Fanfic / Danganronpa Re:Programmed

Danganronpa Re:Programmed is a completed fanfiction rewrite story written by the user Creepercraftguy on Wattpad inspired by Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. The story follows the same original cast of sixteen students who have been held captive by Monokuma and forced to participate in a 'normal school life' indefinitely. The only way of escape is to kill someone and get away with it. The difference here is that not only do the people who die in the story differ from the original game, the role of protagonist is given to Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer, instead of Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Lucky Student.

The Story is written in novel format, and in the third-person for the vast majority of the story, and while it can sometimes break the pattern (i.e. the Freetime Events which are one-chapter sections that show the perspectives of each character who is still alive) it mainly follows the story from the perspective of Chihiro themselves.

A sequel has been released, Danganronpa 2 Re:Captured, which rewrites Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair with Mahiru Koizumi as the protagonist rather than Hajime Hinata.

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This rewrite contains examples of:

• Adaptation Personality Change:
  • During the first half of Chapter 4, Makoto is a lot harsher and cold towards everyone than he is in canon. This comes around as product of the events from the end of Chapter 1 to the end of Chapter 3.
  • Mukuro is not as duty bound to the Mastermind as she is in her canon appearances.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed with Makoto, who's a lot more jerkish in the first half of Chapter 4 than they ever were in canon, due to all the deaths at this point starting to get to them.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: While he does keep some of his punk-like character traits, Leon is a lot more humble in this story, trying to help everyone get back on their feet after Monokuma unveils the first motive.
• Adaptational Protagonist: Re:Programmed is a fanfic based on Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, with the protagonist now being Chihiro Fujisaki. Chihiro was an important character in the original game, although most of his contributions happened posthumously. Here, he takes up the main role of Hope Bringer to the others and leads the discussions to find the true killer, and his canonical death is averted.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Makoto Naegi, of all people gets hit with this as he murders Taeko after becoming convinced she is the mastermind, something their canon self would never have done.
  • Sayaka and Hina are also culprits, with Sayaka going through with her canonical plan to kill Leon and frame Makoto and Hina murdering Toko after discovering she is also Genocide Jack.
  • Note however that these are all Downplayed examples, as Makoto's murder of Taeko was done out of a genuine attempt to help his fellow students by uncovering or killing the mastermind and he was even planning on heading into the Class Trial fully intending to be caught; Sayaka was already planning on killing Leon in canon, she just manages to succeed here; and Hina was forced to kill Toko in self-defense after the latter attempted to kill Hina to keep her from revealing her secret to their fellow students.
• Affectionate Nickname: Hiro gives these to a few characters.
  • The most commonly occurring one, for obvious reasons, is "Fuji-Bean" for Chihiro.
  • He also calls Hifumi "Fumi."
  • In Chapter 1, he calls Junko "Hara-Junko" as a play on her name, but this nickname does not catch on.
• All Up to You: Chihiro is an unlikely hero for the most part, at least from a first glance. His heroism is shown at its best in Chapter 2, when he's faced with a dilemma that only he has the surefire way out of, that of course being how everyone would vote for him if he didn't tell them that he was a boy and couldn't access the crime scene.
• Amnesia Danger: Kyoko is more open about her amnesia in this story than she is in canon, albeit only to Chihiro and Makoto at first. She suspects that her memories were wiped because she's the key to taking the Mastermind down.
• Anger Is Not Enough: Mondo slowly goes through this character development. From the start, he believes he can solve most problems by punching or yelling. During and after Chapter 2, he begins to drift away from this way of thinking.
• Anyone Can Die: Goes without saying. Even if the story is slightly different, it's still Danganronpa. Any of your favorite characters can drop dead at a moment's notice.
• Ascended Extra: In the original Danganronpa game, the protagonist/main hero of the story is Makoto Naegi. In this, it's Chihiro Fujisaki.
