The Lion's Den / Characters

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Main Characters

The characters the story focuses on the most.

Makoto Naegi

Ultimate Lucky Student and Ultimate Hope. The story begins when Naegi wakes up in Ultimate Despair's headquarters, brought there by Komaeda. It then follows him as he tries to fight Despair while planning his escape.

Accidental Hero: Much like he didn't intend to take out the Ultimate Despair in the first game and save the world, his actions unintentionally end up taking apart Ultimate Despair as a organization.
All-Loving Hero: As in canon. It turns out to be one of his most important traits and why, unlike Kamukura, he's able to redeem some of the Despairs. At the same time, this and his Hope Bringer status are deconstructed, as they are the root cause behind almost all his problems in the story.
Apologizes a Lot: Naegi develops this trait, especially towards Komaeda.
Arch-Enemy: Despite trying to save Enoshima's life at the end of the first game, Naegi thinks this way of her after Komaeda is through with him.
Berserk Button:
- Mid-late story Naegi goes ballistic if he's accused of feeling despair.
- Threatening his sister and friends is also a good way to get on his bad side.
Black-and-White Insanity: Naegi adopts Komaeda's worldview on hope and despair as his sanity wanes.
Big Brother Bully: Averted. If anything, Komaru bullies him!
Break the Cutie: Naegi goes through hell in The Lion's Den and is borderline insane by the end, having gone from an All-Loving Hero and The Idealist to a Broken Bird who not only accepts, but expects people to die for him and his 'hope'.
Break Them by Talking: Naegi is surprisingly good at this. It isn't a bad thing, as sometime it allows him to break through Ultimate Despair's brainwashing. However, Naegi is also capable of using this skill to send people into despair.
Broken Bird: He doesn't start off this way, but dear lord he is by the end.
The Chain of Harm: Played with in From the Ashes. Seeing parallels in his actions at Hope's Peak and Komaru's actions in Towa City, Naegi tries to play mind games with her as Komaeda did with him. However, he's awful at them and they have no effect.
Chekhov's Skill:
- His luck and hope.
- The things Kamukura teaches him about subliminal messaging also come in handy later.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: Naegi just can't resist helping people. It's both a good and bad thing.
Conditioned to Accept Horror: Naegi goes through so much that he no longer sees things like cannibalism as something to get upset about.
Cynicism Catalyst: From the Ashes reveal that in retrospect, many events in The Lion's Den were this. Komaeda's confession that he was intentionally hurting Naegi destroys their relationship for the rest of the series. While Naegi does have some mental recovery in From the Ashes, it's obvious he's permanently lost his kind personality.
Despair Event Horizon: Passes it in chapter 98 after a series of painful experiences.
Determinator: Even as Naegi's sanity and resolve slowly erodes, he never gives up on trying to save Ultimate Despair until his Despair Event Horizon.
Emotional Regression: Naegi starts to act more childlike as his time with Ultimate Despair has a larger effect on him.
Escape Artist: Naegi isn't this, but does his best to become one.
Fatal Flaw: Naegi's passiveness prevents him from pushing back against Komaeda.
Foil: In-story, parallels are drawn between Naegi and Nanami. They are hopeful characters who disagree with Hope's Peak's narrative about talent/hope and are not put off by Kamukura's attempts to keep them at a distance. The main contrast is that Naegi accepts Kamukura as he is while Nanami ultimately does not and longs to bring Hinata back.
Good Is Not Dumb: Naegi is undeniably a force of good, but he can also be extremely manipulative. He's also clever enough to escape from Ultimate Despair.
The Heart: Naegi is the emotional glue behind Class 78 and the driving force behind Ultimate Despair's slow redemption.
Heart Is an Awesome Power: He manages to drag some members of Ultimate despair out of despair, without any prior knowledge on how to do so!
He's Back!: Naegi manages to bounce back from falling into despair after getting a hug from Kirigiri, something that vexes Kamukura to no end.
Hoist by His Own Petard: In The Lion's Den, Naegi tells Pekoyama blindly obeying Kuzuryuu's orders is akin to betraying him since she knows he would never do those things if he wasn't Brainwashed and Crazy. In From The Ashes, Pekoyama follows this same logic and turns on a despairing Naegi when he tries to get Komaeda killed.
Hope Bringer: As the Ultimate Hope, Naegi has a special talent for being optimistic and bringing hope to others.
I Hate Past Me: Naegi comes to believe that the old him was useless compared to his new role as Ultimate Hope.
Immune to Mind Control:
- He's the Ultimate Hope. Being immune to despair comes with the territory. Ha ha, no it doesn't.
- He does eventually become immune to mind-control videos, however.
Instant Expert: On subliminal messaging after Kamukura shows him the video in chapter 43.
Ironic Echo: Naegi is very uncertain when introducing himself to Kuzuryu as the Ultimate Hope instead of the Ultimate Lucky Student. By the time Sonia Nevermind comes around, he doesn't hesistate.
Kick the Dog: Naegi goes off on Alter Ego and dismisses him as a robot that can't understand emotions when Alter Ego suggests Naegi could be feeling despair.
Manipulative Bastard: He becomes noticeably better at manipulating Ultimate Despair throughout The Lion's Den. In From The Ashes, this, his Chronic Hero Syndrome and the fact he Took a Level in Jerkass means he has become a legitimate threat.
- He tricks Asahina into supplying Ultimate Despair the materials they need to break out.
- He frames Komaeda for a murder attempt on Kamukura and likely would have succeeded in convincing Class 77 to kill him if his bad luck hadn't provided Komaeda with enough evidence to stall.
A Match Made in Stockholm: Naegi considers the Remnants to be his friends even though they kidnapped him, are holding him prisoner and are trying to murder his friends in Class 78.
Morality Pet: To Ultimate Despair. In From the Ashes, he upgrades from this to a Morality Chain for Kamukura.
Non-Action Guy: Naegi is physically one of the weakest characters and is easily manhandled by those around him.
The Paranoiac: Naegi hides it very well, but his conversations with Gekkogahara in From The Ashes show he's still waiting for the other shoe to drop and doesn't trust his friends not to hurt him.
Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: Soda physically scars Naegi across his forehead upon meeting him. The scar is brought up several times in the future as an example of the trauma Ultimate Despair has put him through.
Stepford Smiler: Naegi learns to hide his emotions and often comes off as a cheery child.
Temporarily a Villain: Naegi falls into despair a second time in From the Ashes. Unlike the first time, he doesn't shake it off shortly after.
Took a Level in Jerkass:
- By the time Alter Ego's come to help him.
- Naegi in From the Ashes has permanently taken one of these as a result of the betrayals and traumas he's suffered.
Villainous Breakdown: In chapter 80 of From The Ashes, Naegi has a huge one after his attempt to kill Kamukura and Komaeda fail. He completely breaks down, turning on everyone in Class 77 while professing he'll kill them all for everything they've put him through.

