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Danganronpa: Nihilus of Nihilus

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Danganronpa: Nihilus of Nihilus is a Danganronpa fanfiction (later revealed to be a crossover with Mega Man X) written by SpengBab_The_Undaunted. It follows the plot of the Danganronpa series, but with a twist: what if, despite Monokuma's best efforts, there was an outside force helping the good students get along while weeding out the ones with killing intent?

SpengBab gave The Merger Magikoopa the authority to post "interlude chapters", breather episodes between cases.

Given the nature of Danganronpa, unmarked spoilers ahead.

  • Adaptation Expansion: The fic expands on the time Makoto and Sayaka spent together before enrolling in Hope's Peak Academy.
  • Adaptational Heroism:
    • Sayaka is revealed to have come to regret making her plan much sooner than in canon, namely when she was about to send the note to Leon (though it's possibly because Okuni managed to intercept her).
    • Re:Mega Man X brings an implied instance. In Danganronpa canon, Ryoko Otonashi is simply an amnesiac Junko. In Re:Mega Man X, Ryoko Ikusaba was seemingly an ordinary student at Hope's Peak Academy (well, as ordinary as a Hope's Peak Academy student can be) that was kidnapped by Mavericks on the Day of Sigma. And according to the Maverick Hunters, a "Junko Enoshima" never existed prior to the Counter Hunter Crisis six months after the Day of Sigma. And with Magna Centipede having been brainwashed by the Counter Hunters using the fact Zero, it's implied that "Junko's" existence stems from Ryoko being brainwashed as well.
    • Neo Arcadia is a zigzagged example. In Mega Man Zero, it starts as a Knight Templar regime in which the Reploid rulers brand innocent Reploids as Mavericks left and right for the humans' comfort until Dr. Weil takes over, and said takeover turns it into a dystopia. However, it's stated it wasn't always like this, and that it originally was the culmination of all of X's work. In this fic, Neo Arcadia is the last bastion of hope and ideals in the world, and it's mentioned racism is outlawed, bringing it closer to how it was during X's reign. Furthermore, Neo Arcadia is mentioned to be fighting the despair-filled world in order to spread X's ideals of peace. The worst it does is suppressing potentially despair-inducing knowledge for The Needs of the Many, and even then Neo Arcadia's authorities use this information to try and save people from outside Neo Arcadia from despair.
  • Adaptational Jerkass: Monokuma already was an asshole, but this fic also gave him an incredibly foul mouth.
  • Adaptational Protagonist: The fic starts from Sayaka's perspective rather than Makoto's. The next chapter explains that Makoto, Sayaka, Kyoko and Okuni all share the protagonist role.
  • Adaptational Villainy:
    • Monokuma already was an asshole, but this fic takes it up a notch. Aside from his constant swearing, he also gives a False Reassurance with the "practice trial", where he tries to kill Sayaka because she tried to kill Leon. It's made worse afterwards when a mysterious woman (implied to be Junko) reveals to the readers shortly afterwards that Sayaka is pregnant. Later on, Monoka actually starts revealing the students' dark secrets one by one as a Paranoia Gambit. Something he didn't do in canon.
    • Because of Sayaka starting having second thoughts, Leon is the one to start the fight between them. Leon is additionally characterized as a petty and selfish bully whereas in canon, he was overall a nice guy towards his classmates.
    • In canon, Hifumi was a pervert who killed Kiyotaka, but otherwise was a friendly person who only killed Kiyotaka because he believed that he had stolen Alter-Ego and tried to rape Celestia. Here, he is a Fat Bastard who tortured Chihiro in order to frame Genocide Jill.
  • Adapted Out: The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy apparently didn't happen, or at least it was not as bloody as in canon, as Aiko and Kotomi are alive in this fic.
  • Affectionate Nickname: Because Alter Ego is based off of Chihiro's father and his programming is based on Mother's, Makoto nicknamed him "Father".
  • Alternative Character Interpretation: In-universe, this happens to Hifumi. It's unanimously agreed that Hifumi was a monster for killing Hiro, lusting after Aoi and torturing Chihiro. However, Makoto believes Hifumi was merely corrupted by Haiji Towa, while Okuni believes Hifumi was always selfish.
