Danganronpa V3 — Female Students / Characters

This is a partial character sheet for Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. Visit here for the main character index. Subjectives and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.

Warning! All spoilers below are unmarked.

It's virtually impossible to list tropes for these characters without spoiling everything or creating Self-Fulfilling Spoilers because of many surprising reveals and murderer/victim exclusive tropes this game contains.

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Kaede Akamatsu

Ultimate Pianist

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kaede_9.png

"I believe in you, so you should definitely believe in yourself!"

Voiced By: Sayaka Kanda (Japanese), Erika Harlacher (English)

The initial Player Character. A girl who started playing the piano at a young age, and eventually began winning so many recitals that she was crowned the Ultimate Pianist. She's cheerful, outgoing, and motivated, and directs these traits toward escaping Monokuma and his murderous game.

She is labelled as the culprit of Chapter 1, having modified Shuichi's trap to catch the mastermind by adding a death trap to it. After she is executed for the murder of Rantaro Amami, Shuichi becomes the protagonist from Chapter 2 onward. Near the end of the game, it's revealed that her death trap was actually a failure and that in reality she was framed by the mastermind - Tsumugi Shirogane - as Rantaro's murderer, due to Monokuma's Time Limit motive failing to produce a murder victim, making her the first and only Danganronpa character so far to have been successfully executed on a false charge, barring the first game's bad ending.

Accidental Murder: She is framed for one, anyway. She was targeting the mastermind by luring them out the moment they entered the hidden door in the library, but accidentally killed Rantaro with her murder weapon instead. Of course, it turns out that Tsumugi, the game's Big Bad and the mastermind she was looking for the entire time, took advantage of her trap to frame her for the murder instead.
Accidental Truth: She states that the mastermind and Rantaro's killer were one and the same at the beginning of the first class trial, even though Kaede believed she herself was the killer. Fast forward to the final chapter, and it turns out she was right.
Acquitted Too Late: The heroes figure out she's only guilty of attempted murder... long after she's been falsely executed for Rantaro's demise.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When she asks Miu for her help, Kaede literally gets on her hands and knees and begs Miu for her assistance in setting up a trap for the mastermind. Comically, Kaede threatens to continue bowing to her once she sees that Miu is visibly uncomfortable with her gesture, resulting in Miu agreeing to Kaede's request.
All-Loving Heroine: Kaede dearly loves all her classmates and wants them to be free of the killing game. She tries to encourage them as much as possible, and given their various reactions to her execution, they all loved and respected her in return.
Ambiguously Bi: Kaede has a lot of Ship Tease with various characters - most obviously with Shuichi, but she's also seen gushing over how cute Tenko is in the prologue and a free time, comments that Tsumugi has a "sexy aura", and shows a lot of concern and unusual patience towards Miu. If Kaede gives Miu a gift that she loves, Miu would make the assumption that Kaede is in love with her. However on the other hand when Himiko asks her if she's "playing for the other team" she's completely confused so it could be a subversion.
Bad Liar: The one time she has to lie during a Class Trial, she stutters when asked if she's really being truthful, and Kokichi and Korekiyo both immediately call her out for lying anyway.
Birds of a Feather: She unsurprisingly gets along very well with fellow musicians Sayaka and Ibuki in Ultimate Talent Development Plan and Ultimate Summer Camp. Though in the former, they remark that any band they ended up creating would probably be very short lived, because of the wildly differing musical styles, with Sayaka being a pop idol, Ibuki being into Death Metal and Kaede a classical pianist.
Breaking Old Trends: Unlike the other chapter 1 culprits, whose methods involve finding out about someone else's murder plan and reversing the situation on them, this time it's vice versa. Leon was Sayaka's chosen victim and turned the tables on her in order to defend himself and escape the school in her stead, Teruteru happened to see Nagito setting his trap in the dining hall while preparing for Byakuya's party, set a counter-trap to kill him instead and ended up killing the wrong person, while Kaede's attempt to kill the mastermind results in said mastermind turning the tables on her, stealing her plan and murdering someone else while falsely accusing her.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's a competent, dependable leader, but is also quite eccentric, taking things too far and being a little absentminded.
Chekhov's Skill:
- Much like Ibuki from Danganronpa 2, her talent as a musician means she is able to distinguish everyone's voices. This greatly helps her (and the player) in a game mechanic called Mass Panic Debate where multiple characters will simultaneously speak and freely say whatever they want, increasing the information levied onscreen and making finding contradicting statements even harder than it should be.
- When Shuichi takes over as the protagonist, he is explicitly worse at performing in the Mass Panic Debate due to the fact that his hearing isn't nearly as good as hers.
Clear Their Name: In the Chapter 1 class trial, when Shuichi becomes the prime suspect due to being one of two people who know of the camera's 30-second delay, she gives him an alibi and clears him of suspicion. He returns the favor in Chapter 6 by proving that Kaede is not the true culprit of Rantaro's murder.
Color Motif: She has a pale purple palette as seen in her eyes, vest, tights, and skirt. This even plays a part in the final chapter, where her vest color actually helps clarify the nature of an important piece of evidence.
Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Makoto and Hajime were boys, were straight men, and were both rather passive and hesitantly thrust into leadership roles. Some of these traits also apply to Komaru, minus gender. The Naegi siblings were also quite idealistic, focusing on hope and honesty to get their way. Kaede, on the other hand, is a girl unlike the two main installment protagonists, is much more assertive than all three, actively took the leadership role and is more willing to lie and even kill if she thinks that it's necessary to achieve her goals.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Gets thrown onto a huge piano and is lifted up and down by the neck repeatedly, strangling her as her body is used to play a beginner's song by the Monokubs, all accompanied by a crowd of Monokumas booing whilst hurling rocks at Kaede. The way the execution is sped up suggests that she endured the strangulation and rocks for hours before finally dying. Finally, the execution concludes with the giant piano closing its spiked cover on Kaede's lifeless body, crushing her like an iron maiden.
The Cynic: The Kaede in the prologue was shown to be this. Before being given her talent, Kaede viewed the world as a cruel place, since no one came to her rescue when she was getting kidnapped. She even refers to herself as "a normal high-school student with no redeeming qualities". After being subjected to the "Flashback Light" at the beginning of the game, her personality was altered so that she would act more optimistic. The Kaede shown in the audition tape also states that she doesn't trust people and has no faith in humanity.
Dead Star Walking: She was voiced by Sayaka Kanda, who was a famous singer and a part of the band TRUSTRICK, who also have contributed to the Danganronpa franchise before by providing theme songs for stage plays (where she also portrayed Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba) and the anime series.
Death by Irony:
- During her execution, Monokuma uses Kaede to play Der Flohwalzer, which is actually a simple piano piece, and he plays it so badly the audience starts booing and throwing rocks while Kaede is being strangled. That's right, the Ultimate Pianist is forcibly botching a beginner's song until she literally chokes.
- Before the class trial, she tells Shuichi that only those who are willing to find the truth can choose their destiny. Kaede assumed that she was the one who killed Rantaro, and died because she failed to search for the truth.
  Kaede: ...But the ones who are willing to find the truth are the ones who can decide their fate. If you never know the lies from the truth, then you can't choose a path. You won't even know you're on a path.
Decoy Protagonist:
- While introduced as the protagonist, she ends up as the culprit of Chapter 1, which means, as per the rules of any killing game, she's a dead woman walking. After her death, Shuichi takes her place as the real hero of the game.
- Spike Chunsoft tries to ensure that she's shown as the main protagonist in many promotional pictures depicting other previous protagonists, leaving Shuichi out of them all in any significant capacity.
Determinator: She uses her determination and energy to lead the group. Taken to an extreme when she insistently made the cast go through the semi-impossible Death Road of Despair over and over again.
Duet Bonding: Her Free Time Events with Shuichi during the latter's time in School Mode involve the two practicing the piano together.
Elegant Classical Musician: As per her talent as the Ultimate Pianist. It's said that she's won numerous competitions in the past too.
The Extremist Was Right: It takes five more chapters, but her attempted murder of Rantaro does eventually smoke out the mastermind.
Expy: Her design is very similar to Natsumi Kuzuryu, the younger sister of one of the Danganronpa 2's main cast. Their similarities are even more apparent due to Natsumi being murdered near a piano. Because of their similarities, and that their birthdays are only a day apart ^note, and also Tsumugi claiming Kaede has a younger twin sister, plus the fact that her original cynical personality would fit with the Kuzuryu siblings' personalities, there's a fan theory that they're twins that were Separated at Birth.
Everyone Can See It: It's pretty obvious to everyone else that Kaede meant a lot to Shuichi; she even gets referred to as his "girlfriend" more than once.
Face Death with Dignity: Zigzagged. When it becomes clear she killed Rantaro, she lies and feigns resistance to make it easier for the others to accept her impending death, and also to make Shuichi trust in his own skills more. Once Shuichi makes certain of her guilt, she accepts her fate and soothes the others into accepting it, too.
Fatal Flaw: Her tendency to push forward with what she believes is right ends up being her downfall, and has caused problems for others too. Her Japanese VA describes her as someone who goes a bit crazy with her beliefs.
- She uses her status as a leader to push the group into attempting to complete the Despair Dungeon, an obvious trap, to no avail. After hours of trying and failing, her pushy attitude ends up exhausting and even alienating her fellow students, especially the more difficult ones like Kokichi and Maki.
- She comes up with a convoluted plan to kill the mastermind behind Shuichi and everyone else’s back, inadvertently starting the killing game. Her plan not only fails in more ways than one, but she refuses to take the First Blood Perk, despite knowing that her life is on the line and she could get away with “killing” Rantaro without sacrificing anyone else, all because she thinks the trial will help her weed out the mastermind. This backfires: the mastermind, Rantaro’s true killer, frames Kaede and hides important evidence that proves her innocence, forcing Shuichi to expose Kaede’s “crimes” using only details they’re both aware of, which credibly paints Kaede as Rantaro’s murderer and leads to the pianist’s brutal demise.
Foreshadowing: In the prologue, Kaede wakes up and meets Shuichi in a classroom twice. The first time, she reacts harshly and tells him to shut up and stop panicking. The second time, she tells him she's scared as well and politely introduces herself. Later on, we find out that it's actually her former reaction that is likely the real Kaede's personality.
Futile Hand Reach: You can see her reaching out her hand towards Shuichi, just as she's being dragged off to her death.
Gameplay and Story Integration: Her hearing is so good that doesn't have any issues trying to distinguish voices during a Mass Panic Debate. But when Shuichi takes the lead, he, of course, has issues due to not having as good hearing as Kaede does.
Genki Girl: She is described as cheerful and forward-looking.
Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Kaede likes stuffed animals as gifts. This can also be seen as an explanation for why she collects the Monokuma dolls she can find around the campus, as Shuichi is also implied to like them.
Go-Getter Girl: Described as "The type of person to take charge".
Gone Horribly Right: She forces the mastermind to come out of hiding as part of her (Tsumugi's) plot to keep the 53rd killing game going for the outside world's entertainment... at the expense of her own life and being deceived into thinking she murdered an innocent person. Kaede only partially accomplished the goal she had for the chapter she was alive in, as it's made clear she herself intended to make friends with the others after escaping.
Guile Hero: Can be very pragmatic about dealing with the killing game, easily resorting to a death trap to kill the ringleader, quickly setting up said trap with a nearby witness without arousing suspicion, and manipulating a Class Trial to try to figure out their identity.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Friendly, compassionate and sweet.
Heel–Face Brainwashing: From a girl who doesn't trust anyone to a leader who believes in her classmates.
Heroic Sacrifice: She willingly allowed herself to be outed as Rantaro's killer in order to save the others since she wasn't comfortable invoking the first blood perk. Later made more tragic by how, while she thought she really did kill him, her attempt actually failed, making her the only student executed on false charges.
Hidden Buxom:
- It might not look it, even in-universe considering how Miu tries to tease her for being "flat", but according to her profile, she's rather stacked. Her bust measures 90cm, which rivals Junko, and since it's only 9cm smaller than Miu herself this makes her the second "largest" girl in this entire cast.
- As this image shows, without a top, Kaede has no problem filling out her bra.
History Repeats:
- Kaede isn't the franchise's first girl with a musical talent that becomes close with the male protagonist, only to die in the first chapter after botching a murder attempt and their male companion getting his share of the blame. However, Sayaka planned to frame Makoto from the start, was unaware of the class trials' existence, and ended up being the first victim because her target fought back and killed her in retaliation. On the other hand, Kaede herself was framed, but thought her murder was successful. She could've gotten out of the killing game with the First Blood Perk, but chose to have a trial because of her goals. Despite believing she was the killer, she rushed to Shuichi's defense when the other students started suspecting him and urged him to out her as the culprit after realizing he has already solved the mystery.
- She also isn't the first girl with a musical talent to get strangled by a rope and then literally left hanging once she's dead.
Honor Before Reason: She's the second character in the franchise after Fuyuhiko who could have walked out of the killing game but chose not to do so - in Kaede's case, she didn't take advantage of the first blood perk because she hoped she'd be able to smoke out the mastermind during the trial.
Idiot Hair: Similar to her predecessors, she has an ahoge, though it's way less angular than the others.
Implied Love Interest: To Shuichi. This is best shown during her Love Suite event; Kaede admits she likes Shuichi for his defining personality trait (his passiveness) and ends with a very unambiguous Sexy Discretion Shot where Shuichi is actually willing to go through with it. In contrast, most other Love Suite scenarios tend to have Shuichi play more fantastical fetishistic roles (such as playing a loving master to Kirumi's adoring maid), and his reactions to sexual advances often range from morbid curiosity to outright repulsion.
In-Series Nickname: Called "piano idiot"/"piano freak" by her old friends before she got involved in this game's Mutual Killing Game for endlessly practicing the piano all the time. Miu frequently calls her "Kaediot" in English or "Bakamatsu"/"Ikamatsu" in Japanese.
Late-Arrival Spoiler: Averted in regards to promotional material, as Spike Chunsoft avoids implying anything about her death. Despite her unfortunate fate, Kaede is still prominently shown alongside other Danganronpa protagonists instead of Shuichi taking the role as main protagonist. Even the Decadence boxart avoids showing Shuichi anywhere in favor of Kaede.
The Leader: She takes it upon herself to lead the others. Rantaro even labels her as such.
Leitmotif: "Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy.
The Lost Lenore: Like Sayaka before her, she ends up being this to the true main protagonist, Shuichi, once she is executed in Chapter 1. He states in every chapter that he will solve every mystery for her sake, and he stares at her portrait as he gets a Heroic BSoD in Chapter 6.
Loved by All: Kaede is liked by all the other students and when she's outed as the blackened, the class is devastated and a few even try to stop the execution by jumping between her and the Exisals. They only back off when she begs them not to throw their lives away for her sake. Her death has a big impact on everyone, particularly Shuichi, who vows to carry on and try to save everyone, and live up to his promise to her. This even applies to the In-Universe audience, who berate Shuichi in the final trial and tell him that he should have been killed instead of Kaede.
Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Though to a lesser extent to Maki, she's the Masculine Girl to Shuichi's Feminine Boy.
Meaningful Appearance: Wears hairpins shaped like musical notes, fitting her talent as the Ultimate Pianist. Also, the pattern on her skirt consists of musical notes and staves, as if it were a music sheet.
Miscarriage of Justice: The recipient of the first instance where Monokuma successfully executes someone innocent of the murder they were convicted of.
Mistaken for Gay: During one of her Free Time Events with Himiko, Himiko asks Kaede if she's "playing for both teams", believing that Kaede wanted to hang out with her due to a possible attraction. However, since Kaede didn't understand what the metaphor meant, Himiko took it as a sign that Kaede wasn't attracted to girls in that manner. In another event, Miu comes to the assumption that Kaede is in love with her if Kaede gives Miu a gift that she really likes during their free time advent.
Ms. Fanservice: Not so much in the actual game, partially due to her limited screen time. The official manga anthology on other hand takes full advantage of her good looks. During the Monokuma Gashapon short story, Monosuke convinces Shuichi to play "Monosuke Gashapon", a game that randomly gives one of the students a costume change (the clothes can't be removed unless another costume change is won), by revealing that the grand prize is Kaede in a bikini. Although Shuichi was unable to get the grand prize, he did manage to get Kaede to wear a playboy bunny outfit, before she and the other students beat up Shuichi and Monosuke for forcing them to go through several unwanted costume changes.
Murder by Mistake: She intended to kill the mastermind only for Rantaro to fall into her trap. Subverted when it was revealed that she didn't kill anybody.
Mythology Gag: She isn't the first musician in the series to be killed by strangulation with a rope and had her lifeless body left hanging. Additionally, her execution finishes with a Casting Gag as her body is crushed. It gets even better when it's revealed that like her predecessor protagonist, Makoto Naegi, she was sentenced to execution despite actually being innocent of her crime. But unlike Kaede's execution, Makoto's execution was foiled by Alter-Ego.
My God, What Have I Done?: When she thought she accidentally killed Rantaro, to the point she accepts her impending execution and calls herself "unforgivable" for causing his death. It gets even worse during the final trial when it's revealed that she was actually innocent.
Nice Girl: She's one most of the time, but she's more than capable of making scathing remarks should someone insult or annoy her (e.g. Miu). Of course, she's remarkably patient with some of the more difficult characters in the cast; for example, in Ultimate Talent Development Plan, she responds to Toko calling her a "bitch" by politely saying she'd rather not be called that, but saying Miu has called her worse things.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: She tampered with the trap that Shuichi set in the library, causing it to become a murder device in order to kill the mastermind. Unfortunately, it didn't kill the mastermind, and in fact, gave them the perfect opportunity to kickstart the killing game by framing Kaede for a murder they subsequently committed for that express purpose.
Not as You Know Them: Kaede seen in the game really is a Nice Girl, but the Kaede that seems to have applied to Team Danganronpa's audition was much more cynical and described herself as "perfect for a killing game."
Kaede: I'm perfect for a killing game. I don't have any faith in humanity.
Not Drawn to Scale: In the English version, for reasons unknown, NISA translated her original height, 167cm or about 5'6", as being 5'8" despite being obviously shorter than Shuichi (who's 5'7") in the game like seen here.
Non-Action Protagonist: She's not a fighter and is as such actually rather vulnerable to being killed, so she often uses her charisma and charm to try to outthink problems. This comes back to bite her when she's falsely pegged by Tsumugi as the killer of Rantaro, earning her her execution.
Odd Friendship: With Izuru in Ultimate Talent Development Plan. She becomes the only person besides Chiaki to gain his interest and to ever get any real kindness from him. 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.
Out-Gambitted: Her booby trap is effortlessly exploited by the mastermind to kick-start the killing game and kill her off in one fell swoop.
The Paragon: She's very confident and positive-minded, and her role as a leader-figure amongst the group sees her encouraging others, especially Shuichi, to be the same.
Passing the Torch: She does this to Shuichi, trusting him to solve the mysteries of the academy.
Playboy Bunny: In the official manga anthology, she ends up wearing this outfit in "Monosuke Gashapon".
Player Character: Initially, she's the one directly controlled by the player as she investigates the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. However, it's subverted when she is revealed to be the first blackened and the player assumes control of Shuichi from that point forward.
Plucky Girl: Responsible, upbeat and with fierce determination.
Pose of Supplication: She and Shuichi do this to Miu while begging for her help.
Posthumous Narration: As Makoto and Hajime from the previous games, she narrates the first chapter events in past tense... and then is executed for causing the murder of a fellow student (or at least that is what the mastermind made it look like). From there, Shuichi becomes the narrator, meaning that Kaede is a dead woman talking during Chapter 1.
The Power of Friendship: Similar to Makoto, she firmly believes this, stating that they can defeat the mastermind as long as they are together.
Properly Paranoid: Part of the reason for her attempt to eliminate the mastermind using her Rube Goldberg trap in Chapter 1 was because she thought the time limit would be set back in order to kill everyone participating in the killing game faster. This is understandable on her part, considering Monokuma has no restraint and is perfectly willing to do something like that. However, since Kaede follows through with this belief and kills 30 minutes prior to when the Total Party Kill was supposed to happen, it's unknown if the mastermind would've done this.
Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: She forms this duo with Shuichi in Chapter One, with Shuichi making deductions about the hidden door in the library and Kaede taking a proactive approach by setting a trap for the mastermind.
Ship Tease: With Shuichi. She had good chemistry with Shuichi in Chapter 1, it is also implied that the boy liked her and he is devastated by her death.
Signature Instrument: Her Piano, being the Ultimate Pianist.
Skirts and Ladders: In Chapter 1, she climbs to the top of a ladder to examine the top of a bookcase and realizes too late that Shuichi can see up her skirt.
Small Role, Big Impact: Kaede was only alive to see the first chapter, but in that timespan, she managed to:
- Come up with a plan to expose and hopefully kill the mastermind, officially starting the killing game.
- Inspire and convince Shuichi to start believing in himself, leading to Shuichi posthumously honoring her by attempting to get over his fear of uncovering ugly truths.
- Unintentionally (and posthumously) provide the damning piece of evidence that exposes Tsumugi as not only the mastermind but also the one responsible for both Rantaro and Kaede’s deaths.
- Successfully unite the group into pursuing their common goal of ending the killing game, resulting in drastically different characters like Kaito and Kokichi being much more involved in the game in their own way. This being Danganronpa, it requires much more deaths and trials to overcome this goal, but the motivation is still there.
Statuesque Stunner: In the English version, she's 5'8", and Shuichi very obviously is interested in her, and Kaito also flirts with her. Averted in the Japanese version, where she's 167cm, or a little under 5'6".
Straight Man and Wise Guy: Kaede develops this dynamic with Miu, especially in Ultimate Talent Development Plan and Ultimate Summer Camp, with Kaede being the straight man to Miu's zany wise guy.
Super-Senses: Similar to Ibuki in the previous game, her hearing is super developed to the point where she can distinguish between multiple people talking simultaneously, allowing her to hear all students talking during the Mass Panic Debates.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
- Like Sayaka Maizono from the first game Kaede is a very positive, charming and level headed young woman with a music based talent (and both love music because they can make others smile with it), they both befriend the nervous but sweet male protagonist of the game and become well liked in the group because of their sweet personality. Sadly they're also the first girls in their respective game to die after snapping under the pressure of losing their friends, in their final moments they tried doing the right thing (Sayaka writing the name of her killer, thus clearing Makoto and Kaede getting Shuichi to expose her as the killer) and left a massive impact on the protagonist despite dying early.
- Kaede and Mahiru Koizumi from the second game are both very grounded and quite ordinary yet lovely people with an optimistic outlook on life and a desire to see others happy, yet despite their kindness, they aren't pushovers and are very sassy and willing to fight back insults as Fuyuhiko and Miu found out the hard way, they could on occasion be overly pushy but always meant well. Their Fatal Flaw was their headstrong and moral nature that the mastermind exploited by framing them for murder and their desire to make things right killed them, leaving their best friend in Hiyoko and Shuichi respectively utterly distraught. Despite being the first girl to die in their games, they left a legacy of kindness with Hiyoko/Fuyuhiko and Shuichi's arcs being in honour of their deaths.
Sweet Tooth: It doesn't come up much in the game, but most of the edible gifts Kaede likes are desserts and she eats cake with Rantaro in Bonus Mode.
Sympathetic Murderer: Her trap was intended to kill the mastermind; it just happened to be someone else who triggered it. She urges Shuichi to reveal she is the killer to the others and feigns resistance to make it more believable for them. Subverted later on when it turns out the ball missed, and it was the mastermind who actually killed Rantaro with an identical one afterwards.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: In the most literal way possible. Her uniting the students is what influences Monokuma to introduce the time limit as a motive alongside the First Blood Perk, which then influences Kaede's paranoia and belief that the mastermind will set the time limit back to kill the students faster, which encourages her to tamper with Shuichi's camera trap to take a picture of the mastermind entering the library's hidden door, which ends up getting her framed and killed by Tsumugi for Rantaro's murder using her Rube Goldberg bookshelf setup.
Verbal Tic: She tends to say "Jeez" a lot, especially when exasperated or annoyed.
Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about her without revealing the fact that she is a Decoy Protagonist and the one executed for the murder committed in Chapter 1.
Weakness Turns Her On: In her Love Suite event, she says that Shuichi's shyness is something she finds attractive. Incidentally, she's also trying to get him to be more assertive in the same scene, and early in the game says he would be a "pretty cool guy if he were more assertive".
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Instead of going through with Shuichi's plan to use cameras to capture a photo of the mastermind entering the hidden door in the library, Kaede conducted a Rube Goldberg trap to lure the mastermind over to it and kill them from the lookout classroom, making sure no one would notice it. Though it leads the mastermind to frame her, it ends up exposing said mastermind after all, because the trap failed, forcing the mastermind to come out and kill the victim themselves, then frame Kaede for the crime and gaslight her into thinking that she committed the murder herself.
You Can't Thwart Stage One: She puts her own life on the line to kill the mastermind at the start of the game. It doesn't work, thanks to the mastermind learning about the trick from Motherkuma and letting Rantaro fall victim when he attempted to use his Survivor Perk. On top of that, her mechanism ended up completely missing even her unintended victim, though that later becomes crucial for proving the game isn't legitimate as the mastermind killed Rantaro themselves and executed Kaede for it.