Nagito Komaeda

Ultimate Lucky Student and a member of Ultimate Despair. He brings Naegi to their headquarters in order to teach him everything about Hope.

Alas, Poor Villain
Blessed with Suck
Born Unlucky: While Komaeda is known in-universe for his incredible feat of good luck, this setting focuses much more on the bad luck he's encountered throughout his life.
Break Her Heart to Save Her: Komaeda tries this as part of his Suicide by Cop plot, but fails miserably.
Break Them by Talking: Komaeda finally begins to second-guess his actions after Kamukura reads him the riot act.
The Corrupter: To Naegi.
Desperately Craves Affection: Komaeda has been rejected by all living characters in the story while those who did love him were killed by his luck cycle. He's a very lonely character.
Driven to Suicide: In the penultimate chapter, Komaeda, terrified that he will remain Beyond Redemption, tries to get Naegi to kill him.
Foreshadowing: Komaeda makes a big deal of how Naegi seems to love everyone. It turns out Komaeda really kidnapped Naegi because he wanted someone to love him.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Komaeda has no friends among Ultimate Despair and they are not shy about making sure he knows it. This finally gets averted late-story in From The Ashes where his classmates start making an effort.
Green-Eyed Monster: It's revealed that he felt this way towards Naegi during their school days.
Heel Realization: Happens during The Reveal, after Kamukura calls him out on the reasons why he kidnapped Naegi and the way he's been treating him.
Heroic Second Wind: When he is intially framed for attempting to kill Kamukura, his initial reaction is to resign himself to death. Then he realizes if he gets killed, Naegi will proceed to become the new Ultimate Despair.
It's All About Me: Kamukura calls Komaeda out for kidnapping Naegi to satisfy his own loneliness.
I Just Want to Be You: Heavily implied towards Naegi. Komaeda later admits to it in From The Ashes.
The Kindnapper: Subverted.
Manipulative Bastard: Komaeda uses Naegi's kind nature against him to play him like a fiddle. Occasionally, he's also seen manipulating others such as when he plays on Ultimate Despair's hero worship of Enoshima to convince them to keep Naegi in the first place.
My God, What Have I Done?: Both he and Kamukura have this reaction to Naegi falling into despair.
Put on a Bus: Disappears for a bit after his Heel Realization.
Reformed, but Rejected: In the last chapters of The Lion's Den, Komaeda comes around in a Heel–Face Turn. He tries to be The Atoner for a while, but the constant disdain from everyone causes him to revert back into an antagonistic role. His second attempt is more successful as other characters (namely the Imposter) have learned from their mistakes.
Secretly Selfish: Komaeda talks a big game about trying to create hope for the world, but a lot of his actions are self-serving.
Stepford Smiler: Implied.
Visionary Villain: He comes across as this before The Reveal.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: For a certain definition of "well intentioned." He was trying to help Naegi. Subverted hard with The Reveal.
Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Komaeda often feels his behavior toward Naegi is justified.

