History YMMV / Danganronpa

** Gundham Tanaka is the "Ultimate Breeder" and an overdramatic {{chuunibyou}} who hides a devious mind behind his theatrics, performing one of the most complex murders in the Killing Game as the blackened of Chapter 4. Trapped in the Funhouse with the threat of starvation, Gundham is against the group's choice to starve and begins plotting his own murder, uncovering and taking advantage the secret of the Funhouse to set a death trap difficult to trace back to him. Targeting Nekomaru, Gundham sets up the clocks to isolate him so he can battle him to the death, immobilizing him by using his hamsters before putting him in the death trap to fall to his death while he sets-up an alibi for himself, only being figured out due to circumstances out of his control. When proven guilty, Gundham respectfully confesses his side and uses his last words to encourage the group to not give up on life and comforting Sonia, finally heading to his execution where he saves his hamsters one last time before [[GoOutWithASmile dying with a smile]].

* Angst?WhatAngst?: The cast doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that they've been trapped in a certain location and forced to kill one another. They may freak out during the first chapter, but after a while, they're accustomed to the possibility of never seeing their loved ones again or being isolated from society forever. This is especially prominent with the killings, to which the cast may mourn a character for 5 minutes, but by the next chapter, no one cares that someone else died or that they might be next. The whole cast (with exceptions such as Kiyotaka) moves on as if nothing happened. For some characters, such as Kiyotaka, Leon, Hiyoko, and Ryoma, it's as if they never even existed.

* BrokenAesop: The writer intended Monokuma to be a twisted AudienceSurrogate, and for audience members to recognize the voyeuristic part of themselves that's impatiently excited and interested to see the next murder, the next case, the next execution reflected in the evil mastermind and be ashamed of it. But this rarely happens, not only because Monokuma is ''so'' over-the-top malicious and sadistic that relating to him is difficult but because the characters are almost always so interesting and likable that many fans ''would'' happily just hang out with them without the spice of murder mystery plots, and what fully breaks this aesop is that on some level the creators knew this because every ''Danganronpa'' game has an alternate post-game mode (and one of the spin-offs ''just'' involves) hanging out with the characters in a normal, wholesome manner, making friends and having fun getting to know them without any horrible violence at all.

%%* BrokenAesop: The writer intended Monokuma to be a twisted AudienceSurrogate, and for audience members to recognize the voyeuristic part of themselves that's impatiently excited and interested to see the next murder, the next case, the next execution reflected in the evil mastermind and be ashamed of it. But this rarely happens, not only because Monokuma is ''so'' over-the-top malicious and sadistic that relating to him is difficult but because the characters are almost always so interesting and likable that many fans ''would'' happily just hang out with them without the spice of murder mystery plots, and what fully breaks this aesop is that on some level the creators knew this because every ''Danganronpa'' game has an alternate post-game mode (and one of the spin-offs ''just'' involves) hanging out with the characters in a normal, wholesome manner, making friends and having fun getting to know them without any horrible violence at all.

** [[Characters/DanganronpaJunkoEnoshima Junko Enoshima]] is the BigBag of the entire franchise who appeared in various mediums:

** [[Characters/DanganronpaJunkoEnoshima Junko Enoshima]] sates her obsession with despair by seeking to [[HopeCrusher crush hope]] in all of humanity. To this end, Junko uses her analytical abilities to sadistically and meticulously [[Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool manipulate the students of Hope's Peak Academy]], leading her classmates to murder each other in droves; brainwashing many others as they witness the atrocity; kidnapping a kindhearted teacher to brainwash her into following Junko's cruel plans; cruelly crushing anyone in her way, eventually leading to mass killings and suicides amongst students and even a global societal collapse. In the horrific dystopian new world, Junko continues to amuse herself by tormenting a group of Hope's Peak students after wiping their memories, forcing them into a "game" where they must betray and murder each other, broadcasting it to demoralize the population at large, even [[SiblingMurder killing her own sister]] on a whim. When discovered, Junko happily asserts her devotion to causing suffering and, when she fails to break the wills of her victims, spitefully kills herself to [[RedemptionRejection refuse their attempts to offer her redemption]], aroused even at the feeling of her own despair. Creating an ArtificialIntelligence and corrupting the already-unstable Warriors of Hope as her successors to continue her murder game even after her own death, Junko cements herself as a [[AxCrazy monstrous psychopath]], so warped [[NightmareFetishist the only thing she adored was misery]], be that others' or even her own.

