Red Herring / Danganronpa

All spoilers will be unmarked ahead. You Have Been Warned!

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Most murder cases in the Danganronpa franchise have at least one Red Herring in order to give the player/viewer's expectations to have subverted.

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Main installments:

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

• The Justice Hammers. More specifically, the numbering of the Justice Hammers, from smallest to biggest. Everyone thinks that they were used from one to four, but it's eventually discovered that the culprit used them out of order to throw everyone off.
• When Kiyotaka's body is discovered, Toko is shown lying on the floor, with her character sprite being in the same art style that the game uses for victims. It quickly turns out she only passed out after seeing blood.
• After Kyoko says Makoto is the least likely among the group to be the Mastermind and he agrees, the screen flashes back to his mysterious daydream where he tells himself that his goal is to stay in the academy. He didn't end up being the Mastermind, obviously.
• To assist with murders, the boys are all given a toolkit while the girls receive a sewing kit. While the toolkit is relevant, the sewing kit never sees use.
• Each case has a suspect who ends up being merely a red herring to the identity of the real culprit. Interestingly, almost all of them are always the survivors of the killing game:
  • Chapter 1:
    • Makoto Naegi is this in-universe only as he's suspected because the murder took place in his room but the players know that he didn't do it.
    • Although the 11037 clue makes majority of the players suspect the actual culprit, some could argue that this clue alone doesn't prove anything, as someone else could've just used a deceased Sayaka's arm to write that message to frame Leon. If someone follows this logic, they will likely suspect Hifumi Yamada, who's in fact briefly suspected when Leon points out he was on the cleaning duty on the day of the crime, making him the only person who could've accessed the incinerator. The suspicion could be furthered on meta level, with Hifumi being implied to be the culprit in the demo version of the game, later confirmed in its manga adaptation, meaning players aware of it could expect him to turn out to be the culprit in spite of the victim being switched.
  • Chapter 2:
    • Toko Fukawa's Split Personality, Genocide Jack, due to the crime scene being altered to remind of her cases.
    • Byakuya Togami, who altered the crime scene himself after witnessing Mondo's crime.
    • Unlike the two above, this example isn't used as a plot point, but Aoi Asahina and Sakura Ogami could both be this to some players. This is due to Chihiro Fujisaki (who was thought to be a girl before the Unsettling Gender-Reveal) seemingly being murdered in the girls' changing room, thus casting suspicion on female athletes of the group. Both girls get their own specific reasons to suspect them as well. There's a Truth Bullet related to a stain on the carpet left by Sakura, implying she could have been important to the case. On a meta level, a swimming pool - a location related to Aoi's talent - being unlocked in this chapter could make some believe Aoi is raising death flags (a similar occurance to whenever someone's Research Lab is opened in V3).
  • Chapter 3:
    • Yasuhiro Hagakure, whom Celestia Ludenberg tried to frame for her crime by putting him inside the Robo Justice suit. Hifumi seemingly saying his name when asked about who tried to kill him during his last words also contributed to this.
    • Kyoko Kirigiri being missing for a long time when the murders were taking place. In fact, although Celeste is quite pushy about framing Yasuhiro during the Class Trial, when his name has been clearly cleared, she briefly uses this argument to cast suspicion on Kyoko.
  • Chapter 4:
    • The half of the group who turned against Sakura or feared her after the reveal of her being the traitor - Byakuya, Toko, and Yasuhiro. Especially the latter two as there's evidence of them appearing at the crime scene. Hiro himself even believes he killed Sakura and quickly admits to it when provided with evidence.
    • Aoi Asahina, Sakura's best friend, who purposefully tried to take the blame for her suicide in order to have everyone executed for the wrong verdict for the way they mistreated Sakura (sans Makoto and Kyoko, who would've been executed regardless). In fact, Byakuya strongly believes so, expecting she murdered her best friend because no one would suspect so.
  • Chapter 5:
    • This time around, there's even a red herring related to the identity of the victim. Until she finally shows up after being missing again for so long, Kyoko was a viable option. Interestingly, while the victim turned out to be their second option - the hidden 16th participant and one of the people behind their inprisonment - Mukuro was someone they had actually already met as opposed to a player who hid throughout the entire game (with this instead being the actual Junko).
    • Both Kyoko and Makoto, as the mastermind was fine with framing either for meddling too much. Both could also work from the player's perspective. Makoto did witness Kyoko replacing the mysterious person in his room and everyone else had alibis. Meanwhile, this time around the players could actually suspect Makoto in spite of him being the Player Character, believing that perhaps he committed the crime while daydreaming and only forgot about it (thus not giving us any scenes of it from his point of view) due to being sick at the time.
    • To a lesser extent, Byakuya. Not only because some players might suspect The Rival characters every single time, but mostly because the testimony until the larger group showed up relies solely on his account and he may not be the most reliable person to a lot of players. Some may also find him being in posession of the key to Kyoko's room suspicious. His suspicions of Kyoko may further make some wary of him when her being the victim is still an option.
  • Chapter 6:
    • The mastermind turned out to be the actual Junko Enoshima. The one we'd met at the start of the game was just her twin sister, Mukuro Ikusaba, disguised as her. Mukuro herself helped with the kidnapping, but didn't orchestrate or host the killing game, thus not really qualifying for the role of the mastermind (being more of an accomplice instead), unlike what the characters were led to believe earlier.
    • The survivors were briefly led to believe everyone conspired against them after each of them received a class photo where only they were missing from the shot.
    • The reveal of the mastermind's identity disproved the group's theory from earlier parts of the game that Genocide Jack was the mastermind.
    • It also disproved the theory that Jin Kirigiri, Kyoko's father, was the mastermind, which the students (sans Kyoko herself) believed after learning he was the headmaster and stayed at school with them.
    • While not really suspected in universe, Byakuya is among the most common mastermind candidates for the players, with him being a jerkass The Rival who comes from a very influential family and therefore would have the budget needed to create a killing game. It's also quite a common trope in fiction for games like this to have been created as an entertainment for the rich. However, such theories can be disproved once Togami decides to bow out of the killing game or even as early as Chapter 2, when he shows a disdain for Monokuma and states his intent to punish the mastermind.
    • Similarly to Byakuya, Celestia was not really suspected in-universe, but is also quite a common potential mastermind pick for the players. This is because she may come off as too easily adapting to the situation, as well as her talent of the Ultimate Gambler being a pretty good one for someone who could be potentially interested in creating a game of such high risks.
    • Yasuhiro Hagakure is also picked fairly often as a choice, whether seriously or just as a joke. Both sides tend to use the argument that he's just Obfuscating Stupidity as a reason. The serious side may also use the argument that him not being that much relevant to the plot (aside from being a red herring to the culprit in Chapters 3 and 4) means he'll turn out to be a mastermind in the last chapter to gain plot relevance there (something that more or less happens with Tsumugi in V3). Some may also say that his talent as the Ultimate Clairvoyant is useful for a mastermind, as they'd likely need to try to predict the outcome of the game and each trial to continue properly hiding under the radar and avoid being killed.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

