All spoilers will be unmarked ahead. You Have Been Warned!
Throughout the franchise's run, the number of characters in Danganronpa has continued to grow and grow, and plenty of them have been very divisive.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
- Sayaka Maizono is a character who has provoked a lot of discussion. The arguments her haters use is that she tried to kill Leon and frame Makoto for the murder, portraying her as nothing but a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who only ever got along with Makoto in order to take advantage of him (to the point where people have even started to refer to her as a "snake"). Others think that while she is definitely not justified in trying to commit a murder, they can see that she wasn't in the best state of mind at the time, as for what she had seen her friends and members of her group were in danger, or even worse, dead (although Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls reveals that at least one of them is alive). It should also be taken into account that she is the only character in the main entries that died without ever knowing of the class trial system, so she didn't know that should her plan have succeeded she would also be sending Makoto and the rest of her classmates to their deaths, and that Kyoko speculates that she left her Dying Clue out of remorse for what she had tried to do rather than to get back at Leon. Additional content, like School Mode for example, reveals that Sayaka actually does like spending time with Makoto, and her voice actress confirmed that she has genuine feelings for him.
- Leon Kuwata is this because of his status as an early casualty, and that unlike Mukuro and Sayaka, who both get attention in certain parts of the game despite dying in the first chapter alongside Leon, he barely gets any screentime. His Free Time Events can be rather discouraging too, as he is shown to be a Casanova Wannabe who only gets interested in certain subjects in order to pick up girls, which make people see him as nothing but a Flat Character. Leon's defenders however, often say that he has more in him than what meets the eye, often referring to School Mode, in which he is shown to actually be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and that while he is popular with the ladies his status as a philanderer is actually a facade he puts on. Ultra Despair Hagakure is where he is shown in more depth, showing that he is caring toward his cousin Kanon (despite the fact that she is madly in love with him and that she could become a Yandere for him if she wanted to) going as far as considering her as his little sister. There are also people that think that should Leon have had more screentime and less simplistic and shallow Free Time Events he would be more well-liked among the fanbase.
- Celestia Ludenberg. You either love her for her mysterious personality, her unique character design, and her accent in the English dub, or you want her head on a skewer because she acts extremely uncaring towards everyone and the stress the killing game imposes (a prime example would be her very casually saying that it was Chihiro's own fault he got killed only because he didn't respect her self-imposed night time rule - Which had already been broken by others anyway, though granted the other time also lead to a murder). Her murder plan is also a whole point of controversy as she killed two people, one of them being Kiyotaka Ishimaru, for completely selfish reasons. However, it should also be taken into consideration that she is a Consummate Liar, so her motive for murder being money to buy an European castle with butlers dressed up as vampires might have been also a lie, as she is shown to have been desperate to escape from Hope's Peak ever since day one - Although, the fact that she only went for it after the money was promised shows that she put some value on money over the lifes of others, or at the very least was extremely indecisive about it for a long time. One thing though that most fans and detractors will admit is that she was an extremely obvious culprit (which can cause some disappointment given how intelligent she is shown to be during the first and second chapters), and her murder plan could have been handled much better than it was, to the point where many prefer the anime adaptation's version of it since it's seen as ironing out all the rough edges of her plan, making Celestia come off as far more competent. She also enjoys a lot of mysteries and layers beneath her story and whatever she claims thanks to several alternative interpretations (such as the manga), so she gets a lot more attention from keen fans that consider her depths beyond what she said to be interesting, or she gets detractors that prefer to judge her by what was seen and heard on-screen (which for Celeste, it means a lot of sociopathic things) rather than suplementary material.