** ''[[Literature/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavocIf Trigger Happy Havoc IF]]'': [[Characters/DanganronpaJunkoEnoshima Junko Enoshima]], in this WhatIf scenario, is the same despair-adoring psychopath and abusive younger sister of Mukuro Ikusaba who conditioned the latter into admiring despair. Having kickstarted "The Tragedy" with Mukuro, resulting in tons of destruction and riots, Junko wipes the memories of her friends at Hope's Peak Academy to have them all kill each other. Lying to Mukuro that she'll survive the killing game, after her [[SiblingMurder attempt to kill her]] fails, Junko tries to pin her and the injured [[Characters/DanganronpaMakotoNaegi Makoto Naegi]] as the masterminds behind the game. When Mukuro turns against her, Junko promises to reset the game and have an amnesiac Mukuro compete as herself to make her and everyone else suffer, later presenting the students with an impossible deadly challenge to win their freedom, knowing they will most likely fail and fall into despair.
** [[Theatre/{{Danganronpa}} Stage plays]]: [[Characters/DanganronpaJunkoEnoshima Junko Enoshima]], the Ultimate Fashionista/Ultimate Despair, is a [[TeensAreMonsters young, chaotic psychopath]] obsessed with making everybody, even herself, feel despair. [[TheCorrupter Corrupting]] and tormenting the students of Hope's Peak Academy's Class 77 to assist her in her plans, Junko was able to use them to launch countless wars, disasters, and terrorist attacks, with millions dying in the process. Seeking to further drench the world in despair, Junko wipes the memories of the Hope's Peak survivors to force them all to kill each other to escape while being broadcasted worldwide, even [[SiblingMurder killing her own "boring" sister Mukuro Ikusaba]] to enjoy the despair of losing a loved one. [[CruelMercy Forced to live as her punishment]], Junko installs an AI built from her consciousness into the Neo-World Program, forcing the recovering Class 77 students into another killing game to corrupt them all into becoming her copies to rule the world alongside her.

* AngelDevilShipping: [[BigGood Makoto]] and [[BigBad Junko]] are frequently shipped in spite of their status as arch-enemies. Junko is an AxCrazy HopeCrusher who is a huge {{Jerkass}} to everyone in the franchise, while Makoto is a NiceGuy known for his IncorruptiblePurePureness InUniverse.

** ''Manga/KillerKiller'': [[MadBomber Ted Chikatilo]], known as the "[[SpreeKiller Million Killer]]", is a member of [[NebulousEvilOrganization Ultimate Despair]] and an infamous bomber who's one of Future Foundation's most wanted criminals. Owning the title of [[{{Pyromaniac}} Ultimate Pyrotechnic]], Chikatilo has a fascination with explosions and violence, using the Tragedy to his advantage to turn people into "[[RainOfBlood beautiful fireworks]]". Responsible for a number of bombings and coming off his latest killing spree where he murdered a platoon of Future Foundation agents, turning one into one of his "art pieces", Chikatilo sets his sight on Killer Killer for bragging rights. Knowing Future Foundation was planning to lure him out, he tried to trick Takumi and Juzo, disguised as him, into fighting each other before coming out and attacking the two. When Takumi managed to thwart his attempt, Chikatilo became more aggressive, killing countless people around him, before trying to blow up Takumi, his partner Misaki and anyone around in a wide range explosion. A narcissist of carnage, Ted Chikatilo is one of the worst criminals in the world of ''Danganronpa''.

** ''[[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony Killing Harmony]]'': [[BitchInSheepsClothing Tsumugi Shirogane]] is revealed to be the the true mastermind of the Killing Game, who in actuality works for the corporation [[EvilInc Team Danganronpa]] and acts as their mole in the 53rd entry of Danganronpa. Acting as a CosplayOtakuGirl in the killing game who was usually [[ObfuscatingStupidity not the smartest]], it gets revealed that Tsumugi was the true culprit of the first trial, where she killed Rantaro Amami because Kaede Akamatsu's plan failed and wanted to ensure that the Killing Game continued, bending the rules of the game and [[AcquittedTooLate letting Kaede get executed because of it]]. Later in the last trial, Tsumugi tells the rest of the survivors about the true conditions of the world, in which the Killing Game is actually a [[SadisticGameShow game show]] called Danganronpa to entertain the uneventful and peaceful real world. Tsumugi would reveal that her company brainwashed every survivor with FalseMemories and rewrote their personalities so that they would truly act scared and helpless. Tsumugi is so obsessed with the Danganronpa franchise that when the audience watching the show were convinced by Shuichi Saihara to not want it anymore, Tsumugi would [[DrivenToSuicide let herself be killed]] alongside the studio so that she wouldn't exist in a world that doesn't want Danganronpa.

