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 (2010), Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (2012) and Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (2014), along with a standalone sequel game, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (2017), various spin-off novels and manga including Danganronpa Zero (2011), Kirigiri (2013–2020), Genocider Mode (2015–2017), Togami (2015–2017), and Killer Killer (2016–2017), 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 (2016). Where available, this article uses spellings and terminology featured in the English video games.
Overview Key
Character Video games Literature Main series Spin-offs Novels Manga Zero Kirigiri Togami Protagonists Makoto Naegi colspan="3" colspan="5" Kyoko Kirigiri colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="2" Byakuya Togami colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" Toko Fukawa colspan="2" Hajime Hinata colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" Shuichi Saihara colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Kaede Akamatsu colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Komaru Naegi colspan="3" Kouhei Matsudaira colspan="4" colspan="6" Yui Samidare colspan="7" colspan="3" Blue Ink colspan="8" colspan="2" Misaki Asano colspan="10" Takumi Hijirihara colspan="10" Antagonists Monokuma colspan="4" colspan="3" colspan="2" Junko Enoshima colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="3" Mukuro Ikusaba colspan="2" colspan="2" Nagito Komaeda colspan="3" Sonia Nevermind colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" Kazuichi Soda colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" Tsumugi Shirogane colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Monokubs colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Warriors of Hope colspan="2" colspan="5" Suisei Nanamura colspan="7" colspan="2" colspan="2"
Monokuma Voiced by (English): Brian Beacock (game); Greg Ayres (anime)Voiced by (Japanese): Nobuyo Ōyama (2010–2015); Tarako (2016 – 2024)
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 (Monokuma Kubs). His execution is named "Ultimate Annihilation".
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Makoto Naegi
Voiced by (English): Bryce PapenbrookVoiced by (Japanese): Megumi Ogata
The protagonist of the first game. An ordinary high school student who was accepted to the academy by raffle. He has no spectacular talents, aside from his belief that he is a bit more optimistic than most people, and was given the title of due to winning a raffle run by Hope's Peak Academy. He falls prey to bad luck more often than not. It is revealed in a short story that Makoto's luck comes from the fact that his bad luck is so powerful that it cancels the good luck of anyone around him, to the point where he got a fellow Lucky Student candidate eliminated just by standing near the mailman carrying her acceptance letter. Though his good luck rarely manifests, it is immensely powerful in its own right, allowing outcomes that are nearly statistically impossible to occur, such as getting the Escape Switch from the item machine or surviving his near-execution. His talent also proves instrumental in undoing Junko's plans, as his bizarre luck completely throws off her analytical abilities. While having the tendency to panic or let his emotions get the better of him, he can remain focused under pressure and shows a keen sense of logic when piecing together mysteries. He is instrumental in solving all of the murder mysteries, and foils Monokuma's plot, earning the title of . He escapes from the academy alive and joins an organization called the Future Foundation, dedicated to rebuilding the world and fighting against Junko's legacy.
During the events of Danganronpa 2, he and the other survivors attempt to rehabilitate some of the Remnants of Despair by placing them inside a virtual world which would get rid of their despair brainwashing. However, because of a virus containing Junko's Alter Ego, the world is turned into another killing game, prompting Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya to eventually enter the virtual world themselves to help the surviving students activate a shutdown sequence to stop Junko once and for all. Makoto also appears in Danganronpa Another Episode. He returns as the protagonist of Danganronpa 3, where he becomes involved in Monokuma's Monokuma Hunter game. His forbidden action is "running in the hallway." After surviving the Monokuma Hunter game, Makoto becomes the headmaster of the rebuilt Hope's Peak Academy, a role he retains in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony within Tsumugi Shirogane's "Flashback Light" false narrative as a part of the "Ultimate Real Fiction" Danganronpa reality television series.
Kyoko Kirigiri
Voiced by (English): Erika Harlacher (game); Caitlin Glass (anime)Voiced by (Japanese): Yoko Hikasa Kyoko is a mysterious woman who has amnesia but also possesses a cool head and reasoning skills. At the beginning of the game, her talent is unknown, so her presented title is . While generally untrusting of others, she comes to believe in Makoto and helps him out on many occasions and in the class trials. She later finds out her title is , having had more of her memories removed than the others due to how her talent would hinder Monokuma's plans. She always wears a pair of gloves, which is later revealed to be for hiding burns scars she received on her hands. She is also the daughter of Hope's Peak Academy's headmaster, Jin Kirigiri. She survives the game, escapes from the academy, and becomes a member of the Future Foundation.