  • Ambiguous Situation: The prologue has a mysterious entity (implied to be Okuni) ramnble on Monokuma's selfishness and how delivering him karma was "his lord's" will. Who is he talking about? There are some clues to how his lord is like; namely, that he is a misanthrope who hates human selfishness.
  • And There Was Much Rejoicing: When Hifumi is executed, the only ones to feel sorry for him are Makoto and Celeste, and even they are disgusted by Hifumi's actions.
  • Author Avatar: Okuni is this. As seen in places like his DeviantArt account, SpengBab has a low view on most of humanity of the Danganronpa series, only caring for the protagonists (Makoto, Hajime, Shuichi, and maybe Komaru) and their Implied Love Interests (Sayaka and maybe Kyoko for Makoto, Chiaki for Hajime, and Kaede for Shuichi, with Kaede being an interesting example since she's a Decoy Protagonist). This is reflected in Okuni's view, as the only people he does observe and not have a negative opinion on are Makoto and Sayaka.
  • Crossover: As it turns out, this fic is a crossover with Mega Man X, as the Maverick Hunters are mentioned, with Makoto particularly looking up to X and Zero. In particular, the fic takes place in the same universe as Re:Mega Man X, a fanfic written by SpengBab's friend, The Merger Magikoopa. Evidence being how Sigma going Maverick was apparently only temporary (though if Monokuma's red eye glowing a sigma is any indication, it still had a lasting effect) and how Iris fought a giant Reploid (implied to be Violen).
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: It can't be Danganronpa without custom-tailored death penalties.
  • Dartboard of Hate: Monokuma uses the Ride Armor used for Hifumi's execution as one of these towards Iris.
  • Death by Adaptation: Hiro, a survivor in canon, is Case 2's victim here.
  • Deconstruction Fic:
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: An early chapter shows Kotomi easily gets envious. As Kotomi gets greater focus as the fic goes on, this point is seemingly dropped.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: After Monokuma reveals Makoto's canon Dark Secret note , he and Leon start calling him "Diaper Boy".
  • The End of the World as We Know It: The second interlude reveals that The Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Incident in the History of Mankind was convoluted with the Great Repliforce War. Apparently, it started when the human governments betrayed the Maverick Hunters for trying to absolve Repliforce of the Sky Lagoon Tragedy, and Junko saw the governments' betrayal of the Maverick Hunters as the trigger to initiate the Tragedy at Hope's Peak Academy. Because of this (and since it's Danganronpa's Tragedy), the entire world fell into anarchy. In response, the Maverick Hunters and Repliforce founded Neo Arcadia as a bastion of hope and ideals, and are working to reclaim as many people as are willing to listen to reason.
  • False Reassurance: Monokuma states that the whole trial on the fight between Sayaka and Leon is just a "practice trial". However, he then punishes Leon by declaring him Not Worth Killing to everyone else, declares that there are fates worse than death, and tries to kill Sayaka.
  • Fun with Acronyms: The tapes the canon students of Class 78th receive have acronyms based on their titles. For example, Makoto's tape is labeled "MV1-ULS" (for "Motive Video 1-Ultimate Lucky Student), while Sayaka's is labeled "MV1-UPS" (for "Motive Video 1-Ultimate Pop Sensation"). Averted with Aiko and Kotomi: their tapes are labeled "MV-DIE".
  • Gender Flip: In canon, Chihiro is a boy crossdressing as a girl. Here, Chihiro is a girl.
  • Hope Spot: Or rather "Despair Spot". When Makoto falls in love with Chihiro, Sayaka starts fearing Makoto got bored of her, like a producer or, even worse, Leon. (Keep in mind Monokuma wants Sayaka dead.) However, Makoto's potential for love is so great falling in love with Chihiro changed nothing about his feelings for Sayaka.
  • Humans Are Bastards: When the fic shifts to Okuni's perspective, the narration goes on a tangent on how many people sin, emphasizing Aoi pigging on a bunch of donuts, Hifumi taking a photo of her butt while she's distracted, then groping her which led to her beating him up, Leon dozing off, and Celeste stealing some money from Kotomi, which she fails to stop, filling her with envy. He then expresses frustration on how even good people have sins, making it harder for him to weed out the "children of wrath".
  • Ignored Epiphany: Despite Makoto calling out Leon for his flaws, Leon doesn't stop trying to screw over Sayaka until it bit him in the ass.
  • In Spite of a Nail:
    • Sayaka and Leon still have a near-fatal fight.
