Danganronpa Cleanup (SPOILERS FOR ALL GAMES AND THE ANIME ABOUND)

• Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
  • Sayaka Maizono is a character who usually provokes a lot of discussion. The arguments her haters use is that she tried to kill Leon and frame Makoto for the murder, portraying her as nothing but a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who only ever got along with Makoto in order to take advantage of him (to the point where people have even started to refer to her as a "snake"). Others think that while she is definitely not justified in trying to commit a murder, they can see that she wasn't in the best state of mind at the time, as for what she had seen her friends and members of her group were in danger, or even worse, dead (although Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls reveals that at least one of them is alive). It should also be taken into account that she is the only character in the main entries that died without ever knowing of the class trial system, so she didn't know that should her plan have succeeded she would also be sending Makoto and the rest of her classmates to their deaths, and that Kyoko speculates that she left her Dying Clue out of remorse for what she had tried to do rather than to get back at Leon. Additional content, like School Mode for example, reveals that Sayaka actually does like spending time with Makoto, and her voice actress confirmed that she has genuine feelings for him.

This is way too one sided for the haters, I could see Sayaka keeping as she IS contentious, but I feel this could be rewritten.

• Leon Kuwata is this because of his status as an early casualty, and that unlike Mukuro and Sayaka, who both get attention in certain parts of the game despite dying in the first chapter alongside Leon, he barely gets any screentime. His Free Time Events can be rather discouraging too, as he is shown to be a Casanova Wannabe who only gets interested in certain subjects in order to pick up girls, which make people see him as nothing but a Flat Character. Leon's defenders however, often say that he has more in him than what meets the eye, often referring to School Mode, in which he is shown to actually be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and that while he is popular with the ladies his status as a philanderer is actually a facade he puts on. Ultra Despair Hagakure is where he is shown in more depth, showing that he is caring toward his cousin Kanon (despite the fact that she is madly in love with him and that she could become a Yandere for him if she wanted to) going as far as considering her as his little sister. There are also people that think that should Leon have had more screentime and less simplistic and shallow Free Time Events he would be more well-liked among the fanbase.

Leon has hidden depths but I don't really notice many fans of his. It's more people being horrified at the Cruel and Unusual Death of his execution. Also if we keep him, we should probably trim and/or rewrite this example for both sides, as it reads like "Nobody likes Leon because he's the first blackened, but I swear he's got Hidden Depths!" I have sadly not played Ultra Despair Girls, but from what it seems, it does make him more likeable.

• You either love Celestia Ludenberg for her mysterious personality, her unique character design, and her accent in the English dub, or you want her head on a skewer because she acts uncaring towards everyone (a prime example would be her very casually saying that it was Chihiro's own fault he got killed only because he didn't respect her self-imposed night time rule). Her murder plan is also a whole point of controversy as she killed two people, one of them being Kiyotaka Ishimaru, for seemingly completely selfish reasons. However, it should also be taken into consideration that she is a Consummate Liar, so her motive for murder being money to buy an European castle with butlers dressed up as vampires might have been also a lie, as she is shown to have been desperate to escape from Hope's Peak ever since day one. One thing though that most fans and detractors will admit is that she was an extremely obvious culprit (which can cause some disappointment given how intelligent she is shown to be during the first and second chapters), and her murder plan could have been handled a lot better than it did.

Again, a character I noticed has mostly ironic fans this time due to having a very selfish motive, Jerkass Façade or not. And the fact that she ordered the death of fan favourite Kiyotaka Ishimaru, I'm not feeling like she's so much base breaking as more "just barely not a Scrappy" the fact people blame Yamada more than her due to her being pretty while there are fans who like her in spite of her flaws, I feel like most of her fans only like her because "Goths are hot!"