Izuru Kamukura

(Former) Ultimate Hope and a member of Ultimate Despair. Helps Komaeda kidnap Naegi out of boredom, and is watching Naegi try to escape as a source of entertainment.

The Ace: Superhuman master at everything, capable of single-handedly holding off The Future Foundation. Even Ultimate Despair is wary of him.
Anti-Villain: Kamukura is one of Naegi's kidnappers and goes out of his way to ensure Naegi stays imprisoned, but as unbelievable as it seems, he has good intentions.
The Atoner: Kamukura's actions seem to be based on atoning for Nanami's death and allowing Class 77 to fall into despair.
Berserk Button: Trying to talk about Nanami Chiaki with him is like walking through a minefield.
Broken Ace: As in canon, he became super talented at the cost of his personality and memories. He's also aware of what was done to him, and has major issues surrounding Nanami and his class. On a positive note, he's been trying to get himself and others out of despair.
Deadpan Snarker: Kamukura's brand of humor is ridiculous statements made in a completely deadpan voice. Often he's so deadpan that nobody's quite sure if he's making a joke.
Death of Personality: As in canon. Even regaining Hinata's memories hasn't fixed this.
Foil: To Kirigiri. Both are very intelligent, stoic characters who keep information close to their chests and have a hard time getting close to others. Both also act as The Chessmaster for their respective groups. Unlike Kirigiri however, Kamukura never learns to trust and bring others into his plans. The result is that Kamukura's plan fails and is only salvaged by Kirigiri, whose plan to locate and reach Naegi succeeded.
Foreshadowing: Kamukura's first appearance has him declare that he intends to take a neutral position in the Naegi vs. Ultimate Despair fight. However, observant readers will notice that Kamukura does interfere from time to time and it's almost always for Naegi's benefit. This is a major clue that Kamukura was lying, and that he's actually on Naegi's side.
The Friend Nobody Likes: With the exception of Komaeda, Ultimate Despair tolerates him at best. This is due to Kamukura's arrogance and because they believe he killed Nanami.
I Work Alone: Deconstructed. Kamukura does not trust others with knowledge of his plans and tries to compensate by being The Chessmaster. However, this leads to mistrust and tension with those he manipulates and things blowing up further down the line.
Jerkass: Kamukura in his pre-Tragedy years. He's better by the time the story starts but still has his moments.
Lack of Empathy: Thanks to Hope's Peak, Kamukura has a very hard time sympathizing with others. He does seem to have a better understanding of other people's emotions in From the Ashes, but it still isn't that great.
Master of All: Averted. He comes across as this way in the beginning, but Kamukura's shortcomings are a major plot point.
My God, What Have I Done?: Both he and Komaeda have this reaction to Naegi falling into despair.
Neutral No Longer: Kamukura has several of these over the course of the story, including after the Steering Committee murders Nanami, when he realizes Enoshima took advantage of him and turned his class into Despair, and when he realizes Naegi is actually succeeding at reforming Ultimate Despair.
Not So Stoic: Kamukura falls into a deep depression after Nanami's death. From the Ashes shows that he is also not immune to despair.
Safety in Indifference: For Kamukura, apathy is how he displays despair.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He helps Enoshima kick off the Tragedy.

Mikan Tsumiki

Ultimate Nurse and a member of Ultimate Despair. One of the quickest to accept Naegi, she starts fawning over him like a mother.

