Fanfic / Danganronpa: Paradise Lost

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.

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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.
• Amnesiac Dissonance: Needless to say, 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.
• As the Good Book Says...: As a devout Christian, Yashiro regularly peppers his speech with quotations from The Bible.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Canon Character All Along:
  • Early on in Chapter 5, the group meet a crazed man hiding in a crashed van to evade the Future Foundation. After his death, they figure out his identity to be none other than Haiji Towa.
  • Chapter 5's Class Trial reveals, after a boatload of Foreshadowing throughout the preceding chapters, the Awful Truth that Shion Nanashi and Monaca Towa are one and the same.
• 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 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.
• 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: Sumire Takemi is a Perky Goth with Girlish Pigtails who is also a quirky yet efficient forensic specialist. Just like Abby Sciuto.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 others 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.
• 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.
• 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:
  • Shion's first Free-Time Event has her allude to Siegfried & Roy: Masters of the Impossible, with Daisuke confirming that he watched it as well before likewise alluding to Toon Makers’ Sailor Moon.
  • Monokuma introduces the first motive by smashing up an egg with a frying pan as a metaphor for what drugs do to the brain — recalling the infamous "This is Your Brain on Drugs" Public Service Announcement by the Partnership to End Addiction.
  • Shion quickly takes an interest in Goodnight Moon, appearing to cherish it as a reminder of happier times. After surviving the Killing Game, she takes a copy of it as her personal memento.
  • The end of Takeshi's execution in Chapter 1 is a direct nod to Tetsuo's mutation from AKIRA, with Daisuke outright pointing it out before being reprimanded by Kenji and Momiji for not taking the matter seriously, and the succeeding Monokuma Theater segment having Monokuma also allude to Tetsuo, while simultaneously disparaging "some lazy blue and yellow recolour".
  • The robot canary that Shion shows off to Daisuke in Chapter 2 sings a part of the original Welsh theme of Fireman Sam.
  • During a Free-Time Event with Yae, while discussing why she specialized in using a Martial Arts Staff, she describes Donatello as "some purple-wearing nerdy turtle".
  • What Akihiro Garaki is revealed to have done to his sister — fusing her on purpose with an animal — is reminiscent of Shou Tucker doing the same to his daughter. Shun even responds with a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown just like how Ed did.
  • Chapter 4 is titled "By the Book", after an infamous mission from Grand Theft Auto V. Both of them are revolved heavily around the use of torture.
  • Chapter 4's Monokuma Theater has Monokuma reference South Park with a comment about "sweet and yummy tears of unfathomable sadness".
  • The final Monokuma Theater segment, that of Chapter 5, opens with Monokuma making an off the cuff remark about how "we've come to the end of our time", and later on, he alludes to the final episode of F-Zero: GP Legend when discussing the topic of Grand Finales.
• 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.
• 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.
• "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 to be even worse; murdering his father, and when Daisuke conclusively rejects her, attempting to kill him.
• You Have Failed Me: In 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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