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Danganronpa: Paradise Lost

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This page contains unmarked spoilers for Danganronpa and the first two chapters. You have been warned.

This is the story of a hopeful boy and a hopeless girl.
Daisuke Hiyori

Danganronpa: Paradise Lost is a Danganronpa Continuation Fanfic, written throughout 2022 and 2023 by Wattpad user Reborn4Dog. It is the final installment in a trilogy known as the K.R.D. Chronicles, concluding the plot set up by both Danganronpa: Memento Mori and Danganronpa: Komm Susser Tod.

Daisuke Hiyori, the Ultimate Hikikomori, is lured to a bus stop in the middle of nowhere by his own curiosity — which quickly results in him getting abducted and thrown into another Killing Game, in which Monokuma once again entices the participants to kill each other by dangling the promise of freedom to whoever manages to get away with murder. Quickly forming a bond with the mysterious amnesiac Shion Nanashi, both of them must try to survive... but will they be able to?

Danganronpa: Paradise Lost can be read here.


Danganronpa: Paradise Lost contains examples of:

  • Accuser of the Brethren: Despite her earnest attempts to make up for what she did, Junpei and Momiji refuse to forgive Monaca for what they think she had done towards them, and set up the Killing Game to get revenge via psychologically torturing and then killing her.
  • Adaptational Angst Upgrade: As indicated by her frequently breaking down in tears over faint recollections of her past actions, Monaca Towa is a lot more guilt-ridden and morose here than the unapologetic and near-perpetually gleeful Enfant Terrible she was in canon.
  • Adaptational Heroism: In the actual franchise, Monaca Towa was never shown to feel any remorse for what she did, and decides to pull a Screw This, I'm Outta Here! rather than face consequences. Here, after she gets amnesia, she develops a sincere moral compass, and even after regaining her memories, not only helps to stop the mastermind, but also turns herself in to the Future Foundation.
  • Adaptational Sympathy: Monaca Towa is treated a lot more sympathetically here than she was in canon — while there, the plot wrote her off as an irredeemable Enfant Terrible who regretted nothing about how she treated the other Warriors of Hope and whose past didn't justify her crimes, here, she is treated as a victim of circumstance who was made, not born, evil, feels guilt over what she did, and is capable of changing for the better.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed, considering that the character was already a Hate Sink in canon, but Haiji Towa is displayed in an even worse light than he already was, with more emphasis being drawn to his pedophilia and it being all but stated that he raped his own sister Monaca.
  • Alliance of Revenge: Momiji Akamatsu and Junpei Ichikawa are revealed to have co-masterminded the Killing Game as part of a scheme to get their mutual revenge against Monaca Towa, who they blame for their personal tragedies.
  • Amnesiac Dissonance: Needless to say, after having forgot about her past crimes due to amnesia, Shion/Monaca does not take it well when she is finally confronted with the truth of who she was.
  • Amnesiac Villain Joins the Heroes: This turns out to be why Shion Nanashi, or rather Monaca Towa, is good to begin with — having forgotten her dark past via amnesia. Thankfully, she retains her newfound moral code even after regaining her memories.
  • And Now for Someone Completely Different: While most of the story is written from Daisuke's POV, the Intermission is written instead from that of Shion's.
  • Angsty Surviving Twin: Momiji is still heart-broken over Kaede being framed and executed for a crime she didn't commit, frequently using her free time to mourn her. The loss of her twin sister was enough to drive her to co-mastermind the Killing Game.
  • Apocalyptic Log: One is found in Chapter 6 written by one of the scientists who inhabited the facility before it was used for the Killing Game, detailing their discovery of and bonding with Shion before cutting off mid-sentence after feral Monokumas kill the scientists.
  • As the Good Book Says...: As a devout Christian, Yashiro regularly peppers his speech with quotations from The Bible.
  • A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Chapter 3's climax is directly caused by a few students' impulsiveness leading to calamity. Shun and Yashiro both acting without thinking, blinded by rage over Akihiro's actions, results in the former nearly killing him, and the latter getting executed for actually killing Akihiro.