- Byakuya Togami also has earned quite an amount of haters because of his Jerkass tendencies, him insulting everyone for little to no reason, especially Makoto, Hina and Chihiro, tampering with the crime scene in chapter 2 and desecrating Chihiro's corpse in order to expose Toko's Split Personality as Genocide Jack by making it look like she had killed him simply because it made the game "more interesting" in his eyes, something that people would never live down, especially since the implication is that he actually just wanted to see who was smart enough to be a threat if he committed his own murder. On top of his many negative qualities as a person, he's also not nearly as intelligent as he thinks he is, and the extent to which his Freudian Excuse of growing up in a deeply toxic environment that taught him to see crushing other people in competition as necessary to survive and living his best life the best due to the (metaphorical) dead he could give them makes him any more sympathetic is suspect since he's clearly deeply internalized these toxic views and never shows any signs of wanting to actually improve on them. Other people like him because of his Awesome Ego, being one of the students who contributes the most during the trials next to Makoto and Kyoko, and his Heel–Face Turn at the end of chapter 4 when his own view of reality crashes down on him after refusing to acknowledge other people's feelings (which made him not consider the idea that Sakura had been Driven to Suicide in order to stop the killings and also made him easily fall for Hina's claim that she had killed Sakura) and decides to side with the rest of the surviving students from that point onwards. Later installments in the series in which he has appeared (including Danganronpa: The Animation) have toned down his Jerkass tendencies considerably, causing many fans to believe that he was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
- Nagito Komaeda is contentious around some people. There's a camp who likes him, finds him a very interesting and even pitiable tragic figure who just happens to be part of the Ultimate Despair in Ultra Despair Girls and the Despair Arc of The End of Hope's Peak Academy. Another camp finds him unlikable, a crazed maniac who loves hope so much, he doesn't care who gets in his way, just so long as hope can triumph, a Spotlight-Stealing Squad who gets the lion's share of character focus in many later events, generally given waaaaaay too much leeway for a man with a demonstrable willingness to kill for absurd reasons, and genuinely poorly written, a cause-some-conflict-for-free card the writers can play whenever they want whose obsession with esoteric concepts is downright unrelatable. The fact he trash talked both Komaru and Hajime for not having a talent did not help that camp's opinion. A third camp finds him tolerable enough, but wishes other characters could have had the spotlight for just a little longer and are somewhat annoyed with him being a major source of Ho Yay for Hajime.
- One of the main reasons why Mahiru Koizumi isn't liked by some fans is because of her views on gender regarding the boys, with many people outright portraying her as a misandrist, which many people reflect on how she doesn't stop Hiyoko from bullying Mikan, even is she is the only person Hiyoko is willing to listen to, but immediately jumps in Mikan's defense when Fuyuhiko threatens her. Others would argue that Mahiru is actually a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, because even if she is harsh with the boys of the group she still felt sad with "Byakuya" and Teruteru's deaths (in fact, she was the first person to react to "Byakuya's" death) and because she tried to make amends with Fuyuhiko for helping to cover up the murder of his sister, showing that she is not as bad as people make her to be. Fans who do her Free Time Events like how they help flesh out her character more and that she warms up to Hajime little by little, to the point where she develops a crush on him, while showing to be a Tsundere. They also get to see that her views on men come from having to take care of her lazy bum of a father, who she still loved regardless, while her mother was away back when she was younger.
- Kazuichi Souda is a pretty divisive character. There are people who like him for his character design and the friendship he established with Hajime during the first three chapters alongside his Adorkable tendencies and being a Nervous Wreck when the game takes a turn for the dark. A lot of people also sympathize with him because of his Dark and Troubled Past with no friends and a physically abusive father. Other people dislike him because of him being a static character that survives the killing game as well as his crush on Sonia getting creepier and more annoying as time goes by, as he stalks her and it is quickly made clear that he only likes her who he thinks she is. The way he quickly turns against Hajime and constantly insists on him being the traitor within the group in Chapter 4, just because Nagito said so, is something that doesn't amuse fans either, though to be fair, Kazuichi does apologise for that and admit his old trust issues got the better of him and resolves to let them go and trust in his friends.