Apologizes a Lot: As in canon, Tsumiki tends to be an utter doormat and apologizes for any slight, real or imagined.
Ax-Crazy: As is the rest of Ultimate Despair. She loses this trait after being cured of despair, but still doesn't mind killing.
Berserk Button: Questioning her relationship with Enoshima. At least until the character development sets in.
Cerebus Retcon: Early in the series, Tsumiki's obsession with her 'beloved' is remapped to Naegi and Played for Laughs. Her affection for him eventually becomes genuine to the point where her and Naegi have the closest bond among Ultimate Despair. This takes a dark turn in From the Ashes where Naegi's evolution into a Villain Protagonist results in Tsumiki becoming The Dragon in an echo of the toxic relationship between Enoshima and Despair!Tsumiki.
Character Development: Tsumiki gradually becomes bolder throughout the story as Naegi's encouragement drives her to stand her ground.
Conflicting Loyalty: Towards Naegi and Enoshima's memory.
Establishing Character Moment: In one of her first appearances, Despair!Tsumiki tries to get Naegi to call her Mommy.
Heel–Face Turn: The first to be cured of despair.
Heel Realization: Has one when she realizes Ultimate Despair plans to mutilate Naegi.
I Just Want to Be Loved: The positive attention Enoshima gave her is what caused Tsumiki to be so vulnerable to despair. Conversely, this trait also makes her the most vulnerable to Naegi's influence.
Mama Bear: Tsumiki is a doormat, but threaten Naegi and she will hurt you.
Parental Substitute: Early on, Tsumiki tries to invoke this with a creeped out Naegi. Eventually, a relationship like this does develop, but as sweet as it is, it's ultimately a side-effect of Naegi's immense trauma.
Sudden Principled Stand: In-story, Tsumiki's demand to stop her medical torture show is this. Played with though in that her problems isn't that she's torturing people, but that it makes Naegi upset.

Peko Pekoyama

Ultimate Swordswoman and a member of Ultimate Despair. Unique in that she hasn't actually fallen into Despair.

Animals Hate Him: Kuma has a natural dislike for her.
Action Girl: As Kuzuryu's sword and a master swordswoman, Pekoyama is one of the first on the field when Ultimate Despair needs force.
Character Development: Learning to disobey Kuzuryuu is a major character arc for her and turns out to be the key to breaking him out of despair.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Pekoyama is cold and distant with Naegi at first, but is one of his most loyal supporters by the end.
Extreme Doormat: Starts off this way toward Kuzuryuu. It's clear she hates what he does and what he's become, but she doesn't know how to defy him.
Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Kuzuryuu is in no way incompetent, but you can't deny that she's very good at what she does.
Just Following Orders: Pekoyama helped bring about the apocalyse just because Kuzuryuu told her to.
My Master, Right or Wrong: Pekoyama only sticks around because she's loyal to Kuzuryuu.
Only Sane Man: Pekoyama is the only member of Ultimate Despair who never falls into despair.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Pekoyama eventually tries to physically drag Naegi out of his prison to safety.
Sudden Principled Stand: Pekoyama has one when she finally confronts Kuzuryuu.
Token Good Teammate: Pekoyama is actually not part of Ultimate Despair, just loyal to Kuzuryu. Therefore, she's one of the easiest Remnants for Naegi to handle and is the only one that actively tries to help him escape.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

Ultimate Yakuza and one of the heads of Ultimate Despair after Enoshima's death.

Dragon-in-Chief: After Enoshima's death. Shirokuma, as an AI version of Enoshima, is still technically in charge, but it's Kuzuryuu that runs things.
Establishing Character Moment: In his first appearance, Kuzuryuu suddenly turns on Pekoyama for no reason, to the point where he ignores Naegi (who at the time was their worst enemy) in favour of berating her.
Even Evil Has Standards: Despite arguably being the most depraved of Ultimate Despair, Kuzuryuu still refuses to give into his urge to murder Peko Pekoyama.
Fighting from the Inside: Kuzuruyuu's redemption has him fighting against his despair self's demand to kill Pekoyama.
Hope Crusher: Kuzuryuu's goal is to be this to Naegi. His successfulness is... mixed.
Kick the Morality Pet: Kuzuryuu orders Kuma to be killed after Naegi causes a group vote to swing against him, even though Naegi himself was not present at the vote and never knew anything about it.
Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Halfway through The Lion's Den, Kuzuryuu declares war on Naegi's hope. Things initially go this way as Naegi and his luck No-Sell both his hope-crushing plans and his plan to make Naegi be his friend by sending an assasin after him. However, it gets averted hard when Kuzuryuu decides to kill Kuma.
My Greatest Failure: While everyone in Ultimate Despair regrets the horrible things they did, Kuzuryuu is the most remorseful. Relative to the time he was cured, he reforms the fastest and furthest of his classmates, taking several levels of kindness throughout From The Ashes.
Sadist: Out of everyone, Kuzuryuu seems to enjoy torture the most. Considering whom he's surrounded by, it says a lot.
Torture Technician: Chapter 22 of The Lion's Den has Kuzuryuu leading a interrogation. It's not pretty.
Took a Level in Kindness: Kuzuryuu works hard to make up for his past actions in From the Ashes.

