Characters / Danganronpa — Hajime Hinata

Danganronpa | Main Character Index
Monokuma
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | Male Students (Makoto Naegi | Byakuya Togami) | Female Students (Kyoko Kirigiri | Toko Fukawa | Celestia Ludenberg | Junko Enoshima)
Danganronpa Zero
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair | Male Students (Hajime Hinata | Nagito Komaeda) | Female Students (Peko Pekoyama)
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
Killer Killer
Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School | Future Arc | Despair Arc
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony | Male Students (Kokichi Oma) | Female Students (Miu Iruma)

Hajime Hinata/Izuru Kamukura

Voiced by: Minami Takayama (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)

Played by: Ryusei Yokohama (Stage)

Warning: Unmarked spoilers for the whole Danganronpa series

Hajime Hinata

Ultimate ??? (actually a reserve course student)

"Right now, I'm more focused on what I'm supposed to do."

One of the protagonists of the Dangaronpa series. Hajime is the lead character of both Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School: Side Despair.

He's introduced in 2 as a member of Class 77 on their strange and sudden appearance on Jabberwock Island. He and his classmates become the victims of the Killing School Trip and is forced to survive as his classmates collectively try to get away with murdering each other. Unlike the previous protagonist Makoto, Hajime doesn't actually remember what his talent is, and much of the game's mystery is finding out how he ended up in class with the other Ultimate students.

By the climax, it's revealed that Hajime has an alternate personality known as Izuru Kamukura, the Ultimate Hope. He, a talentless student, had been surgically altered to possess every known talent to humankind, all at the cost of his memories and emotions. Izuru went on to set the events of 2 in place by placing all of Class 77 in a simulated world and reverting his own personality back to that of Hajime's. By the end of the game, Hajime is able to reconcile his own memories and emotions with that of Izuru's to defeat the other mastermind of the game.

3 explores Hajime's backstory in full and how he became Izuru, as well as his tragic relationship with his love interest Chiaki Nanami.

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In general

• Alliterative Name: Hajime Hinata.
• Ambiguously Bi: While his interest in women is apparent, in the original Japanese translation, he holds hands with the guys too, and has some choice moments in free time events with Nidai and more significantly, Komaeda. Not to mention everything else about that relationship, even when it's at its most complicated and unfriendly.
• Ambiguously Human: The Izuru Kamukura project either excised or suppressed all of Hajime's senses, thoughts, emotions, hobbies, and memories that interfered with acquiring talent. This was done with the intent to make him the perfect genius, but Izuru's lack of these essential parts of the human psyche made him utterly apathetic to the world—everything to him is boring. His appearance in Side:Hope proves he has his old personality back, but still leaves his true nature ambiguous.
• Ambition Is Evil: In the sense that he wanted to get a talent no matter what it took. By agreeing to become Izuru Kamukura he put the events into motion which caused the problems of not just the game, but the entire series by helping give Junko just the trigger she needed to spread her despair.
• Ascended Fanboy: Was a huge fan of Hope's Peak and was ecstatic to become a student there. Though not for the reason he wanted.
• Back from the Dead: Hajime’s personality was completely suppressed to make way for Izuru. Thanks to Makoto and the Neo World Program, it’s the only reason Hajime ever resurfaced.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: He wanted to have a talent and be recognized as someone special so badly, well, he did…sadly, it all went straight to hell.
• Big Bad Friend: The 'Hajime Hinata' persona is genuinely innocent, but...
  • Hajime, as Izuru Kamukura, is responsible for nearly everything wrong happening in the game. To make matters worse, because of his actions of wanting to have a talent, he indirectly helped Junko Enoshima bring the world to its end. And before that, besides Junko, he was the other main reason for all the chaos happening in Hope's Peak, the school he adored. To top it all off, as Izuru Kamukura, he killed most of the student council, and because he smuggled AI Junko, most of the friends he made are now in comas.
  • In Danganronpa 3 Despair Arc, we find out that Junko lied about the student council killing game. Izuru actually only killed one of them in self-defence; the rest killed each other while he was watching, except for one girl who was shot by Mukuro. He also didn't actually help Junko destroy the world, and only brought her AI for his own goals. Ultimately, while Izuru's still an antagonist to the group, he's not nearly as bad as led to believe.
• Break the Cutie: His entire life since high school seems to be this, but becoming Izuru certainly hammered it home. And in 2 all of the deaths, trials, executions, his missing memories, figuring his out his talent or lack of thereof, and Nagito's sanity slowly slipping away, were already pushing him to the limit bit by bit. Chapter Six and the final trial is what really causes him to call it quits on everything. The result? He's got a Broken Smile, Laughing Mad at the Sadistic Choice, and Dull Eyes of Unhappiness. Poor guy doesn't get a break until Chiaki shows up and helps him to snap out of it and get better.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: With Chiaki, who begins guiding Hajime as the situations become progressively more tragic.
• Cannot Spit It Out: He and Chiaki developed feelings for each other during their time at Hope's Peak, but Hajime couldn't bring himself to admit it due to his insecurities over a lacking a talent. Tragically, Hajime's memory got wiped when he was transformed into Izuru, and Chiaki died not long after, meaning the two could never be together anyway. It isn't until his very last moments of his first game before returning to the real world that Hajime finally brings himself to thank Chiaki for everything she's done for him.
• Chick Magnet: With the exception of Peko, every girl is shown to be interested in Hajime during their Free Time Events. And then there's Chiaki who does share a mutual attraction with him.
• Clark Kent Outfit: His chest size is stated to be 36 inches, making it the fourth-largest among the guys. Chiaki also claims that he's surprisingly muscular after accidentally stumbling into him, while Nekomaru believes he would make an incredible athlete after feeling him up. This is possibly a leftover from Hajime's past as Izuru Kamukura, as he would have naturally had the talents of every single athletic student to have ever walked through Hope Peak Academy. In V3's Talent Development Plan, his character is an Athletic type, which specializes in physical attacks.
• Classic Anti Hero: Hajime is this through the events of 3. By the time Chapter 4 through 6 of 2 comes around, he begins to shift back into this. Luckily, after coming to terms with everything, he gets better.
• Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: To Ryōko Otonashi. They both suffer from Alternate Identity Amnesia, Freak Out upon discovering their Enemy Within, and have experienced a Death of Personality due to memory loss. Both have a close friend/Love Interest who makes a promise to protect them but ends up dying because of their Enemy Within in some shape. When comparing their personalities, Hajime is cynical but very caring towards most of his classmates, while Ryoko is cheery but mostly only cares about Yasuke. Hajime chooses to not kill anyone and stick to his morals, while Ryoko slowly cracks under the pressure and murders someone. In terms of their situations with their "true" selves, Hajime is the original who was artificially replaced by the multi-talented Izuru, while Ryoko is the artificial replacement for the original, malevolent Junko. Finally, Ryoko is completely erased and suppressed by Junko, while Hajime and Izuru make peace and have a Split-Personality Merge. Fittingly, their "true" selves foil each other as well.
• Deadpan Snarker: In addition to being a lot more casual compared to our previous protagonist Makoto, Hajime seems to enjoy snarking at his classmates in his thoughts among other things.