    • Despite Case 2 having a different killer, Chihiro is still attacked by him. Also, Case 2 still has someone frame Genocide Jack.
    • Hifumi still kills someone.
  • In-Series Nickname: Hifumi refers to himself as "HUH-Robo".
  • Love Interest vs. Lust Interest: Amusingly enough, Sayaka, Kyoko, Aoi, Chihiro and Aiko all end up in this situation with Makoto as the Love Interest and Hifumi as the Lust Interest. Makoto is a respectful Nice Guy who likes the girls for the goodness inside them, while Hifumi lusts after the girls' bodies. Unsurprisingly, the girls all fall in love for Makoto because he supports their dreams and defends their lives. Meanwhile, Aoi, Chihiro and Aiko hate Hifumi for being a Stalker with a Crush, Sayaka only interacts with Hifumi when Makoto does, and Kyoko doesn't interact with Hifumi at all.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: Junko tries to get Sayaka to think Makoto is cheating on her. How much it works so far is unknown, but when Leon overheard Sayaka talk with Chihiro on how she found a strand of Junko's hair in her room, he immediately starts accusing Makoto of cheating on Sayaka with Junko. It ultimately turns into a failure when Makoto decides to start a Polyamory with Sayaka, Chihiro and Aiko.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • Aiko and Kotomi, two members of the Student Council that appears exclusively in the Despair arc of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, are inducted in this killing game.
    • The Monopads have a virtual pet app known as Monomi, after Usami's corrupted form.
    • Makoto fights Monokuma for Sayaka's life on a stage that doubles as a giant bear trap. This is Sayaka's execution grounds, as described by the Danganronpa Visual Fanbook.
    • Monokuma using weapons from Dr. Eggman is a nod to his hatred of Sonic.
    • Case 2 has Hiro be murdered by Hifumi. The same thing happens in the demo trial.
    • At one point, Celeste can be seen putting 110.37 Zenny in an envelope, in reference to Sayaka's Dying Message in canon ("LEON" written upside down).
    • Hifumi's torture of Chihiro is a reference to Byakuya using his body in canon to frame Genocide Jack. Coincidentally, Hifumi was also trying to frame Genocide Jack for Hiro's murder.
    • Hifumi's execution is almost entirely taken from the Danganronpa Visual Fanbook, with some differences to emphazise the fic is a crossover with Mega Man X: the execution grounds are a Kaiju-scaled version of Abel City, and Princess Piggles is trapped in a winged purple Ride Armor (a reference to Iris' boss form).
    • Aiko knows Mikan Tsumiki (from Class 77-B).
    • Occasionally, especially after Monokuma starts introducing more motives, Okuni's thoughts shift to unfair deaths, such as Sayaka's canon fate and what happened to his The Lost Lenore. Other unfair deaths Okuni thinks about are Chiaki Nanami's canon fate and Kaede Akamatsu's execution.note 
    • 11037 returns at the money motive, as Monokuma's initial cash reward.
  • Not Worth Killing: Invoked. Monokuma declares Leon as this as punishment for not successfully killing Sayaka.
  • Polyamory: Realizing there are so many girls that 1) are in love with him and 2) are threatened by Mavericks, Makoto expands his Declaration of Protection to include not just Sayaka, but all the girls in this situation. Though while he made this declaraction to Chihiro, Aiko, Kotomi and mentally to Aoi, so far he's only in a stated relationship with Sayaka, Chihiro and Aiko (the ones he outright says he loves).
  • “The Reason You Suck” Speech:
    • Okuni gives a massive one to all students of Hope's Peak Academy, Kyoko in particular, after Sayaka's trial.
      Sakura: The headmaster wants you [Aiko and Kotomi] dead?
      Kyoko: Then we must-
      Okuni: No. None of you must do anything.
      Kyoko: What do you mean? If we-
      Okuni: What you propose is not a good choice. Your proposal is to throw Makoto away-
      Kyoko: That’s what Maizono tried to-
      Okuni: Not to defend someone, no, but for selfish want! You, Leon, made a mockery out of Sayaka’s career! Maybe if you didn’t she would have seen her plan as pointless! You, Hifumi, only care about your lust! You, Celeste, only care about money! You, Aoi, would try to kill all of us if someone dear and close to you would be hurt! You, Sakura, for all your strength, you’re in fact a pathetic weakling who cannot stand against someone who does something wrong just because that someone has a god complex! You, Chihiro…! Actually, you, Aiko and Kotomi did nothing wrong. You, Mondo! You let the ghosts of the past cling to you! I could go on forever!