Kirumi Tojo

Ultimate Maid

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tojo.png

"Please let me know if you require my services."

Voiced By: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)

A girl with a sharp mind and an athletic body. Her day job is as a maid, but she is effective in a variety of roles, such as personal security. She was even apparently approached for a job that would "destroy a nation". Her personal motto is "duty before self", something that she continues to adhere to even in the prison school. She takes care of housekeeping and cooking for the other students.

It's revealed that her position as Ultimate Maid had the government scout her out and that she had been performing the duties of the Japanese Prime Minister before being forced into the killing game. She is the culprit of Chapter 2, drowning a suicidal Ryoma Hoshi and planting his corpse so it would be discovered in the middle of Himiko Yumeno's magic show.

The Ace: She takes her talent as a maid to its extreme, and is hypercompetent when it comes to basically any task in order to better serve her masters. She's shown to be good at cooking and cleaning, as would be expected from the Ultimate Maid. However, she also shows talent with writing advice, business acumen, political intrigue, espionage, stealth rescue missions, and athletics. Even Byakuya Togami, the Token Evil Teammate of the first game, acknowledges Kirumi's competence in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan mode. Deconstructed as it's because of Kirumi's talent at anything she tries she was given the dubious honor of being prime minister as a teenager, and Shuichi is able to pin her as the culprit because of how thorough and well-done the murder was, the few mistakes being relatively out of Kirumi's control.
The Alibi: The very reason Shuichi names her the prime suspect of Ryoma's murder, like Mikan before her. Early in the trial, Kirumi establishes she was in the gym for five minutes, which cleared her of suspicion as it was too little time for both the murder and the setup. Then, after it is unveiled when and how Ryoma was transported to the gym, Kirumi putting herself at the scene of the crime becomes a window to partially set up the makeshift ropeway.
All for Nothing: Even if she had escaped through one means or another, there wouldn't have been a country for her to go back to. She killed Ryoma for nothing.
Almighty Janitor: She was so good at being the assistant to the prime minister of Japan that she ended up being the one actually doing the job. In fact, Kirumi seems to be good at anything she does, to the point that she's so competent that the few mistakes in her trial were things that were outside of her control.
Arachnid Appearance and Attire: She's missing the creepy aspect, but her clothing features a spiderweb motif, and she's definitely got the old-fashioned costume and stoicism down. That said, an iconic tool of any maid worth her salt is a feather duster, generally used to clear away spiderwebs, and her success is largely down to the extensive web of contacts she established. Her execution is also based on the Japanese morality tale "The Spider's Thread", where a sinner trapped in hell seeks his own salvation at the cost of others.
Asshole Victim: Played with. Although she does have a very understandable motive for her actions, Kirumi was still extremely ruthless and even at times cruel throughout the second chapter. She murdered Ryoma in a needlessly brutal fashion and tried to use Kaede's wish to guilt trip the class into not voting for her and to the very end tried to sacrifice everyone. She certainly didn't deserve to die but nor did the kind hearted tennis player she drowned.
Berserk Button: She gets very annoyed when people ask her to be their mom or call her mom.
Beware the Nice Ones: Kirumi is one of the most courteous characters in the series, due to being an incredibly devoted Meido girl who will do anything for her clients, as long as it's not indecent. Said devotion ends up driving her to also become one of the most strategic and near-successful culprits alongside that, nearly winning the trial in Chapter 2 if not for her distinctive black gloves tearing off due to rope burn and Kokichi's Insect Meet and Greet providing most of the students in the academy with an alibi, as part of her plan to escape into Japan at the expense of the other students' lives and return to her role as the supposed de facto Prime Minister of Japan.
Beware the Quiet Ones: She once rescued the daughter of a former master because he asked her to. Kirumi even took out the guards, one by one.
Birds of a Feather: With Kyoko in bonus modes. Both are hard workers and are regarded as The Ace and The Reliable One in their respective groups.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Played with during the second trial. Her kind personality, genuine care for the class and desire to serve others isn't an act at least until after she watches her motive video, however, she then betrays the class and murders Ryoma while pretending to still be a loyal member of the class, until she is voted as the killer she still retains her soft-hearted and maternal mask and says she would never betray the class all while in the process of betraying them.
Breaking Old Trends: Unlike the previous second-chapter killers, Mondo and Peko, Kirumi not only fights in her own Argument Armament, but also tries to escape her execution rather than accepting it out of remorse. In addition Mondo and Peko are shown to be outright guilt ridden over murdering Chihiro and Mahiru whereas Kirumi seems somewhat indifferent towards murdering Ryoma although not outright remorseless. Finally in Peko's case she ensured that Mahiru would die instantly from a single strike to the head with a baseball bat which put her plan at risk by helping to clear Hiyoko. Kirumi in contrast drowned Ryoma causing him to spend his final moments in agony just to make her plan run a bit more smoothly.
The Butler Did It: Played straight in Chapter 2 where Kirumi, the maid, turns out to be the culprit.
Clothing Damage:
- Kirumi damages one of her gloves while putting her murder case into action. This comes up in her trial.
- In addition to the battle segment against her, the execution afterwards involves a heavy amount of this. Her clothes are torn apart as she climbs a rope made of thorns, tearing her gloves (and hands, for that matter) to shreds. Partway up, the rest of her clothes are shredded by buzzsaws.
Color Motif: Grey.
Complexity Addiction: She will always try to go the extra mile as part of her duties, such as preparing sandwiches along with tea. This ultimately works to her detriment, as she includes trying to frame Himiko in her plan to kill Ryoma, which was not only totally unnecessary (and fairly easy to disprove; if Himiko did it, why would she advertise her crime by having him killed as part of her public magic trick?), it resulted in the other students finding evidence implicating her.
Consummate Professional: It's rather difficult to break her out of her maid role. Even during Free Time Events, Kaede and Shuichi have difficulty interacting with her because she never lets herself be free from her duties. This chronic professionalism is what kills her, since it allows the latter to deduce her as Chapter 2's culprit.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: As much as the murderers are "antagonists" anyway. In comparison to the previous Chapter Two killers, she makes no attempt to Face Death with Dignity and is the only killer in the game who seems to vote for Shuichi out of spite as the others normally concede so the vote is almost always unanimous, and actually attempts to escape her execution on top of that. And for further contrast, while Peko and Mondo ended up killing somebody in the heat of a moment, Kirumi specifically planned her murder attempt in an attempt to win for herself. Also, all three are/were Number Two of a powerful organisation (Mondo was second-in-command of the Crazy Diamonds biker gang, Peko was Fuyuhiko's personal bodyguard and hitman as he was the heir of the Kuzuryuu yakuza clan, and Kirumi was the brains behind a puppet prime minister).
Cruel and Unusual Death: Possibly one of the most brutal executions in the series. Cornered by a lynch mob accusing her of being a failure, Kirumi is given a long vine covered in thorns that leads to an opening in the ceiling and salvation. Determined to escape, she climbs the vine, injuring her hands repeatedly on the many thorns. As she climbs higher, a gauntlet of automated saw blades assaults her, cutting and flaying her as she continues to ascend. Covered in injuries, Kirumi finally reaches the top of the vine, only to find her hole to freedom is fake. The vine breaks, sending her plummeting to her death, whereupon she lands on top of and destroys Monosuke. Kirumi dies on impact, knowing she failed as a prime minister and can't save her people from an unknown catastrophe.
Defiant to the End: She never ceases her resistance against everyone's accusations. After the trial has ended, she votes for Shuichi out of spite and tries to run away from her execution.
Determinator:
- After Kirumi is identified as the blackened, she launches a Nonstop Debate, followed by a Rebuttal Showdown, then an Argument Armament. The only other culprits to put up this much resistance ^note are Gundam who has an identical gauntlet, Mikan with two Nonstop Debates and a Panic Talk Action, and Celestia with three Nonstop Debates.
- Minigames aside, Kirumi is the first culprit in the series that tries to run away from her execution^noteUnless you count Leon in the anime and during her execution keeps on trying to escape despite her hands and body getting stabbed and slashed throughout the entire climb. Naturally, Monokuma uses Kirumi's determination against her.
Dragon-in-Chief: She's this to the Prime Minister of Japan. While she's ostensibly just a maid, Kirumi was so good at what she did, no matter the task, that all decisions of the Prime Minister effectively went through her.
The Dreaded: A majority of her class are scared of getting caught in lectures from her. This is especially shown during the Ultimate Development Plan and Ultimate Summer Camp.
Elegant Gothic Lolita: Naturally, due to wearing classic Victorian-era maid attire to go with her position as a maid.
Everyone Has Standards:
- She was once asked to help destroy a rival nation, but she refused. Although she admits that it was more of a pragmatic decision, seeing as how she can't destroy a country all by herself. The fact that she was secretly the government of Japan also helped with this decision.
- Despite claiming to have no opinions or preferences of her own, the Love Across the Universe bonus mode reveals that Kirumi refuses to do any sexual requests made of her. If you tell her to take her clothes off, Kirumi will respond "I am your maid, not your slave."
Extreme Doormat: She claims she has no opinions or preferences of her own, and only works to serve others. Her personal motto is "duty before self". It's played with in that she killed Ryoma and tried to convince the other students to let her go in order to escape, believing that the ends justified the means of killing someone to continue ruling Japan as her duty to her people. Also, in the Love Across the Universe mode, she refuses to do anything perverted, even if asked.
Fan Disservice: Gets most of her clothes torn off by saw blades during her execution, giving us a lovely view of her bra, her legs, and viciously cut-up skin.
Fatal Flaw: Her perfectionism. Her desire to go above and beyond to complete any task she is assigned is both the motive behind her murder (she couldn't be prime minister if she were shut up in the school, after all) and her plan's undoing; had she simply left the crime scene alone and allowed the others to come to their own conclusions about the culprit, it was very unlikely they'd be able to discover her, but she just had to add that final touch by implicating Himiko, where she screwed up and left some evidence behind. Thus, while she could never be proven as the killer, she could be proven as the one who disposed of the body, and there's no reason anyone who wasn't the killer would do that.
Foreshadowing:
- She looks visibly nervous when Kokichi mentions he knows which students got each motive video - this is because Kirumi actually got her own and remembering her responsibilities is what prompted her to kill Ryoma.
- Although during the Argument Armament in the second trial her Wardrobe Malfunction is much worse, and her injuries are much more minor than during her execution, the Fanservice moment mentioned above may be a foreshadowing of the Fan Disservice moment also mentioned above.
- The game stated the government had 16 prisoners be sent to the school, yet Kirumi ended up being a prime minister. This could be a hint towards how the students are not exactly prisoners per se.
- Kirumi states that she didn't remember her role as Prime Minister until Monokuma showed her the Motive Video, and later we find out that's not the only piece of technology he was using to plant false memories in the students...
Freak Out: When Monokuma announces it's time for her execution, the usually composed Kirumi utterly loses it, screaming that she won't die and trying to flee the school. She makes Leon and Teruteru's breakdowns look tame in comparison!
Freudian Slip: She blurts out during the trial that "everyone" is relying on her. Kaito points out it sounds like Kirumi is talking about someone not present at the trial - he turns out to be right.
Hidden Depths: "I am a maid, after all." She's skilled at baking and cleaning, as is to be expected from the Ultimate Maid. But she also is keen on detective novels, business acumen, writing advice, and even political intrigue. What keeps her from just ruling everything with an iron fist by being the best there at everything is because she holds a motto of "duty before self".
Hope Spot: Her execution. She gets past all of the death traps and reaches a hole to freedom... only to find the hole is just a crude sky drawing. The vine she was so desperately climbing breaks, sending her plummeting to her death.
Huge Girl, Tiny Guy: She's the huge girl to Ryoma's tiny guy, which made it very easy for Kirumi to subdue and kill him, Ryoma's suicidal mindset notwithstanding.
Humble Hero: Her introduction in the demo has Makoto praising her skills and stating that she can complete any task, but Kirumi states that "any task" is an overstatement.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Prior to the killing game, she was hired by the prime minister to be his assistant. She's so competent, she becomes the acting prime minister. This actually helps Shuichi to pinpoint Kirumi as the murderer, because it was so thorough and well-planned out (barring accidentally dropping the inner tube and piece of her glove in the pool) that only someone like Kirumi could have done it.
Hypocrite: In the second trial, she scolds Maki by calling her selfish for withholding important information, when she's guilty of exactly the same thing, since she's actually the culprit.
Ironic Last Words: "I WILL NOT DIE!" This is shortly before her execution.
Irony:
- The Ultimate Maid gets caught by not being able to clean up after her act.
- Despite her gloves being a key part of evidence used to finger her as the culprit, they do nothing to stop the thorns from mutilating her hands as she attempts to escape execution.
- She is killed by the same thing that helped to give her away as the culprit - a rope breaking.
Kick the Dog: When Shuichi begins cornering her as a suspect, Kirumi asks him to reconsider his deductions and specifically brings up Kaede, mentioning she wishes to honor her last request. She also flips and calls Shuichi a "self-righteous brat" when he continues with his questioning. In addition the fact that she murders Ryoma in the slowest way possible when he pretty much let her murder him can be seen as this, he lived long enough to regret his decision and spent his final moments scratching the sink, making Kirumi come across as needlessly sadistic.
Manipulative Bitch: When being accused in the second trial, she pretends to be pleading for the rest of the students' sake and says she just wants them to live; when that doesn't work, she tries to guilt-trip them into volunteering to be executed instead after the trial by relaying her motive. Kaito and Kokichi call her out on it.
- Reflected in her Rebuttal Showdown wherein Kirumi has such an advantage, Shuichi begins in the danger zone, which shows how heavily the students were on Kirumi's side.
Meido: A woman with a frilled band in her hair, required by her employer to wear a housemaid dress outfit. Albeit, her outfit has a slight edge to it with a spider web pattern on the torso of her dress.
Moral Myopia: Her motive as a wholesale ties to The Needs of the Many with her being able to save Japan if she escapes, even if it's at the cost of the smaller group she's in as well as taking advantage of a fellow classmate's psychological issues. This is something that's flipped in on herself when the group catches her for killing Ryoma that she needs to be the one to die so everyone else can live. Kirumi's response? Not only vote for Shuichi in a last-ditch effort to take him down with her and try to weasel her way out and manipulate the others to taking the fall for herself, but when that fails, she's the only killer in the series so far to outright try to run away from her own Execution. Despite touting how much the greater group would benefit from it, Kirumi doesn't at all get why her death in that scenario would benefit the greater group on that scale.
Ms. Exposition: During their first class trial, she is the one who explains to everyone how they need to perform the class trials after Monokuma explains the rules to everyone and they were all still confused about where to start.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Kirumi can be read as "Slashing Beauty" or "Beheading Beauty", and she shares her family name with the World War II-era Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo, who was a convicted war criminal.
Neat Freak: Her report card states that she likes cleaning. Makes sense, given that she's the Ultimate Maid.
The Needs of the Many: When Kirumi learned that all of Japan is facing a big calamity outside, she decided to murder Ryoma in order to escape, and for that cause tries throwing away the lives of the other students (who are still citizens she is also "responsible" for) in hopes of being able to help her nation through whatever this danger may be. She's charismatic enough to sway opinion towards her, to the point that several students are willing to die so Kirumi can live and help Japan for a short time. However, it ultimately doesn't work, and Kirumi still gets outed as the Blackened. As one last act of defiance, Kirumi attempts to run from her execution, citing that her dedication to her people is what will save her.
Nice Girl: At least prior to watching her motive video anyway, Kirumi is generally a very helpful, polite and good natured young woman who will do anything for the class if they ask her such as cooking meals no matter how unique (like Tenko's tripe) and cleaning up.
Ninja Maid: She was mentioned to be hired as a bodyguard for a head of a nation. In her third Free Time Event, she tells of how when her master's daughter was held for ransom, she used her knowledge of the criminals' base layout to separate them and take them out one by one, and then "persuaded" their leader to start a butler service. But from her Argument Armament's artwork, she's less of a ninja and more of a knight.
No Social Skills: Downplayed. It's not that she can't talk to people; it's that she can only seem to do it as a maid instead of a human being.
- Her first Free Time event has Kirumi seemingly not understanding that Shuichi just wants to talk with her, rather than have him serve her as a maid. Even when he tells her to sit down after making him tea, Kirumi refuses to do it, because that would mean that she couldn't serve him as his maid. It takes a few more Free Time events before she seems to get what he wants, and even then, her dialogue is still very stoic and measured.
- In the Ultimate Talent Development Plan mode, she breaks up an argument between Taka and Mondo, even getting them to reconcile. However, she only does this to get the noise level to go down, not for her own sake.
Not So Stoic:
- After Shuichi fingers her as Ryoma's killer. Her facial expressions and voice lines get far more intense.
  Kirumi: While I do understand where you are coming from, I assure you this is just a part of your petty imagination! An empty theory created from nihilism!
- She absolutely flips her lid when Monokuma announces it's punishment time. Kirumi runs away from her execution (the only Blackened to ever do that in the entire series), screaming at the top of her lungs that she refuses to die in a "hellhole" like the killing game, vowing to escape for her people. She doesn't make it, but the fact she got further than anyone else is proof positive that her stoicism has a limit.
Overly Long Scream: Played for Drama when Kirumi lets out a TON of screams as she desperately tries to escape her executions, even lets out a painful scream when she gets cut like a slab of livestock by Monokuma's buzzsaws, and died falling to her death.
The Perfectionist: If she does anything at all, it's to perfection, and she expects nothing less from herself. Her first Free Time event has Shuichi ask Kirumi to make tea, which she does. But it's not only the most delicious tea that Shuichi has ever tasted, she also made small sandwiches and cakes for him as well. This ends up being used against Kirumi and exposes her as the Blackened in her trial, as the murder was planned so flawlessly that it couldn't have been anyone but her. The few mistakes that led to Kirumi being found out were things that she had no control over.
The Perfect Crime: Even with Kirumi's perfectionism being used against her, there was no legitimate proof of her guilt as Chapter 2's culprit otherwise had she not caught her glove in the rope burn nor dropped the inner tube, the vessel necessary for her ropeway, in the pool. Even Shuichi himself points out that her murder of Ryoma was this word-for-word. It's no wonder she loses her composure and has to turn to deception in order to cover up the crime after being discovered.
Playing the Victim Card: Way more so than any of the other Blackened, Kirumi deliberately acts hurt by Shuichi's accusations and accuses him of trying to "warp the narrative" just because he wants to pin her as the culprit over "flimsy" evidence. Some of her classmates are swayed by this, but Kaito and Kokichi both call Kirumi out on it.
Proper Tights with a Skirt: Fitting with her talent and Meido aesthetic.
Recurring Element: Traditionally from the previous games, she's the third Chapter Two murderer to have The Reveal in the class trial. In her case, being a Prime Minister in her country.
The Reliable One: She's shown to cater to everyone's menial chores, from cleaning rooms to cooking dinner to aiding personal research. This also applies to her position as the acting prime minister to her country. So much so that she's willing to murder someone to check on their well-being. In the Ultimate Talent Development Plan mode, even Byakuya Togami, a Spoiled Brat of the first order, can tell that Kirumi's skills as a maid are exceptional. To this end, he briefly considers Kirumi's advice on a matter, which he never does for anyone else. Celeste also says that Kirumi's tea is the best she's ever tasted, but since Celeste wants to be waited on hand-and-foot by handsome men, she can't use Kirumi's services to their full extent.
Required Secondary Powers: She has a set of other skills non-related to being a maid, but they are all used to achieve finishing any task she is given as a maid. Up to and including running a country.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: During her Kick the Dog moment between herself and Shuichi in her final moments, she calls Shuichi a "self-righteous brat". Technically, this is still true, since Shuichi repeatedly tries to impose his moral superiority on the rest of the students, but in the context of the situation, she's calling him this in his attempt to save the rest of the cast from execution as a result of her own misdeeds rather than to generally call him out.
Sanity Slippage: Once she's marked as the culprit, does she ever. All traces of her dignity start to disintegrate up to her execution, Kira Buckland does a very convincing job of portraying how utterly terrified and determined Kirumi was to survive and save Japan, culminating in a final bone chilling scream of "I WILL NOT DIEEEEE".
Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Attempts this when faced with execution. Monokuma gruesomely kills her regardless.
Shockingly Expensive Bill: Averted. In her last free time event, Kirumi offers to be Shuichi's personal maid for ten thousand dollars a day. Even attempting to negotiate a lower rate with her doesn't work. However, she reveals that the price tag was a joke not long after and that she'd serve him for free because of how much potential she sees in him.
Sickening "Crunch!": At the end of her execution, she falls to the ground and lands on top of Monosuke with a sickening crunch.
Significant Birth Date: Her birthday is May 10th, which is also known as Maid Day in Japan. It's also a possible date for Mother's Day in the USA, which coincides with her tendency to be the Team Mom (as much as she dislikes being called that).
Sore Loser: After being exposed as the culprit of Chapter 2, she spitefully votes for Shuichi.
Starter Villain: Retroactively, she is the first actual culprit of the killing game, as Kaede's defeat in Chapter 1 is meaningless since she never actually killed Rantaro and it was Tsumugi the entire time, who instead becomes the Final Boss when she's eventually accused of the murder in the final trial. Also, unlike Kaede, who only took the trial as a chance to expose the mastermind and never antagonizes anyone, she's a genuine antagonist towards the spotless participants and doesn't want her murder to be solved.
Statuesque Stunner: At 176cm (5'9"), she's the tallest female character in the game, fitting how more adult and "motherly" she's seen by the rest of the cast, and given clothing damage she's subjected to multiple times at least the showrunners in-universe think that she'd provide some good fanservice.
The Stoic: She rarely shows any sort of strong emotion in her Free Time Events or during the first trial. The worst she does is some light scolding. Come the second trial, especially after she's exposed as the killer, Kirumi's stoicism is shown to have a limit.
Subordinate Excuse: Her Love Suite scene involves being Shuichi's personal maid/bodyguard, and she feels like she's a burden to him because she believes her romantic feelings are only holding him back.
Sympathetic Murderer: She is a "civil servant" (read: Prime Minister in all but title) fighting against a great calamity, which she uses to justify her reason to be let off the guilty verdict. She practically exploits this trope and sways the others' opinions so much that despite Kaito and Kokichi calling her out on her The Needs of the Many utilitarianism, several of the students are still volunteering to be executed in her stead. Furthermore, many students encouraged her as she attempted to escape execution, suggesting they could fully understand her feelings over the matter. Finally at one point Shuichi notes that her sorrow and rage shown during the trial was genuine suggesting that deep down she was genuinely remorseful for killing Ryoma and having to betray the class even if for her its the only thing she could do to save Japan.
Team Mom: Her job as a maid makes her come off as a sort of motherly figure to the group. Early on in Chapter 2, Kokichi asks her to "become his mom", with Gonta doing the same seconds after. However, her Free Time Events reveal she dislikes when people of the same age call her a mother.
Tears of Joy: She gives these off in her Love Suite scene. Shuichi quickly deduces that what she wants is a master who treats her like an equal, and plays along to this end. Kirumi says she intends to leave the "mansion" because she has feelings for Shuichi, but he says that he wants her to stay. Kirumi begins to cry in response and gives an Anguished Declaration of Love immediately after.
The Dog Was the Mastermind: Not of the game itself, but few people would think that a high school maid is the de facto Prime Minister of Japan.
Undignified Death: She throws all dignity out the window in her desperate attempt to escape execution, but after Monokuma catches her it doesn't get much better. A lynch mob surrounds her and signifies that she is a failure as a prime minister. She climbs up a thorny vine and through a gauntlet of saw blades that shred her skin and clothes. When she hits the ground, she is almost naked, and she dies knowing that she failed her people and there was no point in trying to escape. Although in another sense its admirable how to her final breath she refused to give up on her mission to save Japan.
Unreliable Expositor: Kirumi is so capable she even manipulates the player. In contrast, Maki's flashback of meeting Ryoma at night plays out uninterrupted immediately after.
Weaksauce Weakness: Despite her unbelievable levels of competence in pretty much everything, she has a lot of trouble cooking with the konjac root.
When She Smiles: Kirumi is generally seen with a natural expression but on occasion showcases a very warm and sweet looking smile that highlights the kind heart that lies beneath the hardworking maid.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: For the most part, anyway, since she was still willing to kill instead of talking out her motive video, but it's still there. The only reason she killed Ryoma was to escape the school for the sake of helping out more than just ~15 high school students while stuck in the killing game environment. Due to the rules, the deaths of the others was something she had to work around, and it's likely she would've left without resorting to murder had she not been forced to kill to be allowed to leave in the first place.
Workaholic: She continues to act as a maid for her classmates during their time in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, and she hates standing by idly. In Love Across the Universe, she feels uncomfortable watching other people clean. Her profile also says the thing she hates more than anything else is taking a day off. She would only take a day off if someone ordered her to do so, and even then, she has to be constantly reminded to take the day off for once.
Younger Than They Look: The combination of her height, stern face, hairstyle, and voice make her appear more like a young adult than a teenager, but naturally she's supposed to be the same age as the other students making her around 16-18.