• Death of Personality: He willingly underwent this before the 2, being so desperate to have a talent and become special that he had his original personality completely suppressed in order to become Izuru Kamukura. The trope is played with a bit since Hajime technically still exists in this game, but the Hinata we've come to know is only what was pieced together from his original personality.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Nagito certainly does. Some of the guys (namely Nekomaru and Teruteru, although the latter simply just goes for anyone) also have suspect endings in Island Mode.
• Exotic Eye Designs: He has a prohibition symbol design in his eyes◊. They turn into something resembling a targeting reticle at the climax of the final trial, symbolizing his decision to form his own future.
• Expressive Hair: His Idiot Hair noticeably wiggles whenever he makes an interjection during the trials, and straightens out completely when he's surprised by Mikan in Chapter 3.
• Fatal Flaw: His hero-worship of Hope's Peak and low sense of self-worth. He viewed himself as worthless without a talent, leading into him taking part in the Kamukura Project. Which destroyed his original personality, so it was an actual fatal flaw.
• The Heart: Becomes this at the end of the sixth trial to help snap his friends out of their Heroic BSoD, and convince them to activate the forced shutdown. Indirectly, he shows shades of becoming this to the entire cast if one were to take in his interactions with them such as Free Time events or Dangan Island. In Side:Hope, he has replaced Chiaki as the group's leader, spokesperson and diplomat.
• Hero-Worshipper: Towards Hope's Peak Academy and they took advantage of it, starting the events of everything in the series.
• Idiot Hair: Like all playable characters, he sports an ahoge. His hair is even pointier than Makoto's
• I Just Want to Be Special: Poor guy is incredibly insecure about his lack of a talent. This is Deconstructed as he wanted to feel special and be a part of Hope's Peak Academy no matter what, even if it meant that he'd only be a Reserve Course student... He also underwent an operation to receive an actual talent, but sadly he wasn't aware that he would be erased in the process..
• Implied Love Interest: To Chiaki. It's pretty obvious from his side that he likes her, but it's more difficult to tell from Chiaki's side because of her very subdued personality (at least in the second game). Still, she's at her happiest when she's with him and her final Free Time event is basically taking him on a date. In the anime, she's relatively more open about things like grabbing his hand and blushing around him, making it clearer the feelings are reciprocal.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's infamously snarky towards his classmates and won't hesitate to speak his mind, even if his statements come across as rude. However, he's a genuinely good guy who's protective of his softer classmates (ie Chiaki's and Mikan's Free Time Events) and tries to understand his weirder ones (ie Gundham's and Nagito's Free Time Events). He's even forgiving to the culprits.
• Lobotomy: To transform an Ordinary High-School Student like him into the "Ultimate Hope" Izuru Kamukura, researchers at Hope's Peak Academy had to surgically interfere with his brain matter, at the cast of his former self's personality and memories. The only reason his original personality can continue existing is that the Neo World Program was able to reconstruct what little remained of it.
• Luminescent Blush: A couple of times, whenever he is either with Chiaki or their female friends. Particularly when he wakes up to find Mikan climbed in bed with him.
• Meaningful Name:
  • A very subtle one. Hajime means 'Beginning' or 'First' but the characters used to write it means 'To cut'. Hence, Izuru began with a cut to the head and Hajime is the first protagonist in a Danganronpa game to employ the "Cut arguments to pieces" mini-game in the trials, the beginning of a new gameplay mechanic.
  • Another subtle one that doubles as Foreshadowing: according to Kodaka, another way to read his full name is "Kamukura".
  • His birthday is also January 1st, the first day of the year.
• Nice Guy: Zig-Zagged; while Hajime is notably snarky and stern, he's ultimately a good-natured person who cares about his friends, and is actually rather easy to get along with as he even befriends the likes of Hiyoko and Fuyuhiko during free time.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: To say his decision to become Izuru had consequences would be a massive Understatement. All things considered, Hajime is inadvertently responsible for causing the apocalypse.
• Non-Action Protagonist: Subverted. Hajime is an Ordinary High-School Student, but Izuru, being the Master of All he is, is very combat proficient.
• Only Friend:
  • Even after it's revealed how utterly delusional Nagito is, Hajime still shows the faintest bit of friendliness towards him, earning Nagito's respect and gratitude.
  • He was the closest thing to a friend that Natsumi had during her time in the reserve course.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Played straight as Izuru, but subverted in his "Awakened" form, where he has come to terms with building a new future for himself.
• Secretly Wealthy: Inverted. Danganronpa 2 heavily implied this to be the case with its comments of how the tuition for reserve course students to attend Hope's Peak Academy is incredibly high, but his character profile in 3 states that he is attending for free on a special scholarship in exchange for participation in a certain project. Episode 2 confirms that his parents can't afford the extortionate fees, and his place in Hope's Peak relies wholly on his participation in the Ultimate Hope Project.
• Ship Tease: A ton of it with Chiaki.
  • Some with almost everyone in Free Time events/Dangan Island mode but canonically, gets by far the most with Chiaki. She plays a very critical role in restoring his hope and supports him extensively in every trial (even after her execution), and the thought of forgetting her plays heavily into nearly crippling his will to trigger the forced shutdown of the Neo World Program in Chapter 6. He also gets very flustered when seeing her in a swimsuit in Chapter 2 while barely reacting at all to the sight of Akane, Peko, or Sonia. Even Nagito and Kazuichi notice and comment on the affinity the two share at varying points.
  • Part of the reason Hajime decided to become Izuru was to be better for her, and she spent an entire year waiting for him; on Izuru's part, she recognized him as Hajime immediately and wanted to help him above all else, even while dying, while Izuru took an interest in her and spent years mourning her death.
• Sole Survivor: Of the Hope's Peak Academy's Reserve Course students: everyone but him (as well as Natsumi and Sato, who had both been murdered beforehand) committed group suicide.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Chiaki. Even putting aside him becoming Izuru and Chiaki dying, his relationship with Chiaki is basically doomed from the start thanks his personality complex, to the point he turns his own feelings into a justification to become Izuru.
• Take a Third Option: The living embodiment of this. Junko is absolute Despair, Makoto is invincible Hope, and Hajime is (optimistic) Uncertainty. His philosophy is that there will be good and bad days, but you've got to keep moving.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Well, not that dark, but certainly snarky enough to qualify. Izuru brings him closer to the "Dark" requirement.
• Took a Level in Badass: Deconstructed after he becomes Izuru Kamukura. He goes from a student with no exceptional abilities to someone who's the best at literally everything... at the cost of giving up everything that determines his identity.
• Tragic Mistake: His decision to become Izuru Kamukura led to him playing a very significant role in causing the end of the world, and since it involved the loss of his identity, he's unable to go back on his decision after agreeing to the procedure.
• True Companions: In Ultimate Talent Development Plan and Ultimate Summer Camp, he becomes this with Class 77-B, with him frequently hanging out with it's members or going to their parties and Monomi even remarks that he's basically a full-fledged member of the class. Development Plan explains it that Chiaki introduced him to the class and that's why he's usually around them.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His decision to become Izuru is what allowed Junko to cause the Worst Most Despair-inducing Incident in the History of Mankind. In short, Hajime's actions caused the plot of the entire franchise.
• Villain Protagonist: His true identity as Izuru Kamukura means Hajime can be considered responsible for everything horrible that happens in the series. Hajime as the player knows him, however, is very much a hero.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