  • The Atoner: Although Shion barely remembers anything about her past, she vaguely remembers committing several grave sins that she is desperate to make up for, as she reveals to Daisuke. And as it turns out, she has a lot to atone for.
  • Back for the Finale: Midway through the final Class Trial, Kaori and Reiji turn up, now in the employ of the Future Foundation and attempting to convince Momiji to turn herself in.
  • The Bet: Daisuke and Junpei make such a bet after the motive reveal in Chapter 1: the former bets on the Killing Game ending with at least one person successfully escaping without resorting to murder, while the latter bets on either a Total Party Kill or a successful graduation. Daisuke ultimately wins the bet in the end.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Occurs midway through Chapter 6's Class Trial, with Kaori and Reiji making a dramatic reappearance to help Daisuke with attempting to convince Momiji to turn herself in for masterminding the Killing Game.
  • Bookends:
    • The prologue begins with Daisuke receiving a letter, and the epilogue ends with him receiving another one. The contents of the letters do differ however.
    • Daisuke also says similar lines in both the prologue and epilogue, both times referring to him and Shion:
      Daisuke (in the Prologue): This is the story of a hopeful boy and a hopeless girl.
      Daisuke (in the Epilogue): ...And that was it. That was the story of me, the hopeful boy, and her, the hopeless girl.
    • The first and final Free-Time Event Daisuke engages in are both with Shion.
  • Blue Is Heroic: Daisuke, the protagonist of this story, wears a white and blue outfit. And unlike Kaori and Reiji before him, he is far more willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
  • Blue Means Cold: The Ultimate Ice Skater Miyuki Nagasu, with a talent associated with ice, wears her pale blue ice skating costume at all times.
  • Brains and Brawn: Subverted: the brawny jock Shun desperately wants to become friends with the brainy nerd Akihiro, but it becomes increasingly apparent that the friendship is completely one-sided on Shun's part, with Akihiro seeing him as a useful idiot at best, and an annoyance at worst.
  • Breaking Old Trends: In Chapter 3, it initially appears as though the trend to be broken is the "double murder", as Akihiro is exposed for killing Miyuki... before Yashiro shoots him dead in the courtroom right before the Class Trial ends, breaking the trend of "no additional murders during the Class Trial".
  • Broken Pedestal: After spending the last few days respecting him and attempting to become his friend, Shun is horrified to discover Akihiro's true colors at the end of Chapter 3, nearly beating him to death in a blind rage before Yashiro beats him to the punch.
  • Call-Back: The circumstances of Chapter 4's murder, one of the group's most antagonistic members having the Gentle Giant commit murder and get himself executed to save his own skin, are almost identical to Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony's own Chapter 4.
  • Canon Character All Along:
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: Chapter 4 has Kenji brutally torture Sumire for information regarding Monaca Towa. When it fails and he realizes that there's no way he can keep her alive, he dupes Goh into killing her to save himself.
  • Conditioned to Accept Horror: Kenji, due to his upbringing in the Fenrir mercenary group, keeps cool during the Killing Game even as the bodies begin to pile up. He casually discusses a potential recruit accidentally strangling himself with his own parachute during his first Free-Time Event.
  • Cowardly Yellow: Takeshi Tashiro, who wears a shiny yellow suit, is the first killer, quickly succumbing to Monokuma's first motive so that his drug abuse won't be revealed.
  • Creepy Gym Coach: Goh's gym coach is revealed during his talk about fears in Chapter 2 to have not only actively egged his students on to commit several rapes against girls, but also participated in them himself.
  • Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: The antagonistic, cynical, jaded Junpei Ichikawa is the only participant depicted with eyebags.
  • Cruel Mercy: This is Shun's rationale for helping Kenji after he's attacked at the end of Chapter 4, despite his involvement in Sumire and Goh's deaths.