• Asinine Alternate Activity: While he does eventually accept to the proposal, Byakuya is initially against Chihiro's idea of showing everyone Alter Ego, simply because he believes the alternative of letting the killing game continue and where he keeps winning is more entertaining.
• Asshole Victim:
  • Toko Fukawa is revealed to have been attempting to murder Hina after the latter discovered her split personality of Genocide Jill causing Hina to kill her in self-defense.
  • Given that her actions in the previous chapter led to the deaths of Sakura, Hifumi, and Hiro, it's telling that no one's mourning Celeste's death when she pops up as the victim of Chapter 4.
  • Surprisingly averted with Byakuya. Due to the Character Development he'd shown in wanting to end the Killing Game throughout Chapter 5, the other survivors are upset about how close they came to ending it, only to now have to go through another Class Trial all over again.
• Backported Development:
  • Much like in canon, Chihiro's past is reflected on in the second Chapter trial, albeit in the middle instead of the end, as he has to reveal the truth about his gender identity in order to stop everyone voting for him
  • This also works in a negative way. At least once per chapter, Chihiro has nightmares about everyone who has died in the killing game, with their faces blanked out, all blaming him for being unable to prevent their deaths.
• Back to School: Same as in canon DR, Hiro is slightly older than the rest of the gang, after being held back a few years.
• Being Personal Isn't Professional: Kyoko and Mukuro in particular apply to this. Kyoko, much like in canon, doesn't open up much to anyone other than the protagonist, and Mukuro, after she's revealed to be a spy in Chapter 4 stays away from the group and during the investigation and trial, seldom speaks to anyone.
• Be Yourself: Applies to quite a few characters, including, but not limited to, Chihiro, Mondo, Makoto and Mukuro
• Benched Hero: Taka is attacked by Taeko in the third chapter investigation, and as such, is absent for the entire third class trial, only reappearing at the start of Chapter 4.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: Mondo and Chihiro.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: Mondo, Taka and Chihiro.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: While not having the exact same hair colors as troped, this can technically apply to Chihiro, Makoto and Kyoko.
• Body Horror: It's up for debate whether it's worse than the original game or not, but some of the deaths are quite graphic and bloody, especially Toko's and Taeko's
• The Breakfast Plot: Everyone goes through this at one point, but the trio of Mondo, Chihiro and Taka in particular are quite evidently shown. Like in the original game, Mondo and Taka become bros for life after their sauna contest, and after a few "incidents" they almost mark themselves as a trio. Another example would be the Chapter 4 team of Makoto, Chihiro and Kyoko, who team up to bring everyone in the group together under a common goal.
• Breaking Speech: Junko indulges in quite a few of these during the Final Trial in order to get the remaining survivors to vote for Despair. Particularly, she tells Mondo that even if the Crazy Diamonds were still around after the Tragedy, there's no way they'd follow him now after the Killing Game broadcast revealed how Mondo was responsible for his brother's death; she tells Taka that his efforts to undo his grandfather's past indiscretions as Prime Minister are All for Nothing since the Tragedy has destroyed the Japanese government; she reveals to Kyoko the truth behind her father's Parental Abandonment and the lies her grandfather told to her about it in order to mold her into a detective like him; and she reveals to Chihiro that she manipulated him into developing Monokuma's AI for her.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Monokuma does this a few times, commenting on how he's surprised Byakuya wasn't made the protagonist of this re-write following the second trial, and complaining about the word count of the Chapter 4 trial's final part while waiting to execute Makoto.
• Breakout Mook Character: To demonstrate the Chapter 4 box motive, Monokuma uses the box to summon a life-size plushie of himself.
• Broken Masquerade: As a scheme to stir mistrust even further in the group, near the start of Chapter 4, Monokuma reveals to the students that Junko Enoshima was a spy that was working for the Mastermind, and that their real identity is terrorist/mercenary, Mukuro Ikusaba.
• Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie: Before they die, both Hina and Hiro ask the remaining survivors to make sure that no more murders happen, and that everyone will get out alive together. This unfortunately, is not a promise they can keep.
• Cabin Fever: Standard Danganronpa fare. This happens quite a few times in the main series, and the rewrite is no exception.
• Campfire Character Exploration: The Freetime Events. Every Chapter has at least one Freetime section that shows each character interacting with each other, sometimes giving them more character and even delving into their pasts.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Like in every Danganronpa game, if the killer is exposed for their crime in the class trial, they face a brutal and violent execution.
• Can't Get in Trouble for Nuthin': There are several instances in the series where both Mondo and Junko AKA Mukuro in disguise want to get back at Monokuma, from breaking into locked rooms to smashing their E-Handbooks, but since breaking rules could potentially, and almost does in Junko's case, get them executed, they can't.
• Character Check: This happens a few times to Chihiro and Mondo in particular.
• The Chase: Hiro stumbles across Hifumi killing Sakura. In order to keep him quiet, Hifumi chases Hiro all the way to the first floor of the academy and into the trash room, where Hiro turns the tables on him.
• Cheer Up Episode: Happens a multitude of times. Notable examples include Chihiro's phase of self-loathing after being called out and insulted repeatedly by Byakuya, Chihiro using Alter Ego to help Sakura after she becomes depressed by Hina's death, Kyoko and Chihiro working together to snap Makoto out of his despairful trance during Chapter 4, and Chihiro comforting Mukuro following Makoto's execution after the Chapter 4 Class Trial.
• Chickification: This unfortunately applies to Aoi Asahina. In the original game, she's shown to be confident and strong, despite everything, and develops as a character the more Chapters that she lives through. In the rewrite however, she's unfortunately limited, as she kills Toko Fukawa in Chapter 2 and is executed.
• City in a Bottle: Like in normal DR, the entire story takes place inside of Hope's Peak Academy; a place where the students are sealed off from the outside world.
• Clear My Name: During the second class trial, the blame for Toko's death is shift upon Chihiro due to certain circumstances being too convenient for him to be the killer. In particular, since everyone believed him to be a girl, he would have been able to access the school pool via the women's changing rooms, which were empty at the time. In order to stop everyone from voting him as the killer, leading to everyone but the killer's death, Chihiro, with a little prompting from Kyoko, is able to come out to his classmates and tell them that he is, in fact, a crossdressing boy.
• Cold Equation: In the original game and in this story, Hifumi plays a major part in the Chapter 3 trial, as an accomplice to the main crime, however, he does so for a different reason. Celeste is able to convince him that if he killed two people and escaped using the additional motive, with the intention of getting them help, he'd be regarded as a hero regardless of his crime. Hifumi is reluctant, but accepts due to an insecurity of not wanting to be deemed useless.
• Compromising Memoirs: Sometimes, the incentives Monokuma gives the students are different from canon. The Chapter 2 motive of revealing the character's deepest darkest secrets to the world remains the same however.
• Contract on the Hitman: Chapter 4, Monokuma reveals to everyone that Mukuro Ikusaba disguised herself as Junko Enoshima and infiltrated the group on his behalf, but doesn't withdraw her from the killing game, effectively throwing her to the sharks.
• Cooperation Gambit: Despite all they've been through, for the sake of taking down the Mastermind and escaping, Chihiro devises a plan to get everyone to team up, including Byakuya, Taeko and Mukuro.
• Counter Zany: The absurd and extremely unlucky way in which Taeko's plan in Chapter 3 comes crashing down on her thanks to Hiro.
• Courtroom Episode: Every class trial segment of a Chapter.
• Crapsack World: The academy where the students are confined is very high quality, and there's an almost limitless supply of food and equipment that makes cohabitating very easy. However, the lingering feeling of turning the corner and finding your best friend dead on the floor makes it feel like hell on earth.