The Player Character. A young man who has always admired Hope's Peak Academy and finally achieved his dream of attending the school. Unfortunately, he has forgotten his past and the Ultimate talent that he was selected for. Hajime is a decent guy, but his personality is rough around the edges and very skeptical.

The truth is that he has no Ultimate talent, but his obsession with Hope's Peak led him to become the subject of the "Ultimate Hope Project", in which his identity would be completely erased and rebuilt as "Izuru Kamukura", the multi-talented "Ultimate Hope". Unfortunately, Izuru fell under the thrall of Junko Enoshima and triggered "The Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Event In Human History" by his participation in the first "School Life of Mutual Killing", causing the death of the student council. During the final trial, he is faced with the dilemma of remaining as "Hajime Hinata" and letting AI Junko win, or reverting back to "Izuru Kamukura". He ultimately chooses the latter, accepting responsibility for his bloodied past and resolving to create a new future for himself and his classmates, but as a result, is indicated to retain his old self.

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• Amateur Sleuth: As our protagonist, he is certainly one of these, with some help from his fellow classmates.
• Amnesiac Hero: Can't remember his Ultimate talent. Which is justified because it turns out he doesn't have one. As Hajime Hinata anyways. According to the final trial, the reason behind his lack of memories is because they were destroyed when he became Izuru.
• Battle Aura: After overcoming Izuru's despair, like when Kiyotaka became Kiyondo in the previous game.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: On both sides of this. For Hajime, it’s the reason why he’s hesitant to believe Nagito could betray him. As for Mikan and Nagito, it’s because of his persistent kindness and trying to understand them that they grow strong feelings for him.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Says this to Makoto during trial six after falling into despair.
• Break Them by Talking: AI Junko does this to him by dropping bombshell after bombshell about who he is and the results of his actions. Not to mention his very existence was at risk of being erased forever and reverting back to Izuru. Luckily he snaps out of it, and even hands it back to her by telling her that they're nothing like her because of the faith and strength to at least try moving on with their lives.
• The Caretaker: Played for Laughs in Chiaki's spin-off manga, Hajime gets assigned to briefly take care of Nagito when he gets the despair fever. He has to carry Nagito twice and even cook him a meal. He can even be seen wearing an apron and kitchen gloves bringing a very happy Nagito his meal.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • "No, that's wrong!" when he points out a contradiction in court, just like Makoto in the original game.
  • To a lesser extent, "I agree with that!" when he agrees with someone else's statement in court.
  • There's also "Allow me to cut through those words!" when he wins a Rebuttal Showdown.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Compared to Makoto, Hajime is noticeably more cynical and outspoken. While Makoto was non-confrontational, polite (some might say overly so), and docile, Hajime is not afraid to say what's on his mind, to the point where he sometimes forgets to watch his mouth and is willing to take sides in an argument. Despite not remembering his talent, he treats the other students more like his equals, while at the same time trusting them far less. When Monokuma reveals his game, Hajime almost immediately accepts the idea that anyone around him might be willing to kill to escape. It actually gets much stronger than, namely that while Makoto had a complex over his talent not being as special, he still didn't let it get to his head and ultimately gained a new talent in the end. Hajime turns out to be so insecure about his lack of talent he willingly erased his whole identity just so he could be special. Furthermore, in their respective killing games, Makoto tries to stay calm(ish) and rationalize that everyone else must be scared as well, while Hinata freaks out and won't believe that anyone else is feeling the same way.
• Covert Pervert: Played for Laughs. In order to see certain Fanservicey Easter Eggs, you need certain items in your inventory. Leading up to these scenes, Hajime can start acting very strangely. In the most blatant instance where he chooses to spy on Mahiru and Hiyoko bathing together, he comments afterwards about how he doesn't know what got into him. In the second most blatant example, he delivers a Rousing Speech to convince Kazuichi to spy on Nekomaru and Akane whom they suspect are doing "IT" ("It" turns out that Nekomaru was just giving Akane a massage).
• Dead All Along: Zig-Zagged. While Hajime technically still exists, it turns out the Hajime we've been playing as was simply what could be pieced together from his original personality prior to surgery.
• Declaration of Protection: He makes one toward Mikan and Mahiru in their Island Mode endings and Hiyoko once he reaches max affinity with her in Free Time.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Doesn’t take Nagito’s betrayal well at all. He doesn't take Mikan's Face–Heel Turn well either; if anything, he begs her to just come clean about it during the trial so that he could still believe in her.
• Evil Costume Switch: Averted. As Izuru, he wears a completely black suit and tie, with only a white dress shirt, but DR3 reveals it's just the usual Reserve Course uniform.
• Evil Make Over: At some point the process that turned him into Izuru made his normally green eyes turn red and his hair darkens to black, which counted as this when he then fell into Despair.
• Fighting from the Inside: After Junko induces a coma-like state in him, he has to overcome his and Izuru's combined despair in order for him to return to the trial and defeat Junko.
• Foreshadowing:
  • The motif in the background for his second intro is the radar-sight of Izuru's Exotic Eye Designs.
  • Hajime periodically notes that he feels isolated from the group. In the prologue, he's still uneasy and trying to figure out what the hell is going on while everyone else has accepted it and most have run off to go swimming; he outright mentions a "feeling of alienation". When he tries to push the issue, everyone else tells him to shut up (with varying degrees of politeness). The truth is that he feels isolated because he really doesn't belong in their ranks — he's not an Ultimate. Their scornful treatment of Hajime may also echo the arrogant elitist attitude of Hope's Peak (and its students) towards regular people and their concerns, which is revealed with the story of the Reserve Course.
  • This could only be caught if you have good knowledge of kanji and katakana, but according to Kodaka, another way to read his full name is "Kamukura".
• Freak Out: Doesn't take learning his true identity well.
• Heroic BSoD: Upon finding out that he not only caused his classmates' deaths as well as being the reason that The Worst Most Despair-inducing Incident in the History of Mankind started as Izuru Kamukura, the man who was meant to represent the fruits of Hope's Peak Academy's research into talents and "hope", but also that if he pulls the plug on the program as Makoto intends, he will come back as "Izuru Kamukura" instead of "Hajime Hinata".
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: He was unsatisfied with who he was and agreed to the operation that would turn him into Izuru, another reason why he and Nagito are similar.
• He's Back!: During the final trial, thanks to some encouragement from Chiaki, he emerges from his Angst Coma in his awakened form with a proud declaration of "NO, THAT'S WRONG!"
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Fuyuhiko. They can even become Sworn Brothers during his final Free Time event when they perform the sakazuki ritual together.
• I Am Who?: When Junko drops the bombshell on who he currently is in the real world: Izuru Kamukura, HPA's attempt to combine every talent they researched to artificially create a false Ultimate Hope, and the cause of the Most Despair Inducing Event in History.
• I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: What is basically the result if he gets Peko's ending in Island Mode. He quite clearly has feelings for her, and can even say he loves her as an incorrect choice in her final Free Time, but she only has eyes for what is strongly implied to be Fuyuhiko. So he helps her work out her issues and give her confidence to ask out her "chilhood friend".
• I Will Wait for You: He and the other survivors made a vow to wait until all of their comatose friends awaken.
• Kid with the Leash: Besides trying to understand Nagito after the events of trial one, Hajime has his moments where he'll try to restrain Nagito whether it'd be from Hope speeches, or after Nagito begins to antagonize them. Sometimes it works, but after Chapter Four, he's completely lost his grip on the leash. Bless his heart for trying, but not even being possibly Nagito's Morality Pet will change or even stop Nagito anymore. On a lighter note, in Chiaki's spin-off manga, this is Played for Laughs when Nagito catches the despair fever. Hajime is literally chasing Nagito down to get him to stop causing chaos.
• Laughing Mad: Has a small one when taking in all of the bombshells Junko has dropped on him.
• Morality Pet: A complicated version of this with, but Hajime could be considered Nagito's. On the one hand, it doesn't stop Nagito from treating him terribly upon learning the truth about him being a Reserve Course student and part of the Ultimate Despairs. On the other, he still admits that he has a soft spot for Hajime, and in his final video message states that he should hold back on being too harsh on him.
• Mysterious Past: Interestingly, he's shown to have suffered from some sort of extreme apathy and depression even before he entered Hope's Peak Academy as a reserve student (i.e. before his transformation into Izuru Kamukura). However, all that can be gleaned about Hinata's background is that he believed that he needed to enter the Academy to gain some sort of self-confidence.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His decision to take Monokuma's bait ends up getting the group trapped inside the funhouse, thus leading to Gundham killing Nekomaru. It also allowed Nagito to learn the Awful Truth, which led to his murder-suicide-murder plan and Chiaki sacrificing herself to save the group.
  • In the second chapter he notices that Fuyuhiko has played Twilight Syndrome and is acting more unstable than usual. Hajime considers telling the class about it but doesn't bring it up, Fuyuhiko then proceeds to get Mahiru and Peko killed in a situation that could have been prevented had the class known he played the game.
• "No More Holding Back" Speech: At the end of the final trial of the game, Hajime is finally convinced by Chiaki that Talent nor Hope/Despair shouldn't decide the fate of Hajime and his friends and that instead, he should be able to make his own path after everything he and the other students have gone through, and the importance of believing in himself and not letting others choose for him. Following this, he wakes up and lays the smackdown on AI Junko, completely derailing her usual "You'll never be able to overcome Despair" tangent, stating that they won't play her game anymore, and will make a future where they won't lose their memories despite everything she's worked for, which they do.
• Only Sane Man: Is very aware that practically everyone around him are special in ways beyond just their talents.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When he's forced to accuse Chiaki of being Nagito's "murderer" and the traitor in order to save everyone else, you can hear his voice shaking when he makes his typical lines for fingering the suspect, and he makes many distressed facial expressions.
• Ordinary High-School Student: What he ultimately is. However, he agreed to a surgical operation that he believed would give him one talent, and unwillingly ended up with all of them.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Lampshaded and Played for Laughs in the extra scene you get with the "Man's Nut," during which he is overwhelmed by an urge to see Hiyoko and Mahiru bathing.
  Hajime: ...Wait, huh? Was my...characterization always this way?
• The Paragon: In many of his Free Time events with others, he teaches his classmates to have more faith in themselves, or to realize what is important to them.
• Player Character: He's the one directly controlled by the player as he investigates Jabberwock Island and solves each murder.
• Precision F-Strike: He lets one off in an internal monologue after learning that he never had a talent.
  Hajime: My whole life...I've just wanted to feel confident about myself...And I thought getting into Hope's Peak Academy meant I had finally become someone I could be proud of. Not...some fucking backup student...!
• Properly Paranoid: Of all the students, Hajime is the only one to suspect that something's off about Usami's class trip. Sure enough, his suspicions are confirmed when Monokuma returns...but this turns out to be subverted in that Usami has nothing to do with Monokuma. His return was made possible by Hajime himself, and if the class trip had gone as Usami had planned, everyone would have left together as she said they would as seen in the alternate universe Dangan Island. Though in his defense, he technically didn't have much control over what Izuru Kamukura did.
• Rags to Royalty: Cinderella style and a gender inverted one than is usually done, as he can potentially become engaged to Sonia in Free Time/Island Mode.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Chiaki and Nagito's blue, and the blue to Kazuichi's red.
• Ridiculously Average Guy: Part of Hajime's difficulty with figuring out his talent is how normal he appears to be. Mostly because he doesn't have a talent.
• Rousing Speech: Hajime manages to talk his despairing friends into joining him in choosing to pursue the future.
• Sixth Ranger Traitor: In a twist, Hajime himself turns out to be this, as he is the last person to arrive in the classroom within the Neo World Program where the rest of Class 77-B is, but it is revealed in the final trial that his Izuru Kamukura identity is responsible for Alter Ego Junko's presence in the program and the start of the Killing School Trip that ends up happening in the prologue.
• Straight Man: Somewhat. He's usually the one musing about others' bizarre personality quirks.
• Super Mode: Gains one during the last class trial. After gaining the strength to continue, his hair turns white as he gains the power to shoot down any argument.
• 10-Minute Retirement: During trial six, Hajime decides to call it quits. He refuses to side with either hope or despair and gets into a Heroic Safe Mode induced Angst Coma. It isn't until Chiaki steps in and he deals with Izuru through a Battle in the Center of the Mind that he finally snaps out of it and forces himself to wake back up.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Besides being part of Ultimate Despair group, they take it a step farther by revealing that he has been the main subject of a series of experiments where his personality was repressed completely in order to produce the "Ultimate Hope": Izuru Kamukura. Izuru Kamukura promptly fell to despair when Junko forced him to participate in the very first mutual killing, leading to him killing most of the student council of Hope's Peak Academy as detailed in Danganronpa Zero.^note Although Danganronpa 3 confirms that Junko is lying with that statement — he only killed one member in self-defense, and he is indifferent through the whole thing This was covered up, then leaked by Junko, starting The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. Izuru Kamukura was also the one who inserted AI Junko into the Neo World Program, which allowed Monokuma/Junko to repeat the mutual killings that happened in Hope's Peak Academy.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He's never happy to call on Nagito's help during a trial, but does so out of necessity.
• Tsundere: A Downplayed example for Nagito - he clearly liked him, even paralleling Naegi's comments about Maizono in the first free time event, but was shaken by his betrayal in the first trial. This leads to situations like him being concerned about Nagito being ill, but also thinking "why should I care?" He justifies it to himself by saying that he doesn't want someone dangerous like Nagito out of his sight.
• Unrequited Love: What happens with Peko's final Free Time and her Island Mode ending. He loves her, but she only has eyes for what is strongly implied to be Fuyuhiko. However, he helps her out with being more calm around her "childhood friend" and tells her to that he'll help her out with any life or love advice.
• Yakuza: What he becomes, for all intents and purposes, if he gets Fuyuhiko's ending in Island Mode. He's Sworn Brothers with Fuyuhiko and Fuyuhiko resolves to face his fears of becoming the Kuzuryu clan's leader, with Fuyuhiko telling Hajime "Live or die, you and I are together!"

