Since much of the cast of Danganronpa is deeply flawed, it's hardly surprising that many of them are hypocrites who don't practice what they preach.
All spoilers will be unmarked ahead. You Have Been Warned!
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Main installments:
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
- Multiple examples regarding Byakuya Togami.
- He regularly withholds important information so that he can try to dramatically reveal it during the trials, but gets pissed off whenever he learns somebody else knows something he doesn't. To say nothing of how outraged he is over someone else tampering with a crime scene, despite going out of his way to tamper with Chihiro's simply to make things more complicated.
- In Chapter 2, he responds to everyone trying to underplay the severity of the Secrets Motive by telling them not to judge how severe the secret was based on their own standards, which he brings up again with regards to the money motive. Despite this, Byakuya constantly judges the others based on his own standards, viewing all of the other students, namely Makoto, as essentially worthless and like they'll never amount to anything simply because of his status as heir to the Togami Family, which he believes makes him vastly above them.
- He claims Kyoko's lack of squeamishness around corpses she's forensically examining is unnatural when in the previous chapter he desecrated Chihiro's body and said so himself that a corpse is just an object.
- He repeatedly tells Makoto that he shouldn't assume everyone thinks the same way, yet he's completely blindsided when he's wrong about assuming the culprit of the fourth trial murdering for gain as he would've.
- He broke off from the group early on, to much of their dismay, over their lack of unity, yet he has the gall to be upset over being Locked Out of the Loop about Alter Ego's existence, since they can't risk openly talking about it while the security cameras are recording them.
- Kyoko Kirigiri also gets several examples, which is arguably an effective way of humanizing her apparent infallibility at investigating.
- Makoto refusing to tell her what he wanted to speak with Sakura about after the two promised to trust one another triggers her Berserk Button, but this happens because him voicing his suspicions before learning if Sakura really was The Mole would unfairly implicate her without proof (essentially forcing him over to Kyoko's way of thinking since her distrust in everyone makes it easier for her to throw blame around). This hostility towards Makoto continues into the next half of the chapter, despite her past history of withholding information from him (including sending him as live bait for the Mastermind).
- She calls Makoto foolishly open in her Free Time Events, then says his honest nature suits him. During aforementioned Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario, she coldly shuns his clear attempts to reconnect with her, even though his obvious guilt should probably have tipped her off that maybe he has a good reason for keeping this particular secret.
- Even after the secret comes out, she criticizes Byakuya for stepping over people's feelings despite spending most of the game brushing people off if they demand answers from her while largely acting neutrally on Sakura's situation (save for telling Aoi her anger plays into the Mastermind's hand).
- The fifth trial marks a turning point in this attitude, because the extent of her failure there forces her to see the hypocrisies in her thinking (Naegi Taking the Heat for her frame-job showing which one deserved to be trusted, while showing how many truths she can miss out on by working alone). She ultimately apologizes in the trash dump for all of this, finally vowing to tell him everything. This goes a great length towards showcasing how susceptible to being emotional (and therefore illogical) she truly is, and learning to step down from the self-appointed pedestal of truth seeker by working with others ends up being some important Character Development for her.
- Celestia Ludenberg:
- At the end of the first trial, she dismisses Leon's justification that his murder of Sayaka was in self-defense, by saying that if that was the case, he wouldn't have gone out of his way to get the bathroom door open and finish her off. She then goes on to betray and kill the unsuspecting Hifumi after manipulating him into killing Kiyotaka, although to her credit she doesn't even attempt to justify it as anything other than cold-blooded murder committed for her own personal gain.
- In Episode 7 of The Animation, she remarks that Byakuya and Jill are "[c]old, heartless and devoid of calcium" for insulting how Hifumi momentarily came back to life just to die again. Um, lady, who's cold and heartless enough to mastermind the murder of two people (one of them being the very Hifumi in question) and probably the rest due to the rules, and even called Hifumi a fat idiot just to get one selfish dream? Then again, this may be less hypocrisy and more lying to throw off suspicion towards her. Additionally, in the game, her point about both of them lacking calcium counts because she purposely deprecates herself for her daily lack of exercise while exercising her own murder plan.
- Junko Enoshima claims that despair is an absolutely inescapable thing, with only the smallest prodding being required to push people over its edge. Just as frequently, she proves how small her faith in that despair is by manipulating events in ways that try to cut hope off at its knees—like taking away the student's memories knowing they wouldn't kill each other otherwise, writing Sakura’s fake suicide note when she killed herself for the sake of hope, and trying to kill Makoto under the guise of Mukuro so that she can pin the murder on Kyoko. This fact is thrown at her by basically everyone, and her need to disprove it leads to the final chapter's trial. At one point, she also claims that the people who were trying to rescue Class 78 refused to give up hope and tried to force their beliefs on others. However, the events of the Hope's Peak saga are because of her trying to force despair onto the world.
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
- Nagito Komaeda:
- He confronts Hajime over "admiring" and being "obsessed" with Hope's Peak Academy, and derides him for his position, while Nagito himself constantly obsesses over "hope" (including Hope's Peak Academy), "stepladders" and the fact that Hajime is "trash compared to the Ultimates around him".
- He frequently exclaims that his fellow students should use their personal despair as stepping stones for a greater hope (such as Fuyuhiko's grief over Peko's death). When faced with his own great personal despair (that they were all Ultimate Despair), instead of trying to use it to make a greater hope, Nagito crosses the Despair Event Horizon and tries to kill the remaining students sans Chiaki, thinking that this act will make him deserving of the title Ultimate Hope even though it is the exact opposite of the outcome that was desired by the true Ultimate Hope, Makoto Naegi.