• Creature of Habit: Kiyotaka, just like in canon.
• Criminal Mind Games: Almost everything Monokuma/the Mastermind does to the students.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Mainly applies to Mondo, Taka and Leon.
• Day in the Life: Chapters are split into three segments: Daily Life, Deadly Life and Class Trial. The first of which, as the name implies, shows the day to day events of the student's lives inside Hope's Peak Academy.
• Deadly Game: The class trial rules are the exact same in the fic as they are in the original game series. The killing game revolves around fifteen students who are trapped in Hope's Peak Academy under the control of Monokuma. They are forced to live a communal lifestyle together under a set amount of rules for the rest of their lives, although it is possible to "disrupt the peace" in order to escape. In order to do this, a student must "graduate" from the school by murdering a classmate.
• Deadly Graduation: After a killing has taken place, the students must work together and investigate to reveal the culprit, dubbed as the "blackened". After a period of time of investigating, Monokuma will initiate a class trial, where the remaining students present their arguments in a court room and try to find out who the blackened is among them. Once the students decide on a conclusion, Monokuma will start the "voting time", where the students vote on the identity of a blackened. If the majority of the students' votes are wrong, then the blackened can get out of the school, while the remaining students get executed. However, if the majority of the students choose correctly, then the blackened alone will be executed and the remaining students will remain unharmed.
• Deal with the Devil: Most of Monokuma's incentives apply to this trope. The promise of escape isn't always enough, so he adds additional bargains on top to ensure a murder happens. Most of these are the same as the original game, but they are sometimes changed or edited.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Toko and Hina, both survivors in canon, are the victim and culprit of Chapter 2 respectively.
  • Sakura is the first victim of Chapter 3, dying one chapter earlier than in canon.
  • Hiro, a survivor in canon, is executed as the culprit of Chapter 3.
  • Makoto, a survivor in canon and the original protagonist, is executed as the culprit of Chapter 4.
  • Byakuya, a survivor in canon, is the victim of Chapter 5.
• Death by Irony: In the original game Leon kills Sayaka. In this story, Sayaka kills Leon.
• Declaration of Personal Independence: Byakuya does this in the rewrite just like he does in the original game, but Celeste, Makoto and Mukuro each do it too.
• The Determinator: Arguably this applies to Chihiro. Even when levels of trust and companionship reach their absolute worst, particularly in Chapters 2 and 4, Chihiro still perseveres and tries to find a way to mend the bonds between them and their classmates.
• Didn't See That Coming: Though Chihiro and Kyoko's counterplan to have Chihiro be found guilty instead and then saved from his execution by Alter Ego once Alter Ego finds out that the Mastermind intends to use the Class Trial to falsely convict and execute Kyoko mostly goes off without a hitch, Kyoko mentions after the trial there were a few things they didn't see coming: mainly Byakuya becoming an actual victim and Alter Ego hijacking a spare Monokuma unit.
• Disney Death: Just like in canon, Monokuma destroys Alter Ego with an excavator. Except that wasn't the real Alter Ego, but a copy Chihiro made with a spare laptop and USB provided to him by Monokuma thanks to the Chapter 4 box motive.
• Divide and Conquer: Monokuma can not directly harm the students. Instead, he causes chaos by making them fight against each other.
• Driving Question: There are quite a few, and most of them remain the same from canon, revolving around the identity of the Mastermind and the truth about the outside world.
• Duels Decide Everything: Much like in canon, Taka and Mondo settle their disputes with a contest to see who can stay conscious longer in the blazing hot sauna, with Mondo taking a handicap and keeping his clothes on. This time around however, Chihiro is the witness to their contest instead of Makoto. Mondo and Taka become as close as brothers when the conflict is settled.
• Elective Mute: Depending on the context, this can apply to a few people.
  • 1 - Byakuya, who much like in canon Danganronpa, strays as far away from the group as he possibly can, believing that everyone else is his opponent in the killing game rather than his ally.