    Shun: And you wanna know what your punishment shall be? (...) Life.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: As expected from a Danganronpa fanfic, the executions are tailor-made to ensure a brutal death for the killers.
    • Chapter 1: Takeshi Tashiro, the Ultimate Game Show Host, has Monokuma Hall Problem. He finds himself on a game show set hosted by Monokuma, and prompted to pick one out of a trio of doors. When he selects the left door, Monokuma opens the right to reveal some cocaine, and then offers Takeshi a chance to switch his option. He chooses to switch, prompting both remaining doors to open, revealing crystal meth behind the left door and unknown red tablets behind the middle. Takeshi's drug addiction and withdrawal causes him to blindly consume the tablets, resulting in him grotesquely ballooning up and subsequently exploding like a gore-filled balloon in front of the horrified spectators.
    • Chapter 2: Ayaka Matsutomo, the Ultimate Badminton Player, has Deadly Rally. Ayaka and Monokuma find themselves on a badminton court, complete with rackets and a shuttlecock, and subsequently begin a long and tiring rally. Just as Ayaka is about to win, she is shot through the knees from behind, causing her to collapse to the floor and unable to serve the shuttlecock back to Monokuma. Once it lands in front of her, it reveals itself to be an explosive, and the resulting detonation reduces Ayaka to Ludicrous Gibs.
    • Chapter 3: Yashiro Fujiwara, the Ultimate Televangelist, has Passion of the Fujiwara. As a lethal Passion Play, it starts with Yashiro being dragged by a chain up a hill made of burning sulphur, before being nailed through his hands and feet to a cross. He is then rushed by several humanoids with television sets as heads, armed with spears that they use to repeatedly stab him. Finally, the hill is ignited by a sudden bolt of thunder, sending everyone on the hill, including Yashiro, falling into a literal lake of fire and burning alive.
    • Chapter 4: Goh Hanma, the Ultimate Weightlifter, has Weight of the World. Goh begins by effortlessly lifting a weighted barbell with one hand, before Monokuma subsequently drops a giant globe akin to Atlas's upon him, forcing him onto his knees. He withstands additional weight that Monokuma adds to the pile atop his shoulders, including several barrels and a car, but it is not until a single white feather that Goh's body finally gives out, his arms breaking under the excess strain immediately before he is crushed by the weight he was holding.
    • Chapter 5: Noriko Aino, the Ultimate Stalker, has Love at Last Sight. She is initially presented with a knife and a heart, which she repeatedly maniacally stabs, causing her to be covered in blood, before it finally explodes. It reveals what appears to be Daisuke Hiyori, the target of her twisted affection, which she rushes towards and pushes over to find that "he" was a cardboard cutout and behind it was Monokuma, armed with a bow and arrow. He shoots it into Noriko's chest, freezing her into solid ice, before taking out a whip resembling the Red String of Fate and hitting Noriko with it, causing her to shatter into pieces that melt into the floor.
    • Chapter 6: Momiji Akamatsu, the Ultimate Cellist and the mastermind, gets The Second Ultimate Punishment. Befitting its name, it consists of a barrage of all of the previous executions, before finishing off with an altered version of the first execution from Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony in which she's hung by the neck and dragged over cello strings. She manages to initially survive all of it, and staggers back into the courtroom before she finally collapses and expires in a pool of her own blood.
  • Death by Disfigurement: Kenji is shanked several times by Monokuma at the end of Chapter 4 and ultimately ends up losing an eye. He ends up as one of Chapter 5's victims, being ambushed and killed by Noriko. Justified, considering that Monokuma's injuries left him in a weakened state and thus vulnerable to Noriko.
  • Defector from Decadence: Goh Hanma's backstory reveals that he used to hang out with a group of Jerk Jocks, who belittled him for not following their misogynistic ways. He eventually decided to quit and rat them out after he attempted to prevent them from gang-raping a student and being shoved out of a window in response.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Enraged by Akihiro's crimes and lack of remorse for them, Yashiro unloads several shots from a flare gun into him. Right in front of Monokuma, who then promptly executes him. And Yashiro used up all the flares, rendering Daisuke unable to use it to call for help.