• Byakuya Togami also has earned quite a amount of haters because of his Jerkass tendencies, him insulting everyone for little to no reason, especially Makoto, Hina and Chihiro, tampering with the crime scene in chapter 2 and desecrating Chihiro's corpse in order to expose Toko's Split Personality as Genocide Jack by making it look like she had killed him simply because it made the game "more interesting" in his eyes, something that people would never live down. Other people like him because of his Awesome Ego, being one of the students who contributes the most during the trials next to Makoto and Kyoko, and his Heel–Face Turn at the end of chapter 4 when his own view of reality crashes down on him after refusing to acknowledge other people's feelings (which made him not consider the idea that Sakura had been Driven to Suicide in order to stop the killings and also made him easily fall for Hina's claim that she had killed Sakura) and decides to side with the rest of the surviving students from that point onwards. Later installments in the series in which he has appeared have toned down his Jerkass tendencies considerably, causing many fans to beleive that he was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.

This actually isn't too bad. It could do with a more neutral stance, but it's alright until someone can rewrite it neutrally.

• While Kyoko is generally a popular main character and an icon of the series due to her soft side that comes out more and more as the story progresses, competence at solving the trials, and relationship with Makoto, there has been an increasingly vocal backlash of fans accusing her of being a bit too perfect for the same reasons, with her incredibly unrealistic ability to completely solve every single murder in the first ten minutes being especially derided, both for how unrealistically perfect it is and for dumbing down the gameplay of the original game to "waste time for 30 minutes, then wait for Kyoko to give you instructions", as Kyoko is so overpowered her presence almost feels like playing the game with a cheat guide.

I don't know anyone (except maybe a Vocal Minority) that hates Kyoko. She and Junko are the Breakout Character of the first game, scoring tons of merch based off them, something even some of the other popular characters don't have! Also Shuichi is way more hated from V3, but we'll get to him later.

• Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
  • Nagito, dear lord, Nagito. It seems like he was made specifically with the purpose of being either really loved or really hated: He's either a Well-Intentioned Extremist with a tragic backstory but nevertheless inexcusable actions who was manipulated by Junko into committing horrible things, an insane lunatic who is willing to have anyone, including himself, killed just for the sake of hope (claiming that if the hope of a murderer is "bigger" than the other students' hopes, they deserve to survive), or something in between the two. Most things about him have a mixed reception as a response, and most fans agree that he was overused in the narrative of Danganronpa 2, not leaving much space to other characters, either to cause drama or provide Ho Yay. Nagito's status as a Base-Breaking Character carried on in his following appearances in Ultra Despair Girls and Danganronpa 3.

''When you start something with "X, dear Lord, X!" it is NOT a good way to start an example. Nagito probably keeps despite being the Breakout Character of Goodbye Despair to the point you can't talk about GD without mentioning Nagito in some form. But I've mostly seen people fawn over him, like more than Byakuya. Honestly, I feel like he's not a Creator's Favorite, as he wouldn't have gotten all this focus if he didn't have an enormous fanbase. Frankly he's like the Rainbow Dash of DR, popular but very divisive. Regardless this needs a rewrite for the natterly "Nagito. dear Lord, Nagito"

And here it is:

• Nagito Komaeda from Goodbye Despair is contentious around some people. There's a camp who likes him, finds him a very interesting and even pitiable tragic figure who just happens to be Junko Enoshima's Co Dragon in Ultra Despair Girls and the Despair Arc of The End of Hope's Peak Academy. Another camp finds him a crazed maniac who loves hope so much, he doesn't care who gets in his way, just so long as hope can triumph. The fact he trash talked both Komaru and Hajime for being reserve course students did not help that camp's opinion. A third camp finds him tolerable enough, but wishes other characters could have had the spotlight for just a little longer and are somewhat annoyed with him being a major source of Ho Yay for Hajime.
  • Kazuichi Souda is a pretty divisive character. There are people who like him for his character design and the friendship he established with Hajime during the first three chapters alongside his Adorkable tendencies and being a Nervous Wreck when the game takes a turn for the dark. A lot of people also sympathize with him because of his Dark and Troubled Past with no friends and a physically abusive father. Other people dislike him because of him being a Static Character that survives the killing game as well as his crush on Sonia getting more creepy and annoying as time goes by, as he stalks her and it is quickly made clear that he only likes her who he thinks she is. The way he quickly turns against Hajime and constantly insists on him being the traitor within the group in Chapter 4, just because Nagito said so, is something that doesn't amuse fans either, though to be fair, Kazuichi does apologise for that and admit his old trust issues got the better of him and resolves to let them go and trust in his friends.

