The characters of Danganronpa: Sea Semester.
Main Characters
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Ranmaru Kageyama
Ranmaru Kageyama
Ranmaru came from a pretty standard run-of-the-mill household, attended a normal school, and lived a relatively average life. However, something that wasn't average was his knack for getting himself accidentally roped into bad situations, situations that would often end with him getting hurt. He got injured so often, that the bandages wrapped around his body became sort of a significant character trait of his.
As more terrible things began to happen to him throughout his life, a lot of his friends began to distance themselves from him, since they were afraid they'd get the "Sheep Touch", which is not only a mockery of Ranmaru's hair, but also a strange schoolyard conspiracy that if you got near Ranmaru, he'd pass his bad karma to you. Emotionally weakened by his lack of accompaniment, Ranmaru began believing these rumors, and in turn, stayed away from people as well. This also plays into Ranmaru's secret fear of abandonment, so when someone actually wants to be his friend despite the rumors, he grows obsessed with keeping them around.
His bad luck continued all throughout high school, until he somehow, someway, managed to win a raffle to gain the title "Ultimate Luck". However, due to the facets of his seemingly supernatural luck having primarily negative effects, it was decided more research needed to be done on him, and was consecutively renamed to the "Ultimate Bad Luck". Ranmaru is so embarrassed and put off by this talent, however, that he doesn't tell other people about it at all.
- Albinos Are Freaks: According to him, his white hair is completely natural. His unique head of hair has given the degrading schoolyard rumor from his childhood; The Sheep Touch, its namesake. This is why he doesn't particularly enjoy being compared to the woolly critter.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Downplayed. It's more of a weaker variant, that being "Shaddup".
- Born Unlucky: Bad luck is pretty much his whole schtick, and it serves as a platform for a lot of his development. Many factors of his character revolve around his terrible karma, and it's usually either Played for Laughs like in the kitchen scene, or meant to be something serious to further his very depressing character development.
- Brutal Honesty: Despite coming off as a pessimist, he has a very realist-like mindset, and isn't afraid to preach that truth to others.
- Bully and Wimp Pairing: The wimp to Hikari's "bully".
- Butt-Monkey: It's not uncommon to see characters comparing Ranmaru to various white and fluffy objects, much to his displeasure.
- Catchphrase Insult: "Moron" is his word of choice.
- Chekhov's Gun: The bandages aren't just to make him look cool, they're there because he has to constantly cover up the injuries he sustains due to the bad situations he involuntarily gets himself into.
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Creator Breakdown: This particular iteration of Ranmaru is said to be some form of self-insert character for the person that plays him. His internal self-hatred monologue in Chapter 2 was also apparently a vent. - Despair Speech: Ranmaru tends to do this a lot, usually after situations in which Lady Luck decides to give him a dirty look and mess things up. He does this so often, in fact, that at one point, Hikari has to tell him to shut up about it. A very particular example of this is in Chapter 2, in which he internally berates himself for complaining about his bad luck too much, calls himself selfish for doing so, and decides he should just shut up about it.
- The Eeyore: More often than not, Ranmaru expresses a pessimistic and "down in the dumps" attitude.
- Endearingly Dorky: Specifically with Hazel, who likes to playfully tease him when he gets nervous or flustered while in conversation with her.
- Fell Asleep Crying: It's implied he did this at the end of Chapter 1 after the heart monitor scene with Brandon.
- Handwraps of Awesome: Pretty self-explanatory.
- Hates Being Called Cute: Downplayed. He never says he doesn't like it, he just gets so shocked at the comment that he reacts with Tsundere-like embarrassed hostility. In case it isn't obvious, this usually only shows in conversations with Hazel.
- His Own Worst Enemy: Ranmaru doesn't take too kindly to himself and his detrimental luck, and it places restraints on his potential to be the brave and analytical boy he know he can be.
- It's All My Fault: At the very end of Chapter 1, Ranmaru goes to visit Brandon in the clinic, who is unconscious and suffering from heart problems due to stress from the trial. Upon getting close, the heart monitor begins to speed up and put Brandon in grave danger, and only stops when he backs away. This causes Ranmaru so much distress, that he flees the clinic in tears, and reignites his feelings of self-loathing due to his unluckiness.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's definitely sarcastic as all heck, but he clearly worries about the safety of the participants, and just wants to be a helpful asset rather than a burden to them.
- Just Smile and Nod: He does this with Koichi during Chapter 2 in the brigs, where Koichi introduces Ranmaru to his invisible friend, Nene. Even though he knows it's ridiculous, Ranmaru chooses to play along as to not make Koichi upset.
- Lethal Chef: He almost burns down the kitchen while trying to make a grilled cheese sandwich in Chapter 2.
- No Sense of Humor: For someone as deadpan as Ranmaru, this doesn't come as a surprise that he is irritated by jokes. Though, he does stick with dry remarks and sarcasm to make himself laugh.
- Only Sane Man: First of all, his profile literally states that one of his dislikes is "Reckless People", quickly establishing his role as a person who reels in chaos rather than partakes in it. Upon the introduction of the killing game, he's quite appalled that a majority of the cast doesn't express any form of concern over the situation. And his more level-headed demeanor paints him as much more of a flat-colored Black Sheep compared to some of the more eccentric and colorful participants.
- Running Gag: See Butt-Monkey above.
- Sarashi: He's wrapped in bandages from neck to toe due to injuries sustained by - you guessed it - his luck.
- Self-Deprecation: See Despair Speech above.
- Shrinking Violet: Downplayed. When faced with a more commanding or bombastic force, he'll become pretty shy and submissive, which can especially be seen in his conversations with Hikari and Hazel. Other than that, he isn't really "timid", just quite awkward and one who prefers to keep to himself.
- Shutting Up Now: Chooses to do this after Hikari calls him out for complaining too much, and echoes this in a more
Tear Jerker-esque moment during Chapter 2. - Surrounded by Idiots: See Only Sane Man above.
- Survivor's Guilt: Ranmaru is a survivor of the killing game despite his terrible luck, so he would have no doubt felt this once Sea Semester concluded. That is, if it continued.
- Tears of Remorse: See Fell Asleep Crying above.
- Tsundere: He chooses to treat embarrassment with pouts and exclamations of anger and annoyance.
- Unlucky Everydude: Despite being a very average young man in every other aspect, Ranmaru's bad luck is considered almost supernatural.