Himiko Yumeno

Ultimate Magician

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/himiko_6.png

“Should I just beat you to death with my deadly magic?"

Voiced By: Aimi Tanaka (Japanesse), Christine Marie Cabanos (English)

The Ultimate Magician, but she would prefer to call herself the Ultimate Mage. She claims to be the youngest person to win Magician of the Year, a prestigious award given out by the magician society Magician's Castle. However, since she insists that her tricks are actual magic, she alleges that she has been prevented from claiming the award because of a conspiracy to hide the existence of magic. She also claims to be flooded with booking requests from all over the world. Despite being at the top of her field, she is lazy to a fault.

While emotionally reserved, after Tenko's death, Himiko vows to honor Tenko's wish for her to be more open emotionally. In the final class trial, she abstains from voting along with Shuichi, Maki, Tsumugi and Keebo. She is spared from Keebo's sacrificial destruction of the academy and goes on to survive the killing game.

A-Cup Angst: She seems to be self-conscious about her lack of bust. Miu and Kokichi use this to insult her, which she doesn't take well.
Always Someone Better: She never liked to admit how she eventually upstaged her master, culminating with her fixing a magic (trick) that he fumbled up on stage and forced him to disappear out of shame.
And Now for Someone Completely Different: She becomes briefly playable at the final class trial.
Antiquated Linguistics: A very pompous variant of it, reminiscent of the speech pattern of an old mage from a JRPG.
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: After Tenko encourages Himiko to express herself more, Himiko smiles and says that Tenko went a bit too far, subtly expressing that she's no longer mad at Tenko for infiltrating Angie's student council.
Bait-and-Switch: It looks like something terrible is going to happen to Himiko during the magic show, but when the curtains part, Ryoma's dead body is found in the piranha tank and Himiko comes out of it unharmed.
Berserk Button:
- Do not so much as imply that she performs "tricks" and not real magic.
  Himiko: It's magic, it's magic, it's magic, it's magic, it's magic, it's magic, it's magic, it's magic... it's magic it's magic it's magic it's magic it's magic it's magic iiit's maaagic!!!
- Do not so much as imply that her master is not the greatest "mage" in the world. She will not accept the idea of anyone being better than them, including herself.
- In the third trial, when Kokichi says that Tenko's death was meaningless, Himiko actually screams at him, by far the most emotion she has ever shown up to that point in the game.
Blush Sticker: Has perpetually rosy cheeks.
Borrowed Catchphrase: In the third Chapter, Himiko laments that her magic shows are supposed to bring happiness to people and instead it was used for Ryoma's murder. She then comments that as a mage, "I still got a ways to go".
Break the Cutie: The poor girl does not take the deaths around her well, especially Angie's, Tenko's, and Gonta's.
- Even worse when it's revealed the cast's pasts were all fabricated by the flashback lights, and she's forced to question everything she ever believed in.
  Himiko: ''A-All the memories...were fake? Then...what was everything till now? That memory and that memory... And that memory and that memory and that memory and that memory and that memory and that-! If they were all fake memories, then... Where...are we? Why are we in this killing game?
Breaking Old Trends: Like Kiyotaka and Hiyoko before her, Himiko loses someone close to her and the following chapter gives her a build-up for Character Development. Unlike Kiyotaka and Hiyoko, Himiko doesn't get unceremoniously killed in the very next chapter and actually survives the Killing Game.
- Curiously though, she would have been killed off in Chapter 3 had Tenko not taken her place in the séance.
Brilliant, but Lazy: She's an Ultimate, but she constantly complains about "not having enough MP" and her explanation for why she couldn't have killed Rantaro is that killing someone sounds like far too much work. Even relaxing is too taxing for her laziness. At least before her Character Development.
Butt-Monkey: In every chapter, aside from the first and last chapters, she's accused of murdering someone. That being said the accusation in the fourth chapter was at least meant to come across as Blatant Lies as per the Running Gag.
Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: Without a hint of shame, at that. She even attempts to use this to her advantage at one point to excuse herself during Chapter 6's trial to look for more clues.
Character Development: Starting around the end of Chapter Three, she stops whining about how "tiresome" everything is and hiding her emotions, becomes more outspoken and optimistic, and uses "Nyeh" less.
Character Tics: When Himiko is nervous or uncomfortable, she pulls the brim of her hat down over her eyes.
Chuunibyou: Like Gundham, Himiko tends to live in her own little fantasy world and is considered incredibly odd by her classmates, though unlike Gundham she is backed into a corner and forced to admit how her trick works. This becomes vital to solving Ryoma's murder and, as her classmates point out, insisting it's "real magic" will get them all killed. Amusingly, Shuichi can play along and say that Himiko indeed used magic to escape the water tank, and Himiko will struggle to keep up the act. However, Maki and Angie will say Himiko would be more suspicious if that were the case and point out that she could have simply swapped places with Ryoma. This forces Himiko to break character and point out the actual contradiction in the Nonstop Debate. Tenko will then accuse Shuichi of manipulating her into telling the truth.
Cold Ham: Can be quite hammy at times, such as when introducing herself or doing magic, but still retains the same bored tone of voice.
Conspiracy Theorist: She believes there is a conspiracy to hide the existence of magic from the public.
Clear My Name: She happened to be accused as a murderer twice in the game, being Chapter 2 and Chapter 3's prime suspect for the murders of Ryoma Hoshi and Tenko Chabashira.
Cute Witch: A Token Mini-Moe that dresses like a witch.
Damsel out of Distress: She got trapped in a hidden room in the library by the rubble in the last chapter. However, she found the secret passageway in that room, and she manages to find her own way out.
Deadpan Snarker: After her Character Development, Himiko becomes quite the sassmaster. This is what she has to say about Miu's murder, for example:
Himiko: Killed by toilet paper... It was...a fitting end for her...
Doing In the Wizard: She is the first suspect of Chapter 2's class trial, and removing the suspicion from her involves everyone else figuring out how she vanished from the water tank in her magic show, much to Himiko's frustration, as she continually insists that she is using real magic, not tricks. Shuichi can say that Himiko really used magic to escape from the water tank, but Maki and Angie will point out that this would make Himiko more suspicious if that were true.
Embarrassing Damp Sheets: Implied. Early on, Himiko admits her fear to get up to pee at night and given her weak bladder, it’s not unlikely she gave Kirumi more laundry to do.
Everyone Has Standards: In the Ultimate Talent Development Plan, even though she's happy to finally meet someone else who believes in real magic, Gundham is so far down the chuuni rabbit hole that even she can't understand what the hell he's talking about.
Familiar: Refers to the pigeons and tiger from her shows as so, and her Love Suite fantasy involves Shuichi being a wolf given human form by her magic.
Frame-Up: Happens to her twice. In the second chapter she looks suspicious because it was during her magic trick that Ryoma's body was found (and her stubborn refusal to explain the trick doesn't help) and the culprit in the third chapter tries to pin the blame for Tenko's death on Himiko because she suggested using the middle room for the séance. It's also noted she could have killed Angie because, as a member of the Student Council, she would have been able to persuade Angie to unlock the door.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: After Chapter Four, Himiko ended up stating that she will no longer call things tiresome. However, Himiko's first three free time events with Shuichi ended up having her call things tiresome and Shuichi will still be able to access those free time events after Chapter Four. Slightly justified by the fact that it would've been a huge case of Guide Dang It! if Shuichi was unable to access those free time events after Chapter Four.
Genre Savvy: Frequently points out when other characters set "Death Flags".
Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Much like Kaede, she also likes any stuffed animals you can give her. In her case, it's likely to play on how childlike she is.
Height Angst: She mentions that she wishes her lab was on a higher floor, and Shuichi internally assumes it to be this.
Heroic BSoD: In the third trial, it's suggested that Himiko killed Tenko and Angie and she becomes so depressed she totally loses the will to defend herself and says she doesn't even care anymore if they vote for her, since her two best friends are dead. Shuichi sympathizes with Himiko and says he can relate to her after what he went through after identifying Kaede as the culprit. He reminds her of Tenko's final words and manages to pull Himiko from her despair.
Hidden Depths: A comment in Chapter Four suggests Himiko is really into soap operas.
Hypocrite: She states that she's against lying, but she constantly insists that she uses real magic, even when doing so in Chapter 2 made her even more suspicious in front of everybody. Not only that, but before her Character Development, she also lies about her emotions and tries to hide them before Kokichi calls her out for it.
Hypocritical Humor:
- She comments Miu's death by toilet paper is a "fitting end" for her, which is a little rich coming from the girl who frequently tells everyone when she's going to the bathroom and even nonchalantly admits in Chapter 5 Kaito startled her enough to make her wet herself.
- At one point, she of all people tells Keebo to stop whining, this coming from the girl who spent most of her time pre-Character Development constantly complaining about everything being "too tiring".
Incompatible Orientation: She likes Tenko as a friend, but nothing more than that. There's no indication she's anything but heterosexual.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Her final Free Time Event with Shuichi hints that she has this, as she has a hard time talking about how she ended up overcoming her master and being better at magic than they are, to the point that everybody wanted to see her at magic shows instead of her master.
Insistent Terminology: She prefers to be called a mage rather than a magician.
Irony: In Chapter 3, Korekiyo rigs all three empty rooms that he could use for the séance used to kill Tenko. By asking everyone else to make a choice between the three, he implicates Himiko for Tenko's death when she selects the middle of the three. Having a volunteer make a choice that has no effect on the outcome is a simple trick known as ''The Magician's Choice''. Even more ironic is that allowing Himiko to coincidentally select the same room that Angie was attacked in is the one greatest factor that allows Shuichi to solve the mystery of Angie's murder.
Japanese Pronouns: Uses Uchi on herself.
LARP: It appears to be what she's into.
Magic A Is Magic A: She claims that magic is not universal, but instead has very specific uses. For example, she can't make people fly up and down, but she can guess cards and coins chosen by the audience and make doves appear afterwards. If she's being serious, she can cut a human being in half.
Magical Girl: What her motif seems to be based around, but she is equally offended by Hifumi considering her one of the typical anime variety instead of a more "classic" or traditional "Mage" in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan bonus mode.
Magician Detective: Notably Averted despite the series she's in; she tends to let the others do most of the logic work in the trials and her insistence that her magic is real keeps her from revealing too many tricks without heavy prompting.
Magicians Are Wizards: Claims that her performances are real magic rather than parlor tricks, though the only one seen does have a simple explanation behind it rather than a case of Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane.
My God, What Have I Done?: Gets hit with this hard in Chapter Three after Tenko dies and when it turns out that Tenko offering to be the conduit during the séance actually saved Himiko's life, and Himiko clearly regrets giving Tenko the cold shoulder beforehand.
Nice Girl: While she can be distant and lazy, and occasionally quite harsh, Himiko is a very sweet-natured girl who wants to make others smile with her magic, after her arc she actively tries to help others and even tries to cheer up Shuichi after his fight with Kaito.
Not So Stoic: She doesn't express her feelings much because it was "too tiresome" to even do it at first. But just before Chapter 3 ended, Kokichi gave her a What the Hell, Hero? moment because she didn't actually express her emotions in the trial. She remembers Tenko's advice that it's not shameful to express them, and she finally shows her emotions by crying.
Oh, Crap!: Her reaction when the séance is complete and there is blood pooling underneath Tenko's cage...
Older Than She Looks: Yes, she is actually a high schooler.
Parental Abandonment: Not from her actual parents, but from the strong parental figure her master was.
Pet the Dog: A pre-Character Development Himiko agreed to do the magic show with Angie in order to lift everyone's spirits after Kaede's death, which is notable considering how "tiring" she found everything up to that point.
Potty Emergency: Constantly admits that she is having one. Even when Shuichi and she are investigating a bathroom, she has to kick Shuichi out.
Potty Failure: After 4 chapters of close calls, she finally wets herself in Chapter 5. Something she casually admits.
Proper Tights with a Skirt: Wears tights with her school uniform.
Recurring Element:
- The Token Mini-Moe similar to Chihiro, Chiaki, and Hiyoko before her. Unlike them, however, she survives the game.
- Also, like Byakuya and Sonia before her, she is followed around by an annoying but well-meaning Stalker with a Crush she isn't interested in. However, unlike Byakuya and Sonia, Himiko really regrets how she treated Tenko after the latter dies during the Killing Game, and Tenko's parting words kickstart her Character Development.
- She also shares Yasuhiro and Kazuichi's status as a Butt-Monkey who comes out of the Killing Game alive after all the crap that gets thrown their way.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Inverted. She wears black clothes, has a black cape with red lining, and has red hair, but is an Endearingly Dorky Cute Witch who survives the killing game.
Revenge Before Reason: In the third trial, after proving that Korekiyo killed Tenko, she spearheads the efforts to vote for him on the spot even though Angie's death is the only one that matters and he hasn't been proven responsible for killing her. Even if she does turn out to be Right for the Wrong Reasons, it's still putting rage before brains.
Say My Name: She yells Tenko's name when Tenko is killed during the séance. Later, after the third trial, she remembers Tenko's words about expressing her emotions and bawls for Tenko and Angie. In Japanese, that's the first time she's ever on First-Name Basis with her.
Signature Laugh: As befitting her Cute Witch appearance, she has a very witch-like cackle, at least in the English dub.
Shipper on Deck: She becomes very invested in the bizarre soap opera romance between Monotaro and Monophanie.
Shout-Out: Considering her witch motif, her given name references either the semi-legendary Himiko, a magic-using queen of ancient Japan or Himitsu no Akko-chan, while her surname matches up with one of the most famous anime/manga witches, Sally Yumeno.
Skewed Priorities: In the second trial, she is absurdly stubborn about explaining how she got out of the piranha tank, even though if she doesn't, she'll likely get incorrectly voted as the blackened. Because keeping a magic trick secret is way more important than your life and the lives of your classmates.
The Slacker: Before her Character Development, she was very lazy to say the least.
Small Name, Big Ego: A Downplayed example, but pre-Character Development, Himiko had a tendency to take credit for things by insisting they happened because of her magic. She grows out of this over the course of the game.
Spanner in the Works: In Chapter Three, Himiko suggests that the group hold the séance in the middle empty room. Unbeknownst to her, Korekiyo previously knocked out Angie in that room using the detached floorboard, leaving behind blood smears, which proves vitally important to pinning Korekiyo to both Angie's death and Tenko's. Ironically, Korekiyo had someone else pick the room to divert suspicion away from himself and towards the person who picked the room. Instead, it becomes the final nail in the coffin for him.
Stage Magician: Her talent and her appearance in official artwork.
Stepford Smiler: Prior to her Character Development, she constantly bottled up her emotions and didn't act extremely sad for the deaths of Angie and Tenko during their trial. It wasn't until Kokichi gives a What the Hell, Hero? moment, and Himiko remembers Tenko's advice that it's not shameful to express them, that she finally shows Tears of Remorse.
Stronger Than They Look: She has one moment of this in-game where, after it's clear something has gone terribly wrong with the séance, rushes to the cage Tenko is beneath and gets it off her (and it took both Shuichi and Kokichi to move it over in the first place). Unfortunately, it's already too late.
Survivor Guilt: After Tenko dies in the 3rd chapter as the second victim, Himiko is guilt-ridden because she never decided to express her gratitude to Tenko in response to her sentiment and general treatment of Himiko. Kaito and Shuichi then bodaciously reminds her that finding out the identity of the culprit of her death is a greater form of gratitude, along with dedicating herself to her memory by "living facing forward", toward Tenko, and decides to participate in finding out their identity. This is lampshaded by Kokchi in the 3rd trial when he mentions that Himiko never cared about Tenko until she died.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
- Both Himiko and Hiyoko Saionji from the second game are tiny girls with eccentric personalities who end up losing their much more outgoing closest friend(or in Himiko's case, friends) for a senseless reason, leaving them utterly broken and undergo Character Development as a result(although Himiko completed her arc whereas Hiyoko sadly did not). They're also Little Miss Snarker's and have elements of being a Stepford Smiler.
- Both Himiko and Chiaki Nanami also from the second game are stoic yet eccentric nice girls with very kind yet snarky personalities and plenty of adorable vocal tics, in addition, they've both voiced by Christine Marie Cabanos only adding to how cute they both are.
Thousand-Yard Stare: Himiko when discovering Tenko's corpse. She is nothing but shocked and muted. All the thoughts of her neglect toward Tenko must have played into her mind simultaneously once Himiko discovered her status as deceased.
Throw the Dog a Bone: After all the trauma she endures throughout the game (especially Chapter 3), Himiko leaves the Killing Game alive.
Token Mini-Moe: She has a quite short stature and a round face, giving her a young appearance a lot like Chihiro and Hiyoko from the previous Danganronpa games. However, unlike both of them, she manages to survive this game.
Too Much Information: She's very open about whenever she goes to the bathroom, and she is perfectly willing to admit she wet herself when Kaito startled her, much to Tsumugi's discomfort.
Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Following Chapter 3, Himiko has become more cheerful and emotionally open.
Took a Level in Jerkass: At the same time, following Chapter 3, Himiko's destructive laziness/apathy instead turns into bitter sarcasm and constant accusation of others while keeping her own values unaccounted for, which is arguably worse than what she was before.
Tranquil Fury: After being thrown by Tenko in her lab, Himiko threatens to change her into a frog...all the while keeping her bored tone and facial expression.
Trauma Conga Line: Was "sent" to the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, got her memories altered, was accused as Ryoma's killer in Chapter 2, found Angie and Tenko (her closest friend and someone who cared deeply for her, respectively) dead, witnessed Gonta's execution, and then realized that she was in a reality killing game show that she signed up for. All in the days of suffering in Danganronpa, and she was able to survive.
Two Girls and a Guy: In the finale, she and Maki are the two girls to Shuichi's guy.
Undying Loyalty: She will defend the idea that her master is the best, even if she has to undermine her own merits. She also completely denies the possibility her master can commit ordinary failures and believes she was abandoned for her own sake.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: When plugging cords in the virtual headsets to enter the virtual world in Chapter 4, Himiko helps Gonta tell the left port from the right port by telling him "right is the hand you hold your chopsticks in". Unbeknownst to her, Gonta holds his chopsticks in his left hand, causing him to mix up the consciousness and memory cords, which is suggested by Shuichi to corrupt his personality in the virtual world to the point where Kokichi was able to convince him to murder Miu (but denied by Gonta himself).
Verbal Tic: "Nyeh..."
Was Too Hard on Him: Regrets her emotionally distant attitude towards Tenko during the trial after she's killed in the séance, wishing she'd try to connect with her more.
Weak-Willed: It's implied she starts parroting Angie's ramblings about Atua because letting Angie/Atua tell her what to think is easier than making her own decisions, much to Tenko's dismay.
Womanchild: In a bit of a different way from Tenko, who's more typically very gullible and high-strung, Himiko is a rare quiet example of this. She's a high-schooler most likely in her late teens but is extremely stubborn and insistent about her status as a mage and even casually says things characteristic of someone far younger, referring at points to things like her "mommy" and the bathroom as "potty".
You Are Too Late: She tries to help Tenko and get her out of the cage as fast as possible when it's clear something has gone terribly wrong with the séance, but unfortunately, Tenko is already dead by that point.