      Kyoko: And are you perfect?!
      Okuni: No! And because of my own weakness, my own selfish belief I could have solved my beloved’s problems in unethical ways, she’s dead now! All I have left is hatred for the she-devil who killed her…
      Kyoko: Then why do you accuse-
      Okuni: But you. If Sayaka really would have died, you’d have used Makoto as a disposable pawn. Said that Sayaka would have implicated Leon as her killer to save Makoto’s ass to soothe the pain caused by her betrayal. Wormed your way in Makoto’s heart to make him think you’d fill the void caused by Sayaka’s death. Squeezed him for his worth in the next few cases. And then, when your ass would have been on the line, you’d have framed him for murder and had him be executed in your stead!
      Kyoko: This is not-
      Okuni: Oh, I bet you’re not even on our side! I bet you in fact went to that she-devil’s side! Didn’t you?! Because you wanted us all dead because of your mommy and daddy issues! Didn’t you?!
    • Shortly afterwards, Makoto gives one to Leon that paraphrases Akira Tadokoro's.
    Makoto: I understand why you’re angry at Sayaka. She hurt me with her betrayal, just as she hurt you. But… I suppose this is where the similarities between our situation ends, don’t you? I tried to understand why she did what she did before I’d judge her. And because I did, I saw how much she hated that she was hurting me. Hurting us. But you… you decided to flip your view on her entirely. That’s why attacking Sayaka is entirely on you. Yeah, people often make bad choices. But if we focus solely on that, judge them at their worst, well… you’ve already made up your mind, didn’t you? Everything else is just an excuse!
  • La Résistance: Neo Arcadia is a nation founded by the Maverick Hunters and Repliforce as a final bastion of hope and ideals while the entire world was burning in despair.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Makoto stands up and fights against Monokuma for Sayaka's sake despite violence against Monokuma being against the rules.
  • Setting Update: The fic takes place in the 22nd century rather than the present day.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Okuni makes several references to Live A Live:
      • He quotes Oersted/Odio upon seeing Monokuma.
    Okuni: This "headmaster"... a slave to appetites. A beast. Nay, lesser still. For hunger drives a beast. To fight, to kill, to feed. Survive. Naught else. But the "headmaster"... he's more complex. More fool. More mad. His hunger knows no ends. The world's his meal. I'll teach him manners, then. Restraint. Respect. He's drunk on vict'ry, spares no thought for them who suffer for his spoils-but soon, he shall.
    • Before the first trial, he gives Makoto the .44 Magnum, the Sundown Kid's Infinity +1 Sword, just to screw over Monokuma.
    • At the first trial, when Makoto stands to fight for Sayaka, Okuni paraphrases Uranus:
    Okuni: Deliver him with love, and by his love be saved. Redeemed. Absolved and proven good.
  • Soul-Powered Engine: HangReploid Mechaniloids are built out of the remains of the various Reploids the Emerald Spears destroy. Given the Emerald Spears' Fantastic Racism towards Reploids, it's not surprising they'd desecrate dead Reploids.
  • Spanner in the Works: Okuni tries to be this. His efforts aren't for nothing, as they allowed Sayaka and Leon to both survive their ordeal.
  • Spared by the Adaptation:
    • Somehow, Aiko and Kotomi, two students who were killed a year before the events of the first game, are alive in this fic. When asked about it, SpengBab refused to give any details, stating that they'll be revealed in the fic itself, other than the events that led to Aiko and Kotomi's deaths "went awry".
    • Sayaka and Leon both make it past the first arc. Subverted with Leon, who is put through a Fate Worse than Death after trying to screw over Sayaka one too many times.
    • Chihiro and Mondo are promoted to survivors. In Mondo's case, it's because Hifumi becomes the killer. Chihiro almost doesn't make it, but she's saved by Makoto.
  • The Stations of the Canon: While the fic follows the events of canon to an extent, multiple events are changed.