Dangangronpa 3

Ultimate Hope (Izuru)

Voiced by: Minami Takayama (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)

A student of the school reserve course. Having admired Hope's Peak Academy all his life, he wishes to gain his own talent.

---

• Big Good: Shares this role with Makoto in Side:Hope.
• The Bus Came Back: After getting a brief cameo in Side:Future Episode 6, he finally makes his return to the current storyline in the post-credits scene of Episode 12.
• Came Back Strong: After getting out of the Neo World Program, he retains both his personality as Hajime and his talents as Izuru.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: In Side: Hope, he defeats many brainwashed soldiers, including five "Former Ultimates" offscreen before confronting Mitarai.
• Despair Event Horizon: Crosses this when Natsumi and Sato are murdered and Sakakura thrashes him while mocking his lack of talent.
• Doomed by Canon: His fate is set in stone.
• Duality Motif: Retains a red eye after Hajime and Izuru merge.
• Eye Awaken: At the end of episode 5 of Side:Despair, when Hajime transforms into Izuru.
• First Friend: To Chiaki Nanami and vice-versa. Before meeting her, Hajime never had anyone to count on because everyone always looked down on him for his lack of talent. This makes it all the more horrifically ironic when he finally does get a talent, he loses all memories of her.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Zig-zagged: Hajime has a talent (funnily enough) for reading people correctly and getting to the root of their issues...that is, when he feels he's on an equal footing with him and his massive inferiority complex doesn't have a chance to kick in. He is far too trusting of Hope's Peak Academy, despite the massive red flags all around him. Episode 5 confirms that Hajime really didn't know what he was getting into when he signed up for the Ultimate Hope Project — Hajime thought they were giving him a talent, not mind-wiping him. He would also have been better off if he hadn't taken Juzo's words to heart: if he'd dismissed Juzo as a violent Jerkass, he may have escaped his fate, but his hero-worship of "truly talented" meant that the words did more damage than the beating.
• Insecure Love Interest: It's heavily implied Hajime felt unworthy of Chiaki because of his lack of talent.
• Irony:
  • When he and the rest of the class finally return to stop Mitarai in Hope Arc, and he returns with his old personality mostly intact (the Izuru persona mixed in somewhat); he notes how the original Chiaki was truly right all along in that talent isn't everything. It's being true to yourself that's really important, and he only finally realized that. He even laments on how he even did horrible things to people even with all that talent, in letting Junko getting away with her entire plot and assisting her in a few rare instances. Yet despite finally learning all of that and finally ridding himself of his respect for Hope's Peak Academy and Talent, it's only after this fact that now he finally has the Talent that he'd always wanted his whole life. Still doesn't stop him from putting his Talent to good use now that he's finally his original self, and reviving the comatose students of the Class 77-B.
  • Junko told him that his life was going to be boring because he was the Ultimate Hope, and that only despair could save him. Yet acting like the Ultimate Hope brought him companionship, fun, and joy, while Junko is now dead, alone, and set up for an eternity of boredom.
• Jack of All Trades: He's at least competent in a number of areas even before being experimented on, being a highly able student, a good listener and adviser, a gamer competent enough to become friends with Chiaki, and a decent detective. Post-surgery, he becomes a master of all trades.
• The Leader: In Side:Hope. His "Hajime" side provides the empathy, while "Izuru" provides the mastermind aspects.
• Lonely Among People: One of the things that draws him to Chiaki is this, tying into his low feelings of self-worth and self-esteem. Due to this and the aforementioned low self-worth and self-esteem, he goes to extreme measures to try to be what he perceives to be a better friend to Chiaki via going through the program.
• Love Makes You Evil: Downplayed. It's implied that part of the reason he goes through with the Kamukura Project so that he can feel worthy of Chiaki's attention.
• Meet Cute: With Chiaki in the first episode.
• Morality Pet: To some extent, he seems to be one for Natsumi Kuzuryu, as he was the only student that Natsumi didn't treat like complete trash. Hajime is the only person that Natsumi opens up to, revealing her insecurities of having no talent to him, and she even cries in his presence, something she would likely never do if anyone else was around.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The post-credits scene of Side:Future Episode 12 shows his back as he walks away from several unconscious soldiers.
• One Degree of Separation:
  • He knew both Natsumi and Sato and in fact was there to witness an argument between them and Mahiru, but they left before he had a chance to speak with her.
  • He even walks past the entire cast at one point, but they don't actually interact.
• One-Man Army: In the final episode of Side:Future, he was able to defeat a squadron of brainwashed soldiers single-handedly with little apparent effort.
• Perpetual Frowner: Hajime's cripplingly low self-esteem and personal struggles means he doesn't smile all that often.
• Parental Abandonment: A Freeze-Frame Bonus in Episode 6 reveals his parents consented to having the Academy experiment on him.
• The Power of Love: Despite Izuru's claims that he would never regain his memories of his former life, Hajime's love for Chiaki apparently sparked some level of recollection, as Izuru cries at her death and hangs on to her hairpin.
• Put on a Bus: After agreeing to undergo the Hope Cultivation Project, he is nowhere to be seen in Episode 4. He comes back in Episode 5, but maybe not as himself.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: He's wearing Izuru's signature black tie suit, which also happens to be the school uniform for Reserve Course students.
• Sixth Ranger: While he interacts with Chiaki several times, he spends most of Despair Arc doing his own separate thing from the 77th class and only becomes one of them during their time on the virtual Jabberwock Island.
• Split-Personality Merge: What was only suggested at the end of DR2 is confirmed here. When he re-appears in Hope Arc, Izuru/Hajime displays personality traits of both selves, but in moderation; is addressed by both names and responds to both names; and to drive the nail home even has heterochromia—one green eye, one red. The new Hajime/Izuru is as driven and empathetic as the original Hajime, while also possessing the talents and seriousness of Izuru.
• Story-Breaker Power: When the merged Hajime/Izuru uses his full potential, he is able to restore his comatose friends, and easily defeat several of the Future Foundation's brainwashed tasked force on top of talking Ryota out of going through with his brainwashing plan.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Even though Natsumi has been nothing but a Jerkass to everybody, he can't help but sympathize with her since he understands her feelings of loneliness and self-doubt. He also took her death pretty hard, despite their limited time together.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Not that he wasn't thoroughly decent to begin with, but the Hajime we see at the end of the series has lost much of his cynicism and aloof tendencies, and is more obviously fond of his companions. Perhaps either as a result of their bonding experience in the Neo-World Program, or the confidence-boost of his Izuru powers, his Jade-Colored Glasses have fallen off.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: In the first episode, Chiaki tells him that having a talent isn't all that great, that in the end they are restricted to their talent while Hajime can be anything. Despite this, because of Hajime's low self-esteem being one of his fatal flaws, Chiaki doesn't seem to get through to him. He tragically undergoes the project, feeling that he needs to truly be "better" so he feels worthy of being her friend and potentially something more.

