Rats in the Walls Arc
The Rats in the School Walls Arc's Big Bad will be Erma's old Babysitter
. Erma's old Babysitter infested the school with rats to blame it on Erma, knowing Erma's love for creepy things, to make everyone hate and bully her for not being disgusted by them. It would sound like something the Big Bad would do.- Actually, considering pushing Erma to the brink causes her to attack in a blind rage, that might actually be a good plan for a Big Bad.
- The big problem is that the rat problem seemed to have been happening longer than Erma's former babysitter was released though that could be time dissonance.
- Jossed. It's Sidney, who's half rat person and can telepathically control them. And she was only doing so as a means of venting her frustrations at having to hide her powers.
The rats are harmless, and were unleashed as a prank
Yes and no. The rat are harmless, but come out as an outlet for a little girl trying to hide her powers rather than a prank. The rats were kicked out of their home
And hid in the school to avoid whoever caused it, cue arc. A spiteful/scared teacher did it to demonize or humiliate Erma
The teachers don't exactly like Erma, giving her antics usually causes a lot of problems. They probably infested the school to blame it on her, so that she will be kicked out.- Jossed. It's one of Erma's classmates, Sidney, who's half rat person.
The Principal isn't blind at all
He's just pretending to get sympathy out of students or to make it seem like he never noticed the rat problem. It was a teacher's fault, but it was just an accident.
There were a few rats that were part of a science class, but they escaped and rapidly multiplied.- Jossed. They're being controlled by Sidney, who's the daughter of the leader of a Rat Men civilization that lives beneath the school.
Sidney did it
She did it for one of two reasons:- She found her job boring because Erma keeps scaring away bad kids, so she put Rats in the walls to get Erma in trouble, thus reintroducing "crime" into the school to finally be able to do her job. After all, she did throw Connor in there for simply not having a pass for the bathroom.
- She's is the daughter of Erma's Old Babysitter, and did it as revenge. Or possibly because the now-deranged woman forced/told her to do it.
- Big problem with this one: Erma's old babysitter is a teenager. She's Connor's older sister even! (Connor being the buck-tooth boy with the massive crush on Erma.)
- Confirmed, though not for the reasons given. Sidney is part rat person, and has psychic control over non-sapient rats. She did it seemingly as an emotional outlet from the stress of having to hide her true nature.
The identities of Erma's Parents
Erma's Mother is an older, now less hostile Sadako Yamamura
Tired of murdering people and bringing curses, She decided to settle down and have a proper family. This would also explain how she and Erma could use TVs screens as portals. This would also explain how she's so antiquated with many horror icons, she was born from one.- Jossed; Erma's mother is named Emiko, and she has no real relation with Sadako besides being a Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl.
Erma's Dad was a horror movie buff
This is why Erma's pranks don't scare him and why he married a staple horror movie character trope.- The prequel comic shows Erma's Dad did not actually know of her monstrous nature until after they got married however, the webcomic itself might support this as he is shown to be a horror author, although it is unclear if he was one before he met Erma's Mom as some comics imply his novels are actually autobiographical of his own life (but everyone THINKS they're fiction).
Erma's mom is actually Alma in her adult form.
The major difference here is that while Alma in the original franchise certainly had trouble controlling her powers, this Alma managed to adapt and grow with them. After the events of the final game in the series, she manages to come Back from the Dead from being killed by either Fettel or Pointman, and slowly realizes that her original tormentors are dead, and she can finally be at peace. Erma's Dad, being one to be well traversed in horror, decides after seeing her one day, to try and help her out, taking her in and slowly helping her gain control of her powers.Of course, given all the horror references to Sadako, it's more than likely her, but hey; it could always be a Red Herring.
- Possibly jossed by this comic
featuring Erma playing with said character. However, being that this is from the annual Ermaween event and not a story comic this may not be canon.
- Ultimately Jossed with the reveal that Erma's mother's name is Emiko.
Sam Williams isn't entirely human
While in all likely hood, Sam is just "pure-hearted" which in some tellings allows one to see yokai. I still hold to the theory that Sam isn't entirely human, he just doesn't know it, partially because the more common way to see spirits is to have supernatural parentage, but mostly because of the surrounding events.First the sheer effort he went through to fake her death rather than simply kill Sam as if killing him would have pissed off someone he didn't want to and didn't want Sam to go look for her. Emiko's Father treated her escape back to him with resignation like something was fated and he couldn't avoid anymore. Also, look out how Mr. Invisible handled Erma during Spirit's Bloom it wasn't like someone holding their favorite toy but rather kin possibly their granddaughter.