• The fake Byakuya Togami. He just turns out to be the nameless Ultimate Imposter, who has no real identity of his own. Monokuma explicitly states that the mystery didn't turn out to be important.
• Nagito Komaeda — though perhaps unintentionally. He looks like and has the same voice actor as Makoto, and his name is (accidentally) a Significant Anagram, all of which suggest that Nagito is Makoto. It's all just a coincidence.
• Invoked by Junko with the countdown timer. She admits it was just there to provide atmosphere and to be a Self-Imposed Challenge on herself.
• In Chapter 1, before the murder even happens, Peko is left to guard the circuit breaker so that nobody can cause a blackout and commit a murder in the dark. A blackout indeed happens (with a subsequent murder), and it's later revealed that Peko left her post to go to the bathroom. It's implied that the killer had slipped her laxatives and/or tampered with the circuit breaker in the room. Both of these are false trails; Peko's stomach problems were just a coincidence, and the killer never touched the circuit breaker (although the circuit breaker was involved, but not in the way the characters believe.)
• In Chapter 2, a significant chunk of the Daily Life is dedicated to talking about the mysterious serial killer Sparkling Justice and then Sparkling Justice's calling card is found at the murder scene, clearly trying to invoke the Genocide Jill reveal from the first game. This turns out to be a classic fakeout; none of the students have any connection to Sparkling Justice, and after Chapter 2 Sparkling Justice is never mentioned again and has no relevance to the plot whatsoever. Although, at the end of the second trial the killer (Peko) briefly pretends to be Sparkling Justice to throw the other students off the trail.
• The ruins of Hope's Peak Academy being found on the second island could make some fans believe that the story takes place well in the future or that this is the way it looks after The Tragedy (though a CG in the first game revealed the actual Hope's Peak is located in a city). It could also make some players think the survivors of the previous game escaped through here and might still be on Jabberwock Island.
• Monokuma's movie in Chapter 3. Despite Hajime seeing it during the investigation and suspecting the murderer was imitating it, it turns out to have had nothing to do with the murder.
• In Chapter 5, at Sea King Industries, you find the construction site of the Monobeasts... as well as another station that seems to be building a human-looking android. This hints that one of the characters might actually be an android, but while there is an AI among the cast, the whole setting is a computer simulation so no androids are actually required.
• Several regarding a potential victim:
  • Chapter 1:
    • Hiyoko describes Kazuichi as someone to typically die first in a scenario like this. Some might suspect this of being a death flag for him, but it ultimately ends up subverted, as he goes on to survive the killing game.
    • When the lights are turned back on, Hajime's inner monologue makes it sound as if Mikan was the victim instead until it's revealed she just fell into another embarrassing pose.
  • Chapter 2:
    • When you first investigate the beach at the new island, Ibuki makes it sound as if Nekomaru was killing Akane. It quickly ends up being debunked and the fact it happened so early in the chapter likely didn't fool anyone.
    • The newly unlocked drugstore, being medical-themed, could make some suspect Mikan is raising death flags (once again, in a similar way to whenever someone's Research Lab is opened in V3). Interestingly, while it does not end up being the case, the following chapter has way more medical themes (from the motive to a newly opened hospital) and this time she does not survive this.
    • The motive being an arcade game may immediately make some expect Chiaki to turn out to be either a victim or a killer. With her promising not to let anyone die during the motive reveal, in a very similar vein to "Byakuya" last chapter, some might choose the victim option at first.
    • Mahiru and Mikan say similar lines. Mahiru does end up the actual victim, but Mikan doesn't.
    • The execution and several characters' reaction to it make it seem as if Fuyuhiko died alongside Peko before being revealed to be severely injured instead.
  • Chapter 3:
    • Fuyuhiko temporarily makes it look as if he killed himself on the spot when he apologizes by opening up his wound on the stomach while kneeling on the ground.
    • The game appears to set up Akane as the one to die for violating the rule against the violence against Monokuma, just like Mukuro did in the last game. However, Nekomaru takes the shot for her and, albeit after hospitalization and being changed into Mechamaru, he survives this. Monokuma also lets it go and treats him, not pursing anyone to get punished for this behavior in the end.
• Once again, each case has a suspect who turns out to just be a red herring for the true identity of the culprit:
  • An honorable mention belongs to Nagito Komaeda. While The Rival of each game might be suspected in each trial, Nagito takes the cake out of all of them, with his personality making him easily suspicious and with him even stating he's interested in helping out the culprits carry out even more complicated crimes.
  • While not to the same extent as Nagito, Sonia's unique hobbies, such as being interested in serial killers, might also make her someone easily suspected for the players at each Class Trial. The game often adding suspicious circumstances around her involvement further adds to this.
  • Chapter 1:
    • Nagito Komaeda is the prime example as his meddling in the case is even a major plot point and reveals his true nature for the first time.
    • Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu is briefly suspected on the account of being the only one not present at the party, thus lacking alibi more than anyone else. Even more so after Chiaki claimed to have seen him walking by the cottage.
    • Peko Pekoyama, who also lacked alibi for a certain period of time due to guarding duralumin case in the office alone and disappearing for a long period of time, only later revealed as a seemingly unrelated need to go to the bathroom.
    • Although this ends up not being brought up, more paranoid players may also be suspicious of Chiaki Nanami, as she was guarding the cottage alone, thus also not having an alibi like Fuyuhiko and Peko.
    • More paranoid players might also suspect Kazuichi Soda, who was closest to the door during the blackout and would have the knowledge about how to cause it as a result of his talent.
    • Before he explained how and when he found out about the underground passage, some could suspect Gundham, figuring out he managed to find his way under the floors, thus making him come off as suspicious when it's been established the victim was killed from under the floorboards. Being given a choice to select him as the person who knows this only furthers this suspicion.