Izuru Kamukura

Ultimate Hope (Ultimate Despair)

"For me...a person who is loved by talent... Detecting regularities among irregularities won't be that difficult. ...Ah, how boring."

A gifted and multi-talented student who was awarded the title of the "Ultimate Hope" (being a superhuman who was meant to lead humanity into a golden era). He was originally Hajime Hinata, an unremarkable high school student without any special talent who was obsessed with just the thought of joining Hope's Peak Academy. He then volunteered for the school's "Hope Cultivation Program," not knowing of the consequences.

The surgery wiped his original personality and replaced it with a constructed persona. Unfortunately, as a result of the experiment, his ability to empathize with and find joy in other people was removed. In his isolation, he also grew increasingly bored with the world. Izuru became very susceptible to Junko Enoshima's manipulation, and she eventually set him up to look like he singlehandedly murdered the student council of Hope's Peak Academy, which then helped to trigger "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History."

In general

• Accomplice by Inaction: What his role as SHSL Despair amounts to. He never participates in the Remnants activities, but he never actively opposes them either. At least, not until the Neo World Program.
• Affably Evil: Not in so much that he's friendly (he isn't), but he speaks in a fairly polite, low-down manner (using "boku" and keigo in Japanese, and Spock Speak in English).
• All Your Powers Combined: To become the "Ultimate Hope," he was given multiple talents from those who already possessed them. He has every known talent of the Ultimate students from Hope's Peak, resulting in abilities like Super-Strength, Super-Reflexes‎, extreme analytic skills, and even supernatural luck. Unfortunately, like Junko, this made him view everything around him as predictable and he quickly became apathetic to how boring life was.
• Always Someone Better: Junko admits she would never be able to defeat Izuru if he actually wanted to stop her.
• Ambiguously Evil: It is very unclear on what his motives or goals were, and all the known information on him coming from Junko doesn't help. Danganronpa 3 finally clears everything up, though. The Reveal that Izuru was just a scapegoat for Junko and never actually killed anyone by intention in the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, combined with how he is never once shown committing despair-inducing actions and the strong implication that he was planning against her in Danganronpa 2, raises doubt on how legit a member of SHSL Despair Izuru truly was. Episode 11 further reveals he never took part in their activities, but went off by himself to start forming his own plot against Junko, so in the end Izuru was more Heroic Neutral than ever really evil.
• Ambiguously Human: Can be debated of how much of his humanity remained after all those operations. If Danganronpa Zero and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair weren't enough proof, then his Super-Strength might help further question this point.
• Antagonist in Mourning: One of the few scraps of Hajime's personality that persisted was his love for Chiaki. In a flashback in episode 3 of Side:Future, Makoto finds Izuru staring at a vase of flowers on a desk in a ruined classroom. Later in episode 11, it's revealed that it was Chiaki's.
• Anti-Villain: He only starts the killing trip for a mix of getting answers and getting back at Junko, not out of any sense of malice. Combined with his Dark and Troubled Past and the fact this is the only crime we know for sure he did, he's quite probably the least evil and most sympathetic of the franchise's masterminds.
• Apocalypse Maiden: His part in the murders of the student council was broadcast to the reserve course students, causing them all to commit suicide, which kickstarted "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History".
• Badass in a Nice Suit: By far one of the biggest baddasses, and one of the biggest deconstructions of the trope, Izuru is only seen in Hope's Peak Academy's suit-like blazer style uniform. He's able to curbstomp Junko and Mukuro without ever standing up, throw a student attempting to attack him into a wall with one punch, and out-luck Nagito's luck. The post-credits scene of Side:Future Episode 12 establishes he can beat down an armed group of soldiers completely by himself without taking a scratch. And (save for that last) he does this all in a slick black suit. He also finishes off both Kurokuma and Shirokuma at the end of Another Episode with his bare hands. Unfortunately, since he is programmed to not care about anything but talent, he usually won't bat an eye even as the world burns.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: As part of his very bored outlook about everything he doesn't speak that often unless spoken to, and he was also the first and so far only person to "Graduate" from a Mutual Killing game as Junko intended.
• Blessed with Suck: He's incredibly talented but he's bored out of his mind. So much so he sided with Junko because despair could possibly interest him.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: He's so wildly overpowered that he basically transcends human morality (or just outright ignores it). It's not until Chiaki's death that he starts regaining his humanity and any sense of right and wrong.
• Born Lucky: Just one of his many talents. In fact, it seems to be even superior to Nagito's luck, as it manages to trigger a misfire in his gun.
• Broken Ace: As a deconstruction of The Ace, he has always been this since the process that made him robbed him of any human qualities. Due to his unlimited talent, Izuru finds everything around him boring and predictable. As a result, he has no real motivation to do anything unless it could cure him of his boredom. For example, it's been established that he could easily take down the Despair Sisters, but decides not because he wants to see if the despair that they create could satisfy his need for excitement. Junko's breaking speech is less of a problem than he was always that type of person who finds no desire or satisfaction to do anything because he was just that perfect.
• Brought Down to Normal: When his memories were suppressed as part of the Neo World Program, he reverted to his original identity. It's not until he and Hajime merge that his capabilities return.
• Character Catchphrase: "How boring."
• The Chessmaster: Episode 11 of 3 reveals that his ultimate plan was the entirety of Danganronpa 2. He wanted to find out which was more unpredictable between hope and despair, stating that if Chiaki's hope won over Junko's despair in the end it would prove hope is stronger. So he started plotting a way to measure it by gathering the 77th Class and the AI Junko gave him, manipulated Future Foundation into capturing them, infected the Neo World Program with the AI, and then put himself and the 77th class inside.
• Creepy Monotone: To emphasize how much apathy he has toward everything, he has little to no inflection while speaking.
• Dark and Troubled Past: For starters, he was once Hajime. Hajime volunteered for the Izuru Kamukura project, which gave him every single talent in existent—but also, without his consent or knowledge, erased his humanity in the process. As a result, after his creation, Izuru was amnesiac, bored, and completely alone. And then Junko Enoshima kills Chiaki, the only person he actually cared about as Hajime.
• Dark Is Evil: His color scheme and mindset both go with this. Ironic since, if Hope's Peak Academy always wanted Izuru to look like this, as the Ultimate Hope he should have been a case of Dark Is Not Evil. Though the trope is subverted overtime when it's shown to be a Heroic Neutral all along.
• Depending on the Artist: Like all protagonists, Izuru has an ahoge...sometimes. In Side:Despair he doesn't, but some official artworks show him with one, as did his character sprite in the second game and his split-second cameo in the first episode of Side:Future.
  • His hair color also goes back and forth between black and the same shade of brown as Hajime's. Typically the games use brown while the anime uses black, but side materials, promotional artwork, and official merchandise are less consistent.
• The Dreaded: He's one of the most infamous figures in the Danganronpa universe, having been a transhuman experiment to create the "Ultimate Hope" and then being framed as the inciting figure in the "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History". Mitarai is visibly terrified upon seeing him in Side:Hope.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: His skin color appears to be a bit more paler than Hajime's usual tan skin to complement his darker hair color and red eyes, to make him look even more unnatural.
• Enemy Within: To Hajime. In the climax of 2, Hajime is deathly afraid of letting Izuru regain control, not just because his own personality would be wiped, but so that Izuru can't unleash more despair on the world. They manage to make accords, though.
• Evil Sounds Deep: His voice is slightly deeper (along with having a Creepy Monotone) than Hajime's.
• Exotic Eye Designs: He has a target-radar-like design in his eyes.
• Fallen Hero: He was meant to lead on humanity to a brighter future, but because of the way he's programmed, he had absolutely no interest to do anything, and of course had no problems standing by and watching the world burn. With his personality, and the way how he views the world and humanity, he's as broken as you can get.
• Foil: To Junko. Both are the darker personas of previous protagonists, who can only be brought out by inflicting Death of Personality on said protagonist. Both are geniuses with supernatural analytical abilities, leaving them bored with the world. Finally, both desire a way to alleviate their boredom, eventually leading them to despair. However, their attitudes on it differ greatly; while Junko takes great pleasure in the despair she brings, Izuru doesn't get any gratification out of it. Junko's very proactive, working to start the Tragedy, while Izuru's very reactive, generally just protecting himself and watching what goes on. They're visual contrasts, as Izuru has black hair, red eyes, and wears a formal suit, while Junko has blonde hair, blue eyes, and wears a low-cut shirt and short skirt. When it comes to their personal relationships, Junko is actually capable of caring about other people, and has many emotional connections; she just chooses to harm and mistreat them because she loves the despair it brings. Izuru shows no basic human empathy and has only one emotional connection; however, he displays empathy for that single connection and still honors it years later. And finally, while Junko dismisses hope as boring and dies as villainous as ever, Izuru finds hope interesting and explores it as an alternate to despair, which eventually leads to his redemption.
• Formal Characters Use Keigo: He always speaks formally, even to people his age, which is more of an indication as to how detached he is from those around him than anything else. He also uses "boku" to refer to himself as opposed to Hajime's "ore".
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He used to be an absolutely ordinary "reserve student" before agreeing to the experiment that gave him every talent that entered Hope's Peak which helped drive him into despair... for a while.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: His eyes have a bit of a glowing tint to them, and in the flashback of Chapter 0 (when we're seeing it from Hajime's point of view) his eyes are glowing red.