  • 2 - Celeste, or Taeko. However, she does this out of personal protection, as she believes that integrating herself with the rest of the group would be dangerous given her actions during the third class trial.
  • 3 - Makoto. As mentioned already, after witnessing so many of his friends die at the hands of the killing game, he shuts himself off and refuses to cooperate with anyone for a short while.
  • 4 - Mukuro. After she's revealed to not be Junko Enoshima, she, like Taeko, stays as far away from the group as possible. Even when she's with everyone else, she seldom speaks.
• Elseworld: The entire story is one big "what-if."
• Empire with a Dark Secret: During Chapter 4, after receiving some important information from Alter Ego, everyone begins to suspect that Hope's Peak Academy's staff themselves seem to be behind the Killing Game, and that the unnamed headmaster is the true identity of the Mastermind.
• Epiphanic Prison: Like in canon, after being ridiculed and bullied by Byakuya and breaking down in front of everyone, and then receiving the motive from Monokuma, Chihiro decides to steel his stomach a do something about his life up until now. He enlists the help of Mondo to do this, but unlike in the original game, Chihiro survives when Mondo attacks him, and he achieves his goal of becoming stronger.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Chihiro once he's figured out who the Mastermind is during the Final Trial:
  Chihiro: In the interview DVDs that Alter Ego and I watched, we watched all of them except for Interview 2 and Interview 6. However, I was able to watch a little bit of Interview 2 before Monokuma cut the feed...
  Mondo: Yeah, you said it was Mukuro wearing her Junko disguise, right?
  Chihiro: But that's what doesn't make sense. After all...Why would Mukuro need to wear her Junko disguise if she was already registered as a student here under her own name?
• Everyone Meets Everyone: You can't make Danganronpa without its characters, and you can't show off your characters without a rousing round of introductions. These are shown in the prologue.
• Exact Words:
  • In what is quite a funny scene, Chihiro proves to Junko (Mukuro) and the others that he is biologically male and is not a girl that identifies as male. He does so by forcing Makoto to grope his chest.
  • After exposing "Junko" as Mukuro during Chapter 4, Monokuma attaches a napalm bomb to Mukuro in order to keep her from revealing any information about the Mastermind to the remaining survivors. Once Junko's been figured out as the Mastermind in the Final Trial, Mukuro calls Monokuma "Junko", pointing out he said he'd only detonate the bomb if she told them anything they didn't already know and they've already figured out she's the Mastermind by now.
• Family Disunion: Everyone is relieved and happy when Taka wakes up in Chapter 4. However, the levity doesn't stay for long when they're forced to tell him the current affairs and what he missed.
• Forgot Flanders Could Do That: As more people die, Taka becomes progressively more doubtful of himself, as he feels he's unable to save anyone. He's not even present during the third trial, due to being attacked by Celeste as part of her murder scheme. However, even though he's not the most helpful, he pulls his weight in the Chapter 4 investigation.
• Forced Out of the Closet: In a sense. Chihiro is forced to reveal he's a boy to everyone else in order to survive.
• Frequently-Broken Unbreakable Vow: It's hard to keep any sort of promise in the killing game, not in the least a promise to ensure that no more murders occur.
• A Friend in Need: Chihiro has no reason to help or console Mondo after he attempts to kill him, but does so regardless out of the goodness of his own heart. The two, as a result, become closer than family.
• From Zero to Hero: Every Danganronpa Protagonist in the main series applies to this trope. Chihiro is no exception.
• Genre Blindness: Taka admits to having never seen a single cartoon growing up.
• Gold Fever: Half of Taeko's reason for throwing her "friends" to the sharks is the promise of money.
• Government Conspiracy: In Chapter 4, the students start to believe that the killing game is something along these lines.
• Grass is Greener: Almost the same as canon, Leon accepts his invite to Hope's Peak as the Ultimate All Star in hopes of leaving baseball behind to pursue a music career.