Maki Harukawa

Ultimate Child Caregiver (Ultimate Assassin)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maki_2_0.png

"Leave me out of it."

Voiced By: Maaya Sakamoto (Japanesse), Erica Mendez (English)

A girl who grew up in an orphanage. She was made to help out while living there, and despite not being particularly good at the work and hating children, apparently the children liked her so much that she earned the title Ultimate Child Caregiver. She has an uncooperative attitude and speaks from the heart.

In reality, she is the Ultimate Assassin. She keeps her true talent hidden until the end of Chapter 2 when Kokichi Oma reveals it to everyone. After this Kaito encourages her to spend more time with him and Shuichi, turning the group into a team of three. As a result, she ends up becoming the second deuteragonist of the game and helps Shuichi infrequently with investigating.

After abstaining from voting in the final class trial along with Shuichi, Himiko, Tsumugi, and Keebo, she is spared from Keebo's sacrificial destruction of the academy and goes on to survive the killing game.

Action Girl: After her true talent as the Ultimate Assassin is revealed, it is plainly stated and shown that Maki is not only one of the most physically powerful of the characters but also extremely deadly if she chooses to be. Kokichi learns this the hard way more than once.
Adaptational Heroism: A Downplayed example. While the English dub made her have the same personality that labels her as an Anti-Hero as it did in the Japanese version, her situation with Ryoma has changed. In the Japanese dub of the game, Kokichi suggested that Maki gave him his video because of how he knows about her talent, and she wanted him to not have a reason to live. However, in the English dub of the game, Kokichi suggested that Ryoma actually blackmailed her into showing his video.
Affably Evil: Not exactly evil, but she's still an assassin, while initially hostile she becomes genuinely charming after her Character Development and was willing to die in the 6th trial to save Shuichi and Himiko.
Affectionate Nickname: Kaito calls her "Harumaki" in the Japanese version, or "Maki Roll" in the English dub. She doesn't like it at first, and her acceptance of it helps show how she's learning to open up to others more.
Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's distant towards the others and is someone who self-admittedly doesn't get along well with other people. Her first line in one of the trailers (see her quote above) reinforces this trope further.
Always Save the Girl: Maki has a tendency to put Kaito's well-being over everyone else's, culminating in her trying to murder Kokichi in Chapter Five and then keeping quiet about it until Shuichi figures out she's lying because she thought Kokichi had survived and was hoping to finally kill him if everyone incorrectly voted for him as the Blackened.
And Now for Someone Completely Different: She briefly becomes playable at the final class trial.
Angry Cheek Puff: Despite being a cold, Aloof Dark-Haired Girl Maki has the habit of pouting when she gets embarrassed (usually due to Kaito), comically puffing her cheeks to show she's Not So Stoic.
Anguished Declaration of Love: To Kaito at the end of the Fifth trial, admitting she has indeed fallen for him and begging him not to die.
Maki: I’ve never felt this way before! I’ve always fought to kill, but... this is the first time I’ve fought to protect someone! And... I’ve never... been given a nickname like "Maki Roll" before, either. And I’ve never... met someone as stubborn as you before... [starts to cry] And... I’ve never... fallen for someone before.
Anti-Hero: Sympathetic as she may be, Maki is still a ruthless assassin willing to kill anyone if she deems it necessary.
Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Her assassin background allows Maki to perform harsh acts that even Shuichi would be hesitant to do, such as crudely stabbing a sword back into a doll to preserve a crime scene. (Granted, the fact it was the Kaede doll might have had something to do with his hesitation.)
Because You Were Nice to Me: Her feelings for Kaito begin to develop because he's the only student who consistently reaches out to her and gets her involved in group activities, even after her real talent is revealed and the other students shun her for it for a while.
Becoming the Mask: Maki's talent as "Ultimate Child Caregiver" is a front to cover up that her real talent is "Ultimate Assassin". However, in her ending in Love Across the Universe, Maki explains that underlying complications are why she is the Ultimate Assassin in the first place. When Shuichi vows to prevent those complications so that she will not be the Ultimate Assassin anymore, Maki replies that she will find another job just in case, even considering becoming the Ultimate Child Caregiver for real.
Berserk Button:
- Unless you are someone she's on good terms with, do not call her "Maki Roll".
- Any perversion usually sets her off. When Shuichi emerges from the girl's bathroom she looks ready to kill him. It gets even worse when Himiko emerges shortly after. Choosing perverted dialogue options around her is always the worst possible choice.
Brutal Honesty: She's the type to say things clearly and without beating around the bush.
Bystander Syndrome: At first, Maki is fine with standing back and letting other people do the legwork during the investigations and trials, but midway through the second trial when it turns out she was the last person to see Ryoma alive, she comments that she "can't afford not to get involved anymore" and after that becomes a much more active participant, even being Shuichi's Number Two, particularly in the third chapter.
Cannot Tell a Joke: As she gets closer with Shuichi, she sometimes attempts to apply humor, though it always comes across as insults or threats.
Catchphrase:
- "Do you want to die?"
- "This is stupid." comes up frequently.
Character Development: She introduces herself as someone who doesn't get along with people and would rather avoid them. However, over time, she builds a friendship with Kaito and Shuichi and even begs Kaito to stop when he announces himself as Kokichi's killer and was about to be executed.
Character Tics: When Maki is feeling flustered, she plays with one of her twin-tails. She also bites her thumb when thinking.
Child Hater: Despite her initial talent and being supposedly well-liked by children, she claims to hate children and only took care of them because the older kids had to help take care of the younger ones at the orphanage. Kaito believes this not to be the case.
Childhood Friend Romance: One of the two who has this as their Love Suite fantasy, the other being Miu.
Color Motif: Red.
The Coroner: She acts like this in a similar way to Mikan because of the experience with dead bodies and causes of death she has. She was able to tell that Tenko's death wouldn't have been instant, but she later went along with Shuichi's lie that it was so the group would believe his lie, much to the frustration of the murderer (who was also very experienced with killing) as they were relying on that delayed reaction to help make this look like a suicide. In Miu's case, she could also tell from how the body was positioned that Miu was strangled to death, not poisoned.
Cosmic Plaything: Let's see... Grew up in an orphanage, trained to become a professional assassin and had her sense of self erased in the process, forced into a killing game where she suffers multiple other students' deaths, is avoided by others due to her assassin status, and during the killing game, has to deal with Kokichi and ends up losing Kaito, someone she falls in love with due to being the only one to treat her with any compassion. Then she finds out that she's just a fictional character for a game show and none of it was real in the first place, and has to deal with the pain of seeing the deaths of multiple people who weren't real from the start? It's no wonder Maki's lost all of her willpower.
Cult: Subverted, the Holy Salvation Society, the organization she works for, is nominally a religious cult, but this is only a front for their status as an assassination organization. None of their members actually believe in religion.
Cute Bruiser: Her aloof demeanor notwithstanding, Maki is quite adorable, and deep down, is quite a sensitive person, though she doesn't show it openly. However, she's quite physically strong, and is very irritable, making her threatening to those who dare to cross her, like, for example, Kokichi Oma.
Dark and Troubled Past: Her life was not pleasant, to be blunt.
Death Glare: She's prone to giving these every time she's pressured, which is a lot.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Much like Fuyuhiko from Danganronpa 2 (and Kyoko from the original game to a lesser extent) she is initially withdrawn, often threatening and rejects anyone's approaches, but after the reveal of her being the Ultimate Assassin and being encouraged by Kaito to train with him and Shuichi, she warms up to become more proactive. Due to the experiences with them both, she ends up falling in love with Kaito who ends up becoming The Lost Lenore to her, similar to how Peko becomes one to Fuyuhiko.
Deuteragonist: After forming a trio with Shuichi and fellow deuteragonist Kaito. Maki would take on Kaito's role as Shuichi's "assistant" whenever Kaito is indisposed, namely whenever Kaito's chronic illness gets too severe. She fully ascends to the role halfway into Chapter 5 once Kaito is captured, and she stays in the role permanently since he dies soon afterwards.
The Determinator: Her character introduction states her to be rather resolute.
The Dreaded: After she is outed as the Ultimate Assassin, the other students are fearful of Maki and paranoid she may try to kill them, even though Maki says she has no intention of doing so unless defending herself. In the fifth trial, there's a lot of confusion over who exactly is in the Exisal and, when the person inside is claiming to be Kokichi, he says he can't leave the Exisal because Maki will kill him. (When the person is acting as Kaito, he says it's because he's too injured to leave the Exisal and stand at his podium).
Devious Daggers: Maki seems to prefer knives as her weapon of choice, she's even holding one in one of her angry sprites, probably because they're easy to carry and conceal on her person.
Easily Forgiven: None of the characters seems to have a problem with Maki attempting to kill everybody in the fifth trial so she could win and survive like Kaito asked her to do, thinking she was the blackened. Even her attempts at attacking/killing Kokichi (regardless of how justified she thought it was) or the fact she's completely willing to go on with her job as an assassin if she gets out hardly get a mention from anyone else beyond her free time events.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Maki has this look to her to accentuate her intimidating aura, complete with a pair of red eyes.
Embarrassing Nickname: She doesn't like being referred to as "Maki Roll". However, later on, as she grows used to it, this becomes more Friendly Address Privileges.
Emotionless Girl: Because of her background as an assassin. She even exposits at length how the painful process of turning her into an Emotionless Girl went. She gets better as the game goes on, though.
Expressive Hair: Piss Maki off enough, and her long ponytails will split into two, making them look like four spiky tentacles coming out of her head.
Fire-Forged Friends: While she initially keeps her distance due to the nature of the killing game, she develops a bond of trust and friendship with Kaito and Shuichi.
Friend to All Children: Her talent. She is naturally that, even though she has No Social Skills and she is actually a Child Hater, kids actually seem to completely adore her. Even though it turns out that her true talent is actually the Ultimate Assassin, she wasn't lying about having to care for children at an orphanage.
Friendly Address Privileges: While she warms up to Kaito's affectionate nickname "Maki Roll" and realizes she loves the fact that he calls her that, she responds with extreme prejudice when Kokichi uses it. Eventually, she also lets Himiko call her that too.
Foreshadowing: There are lots of hints towards her true talent.
- She pretty much forbids anybody from entering her lab. The reason for that is that it would have given away her true talent.
- Kaito puts her in the strategy meeting in the first chapter simply because he feels like she is the type of person that can fight. An assassin seems way more capable of fighting than a caretaker.
- Also from the first chapter, Kokichi stated that Maki seems like the type of person who's killed someone.
Hair Color Dissonance: Maki's hair is fairly consistently brown, but the CGs and promotional artwork have some variation. Most noticeable is the image of her helping Kaito assemble a crossbow, where her hair appears to be a dark blue-green.
Hair-Trigger Temper: So much so that Shuichi's scared of her because of her foul temper, and also Played for Drama when it ends up being the direct cause of her decision to try to kill Kokichi in Chapter 5. Her being a trained assassin with a Dark and Troubled Past, it's incredibly easy to tick her off if anyone dares to mistreat her or put her through more suffering than she already has been.
I Never Said It Was Poison: A non-killer example. If Shuichi uses one of his lie bullets in Chapter Five, she states that the Exisal's hatch has an electric lock in it. That is information that only Shuichi could have known about, causing him to believe that Maki was lying about something.
Irony: As Maki herself lampshades, she's the Ultimate Child Caregiver and children love her, but she hates children. Fitting, as that isn't her real talent. In a more legitimate example of irony, she's the Ultimate Assassin but does not kill anyone in the game.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Maki can be quite cold with others without provocation, and is often uncooperative. She gets better later on and eventually comes to be this trope due to her friendship with Kaito and Shuichi and she even volunteers to die in the final trial so that Shuichi and Himiko can escape with their lives.
Katanas Are Just Better: Subverted and Parodied. She once carried around a katana in a prop case while hunting down a mark that was known for being an otaku, but while searching for him, she got caught up in an anime convention because she looked just like a cosplayer. Ever since this mishap, Maki refuses to use swords for assassination missions.
Love Hurts: While Kaito is facing execution in the fifth trial, she tearfully admits to him that she ended up falling in love with him throughout the course of the game. This comes back to bite even harder in the final trial when Tsumugi reveals to her that those emotions were intentionally implanted to help boost the show's ratings. She also shows Kaito's audition video from before everyone was brainwashed, revealing that Kaito was actually a Jerkass who joined the Killing Game because he wanted to kill people for fame and money.
Love Interest: For Kaito.
Luminescent Blush: In Chapter Three, while the group are deciding on where to do a séance to speak to the dead students, Kaito gets so freaked out he panics and grabs the nearest person to him, much to Maki's embarrassment when he traps her in a Bear Hug.
Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: She's the masculine girl to Shinichi's feminine boy.
Metaphorically True: She is an Ultimate and had to take care of children while in the orphanage, making her a caregiver. However, she was not actually the Ultimate Child Caregiver.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Maki is depicted as looking like an average, slim girl, but she reveals herself to be more than strong enough to hoist Kokichi's 97 lbs weight with a single arm, and can do hundreds of pushups without breaking a sweat due to her assassin training.
Mythology Gag: She looks suspiciously similar to one of Komaru Naegi's early designs.
My God, What Have I Done?: She has this reaction when Kaito takes the second poisoned arrow she shot to prevent her from getting executed. More subtly, she's horrified when she reacts to the news that both her feelings for Kaito and her belief that Kokichi was part of Ultimate Despair had been implanted in her, meaning that she'd been an Unwitting Pawn to Team Danganronpa, especially in the days leading up to Kokichi's death.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Maki is written with kanji meaning "demon princess".
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Given her early status as one of the more antagonistic classmates. Her giving Ryoma his empty video led Kokichi to assume she did it because Ryoma knew too much, be suspicious of her, and then manage to have her talent of "Ultimate Assassin" be outed to everybody.
Nightmare Face: In Chapter 5's trial, Maki gives an impressive Death Glare with glowing red eyes, along with hair so expressive that it turns into a jagged mess.
No Sense of Humor: Nearly all of Kaito and Shuichi's attempts at cracking jokes with her fail to get through, as Maki either doesn't understand they are joking, or she simply responds with annoyance.
No Social Skills: She is not very sociable and doesn't really like people in general. Children still seem to like her though.
NPC Roadblock: After her laboratory becomes available in Chapter 2, she stands guard outside and refuses to let anyone enter because if they saw the inside, her real talent would be revealed.
Pay Evil unto Evil: What her job as an assassin entails. She also invokes this by saying she won't kill the other students unless they try to kill her first. This is also her reason for trying to kill Kokichi in Chapter 5, firmly believing him to be the true mastermind and trying to force him to release Kaito as his hostage.
Poison and Cure Gambit: During Chapter 5, Maki steals a slow-acting poison from Shuichi's Study Center and uses it on Kokichi to interrogate him after he claims to be the mastermind. She later admits that she never intended to give him an antidote. However, when she accidentally poisons Kaito, she is forced to run away from the crime scene to fetch it.
Precision F-Strike: While she doesn't usually swear, at one point in Chapter 5, she, under the impression that the person in the Exisal is Kokichi, does this to him.
Maki: You... fuckin' asshole!
Professional Killer: Her true talent, to the point she can act somewhat like The Coroner during investigations due to her familiarity with various causes of death.
Recurring Element: A character with a hidden ultimate talent involving murder, like Toko Fukawa/Genocide Jill, the Ultimate Writing Prodigy & Ultimate Murderous Fiend, and Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman, and a trained mafia hitman/bodyguard. Like the others, her identity is revealed during Chapter 2, but unlike those before her, it was only after the trial rather than during it.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Downplayed. She's an assassin who has killed more people than she can count, but she isn't quite devoid of empathy and she makes it out of the killing game with her head on her shoulders.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: She is an assassin with red eyes.
Revenge Before Reason: Chapter 5 is this by a mile. Trying to kill Kokichi, whom she believes is the mastermind, in order to save Kaito from his grasp when he traps them both in the Exisal hangar is basically the instigator for the conflict in Chapter 5. She completely disregards any sort of rationality just so she can have her revenge, even being willing to sacrifice herself and the remaining students, and her chronic decision to do this forces Kaito to take one of her two poison arrows so she doesn't get executed as the culprit of Kokichi's murder. Eventually, it leads to Kokichi being able to take advantage of Kaito by blackmailing him with her life into his unsolvable murder plan and faking Kaito's death while hiding his own.
Sailor Fuku: She wears a red uniform with a yellow tie and a black skirt.
Smarter Than You Look: Though Maki is a violent assassin with a Hair-Trigger Temper (and made one severe lapse in judgment during Chapter 5), she is among the sharpest students in the cast and is able to make social deductions regarding the others much quicker than even Korekiyo can. She's already distrustful of others, so she's learnt not to take things at face value. As an example, she is the first to outright call Kiyo's séance for Angie in Chapter 3 a sham (and she turns out to have been Right for the Wrong Reasons in that regard).
Stern Teacher: In a way, as she occasionally scolds Shuichi about his hesitation, but she also compliments him when he does well.
The Stoic: Her emotional range seems to be rather limited, with the most being contained annoyance, up until her breakdown at the end of the fifth trial. Might have something to do with being the Ultimate Assassin.
Take Me Instead: The reason Maki became an assassin was so that her childhood friend wouldn't be chosen to become one instead, wanting to keep her friend untainted.
- In the final chapter, Maki even offers to die with Keebo so that Shuichi and Himiko can escape the killing game.
Took a Level in Kindness: As part of her Character Development. In every chapter she opens up more and more towards Kaito and Shuichi, eventually becoming one of the group's most helpful and reliable allies.
Tsundere: She shows hints of this towards Kaito from the second chapter onward, referring to him as "that idiot" but generally allowing him to drag her into various activities. She even drops this classic Tsundere line in the second trial:
Maki: It's not like I owe that idiot a favor for defending me... but that hopeless idiot may have encouraged me a bit.
Two Girls and a Guy: In the finale, she and Himiko are the two girls to Shuichi's guy.
Two Guys and a Girl: Her dynamic with Shuichi and Kaito, for a while. She even attempts to get them to mend their friendship when Kaito starts giving Shuichi the cold shoulder after the fourth trial.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: Harm Kaito and heaven help you. Maki is actually Deconstructed Character Archetype of this trope, as all her attempts to protect Kaito in Chapter Five actually make everything worse and it turns out that it was all futile anyway because Kaito was Secretly Dying the entire time.
Walking Spoiler: To an extent. Her role in the story changes once her true talent is revealed and a large part of her backstory has to deal with that said talent.
Waif-Fu: Despite being a thin, small girl, Maki has absolutely no problem kicking ass and in fact, she regularly outdoes both Shuichi and Kaito in their training sessions without even breaking a sweat.
When She Smiles: Maki only has two sprites where she's smiling. They're never seen throughout the first half of the game, and she only starts smiling infrequently after she's developed her friendship with Kaito and Shuichi. However, throughout trial 6s investigation she's shown to be smiling far more frequently and during the ending is shown to be smiling at her ordeal finally being over.