- Sonia Nevermind. Those who dislike Sonia say she's static and barely impacts the plot of the game — she organizes the girls' beach party, gives her knowledge of Serial Killer Sparkling Justice, suggests Hiyoko to use the mirror in the music venue (which leads to Hiyoko's death), and makes various contributions in Chapter 5 as The Heart. Other than that, Sonia is mostly relegated to being in the background or used as the butt of an occasional joke. Also, they feel like Sonia's Ship Tease moments with Gundham are forced down the player's throat. Finally, Sonia treats Kazuichi with disrespect, to the point she called him a "pest" and was disappointed that Kazuichi wasn't the murderer during the fourth Class Trial, which she tells him to his face. The fact that she's still cordial to the far nastier pervert Teruteru (who tried to trick Sonia into giving him a blowjob) and resident Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Hiyoko makes Sonia into a hypocrite in the eyes of these fans, who call Kazuichi harmless in comparison. On the other hand, the people that like Sonia enjoy her Nightmare Fetishist and Covert Pervert tendencies and the fact that she's an Occidental Otaku, while other people find her and Gundham's budding friendship/relationship to be cute. In addition, Sonia is one of the nicest students in the game, and perhaps the entire franchise. She's cordial to everyone (even Hiyoko), and her fans say that Sonia can't really be blamed for insulting Kazuichi because he constantly stalks her and makes a lot of creepy remarks towards her, including right after Gundham dies. Not to mention, Kazuichi constantly puts Sonia on a pedestal, which is the opposite of what she really wants. Sonia tries to be polite with Kazuichi at first, but gets fed up with his attitude and starts becoming more openly hostile when he doesn't get the hint. Either way, opinions on the princess remain divided — she's usually among any fan's most-liked or least-liked characters, with mild or indifferent opinions on Sonia being hard to come by.
- Mikan Tsumiki. People like her at first because of how timid and submissive she is, always afraid that other people may look down on her and constantly asking for forgivness. However, a lot of people find that really annoying as well, with her always shrieking and crying. People also feel sorry for her because she is Hiyoko's number one target for bullying, which helps increase the hate towards Hiyoko big time, making her one of the biggest Woobies in the series. However, most people start feeling disgusted with her in chapter 3, in which she kills both Ibuki and Hiyoko in cold blood without feeling any remorse for her actions whatsoever after remembering her past via catching the Despair Disease. Mikan herself states that she killed them for the sake of her beloved who is heavily implied, and later confirmed, to be Junko Enoshima, coming out as a unsympathetic culprit. However, at the end of Danganronpa 2 it is revealed that Mikan didn't remember her true personality, she just remembered being a Remnant of Despair by catching the disease, meaning that she had no control over her actions, causing many people to forgive what she did in the third chapter (especially since Danganronpa 3 revealed that the Remnants of Despair were Brainwashed and Crazy, and didn't willingly join the Ultimate Despair of their own free will). On the other hand, her Free Time Events reveal that she isn't as harmless as people make her to be, as she reveals that sometimes she trips on purpose and ends up in compromising positions in order to attract attention, that part of the reason for why she became a nurse is because she enjoys being in a position of power over the others after being abused all her life by her family and classmates, and that she is willing to cripple Hajime for life just so he has to depend on her forever. Another factor is that Ibuki, whose death was planned in advance unlike Hiyoko's, is a very popular character, meaning that some people dislike Mikan for the same reason they dislike Celeste from the previous game.
- Hiyoko Saionji. Overlaps with Americans Hate Tingle, as she scored 4th place official Japanese poll
◊ (only below Chiaki, Nagito and Ibuki), making her a Ensemble Dark Horse and an Unpopular Popular Character there; but she's a borderline The Scrappy among the Western players. Many western fans would typically rank her among the lowest ranks, something also achieved by Teruteru Hanamura, hating her for being The Bully Fake Cutie who targets mainly the most vulnerable students, her Hypocrite tendencies which especially drag the second Class Trial, and her tendency to use Crocodile Tears. However she does have a large and growing fanbase that like her for her friendship with Mahiru and Tsundere personality in her Free Time Events with Hajime. In addition, many like her Dark and Troubled Past, her eccentric vocal tics, her brutal honesty and often find her non Mikan insults entertaining and sometimes justified(as in the case of Fuyuhiko and Peko). Many also like that unlike most bully characters she actually did undergo some growth and had enough self awareness to attempt to improve her behaviour. - Akane Owari is an Ensemble Dark Horse in Japan, but she has far fewer fans in the West. Akane even tied for last place in a 2018 poll on the Danganronpa wiki. Akane's detractors claim her to be a Static Character whose Hot-Blooded Dumb Muscle characterization is more obnoxious than charming. Her fans tend to like her for her design, having a genuinely heartbreaking past yet still retaining a positive personality, being an energetic Big Eater, and her similarities to the fairly popular Aoi Asahina. Either way, expect Akane to be divisive whenever she's brought up.