  • Disabled in the Adaptation: Monaca Towa is shown to have prosthetic legs following them being damaged beyond repair and thus amputated. In Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, she was secretly able-bodied, and even if she did genuinely lose the use of her legs by Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, they were still organic.
  • Disappeared Dad: One of the first things Daisuke mentions in the prologue is that his father died in a car crash. It eventually comes to light that this was an act of Vehicular Sabotage on the part of Noriko.
  • Drugs Are Bad: Forms the premise of Monokuma's first motive; exploiting Japan's intolerance towards drugs and the fact that at least one student is an Addled Addict to convince them to kill each other.
  • Drowning Pit: This is used to finish off Sumire in Chapter 4, through the use of a drained swimming pool and a broken water pipe — Goh is misled into activating it by Kenji.
  • Dwindling Party: Befitting Danganronpa, the 16 students quickly begin dropping like flies. By the time all is said and done, only 4 remain.
  • Dying Declaration of Hate: In stark contrast to her repeated declarations of twisted love towards Daisuke, Noriko's last words before being dragged to her execution at the end of Chapter 5 are telling Daisuke that she hates him.
  • Eerie Arctic Research Station: Chapter 3 reveals that the Closed Circle the participants are in is located in the middle of the Antarctic. It becomes especially eerie once they found out that the previous inhabitants were massacred by feral Monokumas.
  • Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: The climax of Chapter 4's Class Trial begins with Daisuke realizing mid-sentence, as he's going over blueprints of the facility's water supply system, that Kenji tricked Goh into activating a Drowning Pit.
  • Expy:
  • Even Evil Has Standards: As Chapter 5's Class Trial shows, even Monokuma is disgusted by pedophilia:
    Monokuma: Child predators are sick, sick fucks! And that's coming from the mouth of a bear who kidnapped all of you just so he could force you into murdering each other for no real reason.
  • Evil Librarians: Akihiro Garaki, the Ultimate Librarian, is an Insufferable Genius who espouses beliefs about the intelligent lording over their lessers. He also turns out to be a remorseless Evilutionary Biologist and murderer.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Once it dawns on Yashiro that he is about to die, he goes out with grace; quietly asking God for forgiveness and reciting the 23rd Psalm as Monokuma drags him to his execution.
  • Famous, Famous, Fictional: Used during Junpei's rant about how several infamous crimes in Japan caused him to develop his Straw Nihilist mindset: he first mentions the murder of Junko Furuta, then Unit 731, before finishing with The Tragedy.
  • Found the Killer, Lost the Murderer: The end of Chapter 4 has the students expose Goh as Sumire's killer, resulting in his execution. Kenji, who wanted Sumire dead in the first place and manipulated Goh into killing her, isn't executed — but is almost immediately afterwards maimed by Monokuma for being exposed as having bribed him.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The survivors form such a quartet, with the cheerful Daisuke as the Sanguine, the morose Monaca as the Melancholic, the brash Shun as the Choleric, and the relaxed Ringo as the Phlegmatic.
  • Fury-Fueled Foolishness: Two murders occur as a result of the perpetrators flying off the handle due to anger:
    • In Chapter 2, Ayaka is aggravated enough by an argument with Yae to throw a flowerpot at her head, inflcting fatal head trauma.
    • At the end of Chapter 3, Shun nearly beats Akihiro to death with his bare hands, right before Yashiro shoots him dead to avenge Akihiro's murder of Miyuki and cruel experiments on his own sister, resulting in Yashiro's own execution.
  • Graceful Loser: Upon Daisuke managing to convince him that his initial worldview was wrong, Junpei's AI takes his philosophical defeat gracefully and gives a speech congratulating Daisuke and Monaca for helping him believe in the goodness of humanity again before voluntarily shutting down.