Ultimate Despair

Junko Enoshima's loyal followers. Responsible for making the world despair.

Tropes common to Ultimate Despair:

All Take and No Give:
- With a couple of exceptions, their relationships with Naegi. It continues and expands in From the Ashes to include Naegi's classmates to the point where Togami and Asahina try to murder them.
- In a more humourous example, Ultimate Despair consider Kamukura to be a mooch.
Bad Boss: You are less likely to be murdered by them if you work for them, but your life is never guaranteed.
Became Their Own Antithesis: Part of being an Ultimate Despair is craving the pain from things you hate so every Despair engages in this.
- Sonia, with her former Love Interest Tanaka as her wingman, relentlessly pursues a romance with Soda while Soda ignores her.
- The Imposter and Owari both starve themselves while Hanamura refuses to eat anything but trash.
- Sanoiji refuses to bully Tsumiki.
Big Bad: Ultimate Despair might like Naegi, but they're still his jailors and responsible for the ongoing apocalypse.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: The brainwashing means that some members of Ultimate Despair genuinely don't understand what they're doing is wrong.
Cast Full of Crazy: As Remnants of Despair, every single one of them is some degree of insane.
Dark and Troubled Past: Enoshima targeted every one of them and put them through hell as part of her plan to turn them into Ultimate Despair.
Despair Event Horizon: They were all pushed past this by Enoshima.
For the Evulz: Well, for the despair but same idea.
Insane Troll Logic: From time to time, especially where Enoshima and despair are invoked.
Predator Turned Protector: Invoked by Shirokuma.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Red eyes are a symptom of being brainwashed by the Despair video.
True Companions: The Remnants may have murdered their own friends and family, but they refuse to hurt each other and will violently come to each other's defense.

Sonia Nevermind

Ultimate Princess and one of the heads of Ultimate Despair after Enoshima's death.

Abhorrent Admirer: While in despair, the canon love triangle between her, Tanaka and Soda is reversed. Now she is the one chasing after an uninterested Soda with Tanaka acting as her wingman.
Berserk Button: Being accused of tyranny.
Dragon-in-Chief: Along with Kuzuryuu, she's considered one of the new leaders of Ultimate Despair.
God Save Us from the Queen!: Implied. This is later exploited to convince her guards to stand down during the final battle.
The Good King: She believes she's this. It's quite the opposite in reality.
Pragmatic Villainy: Naegi proves to her that her right-hand man, Phillip, thinks she is a tyrant. Although this is her Berserk Button, she spares Phillip because he's still very loyal to her and hasn't actually done anything wrong.
Self-Made Orphan: Sonia arranged the torture and murder of her parents.
Utopia Justifies the Means: She is willing to burn down the rest of the world if she feels that would protect her country. Unfortunately, she is unable to see she is destroying her country alongside the world.

Akane Owari

Ultimate Gymnast.

Action Girl: Owari is usually one of the first to jump into a fight or to escalate a physical situation.
Big Eater: She used to be this, and denying herself food is how she brings herself despair.
Nothing but Skin and Bones: Owari starved herself for despair.

Nekomaru Nidai

Ultimate Coach.

Even Evil Has Standards: Nidai is a nice guy, but he's still Ultimate Despair. However, he draws the line at offing a member of Ultimate Despair's "family."
Team Mom: Nidai shows traces of this in how he protects his classmates, such as backing Tsumiki up when she tries to convince Owari to break her hunger strike and giving Naegi a pool break after seeing how physically worn down he is. Notably, Nidai doesn't need explicit intervention from Naegi to break out of despair, and does so after Shirokuma orders him to kill Naegi.

Teruteru Hanamura

Ultimate Chef.

Hidden Depths: There are multiple occasions where Hanamura seems to have a breakdown over his actions as Ultimate Despair, suggesting he is Fighting from the Inside.
Self-Made Orphan: Hanamura goes into detail about how he killed and ate his mother along with the slaughter of his siblings.
Supreme Chef

Hiyoko Saionji

Ultimate Traditional Dancer.

The Bully: Not to the extent seen in canon, but still present.
Hidden Depths:
- Saionji is the only character who actively tries to teach Naegi how to defend himself against Komaeda. It's implied she drew a parallel with her past self.
- Saionji's bullying of Tsumiki is given a motivation here. She specifically targets Tsumiki because she can tell part of Tsumiki's persona is an act and she's not as harmless as she seems.

