Nimi Nightmare debuts; is she really Ceres Fauna?

Independent vtuber Nimi Nightmare has debuted and fans are now wondering whether the Hololive star Ceres Fauna has returned after graduating.

Ceres Fauna shocked her fans when she announced her graduation in December 2024. Despite being at the peak of her career, she seemingly decided to step down from the vtubing world. The streamer ceased her activities with Hololive in January 2025, but fans found reason to rejoice after she left the agency.

Eagle-eyed fans figured out Ceres Fauna’s past life had become active again when she graduated, speculating that the vtuber would eventually return even if it wasn’t in the way most were expecting. The independent vtuber Nimi Nightmare began posting on her X account and eventually announced that she would debut soon. Now that Nimi Nightmare finally has debuted, fans want to know whether she really is Ceres Fauna.

Nimi Nightmare debuts as an independent vtuber

On January 17, Nimi Nightmare opened her debut stream on YouTube and displayed her vtuber model for fans to see.

Nimi’s debut stream began by showing “Nimi’s Geographic” where the vtuber showed viewers nature and mythical beings of the night. Viewers were then introduced to the Baku, creatures of the night that feed on nightmares.

The narrator informed fans that the vtuber Nimi Nightmare is a Baku who has become a nurse. This occupation allows her easy access to many nightmares that her patients face. Nimi feeds on her patient’s nightmares using a special smoking pipe. The nightmares are inhaled and then exhaled like “fantastical smoke.”

The narration continues that Nimi has been slacking and has fallen prey to a Baku’s natural predator: video games. Viewers are informed that Nimi lost her powers because she wasn’t devouring nightmares and that her height shrunk to 10 centimeters.

With the narration of her lore complete, Nimi Nightmare introduces herself and states that she is nervous and wonders whether she has forgotten how to stream. The vtuber assured fans it isn’t her first rodeo, hinting at her previous career at Hololive. Nimi told her fans she would return to her normal height once she fed on enough fans’ nightmares.

Is Nimi Nightmare Ceres Fauna?

It’s an open secret among fans that before Ceres Fauna joined Hololive she streamed as LemonLeaf, and that Nimi Nightmare is LemonLeaf’s new persona.

LemonLeaf had ceased her activities when Ceres Fauna started her career in Hololive. Once Ceres Fauna announced her graduation from the agency fans speculated that LemonLeaf would return to streaming, but that wasn’t the case.

Fans were in for a surprise as Ceres Fauna is following in the footsteps of Hololive’s tech genius Amelia Watson. The detective vtuber also returned to streaming after graduating from the agency but rebranded her past life instead of returning to it.

LemonLeaf is doing the same and the vtuber has now rebranded herself as Nimi Nightmare. It’s all but confirmed that Nimi Nightmare is Ceres Fauna, though it’s unlikely that the vtuber will directly come out and admit it.

Vtubers hint at their past lives or time spent at agencies, but most content creators prefer to avoid publicly talking about their multiple personas. This might be why LemonLeaf rebranded herself as Nimi Nightmare.

Some of the mannerisms of Nimi Nightmare did help viewers to deduce her previous identity as Ceres Fauna. The newly debuted vtuber started her stream with the familiar “UUU” sounds that reminded viewers of Hololive’s Ceres Fauna.

At the end of her debut stream, Nimi almost slipped up and said “faunwell,” which is how Ceres Fauna used to end her streams. The vtuber might offer more subtle hints for attentive viewers to deduce her past identity in her future streams, but for now, her fans are content that they can watch their favorite streamer again.