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
- Monaca Towa. As a result of being the Hate Sink Enfant Terrible type of antagonist, one side of the fandom hates her with passion for all the things she did, including to her own allies, and believe many of her actions cross the line, such as pretending to be handicapped to gain sympathy or pretending to go along with committing suicide (although one of her notes leaves her claim that she was merely pretending up to interpretation). This part of the fandom may be outright glad that she was Put on a Bus in the anime. However, the other side of the fandom sees her as a Love to Hate type of antagonist and may easily view her as a Jerkass Woobie as a result of all her trauma from being neglected as well as physically and verbally (and implied to sexually as well) abused from her family on her father's side. This side of the fandom may be disappointed that she was only briefly used as a Red Herring in the anime before going off to space. There's also a case of Character Perception Evolution as she was much more hated during the days of her debut and she's much more appreciated nowadays.
Danganronpa 3: The End Of Hope's Peak High School
- Ryota Mitarai is often heatly debated on due to how linked he is with the many problems that the fandom has with the anime. Him being an Unwitting Instigator of Doom because he was forced by Junko to teach her how to rewrite personalities with "anime", running away from her once she was done with him, and eventually being convinced by Tengan's scheme to brainwash the whole world to get rid of despair made a lot of people dislike him. One group hates him due to his cowardly actions, being Easily Forgiven by his schoolmates and the rest of the survivors, and him being defeated in the average time of an episode. However, there is another group that doesn't have that big of a problem with him, and are willing to point out his more Adorkable qualities, his good intentions overall, and see him as a Well-Intentioned Extremist, in contrast with the other villainous characters that were seen as flat evil characters who do evil actions for the sake of it.
- Chiaki Nanami (Human). She's always been a fan favorite rating highly in polls in her game of origin, at worst getting Die for Our Ship treatment from intense Komahina shippers or people unhappy with her popularity. The anime, however, by virtue of retconning her into an actual person the AI was based on, gave ammunition to her haters, who now describe her as a boring character who keeps getting Character Shilling from other characters while stealing their screentime, with her being praised for organizing a group gaming session while Kazuichi and Teruteru who built a giant high-resolution screen and cooked for the event get nothing, her being chosen as a class rep as a result when leader figures of the class like Sonia or Fuyuhiko don't even run for it, and, most importantly, her being revealed as the person ALL of her classmates missed the most (which is why The Observer takes her form in Neo World Program), even though there should have been other obvious choices for some students, such as Teruteru's mother for Teruteru, Natsumi for Fuyuhiko, or Sato for Mahiru. Nonetheless, while her haters got more reasons to be vocal, she still maintains a large fanbase, since it's not as if she does anything unlikable besides getting shilled and she largely retains the same qualities that made her popular in the first place.
- Chisa Yukizome who started off as a fan-favorite thanks to being a sympathetic and caring Genki Girl teacher and one of a few seemingly token good teammates among Future Foundation leaders. There are many who remain her fans as a result, defend her actions as a Remnant due to her not being fully in control while Brainwashed and Crazy and pity her for not getting to be un-brainwashed before her death, unlike most known Remnants. However, over the time she also gained some haters who claim her to be a perfect character based on the first episode of Despair Arc (which her fans defend with the more comic tone of the first episodes and her talent of the Ultimate Housekeeper making sense she'd know how to take care and motivate every single member of her "family" - or students in this case), complain about her acting Too Dumb to Live while on her secret investigation, blame her of her actions as a Remnant (especially helping to put a beloved Chiaki Nanami on the path to her execution), and are displeased with how her new Brainwashed and Crazy self is rarely relevant to the plot on-screen.