Ibuki Mioda

Ultimate Musician.

Genki Girl: Even when she's in despair, Ibuki is still bouncing off the walls, and eager to rock out and thrill the crowd.
Stepford Smiler: Strongly implied.

Gundham Tanaka

Ultimate Breeder.

Bad People Abuse Animals: Thankfully averted. Tanaka is as kind to his animals as ever.
Beware the Quiet Ones: Despite being mute, Tanaka is considered one of Ultimate Despair's heavy hitters.
I Am a Humanitarian: Tanaka eats human corpses.
The Voiceless: Tanaka is unable to speak as part of his despair. In From the Ashes, he also attempts to carve out his voicebox to make this permanent.

Mahiru Koizumi

Ultimate Photographer.

All for Nothing: Prior to falling into despair, Enoshima kidnapped her father and threatened to kill him unless Koizumi sent proof she had killed a person Enoshima had provided. Koizumi first attempted to fake the shot, but Enoshima sent her a picture of her father's severed hand in response. Eventually, Koizumi caved and killed the man. Her reward? A picture of her father being murdered.
Broken Pedestal: Her mother. According to Enoshima, Koizumi's mother was not an authentic wartime photographer and instead purposely set up the shots she wanted - even if she had to provide the corpses. Possibly subverted as Naegi is confident Enoshima was lying, although we never learn the truth.
Room Full of Crazy: Koizumi's room is filled with pictures of her dead loved ones and people she killed.

The Imposter/Ren

"Ultimate Affluent Progeny." Disguises himself as various other characters.

Be Yourself: His character development with Naegi has him finally walk out in front of Ultimate Despair without a mask.
- In From the Ashes, he chooses a name of his own.
Big Eater: He used to be this, and denying himself food is one way he brings himself despair.
Master of Disguise: Gifted at disguising himself as others.
Nothing but Skin and Bones: The Imposter starved themself for despair.
Offing the Offspring: The Imposter's lack of an official identity and constant disguises are a result of him hiding from his parents, who want him dead for unknown reasons.
Royal Bastard: It's hinted that he is the biological child of someone very powerful, but exactly who is unknown.

Kazuichi Soda

Ultimate Mechanic.

Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: He isn't satisfied unless Makoto treats him with the same level of disdain and disgust as Junko did.
Big Brother Instinct: Develops one towards Naegi.
Comically Missing the Point: Sonia pursues him as a romantic partner while she's in despair and immediately stops once she recovers. Soda is convinced she did it because rejecting her gave him despair and not because, you know, she genuinely hates the idea of being in a relationship with him.
Fearless Fool: Kazuichi is annoyed with Makoto for not reacting in fear of being given any contraption he, as a member of Ultimate Despair, built, even if it is a TV.
In Love with Your Carnage: A platonic variation. Soda and Naegi's main bonding activity is watching Naegi destroy the Monokumas he so lovingly created.

Shirokuma

A robot containing an Enoshima AI. Occasionally gives Ultimate Despair orders from her post in Towa City.

Greater-Scope Villain: Ultimate Despair technically works for her. She's also the one who ordered them to keep Naegi prisoner.
Killed Off for Real: Komaru destroys her after she taunts Komaru over ordering Naegi's death.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: She's the one who forced Ultimate Despair to adopt Naegi in the first place.

The Survivor Six

The survivors of Hope Peak's killing game. They work with the Future Foundation, but don't have the same goals.

Tropes common to the Survivor Six:

True Companions: They are incredibly loyal to Naegi and each other.
Undying Loyalty: They ARE going to rescue Naegi, regardless of who gets in their way.

Alter Ego

Though technically not one of the Survivor Six, Fujisaki's AI works with the survivors trying to help Naegi.

Foil: To Naegi later on. Alter Ego's hopeful and energetic attitude resembles how Naegi originally behaved, making the ways his time with Ultimate Despair has changed him more obvious.
Heroic Sacrifice: In chapter 90, to help Naegi and Iwata escape Ultimate Despair. Ultimately subverted. As Alter Ego himself points out, as an A.I. with multiple copies, destroying his Monokuma body won't actually kill him. Sure enough, he later appears on Kirigiri's cellphone.
The Infiltration: Alter Ego inflitrates Ultimate Despair as a regular Monokuma robot to act as a spy and deliveryman for Class 78.

Kyoko Kirigiri

Ultimate Detective.