  • Chapter 2:
    • A game being the motive may make some suspect Chiaki to turn out to be a culprit the moment it is announced. The theory might lose some followers once Chiaki is shown not to be among the characters involved in the Twilight Syndrome game, though.
    • Hiyoko Saionji, whom both Peko and Fuyuhiko are trying to frame.
    • Fuyuhiko himself, who ends up acting very suspicious and actively tries to frame Hiyoko. In fact, even Peko believes he might count, thinking of herself as merely his tool.
    • It's only briefly mentioned during the trial, but Akane showing up to the girls' beach party covered in blood raises suspicions.
    • Unlike the example above, this isn't even brought up, but Sonia Nevermind organizing the girls' party and appearing late, claiming she had trouble with putting on a wetsuit, may make a lot of players suspicious of her. Some might also believe she was trying to reenact a murder case of one of the serial killers she's so interested in, Sparkling Justice.
  • Chapter 3:
    • Hajime Hinata is this at first, but only in-universe due to being Player Character, as the case relies heavily on his own testimony which no one can back up.
    • It's theorized during the trial that Ibuki Mioda may have killed Hiyoko and then killed herself out of guilt. Players often take it further, theorizing the actual culprit could have used her Gullible Disease to make her kill Hiyoko and then herself, thus getting away scot-free with technically being responsible for two deaths due to never killing anyone directly.
    • More paranoid players might suspect Fuyuhiko, who shares some very similar proportions with Ibuki. Akane explicitly states that the hospital gowns are unisex when she brings up the idea of taking Nagito's and you're unable to personally account for where he was when the murders supposedly took place. If accused, he'll threaten to cut his stomach open again to prove his innocence, and later on in the case he himself brings up the body proportions argument, which turns out to be perfectly meaningless and yet causes a slip of the tongue that leads to the real killer.
    • While he's also not suspected in-universe, some players may be suspicious of Kazuichi. This is on the account of a location highly related to his talent being unlocked in this chapter (once more, Research Lab argument), as well as because the communication device that he had built played a major role in the plot and the case. With some suspecting the way it works might potentially result in gaining Truth Bullets, and with Kazuichi knowing the way it works, him being there to explain it at the trial might mean he'd turn out to be the culprit.
    • Some might suspect Sonia of purposefully leading Hiyoko to Titty Typhoon in order to kill her there herself. In fact, it's often used in rewrites of the case by those not satisfied with the outcome of the canon story.
  • Chapter 4:
    • As soon as the motive of starving the students at Fun House is revealed, Akane Owari is immediately suspected by most players, whether seriously or as a joke.
    • The victim, Nekomaru Nidai himself. There's mention of how some of the murders have been very similar to the events of the previous game, there's a statue of Sakura in the building and the person who died, Nekomaru, was a figure who cared about the others. From this and some of the oddities of his death the player can easily be led to think that his death was a mirror of Sakura's, where he killed himself to help the group. Though helping the group was part of the motivation behind it, it wasn't a suicide at all.
    • The Sonia/Kazuichi/Gundham relationship appears to be setting up to some kind of conflict, perhaps by creating conflict when one of the three is murdered. The outcome where Kazuichi kills Gundham out of jealousy for the attention the latter's been receiving from Sonia, especially as of late, is the most predicted outcome for the trio. Instead, Gundham is the one who kills, someone else at that.
    • To add to the point above, Sonia acting in a very strange way due to starvation right before the body is found, even asking Hajime if she can have a bite of him, might make some players suspicious of her.
  • Chapter 5:
    • This time there's even a red herring regarding the very nature of the murder. It initially seems as if someone tortured Nagito, perhaps for information. It's then revealed as a case he created himself, thus making it seem like a suicide masked as torture, before being revealed that Nagito had manipulated someone else to unknowingly poison him.
    • Sonia is suspiciously missing during the run-up to the reveal of the traitor in Chapter 5. But she's neither the traitor nor the culprit; she really did just have to go check a few things.
• With Chapter 6 revealing Izuru Kamukura and the AI version of Junko Enoshima as co-masterminds, several of the prior theories have been debunked:
  • Some may have suspected Hajime himself, whether due to his amnesia and rather cryptic flashbacks or due to already being spoiled (but not too accurately) that the player ends up being the mastermind in this game, not expecting it to be his artificially created Split Personality.
  • Nagito is probably the most commonly theorized mastermind as a result of being basically a reverse Junko. With some knowing the rumors that Kodaka had initially planned the Big Bad to be Makoto from the previous game and Nagito being often theorized to be Naegi in disguise (due to the same talents, voice actors in both Japanese and English versions, and his name being the anagram for "Naegi Makoto da" - "I'm Makoto Naegi"), the suspicion is only furthered.
  • Those who were spoiled that Akane was originally planned to be the antagonist, therefore her last name Owari (meaning "end") being the antonym of Hajime's first name (meaning "beginning") might have suspected her of being the mastermind if they weren't spoiled that she was meant to be specifically The Rival.
  • Hiyoko Saionji being a cruel The Bully, but more importantly looking like a younger Junko Enoshima may easily result in some instantly suspecting her of being the mastermind.
  • Due to her title of the Ultimate Princess, Sonia Nevermind could be suspicious for some right off the bat for reasons similar to Byakuya, as she also comes from a wealthy family and should have the budget as well as the manpower to pull off a killing game. Her already mentioned unique hobbies could further the suspicion.
  • Speaking of being potential mastermind candidates for the players due to coming from influential families with manpower to orchestrate a killing game - there's Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, the Ultimate Yakuza.
  • If someone is sharp enough, they might expect Mikan Tsumiki's beloved to turn out to be the late Junko Enoshima. This, combined with Never Found the Body aspect of her execution (therefore expecting her to be Back for the Finale), might make some believe Junko had passed the torch to her or that she's at the very least the accomplice of the current mastermind.