** ''Manga/KillerKiller'':
*** [[BattleaxeNurse Rei Shimizu]] is a nurse who secretly sacrificed her patients to fulfill her [[NightmareFetishist morbid obsession]]. An addict of parasites, Rei would [[TheSymbiote implant their eggs]] on victims to breed them in a [[BodyHorror painful and slow process]] that lasted for a year, before killing them to extract the parasites. When her latest victim Hana was investigated, Rei played innocent, while secretly trying to kill another patient she has also placed parasite eggs on. When Takumi managed to figure her out and stop her attempted murder, Rei reveals to him her operation, showing her massive collection of parasites she extracted from previous victims before [[FusionDance merging with them]] to try killing Takumi and use his corpse as another parasite nest.
*** [[MadBomber Ted Chikatilo]], known as the "[[SpreeKiller Million Killer]]", is a member of [[NebulousEvilOrganization Ultimate Despair]] and an infamous bomber who's one of Future Foundation's most wanted criminals. Owning the title of [[{{Pyromaniac}} Ultimate Pyrotechnic]], Chikatilo has a fascination with explosions and violence, using the Tragedy to his advantage to turn people into "[[RainOfBlood beautiful fireworks]]". Responsible for a number of bombings and coming off his latest killing spree where he murdered a platoon of Future Foundation agents, turning one into one of his "art pieces", Chikatilo sets his sight on Killer Killer for bragging rights. Knowing Future Foundation was planning to lure him out, he tried to trick Takumi and Juzo, disguised as him, into fighting each other before coming out and attacking the two. When Takumi managed to thwart his attempt, Chikatilo became more aggressive, killing countless people around him, before trying to blow up Takumi, his partner Misaki and anyone around in a wide range explosion. A narcissist of carnage, Ted Chikatilo is one of the worst criminals in the world of ''Danganronpa''.

** Junko has so many resources and so many character revisions that people dissuade themselves from believing those traits of her exist and just decide to pay attention to the fact that she's a despair addict with a [[EvilIsSexy grand figure.]]

* ArchivePanic: Not an extreme example, but the franchise has 5 lengthy video games, 2 animes and about 20 official mangas, so checking out all of them will take quite a long time.

** [[Characters/DanganronpaJunkoEnoshima Junko Enoshima]] sates her obsession with despair by seeking to [[HopeCrusher crush hope]] in all of humanity. To this end, Junko uses her analytical abilities to sadistically and meticulously [[Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool manipulate the students of Hope's Peak Academy]], leading her classmates to murder each other in droves; brainwashing many others as they witness the atrocity; kidnapping a kind-hearted teacher to brainwash her into following Junko's cruel plans; cruelly crushing anyone in her way, eventually leading to mass killings and suicides amongst students and even a global societal collapse. In the horrific dystopian new world, Junko continues to amuse herself by tormenting a group of Hope's Peak students after wiping their memories, forcing them into a "game" where they must betray and murder each other, broadcasting it to demoralize the population at large, even [[SiblingMurder killing her own sister]] on a whim. When discovered, Junko happily asserts her devotion to causing suffering and, when she fails to break the wills of her victims, spitefully kills herself to [[RedemptionRejection refuse their attempts to offer her redemption]], aroused even at the feeling of her own despair. Creating an ArtificialIntelligence and corrupting the already-unstable Warriors of Hope as her successors to continue her murder game even after her own death, Junko cements herself as a [[AxCrazy monstrous psychopath]], so warped [[NightmareFetishist the only thing she adored was misery]], be that others' or even her own.

* EvilIsSexy: Despite how monstrous and deranged she is, Junko Enoshima is still a famous fashion model, so this trope is only natural.

** Retellings of the games with a new list of killers, victims, and survivors, are very common; not so much out of dislike for canon material, but more because [[ForWantOfANail fans want to see how much can change with just one different killer or victim]]. The first case is usually the target point for the "split".

** A "Talentswap AU" is a popular AU where some characters have a different Ultimate Talent than in canon, due to being a fun challenge for authors to fit the new talent into the characters' backstory and personality and a [[ForWantOfANail way to mix up the murders]].

* FanWorkOnlyFans: For quite awhile, anyone interested in the series who didn't speak Japanese was forced to make do with fan translations, Let's Plays, fic, and fanart. Now that the games have been localized, the franchise is ''much'' more accessible to those outside of Japan, though some tie-in novels and mangas still have yet to recieve official translations, so if you want to read those, you'll have to rely on fan efforts. On another note, the franchise is ''wildly'' popular with cosplayers, some of whom have never played the games, thanks to the extremely unique and fun character designs. You don't need to know the story to think Junko's costume is awesome, after all.