Other Theories
Erma's old babysitter wasn't even that sane to begin with
Even though Erma is known for scaring other adults, they usually just run away. Erma would never try to harm or drive people insane. Chances are Erma was just playing her usual, innocent albeit scary pranks, and caused an already unstable babysitter to go bonkers. Considering her Nightmare Face at the end of the Secrets Arc, this might ring true.- In the prequel comic there's a man with a similar-looking "conspiracy board" who seems to know something about Erma. The old babysitter may be related to him, or otherwise continuing his work. Possibly she was obsessed with Erma, to begin with, then had some sort of breakdown when actually confronted with her.
Erma's the reason there are no bullies in her school
Being Erma, who even on a nice day is hilariously powerful and spooky, to begin with, probably scared them all away or scared them into submission. Plus, it's not like dodgeball's going to work. Erma can speak...
She just either doesn't want to, is unable to, or was interrupted.- Confirmed she can speak. Several comics and/or panels start with other characters reacting to her having spoken off-panel.
The Santa in this universe hates and murders horror movie characters
Because of reasons. Erma's universe doubles as a hub for every horror franchise ever, where they can live alongside normal humans
How else would Erma be able to meet them, outside of entering the movies themselves? Erma will have someone to help her when her old babysitter comes to get her...
Connor (the buck-toothed boy who crushes on her.)The big reason comes from the revelation that Erma's old babysitter is also Connor's older sister, whom he doesn't have a good relationship with. Now, Connor is kinda a scaredy-cat, but I figure his feelings for Erma will allow him to stand up to his older sister ala Cowardly Lion. Wittle Wallace was (potentially) never that much of a threat.
From what we can tell, Wittle Wallace planned to take over Erma's body by swapping souls with her and Take Over the World. However, along the way with his plan, he has gone over several major oversights, including taunting Erma into attacking him, taunting that he's nigh-invulnerable, and simply tending to overthink things, when he could've easily just traded souls with Erma from her house, or even before he started to bully her, all leading to his downfall. Who can say they were the only oversights his plan had? While trading souls could theoretically work, if her powers are connected to her soul in any way and not her body, then all he would have done was give Erma an even more stronger body to use her powers on, while Wittle Wallace is stuck with a little girl's body. Maybe he really was a threat, but there's some room for doubt.The Horror Franchise monsters are not real. Erma just visits them within the television.
Whether it is in one-shot pictures or comic strips, Erma has met with various, famous slasher killers and movie monsters. Much like Sadako, Erma and her mother are both capable of transporting through television (even within the pages of a book and through video emails), so it is likely that the various shows and movies displayed on-screen can be seen as an in-between area between locations, like how the inside of a bus can be seen as the in-between area between bus-stops. And just like passengers on the bus, Erma can interact with the contents of the films as well, with nothing to fear from any of the supernatural horrors within because she basically out-classes them in every category.It is also likely that she can bring back objects from the television with her, hence why the Lament Configuration can be found in her room (her experiences with it gave her impressive skills with regular Rubix cubes).
Erma's Former Baby-sitter wasn't driven mad by Erma.
She actually had a run-in with something far worse. Maybe Wittle Wallace tried the same thing on her as he did on Felicia or maybe it had something to do with the mysterious invisible man shown taking an interest in Erma in the prequel?- What if it’s one of Erma’s grandparents who tried to sneak into the house to see their granddaughter for the first time?
The Jorugumo Lady is Emiko's youngest sister.
She appears to be dressed the most modern of them and her appearance could best be described as that of a teenager. It may also explain why she decided to help Sam out and seems to be okay with him and Erma around. Emiko's lack of awareness could mean she was either very young or not yet born when Emiko left.- Most likely Jossed; while she does have some connections to the Yureimotos, she's not among the family during mealtimes or the parade and it's implied Mayumi is the actual youngest of the family.
Principal Phibes isn't human
He's actually a mole man. The reason Osamu was dead set on making his kids hate humanity.
That invisible guy from Spirit's Bloom mentioned that the world would end because of Erma. From how he and that old paranormal detective guy reacted on the day of Erma's birth. Clearly, there's a prophecy going on, and he seems to have been trying very hard to keep that from happening. We'd have to have an actual look at this doomsday prophecy to make any real sense of it, but maybe it's as specific as "a Yureimoto and a human will fall in love and have a child and that child will end the world" rather than "a yokai and a human". The invisible man wants that to happen while Osamu doesn't want that to happen. Raising your children to hate a race will certainly minimize the chances of them falling in love with anyone of that race. If "Grandfather" is any indication of the present he wanted to give at Erma's Birthday party. He knows of Erma's existence but hasn't made any moves other than the family reunion. Maybe he plans to come clean about everything to his children and a family reunion was the only thing he could think of to gather everyone together. My guess on what he's actually been doing? He's been watching Erma. Trying to see if she could even want to end the world. And that present Osamu was intending to give Erma was actually a harmless gift. Nothing more. If he wanted to kill Erma, there would've been easier ways to do that than sending a gift with "Grandfather" tagged on it. Especially, if the parents are going to check it.- To further add to this point Yori says that after Pop found out she was the one to help her escape, he was described as being affordably silent which from what we are shown from the guy is very out of character for him. It may be him coming to the horrible realization that everything was for not.