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School

• The love triangle between Class 74th Trio seems to initially imply Juzo has feelings for Chisa, only to eventually confirm he has feelings for Munakata instead.
• Chiaki Nanami becomes the class rep in the second episode of Despair Arc. In some countries, being a class rep automatically makes you a member of the Student Council. With some expecting the prequel to cover the Student Council's killing game, being spoiled that it would do so in the seventh episode, or finally seeing it in action and not paying too much attention to the group shot, quite a large portion of the fanbase expected Chiaki to die during that event. Especially since only her AI version being present in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair made majority of the fans expect Nanami to die in Despair Arc. Turns out she did die, but three episodes later, in an unrelated event. It also doesn't seem as if she was a member of the Student Council at all.
• In search of the mastermind, Komaru and Toko try to find Monaca inside her oddly Neon Signed Tower. After being ambushed they find Monaca inside a Monokuma themed van playing video games. Confused, they ask what was going on. Monaca explains that it was Not Her This Time; she was only there observe Makoto. Although despite that, she killed Miaya and took her persona as a robot, and made Aoi look dead like a corpse just because It Amused Her. Along with this information they were also told a hint. Panicked, the two immediately contact Future Foundation. Komaru told her brother Makoto that Monaca has no involvement in this killing game, and warns him that if he makes a wrong move, one his colleagues from the school killing game will die in the final killing game.
• Monaca is in fact not the only red herring related to the mastermind's identity. There are several more, with some of them also being acknowledged in-universe, just like she was.
  • The best example after Monaca is Kyosuke Munakata. While the rival character has never turned out to be the mastermind, he's actually being suspected as the mastermind, even by Kyoko Kirigiri in her notes. This was for a fairly reasonable reasoning that only him and Tengan knew about and had access to the secret underground replica of Future Foundation's headquarters, as well as due to Tengan already being dead at the time while the game still continued, thus making Munakata come off as more suspicious between the two.
    • On a meta level, being the Vice-Leader of the Future Foundation and disagreeing with how Tengan began to handle things as well as killing him later on could have led some fans to believe that Munakata wanted to get rid of the only person above him in the ranks and set up a killing game in order to do so, along with getting rid of other leaders who didn't agree with his ways in the process.
  • Just like her love interest, Chisa Yukizome was also suspected by some. This was due to the previous installements' first victims having more importance, especially after Despair Arc revealed she was brainwashed into becoming a Remnant of Despair. However, while she was behind converting the actual mastermind into a Remnant as well, she had nothing to do with the killing game.
    • For a similar reason, Daisaku Bandai was this to some as well. He died shortly after her, with even less screentime and less importance to the plot. Once it was revealed Despair Arc would at least partly focus on Chisa, he became even better example of an early victim who could potentially turn out to be much more important later on. Bonus points for him being the only victim of violating forbidden actions for several episodes, making some theorize that the poison didn't actually kill him and put him in a near-death state, enough to fool Seiko Kimura into believing he was dead, but also to be able to walk away after a while after everyone leaves the room in order to pull off He's Just Hiding. This was debunked once later episodes showed his corpse still lying in the same place and once a few more participants fell victim to violating their NG Codes.
  • Rounding up the main characters, Ryota Mitarai became more and more suspicious for the fans the longer he survived, especially since he was revealed early as one of the classmates from Class 77-B, and even more so after Despair Arc showed his encounter with Junko Enoshima and his unwilling involvement in creating the Despair Video. However, while the killing game was set in motion in order to push him to brainwash the world with hope, he was not the mastermind and wasn't even originally intended by the mastermind to participate in it.