• The Greatest Story Never Told: Most of what Chihiro and Kyoko do behind the others backs, in particular their antics with Alter Ego.
• Guilty Until Someone Else Is Guilty: Standard procedure in quite a few of the class trials.
• He Knows Too Much:
  • Toko tries to kill Hina to prevent her from telling everyone else that she is secretly Genocide Jack. Toko fails and Hina kills her instead.
  • Hifumi kills Sakura as instructed to by Celeste. Hiro walks in on him doing this, and Hifumi attempts to kill him to keep him quiet. Like Toko before him, Hifumi fails and is killed in self-defence by his target.
• Headbutting Heroes: Even before Chapter 3, Junko (Mukuro) tended to butt heads with Celeste a lot. She also did the same for Kyoko in Chapter 2.
• Heroes Gone Fishing: Chapter 3, the remaining students spend a whole day in the Rec Room on the third floor, hanging out and playing games together.
• Innocence Lost: A bean as pure as Chihiro can never handle the sheer hell that is presented to him in the killing game. He spends quite a lot of the first two chapters breaking down and crying under the pressure, before he's able to strengthen himself.
• In Spite of a Nail: Canon survivor Kyoko still makes it to the end of the game.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Chihiro and Yasuhiro have this, with Hiro being a few years older than the rest of the cast, and Chihiro being the second youngest. Chihiro is absolutely shattered when Hiro is executed
• Just Fine Without You: Taka's absence during the third investigation leads morale to be shot. Chihiro and Mondo in particular find it difficult to continue searching.
• Kangaroo Court: In Chapter 3, when she is accused of the murder, Taeko snaps at everyone and tells them circumstantial evidence would not be accepted in a proper court. Chihiro cleverly retorts by reminding her that the Class Trial is not a proper court.
• "Leave Your Quest" Test: Relations between the students are at their absolute worst in Chapter 4, causing Chihiro to almost abandon all hope.
• Loony Friends Improve Your Personality: Kyoko is very serious most of the time, but being around the others, particularly Chihiro and Makoto, mellows her out a little bit.
• Misery Builds Character: Works the same as canon DR. Chihiro in Chapter 3 states that he still struggles to come to terms with the Chapter 1 death, but takes and learns from it. The same happens to Sakura, who does the same with Hina's death.
• Lottery of Doom: Technically applies to the killing game and its participants, except for Byakuya.
• Maintain the Lie: Most of these are the same as in canon, but some are branched upon.
  • Chihiro spends several years of his life pretending that he is a girl. While this does prevent him from being bullied, it comes with the curse of a major inferiority complex.
  • Similarly, Mondo blames himself for the death of his brother, since he died in a race that Mondo suggested. After his death, Mondo convinces the rest of his gang that it happened because he got reckless, as a way to prevent the gang from breaking up. Mondo was revered as a hero, but as of such, could never love himself again. He's so hell bent on protecting his gang, he's even willing to kill Chihiro over it.
  • While not treating it as a complete secret, Taka only ever really tells Chihiro and Mondo the truth about his past. His grandfather was prime minister, but due to his lack of wanting to put in effort and using only his titles as a way of solving problems, his family was destroyed in a scandal.
  • Up until Chapter 4, Mukuro Ikusaba poses as the Ultimate Fashionista, Junko Enoshima. The reveal shakes the group to their core.
• Make Room for the New Plot: Makoto's rebellion in Chapter 4. When he discovers Chihiro and Kyoko's intentions with Alter Ego, he lets them get on with it, but states that he doesn't trust them. He then tells them he'll change his mind if Kyoko tells him the truth about who she really is. Mid-conversation, he starts to break down into tears, clearly showing that what he's doing isn't by choice. Kyoko tells Makoto and Chihiro the truth, and that she doesn't remember anything before the killing game. Makoto chooses to believe her, and reverts back to being the good person he always was.