Tenko Chabashira

Ultimate Aikido Master

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tenko.png

"Master told me that strength must always be aimed in the proper direction!"

Voiced By: Sora Tokui (Japanese), Julie Ann Taylor (English)

A user of "Neo-Aikido", a school of martial arts developed by her and her master. She has a cheery, energetic demeanor, and tends to make kiai yells in normal conversation. She enjoys the company of other women, but despises men—not only will she reject compliments from men, but she'll also even reflexively throw any man who touches her.

She forms some kind of friendship (built off of one-sided romantic attraction) with Himiko early on in the game, which begins to fall apart when Himiko starts to find more comfort around Angie. When Angie forms a student council, Tenko reluctantly joins in the hopes of salvaging her waning friendship with Himiko. She is the second victim of Chapter 3, stabbed in the neck while participating in Korekiyo Shinguji's séance, which was a death trap in disguise.

Action Girl: She's one badass Aikido Master. She even states she's confident she can defeat any other student in battle, save for Gonta.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Despite Shuichi being a "degenerate male" and previously having misgivings about Maki thanks to her talent, Tenko is still willing to put all that aside and beg them for their help in convincing Angie not to do the resurrection ritual.
The Alcoholic: Not Tenko herself, but she is implied to have an alcoholic father with this comment:
Tenko: You're as annoying as my drunk father's complaints!
All Men Are Perverts: Tenko expresses this clearly in any moment involving a boy being in accusation of something that would make him an enemy of the group, as she specifically uses the word "degenerate" to describe boys. Whenever a boy tries to defend himself, she ignores his actual reasoning and assumes he's trying to save face. Her discord between males and their pervertedness is hypocritical (a factor she decides not to control) and ironic (a factor the producers forced): she acts extremely perverted toward Himiko, and excuses Miu's behaviour because she's female. The irony behind this trait of hers is that she has two scenes featuring her in a state of public indecency in a swimsuit and then completely nude. Doubly ironic is how they both happen at the pool area, the place where she stated that girls in swimsuits trigger a man's perverted tendencies more than girls who are naked and where she also revealed that she's inexperienced with swimming.
Always Save the Girl: During the second trial, Tenko continuously defends Himiko when she's being questioned, as it was during her magic show that Ryoma's body was found and thus she looks the most suspicious. When Angie points out that if Himiko is the blackened and they don't correctly vote for her, then everyone will die, Tenko responds that she's fine with that because she'd rather be dead than not believe in Himiko.
Ambiguously Bi: Tenko is a rare case of the ambiguity being on the heterosexual side. She very clearly likes girls, but in her Love Suite Event with Shuichi, Tenko sees him as a fellow Neo-Aikido practitioner who has defeated her in a Best Her to Bed Her duel, so she tries to coax him into doing whatever he wants to her as a result. When Shuichi hesitates to take up the offer, Tenko gets frustrated and then admits that she challenged him because she is in love with him, and she gets giddy after confessing. This suggests that Tenko is at least more willing to tolerate boys who take up Neo-Aikido, if not that she has a romantic attraction to boys that is repressed because of what her master taught her.
Amazon Chaser: It's pretty clear in the Bonus Modes she has a crush on Sakura, due to her strength and can barely contain herself when she compliments her.
Anger Born of Worry: At one point, Tenko actually becomes frustrated enough with Himiko blindly following Angie that she actually yells at her, saying that if she can't see that she's being brainwashed by Angie, then she's not a real mage at all. She feels terrible about this, of course, but it's implied her words do get through to Himiko somewhat and they mend their friendship for a little while before Tenko is killed not long afterwards.
Anime Hair: Her twin tails are in some sort of loop.
Anything but That!: During the Ultimate Summer Camp, she admits she's rather be dealing with a degenerate male then listen to a lecture from Kirumi.
Appearance Angst: If Kaede chooses to compliment her body during her Free Time, Tenko denies it and shows a lack of confidence in her form by insulting it. This is also a case of I Am Not Pretty, what with it being a denial of her own beauty.
Kaede: You have a great body.
Tenko: What are you talking about!? I've got stubby limbs and a long torso like a weiner dog!
Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: During her Love Suite event, Tenko tries to get Shuichi to "do whatever he wants to her", and is frustrated when he states that he doesn't want to do anything to her.
Bad Liar: Not quite on par with Kaede or Miu, but Tenko is a straightforward person and is very unconvincing when she joins Angie's cult - Korekiyo even comments that he could tell Tenko was lying, but he admired her for infiltrating the group to protect Himiko.
Be Careful What You Wish For:
- Thanks to her jealousy over the bond between Himiko and Angie, Tenko confesses that she's wanted Angie gone for some time, but she's horrified when that comes true and Angie dies shortly after she admits her feelings to Shuichi and Maki.
- She also states she'd rather die than see Himiko get killed. Guess what happens to her.
Best Her to Bed Her: Her Love Suite fantasy, which goes both ways. If Shuichi defeats her, he can do whatever he wants to her, and the inverse applies if Tenko beats him. The fantasy begins after her defeat, and she's frustrated with Shuichi's unwillingness to do anything to her, which then leads to her admitting that she challenged him because she is in love with him.
Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has noticeably thicker eyebrows than most of the other characters in the game.
Big Sister Worship: During the Ultimate Summer Camp, she comes to truly idolize Hiroko. Something Hiroko isn't particularly comfortable about.
Blasphemous Boast: When Angie says Atua will get angry if he is not praised:
Tenko: Screw Atua! That guy's got nothing on me!
Brainless Beauty: While she's attractive enough for Kaede to call her cute in her introduction, Tenko's thoughts are disorganized and she knows that they are, but doesn't know how to solve her problem with thinking despite being an Aikido Master. However, in spite of the secondary clause, Tenko explains that her Aikido training allows her a mental fortitude mighty enough to allow her to not succumb to Angie's cult.
Breaking Old Trends:
- Tenko would really like to be in the "female friends who quickly form a powerful bond over the course of the game" character set with Himiko, like Aoi and Sakura or Mahiru and Hiyoko from previous games, but Himiko's having none of it. Even though Tenko's last words and death do motivate Himiko to express herself more and try harder, the two still weren't nearly as close as the previous examples, making this "relationship" seem far more off-balanced.
- The previous two Stalker with a Crush characters (Toko and Kazuichi) survived their respective games. Tenko is not so lucky.
Brutal Honesty: A given. Even outside of her prejudicial statements, she's generally got a very sharp tongue, and she's not afraid to use it.
Buxom Beauty Standard: She has a buxom figure, and Kaede even compliments her for having a great body. Ironically, Himiko is also show to be envious of her figure, which means Tenko's large breasts are actually a negative point when it comes to her wanting to get closer to Himiko.
Catchphrase Insult: "Degenerate male."
Chivalrous Pervert: She is shown to have a perverted side towards other women, yet has the desire to protect them from harm.
Clear My Name: When Himiko is the prime suspect for Chapter Two's murder, Tenko is her staunchest supporter and passionately declares she cannot believe Himiko would do something like that, something that Himiko seems rather touched by. Later, Himiko returns the favor in Chapter Three when it's speculated Tenko killed Angie and then herself out of shame.
Himiko: Tenko's not that kind of person!
Comically Missing the Point: Very much so during her interaction with Chihiro and Mondo during Ultimate Summer Camp. she goes off ad Mondo for "harassing" Chihiro. But once Chihiro steps in and leaves subtle clues about his true gender to her before they leave, her final conclusion was that Chihiro is actually a tomboy.
Compliment Backfire: She gushes a lot about how small and cute Himiko is, but Himiko is implied to be self-conscious of her childlike figure and gets annoyed with Tenko drawing attention to it.
Cool Big Sis: She acts this way whenever she can keep her mind out of the gutter while she's with Himiko.
Covert Pervert: She blushes a lot when Kaito mentions that he passed out in the girl's bathroom and is disappointed that Shuichi doesn't take her up on her offer to do whatever he wants to her in their Love Suite scene. This isn't even touching on her behavior with Himiko either, though in that case it's implied Tenko is downright oblivious to the nature of her feelings.
Cuteness Proximity: Despite being quite tomboyish, Tenko still loves cute things and gushes over anything cute she sees, particularly Himiko.
Death by Irony: Her Catchphrase Insult is "degenerate male", and yet she dies because, for Himiko's sake, she puts her trust in a male who it turns out can truly and safely be regarded as a "degenerate".
Declaration of Protection: Repeatedly declares this for Himiko. Tragically, she technically succeeds, as her taking Himiko's place in the séance after Angie dies ends up saving Himiko's life at the cost of her own. Himiko even survives the killing game.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Progressively warms up to Shuichi in her Free Time Events as she assumes he is interested in learning Neo-Aikido, and by the end of her Free Time Events, considers him a "brother-in-arms". She still refuses to shake his hand though.
Determinator: Tenko herself notes that she has a low pain tolerance and freaks out at the notion of inflicting Cold-Blooded Torture on suspects... but when she's stabbed in the neck during the séance, she doesn't make any sound during it, because Korekiyo told her it would interfere with Angie's spirit entering her body.
Does Not Like Men: Her defining quirk. She even refers to the boys as "degenerate males" ^noteIn the Japanese version, she calls them "男死" (the word "boys", but with the kanji for "child" replaced for the kanji for "death"). Her Free Time Events make her come to terms with the fact that good males do exist, although she claims she would still only trust those that devote themselves to Neo-Aikido. That being said even if she does think Shuichi could apply for that exception she still freaks out and demands he get a sex change in order for her to feel comfortable with shaking his hand.
- During the Ultimate Summer Camp, she shows signs that she is developing respect for Nekomaru, but still refuses to team up with him since he is a male.
Driven to Suicide: This is brought up as a possible cause of her death by Maki during the third trial, with Kokichi going on to theorize she killed Angie and couldn't handle the guilt. Turns out to be false, however.
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: One of her upset sprites has such, combined with Tranquil Fury and Death Glare mixed altogether.
Dumb Muscle: She's powerful in physical terms with her Neo-Aikido, but is quite gullible, believing everything her master told her about Neo-Aikido's weaknesses, such as eating too much candy, keeping her room dirty, getting too excited about holidays, and coming in contact with males (the kicker being that her master is a male! And it is suggested that her master was even joking around when saying this!)
Emotional Bruiser: She's a martial artist who wears her feelings on her sleeve, and is quick to sympathize or cry with the deaths of the killing game. This is perhaps most notably demonstrated in how she's one of the students who jumped in to fight the Exisals in order to stop them from dragging Kaede to her execution. She sympathizes easily with suspects, victims and culprits alike, which puts her in an interesting situation in Chapter 2 where she's saddened by Ryoma's death, staunchly believes that Himiko is not the killer and blindly defends her to the point of becoming one of the case's biggest oppositions, and yet also encourages Kirumi to run away from her punishment because she was swayed by her words all in the same case. This trait is so strong with Tenko that she's somehow combined the "Emotional" and "Bruiser" into a martial arts technique in and of itself - as shown in Chapter 3, she's able to get a read on people's emotions and even insecurities from tossing them, which she does with both Shuichi and Himiko and follows with giving them support and advice.
The Empath: Uniquely, Tenko seems to be able to read people's feelings by throwing them with Neo-Aikido, as shown when she throws Himiko and Shuichi in Chapter 3.
Establishing Character Moment: She has one when you speak to her as Kaede, with Tenko enthusiastically yelling to build up her energy, before introducing herself as the Ultimate Aikido Master. She blushes when complimented by Kaede, but when Shuichi agrees with her that Tenko is cute, her face turns to one of absolute disgust and she says she doesn't like being praised by degenerate males.
Everyone Can See It: Oddly, though several characters note her crush on Himiko and it's even brought up as a possible motive if she killed Angie, Tenko requests of Kaede in their Free Time events that she does not tell Himiko about it.
Everyone Has Standards:
- Despite her distaste for "degenerate males", she's as upset and shocked at Rantaro and Ryoma's deaths as everyone else.
- Though she wants to protect her fellow females and always prioritizes them over the boys, she's pretty distrustful of Maki for a while after she's outed by Kokichi as the Ultimate Assassin. She's also willing to work with Shuichi to stop Angie's cult.
- Though she has a crush on Himiko and tends to back Himiko up whether she's in the right or wrong, even Tenko is willing to call Himiko out when she gets frustrated with Himiko bottling up her emotions and blindly following Angie.
Failed a Spot Check: Tenko developed her misandry because of what her master taught her about making contact with boys, without even recognising that her master is male.
Fatal Flaw: Her protectiveness of Himiko directly results in her death, but Tenko herself makes a heated statement in the second trial she's okay with dying if it meant Himiko could live through the Killing Game, to the point she also would be alright with condemning all of them to death had Himiko ever been a culprit. After she cools down the next day she harshly condemns her own weak will for saying that, but it's still a very dangerous thing she said.
Flanderization: Her misandry is much harsher in the Love Across the Universe bonus mode than it is in the story proper, to the point where she sincerely wishes for the genocide of all males on Earth. This is in stark contrast to the main story, where she's upset at her male classmates' deaths and is staunchly against the murder of anyone for any reason.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Downplayed. Tenko isn't particularly hated by her classmates and they are willing to work alongside her, but to say they respect her on equal grounds is pushing it. Considering how she often acts like a jerk (one who has good intentions, that is) and is incredibly biased in how she behaves around her friends, this is an understandable response on their part.
Genki Girl: She has an upbeat demeanor most of the time and a lot of energetic-looking sprites. When she was a child, she was so hyperactive and her tantrums were so severe that her parents ended up moving her into a Buddhist temple; they were afraid that she wouldn't be able to interact with people normally if she didn't learn to calm her mind.
Go Mad from the Revelation: Parodied in her fourth Free Time Event with Shuichi, where Shuichi points out that her master - who is suggested to be joking when saying that a boy touching Tenko makes her weaker, thus instilling her dislike for "degenerate males" - is a male himself. Tenko, having failed to realize this up until now, freaks out and runs away screaming.
Good Parents: In her second Free Time Event with Shuichi, she briefly mentions having loving parents who were very concerned about her lack of self-control, and sent her to a Buddhist temple to learn to calm down.
Green-Eyed Monster: Tenko is visibly jealous when Himiko starts preferring the company of Angie over her, though her jealousy does take something of a backseat to Tenko's legitimate concerns that Himiko is becoming more and more detached from reality the more she gets involved with Angie and her sermons about Atua.
Hair Color Dissonance: Her hair is pretty consistently black, but it looks green in a couple of scenes, such as the 'Insect Meet and Greet', 'The Amazing Himko's Magic Show', and 'Everywhere Parasol' CGs in Chapter Two, with the 'Man's Fantasy' CGs in Chapter Three.
Hair-Trigger Temper: In her Free Time Event with Shuichi, she confesses she has had anger issues since she was a child and would go on anger tantrums on a whim. Her parents sent her to a temple in order to help her "discipline" her mind. While she claims she's now "calm and composed" she clearly still have anger issues that come forth whenever "degenarate males" come up.
Hero Ball: Tenko, who typically uses false judgment to determine which males are and aren't trustworthy from the start, decides to trust the Obviously Evil male Korekiyo Shinguji who is constantly openly suspicious, of whom she already knows is suspicious, in a séance ceremony, and even completely entrusts herself to him to the point of following his every instruction and getting trapped underneath the cage as a result. This sudden case of idiotic trust on her part is practically what ends up killing her since she left herself wide open for Korekiyo to target.
Heroic Sacrifice: She manages to pull this off accidentally. During the séance, Korekiyo announces he needs a conduit for Angie's spirit to enter. Himiko volunteers, but Tenko takes her place so that Himiko will be able to say goodbye to her, inadvertently getting into the death trap Kiyo had set.
Hypocrite: She has a massive case of Double Standards between her and the other girls and the guys around her, which naturally results in this sort of behavior. While she's quick to treat the guys as all being dangerous she is the most overtly violent member of the cast to act with very little warning or provocation, unlike say Kaito or Maki, as best seen during her very first free time event. Not to mention the issue of her accusing the men of all being perverts, even though she and Miu (whom she doesn't complain about) are both much more obviously guilty of acting with their minds in the gutter and making others uncomfortable as a result of this, particularly where Himiko is involved.
Hypocrite Has a Point: While she seems to be mainly saying it out of jealousy and her own tendencies towards Himiko are somewhat invasive, Tenko's right when she points out that Himiko's friendship with Angie is unhealthy because Himiko simply goes along with everything Angie says because she's too apathetic to think for herself.
Hypocritical Humor:
- Tenko is very quick to accuse "degenerate males" of being perverts, even though Tenko is quite clearly a Covert Pervert herself.
- In Chapter 2, she criticizes the other students for always ordering Kirumi around and giving her too much work to do... then immediately orders Kirumi to make tripe hot pot for herself and Himiko.
- She asks Kaede during their first Free Time Event how she can be so naïve for her reasonable assertion that Shuichi most likely isn't a pervert, when Tenko is one of the most gullible characters in the entire game.