  • With the anime revealing early on that although Chiaki Nanami in Danganronpa 2 was just an AI, her human counterpart also existed, there were really only 3 things this could mean. A) The real Chiaki Nanami died before the events of Danganronpa 2. B) The real Chiaki Nanami also became a Remnant, but instead of participating in Killing School Trip, she orchestrated the Final Killing Game. C) The real Chiaki Nanami both survived the events of Despair Arc and managed to avoid becoming a Remnant, thus skipping out on Killing School Trip. Option A) turned out to be correct, while option B) was why Chiaki could work as a red herring to some. Meanwhile, barely anyone subscribed to option C), as it would've been too happy for Danganronpa franchise.
  • Speaking of classmates from Class 77-B, some believed (Despair) Nagito could've been behind the Final Killing Game, setting it up either after he was released from the Neo World Program, or before he entered it as a part of his couching Monaca. Bonus points for the Future Foundation members being targeted, as (Despair) Nagito might have wanted to test the extent of their teamwork and hopes. However, that was not the case and the plot eventually revealed he wouldn't have had enough time to pull off the first scenario.
  • Izuru Kamukura was also a potential candidate for some once Episode 6 revealed there were still traces of him left in Hajime, if not outright implying at the time a retcon of the second game's ending where he took over Hajime's body completely. However, while it did turn out that his and Hajime's personalities merged together, he had nothing to do with the game. Much like in Nagito's case, he also wouldn't have had much time to pull this off.
  • The 13th Division's leader not being present and sending Aoi Asahina as their proxy. This has led many fans to expect another Mukuro-like hidden participant/mastermind plot twist. It turned out to be unrelated and we never got to meet the head of the 13th Branch.
  • Koichi Kizakura barely appeared in the early episodes and when he did he acted really shady, dropping some cryptic line of monologue here and there, such as when he mentioned having to meet "that girl" (eventually revealed to be Kyoko). He also successfully managed to point to Miaya as a suspicious person. However, he turned out to be one of the calmest and the nicest characters, performing a Heroic Sacrifice to save Kyoko's life because he had promised her father to protect her. And guessing Miaya on a whim was likely because of his good judge of character, which was likely required to become the talent scout for Hope's Peak.
  • Some could have suspected Seiko Kimura based solely on her creepy design. Sharing her voice actress with Junko may have contributed on meta level for those who watched the English dub. However, much like Kizakura, she turned out to be one of the most heroic characters in the franchise.
  • Seiko's former best friend, Ruruka Ando, was also a solid candidate for some once more and more of her true colors were shown, especially after Kizakura revealed that she intended to start her own organization, giving her a motive to get rid of the current Future Foundation's leaders. In the end, she wasn't the mastermind and turned out to be more of a Chapter 3 culprit counterpart of the anime, being responsible for two deaths in the killing game for a rather unsympathetic motive.
  • Kanon Nakajima for those who have read Ultra Despair Hagakure beforehand. Due to Killing School Life survivors voting to execute him and eventually becoming members of the Future Foundation, she blames organization for killing her beloved cousin, Leon Kuwata. While she warms up to Yasuhiro Hagakure by the end of the novel, she's still not convinced whether she forgave the other members of Future Foundation. This rings major bells when participants of a killing game are all Future Foundation members and Yasuhiro Hagakure is the only one spared outside (although not because of the mastermind's own choice and he is still attacked by helicopters). Bonus points for Kanon's family being rich in the past and being a major name in film industry. Although such things don't matter in post-apocalyptic world, being a daughter of a filmmaker could have given her an access to film lots, and therefore could make it possible to create a replica of Future Foundation's headquarters. However, Kanon ended up not appearing or even being mentioned in the anime at all.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