Ascended Extra: Kirigiri has a limited amount of screentime in The Lion's Den, but is one of the main characters in the sequel.
The Cavalry: Kirigiri finally reaches Naegi after it seems that escape is futile.
Control Freak: Kirigiri is overly controlling of Naegi in the early chapters of From the Ashes. She gets better after acknowledging she has PTSD.
Determinator: Kirigiri isn't phased when she realizes Naegi has fallen into despair and all hope seems lost.
Deuteragonist: In From the Ashes.
Great Detective: She's the Ultimate Detective so this is a given.
Hero of Another Story: The glimpses we get of her in The Lion's Den show that she is actively manipulating the Future Foundation and plotting against Ultimate Despair.
Hope Bringer: To Naegi. The idea that she's coming to save him helps him keep going.
Only Sane Man: Apart from her PTSD-driven breakdown in the first part of From The Ashes, Kirigiri is the only consistently reliable charaacter.
Remember That You Trust Me: She has to do this with Naegi as he gets worse.
The Quisling : Invoked. On the surface, Kirigiri looks like she has turned her back on the survivors and has completely fallen in with the Future Foundation, but it's a part of a plan by her and Togami to get her into a position of power.

Byakuya Togami

Ultimate Affluent Progeny.

The Gadfly: Togami is known for his criticism of the Future Foundation and tendency to get into verbal spats with them. While it is in-character, he's also doing this on purpose to make Kirigiri more valuable to the Future Foundation and help her rise in the ranks.
Hate Sink: Invoked by Togami toward the Future Foundation to keep their attention off his classmates.
Supporting Leader: While the rest of the Survivor Six (barring Kirigiri) believe he is The Captain, Kirigiri is actually in charge of their group.
Token Evil Teammate: Togami is, for him, relatively nice to his classmates. He doesn't hold anything back when dealing with Class 77 though and attempts to poison them.
Took a Level in Kindness: Compared to the first game.

Toko Fukawa/Genocider Sho

Ultimate Writer, or Ultimate Serial Killer as Sho.

Affectionate Nickname: Genocider has a collection of these for Naegi.
Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Genocider attacks and leaves Komaeda for dead after learning what happened to Naegi in The Lion's Den.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: It's revealed that before kidnapping Naegi, Komaeda approached Sho to talk about taking Naegi in. Her explanation that Naegi would never abandon his friends prompts Komaeda to take Naegi by force. Additionally, because Fukawa and Sho do not share memories, her classmates weren't warned that a stranger had taken an interest in Naegi.

Aoi Asahina

Ultimate Swimmer.

Action Girl: She and Genocider Shou serve as the muscle for Class 78.
Survivor's Guilt: Suffers from this. Failing to protect Naegi hasn't made it any better.

Yasuhiro Hagakure

Ultimate Fortune Teller.

Dirty Coward: Hagakure actually witnessed the beginning of Naegi's kidnapping and chose to run away rather than help.
Hidden Depths: In From the Ashes, he shows his serious side the day before the funeral. When the members of Ultimate Despair suggest using Alter Ego in the place of Fujisaki as Nanami's closest friend, Hagakure points out that it won't be the same, because the real Fujisaki is dead, along with most of their classmates.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Hagakure's cowardice played a major role in Komaeda successfully kidnapping Naegi.

Future Foundation

The largest organization tasked with fighting Ultimate Despair.

Tropes common to the Future Foundation:

A House Divided: While not as bad as it is in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, there are clear opposing factions within the Future Foundation. Most notably, Tengan releases Kirigiri after she is imprisoned by Munakata and Yukizome.
Big Good: How Naegi sees the organisation. Until Munakata runs Iwata through with his katana.
Broken Pedestal: To Naegi, eventually.
Cynicism Catalyst: Naegi's altercation with them and feeling like he can't trust them is part of what drives him into despair.
Good Is Not Soft: Deconstructed. If Munakata had been just a little softer, Naegi (and presumably the rest of the survivors) wouldn't have turned on them for killing Iwata.
Hope Bringer: The purpose of their organization.
Slave to PR: The Survivor Six's status (especially Naegi's) as the world's Hope Bringer means that the Future Foundation has to be very careful handling Naegi's kidnapping and disciplining his classmates. Kirigiri and Togami exploit this ruthlessly.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: As in canon.

Kyosuke Munakata

Former Ultimate Student Council President, 2nd division leader, and vice-leader of the Future Foundation.