• Gone Horribly Right: Hope's Peak wanted a completely talented genius who could lead the world into a golden age, so they removed anything that might get in the way of that, including his ability to actually care about the world. When it came time for him to do his part in protecting humanity, he couldn't bring himself to find a reason to do so. Thanks for absolutely nothing, Hope's Peak!
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: This was the cause of his fall to despair, for he was so talented and intelligent that the world became boring to him. It's both justified and invoked in that, not only was he kept away from the rest of the world, but the Ultimate Hope Project completely wiped out any sort of personality to make way for genius, making it nigh impossible for him to connect with other people.
• Jekyll & Hyde: The Hyde to Hajime's Jekyll.
• Killing in Self-Defense: He only caused the death of one student council member after he tried to kill him in a fit of murderous desperation with a chainsaw.
• Lack of Empathy: Izuru can feel emotions (as seen by his surprise when he's almost shot, his tears when Chiaki dies, and his later anger towards Junko), but while he doesn't particularly want to see others suffer, he doesn't exactly care if they do, either. This was subverted only when it came to Chiaki. His interactions with Nagito in 2 further reinforce his cold view of the world and lack of concern with people's thoughts or feelings.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: He has his memories of Class 77-B removed so that his next encounter with them will be interesting. This almost results in Hajime dying multiple times and then being completely erased after a Heroic BSoD.
• Living MacGuffin: He was literally created to be the world's hope. As such he became a target for Junko and a living symbol for Hope's Peak, and was being used as a tool by both sides. Or at least they tried to.
• Lonely at the Top: Due to how Izuru was made, he might be the most talented man alive, but he is incredibly bored and completely alone in the world.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: His hair reaches to his feet, making it the longest of the entire cast of both games. However, his prettiness makes him more eerie than anything.
• Loss of Identity: V3's Ultimate Talent Development Plan shows that Izuru has no sense of personal identity. When the Kamukura Project is shut down in that alternate timeline and he’s freed, he just laments that he has no purpose if he’s not being used by Hope’s Peak. He also drifts around the school grounds aimlessly and says he’s called Izuru Kamukura instead of saying that’s who he is.
• Master of All: He was instilled with the talents of every Ultimate student at Hope's Peak, making him the best in the world at everything. However, this also lead him into a sense of ennui since being the best at anything meant that there was no challenge in anything anymore. This in turn made him completely apathetic to nearly anything and everything, so when Junko starts burning the world alive, he just watches because he can't be assed to overtly help.
• No Social Skills: Ironically enough for a man with every talent, though it’s more likely Izuru just doesn’t care enough to brush up on his social skills. His conversation with Nagito in Chapter 0 is full of odd pauses and blunt rudeness on Izuru's end, while in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan, he has no problems abruptly walking away from a conversation if it’s boring him.
• Not So Above It All: In Ultimate Talent Development Plan and Ultimate Summer Camp, he can show he's sometimes not entirely the anti-social stoic he usually portrays. In both, he games regularly with Chiaki and also has an Odd Friendship with Kaede. In the Summer Festival of USC, he's in the stage play of Momotarō and plays one of the demons under the Demon King, and you can either have him be disinterested and die easily, or put on a flashy performance with Maki, or chide Nagito for standing around and doing nothing.
• Odd Friendship: With Kaede in Ultimate Talent Development Plan. He actually takes interest in her music and listens to her opinion, which is rare for him. She is notably the first person besides Chiaki he considers a friend. This continues in Ultimate Summer Camp, with her having more interactions with him than any other character (aside from Usami in her path). In his "My Future" event, she goes to him for his opinion with Ibuki on their performance they did together. After giving his technical thoughts, Kaede asks what his personal opinion was. He hesitates and then reveals he composed a song because of their performance. Naturally, Kaede and Ibuki are floored by this revelation. When he says that her and Ibuki performing was chaotic and unpredictable enough that it inspired him, they're naturally over the moon and very enthusiatic about wanting to hear him play the song he composed.
• One-Man Army: Supposedly took on the entire student council and won. It's later divulged that it's far from the truth, especially in regards to the only person he actually killed.
• Perpetual Frowner: Even when he does express any emotion, his facial expression will always be frowning. The number of times his expression changes from that can be counted on one hand.
• Person of Mass Destruction: He is not only the first mutual killing graduate, but as the Ultimate Hope prior to becoming the Ultimate Despair he has the most destructive potential of Junko's entire group.
• Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Toned down example, judging how quickly it had to grow to end up like this.
• Personality Remnant: He retains almost none of his original memories or personality from Hajime, becoming an incredibly powerful but apathetic being who struggles to find attachment to anyone or anything. The exception though is for his Love Interest Chiaki, the one bit of Hajime's personality that carried over into his.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He finds most things very boring and sees no point in being sadistic, or going out of his way to get any thrill from most of the crimes he commits. Such as his desire to get revenge for Junko using him: the survivors of the game weren't exactly his target, but he didn't go out of his way to keep them out of harm's way either, or even help them at all (at least until possibly towards the very end of trial six, and that's a bit of a stretch).
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His general color scheme, not unlike Celeste's from the previous game, though the "evil" part is very ambiguous.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: They have target signs in them, and even seem to glow. The series emphasizes how dangerous he is, as at the beginning of Another Episode, we first only see his silhouette, then we see one of his eyes glow with blood splatters in the background.
• Serial Killer: He allegedly murdered all of the student council, as he was used by Junko to kickstart her plan. It's later made clear that he only killed one of them in self-defense.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: With Hope's Peak Academy's school uniform no less.
• The Spock: For someone as analytical and talented as Izuru, logic is the only possible way to consider things. He even treats the concept of despair with contempt.
  Izuru: Despair? From a logical perspective, there seems no emotion less essential.
• The Stoic:
  • He's capable of emotion (as his thinly veiled spite towards Junko shows), but his world view has been so dampened he barely reacts to anything, and always has a blank face. Hajime seems to retain some elements of Izuru's stoicism—when seeing the Future Foundation's massive attack fleet about to assault Jabberwock Island, he reacts by giving the deadpan comment, "This is so boring".
  • In Another Episode, he's still barely reacting to anything, even with all the destruction and death happening around him. Even his rage is mostly stoic, giving it Tranquil Fury vibe, but he sure didn't hold back on his Super-Strength when he had enough of Alter Ego Junko.
• Story-Breaker Power: Izuru is easily the most talented character in the entire series. However, due to his Bystander Syndrome, he rarely uses his full potential. When working with Junko, he mostly just observes her actions and rarely acts unless it's to defend himself. His biggest, intended, contribution to Junko's cause is when he gave Nagito a Game-Breaking Injury, if only because Nagito's own Story-Breaker Power would have resulted in him killing Junko. Even when he decided to work against Junko, he still give Junko a fighting chance to win just to see if her despair is more unpredictable than hope.
• Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: His long matted black hair, often covering one of his eyes, and pale skin tone in addition to his stoic appearance gives the appearance of a male version of this trope, especially in the scene on the boat from his perspective.
• Super-Strength: Has the ability to punch through solid metal. A light backhand to Mukuro, the Ultimate Soldier, sends her flying towards a wall.
• Superpower Lottery: Izuru's talent is talent itself. Super-Strength is one, despite no noticeable change in his muscle mass (albeit, Nekomaru did note that Hinata was surprisingly buff underneath his student uniform). He surpasses Enoshima's analytical abilities and trumps Komaeda in being Born Lucky.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Well, Super-Powered Neutral Side, but he's this to Hajime. Where Hajime has no talent, Izuru has every talent. His completely erased empathy and destroyed sense of enjoyment means that he just drifts through life and refuses to even lift a finger to do jacks. As Hajime however, he absolutely refuses to give in to Junko's manipulations, and actually does something to end her legacy once and for all.
• Tragic Villain: The reason he became The Ace was because he wanted to be recognized as someone special, someone worthy, but all it did was utterly ruin his life. All the talents he was given made the world so dull to him that he literally just can't be assed to use them, and he became Junko's Accomplice by Inaction in her plan to bring about the end of the world. He's apathetic to the point that he can't be bothered to save the world he was supposed to give hope to, and has become completely bitter to the school he once adored for how they used him. To make things worse, the one person who he actually cared about and could have helped him was brutally murdered by Junko. He lost everything, including his humanity, for what now he sees as absolutely nothing. A kid who was supposed to have such great success in his life instead has barely any trace of humanity left within him. His life hasn't been a very pleasant one, though he did invoke some of it on himself, and most likely without even realizing it.
• Transhuman Treachery: He was surgically augmented to make him a superhuman genius and the Ultimate Hope for mankind, but the procedure also eradicated pretty much everything that made him human. It ultimately resulted in him joining the Ultimate Despair by affiliation.
• World's Strongest Man: Is noted to have every talent that was ever documented by Hope's Peak Academy.
• Worthy Opponent: Regards Byakuya as one, for actually beating him in a battle of ego. He even considers working for Togami after graduating.

