List of Danganronpa characters
The following is a list of characters from the Spike Chunsoft video game series Danganronpa. The series follows the students of Hope's Peak Academy who are forced into a life of mutual killing by a sadistic teddy bear named Monokuma. The series consists of three games, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, along with a standalone sequel game, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, various spin-off novels and manga including Danganronpa Zero, Kirigiri, Genocider Mode, Togami, and Killer Killer, and two anime television series, one an adaptation of the first game in 2013 and the other a sequel and finale, Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School. Where available, this article uses spellings and terminology featured in the English video games.
Overview
; KeyMonokuma
Monokuma is the antagonist of the series. He is an anthropomorphic teddy bear who proclaims himself to be the headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy and initiates a life of mutual killing among the students. He has various copies of himself throughout the academy and punishes anyone that attempts to attack him or breaks the academy's rules.Visually, Monokuma is divided into two halves. His right half is a cute white teddy bear with black details and grey shading; his left half has black fur, a red eye, and an evil smirk.
The identity of Monokuma's controller, as well as his motives for bringing the students together, are central to the mysteries that the students must investigate. In the first two games, Monokuma was used as a proxy for Junko Enoshima in her trials; in Another Episode, he is a series of different types of robots created by Monaca Towa for an army; in Danganronpa 3, recordings of him are set up by Kazuo Tengan to force Ryota Mitarai into brainwashing the entire world for the sake of hope. He is the only returning character in Danganronpa V3 as a part of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, now controlled by Team Danganronpa and accompanied by the Monokubs. His execution is named "Ultimate Annihilation".
''Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc''
Makoto Naegi
;Makoto NaegiKyoko Kirigiri
;Kyoko KirigiriByakuya Togami
;Byakuya TogamiToko Fukawa
;Toko Fukawa Genocide Jack / Genocide Jill / Genocider ShoIn developing Toko's characterization, writer/scenario creator Kazutaka Kodaka from Spike Chunsoft considered "he easy thing have been to make her the final boss, the last enemy, the culprit. But my goal in this series is to play to people's expectations, so I said, "No, no, no. Let's turn this around. Let's move to the next level with the personalities and let's go for it." Ultimately, despite the talent of "Ultimate Murderous Fiend", Toko does not kill any characters in the first game, and the game's mastermind is presented as deceased "Ultimate Fashionista" Junko Enoshima. In a subsequent interview with Siliconera, Kodaka stated:
The character's design was created by lead artist Rui Komatsuzaki, who considers Toko Fukawa and Genocide Jack/Jill his favorite characters, "a unique character all by herself, but with Genocide Jack included we managed to make her ten times more so." Originally designed as a potential mastermind inspired by the character of Alyssa Hale / Mr. Bates from the 1998 video game Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within, Genocide Jack/Jill was designed with the most facial expressions in the first game, having a separate sprite file from her Toko form. This initially proved difficult in order to make a contrast between the personality of Genocide Jack/Jill and the more plain design of Toko, with Komatsuzaki having "thought it would be incredibly tough to make such a severe personality change using the same character design, so my original plan was to base Genocide Jack on Toko's design but change it considerably. I fell back to the current transformation after being told having them look too different would be messy since she transforms back and forth so often." Elements of the original character designs were additionally incorporated into those of Junko Enoshima, Peko Pekoyama, and Tsumugi Shirogane. Toko's English voice actresses were cited as the most challenging to find due to the portrayal of her psychopathic personality Genocide Jill/Jack; ultimately, voice actresses Amanda Céline Miller and Erin Fitzgerald were chosen to voice the characters.
Aoi Asahina
;Aoi AsahinaYasuhiro Hagakure
;Yasuhiro HagakureSayaka Maizono
;Sayaka MaizonoLeon Kuwata
;Leon KuwataChihiro Fujisaki
;Chihiro FujisakiMondo Owada
;Mondo OwadaKiyotaka Ishimaru
;Kiyotaka IshimaruHifumi Yamada
;Hifumi YamadaCelestia Ludenberg
;Celestia LudenbergSakura Ogami
;Sakura OgamiJunko Enoshima
;Junko EnoshimaMukuro Ikusaba
;Mukuro IkusabaAlter Ego
;Alter EgoJin Kirigiri
;Jin Kirigiri''Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair''
Hajime Hinata
Hajime HinataIzuru Kamukura
The protagonist of the second game, an amnesiac boy with a deep admiration for Hope's Peak Academy. Over the course of the Killing School Trip, he discovers that he is in fact a member of Hope's Peak's Reserve Course Department and has no ultimate talent. Driven by his desire for talent, Hajime agreed to take part in the Izuru Kamukura project and was surgically implanted with every talent known to man, lobotomizing him in the process. Reborn as Izuru Kamukura, he brought Alter Ego Junko into the Neo World Program in order to pit hope against despair and see who would triumph. Coming to terms with his past with the aid of Makoto Naegi, Hajime rallies the remaining students to defeat Alter Ego Junko and becomes one of the survivors who manages to escape to the real world. He returns in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, where he has retained Izuru's talent and Hajime's personality. After reviving the students who were killed in the Neo World Program during the Killing School Trip, he leads them in battle to stop the unhinged Mitarai from using his hope video on humanity. Afterwards, the 77th Class scapegoats themselves for the Final Killing Game in order to protect the Future Foundation's reputation and exiles themselves to the real Jabberwock Island along with a repentant Mitarai.