- Sonia Nevermind comments to Fuyuhiko that "only a coward threatens women", but she doesn't react when Gundham threatens to curse her if she's lying. Granted, Fuyuhiko was entirely serious about his threat (which was directed at the timidest and most emotionally vulnerable member of the cast), while Gundham was... being Gundham.
- Hiyoko Saionji has very little issue bullying other people, most notably Mikan and Kazuichi, but complains that people are bullying her at the beginning of Chapter 2 when the others remark on her smelling bad due to not being able to take a bath (even though they're just asking questions rather than being outright malicious).
- Part of the reason Mahiru is constantly flanderized as a man-hater is because she has a consistent Double Standard when it comes to men and women acting in the same ways:
- She believes that it's a man's job to step up and take charge (and to protect the girls) but takes issue when Byakuya takes charge as the leader, preferring that Sonia take the job instead (Sonia refuses). She also says that his personality is too forceful when hers isn't any different.
- She stands up for Mikan when Fuyuhiko threatens her. However, she never does anything about Hiyoko's consistent bullying of Mikan, which is especially jarring, considering that she's Hiyoko's best and only friend, and could've been the only person to influence her on this. The only justification is that Fuyuhiko, as the Ultimate Yakuza, can clearly carry out his threats while Hiyoko can't actually do anything to Mikan, but she still ignores the clear damage that Hiyoko is doing to Mikan's self-esteem.
- Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu:
- Constantly whines about wanting to be left alone but sometimes seeks out the class so he can threaten them, best shown by him entering the restaurant so he can scream at them for tying Nagito up. He also hilariously shouts about how the class gangs up on those they don't like, only to then brutally ambush Mahiru with a baseball bat days later
- Self-righteously gets Mahiru murdered because she might have covered up his sister's death to protect her best friend from getting murdered, only to then cover for Peko for the exact same reason, never once noticing his blatant double standards.
- Believes in eye for an eye and had little problem with taking Mahiru away from Hiyoko yet evidently couldn't handle losing Peko in exchange for him indirectly killing Mahiru and ruining Hiyoko's life. He even mocks Hiyoko's tears over Mahiru at one point only to break down over losing Peko hours later.
Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School
- Kazuo Tengan criticizes Munakata for his fanaticism (and does have a point), only for him to turn out even more extreme with regards to fighting despair.
- Kyosuke Munakata:
- He believes all the deaths he causes are necessary to eliminate despair and does not care about them, but when Yukizome dies, he loses it and refuses to acknowledge it as needed.
- He defies this when he starts his rampage. After Tengan says everyone is the attacker he proceeds to try to eliminate everyone and stabs Yukizome's corpse after he confirms that she was a Remnant of Despair.
- Juzo Sakakura:
- Despite being forced to protect a Despair in the past, he has no sympathy in the present for anyone else who does. It's eventually revealed that this is Psychological Projection; he hates himself for not stopping Junko and so hates people he sees as making the same mistake he did.
- His insistence on killing "traitors" of the Future Foundation leads him to attack the foundation's chairman when he tries to intervene.
- Ruruka Ando talks about how much she hates traitors, yet she herself is planning to backstab Munakata, and she betrays both her boyfriend and Kyoko's group in an attempt to save her own skin.
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
- Kaito Momota:
- He states that he's against lying when he lies to everybody else about the fact that he was dying from a mysterious illness.
- Throughout most of the game, he always encourages Shuichi to find the truth. Come to the aftermath of Chapter 4's trial, he became extremely upset at Shuichi when he does that.
- Kokichi Oma:
- He endlessly mocks Kaito for letting his emotions cloud his judgement, but his personal hatred of murder leads him to be needlessly antagonistic towards Maki, and it comes back to bite him in the ass more than once.
- He makes fun of Keebo for being an unfeeling robot, but Kokichi himself is incredibly callous when it comes to other people's feelings at times, while Kiibo is almost always a Nice Guy.
- He calls Kaede out on her plan to kill the mastermind, stating she played right into Monokuma's hands by doing so, but in Chapter 4, he actively conspires with Monokuma to help him execute his plan to kill Miu after he realized she was going to kill him in the Virtual World and uses Gonta as his scapegoat. Even he realizes how low he's sunk by the end of the chapter.
- Also in Chapter 4, he gets mad at Shuichi for telling a lie to him to expose his own lie, despite the fact that he lies near constantly.
- Korekiyo Shinguji:
- He says that Maki and Miu are the only two girls he deems unsuitable to be "Sister's friends", presumably because Maki is a Professional Killer and Miu is a foul-mouthed pervert, which is pretty rich coming from a Serial Killer who has killed nearly one hundred girls and had sexual relations with his own sister.
- He gets furious at any of the other students touching any of the artifacts in his lab, since they are priceless relics that cannot be tampered with... which doesn't stop him from moving, breaking, and defacing many of those same artifacts to carry out his murder plan.
- In the second trial, Kirumi Tojo 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.
- Himiko Yumeno 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.
- Tenko Chabashira 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.
- Angie Yonaga:
- 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 members of the student council begin policing everyone's activities and telling them not to go out at night, because Kirumi's murder plan happened at night. She ends up proving the validity of her rule by breaking it (going into one of the empty rooms alone at night to perform the ritual) and consequently becoming the victim of a nigh-unsolvable murder.
- During the penultimate Rebuttal Showdown, Monosuke tries to defend Tsumugi by saying that bad guys never wear glasses.
Spin-offs:
Killer Killer
- Shuuji Fujigawa talks about how horrible murder is and how much he hates killing, all while brutally butchering people.