- Also he is shown to be directly hostile towards Mayumi in her flashbacks, which since she is a Noppera-bō, a yokai that can choose to give themselves human faces and take it off to scare people in folklore, if the same ability applies here then she would be the easiest to pass off as being human and considering she is never shown to have a mean bone in her body (not even mischievous like with Emiko and Yori) he probably thought she was the most likely to get in a relationship with a human and purposely traumatized her to the point of being the shut-in that she is presently.
- However, when he actually meets Erma it's shown Osamu's is overjoyed at her destructive potential, even applauding upon seeing her lay waste to the town and leave a barren wasteland behind. His desire to make his kids hate humanity might just come from his view on the Good Old Ways, and having his kids be cheerful and friendly wouldn't go well with that.
Erma wasn't going as just any little girl for Halloween...
She was going as her cousin Emily. Erma isn't the first supernatural kid Felicia's babysat
Given how unfazed she was at most of Erma's antics, it seems likely. Haru is really good with kids
Brandon seems to be inverting traditional youkai traits. Onryō are angry and vengeful, but Emiko's even-tempered for the most part. Oni are traditionally violent brutes, but Kentaro is a friendly, fun-loving guy. With this in mind, it makes sense for a kappa, traditionally depicted as kidnapping or even eating human children, to be depicted as much nicer with kids. Bonus points if this is part of why Fumiko was attracted to him. Erma will experience The Worf Effect courtesy of Osamu
While Erma is indeed powerful, there is a reason the head of the Yureimoto clan is so feared. And she is bound to learn that, one way or another. The prophecy surrounding Erma has been misinterpreted
- Erma is apparently some form of Apocalypse Maiden and will bring about the end of all life. However, the prophecy could actually mean her existence will bring about a brighter, kinder future for both humans and monsters.
Osamu's children all have different mothers
It would explain why they're all different kinds of yokai.- While not unconfirmed, it is noted that he refers to "their mother" coming through whether this means they all have the same mother as well or if she's the one who raised them and thus the matriarch of the family.
At least some of Osamu's children are adopted
As another potential explanation for them all being different varieties of youkai.Osamu will be Faux Affably Evil.
The series has been building up Erma's grandfather as The Dreaded, a Control Freak who rules over his family and the rest of Japan's supernatural community with an iron fist, and the very sight of him inspires panic and terror no matter who sees him.It is likely that as a left turn when Osamu is finally seen upfront and starts to speak, he will be Faux Affably Evil. He will dodderer in with a cane and give everyone a "hello" with a sweet smile, this behavior offset by the people around him acting like he was a bomb that would go off at any moment. He would be excited to meet his granddaughter and might even pretend that Sam isn't there, and ask for a kiss from Mitsu and Momo, they themselves visibly uncomfortable to be in their grandfather's attention even for a moment. When someone says something or does something that displeases him - whether it was an accident or carelessness - the switches will flip and they'll be flung through a nearby wall telekinetically and thrown around while he gives a Break Them by Talking speech, illustrating his abusive personality firsthand.
- When he finally shows up at the reunion he lives up to his reputation, with all the lesser yokai cowering in fear and Osamu being rather curt if not outright dismissive towards his children and son-in-law. When he meets Erma, however, he shifts into being a Doting Grandparent and sweeps Erma up to go spend some time with him in his throne room, much to the shock of everyone present. His dialogue does indicate that he might only value Erma for her potential destructive power and wants to groom her into a Tyke Bomb, and it's ultimately confirmed when he applauds Erma after she goes into a traumatic, Nightmare Fuel filled rampage against the yokai teens that were bullying her, completely uncaring for the devastation she wrought.
Mayumi has PTSD.
During the various flashback scenes, Osamu is always shown to be an ominous threat in the background but with Mayumi’s, he is seen to be actively hostile to her, to the point where she is always in the fetal position whenever his shadow figure is in the same panel as her. Also, a minor one that could be interpreted differently is we see her hands shake when she is holding a bag but that can also be just her shaking the bag in excitement, but with the bells going off recently for Osamu’s arrival that has her whole body shake in fear, the last point has a little more credit. I think the main evidence for this is what we are shown of how she lives basically, she hardly seems to get out, especially when one of her sisters is missing and she refuses to join, the phrase “she ain’t budging” being said means this pretty common behavior for her to stay in her room all day and rin seems fine her not greeting her she comes back lends to this a bit, not even joking about it. Also, the fact that she appears to be a young adult or late teen yet her sister Fumiko staying she has been “taking care of her” must mean he traumatized her that bad where she can’t even live on her own. Especially since Fumiko the strictest Yureimoto sibling by far weirdly seems to accept her isolating behavior, which can be seen as rude from the outsiders' perspective, and the family is in shock when she does something as normal as coming out of her room to eat dinner with them all.Osamu's (Erma's grandfather) face has already been shown.