Kazuichi seems more of a 50/50 than even Komaeda. I've seen people find his inability to let Sonia be friends with Gundham Tanaka really annoying, but Soda is basically a character that people either love or hate, I've noticed he has enough fans who like him, but there's enough people who hate him.

• There are people who dislike Sonia Nevermind for her status as a Static Character who barely impacts the plot of the game (aside from her knowledge of Serial Killer Sparkling Justice, suggesting Hiyoko to use the mirror in the music venue to tie her obi properly, which leads to her death as she walked in on Mikan killing Ibuki, as well as her various contributions in Chapter 5 that are legitimately useful), because they feel like her Ship Tease moments with Gundham are forced down the player's throat, and because she treats Kazuichi with disrespect, to the point in which she called him a "pest" and was disappointed in him not being the murderer during the fourth Class Trial (which she tells him to his face). On the other hand, the people that like Sonia enjoy her Nightmare Fetishist tendencies and the fact that she is an Occidental Otaku, while other people find her and Gundham's relationship to be cute. In addition, she is one of the nicest students in the game and is cordial to everyone for the most part (even Hiyoko) and her fans can't really blame her for insulting Kazuichi because he constantly stalks her and makes a lot of creepy remarks towards her, not to mention that he constantly puts her on a pedestal, which is the opposite of what she really wants. It should also be taken into consideration that she tries to be polite with him at first, but eventually gets fed up with his attitude, though it seems unfair that she's still cordial to the far nastier pervert Teruteru (who tried to trick her into giving him blowjob in the first chapter!) and resident Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, Hiyoko, when Kazuichi is harmless in comparison.

Yeaaaahhh... This is a keeper. It could do with a more neutral rewrite, but I noticed Sonia being one of those characters that people actually wish died instead of Ibuki Mioda for example. But there are just as many people who love her.

• One of the main reasons why Mahiru Koizumi isn't liked in some circles is because of her views on gender regarding the boys, with many people outright portraying her as a man-hater and nothing else, which many people reflect on how she doesn't stop Hiyoko from bullying Mikan, even is she is the only person Hiyoko is willing to listen to, but inmediatly jumps in Mikan's defense when Fuyuhiko threatens her. Others would argue that Mahiru is actually a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, because even if she is harsh with the boys of the group she still felt sad with "Byakuya" and Teruteru's deaths (in fact, she was the first person to react to "Byakuya's" death) and because she tried to make ammends with Fuyuhiko for helping to cover up the murder of his sister, showing that she is not as bad as people make her to be. Fans who do her Free Time Events like how they help flesh out her character more and that she warms up to Hajime little by little, to the point where she develops a crush on him, while showing to be a Tsundere. They also get to see that her views on men come from having to take care of her lazy bum of a father, who she still loved regardless, while her mother was away back when she was younger.

In "some circles"? That hardly sounds like a large amount and personally I've seen a lot more people just think meh about her rather outright hate her, and feel her distrust of men is more justified than Tenko Chabashira from V3.

• Downplayed with Mikan Tsumiki. People like her at first because of how timid and submissive she is, always afraid that other people may look down on her and constantly asking for forgivness. People also feel sorry for her because she is Hiyoko's number one target for bullying, which helps increase the hate towards Hiyoko big time, making her one of the biggest Woobies in the series. However, most people start feeling disgusted with her in chapter 3, in which she kills both Ibuki and Hiyoko in cold blood without feeling any remorse for her actions whatsoever after remembering her past via catching the Despair Disease. Mikan herself states that she killed them for the sake of her beloved who is heavily implied, and later confirmed, to be Junko Enoshima, coming out as a unsympathetic culprit. However, at the end of Danganronpa 2 it is revealed that Mikan didn't remeber her true personality, she just remembered being a Remnant of Despair by catching the disease, meaning that she had no control over her actions, causing many people to forgive what she did in the third chapter (especially since Danganronpa 3 revealed that the Remnants of Despair were Brainwashed and Crazy, and didn't willingly join the Ultimate Despair at their free will). On the other hand, her Free Time Events reveal that she isn't as harmless as people make her to be, as she reveals that sometimes she trips on purpose and ends up in compromising positions in order to attract attention, that part of the reason for why she became a nurse is because she enjoys being in a position of power over the others after being abused all her life by her family and classmates, and that she is willing to cripple Hajime for life just so he has to depend on her forever. Another factor is that Ibuki, whose death was was planned in advance unlike Hiyoko's, is a very popular character, meaning that some people dislike Mikan for the same reason they dislike Celeste from the previous game.