• Korekiyo Shinguji has a rather feminine design for a guy, with his long hair (usually more common for female characters), being one of several guys with prominent eyelashes (another more typically feminine character design trait), and (if one were to look at his full-body sprite) somewhat femininely curved waist and hips. His uniform also covers his body almost entirely, even wearing a mask on his face and bandages on his hands, exposing only his eyes, ears, and an upper part of his nose. At one point before a breakfast meeting in Chapter 3, he also tells Shuichi how long it takes for him to get ready, with the protagonist commenting: "Isn't that even longer than what a girl takes?" All of those points combined can result in expecting Shinguji to turn out to actually be a girl, a somewhat reverse plot of Chihiro's Unsettling Gender-Reveal. Some might also expect such reveal to turn out important for a case again as well.
  • Alternatively, if one did at least some of Kiyo's Free Time Events with either Kaede or Shuichi, it might result in expecting a plot where his Sister somehow knew about the upcoming killing game (potentially tying with theories about Korekiyo being at least one of the masterminds) and decided to save her own brother by dressing up as him and sneaking into the killing game in his place.
• Speaking of Korekiyo, Chapter 3 introduces 2 red herrings related to him:
  • For the first time ever during a double victim case, Monokuma claims that only the culprit who killed the first victim counts for the trial, meaning the second murder was All for Nothing. With Korekiyo being an obvious culprit behind Tenko's death, a large number of fans expected someone else to turn out to be Angie's killer, with Kiyo either surviving for one more chapter or surviving the whole killing game. In fact, majority of fans are upset this wasn't the direction the writers went with.
  • At one point in the third Class Trial, Korekiyo claims he's not the killer and asks in a very believable tone why everyone is looking at him as if he was. This happens after we've seen his Sister tulpa once (meaning whether she works as his Split Personality has not been established yet). This could make a lot of players expect to find out that Sister was his split personality and killed Angie, unbeknown to Korekiyo himself, resulting in Death by Irony after he believed himself to be safe due to the culprit of Tenko's murder not counting for the trial.
• Monodam's role. With him being bullied by other Kubs, his design being more robotic to the point of looking as if it wasn't properly finished unlike the other Kubs, his obsession with getting along, and his Hostile Show Takeover against Monokuma might make you think that perhaps he was created by an unwilling accomplice of the mastermind in order to give the students a fair chance of fighting back. However, while he is one of the nicest Kubs towards the students, has some A Lighter Shade of Black traits, and he does oppose Monokuma, his goal isn't to help them end the killing game at all.
  • To a lesser extent, Monophanie. She initially often vomits upon body reveals and executions, claiming she finds them gory. As a result, one could expect she'd join the students (and Monodam, as pointed above) in rebelling against the killing game, but she doesn't.
  • Monotaro as well, at least when he temporarily forgets his identity, believing himself to be K1-B0 and Miu Iruma's son. He doesn't oppose the killing game at all and instead only provides a couple new Truth Bullets before reverting to his original self.
• In Chapter 4 the characters enter a virtual-reality world, using high-tech VR headsets. Miu speculates that if someone connected their VR headset wrong, they might "body swap with someone". After a murder happens in the virtual world, this throwaway line seems to hint that body-swap shenanigans are in play, e.g. the murderer body-swapping with the victim or something like that. Nothing like this happens, however (although the solution does involve one of the characters connecting the VR headset wrong and having their mind messed up as a result).
• As far as red herrings to potential victims go:
  • Given how much of a Death Flag unlocking one's Research Lab turn out to be, basically any time when someone's lab is opened but they don't die counts. To be more specific, the ones who survive this trend are: Miu (lab opened in Chapter 1), Gonta, Himiko, Maki (all three had their labs opened in Chapter 2), K1-B0, Shuichi, Tsumugi (all three had their labs opened in Chapter 4), Rantaro, and Kokichi (the latter two had their labs finally unlocked in Chapter 6, having already been dead by this point). Almost all of those still end up pivotal or at least partly important for the plot and the case of the chapter they were unlocked in.
  • Chapter 1:
    • Ryoma makes a very reasonable suggestion to have him killed so that everyone is safe by the time limit and one person gets to escape and call help. No one follows up on it, though.
  • Chapter 2:
    • At first, Kaito's motives to meet with Shuichi during the night are unknown. With Kaede having just turned out to be a Decoy Protagonist, some could expect the same happening to Shuichi. Furthermore, the game really tries to trick you into believing he died after Gonta captures him for the Insect Meet and Greet.
    • Shuichi stated that "it is not like I will never see Kaito again" after the Insect Meet and Greet, and with him not showing up at the magic show, it made it seem like Shuichi jinxed Kaito by saying that. Around that time, the player may have zero ideas that he would be the deuteragonist of the game as he had gotten way more screen time in Chapter Two than in Chapter One, and they may just think that Kaito would end up being the second victim of the killing game.
  • Chapter 3:
    • Maki becomes a fellow deuteragonist, with the focus she's been receiving making her a potential victim, just like how Kaede didn't survive a chapter centered around her and how many suspected Kaito would end up in Chapter 2. The scene where the Student Council members ominously surround her at night when she's alone doesn't help.
    • Alternatively, Maki becoming a new deuteragonist may come off to some as bad news for the previous deuteragonist, Kaito. Even more so if one fears him becoming weaker and weaker is due to someone poisoning him. Interestingly, while it turns out he wasn't poisoned and was just scared of ghosts, him acting weaker is also partly due to slowly dying from a disease. His virus might also count as a red herring, as some could expect it to kill him rather fast after it's been established, but it takes almost two full chapters after being first revealed to the players.