Danganronpa Zero

"Ultimate Hope"

A mysterious student who is believed to be the culprit behind The Worst Incident in Hope's Peak Academy's History.

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• The Ace: His talent is basically talent itself. He possesses all talents and was made to be the "hope" of Hope's Peak Academy.
• Broken Ace: Regarding Kamukura's mental state, Enoshima says this to Ikusaba.
  "I don't really have anything in mind right now but... well, nothing's going to happen if we just leave him be anyway. Besides, he's not anything like Super High School Level Hope anymore; he's someone who has fallen into the depths of despair!"
• Chekhov's Gunman: Zero doesn't disclose what his real role in The Worst Incident in Hope's Peak Academy's History was, and he doesn't appear. It's Danganronpa 2 where we finally know who he is, with Danganronpa 3 revealing the whole truth about him.
• The Ghost: He is only mentioned by other characters, and his whereabouts are kept secret. This results in Ryōko and Kamishiro failing in their attempt to find him.
• Red Herring: He is believed to be the culprit behind The Worst Incident in Hope's Peak Academy's History. Kamishiro believes that isn't the case.
• The Scapegoat: What Kamishiro thinks about Kamukura—that he's not the true culprit and merely a scapegoat for Enoshima's machinations. He has no idea how right he is.
• Superpower Lottery: He has every known talent, and the reason for this is because Hope's Peak Academy spent most of the money they got from the Reserve Course on "creating" along with "nurturing" him. Along with the rumor that he murdered the academy's student council, this makes him the target of the Reserve Course's hatred and envy.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

Izuru was outed as "the mastermind" by Alter Ego Junko in the game's final chapter, as he was the one responsible for making the Killing School Trip possible.

Still deep in despair but sharp enough to see the consequences of his actions, he obtained the AI program Junko created while she was still alive and uploaded it into the Neo World Program, thus triggering the game's events. It's heavily implied that he set Junko up to fail from his comment about how he'd use her as she used him.