Izuru first appears in the light novel Danganronpa Zero as detective Kyoko Kirigiri investigates him. Izuru is described as a student of indeterminate gender hiding on the grounds of the school, and the perpetrator of "The Tragedy", an event involving mass murder that resulted in the decay of mankind. Izuru's identity is also briefly adopted by Yasuke Matsuda in snapping Yuto Kamishiro's neck.
Chiaki Nanami
;Chiaki NanamiNagito Komaeda
Nagito KomaedaThe Servant
Nagito was created to be "an absolute rival" to Hajime Hinata, with Kazutaka Kodaka describing their relationship as similar to that of the Joker to Batman. Komaeda's characterization was aimed to give players a confusing view in regards to Nagito's true self, based on the morally dubious and contradictory actions he committed over the course of the game. In regards to his design, Hajime was the earliest-designed character which generated a major contrast between his white clothing to Nagito's dark clothing. Nagito was written to create a major impact into the game despite not being the lead or antagonist, symbolizing the prominent themes of hope and despair through his actions.
To surprise gamers and suggest the characters are potentially the same person, both Makoto and Nagito share the same voice actress, Ogata. His name, "Nagito Komaeda", was conceived as an anagram for "Naegi Makoto da" to infer it as a potential pseudonym; Nagito claims the name to be an alias during the third chapter. In 2020, Kodaka revealed the anagram was used to engage fans of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc because of the lack of pre-release promotion materials for the original version of Goodbye Despair during its release year. This surprised Ogata, as the anagram had been kept secret from the other members who developed the game, including Ogata herself. In 2015, it was later confirmed that he had feelings for an ambiguous "him" in his character song "Poison -Gekiyaku-".
In the development of anime prequel Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, Kodaka aimed to write the younger Nagito as an unpredictable character that game fans would still recognize, and make it obvious his good luck often aids him in only a random nature in reality compared to the specific nature of the Neo World Program. His character design was aimed to keep the "resembled flickering flames" present in their Servant design, something Kodaka requested to the designer to adapt properly. Kodaka was pleased with how Nagito was written in the anime, further comparing his school life and luck to the Rube Goldberg segment of the PythagoraSwitch educational television program. Localization member Robert Schiotis felt that finding a voice actor for the latter proved too challenging, as he is meant to clash with Makoto's ideals. In the end, Papenbrook voiced both characters, making the connections between them more interesting according to localization staff.
Nagito has been a popular character, ranking highly on multiple polls. Anime News Network praised the character for "standing out" within the franchise, highlighting his similarities with Makoto and how different they are the same time. The reviewer enjoyed the actions the character has performed not only in the game but also the Despair Arc anime from the franchise as despite his kind demeanor, his commentaries make Hajime become corrupted across the narrative. GameRevolution also referred to Nagito as one of the best Danganronpa characters due to his twisted characterization yet highly popular.
Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu
;Fuyuhiko KuzuryuAkane Owari
;Akane OwariSonia Nevermind
;Sonia NevermindKazuichi Soda
;Kazuichi SodaUltimate Imposter
;Ultimate ImposterTeruteru Hanamura
;Teruteru HanamuraMahiru Koizumi
;Mahiru KoizumiPeko Pekoyama
;Peko PekoyamaIbuki Mioda
;Ibuki MiodaHiyoko Saionji
;Hiyoko SaionjiMikan Tsumiki
;Mikan TsumikiNekomaru Nidai
;Nekomaru NidaiGundham Tanaka
;Gundham Tanaka Tanaka the Forbidden OneUsami / Monomi
;Usami MonomiNatsumi Kuzuryu
;Natsumi KuzuryuSato
;Sato''Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls''
Komaru Naegi
Warriors of Hope
;Warriors of HopeMonaca Towa
Masaru Daimon
Jataro Kerumi
Kotoko Utsugi
Nagisa Shingetsu
Shirokuma and Kurokuma
;Shirokuma KurokumaHaiji Towa
;Haiji TowaYuta Asahina
Hiroko Hagakure
;Hiroko HagakureTaichi Fujisaki
;Taichi FujisakiTokuichi Towa
;Tokuichi TowaMonokuma Kids
;Monokuma KidsKanon Nakajima
;Kanon Nakajima''Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School''
Kyosuke Munakata
;Kyosuke MunakataChisa Yukizome
;Chisa YukizomeRyota Mitarai
;Ryota MitaraiDaisaku Bandai
;Daisaku BandaiGreat Gozu
;Great GozuKazuo Tengan
;Kazuo TenganSeiko Kimura
;Seiko KimuraSonosuke Izayoi
;Sonosuke IzayoiKoichi Kizakura
;Koichi Kizakura"Miaya Gekkogahara"
;"Miaya Gekkogahara"Ruruka Ando
;Ruruka AndoJuzo Sakakura
;Juzo Sakakura''Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony''
Shuichi Saihara
;Shuichi SaiharaKaede Akamatsu
;Kaede AkamatsuK1-B0
;K1-B0Maki Harukawa
;Maki HarukawaHimiko Yumeno
;Himiko YumenoRantaro Amami
;Rantaro AmamiRyoma Hoshi
;Ryoma HoshiKirumi Tojo
;Kirumi TojoAngie Yonaga
;Angie YonagaTenko Chabashira
;Tenko ChabashiraKorekiyo Shinguji
;Korekiyo ShingujiMiu Iruma
;Miu IrumaGonta Gokuhara
;Gonta GokuharaVoiced by : Kaiji Tang
Voiced by : Shunsuke Takeuchi
Kokichi Oma
;Kokichi OmaVoiced by : Derek Stephen Prince
Voiced by : Hiro Shimono