    • Kokichi apparently breaks the trend of the third chapter always being a double murder. However, it quickly turns out to be just one of his pranks, although he did receive a serious injury.
    • With Monodam being the most relevant kub to the plot and the only one with Character Development so far, with him having killed only his brothers who didn't get along thus far, with the way both Monotaro and Monophanie bullied him this chapter and feared him, with the way he mistreated them, and with some expecting the double victim trend to also be the case for the Monokubs' deaths; most players expected Monodam to kill both Monotaro and Monophanie during this chapter's execution instead of himself. Even more so while his Hostile Show Takeover still lasted.
  • Chapter 4:
    • If you figured out the games' common trends, you'd know that the Gentle Giant has always died as a victim in Chapter 4. Therefore, you'd first be under impression that Gonta would die as a victim. Unless you start rightfully suspecting him to turn out to be the culprit after he survives this point, the red herring might continue as you might expect him to survive Chapter 4 or even the game overall due to breaking this trend.
    • Monotaro drops several classic Death Flag lines. He doesn't die immediately during that scene...although he does die during the chapter's execution.
  • Chapter 5:
    • The hydraulic press scene makes it rather obvious it will somewhat be used for the case. Most would expect it to be related to K1-B0. With him rolling out of it in time, there's a chance it would've counted him as an object and used to kill him. If that had happened, you probably could have counted on Shuichi becoming a red herring in-universe, with the culprit using his presence during the test as a way to frame him. In fact, the scene could also make you expect for K1-B0 to die right there, making Shuichi suspicious due to being present without the need for there to be another culprit who'd try to frame him. In fact, since he pressed the button, he likely would've counted as the culprit had that happened.
    • Part of the whole point of the case was to trick everyone into believing Kaito was the one who died.
• Yet again, each case has a red herring regarding to the culprit's identity:
  • Chapter 1:
    • Shuichi Saihara is immediately suspicious for the players on the account of each initial deuteragonist playing some kind of role in the first case, usually intending to kill. Once Rantaro is revealed as the victim, it makes it seems as if he's only got the role of the culprit left. This is also in fact a major plot point of the case, with even the first ever Scrum Debate dedicated to debating whether he was innocent or not. Interestingly, the trend is followed, but only after Shuichi switches to the role of The Protagonist, making Kaede a Decoy Protagonist.
    • Miu Iruma is suspected for a portion of the trial because she had the knowledge about how the camera intervals which she borrowed to Kaede and Shuichi work. She also had her Research Lab unlocked this chapter.
    • Gonta Gokuhara is also briefly suspected because of being in a room opposite to the crime scene and having the strength to throw the shot put ball from such a distance. The reason it also works from the players' perspective is because we've only spent one chapter with the cast so far. With us not knowing that much about the cast yet, some might therefore believe Gonta is merely faking his Gentle Giant persona.
    • Interestingly, the seemingly correct culprit, Kaede Akamatsu, becomes this herself, considering the reveals of the final chapter...
  • Chapter 2:
    • Himiko Yumeno is suspected for a long portion of the trial because the victim died during her magic trick and, being a magician thick and through, she refused to explain how it even worked.
    • While she avoids suspicion from anyone aside from her one-sided rival, Tenko Chabashira, some players may suspect Angie Yonaga. Not only was she the one who came up with the idea of the magic show during which the murder seemingly took place, but she also tried to insist on Himiko being suspicious despite claiming to be her friend, with some interpreting it as attempting to frame her for the murder she committed herself.
    • Once it's deduced when the murder happened, anyone not present during the Insect Meet and Greet. Miu quickly clears her name with an alibi. It takes much longer and the Power of Trust to clear Kaito Momota's and Maki Harukawa's names, though.
  • With the culprit of Chapter 3 being considered Captain Obvious Reveal by most players, majority of the examples comes from the characters' theories themselves:
    • Similarly to the double victim case from the previous game, it's theorized that Tenko killed Angie and then herself out of guilt.
    • It's also theorized that Angie's ghost killed Tenko as a revenge for killing her.
    • Kokichi suggests Tenko deliberately committed suicide in order to doom the remaining survivors' with the wrong verdict, as most wouldn't expect it.
    • Another theory states that Angie successfully brought Rantaro back to life after all and he killed her, perhaps having found out she's expecting the student who had already been killed to be killed once again. Alternatively, his ghost killed her in order to prevent her from finishing the seance.
    • Himiko is suspected for the second trial in a row, with Kokichi theorizing she didn't really give a damn about her so-called best friends and killed them because no one would suspect her. Korekiyo also tries to cast supicion on her to clear his name, stating that she was the one who chose which empty room to use for the seance, meaning that if anyone had prepared the murder there it would be her, as Korekiyo had no chances of predicting which room she'd pick. However, as expected, it's soon debunked once it's stated that Kiyo could have easily prepared the floorboards of every empty room, meaning it wouldn't matter which room Himiko chose and rendering the only suspicious variable of the seance he couldn't control meaningless.
  • Chapter 4:
    • Miu intended to frame Kaito for seemingly poisoning Kokichi, having him logged off earlier.
