History VisualNovel / DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc

* CrimeOfPassion: The culprit of Chapter 2, [[spoiler:Mondo Owada, ended up killing Chihiro Fujisaki because of this. When Chihiro reveals that he's actually male and wants Mondo to train him because he admires his strength, Mondo actually feels jealous of Chihiro's inner strength whereas he kept running away from accidentally causing his brother's death, and it led him to snap and struck Chihiro's head with a barbell in a fit of rage. When Mondo is exposed as the culprit, Mondo barely puts up any resistance, admitting what he's done and is utterly ashamed of himself for his MomentOfWeakness. Because of this, [[FaceDeathWithDignity he accepts his execution with dignity]].]]

''Danganronpa''[[note]]literally, ''Bullet Rebuttal''[[/note]]'': Trigger-Happy Havoc'', subtitled ''The Academy of Hope and the High School Students of Despair'' in Japanese, is a "high-speed mystery action adventure" by Creator/{{Spike|Chunsoft}}, released in Japan for the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable in 2010, the UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita in 2013, UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} in 2016, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 in 2017, the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch in 2021, and the UsefulNotes/XboxOne in 2022. It is the first installment in the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' franchise.

[[caption-width-right:300:Welcome to Despair Academy.[[note]]From left to right. First row: [[TheDitz Yasuhiro,]] Junko, [[GentleGiant Sakura]]. Second row: [[{{Workaholic}} Kiyotaka]], [[JapaneseDelinquents Mondo]]. Third row: [[ConsummateLiar Celeste]]. Fourth row: [[IdolSinger Sayaka]], [[TheRockstar Leon]], [[TheStoic Kyoko]]. Fifth row: [[UnluckyEverydude Makoto]], [[ShrinkingViolet Chihiro]]. Last row: [[PassionateSportsGirl Aoi]], [[ProudToBeAGeek Hifumi]], [[BlueBlood Byakuya]], [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex Toko]]. On the right, [[MascotVillain Monokuma]].[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Welcome to Despair Academy.[[note]]From left to right. First row: [[TheDitz Yasuhiro,]] [[FashionDesigner Junko]], [[GentleGiant Sakura]]. Second row: [[{{Workaholic}} Kiyotaka]], [[JapaneseDelinquents Mondo]]. Third row: [[ConsummateLiar Celeste]]. Fourth row: [[IdolSinger Sayaka]], [[TheRockstar Leon]], [[TheStoic Kyoko]]. Fifth row: [[UnluckyEverydude Makoto]], [[ShrinkingViolet Chihiro]]. Last row: [[PassionateSportsGirl Aoi]], [[ProudToBeAGeek Hifumi]], [[BlueBlood Byakuya]], [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex Toko]]. On the right, [[MascotVillain Monokuma]].[[/note]]]]

The sequel also included a side story by Ryohgo Narita of ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' fame titled ''LightNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavocIf'': The Button of Hope and the Tragic Warriors of Despair'', a WhatIf scenario where Makoto manages to obtain an item called the "Escape Switch" from the gift machine before the first murder occurs, dramatically changing the events that transpire.

An [[Anime/DanganronpaTheAnimation anime adaptation]] aired as part of the Summer2013Anime season. Creator/{{Funimation}} [[http://www.funimation.com/shows/danganronpa-the-animation is streaming it for those in the US]], and has [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-04-04/funimation-announces-danganronpa-anime-english-dub-cast/.86761 dubbed the series as well]] in 2015. For the dubbed anime, the only returning voice actor from the original game was Makoto's.

* ShipTease:
** Aoi's ending goes from teasing to outright shipping: she admits to liking Makoto and asks him out on a ''real'' date, which he accepts.
** In Sakura's ending, she implies she wants to break up with her boyfriend after inviting Makoto to their rematch.
--->I want to put an end to the matter of my attraction to him. And then I can ask you...
** It also gets rather blatant in Mukuro's Trigger Happy Heart and ending events, where her crush on him is clearly causing her a little consternation.
** Toko's ending is pretty explicitly romantic. She doesn't even mention "Master".

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In this version, Leon outright shows Sayaka how to spell his name.

The game has inspired a series of other works, a list of which is compiled [[Franchise/{{Danganronpa}} here]]. A compilation game was later released called ''Danganronpa 1・2 Reload'', which includes both the first installment and [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair its sequel]] with some [[UpdatedRerelease incremental improvements]] to both, such as a bonus scenario for the first game called "School Mode": a social mode that lets Makoto hang out and form relationships with the other characters without worrying about the main plot progressing.

[[AC:Original game]]

[[AC:Spin-offs/adaptations]]

! All spoilers for this game will be left unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!

An [[Anime/DanganronpaTheAnimation anime adaptation]] aired as part of the Summer2013Anime season. Creator/{{Funimation}} [[http://www.funimation.com/shows/danganronpa-the-animation is streaming it for those in the US]], and has [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-04-04/funimation-announces-danganronpa-anime-english-dub-cast/.86761 dubbed the series as well]] in 2015. For the dubbed anime, the only returning voice actor from the original game was Naegi's.

