depths of the Poppy Playtime factory. They’re essentially the ‘darker’ version of the Smiling Critters. If we take a closer look at the two lots of toys, there are some uncanny similarities, even if they aren’t immediately apparent.
Take Maggie Mako and PickyPiggy, for instance; these two both love to eat. However, the Smiling Critter, PickyPiggy, encourages healthy eating, while the Nightmare Critter, Maggie Mako, is all about eating those precious sweet treats. So, while the two are similar in that they love food, they’re also opposites in the food they enjoy.
Here are all the individual Nightmare Critters we know about so far:
Baba Chops
Baba Chops is the first Nightmare Critter revealed by Mob Entertainment. She appears in both the first teaser trailer and the artwork for the game’s Steam page, just like Poppy Playtime’s Huggy Wuggy, CatNap, and Poppy Playtime’s Mommy Long Legs for their respective chapters, indicating that she may be the primary antagonist of Chapter 4 (besides Poppy Playtime’s Prototype).
She’s quite an introvert, preferring to have plenty of space, and is a low-energy individual, often lacking the motivation to do things. She’s quiet and distant, though her pals can pull her out of her shell sometimes. She comes across as either an angsty teenager or a possibly depressed individual. Her scent is anise, and her pendant is a skull.
Icky Licky
The second Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critter that Mob Entertainment revealed is Icky Licky, a toy that borrows his design from poison dart frogs, hence the reason that his pendant is a biohazard symbol. Luckily, he smells a lot better with a coffee aroma.
If we can only use two words to describe him, they’re ‘sore loser.’ This toy hates to lose, instantly blaming any loss in competition on an injury or something to that effect. If he falls behind in a race, it’s obviously down to a dodgy knee. His incredibly competitive nature sees him constantly challenging others in competitions, though he frequently loses, besides being a naturally talented toy. Good thing he has plenty of excuses to cover his losses.
Rabie Baby
Rabie Baby is a bat and the third Nightmare Critter that Mob Entertainment revealed. Her name is likely in reference to the fact that bats are known to carry the rabies virus, though we imagine the chances of Rabie Baby biting you are much higher than the significantly low odds of a real bat doing so. Her pendant is a blood drop, which is likely in reference to bats’ association with vampires. At least her scent is more pleasant, bubblegum.
The pink bat is the gossip among the Nightmare Critters, being unable to keep a secret under any circumstances. Even if her life is on the line, she’ll still spill the beans. She has no respect for boundaries and is a very nosey bat, eavesdropping on anyone near her. You’re not even safe from her gossiping if she has no dirt on you, she’ll just make something up instead.
Allister Gator
Allister Gator is the fourth of the Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters to be revealed. Something we immediately notice is his last name, ‘Gator,’ the reason being that it’s the same last name as FNAF’s Monty; perhaps this is a fun nod from the devs. As Allister is an alligator, it comes as little surprise that his pendant is crossbones, a clear indicator of the danger posed by his species. His scent, meanwhile, is sandalwood.
The word ‘lazy’ epitomizes Allister. Putting effort into anything isn’t really his thing; he’d much rather chill out in the water and wait for good things to come to him, though that hasn’t worked out well so far.
Simon Smoke
Remember that dragon we suspected would be part of the Nightmare Critters lineup due to the appearance of ‘c’ in the title? Well, here he is. Simon Smoke is the fifth of the toys to have his bio released on social media. While you might expect fire or something to be his pendant, it’s actually a dollar sign, but his scent makes more sense: wood smoke.
Simon is the popular member of the group, knowing he’s cool and never letting anyone forget that fact. Yes, this means he likes to brag and is a bit of a show-off; he has to show you just how popular he is and that you’ll never hold a candle to him. He almost always wins in any popularity contest, though he’s also the biggest jerk going, and like many popular people like this, he tends to get away with it.
Poe
Poe is the sixth Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critter, and considering their name is Poe, and they’re a raven, it’s safe to say that famous writer Edgar Allen Poe and his iconic poem “The Raven” are the inspiration behind this toy. Poe’s pendant is a thunderstorm, while their scent is cinnamon.
It should come as little surprise that a raven hates the sun and prefers the dark. Poe can’t stand the light; they think it’s cruel that the sun is even needed, but at least they have graveyards to hang around in and their music to listen to. Poe is an angry soul, but hey, they claim this isn’t a phase.
Touille
Touille is the seventh Nightmare Critter that Mob Entertainment and it’s fair to say that this rat isn’t half as cute as the one from the movie his name references. Ratatouille. Touille’s pendant is a fish bone that looks like a tie, while Petrichor is his scent.
This rat is a self-proclaimed “trash rodent,” nomming on whatever garbage he can get his hands on, though he also enjoys a good conversation, even if he doesn’t actually have much to say to you. The lad is good for random tidbits and commentary you probably don’t want.
Maggie Mako
Maggie Mako is the eighth Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critter revealed by Mob Entertainment, and as her name gives away, she’s a shark, giving her quite a vicious appearance. As you might expect, her pendant is a shark tooth; though her scent isn’t fish, it’s actually chocolate, which makes a lot of sense when you get to know her.
Like most sharks, Maggie is always hungry, and she has the biggest sweet tooth going, though she will eat just about anything except vegetables. Not even Picky Piggy can help this girl out. She’s just going to laugh at any healthy advice you give her, all while shoving tasty treats down her throat.
What is the Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters’ role in the story?
Speaking candidly, the Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters have a disappointing role in Safe Haven, and you don’t even really get any lore tidbits about them.
Warning: below are spoilers for Poppy Playtime Chapter 4: Safe Haven.
The Nightmare Critters are only really relevant when in a boss fight with The Doctor, as a large Baba Chops attempts to kill you, though it’s easy to work your way around her. Beyond that, you can see some other big Nightmare Critters stuck in cages, and you need to evade some mini Nightmare Critters. That is the long and short of their involvement – it’s quite disappointing, but perhaps that’s because I love the design of these toys so much that I wanted them to play a larger role.
Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters’ personality
All of the Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters have their own unique personalities, as demonstrated by each of their entries above. However, there is a common theme; a lot of them embrace the attitude and angst of a teenager, though perhaps a bit darker than what you’d typically expect from a teen.
We also can’t help but be drawn to the names of some of these Poppy Playtime characters. They might not say tons about their personalities directly, but they do support our ‘these toys are a lot darker than the Smiling Critters’ thoughts. Baba Chops, for instance, is a sheep, and a common meat that people eat is lamb chops, so this name is likely a play on that. Rabie Baby, meanwhile, acknowledges that bats have an association with the rabies disease – neither of those gives you the impression that these toys are all sunshine and rainbows.
Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters’ appearances
Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 marks the debut of the Nightmare Critters, as there isn’t even a hint of them in the previous three chapters. The odds of us seeing them again feel pretty slim, but until we see trailers or even play Chapter 5 for ourselves, it’s impossible to say whether or not the Nightmare Critters are truly done with already.
That’s everything we can tell you about the Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters. To ensure you’re up to date with the events at Playtime Co., check out our Poppy Playtime Story explained guide. We also have a Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 review if you want to learn even more about Safe Haven.