I could see us keeping Mikan, this is the example that actually feels well written. However the argument for cutting her is pretty solid. I mean just like Celeste and Korekiyo, her motive is pretty selfish and honestly leans more towards being somewhat loved and mostly disliked. If we do keep her, we need to chop the Downplayed as YMMV cannot be played with as Zux said below.

• Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony: So many that it has it's own page.
• Shuichi Saihara became this after he turned out to be the real protagonist of the story. It didn't help that, without his hat, he has easily one of the most generic designs in the series, on top of having a personality that's similar to both former protagonists of main series; being relatively passive. Some were willing to reserve judgement on his personality and development until release, while others want his head on a skewer and feel like his role as the protagonist is an abhorrent example of Lying Creator and Very False Advertising, even for a promotional campaign that outright admitted to being misleading. Many believe that the false advertising the series is known for has gotten to the point where it's just too expected, and has long overstayed its welcome.
  • Adding to that, some people are also not angry at the fact that he is the real protagonist as much as with the fact that he is wimpy compared to the previous protagonists, particularly Kaede's leadership and charisma. Some fans see his Heroic BSoD and self-deprecating behavior as character depth that there wasn't previously, but others see this as a sign of Wimpification of the protagonists, worsened when compared to Maki and Kaito's pro-activeness in their Power Trio.
    • Speaking of which, some also compare him to Kyoko, who was much more confident and active, leading to some fans seeing him as her Replacement Scrappy. Others like how different he is from her and how he was not a rehash.
  • Additionally, Kaede is only playable in the prologue, Chapter 1, and two of the bonus modes where everyone is technically playable. As if to rub salt in the wound, she only has two free-time events for everyone (which is also a massive Interface Spoiler if one decides to hang out with the same character thrice) thus disappointing those who enjoyed playing as Kaede and hoped she'd have full-fledged free time event chains with everyone. It's also somewhat inconvenient, since it takes several playthroughs of Chapter 1's free time event section to complete all of Kaede's classmates' report cards.

Shuichi was written to be a detective who lacked traits of a regular detective, but had Kyoko's skills, and unyielding while handling dead bodies and accusing people. I agree his design leads a lot to be desired and Kaede likely would have made a more intriguing protagonist overall, but most people who hate him... don't really like the cast of V3 in a nutshell. You'd be hard-pressed to find a fan who doesn't list him near the top 3 best characters in the game. I'd say cut, as the people who hate him are mainly haters of V3 as a whole.

• Kokichi Oma. Many despise him for his continued antagonistic behavior and bullying towards fan favourites such as Keebo, Gonta and Himiko, his continued endangerment of the group and manipulating Gonta into killing Miu. Others meanwhile like him due to providing the morally grey character type the franchise is known for, his role as The Chessmaster, and that, while not excusable, his Moral Event Horizon was justified as Miu was attempting to kill him. Likewise, The Reveal that he was a Good All Along Anti-Hero either works a long way towards justifying his behavior, or turns him into a posthumous Karma Houdini who gets forgiven for his continual endangerment of the group. There is also a bit of debate if he was better off as a villain or an anti-hero.

Kokichi is both the most beloved and hated character in V3, having amassed a super sensitive fanbase who lambaste anyone who says he's not a top 3 character. If that wasn't bad enough, his haters can be just as bad if not worse, with several people insulting Kokichi fans, calling them "yaois". So I am comfortable with him staying out of all of the characters. He's basically the page image for BBC but in Danganronpa form.