I Am Not Pretty: Despite being attractive, Tenko seems to have low-self esteem. When Kaede complements her appearance in their support, Tenko will just retort with a self-deprecating comment:
- Compliment her smile:
Kaede: Your smile is charming!
Tenko: My smile is crude and vulgar! And when I laugh, my mouth takes up my whole face!
- Compliment her body:
Kaede: You have a great body!
Tenko: What are you talking about!? I've got stubby limbs and a long torso like a weiner dog!
Kaede: ...Someone who hears that might think you're being sarcastic, and get offended...
If It's You, It's Okay: Probably. Given her misandry and her one-sided fondness for Himiko, it is clear that Tenko likes women. However, her fifth Free Time Event suggests that she is at least more willing to tolerate boys if they take up Neo-Aikido, but even so, she is still uncomfortable with them touching her. Her Love Suite Event also suggests that she might have some romantic attraction to boys, but she heavily represses it because her master told her that a boy touching her would make her moves weaker. It is also suggested that her master, a male, was joking around when he said this, and Tenko just convinced herself to take this at face value.
Insane Troll Logic: Often comes up with her prejudice against males. For instance, in Chapter Three, Shuichi greets her in the morning and Tenko says good morning... to Maki. When Kaito asks why she's ignoring Shuichi, she claims it's good manners to greet girls before degenerate males, even though Maki didn't even speak to her.
Irony:
- She makes a show of hating men and suspecting them of all kinds of wrongdoing, but the only trials she participated in had female perpetrators who murdered male victims; on top of that, her eventual killer has a female tulpa, and wants to send only female friends to his sister's ghost. And even the mastermind of the killing game is a woman as well.
- Despite being a Neo-Aikido practitioner, she claims during the first trial when Korekiyo suggests inflicting Cold-Blooded Torture on the suspects that her pain tolerance is actually really low.
- She clashes with Angie several times over the course of the game, but they are both killed in the same chapter by the same person in a very similar way, a stab wound to the neck from inside a Locked Room Mystery.
- Despite considering them "degenerate males", out of all the characters, Tenko is the most similar personality-wise to Gonta and Kaito.
- Interestingly enough, despite her contempt for males, in the Japanese version, she addresses them with the same level of respect as her female classmates, using last names and the "-san" honorific (by comparison, even some of the polite classmates, like Kaede and Shuichi, use "-kun" on boys and "-san" on girls).
I Wished You Were Dead: On the night of Angie's and before Tenko's deaths, Tenko admits to Maki and Shuichi that she had been wanting Angie to disappear for a while.
[Tenko explains what makes Angie so dangerous]
Maki: And that's why you want me to kill her?
Shuichi: Huh?!
Maki: Asking someone like me for a 'favor' can only mean one thing.
Tenko: ...I ...won't deny that. I've wanted her gone even before all this happened... And I think everyone has wanted someone to die at least once in their life... But going through with it is a different thing! It's wrong to commit murder! It doesn't matter what the reason is!
Maki: Do you... realize who you're talking to?
Tenko: Oh! I'm so sorry! That's not what I meant...
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tenko says a lot of bad things about the "degenerate males", going as far as to suggest snapping Shuichi's spine (as a "pre-emptive strike") in her first Free Time Event with Kaede, and in her first Free Time Event with Shuichi, she knocks him out cold over making contact with her, though she does at least carry him back to his room afterwards. That said, she's also very empathetic, incredibly supportive towards her fellow girls, tries to give good advice, and sticks up for Himiko and Shuichi multiple times, and as said under Pretend Prejudice, she's still generally capable of caring about and getting along with boys in spite of all her sexist talk. Underneath the cartoonish misandry (the result of taking at face value her master's tongue-in-cheek teaching that allowing a boy to touch her would weaken her fighting abilities), Tenko is less a genuinely hateful person as much as she is a sweet girl with some childlike misguided ideas her own actions often seem to belie.
Jerkass to One:
- An inversion where she is a jerkass to all men, she shows a more compassionate side towards Shuichi. As shown after Kaede's execution, she encourages him not to be too hard on himself for her death and even stands up for him when the others are being insensitive about it. This is played again in Chapter 2 when he joins everyone for breakfast for the first time, she tells off Kaito and Kokichi for being insensitive towards him. This is further demonstrated during the free time events where she says he's different from the other males during their positive interactions.
- Played more straight where she is more polite around the female ultimates, but she is a jerkass towards Angie, showing her jealousy with her friendship with Himiko.
Knight Templar: Tenko genuinely wants to protect other girls, but she becomes a fanatical misandrist to do so because she believes it's her only option.
Lesbian Jock: Her ultimate talent is one of athleticism, and she makes it very clear throughout the game that she is only attracted to women.
Lights Off, Somebody Dies: She is killed in the company of multiple people while they are all participating in a séance in a pitch-black room.
Locked Room Mystery: She is somehow stabbed to death while crouching down inside a cage. The culprit tampered with the floorboards and used the one Tenko was sitting on as a see-saw to launch her upwards into the blade that was planted in the cage.
Loving Bully: At one point, she tells Himiko that she isn't a real mage in an attempt to anger her into expressing herself and break out of her emotional shell.
Luminescent Blush: When Kaede compliments her cuteness, Tenko blushes really hard.
Meaningful Name:
- Tenko can be read as "rolling child", referring to her talent, as Aikido includes various rolling techniques.
- "Chabashira" is a Japanese superstition that says if you find a stalk standing upright on your teacup, you will have luck if you take it off and don't let anyone know you have it. Our Chabashira, however, is completely against hiding her expression and dies right after stating it.
The Mole: Downplayed. She joins Angie's cult in Chapter 3 because she worries about Himiko's state of mind. She never actually buys into the religion of Atua. Angie finds out after Tenko tries to convince her to not resurrect the dead using the Necronomicon, and Angie's only response is to express mild regret and hope that Tenko reconsiders her loyalty.
Moral Myopia: She accuses everyone of "picking on" Himiko when they start pressuring her about how her magic show worked, but it doesn't seem to occur to Tenko how selfish Himiko is being by refusing to co-operate since they could very well die if they don't figure it out.
Ms. Fanservice: Ironically, Tenko is another female source of appeal for the male fans of the game. Doubly ironic, her expressive distrust for males is somewhat serviceable for females who share the same mindset. Additionally, she's shown without upper clothing in Toplessness from the Back angles to the viewer in two graphics, and the Sideboob exposed gives a very clear view of the rather impressive size of her breasts.
Murder the Hypotenuse: Averted - it's theorized during Chapter Three's trial that Tenko could've murdered Angie over her jealousy over Himiko, then committed suicide in the cage out of shame, but eventually it's ruled as impossible because if Tenko killed herself, the weapon would still be inside the cage since, much to Korekiyo's frustration, Maki lied and told them her death would've been too quick to toss it away.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Despite her being a master martial aritst and show to be fairly athletic and strong, she has very little muscle mass.
My God, What Have I Done?: When she argues with Himiko about going along with everything Angie says and refusing to think for herself, she's immediately remorseful for yelling at her, but Shuichi and Maki tell Tenko that Himiko probably needed to hear it.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Like Ishimaru and Ibuki before her, Tenko ultimately gets killed because of her altruism - when she decides to put aside her jealousy and volunteers to become the conduit so that Himiko can say goodbye to Angie, she unwittingly gets into a death trap set for Himiko. At least her death isn't completely pointless, as Himiko goes on to survive the game.
No-Sell: Tenko claims her Neo-Aikido training means that she has the mental fortitude to resist any brainwashing, meaning that she was always simply faking believing in Atua. Of course, Tenko is unaware that she and everyone else have already been brainwashed from the beginning...
Noble Bigot: Despite her vocal hatred toward men, she is still a good person. And then there are her occasional Pet the Dog moments toward Shuichi, even though she admits he never really becomes a true "exception" for her like her master is.
Oh, Crap!:
- During her free time, she reacts this way when Shuichi reminds her that her master is male.
- Played for laughs during Ultimate Summer Camp, but she reacts this way whenever Kirumi is mentioned, being scared of getting one of her lectures.
Opposites Attract: The energetic, outspoken, Neo-Aikido practitioner Tenko is attracted to the apathetic, deadpan magician Himiko. Perhaps as something of a Deconstruction of this trope, Himiko doesn't reciprocate Tenko's feelings and only starts to regret ignoring her once Tenko is dead.
Parasol of Prettiness: She uses one in the "Faux Celebrity" event to, as the title suggests, pretend to be a celebrity in the academy's pool area more effectively. She only gets that parasol thanks to Shuichi finding it via the Monomono Machine himself, not that she shows much gratitude herself, of course, directing it to Kirumi instead.
Pet the Dog:
- After Kaede's execution in the first trial, Shuichi enters a serious Heroic BSoD and asks that the others leave him alone in the courtroom for a while. Tenko offers Shuichi some encouraging words and tells him not to blame himself for her death.
- Shortly after that, Tenko chides Kaito and Kokichi for making a big deal about Shuichi not wearing his hat after Kaede's death and tells them to back off and leave him to grieve.
- After reading Shuichi's emotions after throwing him, she comments that Shuichi is still lacking in self-esteem and offers to train with him in order to help him believe in himself.
- Despite fighting with Angie over Himiko throughout the second chapter onward and not believing in séances, she still volunteers to be the conduit so that Himiko and the other students can say goodbye to her. Unfortunately, this act of kindness results in Tenko's death.
Pretend Prejudice: For all her talk about hating males, it's noticeable that when push comes to shove her actions really don't back it up. She readily co-operates with Kaito and Gonta in Chapter 1, is just as distraught over the male deaths as anyone else, shows concern and even defensiveness toward Shuichi at numerous points, as well as quickly telling him trusted information in her Free Time Events and generally having a fair amount of scenes where she gets along with him just fine. It makes complete sense, given that Tenko's misandrist talk doesn't come from any kind of actual trauma like Mahiru's attitude with boys did, it's more just an absurd idea she's convinced herself she needs to believe because her master said so. She is still very genuinely uncomfortable with making contact with them, but at the end of the day Tenko's disdain for boys is more an idea she's forced herself to believe than something born of genuine dislike, and she spends much of her last Free Time Event with Shuichi making excuses for liking males such as him or her master that still fit within her Insane Troll Logic. Her Love Suite Event also suggests that she may have some romantic attraction to boys (or at least those who practice Neo-Aikido), but she heavily represses it because of what her master told her.
Recurring Element:
- Actually continues the tradition of Kiyotaka and Hiyoko from the previous two games, being a character who's shaken by a previous death and seems to be headed for Character Development, but is killed off in Chapter 3. She's even the second to have her body discovered, like the aforementioned two although in this case, it's clear that Tenko died second.
- She serves as the token "character with an unrequited crush that leads them to stalking the obviously uninterested party" character like Toko and Kazuichi, much to her frustration and sadness. The target of her affections is shown to like her more than in the previous cases though, but only after Tenko's dead.
- Just like Mahiru from the previous main installment, she becomes a very severe source of unwavering regret in the memory of a surviving participant, similarly to the Lost Lenore of Shuichi, Kaede. In Tenko's case, the similarity is even higher, since she's very notable for her harsh attitude towards boys and the survivor she's connected to is notable for their childish appearance.
- After Sakura and Peko, she is the third person to die for the sake of another (Sakura for Aoi, Peko for Fuyuhiko) who ultimately survives the killing game.
Rummage Sale Reject: Tenko's outfit is described as a "fashion disaster" in her profile and that she added the extra frills to her skirt to try and look more attractive to girls, as well as wearing several hair accessories at the same time, a collar with a bell on it and socks with her waraji.
Screaming Warrior: She screams and shouts a lot when practing or using her Aikido.
Shameless Fanservice Girl: This girl has zero problems flaunting her body, despite her dislike for men, who'd be most attracted to that sort of behavior. Considering this, she probably does it to drawn in girls instead of guys, to have a... particular effect.
Shipping Torpedo: In a Downplayed way, but in her Free Time with Kaede she tries to warn the girl to be careful around Shuichi as he's a degenerate male. However, after the trial she comes to realize just how much Kaede meant to him and is one of the most understanding students when he is grieving her loss, and mentions Kaede's wish to Shuichi when he becomes uncertain of himself.
Shy Finger-Twiddling: Downplayed as Tenko isn't remotely "shy", but she often does this gesture in her 'nervous' sprite, complete with an awkward smile.
Signature Headgear: A pink headband with a star design, and a green shuriken with many different symbols painted onto it.
Stalker with a Crush: For Himiko. She's constantly following Himiko around (even in the map), often bugging her for attention, and stares closely at her face all the time. Himiko is clearly unnerved by all this.
Super Drowning Skills: The moment the pool area is unlocked, she reveals that she is unable to swim, something she seems to consider very shameful. During the Ultimate Talent Development Plan, she's been taking swimming lessons from Hina.
Super Gullible: She will believe anything that was said by her master, even if it is in jest, such as that her Neo-Aikido powers can get weakened by getting too excited for holidays, eating more than three sweets per day, or touching men. Note that the last thing is what ended up contributing to her disdain for men despite her mentor also being male, and she was still gullible enough to not notice that contradiction.
Suspect Existence Failure: Tsumugi suspects her to be the culprit of Angie's murder, doing so to stop her from hogging Himiko all to herself. Then she ends up dying as the case's second victim.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
- Tenko is very alike to Ibuki Mioda from the second game. Just like Ibuki, Tenko is a very excitable Genki Girl with a very eccentric and loud personality and is always upbeat and flirts with the other girls of the game, she's also voiced by Julie Ann Taylor and tragically dies in chapter 3 at the hands of a creepy but intelligent goth for an utterly senseless reason.
- There's also Mahiru Koizumi from the second game. Both Mahiru and Tenko don't like men although in Mahiru's case to a much lesser extent and can be hypocritical but are ultimately very good-natured girls who always try to help others out and form a notable bond with a tiny adorable girl (Hiyoko and Himiko respectively). Both also die at the hands of a grieving brother who cited their sister as their motive(granted Fuyuhiko didn't kill Mahiru directly) but leave a legacy of kindness by having an impact on Fuyuhiko's/Hiyoko's and Himiko's arc respectively.
Taking the Bullet: Played With. Ultimately, offering herself as a vessel for Korekiyo's séance instead of Himiko is what leads to her death, since it was nothing more than a trap so Korekiyo could kill someone. She saved Himiko's life without even knowing it.
Third-Person Person: In the Japanese version, she speaks this way, denoting a childish/playful side.
Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She’s a skilled aikido practitioner with a tendency to be aggressive and loud, but she loves cute things and tries to make herself more appealing to girls by adding extra frills to her skirt.
Trademark Favourite Food: Tripe hot pot, which gives her lots of energy.
Tranquil Fury: In Love Across the Universe, she has an eerily calm reaction to some of the more perverted options, which give the worst possible result ("Damn, this is awkward"). If, for example, you choose "Getting horny after a meal," she says the following with this expression on her face.
Tenko: ... How would you like to die, Shuichi? You must know already, since you've chosen to aggravate me.
Tsundere: Somewhat turns into one of these towards Shuichi later in their Free Time Events, once she starts coming to terms with the fact that some boys can be good people. Some of her dialogue is downright stereotypical of a classic tsundere. She shows signs of this as well in the Salmon Mode bonus content, although she can relapse a bit if you pick an option that angers her on dates.
Tenko: Not just him...I think you're a good person too.
Shuichi: You do?
Tenko, while blushing: *gasp*!? Don't start fantasizing about anything weird now! This is not a mushy moment where I start thinking you're special or anything like that! Don't get it wrong! Just because I called you a good person...doesn't make you special!
Unskilled, but Strong: Downplayed. While the only person in the game that could beat her in a fight by her own admission in the game itself is Gonta, in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan bonus mode, Nekomaru calls her out on having little grasp for technique despite her skill. He specifically compares her to Akane, as both need to work more on their fundamentals.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Outside of her dislike towards men, the Ultimate Summer Camp reveals she's also scared of the ocean due to her lack of swimming skills. Hina has been helping her to gradually overcome her fear.
Womanchild: Tenko is a rather gullible, immature person who believes everything her Master tells her (even when he is joking around) and she has a tendency to let her heart rule over her head. In the Japanese version, she also refers to herself in the third person, which tends to denote a quirky or childish nature.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: She would never use her Neo-Aikido on children, even if they are boys. Masaru takes advantage of this in Ultimate Summer Camp by peeking up her skirt, which really pisses her off.
Yank the Dog's Chain: Just as it seems that Tenko and Himiko have patched things up after Angie's death and are moving towards a healthier friendship, Tenko is killed almost immediately afterwards during the séance.