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• The Antichrist: Was turned into this by Junko as an attempt to further drive any hope out of the Remnants of Despair.
• Battle in the Center of the Mind: Has one with Hajime, with Chiaki helping both him and Hajime overcome despair and doubt so they can get back on their feet.
• Big Bad Ensemble: He, Nagito, and Alter Ego Junko Enoshima are the main antagonists of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. However, they are NOT working together, with Izuru plotting against both of them.
• Brutal Honesty: Has no problems telling Nagito to his face that he finds him to be a boring person.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: He's not phased when Nagito shows him that he had his hand replaced with Junko's.
• Gone Horribly Right: He uploads Alter Ego Junko into the Neo World Program successfully as part of his goal of revenge and to prove if hope or despair is less boring to him. Unfortunately, because Junko is Junko, she tries to kill every participant in a personal plot to usurp their brain-dead bodies in the real world and create an Egopolis.
• Greater-Scope Villain: He's ultimately the one who set all the events of the game in motion, but he doesn't actively participate in it due to being overwritten by his past self in the virtual world. All we see of him in the game proper is in flashbacks. However, it's Played With in that he wasn't the ultimate catalyst and mastermind; that was, is, and remains Junko. Resulting in an odd situation where the Big Bad is behind the Greater-Scope Villain who empowers the first Big Bad.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: For a while, it isn't until during Chapter 6 that we finally see his identity. Even in DR0 he was mentioned, but never actually seen by anyone.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: He states towards the end of Chapter 0 that he is going to "use" Alter Ego Junko in the same way Junko used him. What he means by this, apart from a desire for revenge against Junko, is never explained until Danganronpa 3.
• It's Personal: Besides observing the conflict between hope and despair to see which side is less boring to him, his other goal in life is to get back at Junko for manipulating and using him for her own despair-laced ends.
• The Man Behind the Woman: Izuru is ultimately responsible for the entire plot of the game, as he uploaded Alter Ego Junko into the Neo World Program.
• Mirror Character:
  • He shows a lot of similar traits with Junko Enoshima. The two want the world to be destroyed, are constantly bored with everything, infamous members of Ultimate Despair, feared as The Dreaded, serial killers, little to no empathy and have experienced Alternate Identity Amnesia as Hajime Hinata and Ryoko Otonashi respectively (who both end up developing a Jekyll & Hyde situation with their "true" selves). The critical difference between the two is that Izuru can't take pleasure in anything, not even Despair like Junko does. This is what leads to him being open to a Heel–Face Turn via his Split-Personality Merge with Hajime, while Junko remains evil to the very end twice.
  • The way he views talentless people sounds very much the way how Nagito describes his views on students like the reserve course. They were both part of Ultimate Despair, only to later develop strong hatred towards Junko Enoshima and view her as their Arch-Enemy. Additionally, during the game's fourth trial, Nagito begins to complain about how bored he is of trials and murders. As such, he wastes no time insulting everyone whenever they're being too slow. This behavior nearly matches Izuru's.
• Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: The Future Foundation sealed Izuru's personality away during the game.
• Split-Personality Merge: Strongly implied to have done this with Hajime. More supported when Junko recognizes Hajime (when he has white hair and red eyes) as Izuru. At the end of the game, it seems Hajime has control over his body once again.
• Tall Poppy Syndrome: Believes this to be the cancer plaguing the world, speaking from the perspective of one of the "talented".
• Villainous BSoD: During the Battle in the Center of the Mind he has with Hajime, he begins lamenting and ranting about everything that's happened to him. He even has a bit of Self-Deprecation for himself, such as saying he has no talent, that even he has no idea how to beat Junko Enoshima, and that he refuses to do a Heroic Sacrifice because he's aware that no one would even thank him for it. He's been broken to the point where he has truly lost hope for himself completely.
• Walking Spoiler: Literally everything about him, down to the fact that he exists, is a spoiler in regards to the game and DR Zero (where he was set up).
• What Measure Is a Non-Super?: He considers those without talents to be "ticks" who exist solely to feed on the talented and reproduce.

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

Ultimate Hope (Ultimate Despair)

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• The Cameo: Only appears in a voiceless appearance at the very end.
• Dragon Ascendant: Now that Mukuro is no longer there to help her sister, he is built up to be this. After he rips Alter Ego Junko out of Kurokuma and Shirokuma, he walks away to begin his plans that caused the events in the chronological sequel. The dialogue from Alter Ego Junko hints that Izuru knew about Alter Ego Junko's plans, and she's aware of his.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Complicated as it is, he's has been both fulfilling his role to continue carrying out her plans and creating plans of his own. It seems that he's been the only one out of Ultimate Despair to be informed of Alter Ego Junko's plans, and what else she had been planning should she fail as she tells him she "leaves the rest to him".
• The Faceless: Most of his face is blocked on each of his scenes.
• Rage Breaking Point: Even he reached a point where he was done listening to Alter Ego Junko's ramblings. He smashes through both Kurokuma and Shirokuma (who both have a thick layer of metal), and tears their motherboards out which are tethered to very thick wires. Making matters worse was she was mimicking Chiaki at one point.
• Villain of Another Story: Set the events of Danganronpa 2 into motion.
• The Voiceless: Doesn't make a single sound in the game.

Danganronpa 3

• Bystander Syndrome: Izuru's so apathetic and bored, he'll stand by and watch Junko carry out her plot solely to relieve the tediousness of his life. It's not until she kills Chiaki that he gets over this and decides to do something, leaving at the end of Episode 11 to begin his gambit against her.
• Crime of Self-Defense: Was blamed for first killing game, even though his only kill was in self defense.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • As Izuru, he effortlessly defeats Junko and Mukuro while sitting on his bed.
  • Later on he completely turns tables on the usually lucky Nagito by causing a misfire in his gun and shooting him in the chest. Nagito only survives thanks to his Student Handbook.
• Despair Event Horizon: Subverted, ironically enough. While Junko thought she drove him over this with her speech about how he would never be saved because the world would always be predictable and boring unless he gave in to despair, it actually didn't work and it only looked like he did because he was literally programmed to act like that. Chiaki's final words and actions leave such an impact that he realizes he might actually have other options.
• Dissonant Serenity: Well, dissonant indifference, anyway. Izuru is utterly unconcerned with Junko's antics and the mayhem and cruelty of the Student Council's Killing Game. He also watched Chisa's brainwashing completely unfazed.
• Good All Along: Downplayed. The Junko AI indicated in Danganronpa 2 that he was a major factor in the first killing game and the Tragedy, when in reality he was only a passive observer. He does, however, retain enough humanity to care about Chiaki.
• Good Is Boring: Played With. Junko seduces Izuru with the idea that despair allows the unknown to happen, saying that because he can predict and do anything, hope will always be predictable and boring to him. However, when he actually sees hope, he finds it just as potentially unpredictable as despair.
• Heartbroken Badass: Chiaki's execution manages to break Izuru's disinterested facade and begins pressing him down the road to his eventual Heel–Face Turn.
• Held Gaze: As Izuru, with Chiaki, at the end of Episode 8, thanks to her recognizing him. Junko even lampshades it by telling them to "stop gazing into each other's eyes like a shojo manga".
• Heroic Neutral: Izuru ultimately doesn't care about being good or evil—he passively watches what occurs around him, taking no personal interest in anything until Chiaki's death. After that, he becomes motivated enough to start moving against Enoshima on his own, but is still willing to let her commit her despair because he wants to see if hope really is strong enough to overcome it.
• I'm Crying, but I Don't Know Why: His reaction to Chiaki's death in episode 10.
• Irony: Retrospectively. In SDR2, Hajime's relationship with Nagito is centered around the fact that he can't understand the way Nagito thinks, particularly the way he puts hope and despair in competition with one another. Yet 3 tells us that this is exactly what Izuru does with his Neo World Program gambit, acting as Chiaki's proxy for hope (as Hajime) while also setting up Junko's AI as her proxy...and class 77-B, trapped in the middle, will either be cured or possessed. Setting up two proxies for "hope" and "despair" is also what Nagito does with Komaru and Monaka in Another Episode.
• It Amused Me: While it's Junko and Mukuro who orchestrate the first mutual killing game, Izuru tags along for the ride for no other reason than to stave off his boredom. It's debatable if it was actually effective, though.
• Killing in Self-Defense: It's revealed in episode 7 of Despair Arc, that during the first killing game he only killed one person who was trying to attack him with a chainsaw.
• Love Redeems: Downplayed. Izuru never becomes anything more than Heroic Neutral, but his subconscious love for Chiaki is what finally got him to start acting against Enoshima instead of just standing by and letting her do what she wanted.
• Manly Tears: When Chiaki dies in Episode 10. Even he seems surprised he's crying.
• Meet Cute: Played for Laughs; Izuru meeting Nagito seemingly mimics antics of this trope, including a sort of Love Bubbles happening from Nagito's POV. Izuru, however, just takes the gun and shoots him.
• The Mourning After: After her death, Izuru hangs onto Chiaki's hairpin for years and continually leaves flowers at her desk.
• Nerves of Steel:
  • Watches through the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy and Chisa's torture without even batting an eye.
  • Alter Ego Junko suggests that she broke Izuru so he joined him in Danganronpa 2, but it turns out she was outright lying there. The only thing that could possibly break him for real at that point is Chiaki's death, but that only got him to secretly devise his own plan against her instead.
• Not So Stoic: He actually gets surprised when a student who just lost his head had enough energy to graze a bullet at his face before finally expiring. When Chiaki dies, Izuru actually cries, and seems surprised himself to find tears pouring down his cheeks.
• The Scapegoat: In a divergence from her usual, gleeful admission to whatever atrocities she's committed, Junko pins the events of the first Killing Game on him in order to incite unrest in the Reserve Course. While Junko staged the Killing Game in order to get Izuru on her side, he wasn't a participant — the only person he killed was coming at him with a chainsaw, making it self-defense.
• Tragic Keepsake: The final scene of Side:Despair Episode 10 shows Izuru holding onto Chiaki's hairpin. He is shown to still have it, some months later, in Episode 11, and years later, in Side:Hope.

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