- Kyosuke Munakata. Being The Rival who mixed the previous rivals' characteristics of being the Jerkass and a Well-Intentioned Extremist, it was a given. He started off as The Scrappy before his redemption in Episode 10 of Future Arc allowed him to be Rescued from the Scrappy Heap. However, many continue to hate him as a result of his goal to kill Makoto Naegi without even giving him a chance to explain his actions, as well as his Gotta Kill Them All mentality regarding Remnants of Despair, including the remaining Future Foundation leaders after Tengan tells him all of them are capable of being the Attacker. Him daring to claim that Makoto doesn't know the true pain even though he's a survivor of a killing game which Munakata himself even got to watch also didn't help. However, his fans claim his redemption to be effective, point out that Despair Chisa has been manipulating him for years in-universe, affecting his beliefs; and point out to his tendency of Strawman Has a Point as while he went overboard, he had the right to suspect Naegi who had helped Remnants of Despair in secret from the organization; while he didn't have to invalidate Naegi's trauma from a killing game, he was right that the game was bound by rules unlike the post-apocalyptic world filled with Remnants spreading chaos and despair that he lived in; and made a very reasonable theory that the Attacker could end the Final Killing Game any time, which would make the last person who died come off as the mastermind while they could hide among survivors. Nonetheless, both sides agree that Munakata got the worst ending out of all main characters.
- Juzo Sakakura is in similar boat, being initial The Scrappy who got Rescued from the Scrappy Heap after his redemption in Episode 11 of Future Arc. Much like in Munakata's case, a lot of fans couldn't look past his Jerkass personality and his impulsive Violence is the Only Option behavior. Some also claim he's not a good representation of LGBT due to being a Jerkass whose most defining personality trait is his devotion to Munakata. He also gets blamed by many for a lot of things happening in the plot, such as worsening Hajime's inferiority complex and thus providing him the catalyst to become Izuru or failing to prevent Nagito's bomb attack. His fans, however, claim his redemption to be effective, like him for being LGBT representation, admire his loyalty to Munakata and feel sorry for him when he's stabbed by his crush, and enjoy his arc of wanting to do the right things only to screw them more which he eventually makes up for in his admired Heroic Sacrifice (especially since it required him to cut off his hand) which saved his enemy, Makoto, among other people. They also point out that Juzo is often Misblamed as he had no way of knowing that Hajime would go on to become Izuru (which eventually proved useful in reviving comatose students and didn't cause much evil, given that he was a personification of Bystander Syndrome who only got framed by Junko) or that keeping quiet about Junko would lead to the end of the world.
- Natsumi Kuzuryu. Her fans are invested in her Jerkass with a Heart of Gold portrayal, especially as a result of the scene where she opens up about her insecurities to Hajime, which many also view as a potentially interesting ship. As such, many of her fans outright absorb her of any guilt, appreciate her own way of trying to befriend Hajime, and point out that much like her brother, she grew up in a very hostile environment, which is why she may come off as a violent The Bully. This part of the fandom will paint Sato killing her as entirely unjustifiable, especially since it's the only murder important to the plot that happens outside of a killing game. Her haters, however, see her as unsympathetic The Bully regardless of her Hidden Depths and can't bring themselves to like her when she threatened to kill Mahiru to get a spot in Hope's Peak Academy.
- Sato as well. Her getting even less screentime than Natsumi and her perspective therefore not being as fleshed out leaves her with more haters who view her as an obsessive Yandere who killed Natsumi out of paranoia. However, she still has fans who enjoyed her friendship with Mahiru, view her as Sympathetic Murderer, finding it admirable that she wanted to protect her and point out that a death threat (regardless of whether she meant it or not) from someone coming from the most influential yakuza family in the country is nothing to ignore.
- Both girls also get claims that they could've highly benefited from getting more screentime, with their perspectives and personalities further developed as a result, from both their fans and haters.
- Sato as well. Her getting even less screentime than Natsumi and her perspective therefore not being as fleshed out leaves her with more haters who view her as an obsessive Yandere who killed Natsumi out of paranoia. However, she still has fans who enjoyed her friendship with Mahiru, view her as Sympathetic Murderer, finding it admirable that she wanted to protect her and point out that a death threat (regardless of whether she meant it or not) from someone coming from the most influential yakuza family in the country is nothing to ignore.
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
- Kokichi Oma. Many despise him for his continued antagonistic behavior and bullying towards fan favourites such as Keebo, Gonta and Himiko, his continued endangerment of the group and manipulating Gonta into killing Miu. Others meanwhile like him due to providing the morally grey character type the franchise is known for, his role as a Manipulative Bastard, and that, while not excusable, his seeming Moral Event Horizon was justified as Miu was attempting to kill him. Likewise, The Reveal that he was a Good All Along Anti-Hero either works a long way towards justifying his behavior, or turns him into a posthumous Karma Houdini who gets forgiven for his continual endangerment of the group. There is also a bit of debate if he was better off as a villain or an anti-hero.