• Maki is starting to skirt this territory. A lot of people are starting to dislike her due to two other fan favorites, Kaito and Kokichi, dying because of her, and would rather have those two alive than her in addition to Kokichi believing that she ended up giving the suicidal Ryoma his empty video when he wanted to find a reason to live, more or less with the intention of him committing suicide because he knew her secret. Others enjoy her character arc as well as her interesting talent, backstory and moral ambiguity as the Ultimate Assassin. They also believe that Maki didn't really actually watch his video and Kokichi's belief that she did watch Ryoma's video and gave it to him stems from his dislike towards killers. There are also several people who take issue with how her character arc revolves mostly around her relationship with Kaito.
  • Her attempted murder of Kokichi seems to be the most divisive subject when it comes to her. Some fans believe that it was inexcusable given how everybody didn't want her to kill Kokichi and that he seemed to have a genuine confused reaction when Maki told him about him being a Remnant of Despair hinting that everything is not what it seems. Others believe that Kokichi stated that he was the mastermind and him being confused when Maki was talking about him being a Remnant of Despair is not going to stop Maki from thinking that he was the mastermind. Though even those who find Maki's murder attempt inexcusable believe that she was supposed to learn a lesson after Kaito ended up Taking the Bullet for Kokichi and was supposed to make a Heel–Face Turn. However, some fans believe that lesson came across as a little too late as it ended up right at the end of the game and we couldn't see if she will actually go through a Heel–Face Turn. To make matters worse she wanted to kill everybody in the fifth trial so she could survive since she thought she was the blackened, and she made no secret about how she liked the fact this would also kill Kokichi for her despite condemning her so called "friends" like Shuichi to die, and then have her be portrayed as Easily Forgiven can rub a lot of players the wrong way.
  • To add another layer of controversy, there has been accusations of Kodaka showing favoritism towards Maki. The Romantic Plot Tumor between Maki and Kaito can be viewed as Kodaka having a Pet OTP. While Kaito and Kokichi each represent major themes in this game such as belief and lies, and those two boys along with Shuichi can be viewed as a Freudian Trio, Maki doesn't really fit the themes of the game as much as those two. In addition to Maki being viewed as Easily Forgiven after she attempted to kill everybody, and as well as Kodaka stating a comment about him being surprised over Maki being 9th place in the official popularity polls, some fans lead to the conclusion that Maki was given too much favoritism from Kodaka.

Holy Wall o' Text Batman! Maki is... interesting. She placed 9th in the popularity poll, meaning she's far from the most loved, but that's almost the exact middle of the 16 students. And most of the characters above her are either Ensemble Darkhorses or protagonists. I'd say move to Americans Hate Tingle, as she's pretty popular in Japan, like Iruma below.

• While most people enjoy her character, Miu Iruma can come off as this, especially towards Western fans. People find her lewd comments either funny or annoying. In addition, the scene of her repairing Keebo has been slightly controversial as either people think it's hilarious or they dislike the idea of it being Played for Laughs. Her role in Chapter Four doesn't help much as she attempts to kill Kokichi and frame Kaito for the crime because of her viewing the Flashback light and believing that the world needed her inventions to help save them. Others dislike her selfishness over her prioritizing her life over her classmates especially given how she would have ended up getting Keebo killed while others felt bad for her due to her sympathetic motive involving wanting to take care of other citizens in the world, not to mention being a complex Jerkass Woobie who ends up having her paranoia get the best of her, which leads to her downfall. Plus given she does tend to get bullied or ignored by her classmates, some fans feel that Miu choosing the rest of the world over them is understandable, especially since the Flashback Light led her to believe the world was in a drastic state of emergency.

Ensemble Dark Horse counts all fandoms, so Miu being unpopular outside of Japan should probably just have this moved to Americans Hate Tingle immediately. Ironically she was killed by the one person besides Keebo, who had nothing mean to say about her, or would genuinely be her friend. This also seems a little too one sided for the fans. Cut and move to AHT, I'd say.