  • Grand Finale: The third and final entry of the K.R.D. Chronicles, it serves to wrap up the lingering plot-threads of not just Danganronpa: Memento Mori and Danganronpa: Komm Susser Tod, but also the official entries of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School and Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.
  • Greedy Televangelist: Discussed and subverted by Yashiro; he turns out to be a true believer in Christianity, and has no qualms calling out other televangelists who he perceives as being more interested in money rather than faith.
  • Green and Mean: Zig-zagged; while Goh Hanma (who wears a green tracksuit) and Shion Nanashi (who has green hair) turn out to be two of the most morally sound participants, Akihiro Garaki (who wears a green sweater) is much less so. Enough to remorselessly perform unethical experiments on his own sister and commit murder simply because he could do so.
  • He Knows Too Much: This is why Sumire is murdered in Chapter 4 — she now has first-hand knowledge that Kenji is a torturer, and he doesn't want her to expose him as it would compromise his investigation into the potential mastermind.
  • He Who Fights Monsters: Heavily discussed in Chapter 6, as Junpei and Momiji's plot to enact their mutual revenge upon Monaca only succeeds in making them just as bad as she was in the past. Friedrich Nietzsche's original quote even serves as the Epigraph for Chapter 6.
  • Historical Rap Sheet: Haiji Towa is all but stated to have attended parties and participated in child abuse at Little St. James, the private island of infamous American billionaire child predator Jeffrey Epstein.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: This is Kenji's justification for his actions in Chapter 4, including torturing Sumire and manipulating Goh into unwittingly killing her — claiming that "it had to be done" to expose Monaca Towa, who he suspects is the mastermind. Daisuke doesn't buy it.
  • I Hate Past Me: Despite barely remembering her past self and actions, Shion expresses a massive amount of guilt over what she had done. For good reason.
  • Implied Rape: Zig-zagged. While Goh openly uses the term "rape" when discussing his failed attempt to prevent his "friends" from committing gang rape, the backstory element of Haiji sexually abusing his own little sister Monaca is described more vaguely, with the closest explicit statement of what happened being Daisuke using the term "violated" when referring to the event.
  • I Need a Freaking Drink: After the second execution, two of the surviving students understandably head off to a built-in bar to obtain alcoholic drinks.
  • I Never Told You My Name: Daisuke instantly gets suspicious of Noriko in the prologue when she wakes him up and calls him "Daisuke-kun"... even though he didn't tell her his name.
  • Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: Chapter 6's Class Trial is livestreamed, and thus the chatbox initially hurls vitriol towards the exposed Monaca Towa, believing her to be the mastermind behind it. After Momiji Akamatsu is exposed as the mastermind, the end of the trial shows the chatbox turning on her instead.
  • Interrogated for Nothing: Kenji's Cold-Blooded Torture of Sumire, in an attempt to get her to reveal information about Monaca, fails to get any results. But he can't keep her alive, and he doesn't want to be executed by Monokuma, so he misleads Goh to his death.
  • Killed Mid-Sentence:
    • Haiji Towa is blown up by Kenji Shima's IED while in the middle of cursing him out in Chapter 5.
    • The scientist who wrote the Apocalyptic Log discovered in Chapter 6 abruptly stops writing in the middle of saying a final message to Shion.
  • Kindhearted Simpleton: Despite his occasional bouts of being Innocently Insensitive due to his upbringing as a Hikikomori, Daisuke means well for many of the other students and is very optimistic about the prospect of escaping the Killing Game.
  • Later-Installment Weirdness: Paradise Lost bucks a few trends of its predecessors, and contains a few unique features of its own:
    • It is the only one to contain Epigraphs at the beginning of a chapter.
    • There is an "Intermission" sandwiched between the halves of Chapter 5's Class Trial, unheard of in the previous two entries.
    • The last chapter is not a Title Drop Chapter, instead being titled "Distrust" after the original name for Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
  • Leitmotif: KOKIA's "I believe" (which Danganronpa fans can recognize as the Solemn Ending Theme of Danganronpa Another) is used twice for crucial scenes involving Monaca Towa.