Tsumugi Shirogane

Ultimate Cosplayer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tsumigi_6.png

"I just like recreating the characters’ costumes, so I wish someone else would wear them for me…"

Voiced By: Mikako Komatsu (Japanese), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English)

A seamstress and cosplayer. She would prefer to use models rather than wear the outfits herself, but she mistrusts most cosplayers, believing they care more about standing out themselves instead of honoring the series the costume came from. Her work is so popular that she enjoys corporate sponsorships. She speaks rather politely most of the time but will get excited when one of her favorite series or cosplays comes up. She has a habit of becoming lost in thought, to the point of completely ignoring any attempts to grab her attention.

She is the true culprit of Chapter 1. After Kaede's deathtrap failed to kill Rantaro Amami, Tsumugi snuck up on Rantaro and bludgeoned him to death, making it look like Kaede's trap was successful. Tsumugi Shirogane is also the mastermind behind this Killing Game working for Team Danganronpa. Along with Shuichi, Maki, Himiko and Keebo, she abstains from voting in the final class trial, however since the audience of the killing game wanted Keebo to spare her classmates, she alone ends up being executed, crushed by a piece of debris along with Monokuma during the destruction of the academy.

Abnormal Allergy: Tsumugi has a disease known as Cospox. Tsumugi's skin breaks out in a very noticeable rash whenever she tries to cosplay as any non-fictional character.
Antagonist in Mourning: She is seen crying after both Kaede and Gonta's executions, suggesting this trope being in play on at least some level (if she's not acting).
Battle Aura: During the latter half of the Chapter 6 class trial, Tsumugi summons a rotating halo of clothing and wigs that belong to previous Danganronpa characters.
Becoming the Mask: After cosplaying as Junko so much, she declares her intent to drive the audience into despair by driving their surrogate, Keebo, into despair. Of course, given her deceptive nature this may just be her goading Keebo into picking hope yet again in order to stop the "big bad mastermind".
Big Bad Duumvirate: She's the "mastermind" of the killing game and the culprit whose murder truly started the game as well. However unlike past Masterminds, she and Monokuma are more-or-less equal partners and how much she's "controlling" this one can be up for debate. If what she claims is true, then she was only one of Team Danganronpa's various writers who was put into the game herself to get the plot rolling, not the one responsible for the series existing and going on as long as it is.
Birds of a Feather: As shown in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan, she forms a close friendship with Sonia as they both bond over very similar lifestyles of them pretending to be something different. While Tsumugi's talent involves dressing and acting as fictional characters, Sonia is a princess who is dressing and acting as an ordinary high school student. Sonia is even more than willing to support Tsumugi during their time together.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Starts off soft-spoken, empathetic and overall very kindhearted aside from her Otaku tendencies. As the mastermind of the killing game, this is far from her true personality.
Boring, but Practical: Her murder scheme is by far the most mundane in the main visual novels, she simply bashes Rantaro over the head after Kaede's attempt fails and loots him before fleeing the scene. Despite this, she's still able to successfully dupe the others into believing Kaede was the killer.
Buxom Beauty Standard: Angie is fixated on how busty she is when she sees her topless in the "Gun of Man's Passion" event.
Angie: Nyahaha...They're so big Tsumugi... Do you mind if I touch them?
Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: After being revealed as Rantaro Amami's real killer and immediately before she reveals the killing game's "Truman Show" Plot, she starts switching between her normal outfit and costumes of the characters from the previous Danganronpa games. Being the Ultimate Cosplayer, high-speed clothes changing is child's play to her.
Color Motif: Blue.
Consummate Liar: Prior to being exposed as the mastermind, she deceives everybody; not even Kokichi caught on. The epilogue even incentives the player to question all the statements she made in the final trial.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Like Junko Enoshima, she is willing to do whatever it takes to make her game work. However, Junko tries to remain a true source of information regarding the outside world, and she gives the characters despair through real revelations. At the very least, she usually uses Metaphorically True statements, and heavily relies on Exact Words with her statements. On the other hand, Tsumugi is a huge Consummate Liar as she is ready to tell outright lies in order for her plans to work. Examples of this would include having everybody believe that Kaede was Rantaro's "killer", manipulating everybody into falsely thinking that Kokichi was a Remnant of Despair, and the reveals at the final trial that may or may not be true. Also, unlike Junko's obsession with despair and destroying all hope, Tsumugi's primary concern is simply that the Danganronpa TV show continues being popular, and is indifferent to hope vs despair; if the heroes' hope gets better ratings she's fully on board with it.
Cosplay Otaku Girl: Her talent. She only likes to make the costumes, though, and would rather get others to wear them. She cosplays as every past character in the final class trial. She also explains that her true capabilities as the Ultimate Cosplayer aren't just dressing herself up in cosplay, but painting the entire world around her with cosplay, recreating a fictional world in reality.
Covert Pervert: Being a stereotypical fan of anime and manga, it is implied that she may actually be quite perverted, despite her plain attitude. After the time limit motive is revealed in Chapter 1, she claims that she regrets not being able to hide her "special art commissions" and "that pillowcase" she bought before she dies. In an optional dialogue conversation, she wonders if she could wipe her entire hard drive at home from within the Ultimate Academy, worrying about the pictures that were saved on it.
Creepy Blue Eyes: After she is revealed as the mastermind, Tsumugi's eyes go from a dark, muted teal to a much brighter blue.
Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: In most of her mastermind sprites, she has noticeable bags under her already unsettling glowing blue eyes.
Death from Above: How she dies. She and Monokuma get crushed by a falling rock.
Declarative Finger: Several of her sprites have her holding up her pointer finger while thinking out loud. When revealed as the mastermind, she continues doing this even while cosplaying "Junko Enoshima the 53rd".
Demoted to Dragon: Not long after the surviving cast found out that she is the "mastermind", she reveals that she is nothing more than The Dragon to Team Danganronpa, the true creators of the televised killing game who keep making seasons of the show only because it's popular enough for the outside world's audience to keep demanding more.
Despair Event Horizon: At the end of the final trial, the audience, possessing Keebo, chooses not to vote for hope or despair to be executed. This means that Shuichi successfully convinced the outside world to let Danganronpa die and end the suffering of the fictional characters that the show keeps creating. Tsumugi then declares that she would rather die than live in a world without Danganronpa, and orders Keebo to destroy the prison academy, with everyone still inside.
Doing It for the Art: She would rather get people who truly love the series she's referencing to wear her costumes than people who want them for self-promotion, hence why she wears her own clothes despite disliking it and having a sponsorship. Invoked, as she would rather die than live in a world with no more Danganronpa.
Didn't See That Coming: She did not expect the events of Chapter Five to happen.
The Dragon: To Team Danganronpa.
Driven to Suicide: Her despair at the idea of a world without Danganronpa is such that she has no hesitation in letting herself die.
Dynamic Akimbo: After Tsumugi is revealed as the mastermind, she gains a couple of sprites where she does this. It seems to be her nonverbally mimicking Junko Enoshima, who struck the same pose in her "evil queen" persona. "Junko the 53rd" has two sprites of this pose, too.
Emotionless Girl: She normally isn't this, but she is at the very end once she is Driven to Suicide over Danganronpa ending. The blank, vacant look on her face before she is crushed to death by falling debris shows how hollow she is inside without her beloved fictional property to find fulfilment in.
Exotic Eye Designs: When Tsumugi cosplays as the previous Danganronpa characters, her irises show the symbols "V" and "3" on them. Taken to absurd lengths when she cosplays as Junko acting in her "Monokuma" personality where she holds a Monokuma plushie in front of her face when speaking, and the plushie has V3 in its eyes.
Even the Girls Want Her: Both Kaede and Angie show perverse interest in her at various points in the game.
Face Death with Dignity: When Keebo decides that he will blow up the studio with everyone in it as the Danganronpa show's final punishment, Tsumugi is nonchalant about the prospect, glad to die if it means she doesn't have to live in a world with no more Danganronpa, the show she'd "given her life to."
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Tsumugi is a cute cosplayer girl who acts in a very mischievous way, but she is also the Big Bad who framed Kaede as the first culprit and sent her to her execution.
Fangirl: Of the entire Danganronpa franchise, to the point where she would rather die than live in a world without Danganronpa in it.
Faux Affably Evil: She’s cheerful, talkative, and overtly kind despite her self-deprecating attitude. As it turns out, it’s an act.
Femme Fatale: Despite looking somewhat plain, Kaede describes her as "exuding pheromones". When she makes a cocktail for Shuichi in her personal bar, he notices that Tsumugi is discreetly seducing him through the clinking sound of the glass and the suddenly notable lack of her jacket covering her blouse. He ends up wondering just what kind of place she worked in.
Final Boss: Tsumugi is the final opponent Shuichi and co. have to defeat in order to escape the Killing School Semester.
Flat Character: An intentional one for the first five chapters to hide the fact that she's the mastermind. Subverted in Free Time Events and bonus modes, where she displays more personality.
Flirty Stepsiblings: Her Love Suite event basically involves this.
Foreshadowing: Oh boy, where do we even begin?
- The first time she meets Kaede and Shuichi, she asks them for their favorite Doraemon episode, with her stating that her favorite is episode 53, the one with security cameras and target practice. Fast forward to the final chapter and you'll find out that it was way more than just a random question.
- Again, when you meet her for the first time, she mentions that the statue she has been looking at looks suspicious. The second chapter is one of the places where you have to put the key items Monokuma and the Monokubs give you.
- The very first words out of Monokuma's mouth are a Death Note reference. Tsumugi later references Kira, so it's likely not a coincidence.
  Monokuma: I am the god of this new world!
- During the first trial, Korekiyo brings up the point of the culprit being the mastermind. Tsumugi instantly shoots him down.
- Tsumugi can be found around the sealed door and hanging out in classroom C (the one where the Flashback Lights are made) during Free Time events.
- In Chapter 5, Tsumugi is the one most reluctant to go along with Kaito's plan to fight Monokuma.
- Later in Chapter 5, Kokichi claims that he is the mastermind. Tsumugi instantly reacts with shock.
- The Flashback Light the group gets in Chapter 5 contains information that directly contradicts later revelations concerning Kokichi. That's because Tsumugi faked it so to try and realign the killing game.
- Chapter 1: The scene where Rantaro paints Kaede's nails while a jealous Tsumugi watches takes on a new light after Kaede is executed for Rantaro's murder, and it turns out that Tsumugi orchestrated the entire thing.
- Why is it that Tsumugi's face is not shown in the Chapter 1 execution, compared to everyone else? Is she actually elated?
- During the first trial, when Gonta tells everyone that he was watching a documentary about bugs to prepare for battle mentally, Tsumugi asks if he was trying to imagine himself as "a giant mantis with swords for hands". She was referencing the execution she had devised for him, which we see three chapters later.
- Early in Chapter 2, Miu takes a jab at Tsumugi's plain appearance, pointing out that without her glasses, she wouldn't be noticeable at all. Tsumugi replies that her glasses are in fact the only thing hiding her terrifying true form. At the time, it's easy to brush that remark off as the ramblings of a hardcore otaku, but come the final Class Trial, her words are chillingly prophetic.
- After the trial where Gonta died, Tsumugi was the one to see Kokichi's completed message. It's very likely that it was not a coincidence that Tsumugi just so happens to see that message after Gonta died.
- On a meta level, her English voice actress played Sayaka from the first game. Both of these women ended up starting the killing game in a way.
- Her talent being the Ultimate Cosplayer is one of the obvious hints that make one indecisive. It's a more obvious hint to her being the mastermind of this game because it's one of the most meta concepts addressed in Danganronpa: a character who is the most talented at playing as other fictional characters, to the extent where she even says "Tsumugi Shirogane" is just another identity trick of hers.
- In Chapter 3, when everyone was discussing how Tenko was murdered in the darkness, Tsumugi mentions that glowing paint could've been used to see in the darkness and kill Tenko that way referencing the first case of the second game (and, in turn, foreshadowing that Tsumugi has literally played the second game, since that's all it was in this universe).
- In Chapter 4, when she and Shuichi are exploring her research lab, she asks him if he would like to live in a fictional world. And then the plot twist of the sixth chapter happens.
- During the Class Trials, her podium is #8, located right in front of Monokuma's throne, the same podium as fellow Dragon Mikan in the second game.
- She's always part of the team that opposes Shuichi's during the Scrum Debates, with the exception of the first chapter, in which she doesn't participate (and is ultimately revealed to have set Kaede up).
- Of the five characters who remain at the final class trial, she's the only one who's never accused of murder, nor given any sort of character focus or development.
- It's subtle, but there are a few rule changes that hint that the mastermind isn't Junko again. For example, when there's a double murder in Chapter 3, Kokichi asks for a clarification of the rules regarding multiple blackened. In every other game so far, Monokuma always insists that multiple blackened at the same time won't happen, but here he spontaneously decides that only the first one counts, even though it's irrelevant since there's actually only one blackened in the case.
- In one of her free time events, she mentions that the attention she gets in her career feels like she's a panda that everyone is watching. It's actually quite literal since she's actually the one behind the black and white bear Monokuma in a reality TV show.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Her act as a Bespectacled Cutie overlays a ruthless producer willing to let innocent people be brainwashed and killed for the entertainment she loves.
The Generic Girl: She considers herself to be a rather plain individual, to the point that the word "plain" is something of a Verbal Tic for her. It's all an act, though.
Genius Ditz: Sometimes she can be smart and insightful, while other times she makes incredibly vapid and inane comments and has trouble keeping up with everyone else in trials. Ultimately subverted in that she's not a genius or a ditz, she's completely insane.
Go-Karting with Bowser: Unlike Junko (where her role in School Mode is replaced by her sister Mukuro masquerading as her), despite being the mastermind/representative of the killing game, she can hang out with Shuichi personally just like any other character in the Love Across the Universe bonus mode.
Graceful Loser: When no one votes hope or despair, and the global audience for Danganronpa decide to give up on the show this season, Tsumugi, while not pleased with that outcome, doesn't undergo any Villainous Breakdown and is quite accepting of her fate that's to follow, pleased and without regret over what she'd been able to accomplish before that point. Of course this is mainly because she's perfectly fine with getting blown up since she'd much rather not live in the world at all than live in a world without Danganronpa.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: Her mastermind sprites have her suddenly Empty Eyes glowing an unsettling shade of bright blue.
The Heavy: Unlike the mastermind of the original reality, the real Junko Enoshima who always lays back behind the scenes, Tsumugi is a rather active contestant in the killing game.
Heel: Once outed as the mastermind, Tsumugi repeatedly says she wants to spread despair amongst the students and that hope is futile, however, this is all an act, what she really wants everyone to vote for is hope so that the killing game will continue.
Hero Killer: It's revealed in Chapter 6 that she was Rantaro's true killer, and was able to successful frame Kaede for the crime, resulting in the pianist's execution. This would make her the first known mastermind to have successfully killed the initial protagonist of their game.
Hypocrite: She discourages not voting at the final trial because it would throw away their lives. That said, if the audition tapes were real, Tsumugi wants people to throw away their lives to join the killing game where they might die from joining it.
I Am Not Pretty: Tsumugi constantly calls herself plain, simple, and unremarkable. Shuichi doesn't seem to agree with her idea of herself, and she's not any less unremarkable than the other characters.
Ironic Echo:
- When impersonating Chiaki Nanami, she uses the words the original used to pull Hajime out of his despair to mock the surviving characters about their talents being fabricated by the flashback lights to send them further into despair.
  Tsumugi as Chiaki: You know, like if you do it, it'll all work out.
- Also, while she is impersonating Gundham Tanaka, she stated these words to convince people to not abstain from voting, and continue the killing game as a callback to Chapter Four of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair where Gundham believes that you should not give up on life in which following that advice, in this case, would only ensure even more deaths.
  Tsumugi as Gundham: Such foolishness! To cast your life away is the height of stupidity.
- And finally, when Shuichi rejects hope and despair, she tries using Makoto and Hajime's faces and Trial 6 Rousing Speeches to counter him.
  Tsumugi as Hajime: You can't throw away your futures!
  Tsumugi as Makoto: Hope is contagious!
Irony: She's a cosplayer, someone who loves fiction enough to try to bring fictional characters into the real world, who doesn't believe fictional characters have any power to influence the real world.
Jack the Ripoff: Refers to herself as "cosplaycat criminal". Details are up to the players' interpretation.
Jerkass: Albeit a well-hidden one. Still, even before she is revealed as the mastermind, she tells Kaede to "go backflip onto a land mine and explode" during the special Nail Art cutscene.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: While pretending to be a normal student, she tries to blend in by pretending to be their friend and invoking the belief that hope can always win, like the otaku she is. In reality, everything she says about the students winning is a lie... because she's the mastermind in question that they have to defeat.
Karma Houdini: In the Love Across the Universe bonus mode, she drops blatant hints that she isn't done with using her special form of "cosplay" to screw with Shuichi, which he remains oblivious to since she is never found out as the mastermind.
Karma Houdini Warranty: She successfully gets away with killing Rantaro and framing Kaede for the crime... for five chapters. Then she's caught at the end and gets a big heap of rubble dropped on her for her trouble.
Kick the Dog: After revealing herself as the mastermind, she's constantly belittling, insulting, and mocking the others. Special mention goes to her offhandedly mentioning to Maki that her falling in love with Kaito was written into her character from the start as a planned Story Arc. And Tsumugi herself wrote it!
Lampshade Hanging: She very much lampshaded that the HPA Saga was Hijacked By Junko as, during the final trial, she cosplayed as her making it seem like Junko returned as the mastermind once again. In fact, her entire role before The Reveal was just her lampshading the weird things her classmates said or otherwise stating the obvious.
Legacy Character: Upon being revealed as the mastermind, she cosplays as "Junko Enoshima the 53rd", making her the latest to inherit the legacy of the Ultimate Despair.
Long Hair Is Feminine: She has knee-length teal-blue hair and has one of the girliest personalities in the cast, at least on the surface.
Loony Fan: For the Danganronpa series. She loves the franchise so much that she is willing to commit some really immoral actions to keep the series going. When the survivors successfully turn the world against Danganronpa, she even angrily resigns herself to death rather than live without it.
Master Actress: Although this is somewhat expected for the Ultimate Cosplayer. Still, her acting skills are pretty impressive when you consider that Kokichi did not catch on to her being the mastermind, and Shuichi didn't deduce that she was the mastermind until the sixth chapter and even then he doubted his own deduction. Also, Korekiyo spent a lot of time observing all of the female students to determine if they would be "worthy friends for Sister", and the only ones he deemed unworthy were Maki (presumably for being an assassin) and Miu (presumably for being a foul-mouthed asshole), meaning even he didn't catch on to Tsumugi being the mastermind.
Master of Disguise: Her ability to assume someone else's identity even surpasses that of the Ultimate Imposter, able to change costumes in the blink of an eye and even change her body's shape and size to match the character she is cosplaying. She even briefly cosplays as the Ultimate Imposter!
Morphic Resonance: Downplayed massively. While cosplaying as "Junko Enoshima the 53rd", she looks almost exactly like the real Junko... but her body language (in particular her habit of giving the Declarative Finger) is identical to Tsumugi's while out of cosplay, and she has the more detailed shading and the proportions of a character drawn in Danganronpa V3's art style. It's more noticeable when she starts cosplaying the original Junko, whose sprites are reused from the original Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
Most Definitely Not a Villain: She hardly lets a conversation pass where she doesn't talk about how plain and ordinary she is, which only serves to make her seem more suspicious. In truth, she's anything but plain and ordinary, being the mastermind.
Mythology Gag: Like Junko before her, Tsumugi is crushed to death. Unlike Junko, it's in an extremely anticlimactic fashion without any fanfare whatsoever.
Nice Girl: While an unashamed otaku, Shirogane otherwise seems to be a very compassionate and good-hearted young woman. She was open about feeling horrible about doubting Tenko after the latter's murder, and also admits to feeling bad for Miu despite disliking her before finding about Miu's murder plot. Though this gets subverted later on once it was revealed that she was the mastermind, although it's played straight in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan bonus mode.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
- If she hadn't talked too much, the Killing Game Cycle would have continued.
- She states that all of the characters in this season's killing game were written by her. If that's true, then making Kokichi The Chessmaster came back to bite her really hard in the fifth trial. She also made Korekiyo a Serial Killer who only targets girls, putting herself right in his line of fire. Of course, it's possible that she (or another writer) wrote the murders too (except for Kokichi's), so she knew she was never in any danger of being killed by Korekiyo as it was already pre-scripted that he would kill Angie and Tenko.
Non Sequitur: Pretty much every line she says before she's revealed as the Big Bad can count as one of these, as she's more likely to make irrelevant remarks and act as a Useless Protagonist by not contributing to investigations or even being a witness. Chapter 3 may be an exception, but her account about Angie exclusively letting Student Council members into her research lab only ends up leading the students away from finding Korekiyo as the culprit. The same thing applies to her spotting Miu on the opposite side of the Virtual World in the Neo World Program during Chapter 4 in a backwards way, as she ends up unintentionally (possibly) helping Kokichi prove Gonta's culpability in the process as well by revealing that Miu went to the rooftop where he was.
Not Blood Siblings: Her Love Suite fantasy is that she and Shuichi are step-siblings. She ends up not even bothering with the taboo.
Not Brainwashed: Whereas all the other students had their memories erased and their talents and personalities implanted, Tsumugi chose the mastermind role for herself, and kept her real memories and personality throughout the killing game.
Obfuscating Stupidity: She appears a bit ditzy at the class trials only to reveal that she is the mastermind and was orchestrating the killing game.
Occult Blue Eyes: Gets these after her reveal as the Big Bad. Specifically, she starts showing this at the same time as she starts cosplaying as previous Danganronpa characters. They're very unsettling, to say the least.
Older Than They Look: She implies that she's been with the reality show since the beginning. Even if it didn't start as early as possible with Danganronpa 4, it's still been going on for a really long time. This would mean she's actually a lot older than a high schooler, and "Tsumugi Shirogane" is just another cosplay, just like "Junko the 53rd" claimed.
Otaku: She is very passionate about otaku culture and constantly makes references to other anime, manga, and video games, much like Hifumi and Chiaki.
Out-Gambitted: All of her plans for Chapter Five got ruined thanks to Kokichi.
Out of Focus: Up until The Reveal at the end of the game, she was given very little importance in comparison to a lot of other characters.
Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Through her act as a Nice Girl, Tsumugi's true villainous self still seeps through as she treats the other participants like idiots and speaks to them in a completely passive-aggressive tone, pointing out the obvious all the time as if they don't already know it. Even her very first lines consist of telling Kaede off for "getting her attention when she doesn't want it" even though she just wanted to interact with her. It's no wonder that she turns out to be the Big Bad with an attitude like that.
Perpetually Protean: Tsumugi shows off her talent as Ultimate Cosplayer in the final trial by cosplaying as every student from the first two games sans Mukuro Ikusaba. Later on, when things start going poorly for her, she drops this trait.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: She never once uses her talent or even talks about anyone she's cosplayed for the first five chapters. Subverted hard in the last trial, where she cosplays every single character from Danganronpa 1 to 2 in a single trial.
Plain Jane: Tsumugi constantly describes herself as plain, even attributing the times she gets overlooked to her plainness. "Plain Jane" is also one of Miu's nicknames for her.
The Player Is the Most Important Resource: Based on what she said to Shuichi like a slap to his face.
Plot Allergy: Allergic to, weirdly enough, dressing up as real people, as she demonstrates to Kaede. Of course, since she is the mastermind and none of the students is "real people" (at least according to her), she might have been making it up to avoid suspicion. Of course, Tsumugi the character would consider them real people, even if Tsumugi the mastermind doesn't, and she is obviously very dedicated to her role. Plus her allergy, if it's real, might not be able to tell the difference between a real person and a "real fictional" character, hence why she sticks to only cosplaying characters from the first two games since those are just games even in-universe.
Recurring Element: Much like other characters in the franchise, she is not happy with her talent, specifically Leon, who wanted to be a musician instead of a baseball player, and Chiaki, who found the talent of Ultimate Gamer to be limiting, since she could want to do other things that aren't related to gaming. In this case, due to her sponsors and distrust of models, she needs to wear the costumes even though she prefers to just make them.
Reused Character Design: She resembles Sayaka from the first game. Evidently, the localization team agreed, as the two share the same English voice actress.
Reluctant Fanservice Girl: During the event triggered by the "Gun of Man's Passion" present, in the girls' locker room, Tsumugi is reluctant to allow Angie to touch her boobs, her wanting to do it due to how big they are, while she's completely topless. Whether or not Tsumugi allows Angie to do it is left unknown as the cosplayer's only response is "What? I mean...it's embarrassing if you touch them..." Showing even more evidence of reluctance, Tsumugi instinctively improvises an armbra on her boobs the entire scenario, and a single bead of sweat starts dripping from her face, trying to get Angie away from her with her free arm.
Required Secondary Powers: An interesting case. Her official talent is cosplayer, so her skill set includes various things: make-up, seaming, hairstyle, etc., basically everything related to making the clothes, but considering that her real interest is making, rather than using the cosplays, her secondary skills are actually what should be her talent. Later subverted after being revealed as the mastermind when she freely begins rapid-switching between costumes of previous Danganronpa characters.
Rewatch Bonus: If one replays the game knowing her true nature, many of the seemingly innocuous things Tsumugi says and does are actually hints that she's the mastermind of the killing game. See Foreshadowing above for a list of these hints.
Sarcastic Confession: In Chapter 2, Miu takes a jab at her plain appearance and personality, claiming that she wouldn't even be visible without her glasses. Tsumugi replies that the truth is the opposite; her glasses are the only thing hiding her fearsome true form. Come the final Class Trial, it turns out she wasn't kidding at all.
Scary Shiny Glasses: One of her more menacing sprites shows her adjusting her glasses with her right hand, causing one of the lenses to flash.
Self-Deprecation: After she "reveals" herself to be "Junko Enoshima the 53rd," she apologizes to all of Tsumugi's fans... if any even exist, that is.
Serious Business: She is this about cosplay, her first voiced line has her telling that cosplays are not a disguise.
Shapeshifting: Her cosplay talent is so incredible that it essentially enables her to do this, although it isn't demonstrated until the final chapter where she is able to perfectly cosplay the characters from the previous two games, even ones with completely different body types like Sakura, the Ultimate Imposter, and Nekomaru. This also includes, somehow, characters that are much shorter than her such as Hiyoko and Chihiro.
Shapeshifter Default Form: Her initial appearance plus Occult Blue Eyes.
Shapeshifting Seducer: Cosplays friendly characters in an attempt to get the students to vote for despair, which will result in them being stuck in the academy for the rest of their natural lives.
Shout-Out: Her official art has a wig behind her that mimics the hair of Hatsune Miku.
Surprisingly Normal Backstory: Befitting her "plain" personality, Tsumugi's backstory given in Free-Time Events is a series of completely unspectacular accounts of her career as a cosplayer, which according to the game's artbook were taken from interviews conducted with actual real-life cosplayers.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Invoked. Tsumugi's role is to act as the customary "Junko" of this killing game. According to her, she is the 53rd "Junko" from a long line of people that were assigned to be the "mastermind" for the televised show.
Thanatos Gambit: At the end of the final trial, Tsumugi revealed that she didn't vote for either hope or despair to be executed. Because Keebo would vote for despair, she would vote for hope, and the other students weren't going to vote at all, the vote would end in a draw and be a worst-case scenario. It backfires when Keebo, still possessed by the Danganronpa audience, doesn't vote either and it ends in a draw anyway.
Token Evil Teammate: She's actually the mastermind, and the only one to be seen actively breaking their own rules and directly committing a murder in their own game, making her this for the female half of the cast.
Troll: At the final trial, she ended up cosplaying as Junko to make it seem she has returned as the mastermind once again.
"Uh-Oh" Eyes: Once she's revealed as the mastermind, Tsumugi's eyes turn a much brighter blue, and she gains a pair of Exhausted Eyebags.
Uncanny Valley Girl: She might seem like a Nice Girl that comes as rather plain and normal among her colorful classmates, but in reality, she is game's mastermind and a Loony Fan of Danganronpa.
The Unfought: She is the only culprit in the game (besides Gonta) you don't have an Argument Arnament with - she makes Keebo do it for her.
Unreliable Expositor: Like Junko before her, a number of things she reveals are called into question later on. Notably, the characters as they originally appear during the Prologue remembered being abducted into the killing game against their will, a clear contradiction to Tsumugi's claim that they were all willing participants. Given her talent as the Ultimate Cosplayer, she would also be capable of faking a lot of the "evidence" she presented, such as the audition tapes.
Verbal Tic: She frequently inserts the word "plain" into her sentences.
Villain No Longer Idle: When Kaede's trap failed to kill Rantaro, she took it upon herself to finish the job to ensure a Class Trial will happen with Kaede taking the fall.
Voluntary Shapeshifter: In Chapter 6, after being exposed as the mastermind she continuously swaps between costumes of former Danganronpa characters^note, with her original appearance only returning to boast or when she gets serious. And it's implied even that is just another costume.
Tsumugi as Junko: You can go ahead and forget about Tsumugi Shirogane.
Tsumugi as Herself: Cuz I'm just a character! Y'know, a lie!
Villainous Breakdown: Goes through one near the end of the final trial where all of the other students refuse to vote as she starts panicking a lot more, and as Maki pointed out, she started cosplaying a lot less.
Villainous Incest: Downplayed. She's not incestuous with her actual siblings the way Junko and Mukuro are, but her Love Suite, representing her ideal fantasy, still has her roleplaying Flirty Stepsiblings with Shuichi. Also, Tsumugi wrote all of the characters in this season of Danganronpa, and three of them (Korekiyo, Monotaro, and Monophanie) have engaged in Brother–Sister Incest... making it an In-Universe form of Author Appeal for her.
Voice Changeling: Tsumugi's rapidfire cosplays of previous Danganronpa characters perfectly replicate their voices.
Walking Spoiler: Several tropes relating to her have to deal with her being the mastermind of the killing game.

