Momo Wyrm

The Momo Wyrm is the old model of the Whispering Wyrm, replaced due to controversy. 
Within the community, the Momo Wyrm is commonly referred to using she/her pronouns. While the game does not assign gender to the wyrms, players have interpreted this wyrm as more feminine. 
The Momo Wyrm is not a separate entity from the Whispering Wyrm. When its model was replaced, its behavior and mechanics remained the exact same until they were replaced.
=== Description ===
==== Appearance ====
The Momo Wyrm featured a large, beige body with smooth, minimal texture, making it appear less aged and decayed compared to the current model. Its tail was significantly shorter than the current wyrm's, and its head had:
*A mouth with a maroon interior.
*A flat nose.
==== Design Iterations ====
Before The Poolrooms update, the Momo Wyrm underwent several iterations:
* Slug-like Tail: One version had a shorter, slug-like tail, deviating from the intended snake-like aesthetic.
* Lighter Coloration: Another iteration featured a lighter, near-white coloration, in contrast to the final beige tone.
* Hair Variation: Hair quantity varied across versions, with one model appearing heavily balding, while another had less hair than the final design.
* Gremlin-like Ears: Older Momo Wyrm models included gremlin-like ears. These ears, such as those on the version nearly released with The Poolrooms update, were replaced by head holes to avoid visibility issues with the hair, which may have lessened the wyrm’s intimidating appearance.
* Beauty Mark: One iteration of the wyrm featured a beauty mark on its head. At the time, this mark was visible because the model lacked hair for most of its development. It remains unclear whether the mark was removed after the release, as the full view of its model is obscured by its extensive hair, and the option to disable hair physics was not yet added at the time.
==== Bald Spots ====
The black overlay underneath the wyrm's hair had not yet been added. Its hair moving unnaturally sometimes resulted in bald spots that disappeared after the black overlay was added.
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=== Kill Animation ===
The Momo Wyrm featured a unique kill animation distinct from the two that replaced it. In this sequence, the protagonist would pantthe wyrm would quickly shake its head before the camera shifted to a third-person perspective. From this angle, its neck appeared unnaturally stretched, almost impossibly, as it let out a demonic scream. It then opened its mouth impossibly wide, with the implication that it devours the player character, Robert Chen, though this is obscured by the screen abruptly glitching out and transitioning to the "Generating Level" screen. 
thumb|Video summarizing the controversy for people with goldfish attention span
For some time, the new wyrm model continued to use this kill animation until June 1st, 2024, when it was replaced by the two current animations.
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=== Controversy ===
The Momo Wyrm’s resemblance to Momo caused widespread issues for The Classrooms. Platforms like TikTok and YouTube restricted or demonetized content featuring the entity due to its perceived connection to the "Momo Challenge."
The Momo Challenge was an internet hoax in which Momo was claimed to encourage children to harm themselves through online communication. While debunked, the hoax created lasting associations between the character and self-harm, leading to platform bans on related content.
To resolve these issues, the developers quickly redesigned the wyrm, releasing the updated model on April 18, 2024, just four days after The Poolrooms update. Despite its short-lived existence, the Momo Wyrm remains an iconic piece of the game's history.
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=== Behavior ===
* The Momo Wyrm was remarkably faster than the current Whispering Wyrm, both when roaming and chasing.
* Upon release, the Momo Wyrm was entirely deaf but would still display a strange tendency to move toward sounds made by the player. This behavior was updated shortly after release to include proper hearing mechanics and the introduction of the alerted state.
* In older versions, its voicelines and animations would completely stop when the game was paused. However, the audio would echo for a few seconds before fading out.
* The Momo Wyrm could detect players from behind if they got too close to its head.
* A glitch with the Momo Wyrm’s tail occasionally caused it to clip players through walls or violently move them if they were near it during a directional shift.
* The Momo Wyrm was slower to detect movement compared to later wyrms. Players could briefly move without being noticed, offering a slightly more forgiving interaction compared to the current mechanics.
* The Momo Wyrm had an extremely short attention span. If the player stopped moving for exactly two seconds during its chasing state, it would disengage and return to roaming. However, it would still move toward the player's last known location.
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=== Steam Announcement Gif ===
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=== Applies to all Wyrms ===
When a wyrm spawns, its mouth is completely open, likely due to an unnoticed development oversight. This resolves itself when the wyrm begins speaking, as the talking animation closes its mouth at the end. However, during its time speaking, the game considers the mouth already closed, causing an instantaneous adjustment to the closed state as it begins.
If a wyrm begins speaking while the game is paused or the inventory is open, its voicelines and mouth animations will continue until the current line ends. Afterward, it will remain silent as the in-game timer controlling its voicelines is paused alongside the game.
When a wyrm changes direction while roaming, its tail twitches briefly, jolting forward by about an inch. This twitch is an indicator of a directional shift, which is useful when the player is following the tail but cannot see the head. A twitch suggests that the wyrm may likely now be moving toward the end of its tail—in the direction of the player. This moment offers a chance to take cover in a safe position outside the wyrm's usual roaming path, such as hugging the outer walls, as wyrms generally traverse through the center.
If a wyrm catches sight of the player for a split second—such as from a slight movement—it will not enter its chasing state. Instead, the wyrm will become alerted, slithering to the location it saw movement. To avoid death, the player must move away quickly, as remaining still will not prevent its arrival to the location.
Enabling "see still" and disabling "see moving" causes wyrms to detect still players as intended, but it does not update its AI to stop rotating its head according to the player's location. Additionally, enabling "walk on walls" can cause it to slither on the void as if it was solid ground, clip heavily, fly erratically, or rapidly change positions.
A wyrm's tail often clips into itself and walls, especially when "walk on walls" is enabled in Custom Mode. A wyrm's tail contains specific non-lethal spots, such as its end or exact middle. While it is technically possible to stand on these spots without dying, it is highly risky. Additionally, the portion of a wyrm's tail directly behind its head has no collision, allowing the player to walk through it without dying. Testing this interaction is best done in Custom Mode with the wyrm’s sight and hearing mechanics disabled to avoid alerting it.
It is possible to look inside a wyrm's head by moving behind it and carefully moving forward, as the kill collision at the back of its head is slightly misaligned.
When exposed to a flashlight, all wyrms reveal a small white dot in the center of their pupils. In the updated kill animations, a glitch can cause the pupils to disappear entirely, causing the background to become visible through their eyes.
All of the wyrms share the same distinctive head holes on either side of their head. A single, thin strand of hair is present just below the head, on the neck area of each wyrm.