  • Lights Off, Somebody Dies: Chapter 5's victim is found shortly after the end of a blackout plunging the facility into darkness.
  • Love Interest vs. Lust Interest: Shion and Noriko both compete with each other for Daisuke's heart — but while the former understands that they must mutually support each other, the latter displays a sense of obsessive entitlement and acts against his wishes.
  • Meaningful Echo: Right before Chapter 6's investigation, and after having convinced the rest of the survivors to aid her, Monaca repeats her spiel about her skill and what it's really about from Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls — only with the sections about "uniting people" and "getting them all to help me" reversed to cement her Heel–Face Turn.
  • Monty Hall Problem: Takeshi's execution is based entirely around the Monty Hall Problem, right down to being titled "Monokuma Hall Problem" — he's offered three doors, all of which have drugs behind them. He picks the middle door, and ends up swelling up and exploding.
  • Mysterious Waif: Shion Nanashi, our deuteragonist, is a troubled and passive young girl whose missing memories prove crucial to figuring out why the Killing Game is happening, with Daisuke Hiyori offering to help her after their first meeting.
  • Not Me This Time: Despite now being an active participant, Monaca Towa has absolutely no involvement whatsoever in orchestrating the current Killing Game. In fact, the masterminds of the Killing Game happen to be specifically targeting her.
  • Obfuscating Postmortem Wounds:
    • Miyuki's body is found having been shot in the head with a flare gun to make it look like she killed herself, hiding that she had been killed via a poisoned drink.
    • Kenji's body is discovered decapitated with a table saw. It eventually comes to light that he had been strangled with piano wire beforehand.
  • Passion Play: Yashiro's execution is a dark mockery of the crucifixion of Christ, with him being nailed to a cross and stabbed with numerous spears before finally being dropped into a lake of fire representing Hell.
  • Pedophilia Is a Special Kind of Evil: Everyone, including Monokuma, is disgusted with Haiji Towa's child predation, including his involvement with real life billionaire predator Jeffrey Epstein and his sexual abuse of his own little sister Monaca. Kenji goes far as to kill Haiji for it.
  • Perky Goth: Despite her macabre clothing choices and talent as the Ultimate Forensic Scientist, Sumire Takemi is a fairly cheerful girl towards everyone else.
  • Psycho Pink: Noriko, who wears a pink dress and necklace, turns out to be a psychotically-obsessed Stalker with a Crush towards Daisuke who has no qualms with killing for his sake despite his protests.
  • Rape Leads to Insanity: It is heavily implied that Monaca Towa was raped by her own brother Haiji, and that was what contributed to her more heinous actions in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls.
  • Red-Flag Recreation Material: Akihiro considers The Island of Doctor Moreau to be a "personal favourite", and turns out to be another Evilutionary Biologist perfectly willing to subject his own sister to Body Horror.
  • Red Is Violent: The aggressive, violence-capable, foul-mouthed Shun Iida wears a red tracksuit and shorts.
  • Restored My Faith in Humanity: Junpei acknowledges that Daisuke and Monaca's actions have led him to conclude that humanity is not beyond saving at the end of Chapter 6.
  • Revenge Before Reason: This topic is brought up at the end of the final trial: Momiji Akamatsu instigates the Killing Game to get revenge on both Team Danganronpa and Monaca Towa for her sister Kaede's death — not realizing until it's too late that the former had been shut down, the latter had underwent a Heel–Face Turn, and thus her efforts were All for Nothing.
  • Revenge Is Not Justice: This is the ultimate message of Chapter 6 — Junpei and Momiji's mutual revenge scheme is openly condemned by the survivors, who do not approve of them holding a Killing Game to avenge the victims of previous Killing Games.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: Takeshi kills Junpei when he spills that he's aware of Takeshi's drug addiction, thinking he has to be the Mastermind. Junpei's not, but he does know the Mastermind...