Angie Yonaga

Ultimate Artist

"But Atua's the one who makes the art. I merely offer my body as His vessel. Nyahahaha! How divine!"

Voiced By: Minori Suzuki (Japanese), Cassandra Lee Morris (English)

An accomplished artist and a foreigner from an island nation. Angie considers herself a conduit of the god of her island, Atua, believing him to always be by her side. She claims that her art is not created by her, but by Atua simply using her body. The particulars of Angie's country are unclear; Angie seems to have a fascination in blood sacrifice, for instance. Despite the creepy details, Angie is rather cheerful and energetic.

After the deaths of Ryoma and Kirumi in Chapter 2, Angie forms and leads a student council to regulate everyone's day-to-day behavior in order to prevent anyone from killing or looking for an escape. Her influence ends up creating a sharp divide between the entire class and puts a strain on Himiko and Tenko's friendship. She is the first victim of Chapter 3. Angie is knocked unconscious and stabbed in the neck by Korekiyo Shinguji after walking in on him setting up a death trap.

Aerith and Bob: "Angie" is one of the most western-sounding given names in the franchise, after Leon from the first game and Sonia from the second.
Affably Evil: While her religious beliefs make her a Token Evil Teammate, she still has some Pet the Dog moments before she really goes off the deep end, and she does seem to legitimately want to protect the others.
Ambiguously Bi: While she shows a hidden perverted side to Shuichi in her Love Suite and Love Across the Universe events, she is just as willing to hug the girls in her "Student Council" during Chapter 3 as she is with Gonta, and she shows a particular... "interest" in Tsumugi's chest in the "Gun of Man's Passion" event.
Ambiguously Brown: Her dark skin, non-Japanese name, and her official art (see above) imply that she is Polynesian. The English translation adds more evidence by naming the god Atua, a Polynesian term. Her ethnicity is never actually stated outright, but Shuichi does point out her foreign-sounding name and asks whether she's from Japan.
Anti-Villain: A Type III, assuming her intentions are true which the game suggests. She comforts those traumatized by the deaths by saying that everyone can start living in harmony inside their confinement. This causes tension between those who agree with her and those who don't, especially once Angie (rather strategically, mind you) secures Gonta and then enforces an inconsistent approach to the killing game (not using flashback lights and enforcing a curfew, yet using a motive and personally breaking said curfew). The tension makes the members of the student council (her cult) hostile toward Shuichi during Free Time.
Berserk Button: Insulting Atua is a quick way to piss her off. When Jataro suggests Atua is a pedophile, she is quite angered and claimed Atua was going to curse his family.
Birds of a Feather: With Sonia Nevermind in Ultimate Summer Camp. Both are foreign exchange students with odd tastes to say the least. They even have a casual conversation about human sacrifices.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's cheerful and polite, but beneath her bubbly personality she is quite manipulative and is willing to go to extremes out of good intentions.
Blush Sticker: Seems to have perpetually rosy cheeks.
Breaking Old Trends:
- While the previous "dark-skinned odd high energy girl" characters Aoi and Akane managed to survive their respective killing games, Angie is killed off in Chapter 3.
- Also, while Aoi and Akane all have a very close relationship with The Big Guy of their respective games (aka Sakura and Nekomaru respectively), Angie has no such close relationship with Gonta. While Gonta did join Angie's student council, their relationship was nowhere near as close as the relationship between Aoi/Sakura, and Akane/Nekomaru.
- Also, while Aoi and Akane both have athletic talents, being a swimmer and gymnast respectively, Angie has no such athletic talent.
- Aoi and Akane were also cheerful and positive characters that frequently served as the endgame's Plucky Comic Relief. While Angie is not truly evil, being more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist than anything else, she is a much darker and morally ambiguous character than either of them, to the point where she acts as the first half of the game's Arc Villain.
Brown Note: Her third free time event has her knock Shuichi out cold by showing him one of her paintings. The ones that can withstand it are "chosen" by Atua.
Cassandra Truth: Threefold, all via Atua, and note they are all motivated by Angie's virtue of benevolence:
- Chapter 1 - Angie says that the culprit killed Rantaro and returned to the hidden room. It's denied in the first trial because the back route to the hidden room had not been discovered and Shuichi planted a trap that would tell if the hidden door had been used. Much later, it's revealed that this is exactly what the culprit did, rather using a secret passageway that none of the other students knew existed to leave without disturbing Shuichi's trap.
- Chapter 2 - Angie announces that the students have nothing to do with the outside world and that they must make their lives within the school a paradise. This is revealed to be horrifyingly true, as each of the students is a fabricated person with no life beyond the academy. Adding to Angie's credibility is her astute observation that Kirumi's motive video was like a flashback light.
- Chapter 3 - Angie destroys a flashback light after snatching it from the Monokubs, declaring it a danger and no longer necessary, as it reminds the students of life outside the academy. The aforementioned fabrication is implemented by the flashback lights, which implant false memories. No more flashback lights make it much harder for the Mastermind to manipulate the students to their liking; indeed, Maki outright confirms in Trial 5 that the flashback light became the motive.
Cloudcuckoolander: According to this post, one of the producers believes that she is the quirkiest character of the franchise to the point where they nicknamed her "Strange-chan".
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: By virtue of her three Cassandra Truth moments in the three chapters she's alive in.
Color Motif: Yellow.
Covert Pervert: She makes it known that she's perfectly aware of the insinuations Shuichi might innocently give as an option to their dates.
Cuddle Bug: Whenever she starts feeling friendly towards other students, she likes to hug them. She even has three separate scenes showing this - first with Himiko, then Gonta, and then Tsumugi. Not coincidentally, all these people join her cult in Chapter Three.
Easy Evangelism: She starts a small cult in Chapter 3 by playing on everyone's despair and fear. Her cult includes Himiko, Keebo, Tsumugi, Gonta, and Tenko (who has ulterior motives), and they all take over the school together with the intention of forcing the remaining survivors to accept living in the academy for the remainder of their lives.
Establishing Character Moment: She cheerfully greets Kaede and Shuichi at the Altar of Judgement and tells them about Atua and how her artwork is an offering. She then asks Kaede to donate some of her blood to Atua, to which Kaede politely declines.
The Extremist Was Right: Later revelations in the game indicate she was right to destroy the Flashback Lights, as they were actually implanting false memories in the heroes. If her cult had gotten her way in Chapter 3, she might also have been able to bring the 53rd season of Danganronpa to a premature end by refusing to play their game.
Fair-Weather Friend: Tenko accuses Angie of being this to Himiko, as after the magic show, Himiko is a prime suspect for the murder because Ryoma's body was discovered during it and Angie herself points out Himiko is suspicious and joins the other students in interrogating her, even though the show was her idea. Angie retorts they have to question Himiko to get to the bottom of the case and blindly trusting in her could get everyone killed. She's also pretty quick to turn on Kirumi when she's outed as the blackened and asks if she only took care of everyone to gain their trust, even though Kirumi was only driven to kill after seeing her motive video and had been the Team Mom before then.
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Downplayed. She certainly appears cute with her cute gestures, face, and voice, but on top of her outright refusal of any other faiths and creepy requests for "blood sacrifices" in a school with no visible health facilities unlike the previous games, she turns out to be quite manipulative and manages to brainwash half of the remaining students into her cult while imposing strict rules onto everyone who isn't a part of it. Her attempt at control was made primarily for the sake of the students' safety, though.
First-Name Basis: On both ends in the Japanese version. She calls everyone by their first names, and almost everyone calls her Angie, not Yonaga.
Forgotten Fallen Friend: A Downplayed example, but while Himiko grew close to Angie during the second and third chapters, it's Tenko that she mourns and mentions frequently after they both die in the third chapter.
Genki Girl: She's very upbeat and energetic.
The Fundamentalist: Very much so; not only is she personally religious, but she genuinely believes everything she does is actually Atua using her body as His vessel, and is committed to evangelizing all the other students and using the Killing Game situation to get Atua more devotees.
He's Just Hiding: In-Universe. Theorizes that the "resurrection" ritual can bring students back because they weren't really dead and the students were just tricked into believing they were killed.
Hidden Depths:
- Her last two Free Time Events with Shuichi have him realize that deep down, Angie is very lonely; part of the reason she's so pushy about being "Atua's oracle" is because she wants people to socialize with her, and on her island, claiming it was Atua's will was reason enough.
- While her logic is somewhat more screwy, she has the right idea of how things should go. When Tenko accuses her of throwing Himiko under the bus in the second case, she retorts with asking whether Tenko is ready to accept if Himiko turns out to be the culprit and is betraying Tenko's trust while also implying that she indeed believes that Himiko is innocent but needs to clear up any suspicion against her.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Tiny Girl to Korekiyo's Huge Guy, which made it very easy for him to knock her out and move her to her laboratory to finish her off.
Hypocrite:
- She destroys a Flashback Light and says that since Monokuma wants the students to use them, they're dangerous, which is true. However, she has no problem with using the Necronomicon later on to conduct a ritual to resurrect Rantaro, despite it being another motive given to them by Monokuma.
- She and the other student council members begin policing everyone's activities and telling them not to go out at night, because Kirumi's murder plan happened at night. However, she doesn't obey this rule herself and becomes the victim of a nearly unsolvable murder because of it.
I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Downplayed. She tells Shuichi in her final Free Time Event that she likes him so much because he's the first person who actually yelled at her.
Innocent Blue Eyes: She certainly appears "innocent" in the sense she is very childlike and good-natured. On the other hand, her manipulative qualities can raise the question of how much of this might be an act to get others to listen to her.
Irony: She was killed at night time, after spending most of the chapter scolding the other students for being out of their rooms past curfew.
- She's the resident dark-skinned girl, but unlike Aoi and Akane, she doesn't have a physical talent - instead, that went to Tenko, the character who clashes the most frequently with her in-game.
- She's Polynesian or from some Pacific island, but her profile states she hates humidity.
It's All About Me: Kaito and Tenko note during the third chapter that Angie tends to do whatever she wants without consulting anyone else on their opinion because she thinks she's under Atua's protection. Though Angie does genuinely believe she's doing Atua's bidding, it's notable that what Atua wants and what Angie wants are almost always the same thing and Angie never stops to consider whether her actions are wrong or not.
Karmic Death: As noted above, Angie can be a bit of a Hypocrite when she does not allow the other students to go out at night without obeying this rule herself. During her death, she ran into Korekiyo setting up a murder trap at nighttime and kills her since She Knows Too Much in which that would not have happened if she actually obeys her own rules.
Kick the Dog: When discussing who she intends to resurrect for the séance, she picks Rantaro and callously writes off Kaede, Kirumi and Ryoma as "murderers" who don't deserve to be brought back, (conveniently ignoring that Kaede was trying to save everyone and seemingly killed Rantaro by accident) much to Shuichi's discomfort.
Laser-Guided Karma: Though she prays for Kaede's soul after she is executed, Angie nonetheless callously refers to her, Ryoma and Kirumi as murderers who don't deserve to be resurrected. She is punished for this by making her the first murder victim of Chapter Three and a couple of the students are even pleased she's gone so they don't have to listen to her religious babble anymore. Although Tenko her main enemy in the class is genuinely saddened by her fate and says she never wanted Angie to die even if she disliked her.
A Lighter Shade of Black: She's the lightest of the 'antagonist' characters. Sure, Angie is a manipulative cult leader, but unlike Korekiyo, Kokichi, and Tsumugi, she never kills anyone, directly or indirectly.
Manipulative Bitch: Angie has an uncanny aptitude for finding other people's weaknesses and pushing their buttons, such as telling Himiko and Gonta that Atua appears as a "handsome god" or a "nice grandmother", respectively, something both of them respond positively to. She also bluntly informs Himiko that Tenko "betrayed" the student council, further driving a wedge between them.
- In the Ultimate Talent Development Plan bonus mode, she has this to say after being rejected by Mondo Owada:
  Angie: "No matter what you say, Atua is always watching over you, like a macho, reliable older brother."
  Mondo: "Tch, get out of here!"
  Angie: "Nyahahahaha! If you ever wanna know what Atua is saying... you can visit me anytime."
  Narrator: "You [Mondo] cooked some more yakisoba to clear your mind of Angie's words..."
- Also from the Ultimate Talent Development Plan, Izuru Kamukura tells Angie to her face that all her talk of Atua is really just something she does to get what she wants from other people. Much to her and Atua(?)'s thinly veiled anger.
- If you interpret Angie as a Nice Girl who cares for the other students and manipulates them to protect them, she could be seen as a Deconstruction of this trope, showing that one can be "Manipulative" without being a "Bitch", or alternatively, it doesn't matter how well-intentioned you are, other people will not trust or like you if you blatantly toy with their feelings to get what you want, which ironically is also something Kokichi repeatedly fails to grasp.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: When she speaks on behalf of Atua. It's not confirmed if she actually is some sort of oracle or if she is just delusional with rather keen instincts, since "Atua's" conclusions that the Mastermind came out of the secret room to kill Rantaro and the dangers of the flashback lights turned out a lot more accurate than initially believed. We also don't know what would have happened if she was allowed to finish the ritual meant to resurrect the dead classmates, and if it could work if that would have had more to do with actual magic or be more connected to the "Truman Show" Plot reveal.
Mythology Gag: Like Hiyoko before her, she is killed because she stumbles in on the killer setting up a trap for murder and gets a blade to her neck so she can't tell anyone, and they're both the first ones to die in Chapter Three. And like both Hiyoko and Hifumi, they were both killed so they couldn't reveal what they knew.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Searching for a candle to finish the Necronomicon ritual to resurrect Rantaro and confronting Korekiyo in one of the empty rooms on the fourth floor while he was setting up the seesaw traps allowed Korekiyo to kill her and make his murder of her unsolvable. If she never let her enthusiasm regarding the ritual consume her, he would've been easily identified for Tenko's murder instead.
No Ontological Inertia: After Angie's death, the cult she made earlier that chapter disbands as they can't believe in Atua anymore, given everything that happened.
Obliviously Evil: She's ultimately more of a Spoiled Brat than an actual villain and has sincerely good intentions but can't recognize that her way of pursuing them is wrong. Lampshaded by Maki, who points out that she can do cruel things so innocently.
Occult Blue Eyes: At first they appear to be Innocent Blue Eyes, but don't let her outward kindness fool you. She's a Manipulative Bitch who's shown to be quite hypocritical, and establishes a strict cult come Chapter 3. Said cult is also hell-bent on making sure everyone lives their lives at the academy in peace- the very same thing the Bad Ending in the original game portrays!
Older Than She Looks: Not as bad as Himiko, but she looks fairly young for her age.
Perpetual Smiler: All of her sprites show her smiling, and even when she isn't happy she always tries to hide that.
Pet the Dog:
- She helps Himiko organize her magic show to lift everyones' spirits.
- She makes statues for all of the deceased students in Chapter 3, even though she supposedly only needed to make Rantaro's for the resurrection ritual.
- She has another significant one in Chapter 3 when she learns that Tenko was only spying on her student council; instead of getting angry or trying to manipulate Tenko into joining for real, Angie just smiles, says she's disappointed and calls her misguided, and leaves her in peace.
Playful Cat Smile: Has a cat smile in the sprite where she's "meditating", giving her a playful aura.
Preacher Man: Most of her lines of dialogue have her talking about "Kami-sama" rather than a god from an existing religion. This is translated as "Atua" in the English version, originating from Pacific Mythology, to stress she has no connection to the Christian preacher stereotype. Her religious preaches go on into a cultist conversion; by chapter 3, she convinced half of the surviving students to worship Atua.
Properly Paranoid: She destroys one of the Flashback Lights believing that they only serve to sow discord among the group. Once it's revealed that they have been implanting false memories all along, her decision comes off as rather prescient.
Recurring Element:
- Like Aoi and Akane from the past two games, Angie is the resident dark-skinned girl of the group and has a bubbly personality like Aoi. Unlike them, she does not survive.
- She's also the third student in the franchise along with Leon and Sonia who has a distinctly non-Japanese name.
Scam Religion: The exact details of her religion's beliefs and practices are vague, but from what Angie says quite a few signs point to this, with there being various levels of "membership", and low-ranking members having "points deducted" if they do not keep those above them entertained.
Shameless Fanservice Girl: Well, if her Stripperiffic clothing and cultural "quirks" that come up during her Free Time Events weren't already strong indications of this, during the Love Across the Universe bonus mode, Angie will happily agree to the more perverted options Shuichi can offer on their dates, even though she is fully aware of the implication.
She Knows Too Much: She walks in on the third case's killer setting up the trap that they later use to kill another student, and is killed to keep her from telling anyone else, much like Hiyoko before her.
Signature Laugh: She has a sprightly "Nyahahaha"!
Skewed Priorities: In Chapter Two, she seems to care more about Gonta interrupting the magic show than she does about Himiko possibly getting seriously hurt if she bungles the trick.
Skinship Grope: Angie makes an offer to do this to Tsumugi in the girls' locker room during the event triggered by the "Gun of Man's Passion" present when seeing her topless chest, completely interested because of how big they are. Whether or not Tsumugi actually allows her to do it is left unknown as the cosplayer's only response is "What? I mean...it's embarrassing if you touch them..."
Slain in Their Sleep: She is knocked unconscious with a blow to the head, moved to another room, and then killed by stab wound to her neck.
Spoiled Brat: She is worshipped back on her island, which leads to her believing that everything she does is right. As she reveals in Free Time Events, Shuichi is the first person to ever yell at her.
Stripperiffic: Her clothes are only a yellow coat and a bikini.
Tareme Eyes: Angie has round blue eyes, and they emphasize her cheerful and optimistic personality.
Tautological Templar: As long as she follows Atua's guidance, she can do no wrong.
Third-Person Person: Only in the Japanese version, to add to her quirky, overly joyful personality.
Token Evil Teammate: Not intentionally (possibly) but she's the most apparently "evil" of the girls, as the establishment of the "Student Council" makes her come across as more of a threat than even Maki. She's nowhere near as bad as Tsumugi, though, given how she does at least genuinely care about her classmates.
Token Religious Teammate: She's actually the first in the main game series.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Played With. Her portrait during the class trials doesn't have an X on it like every other dead person, it instead has a red halo and red angel wings, but Angie herself is not a wholly sympathetic character. Notably, the trial spends far more time focusing on Tenko's death than hers.
Toxic Friend Influence: Perhaps not maliciously, but Angie is this to Himiko, as the more involved Himiko becomes with Angie/Atua, the more she starts to detach from reality and goes along with Angie's will instead of her own, much to Tenko's dismay. To a lesser extent, she could be seen as this to the whole student council (barring Tenko and Tsumugi, who were both faking it), as for a brief period in Chapter Three they begin enforcing Angie's will, causing a rift between those on the student council and the remaining students, and making it impossible for Shuichi to do any of their Free Time Events during that time. After Angie dies, the council disbands almost immediately.
Trademark Favorite Food: Her report card states that she likes avocados.
Verbal Tic:
- She tends to say certain words or phrases twice, such as "But but", "C'mon c'mon", "No no", "Hmm hmm" and "I see I see".
- She also mentions Atua in her speech pretty much constantly. She rarely goes more than a few sentences without bringing him up.
Wacky Marriage Proposal: At the end of Angie's free time events and "Love Across The Universe", she asks Shuichi to become her husband and live with her forever, much to his shock.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: When she sets up her "Student Council" she ends up splitting the class in half and comes across as a tyrant, but she did it in an attempt to stop the killing game in a "peaceful" way. However, she can come across as a Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist instead if you see her tyranny as primarily an attempt to regain the sense of control she had on her people back home due to her status as "the voice of Atua", not unlike why Celeste made the nighttime rule in the first game.

Miu Iruma

Ultimate Inventor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iruma.png

"Mwah-hahahahaha! Shine on, shine on! Shine on, you crazy fuckin' diamond!"

Voiced By: Haruka Ishida (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)

An inventor on the cutting edge. She has a rather strange set of priorities—for instance, some of her favorite inventions are a series of devices that make it easier to eat or read while sleeping, while she considers her truly groundbreaking "eyedrop contact lenses" boring and sold the patent. She is incredibly brash and vulgar, but despite this, she will suddenly turn into a wimp if her facade is successfully attacked.

Wanting to get away from the chaos of the killing game, she modifies the academy's Neo World Program to allow for the cast to instead live in Virtual Reality where the risk of death is minimal, though it is later revealed that she was intending to use the program to kill Kokichi Oma in an unsolvable murder. She is the victim of Chapter 4, strangled to death within Virtual Reality by Gonta Gokuhara, who was manipulated by Kokichi into performing a mercy kill.

See Danganronpa — Miu Iruma for tropes on her.

Characters / Danganronpa V3 — Female Students

This is a partial character sheet for Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. Visit here for the main character index. Subjectives and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.

Ultimate Pianist

Ultimate Maid

Ultimate Magician

Ultimate Child Caregiver (Ultimate Assassin)

Ultimate Aikido Master

Ultimate Cosplayer

Ultimate Artist

Ultimate Inventor

Alternative Title(s): New Dangan Ronpa V 3 Female Students

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Characters / Danganronpa V3 — Female Students

Edit Locked

This is a partial character sheet for Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. Visit here for the main character index. Subjectives and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.

Ultimate Pianist

Ultimate Maid

Ultimate Magician

Ultimate Child Caregiver (Ultimate Assassin)

Ultimate Aikido Master

Ultimate Cosplayer

Ultimate Artist

Ultimate Inventor

Alternative Title(s): New Dangan Ronpa V 3 Female Students

Previous

Index

Next