- Tenko Chabashira is also in an odd spot with this. Like Mahiru from the previous game, one of the first things known about her when the game was revealed was how strongly she dislikes men getting her quickly labeled as a Scrappy (although Mahiru herself does not hate men, she is just harsh towards them due to her issues with her father whom she still loves regardless), but fans later learning of her excitable nature and seemingly one sided crush on Himiko lead to fans liking and disliking her. Her misandry not only leads her to baselessly accuse her male classmates of murder a lot, even though both of the trials she actually takes a part in have female murderers (and male victims), and easily treads into both verbal and physical abuse territory, especially as her Free Time events show there is no reason at all for this beyond her not realizing her male "Neo-Aikido" teacher was pulling her leg and some of her vigilante stunts having assumedly mostly male targets. Given how her first Free Time involves her knocking Shuichi out cold over nothing that excuse can be hard to swallow and it's not helped by how little any of her classmates, particularly the girls, try to call her out on her misandry or threatening to pummel guys. Even her relationship with Himiko can cause issues as those less favorable towards her point out she can be pretty creepy towards the girl (not unlike Toko Fukawa towards Byakuya Togami and Kazuichi Souda towards Sonia Nevermind) with it seeming very one-sided on her part. That is, at least, prior to Tenko's death, which both Kokichi and Korekiyo point out as suspicious during said trial despite how devastated she's acting and clearly misses Tenko more than Angie. Other people point out that, unlike Toko and Kazuichi who are just outright creeps towards Byakuya and Sonia respectively, Tenko was actually trying to get Himiko to come out of her shell, which she does despite dying.
- Kaito Momota. Some fans love him for being The Heart of the group and his Awesome Ego, viewing his speeches as much-needed encouragement to the reclusive Maki and the self-deprecating Shuichi. Others dislike him for some sexist comments and his tendencies to stick with his emotions instead of logic and common sense, viewing his speeches about believing in anyone as something any generic shounen protagonist would say. His detractors also cite his behavior towards Shuichi in the fourth class trial as him being annoying and petty, while his fans defend it as a way to represent a Fatal Flaw in his character.
- While Kirumi Tojo is an unquestioned Ensemble Dark Horse in Japan (like Hiyoko and Akane before her), she has this reputation in the west. Her detractors dislike her for being incredibly talented at everything she does, without any sort of explanation for her skills in her Free Time Event, with her only "weakness" - being unable to slice konjac root – coming off as a joke weakness to them. Her fans appreciate her character design, the selflessness and caring behind all of her actions, and her Team Mom personality, and point to how her joke weakness is portrayed as actual weakness—an inability to accept imperfection—in her later Free Time Events and Harmonious Heart event. The real divide, though, comes from the major plot twist in Chapter 2, where it's revealed she's the de facto Prime Minister of Japan. Those who took it poorly saw it as an Ass Pull to justify her murder, not helped by the Values Dissonance in the West, and hate her for manipulating a suicidal person into accepting his death and trying to manipulate the other students into sacrificing themselves for her. It doesn't help that Ryoma is loved by the Western fans, which put several of Kirumi's detractors in the same set as Mikan and Celeste's. Those who buy into her The Needs of the Many utilitarianism find her motive more sympathetic, arguing that the lives of thirteen high school students she met a few days ago can look quite insignificant compared to the lives of the entire country of Japan. The only thing anybody seems to agree on is that Kirumi's death scene is one of the most brutal in the entire franchise.
- Maki Harukawa is either loved for her Defrosting Ice Queen Character Development or hated for being a cliche edgelord, to say nothing of her actions in Chapter 5. In that chapter, she wanted to kill everybody in the fifth trial so she could survive (since she thought she was the blackened), and she made no secret about how she liked the fact this would also kill Kokichi even though it would also condemn her so-called "friends" to die. This and how Easily Forgiven she was for the whole thing rubbed a lot of players the wrong way, while her fans argue that she should get cut some slack for having to watch the man she loves be executed and that her later willingness to sacrifice herself in Chapter 6 makes up for it.