• Me's a Crowd: Alter Ego is an AI based off of Chihiro's personality. That technically makes them a digital clone of Chihiro.
• Mutually Unequal Relation:
  • Applies to Toko and Byakuya, much like in canon Danganronpa. Toko is completely infatuated with Byakuya, while Byakuya feels nothing but contempt and disgust for her.
  • Applies also to Mukuro and Makoto. Makoto sees Mukuro as a close friend, but Mukuro is secretly infatuated with him.
  • To a lesser extent applies to Kyoko and Chihiro. Kyoko works with Chihiro like a close business partner, who she shares a common goal with. All Chihiro wants is to be her friend.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Chapter 4 Class Trial ends up being quite similar to the Chapter 1 Class Trial in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony: The chapter's Blackened attempts to use a trap to kill the Mastermind only to end up killing the wrong target instead, at which point they decide to use the Class Trial to try and expose the Mastermind while fully intending to be caught as the Blackened, while another person close to them whose figured out they're the culprit lets themself be accused in a vain attempt to save their friend from execution.
  • When Alter Ego reveals to Chihiro and Kyoko the Mastermind's plans to use the Class Trial to get rid of Kyoko in the Flashback near the end of Chapter 5, they mention having access to all the executions the Mastermind has ready for each student, specifically referencing Leon's and Mondo's executions from canon.
  • Just like in the ending of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF, Mukuro in the epilogue decides to re-take up her disguise as Junko in an attempt to better understand her sister's mindset.
• Never Win the Lottery: Makoto Naegi is the Ultimate Lucky Student, meaning he became an Ultimate because he was picked out of a lottery.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: No one will ever let Celeste live down what she did in Chapter 3, rightfully so.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Commenters tend to point out how a situation escalates whenever Taka or Chihiro swear, despite being traditionally pure-hearted characters. Furthermore at the end of the Chapter 3 trial, Chihiro does something he would never normally do and punches Taeko in the face in rage.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Makoto through the first half of Chapter 4.
• Point of Divergence: The timeline changes considerably because of one insignificant change. In this case, it's the protag swap.
• The Quarterback: Being the Ultimate Moral Compass, Taka is the unanimously appointed leader of the group. However, when it comes to investigative work, he and others instinctively turn towards Kyoko and/or Chihiro.
• Quest for Identity: A few characters go through this sort of phase. Chihiro is the main one, and Mondo is another.
• A Real Man Is a Killer: In the rewrite, Taeko convinces Hifumi to join her and kill someone by telling him that if he doesn't escape and get help, everyone will forever regard him as useless and unimportant. Hifumi is threatened by this, which causes him to turn cold-blooded.
• "Rear Window" Investigation: Though she shows up for the trial, Kyoko is absent during the third chapter investigation. She explains to Chihiro this is because she was searching through the hidden room in the bathroom closet.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: Throughout most of the first three chapters, Makoto is something of a low-key Ultimate fanboy, and really respects and looks up to his classmates, especially Sayaka whom he is childhood friends with. However, as more and more of the characters start to kill each other, with Sayaka being the first one to fire the bullet and kick everything else off, he slowly begins to spite them, even going so far as to cut himself off from the group, taunt Mondo and Taka, and refuse to trust any of them. He changes his mind however, after a heartfelt talk and hug from Kyoko and Chihiro. Even when he ends up becoming that chapter's Blackened, it was done out of an attempt to help the remaining survivors by killing or exposing the Mastermind behind the Killing Game.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!:
  • Mondo dances around the rules quite a few times in the story. Like it or not, it's just not in his nature to respect rules, even if it could cost him his like.
  • Mukuro, under the guise of Junko, does the same thing that she does in canon at the beginning of the first investigation. When Monokuma proposes the trial system to everyone, she retaliates by declaring she won't go through with it and steps on him. However, this time around, she actually survives being turned into swiss cheese thanks to Makoto taking the blow for her.