The Cynic: Dealing with the post-Tragedy world has seriously affected him. It's the reason he can't trust Iwata.
Murder Is the Best Solution: Unsure whether the man is front of you is secretly a spy for Ultimate Despair? Worried that this man may counter your intent to control Naegi? Good thing you have a sword!
Secretly Selfish: It's heavily implied that his interest in saving Naegi is so that he can use Naegi's influence as a weapon.
Unwitting Pawn: For Yukizome.

Juzo Sakakura

Former Ultimate Boxer and 6th division leader.

Good Is Not Nice: While he works for the Future Foundation, he's still an aggressive jerk who wanted to hurt Naegi out of jealousy.
Jerkass: Is very quick to get physical with Naegi. Although he does admit that he can't take pleasure in punching him.

Chisa Yukizome

Former Ultimate Housekeeper and 5th division leader.

Brainwashed and Crazy: As per Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, Chisa was brainwashed by Enoshima and is secretly part of Ultimate Despair.
The Corrupter: To Munakata.
The Gadfly: To the Future Foundation.
The Mole: Chisa is actually a spy for Ultimate Despair.

Miaya Gekkogahara

Ultimate Therapist and 7th division leader.

Ascended Extra: Gekkogahara appears once to speak with Naegi over the phone. She becomes a recurring character in From the Ashes.
Shipper on Deck: She teases Kirigiri about having feelings for Naegi.
The Voiceless: Gekkogahara doesn't speak. Instead, she uses Usami as her voice.

Kazou Tengan

Founder and Chairman of the Future Foundation.

Only Sane Man: Compared to Munakata and crew, Tengan comes across this way regarding his dealings with the Survivor Six.

Ryota Mitarai

Ultimate Animator and 10th division leader.

Broken Pedestal: There are signs that Naegi has become this to him.
It's All My Fault: Because he indirectly created Ultimate Despair, he also blames himself for what they've done to Naegi.
Mind-Control Device: As in canon, Mitarai has a video on his phone that brainwashes anyone who sees it.

Others

Chiaki Nanami

Ultimate Gamer. Was part of Class 77 and is dead when the story begins.

The Heart: For the trio formed by her, Komaeda and Kamukura.
Lost Lenore: She is this for Kamukura. In a rare gender inversion, Hinata plays this role for her. Her inability to accept Hinata has been replaced by Kamukura ends up getting her killed.
Morality Chain: Kamukura becomes a lot more dangerous after she dies.
Posthumous Character: Nanami is dead, but her memory is still important to characters such as Kamukura and she plays an important role in his backstory.

Torio Iwata

One of Ultimate Despair's prisoners. A member of the Future Foundation's 7th division.

Cynicism Catalyst: His death plays a part in driving Naegi to despair.
I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Iwata believes that Ultimate Despair held him prisoner so they could use him as leverage over Naegi.
Only Sane Man: He's one of the only people in Ultimate Despair's hideout that Naegi can trust, and he does better at keeping it together than some of the other prisoners.
Token Adult
Voice of Reason
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Done to him by Munakata after helping Naegi find their search party.

Komaru Naegi

Makoto Naegi's little sister. Starts the story being held hostage in Towa City.

Ascended Extra: Komaru only appeared in a few chapters in The Lion's Den, but is a main character in the sequel.
Big Brother Instinct: Inverted. Komaru had a chance to ditch Towa City in this timeline, but she still stays and goes through the events of Another Episode to try and rescue her brother.
Foil: To her brother in From the Ashes as she maintains the innocence and optimism he has lost.
My Sister Is Off-Limits: Played with. At one point, Komaru declares that pretending to be related to her brother is not okay.
Sadistic Choice: Komaru gives one to Ultimate Despair when she forces them to choose between Enoshima and Naegi.
Spanner in the Works: Along with her canon actions in Another Episode, she also prevents Super Dangan Ronpa 2 from happening by destroying Enoshima's A.I.
Took a Level in Badass: Komaru before and after her adventure in Towa City is very different.

Kuma

A grizzly bear given to Naegi by Tanaka in order to guard him and act as a companion.

Big Eater: Most of Kuma's scenes have him eating or looking for food.
Cynicism Catalyst: Kuma's death plays a part in Naegi finally falling into despair.
A Dog Named "Dog": He's a grizzly bear named "Kuma", the Japanese word for "bear".
Team Pet: Well, he most definitely is Naegi's pet and not Ultimate Despair's, but he fits this mold.

Naegi's Parents

Makoto and Komaru Naegi's parents. It's unknown what happened to them after the world ended.

Cynicism Catalyst: The reveal of their deaths, after a series of other painful events, is what finally drives Naegi into despair.
Dead All Along: Did you really expect anything else?

Characters / The Lion's Den

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