    • Kokichi gets heavily involved in the case and his personality so far makes it no wonder the other students have a hard time believing Gonta to be the culprit over him.
    • Also, the reason why Gonta killed. With him being one of the kindest characters of the franchise, Shuichi initially theorizes the avatar error could have altered his personality. It ends up not being the case as it only made him lose his memory from the virtual world and Gonta chose to Mercy Kill the remaining survivors to protect them from the Awful Truth about the outside world willingly. Interestingly, the initial impression often sticks out more to some players, causing them to misremember why Gonta committed the murder even after finishing the chapter.
  • Chapter 5:
    • The culprit intentionally tries to make you constantly second guess whether it was Kokichi who killed Kaito (which is the red herring option) or the other way around.
    • Both Himiko and Maki, who visited Kaito without telling everyone else. So did Shuichi, but unlike the girls, he didn't leave behind evidence which could've been used against him in the trial.
    • Maki's involvement ends up being an interesting case as she would've in fact become the culprit behind Kokichi's death had Kaito not killed him before the former succumbed to poison.
• Chapter 6 revealing Tsumugi as the mastermind, allegedly working for the Greater-Scope Villain in the form of Team Danganronpa, debunks prior theories:
  • Keeping up with the tradition of The Rival being among the prime mastermind candidates for the players - Kokichi Oma. Especially so because of his alleged title of the Ultimate Supreme Leader, thus apparently having enough underlings to orchestrate a killing game. Also because of obsessing over one half of the main themes of the game, lies, which could come off as suspicious due to almost all of the prior masterminds being obsessed with one half of the prior "Hope vs. Despair" theme as well. Kokichi being a red herring for the mastermind is even a major plot point of Chapter 5.
  • Speaking of rival characters, there's Rantaro Amami, whose setchy behavior, better knowledge about the situation than any other student's, as well as character design and pose similarities to Nagito will instantly make most players predict him to be either the rival, the mastermind, or both. His early death might debunk this for a lot of players, but not for everyone, as some may believe the killing game was set to continue even with the mastermind's death. In this case, him claiming he wanted this killing game in a message recorded to himself doesn't help.
  • When exploring the cold sleep room in Chapter 6, it's revealed that Kaede has a younger twin sister, suggesting that maybe she could be the mastermind and the two are trying to emulate Junko and Mukuro. This turns out not to have a bearing on anything, and said sister may not even be real, especially since it was Tsumugi who suggested (and probably wrote) it.
  • Miu's character as a whole. She looks a lot like Kaede, who (as mentioned above) is said to have a twin sister; the circumstances of her death are the perfect set-up for another twin substitution plot as in the first game; and she's a prodigy with all manner of machines and computers, and even programs her own virtual world, making her a prime candidate for being the mastermind. And they wouldn't really kill off Kaede for good in the first trial, would they? Actually, yes, they would; the Kaede twin thread is just a deception, the two are unrelated, and neither are the mastermind.
  • Korekiyo Shinguji is also among common mastermind predictions. This usually comes right off the bat based on his incredibly shady appearance as well as his love for observing human behavior. After all, orchestrating a killing game could make for an interesting psychological experiment as people show their true nature under the pressure of potentially incoming death.
  • Kirumi Tojo to a lesser extent, as some might expect The Butler Did It to not necessarily refer to her being a culprit, but being a mastermind instead. While her love for humanity and serving them makes her somewhat ill-suited for the role of the mastermind of a killing game where several people would die, her talent of the Ultimate Maid makes her quite a good choice for a prediction of at least an accomplice working for the true mastermind. Her later being revealed as the de-facto Prime Minister of Japan and being aware of some upcoming crisis might make some suspect she was more involved than we initially thought. Alternatively, this could have meant the exact opposite, with her being involved in a group trying to prevent the killing game from happening and potentially choosing to participate in it to protect the lives of as many students as she could, at least until her motive made her choose The Needs of the Many.

Spin-offs:

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

• You'd expect Kotoko to go through another execution (eventually revealed as non-lethal beating), but Genocider Jack saves her.
  • As a result, once it's Nagisa's turn for his (actually different) execution, you'd expect one of the main girls to save him, especially after how he acted towards them earlier in the chapter. This time around, they don't. Although Komaru expresses desire to help him after his execution is over.
• Throughout the game, you're led to believe that Monaca's Evil Plan of creating a second generation Junko Enoshima involves either resurrecting her from the dead (judging by the summoning circles she drew) or becoming one herself (which does become her new goal at the end of the game until she gives it up in the anime). However, it's actually neither of them. The title of "second generation Junko Enoshima" actually refers to Komaru Naegi, whom Monaca intends to paint as the new Ultimate Despair, believing she'd choose to break the controller, causing all of Monokuma Kids' heads to explode, resulting in everyone who learns about the incident (aside from the Adult Resistance in Towa City) viewing her as the new symbol of despair, especially since it would've been the sister of the Ultimate Hope who would have done that.

Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer

• All the doctors being organ fetishists in a hospital where the victim's organs were harvested was set to throw readers from the real culprit's purpose with the organs.

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