Point Of Divergence
is a What If? AU of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair written by chaoticrandomness (also know as mercuriesandrandomness) in which Nagito Komaeda does not have frototemporal dementia.
This changes the plot dramatically.
This work contains examples of:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Due to not having frototemporal dementia, Komaeda is much nicer to his fellow students.
- Asshole Victim: Chapter 2's killer considers Kuzuryuu to be this. The other students disagree, claiming that while he was a jerk, he didn't deserve death.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Hinata, after Koizumi jumps to Saionji's defense after she makes up a fake sob story about Hinata bullying her, points out that she's a bit a Hypocrite.Hinata: Um, Koizumi…. I didn’t actually do anything to her. And by the way, why haven’t you blown up at Saionji for what she does to Tsumiki and Souda?
- Break the Cutie: Mioda, after Togami's execution is found sobbing on the beach and begging to be left alone. She recovers rather quickly.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Like in canon, all of the executions.
- Chapter one's killer, the Imposter is placed in a hall of mirrors, where he sees every disguise he's ever taken, along with the real Togami, who commands the reflections to stab him to death.
- Chapter two's killer, Saionji is forced to dance for everyone she ever bullied, until the stage she's dancing on is dissolved, causing her to fall into a pit of acid. All the while, everyone in the audience is shooting at her.
- Chapter three's killer, Souda is strangled by his true love, Junko.
- Chapter four's killer, Koizumi is mauled to death by a hoard of Monobears.
- Chapter five's killer/victim, Komaeda is strapped to a dart board and is shot at by everyone who died in the plane crash, including his parents. It goes until either he's fatally shot or the dartboard blows up.
- Dead Person Conversation: Hinata has one with Nanami after chapter 1's trial.
- Death by Adaptation:
- Everyone who survives the game in canon except Hinata dies in this fic.
- Nanami, Saionji, and Tanaka die earlier than in canon.
- Despair Event Horizon: Pekoyama crosses it after Kuzuryuu dies as she failed as his bodyguard, in addition to her being in love with him. She's just barely pulled back from it.
- Distressed Dude: Komaeda, after Monobear kidnaps him in Chapter 2.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Pekoyama attempts to kill herself following Kuzuryuu's death via stabbing herself in the stomach. She is just barely saved.
- Komaeda shoots himself in the head.
- First-Person Smartass: A lot of Hinata's inner thoughts are very snarky.
- Hearing Voices: Hinata hears Nanami after her death and often speaks to her.
- Implausible Deniability: Pekoyama claiming to not know Kuzuryuu during Chapter 2's trial. By that point, she's spent the entire investigation in a Heroic BSoD and vocally cursing her uselessness-it doesn't take long for everyone to realize she's grieving.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Chapter 1's murder happens in roughly the same way.
- Togami still dies in Chapter 1.
- Komaeda is still kidnapped in Chapter 2.
- Chapter 2's murder still heavily involves Twilight Syndrome Murder Mystery.
- Someone still tries to kill themselves in chapter 3.
- Akane and Komaeda both get despair fever in Chapter 3.
- Chapter 3's murderer has the exact same motive as their counterpart in canon.
- Chapter 4 still involves a suicide pact.
- Komaeda goes into the Final Dead Room in Chapter 4.
- Komaeda dies in chapter 5 from suicide.
- Chapter 6 is roughly the same as canon.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: During chapter 2's trial, Monobear gets annoyed when he learns that Komaeda and Tsumiki managed to make a major breakthrough in the case and says that NPCs shouldn't do important stuff and that only the protagonist can do useful things. Hinata then wonders why he is acting like they are video game characters.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Souda's motive for murdering Tanaka and Owari.
- Mood Whiplash: Part 4 of Chapter 2 begins with the guys' attempts at spying on the girls' beach party, and ends with Hinata, Koizumi, and Pekoyama finding Kuzuryuu's body.
- Murder-Suicide: Koizumi murders Sonia in order to help everyone escape the funhouse, before proceeding to confess as soon as the trial starts.
- Mythology Gag: When infected by the Despair Fever, Komaeda acts like his canon self, rambling about hope, despair and death.
- Once an Episode: Chapters 2, 3, and 4 all feature a scene early on with Hinata and Tsumiki taking care of Komaeda.
- Red Herring: Sonia in Chapter 3 as the crime is a copycat crime of Genocider Syo, who the group realized is a girl and Sonia had expressed interest in Syo. However, Sonia points out that since her first time in Japan was when she came to Hope's Peak, everyone quickly realizes it was impossible.
- Running Gag: Hinata repeatedly assuming that Monobear is a necrophiliac.
- Shipper on Deck: Mioda briefly ships Hinata/Souda at one point.
- Ship Tease: Lots. The most prominent are Hinata/Nanami and Komaeda/Tsumiki.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Mioda, Tsumiki, Pekoyama, Nidai, and Hanamura, who all die in canon, survive until the end in this fic. Also, Koizumi lives longer than in canon.
- Survivor Guilt: Kuzuryuu's death hits Pekoyama even harder than hers did to him in canon, especially since it was a murder this time-she actively failed at being a bodyguard.
- Switching P.O.V.: Chapter 4's investigation is told from Komaeda's POV, like in canon.
- The Lost Lenore: Nanami to Hinata and Kuzuryuu to Pekoyama.
- The Stations of the Canon: All of the murders have similar motives or occur similarly to those in canon.
- Trauma Button: Komaeda's kidnapping. Any reminder of it will cause him to freak out.
- Was It All a Lie?: Hinata after finding out that Nanami is The Mole. It's confirmed it wasn't later on, when as in canon, it turns out she's the Token Good Teammate.
- What Does This Button Do?: When on the train, Mioda starts hitting buttons on the controls.
- What If?: Nagito Komaeda didn't have frototemporal dementia and doesn't try to kill anyone during chapter 1's party?