  • Rogue Agent: Kenji Shima was sent in to figure out the truth behind the Killing Game, only to start an investigation into Monaca Towa by his own accord, no matter how many others have to be sacrificed.
  • Serial Killings, Specific Target: The whole Killing Game turns out to have been devised to psychologically torture and kill Monaca, so that Junpei and Momiji could earn their revenge. Both masterminds knew from the very start that others would die, but didn't care as long as they eventually got Monaca.
  • Sickly Child Grew Up Strong: A Free-Time Event with Yae reveals that as a child, she was frequently hospitalized due to disease and told she had just months to live. Now, she is a relatively healthy and athletic martial artist skilled in Hapkido.
  • Sir Swears-a-Lot: Shun's dialogue is absolutely full of profanity, especially when compared to how the others speak to each other.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: Perky Goth Sumire Takemi is Chapter 4's victim and Lovable Jock Goh Hanma is her unwitting killer, around the same time the students begin figuring out the Awful Truth behind certain members of themselves and the reasons why the Killing Game is happening to begin with.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Smarmy Host: Takeshi Tashiro displays all the sleaziness of a stereotypical game show host, befitting his talent. He also turns out to be a Dirty Coward willing to kill to keep his status as an Addled Addict under wraps.
  • Split-Personality Merge: The Intermission ends with Monaca and her amnesiac alter ego Shion combining together. The whole personality has Monaca's memories and prefers to be addressed by that name, and additionally has Shion's more meek and self-loathing temperament.
  • Straw Nihilist: Junpei Ichikawa is introduced reading a List of Transgressions against the entire world and decrying Daisuke Hiyori's protests to the contrary as "optimistic nonsense". He doesn't get much better from there.
  • Stress Vomit: Shion understandably is horrified by the first execution she witnesses, and as soon as it's over, quickly rushes out of the courtroom to vomit.
  • Theme Twin Naming: Momiji Akamatsu is named after a Japanese word for "maple", just like her twin sister Kaede.
  • Three Wishes: The motive of Chapter 5 has Monokuma offer the remaining students three wishes if they manage to successfully graduate, complete with discussing the topic of genies.
  • Toilet Horror: The first murder occurs in the boys' toilets, and the killer attempts to make it look like the work of the Yōkai Aka Manto through leaving behind red and blue sheets of paper.
  • Token Religious Teammate: While most of the students are not outspoken about their religious beliefs, Ultimate Televangelist Yashiro Fujiwara takes pride in his Christian faith.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Befitting her name being Japanese for "apple", Ringo is fond of apples — but will only eat apples with red instead of green skins. Once more, this detail proves crucial in solving Chapter 2's case, as the killer leaves behind a green apple to try and frame her for murder.
  • Troubled Fetal Position: The self-loathing Shion is introduced in the prologue huddled up in a corner with her head buried in her knees.
  • Vigilante Execution: Two deaths are motivated by the perpetrator, when confronted with the crimes of another, deciding to take the law into their own hands.
    • At the end of Chapter 3, Yashiro shoots Akihiro dead to avenge Miyuki (who Akihiro had just been exposed for murdering) and Akihiro's sister (who was experimented on by her own brother).
    • Midway through Chapter 5, Kenji murders Haiji out of disgust for the latter's corruption and child predation.
  • "What Do They Fear?" Episode: Chapter 2's motive is based heavily around the participants' fears, with Monokuma inducing nightmares until one of them finally snaps and kills. Inevitably, someone does.
  • Yandere: Even at the very beginning, Noriko displays an uncomfortable interest in and knowledge of Daisuke, which understandably unnerves him considering that he had no idea of her existence. And she turns out in the first Class Trial to be even worse; having murdered his father, and when Daisuke conclusively rejects her, attempting to kill him.
  • You Have Failed Me: At the end of Chapter 4, Monokuma makes it clear to Kenji that he would've ignored Kenji bribing him into helping set up the murder if he wasn't exposed doing so. But considering that he was, Monokuma sees no reason to not stab him several times, once in the eye, and leave him for dead.

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