Who Is Emio in Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club?

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club makes it clear in the title this murder mystery is largely about its killer. Emio is the titular creepy smiley face man at the forefront of the story, but their true identity is unknown. If you are wondering who is Emio The Smiling Man, you are in the right place.

Spoiler-Free: What Is the Emio Legend?

Revealing who Emio truly is constitutes massive spoilers for literally the entire adventure that is this game. For those of you who just stumbled upon this post and don’t want major spoilers yet, there is a spoiler-free version of who Emio is. This has to do with the general Smiling Man legend.

The legend goes that there is a man who wears a paper bag with a smiley face drawn on it creepily. This man, known as Emio, approaches people he sees crying at night. Many times these people are apparently women as well. If they keep crying when he meets them, he promises to give them a “smile that will last forever.” In turn, he offs them and puts a similar smiley face paper bag on their head.

However, if the person stops crying or even smiles or laughs in the face of Emio, the situation turns out differently. He will walk away and leave the person alone since they are presumably happy enough already.

Spoilers: Who Is the Killer Emio in Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club?

Now, if you are still here and don’t mind spoilers, this is for you. This is your last chance to turn away.

The answer to who the killer Emio is in The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is the man Minoru Tsuzuki. That is the killer’s real name and his actual identity in the story.

That said, there is another person who very rarely takes on the role of The Smiling Man, but isn’t a killer in his own right. That person is the other missing man in the story, Makoto Kuze. I highly suggest playing through the game in its entirety if you haven’t to find out the truth of it all.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is available right now exclusively for Nintendo Switch.