Poppy Playtime’s Yarnaby isn’t as cute as his name makes him sound; how can he be adorable when he’s to be the main antagonist in chapter 4? We already know a bit about him, though, enough for us to paint a picture of who he was before becoming a murderous toy. The child who became him is perhaps the most intelligent yet, making Yarnaby a dangerous enemy.
Before we take a look at all the information we have on Yarnaby, you can learn about Poppy Playtime’s Mommy Long Legs and Poppy Playtime’s CatNap in our guides. If you want to know more about the very first installment of the series, check out our Poppy Playtime Huggy Wuggy and Poppy Playtime Chapter 1 articles.
Here’s what you need to know about Poppy Playtime’s Yarnaby:
Who is Poppy Playtime’s Yarnaby?
Until the Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 release date, we can’t tell you a great deal about the toy, though we’ll certainly bring you information as and when we learn it. However, his presence does have us questioning the role of the Nightmare Critters; now we know he’s the main antagonist of Chapter 4. The few things we can tell you about Yarnaby are that Playtime Co. created Yarnaby in 1990, he resembles a lion, and, as his name implies, he’s made of yarn.
A fun but obvious fact is that Yarnaby’s name is a play on the name Barnaby and yarn, referring to the material he’s made from. It’s also possible that, as a lion, Yarnaby is one part of the Kitty Cat Collection, alongside Candy Cat, Cat-Bee, and Catnap.
If we take a look at his experiment number, 1166, Playtime Co. created Yarnaby before CatNap, Mommy Long Legs, and Huggy Wuggy. While this likely means little in terms of story, it’s interesting that the three villains we’ve seen so far are all younger than Yarnaby, though this perhaps hints at a greater level of obedience from Yarnaby. Another thing that supports this theory is that Yarnaby is very likely to have been a security measure in what we suspect is an in-house prison for Playtime Co.
Who is Quinn Navidson?
We can also tell you more about Quinn Navidson, the child who becomes Yarnaby. Though he doesn’t appear in the Yarnaby trailer, you can learn plenty about him through the Chapter 4 Icepick ARG experience (visit the website to try the alternate reality game). This is how we know Quinn is quite a conniving character, purposefully performing poorly in the tests at Game Station until Harley Sawyer, the head of Special Projects at Playtime Co., observes the boy himself, realizing that Quinn is intentionally hiding what he’s capable of.
Turns out the doctor is right, as when he informs Quinn that he knows what the child is up to, and states that he will oversee his next round of tests in the Game Station, Quinn performs incredibly well, getting the highest possible score in Wack-a-Wuggy and Statues. It’s likely that these results are what led to Quinn being selected to be experiment 1166, becoming the terrifying toy known as Yarnaby.
We have to question the judgment of the staff that went ahead with this. While we judge the actions at large in the factory anyway, opting to turn a boy who bites the heads off toys and is so good at hiding that you can’t locate him is a choice. However, given Sawyer’s actions, perhaps this behavior is part of why he chose Quinn.
Sawyer went on to mold Yarnaby in his image, keeping the toy in his presence and away from others to ensure he formed an attachment with the doctor only. Something that causes Yarnaby to become an unresponsive mess when Playtime Co. removes Sawyer, stopping him from seeing Yarnaby. Due to his new state, the doctor who stepped in for Sawyer, Carmine McKabe, deemed experiment 1116 a failure.
What is Yarnaby’s role in the story?
Yarnaby appears to be the primary antagonist in Safe Haven, meaning he’ll have a significant role to play. We do have some Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 theories, one of which is that Yarnaby is a security measure for a prison, continuing to do his duty even after all these years.
As for who may have lived in those prison cells, experiments, children, former staff, and criminals are among the possibilities. Surely, nobody would miss some heinous criminals, so perhaps the worst experiments were reserved for them deeper in the factory, and it was up to Yarnaby to ensure they didn’t escape.
We’re also curious to see whether or not he gets along with the Poppy Playtime Nightmare Critters and Poppy Playtime’s Pianosaurus, as we’ve not seen numerous toys working together yet. Well, the bad ones, anyway – Mommy Long Legs and her poor bullied subjects hardly count. We suspect that Yarnaby is the main antagonist, but does he work closely with these other playthings?
Poppy Playtime Yarnaby’s personality
While most experiments show aggression upon their creation, Yarnaby was actually rather docile, which is quite surprising considering Quinn’s behavior. Though he wasn’t hostile, Yarnaby was highly impressionable, which no doubt helped Harley Sawyer’s decision to make the toy loyal to him alone – it was easy to manipulate Yarnaby while the other toys put up a fight.
His feeble nature clearly disappears with the removal of Sawyer, and we imagine the grief Yarnaby felt soon turned to rage. It’s hard to say what his personality is like these days, but we’d wager he’s highly dangerous and full of hate. It’s just a theory at this point, but Mommy Long Legs recognized you as a former employee; what if Yarnaby sees you, and it turns out you’re the person who took his master away? We doubt that’s the case, but it’s an interesting thought.
Poppy Playtime Yarnaby appearances
Yarnaby is a new Poppy Playtime character in Chapter 4, but he does have his own trailer and is present in the Chapter 4 Icepick ARG experience. Until we get our hands on the new chapter, it’s impossible to say if Yarnaby will be in anything else. We thought the Poppy Playtime Smiling Critters wouldn’t show up again, yet they’re present in the first Chapter 4 trailer featuring Baba Chops, so you never know.
That’s all we can tell you about Poppy Playtime’s Yarnaby for now, but we’ll be sure to update this guide with any new details as they come to light. If you want to learn more about some of the other Poppy Playtime toys, check out our Poppy Playtime Kissy Missy and Poppy Playtime Poppy guides.