* ''YMMV/DanganronpaZero''

** Another common AU is a RoleSwapAU, where either [[VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2 Class 77-B]] or [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony the inmates]] are trapped in Hope's Peak Academy, [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc Class 78]] or the inmates are trapped on Jabberwock Island, and Class 77-B or Class 78 are trapped in a prison.

** [[https://youtu.be/mm1NT1aYJys "So how's about we put 8 hours on the clock and start that thing from now."]] There's a good reason why this voice sample is used in every entry as part of the Nonstop Debate music, as it gives them a manic energy, foot-tapping and makes them all incredibly catchy.

* TearDryer: During a post-trial scene where the culprit explains their motive, aside from the endgame where there isn't one, except [[LaughablyEvil Monokuma]] to pop up and joke about it, then order their execution with sadistic glee.

* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: "No, that's wrong!", or "Sore wa chigau yo!" in the Japanese version. Very much the franchise's equivalent of "[[Franchise/AceAttorney Objection!]]" and always fun to hear.

* EpilepticTrees: After Spike Chunsoft posted [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGtAU2WVnms this trailer]] for ''Danganronpa Decadence'', many fans have begun to suspect that ''Danganronpa S'' isn't just a simple LighterAndSofter BeachEpisode, but will instead contain a SurpriseCreepy GenreShift ala ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub''.

** There's no ''Danganronpa V1'' or ''Danganronpa V2''. The first game is ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' and the second game is ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair''. ''Danganronpa V3'' is named like that in order to differenciate it from the ''Danganronpa 3'' anime, as well as for an in-game reason.

** For a Western animation example, there has been overlap with the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' fandom, which originated from crossovers where the ImmoralRealityShow format of ''Total Drama'' is amped up to the murderous levels presented in ''Danganronpa''. It's common for people who are into both franchises to (ironically or not) draw comparisons between Monokuma and Chris [=McLean=]. The bond between both fandoms strenghtened further with the airing of the 2023 reboot of ''Total Drama Island'', which features an EqualGenderEnsemble of sixteen contestants (including eight males and eight females) similar to the student casts in the main ''Danganronpa'' games, and has the losers be eliminated via the Drone of ''Despair''.

** ''[[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony Killing Harmony]]'':[[BitchInSheepsClothing Tsumugi Shirogane]] is revealed to be the the true mastermind of the Killing Game, who in actuality works for the corporation [[EvilInc Team Danganronpa]] and acts as their mole in the 53rd entry of Danganronpa. Acting as a CosplayOtakuGirl in the killing game who was usually [[ObfuscatingStupidity not the smartest]], it gets revealed that Tsumugi was the true culprit of the first trial, where she killed Rantaro Amami because Kaede Akamatsu's plan failed and wanted to ensure that the Killing Game continued, bending the rules of the game and [[AcquittedTooLate letting Kaede get executed because of it]]. Later in the last trial, Tsumugi tells the rest of the survivors about the true conditions of the world, in which the Killing Game is actually a [[SadisticGameShow game show]] called Danganronpa to entertain the uneventful and peaceful real world. Tsumugi would reveal that her company brainwashed every survivor with FalseMemories and rewrote their personalities so that they would truly act scared and helpless. Tsumugi is so obsessed with the Danganronpa franchise that when the audience watching the show were convinced by Shuichi Saihara to not want it anymore, Tsumugi would [[DrivenToSuicide let herself be killed]] alongside the studio so that she wouldn't exist in a world that doesn't want Danganronpa.

** For a Western animation example, there's overlap with the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' fandom, and it's common for crossovers to occur where the ImmoralRealityShow format of ''Total Drama'' is amped up to the murderous levels presented in ''Danganronpa.'' It's also common to (ironically or not) draw comparisons between Monokuma and Chris [=McLean=]. The strength of the bond between both fandoms increased with the release of the 2023 reboot of ''Total Drama Island'', which includes sixteen contestants, eight boys and eight girls too, and has the losers be eliminated via the Drone of ''Despair''.

** For a Western animation example, there's overlap with the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' fandom, and it's common for crossovers to occur where the ImmoralRealityShow format of ''Total Drama'' is amped up to the murderous levels presented in ''Danganronpa.'' It's also common to (ironically or not) draw comparisons between Monokuma and Chris [=McLean=].