• Self-Applied Nickname: Same as the English dub of Trigger Happy Havoc, Kiyotaka Ishimaru is referred to as Taka, Aoi Asahina is referred to as Hina and Yasuhiro Hagakure is referred to as Hiro.
• Sidekick Glass Ceiling: Chihiro is the main hero, with Mondo technically being his larger and more beefy sidekick, however, Mondo himself states that he'll never be as emotionally strong as Chihiro.
• The So-Called Coward: Byakuya grills Chihiro for being an idiot and a weak and pathetic individual in the second Chapter, only for the upcoming trial and trials thereafter to prove him utterly wrong.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Chihiro, Taka, Mondo, and Mukuro all end up joining canon survivor Kyoko in surviving the Killing Game this time around.
  • Downplayed with Sayaka, who's now the culprit of Chapter 1 instead of the victim.
  • Also downplayed with Celestia, who's now the victim of Chapter 4 rather than the culprit of Chapter 3.
• Stranger in a Strange School: Being the Ultimate Lucky Student, when compared to every other eccentric Ultimate in the class, Makoto is a completely normal guy by comparison.
• Sweet Tooth: Hina and Sakura are still massive addicts of Doughnuts and Protein.
• Taking the Heat:
  • Mukuro attempts to do this in the Chapter 4 trial in order to save Makoto from execution. Makoto and Chihiro refuse to allow her to do this, and in the process allow Makoto to expose himself as the actual killer.
  • Once Chihiro and Kyoko find out from Alter Ego that the Mastermind is planning to use the Class Trial to try and eliminate Kyoko, Chihiro comes up with the idea to try to put the blame on him instead, thus resulting in a digital-based execution that Alter Ego would have a better chance of sabotaging.
• This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Chihiro is unfortunately not able to do much about the killing game at the start, at least not when compared to the other students who try to pull their weight. However, as soon as he gets his hands on Alter Ego's laptop, he switches into second gear and becomes arguably the most helpful member of the group.
• Twelfth Night Adventure: Before the start of the killing game, up until the Chapter 2 trial, Chihiro pretends to be a girl due to his insecurities as a man (i.e. all the times he was bullied for not being manly). On top of that, up until the "reveal" Chihiro is referred to as "she" for the first two chapters.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Everyone's individual reactions to Chihiro revealing that he is a crossdressing boy. While initially taken aback and unsettled, everyone lets it slide for the greater good. Junko (Mukuro), who is the first to react is particularly hilarious, as she screams "WHAT THE FUCK!?!?" at the top of her lungs.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Chihiro's and Kyoko's plan to save Kyoko from being falsely executed by the Mastermind by having the blame placed on Chihiro instead then having Alter Ego sabotage the execution isn't revealed until after they've already pulled it off.
• The Unwitting Comedian: Mainly applies to Taka, Hiro and Hifumi.
• Vicious Cycle: No matter how many times they try to stop it, more and more people in the killing game just keep dying.
• Wake-Up Call:
  • Mondo's attempted murder of Chihiro doesn't go down successfully in this universe. Even after the event, Chihiro forgives Mondo for his actions, even though Mondo is unable to forgive himself for a while. Mondo eventually takes from this experience and learns from it, becoming a more smart minded and stronger character.
  • Taka's injury that he sustains during the third case motivates him to put his foot down and actually help out the team during the fourth case. This is a reflection of Hifumi, who felt similarly useless, but instead resorted to murder as his way of helping the others out.
  • Finding out about Alter Ego and learning that his doubt about Kyoko was misplaced, Makoto gives up his distant approach to the killing game, and after a heavy cry and cuddle with Chihiro and Kyoko, he resorts to doing whatever he can to help them.
• Was Too Hard on Him: Mondo quite a few times towards Chihiro in the first chapter, due to how his presence scares Chihiro at first.