    • Case 1: Okuni tries to talk Sayaka out of her plan of killing Leon and nearly succeeds to do so, but when Sayaka tries to destroy the note she wrote for Leon, it slips out of her hand and directly at Leon's feet. Okuni then convinces Makoto and Sayaka to sleep in the same room, which allows Makoto to intercept Sayaka and Leon's fight. The trial then becomes a debate on whether Sayaka or Leon was the greater evil in the conflict. Despite Makoto proving Sayaka already gave up trying to kill Leon when the altercation started, Monokuma declares Sayaka the greater evil because she started it, forcing Makoto to fight for Sayaka's life. Thankfully, Makoto manages to win the fight.
    • Case 2: Everthing starts when Hiro notices Hifumi try to rape Aoi. He tries to stop him, only to cause an altercation that led to the leg of a Princess Piggles doll being broken. Enraged by this, Hifumi kills Hiro. He tries to hide the body, and even manages to keep it hidden for a while, period in which he tries to frame Genocide Jack. Eventually, his actions are discovered by Chihiro, who he tries to murder as well to Leave No Witnesses, only for Aoi and Aiko to intercept him, triggering Deadly Life, and Chihiro is saved by Makoto and Sayaka. As a result, Hifumi is executed.
  • Take That!:
    • Makoto fighting Monokuma for Sayaka's sake was done explicitly to spit on the "no violence against Monokuma" rule, because SpengBab hated how Shuichi could do nothing to stop Kaede's execution because of it.
    • Okuni focusing on Kyoko in his “The Reason You Suck” Speech is another one to those who see Sayaka as a snake. The speech emphasizes that what Kyoko did in Case 5 (framing Makoto for Mukuro's death) was no better than Sayaka's plan. In fact, Kyoko's actions were even worse, as Kyoko was approaching Makoto while he was mourning Sayaka and made him see her as a Second Love, only to stab him in the back.
    • Chihiro received a Gender Flip because SpengBab found the Unsettling Gender-Reveal involving them as transphobic and sexist. In particular, he throws a jab at Akari's story in How I Became a Pokémon Card.
    • Let's just say a lot of students that died in canon are alive here. This is because SpengBab generally hates Danganronpa's premise (a group of students are made to kill each other) and a lot of common tropes whithin it (particularly, teasing a cutie as a major character, then killing her off). His friend, The Merger Magikoopa shares this view because of the general selfishness that's implied to be present in all of Danganronpa's humanity excluding the heroes, with him even making a shitpost inspired from a scene from a parody show he likes in which Okuni rants on how much Danganronpa sucks, with Okuni even cussing in Romanian during his rant.note  So really, the series is a Take That! to the entire Danganronpa canon.
      "Forcing the main protag to see his girlfriend die, murders, accusations, muie, nuie, țuie, puie, execute this guy, this guy, bury them alive, killing them, I dunno what else..."
  • Tempting Fate: Played for Laughs. When Sayaka takes a frying pan to defend herself from an upcoming attack, she muses that no potential attacker would have a gun. The next day, Okuni gives Makoto, the one person Sayaka trusts the most, a gun... one that cannot hurt her whatsoever (it's mostly a plot device to explain the Truth Bullet system, and the only being it can actually hurt is Monokuma.)
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Kyoko's video contains the message "YOU'RE OURS, BITCH".
  • Time for Plan B: When Okuni fails to prevent Sayaka and Leon's fateful encounter, he shifts focus to make sure Makoto can intercept the upcoming fight.
  • Trial by Combat: An odd instance when someone other than the accused fights in the accused's name. The "practice trial" turns into a fight between Makoto and Monokuma to determine Sayaka's fate. Makoto manages to win, despite Monokuma having stronger weapons. (Then again, Makoto has the .44 Magnum which is capable of slaying gods and demons...)
  • Uncertain Doom: Makoto and Sayaka managed to escape the battlefield, but Okuni stays behind in a Heroic Sacrifice. Whether he managed to escape or not is unknown. Leon's fate is also up in the air. However, the scene with Junko shows Monokuma being "largely defeated", implying Okuni at least managed to escape.
  • Virtue Is Weakness: Okuni seems to believe this, as he calls out Taka and Mondo for being blind to Leon's obsessive desire to screw over Sayaka because he's their friend, and is bugged by Makoto seeing the good in everyone. It's played with, however, as he hates Kyoko because of "her shallow lack of compassion, her serpentine treachery, [and] her willingness to throw everyone away" to uncover the mastermind.

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