• Tenko's also in an odd spot with this. Like Mahiru from the previous game, one of the first things known about her was how strongly she dislikes men, getting her quickly labeled as a Scrappy (although Mahiru herself does not hate men, she is just harsh towards them due to her issues with her father whom she still loves regardless), but fans later learning of her excitable nature and crush on Himiko were enough to redeem her for some of them. For those who claim this isn't enough, they instead point out that her misandry not only leads her to baselessly accuse her male classmates of murder a lot, even though both of the trials she actually takes a part in have female murderers, and easily treads into both verbal and physical abuse territory, especially as her Free Time events show there is no reason for this beyond her not realizing her male "Neo-Akido" teacher was pulling her leg and some of her vigilante stunts having assumedly mostly male targets. Given how her first Free Time involves knocking Shuichi out cold over nothing that excuse can be hard to swallow and it's not helped by how little any of her classmates try to call her out on her behavior. Even her relationship with Himiko can cause issues as those less favorable towards her point out she can be pretty creepy towards the girl (not unlike Toko Fukawa towards Byakuya Togami and Kazuichi Souda towards Sonia Nevermind) with little indication Himiko was comfortable with this at all. That is at least prior to Tenko's death, which both Kokichi and Korekiyo point out as suspicious during said trial despite how devastated she's acting and clearly misses Tenko more than Angie. Not to mention, Tenko out and out admits that she'd pick Himiko over the other students if it turned out Himiko was the murderer in the second trial. Other people point out that, unlike Toko and Kazuichi who are just outright creeps towards Byakuya and Sonia respectively, Tenko was actually trying to get Himiko to be more expressive and not bottle up her emotions, which Himiko does after the third trial when she realises that Tenko not only tried to get her to do this, but also saved her life without even knowing it by offering herself as a vessel for Korekiyo's ritual in place of Himiko, which was just a trick so he could kill someone and that she regrets having ignored and mistreat her back when she was alive.

This could use a trimming, especially the used to be a scrappy comment, but it's a keep regardless. I don't really see many people either not loving her or hating her.

• Kaito Momota. Some fans love him for being The Heart of the group, and his Awesome Ego. Others dislike him for stating some sexist comments, which some of them having to be toned down for the English localization, and his idiotic tendencies to stick with his emotions instead of logic and common sense. Not to mention his behavior in the fourth class trial where he refuses to believe that Gonta was the culprit. Some fans believe that his behavior was annoying and too OOC. Others believe it was meant to represent a Fatal Flaw in Kaito's character. Also, some fans thought that he was acting incredibly petty towards Shuichi for revealing the truth that Gonta committed murder despite knowing that if group voted for Kokichi instead like Kaito wanted (and assumedly did by himself anyway, given how the votes are revealed) they would have all died.

Momota's an interesting case, I mainly see his fandom larger than his hatedom, but I can see a few people getting offended at his somewhat sexist comments like asking Shuichi to "man up" and "men don't cry" over Kaede's execution. He's not as hated as Tenko or Kokichi, so I would say cut.

• Kirumi Tojo - some fans dislike her for being incredibly talented at everything she does, without any sort of explanation for her skills in her Free Time Events. According to her Free Time Events, her only "weakness" - being unable to slice konjac root - came across as a joke to most dislikers. And come the major plot twist in Chapter 2, many fans took her turning out to be the prime minister of Japan poorly: some saw it as an Ass Pull to justify her murder, some hit by Values Dissonance took distaste to her political backstory due to the negative connotations associated with politicians in America compared to Japanese culture (especially when Monokuma starts narrating her backstory in a Donald Trump voice). Her manipulating a suicidal person into accepting his death doesn't help either. Not only does she commit murder, but she also claims to be trying to honor her promise to Kaede to guilt trip Shuichi into not accusing her of the murder, and even attempting to manipulate other students into being executed in her place after she's finally caught. Others appreciate her character design, the selflessness and caring behind all of her actions, and her Team Mom personality. Even her motive for murder can be seen as quite sympathetic to those buying into her The Needs of the Many utilitarinism, as the lives of thirteen high school students she met a few days ago can look quite insignificant compared to the lives of the entire country of Japan. Her joke weakness with konjac root is also shown as a larger, more genuine weakness in her later Free Time Events and Harmonious Heart event: her inability to accept imperfection.''

Kirumi is definitely Americans Hate Tingle. She's popular in Japan, but not the West due to less respect for politicians. Cut and move to Americans Hate Tingle.