- Angie Yonaga. Her positive larger-than-life attitude and design got a track of a lot of fans with first impressions of her, being the recurring tan girl from the games. However, her religious devotion to Atua did throw many for a loop. Many do not like that she pesters everyone with wanting everyone to devote themselves to Atua, so much so that she actually manages to start a minor cult in Chapter 3, and find her an annoying and bad friend for Himiko Yumeno, a character that is almost unambiguously liked. Not helping matters that it's implied she could be a Manipulative Bitch who uses Atua to do what she wants. But there's also a camp that usually doesn't get bothered with this, as she's usually so charming when she's giving you reasons to love Atua that her fans don't mind it and still like her for being so expressive and calming. It helps that her stated reason for forming the Student Council is to prevent further killings, and the nighttime rule that outrages the V3 characters is very similar to the nighttime promise the Trigger Happy Havoc characters easily agreed to as a valid safety precaution. Those who are sympathetic to Angie can read her as a character acting out of desperation and under the influence of her upbringing.
- Miu Iruma is mostly liked for her genuinely funny lines and antics, a memorable design filled with fanservice, and a surprising amount of Hidden Depths beneath her crude, prickly persona. That said, she still has a decent amount of detractors for her tendency to insult anyone and everyone she comes across, even with her practically nonexistent social skills taken into consideration (some of Miu's more venomous insults incorporate slurs, like when she said that Gonta used his "'tard strength" or called Shuichi "Sherlock Homo"); her egotism, and ultimately her attempted betrayal of her classmates four chapters later. However, many others sympathize with her desire to save the world using her inventions. Many of her detractors will also claim that she is exactly like Teruteru, and she only gets away with it because she is female, while supporters argue about how Teruteru's antics were rarely portrayed as comically as Miu's.
- Tsumugi Shirogane often gets in hot water due to how linked she is towards the very controversial ending of the game. Detractors will see her a Replacement Scrappy of Junko Enoshima, as similarly, she is a female mastermind who loves despair, while not having near as an entertaining personality as her, and finding her an Anti-Climax Boss due to her not contributing as much on the trial itself outside of exposition. Even before her reveal as the mastermind, many dislike her antics for often referencing other media while also not providing much personality aside from it. However, defenders will often find a charm to her Cosplay Otaku Girl tendencies, finding her comparatively chill in contrast to the other characters, while also finding her mastermind role as a clever Deconstruction of how the obsessiveness to the Danganronpa series can be detrimental while acting distinct enough from Junkonote to still work for the devastating revelations in the final trial as her role of a representation of the worst the fanbase of the series could offer.
- Korekiyo Shinguji is possibly the most controversial character in V3, which is saying a lot. Most of this has to do with the reveals of his true character at the end of Chapter 3, as he was relatively liked beforehand, in spite of his creepiness. For many, it completely ruins his past character and turns him into another "insane" Chapter 3 killer, but with even less redeeming qualities and nonsensical motives. Even for the standards of the series, his reason for killing makes very little sense, as there's no reason to think killing girls would somehow send them to his dead sister, in spite of his clear insanity. On top of this, he kills Tenko for almost no real reason, despite already committing a near perfect murder of Angie, frusterating many fans by his stupidity despite being shown to be intelligent beforehand, with his only reasons given that he "didn't want to waste the trap" and "got greedy", even though it's clear that escaping after killing Angie would have been the best option, as he has plenty of opprotunities to murder more girls outside the Killing Game, even if he didn't care about dying. The fact that Korekiyo had an incenstious relationship with his sister is also a point of contention, as his haters call it needessly gross and completely pointless, as a platonic love for his sibling would have worked just as well, making it come across as shock value. However, in spite of these controversial writing decisions, there are still some that love Korekiyo. Many find his character entertaining because he's so evil yet detached from reality. Some fans don't mind the incest because it's commonly theorized that his older sister groomed him into it, so many defend him or are otherwise not grossed out by the relationship. While many hate his sister personality for coming across as another harmful representation of DID, yet even more inaccurate than Toko, others defend it by stating it's most likely a tulpa developed from trauma. Another camp agrees that the twists regarding Korekiyo's character weren't written well, but still like Korekiyo because of his interesting design and Free Time Events, considering the reveals either non-canon in their eyes, or just missed potential.