The current family reunion arc (as well as most other parts of the comic referencing Erma's Grandfather) has either not shown or blurred out his face, keeping it a mystery. However, in Spirit's Bloom (the prequel comic detailing how Erma's parents got together), there is a shot of a lot of monsters (mostly references to classic ones like Godzilla and Freddy Krueger) sensing something as Erma is born. Near the middle of the page is a demon-like creature that could look like a Tengu (the Japanese Spirit that Osamu is implied to be). He looks grimmer or resigned than surprised which could play into one of the above theories where his attempt to make his children hate humanity was to avert a prophecy about the child of a Yokai and a human (or perhaps more specifically, one of his children) causing the end of the world (which another character references later in the same comic). If this is true, then the author likely snuck the face in as an easter egg to be discovered later or be speculated on. The Yureimoto matriarch is a nine-tailed kitsune.
It would explain why they are of all races, especially if she can use powerful magic to shapeshift or adjust herself so the children would be different forms. Plus, I do not believe we have seen one yet. Mitsu and Momo will come to resent Erma.
Osamu, to the shock of their whole family and all their assembled servants, absolutely adores Erma. While the adults were looking on with baffled and shocked expressions the twins had blank expressions. As though surprised that their grandfather would show affection to anyone. Possibly hinting that he treats 'them' with the same distant disappointed contempt that he treats his children. They could develop feelings of jealousy at their cousin being so blatantly favored, and decide to act out on it more. Osamu wasn't the one that Kidnapped Emiko from her wedding.
A throwaway line between Osamu and his wife has him say that he's not nearly as good as her at transformation and just Magical in general. This, plus their radically different reactions to Erma and Sam, might indicate that it was really his wife who was the main person behind the plot to kidnap Emiko from her wedding and place a dummy body to fake her death. Osamu merely took the blame for it. Osamu is trying to enjoy what time he has with his family before some sort of prophecy comes true.
Several things scattered throughout the series and the prequel have indicated that Erma is bound up in some sort of prophecy or foretelling. Most ominously is one of the supernatural creatures hinting that she may wind up being responsible for the destruction of the world (words were something along the lines of "too bad one day all of this will be gone, and it will be you who does it").If so, perhaps Osamu's adamant attempts to make his children hate humans were an attempt to prevent some sort of prophecy (something along the lines of, "if a Yuriemoto marries a human, then their child will destroy the world"). With his efforts failing, he might have realized that his attempt to fight fate was for naught, and has simply decided to try and enjoy his family and make things up to them while he still can. This is why he's seemingly being so kind and warm to Erma and Sam when he arrives. Possibly on a more strategic side, he realizes that Prophecies can have multiple meanings, so he hopes to steer Erma in a more favorable direction if he can have some influence as a grandparent over her. Aside from just wanting to have a happy family again.
Mitsu and Momo will have a Pet the Dog Big Damn Heroes moment.
The most recent comic as of typing involves the yokai kids that the twins bullied sealing Erma. Given that they actually have the intent to harm Erma, maybe the twins could notice what's happening and decide to help her for once.- Confirmed, they noticed what’s going on and try to save Erma with a yoyo. They missed but caught one of the yokai kids instead. And Momo goes out of her way to help Emiko and Sam calm Erma down when she goes on her rampage.
The yokai kids that trapped Erma are working for someone
There are several possibilities:- Mitsu and Momo. While this is pretty unlikely due to the twins disliking the group, the twins stated in part 46 that they are plotting against Erma for banning them from having fun doing fireworks at the parade and may have blackmailed the kids into doing their bidding in exchange for not bullying them.
- The Yokai Thug Trio: The trio may want revenge after being beaten by Erma.
- Confirmed! The Yokai Thug Trio kidnap two of the children and demanded the group to bring Erma to them in return.
- Another group of monsters who want to hurt the Yureimotos.
- Jossesd
There are multiple Warrior Unicorn Princess shows
Some readers have called the revelation that Warrior Unicorn Princess was darker and more violent than its marketing suggested a retcon, due to it contradicting earlier implications that it was a typical inoffensive kid's cartoon. But there's another possible explanation. Many long-running franchises (including the one that inspired Warrior Unicorn Princess) have multiple TV series with noticeably different tones and feels. Who's to say Warrior Unicorn Princess isn't one of them? The apparent contradictions could be explained by the existence of two or more separate Warrior Unicorn Princess TV series with little real connection between them besides being part of the same franchise.