Yo-Criminals

, also known as Wanted Yo-kai, are a group of Yo-kai which cannot be befriended, and instead must be fought and captured for a crime they committed, which mostly all revolve around and. They are notable for all being color variations of normal Yo-kai.

When they spot the player, they run off, and the player has to chase them down enough to talk to them; Staminums and Bikes are perfectly acceptable to chase them down.

In the first game, once they have been talked to thrice, the Yo-Criminal will concede defeat and give up a letter/number passcode for a password, then disappear to give themselves up. Once the password is completed, the player must go to the Lambert Post Office to turn it in, which gives them get a Trophy and an additional reward

From Yo-kai Watch 2, on now, there are quests for capturing Yo-Criminals that become open on a set date. The player must talk with Detective Holdit at his post to acquire these quests. Once you find and catch up to a Yo-Criminal, the player will have to fight them. Upon defeating and capturing the Yo-Criminal, the player is then awarded an item for their work.

Trivia

 * Each Yo-Criminal's name is usually centered around the concept of an, a practical joke or a prank; their names may even be a slight perversion of the original Yo-kai's own.
 * They are similar to most of the bosses in the Infinite Inferno, as they are all recolorings of other Yo-kai.

In other languages

 * Italian: Yo-Criminali
 * German: Yo-Verbrecher