In Danganronpa 2, she joins Makoto and Byakuya in confronting Junko's Alter Ego. In Danganronpa 3, she becomes involved in the Monokuma Hunter game alongside other Future Foundation members. She is presumably killed by the poison in her wristband as a result of her forbidden action, "passing the fourth time limit with Makoto still alive." At the end of the series, it is revealed she had survived thanks to an antidote created by Seiko, which slowed the poison's effects and put her in a coma until Mikan revived her. She then becomes a teacher at the new Hope's Peak Academy. She is the title character of the spin-off novel series Danganronpa Kirigiri, where she, along with her friend and assistant Yui, becomes involved in a series of deadly "Duel Noir" death games.
She was known as and was the original first victim in the narrative's killing game of an early demo for Trigger-Happy Havoc. The concept behind Kyoko's traits originated from Kodaka's desire to add a detective to the first Danganronpa game. Although she has a prominent role in the story, Kodaka claimed he did not write her with the intention of creating a lead heroine. Instead, Kyoko's utility to the player and the unique thought process she provided as a detective naturally elevated her to that role over time. In order to balance the cast Kodaka conceived the idea of giving the students no recollection of their past at Hope's Peak Academy. As a result, Kyoko remains the unofficial detective of the group and is not officially revealed to be a detective until later in the game.
Although artist Rui Komatsuzaki made Kyoko, Kodaka was responsible for most of the elements of Kyoko's appearance. Kodaka wanted Kyoko's design to hint at her detective role. This desire is most prominent in her black gloves and black jacket.
Komatsuzaki has claimed that Kyoko was one of the most difficult female characters to create in the first game of the franchise. At first, the staff decided that Kyoko would be attributed to be a "mysterious girl". This originally resulted in her color scheme being toneless and monotone. However, the design soon had to be altered after the game's direction changed to the lighter "Psycho Pop" art style. Her monotone color scheme was then changed to a pastel purple. Her early design prominently featured a school uniform with overalls because Komatsuzaki wanted it to have a rarer design than the other female characters; her uniform was later changed to a blouse and skirt. Komatsusaki had difficulties deciding between a shorter or longer hairstyle for Kyoko. Producer Yoshinori Terasawa suggested that Kyoko could have a symbolic hair cutting scene in the first game, but the idea was ultimately rejected, and so Kyoko's hair remained long. Because Kyoko becomes the main heroine after Sayaka's death, Komatsuzaki wanted Kyoko's design to closely parallel Sayaka's, and their similar hairstyles in different shades was a deliberate choice.
Byakuya Togami
Voiced by (English): Jason Wishnov (game); Jessie James Grelle (anime)Voiced by (Japanese): Akira Ishida
The successor of a highly successful family corporation who considers himself superior to all the other students in the academy. He is cold towards others, seeing them as competition and, as he hates losing, initially refuses to cooperate with their attempts at escaping and investigating. He identifies Makoto as a potential competitor, and after the second murder, in which Mondo Owada bashes Chihiro Fujisaki's skull in with a dumbbell in a fit of jealous rage, alters the crime scene and frames Toko Fukawa for Chihiro's death. He becomes more amicable to the group after Sakura's death. He is one of the survivors that escape from the academy and become members of the Future Foundation. His title is . He appears in Danganronpa 2 alongside Makoto and Kyoko. In Danganronpa Another Episode, he comes to Towa City to rescue Komaru and gives her a Hacking Gun, but gets captured by the Warriors of Hope and is used as a hostage, eventually getting rescued with the help of Komaru and Toko. He stars in the spin-off novel series Danganronpa: Togami, the second novel of which explores his young as young girl detective and the competition they had to win against their many half-siblings four years before the Tragedy in order to become the Togami heir (against continuing to grow up poor), and reappears in Danganronpa 3.
Toko Fukawa
Voiced by (English): Amanda Celine Miller/Erin Fitzgerald (game); Carli Mosier (anime)Voiced by (Japanese): Miyuki Sawashiro