[[folder:Tropes for the Original Game]]
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: All the students had their memories of their time at Hope's Peak after attending erased, to set it up so that they had never come to the school before, with the exception of the two students who performed the brainwashing on the others.
* LastEpisodeThemeReprise:
** Setting a trend for the whole franchise, Chapters 5 and 6 give us a rockified reprise of the investigation theme. Fittingly for the climax, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic it is awesome]].
** The final discussion involves Makoto trying to give Aoi, Yasuhiro, Jill, Byakuya, and Kyoko hope so they can stop the mastermind. Once he convinces the first four, the main theme kicks in when the discussion loops back around and Kyoko's previously untouchable statement changes to a weak point.
* LawProcedural: An aspect of the Class Trials, hence the comparisons to ''Franchise/AceAttorney''.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
** In chapter 5:
--->'''Aoi:''' Hey, Hiro. [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} When did you get that way?]] I don't remember you acting like that when we got here...\\
'''Yasuhiro:''' [[CharacterizationMarchesOn My character wasn't yet well established back then.]]
** Another one in Chapter 5, when discussing the locked biology lab.
--->'''Yasuhiro:''' Based on what we experienced so far, it's probably some kind of a freaky creature. A gigantic last boss type.\\
'''Aoi''': But... this isn't an action game...
** After the final trial, as the survivors prepare to leave:
--->'''Makoto:''' We stood there, as if we were in an epilogue that comes before the ending credits.
** During the sixth trial, Junko says she's tired of expositioning stuff.
* LeftHanging: What the Tragedy was, what Junko's Ultimate Despair group is, how the students lost their memories, why Junko and Mukuro have different last names, and what actually happened to the survivors after leaving the school in the epilogue is left unexplained. Most of this has been answered in later installments, however.
* LimitedWardrobe: The game takes place across about two weeks, during which nobody is seeing wearing a different uniform than usual.
* LinkedListClueMethodology: This trope seems to direct the flow of the investigations.
* LockedRoomMystery: Chapter 4's murder appears to be one of these. With a less complicated solution than normal, though; the room was locked because the "victim" [[HeroicSuicide was also the culprit]], and locked it herself to make sure no one could stop her from taking her own life.
* LogicalFallacies: The [[RhythmGame "Bullet Time Battle"]] sections of a trial occur when a student starts using AdHominem attacks instead of logical arguments.
* LongTitle:
** The Japanese title of Chapter 6 translates to: "The Reason Super High School Level Bad Luck Enticed Super High School Level Murder and Super High School Level Execution and Super High School Level Despair". The official English localization shortens it somewhat with the use of the word "Ultimate" in place of "Super High School Level", turning it into "Ultimate Pain, Ultimate Suffering, Ultimate Despair, Ultimate Execution, Ultimate Death".
** The title of the game can be counted as this as well, as the original Japanese title translates to ''Danganronpa: Academy of Hope and High School Students of Despair''.
** TheAnimeOfTheGame is titled ''[[ColonCancer Danganronpa: Academy of Hope and High School Students of Despair: The Animation]]''.
* LoopholeAbuse: Monokuma's rules all have loopholes in the wording.
** For instance, students aren't allowed to sleep anywhere but the dorm rooms — but they also don't have to sleep in ''their'' room specifically.
*** The 4-koma manga also points out that it is deliberately sleeping outside the dorms that is banned — being knocked unconscious is A-OK.
*** The first chapter of the game also points this out, since Makoto had fainted and woke up in the gym. This is briefly questioned before the conclusion of the loophole is reached.
** Students cannot lend their [=IDs=] to other students. However, there are no rules forbidding ''borrowing or stealing'' one.
** In Chapter 4, Monokuma makes a new rule stating that students are not allowed to break down locked doors. However, ''barred doors that never had a lock in the first place'' are a whole different story.
** [[spoiler:Sakura was ordered by Monokuma to kill someone or her family's dojo would face the consequences. However, Monokuma never said Sakura had to kill someone ''else'']]
* LostInTranslation: In the Spike Chunsoft version, Chapter 5 titled "100 Meter Dash! Problems of a Junk Food Junkie". The original translations make a pun on the phrase "if you want peace, prepare for war" ("If you want Donuts, Prepare for Despair"), and the original Japanese title is based on a Light Novel, but the Chunsoft version doesn't have any hints to the phrases in dialogue and so ''does not make sense'' if you don't know that background.
* LotsaPeopleTryToDunIt: In case 4, Sakura appears to have been killed by a blow to the head. The attempt to determine who delivered the killing blow is complicated when it turns out that Yasuhiro hit Sakura over the head with a Monokuma bottle, and then Genocide Jill ''also'' hit Sakura over the head with a Mokokuma bottle shortly after. [[TakeAThirdOption Rather than either of them]], it turns out that Sakura actually committed suicide by poison [[HeroicSacrifice in order to protect everyone]].
* LuckyCharmsTitle: ShowWithinAShow ''Demon Angel ☆ Pretty Pudgy Princess''. Hifumi corrects Makoto when he doesn't pronounce the ☆.
* MadeOfIndestructium: According to Monokuma, the e-Handbooks can withstand 10 tonnes of pressure and are waterproof up to 100 meters deep (with heat being their only weakness). The anime made them look like typically-delicate modern smartphones too.
* ManslaughterProvocation: Discussed during the first case: While ferreting out Leon as the murderer, it's revealed that the victim, Sayaka, lured him into a trap that backfired. Once exposed, Leon tries to claim that he was forced to kill Sayaka in self-defense. However, Makoto points out that after Sayaka dropped the knife and shut herself in the bathroom, Leon went back to his room unimpeded. He would have been safe if he'd stayed there and locked his door, but instead he went back to Sayaka's room after he'd fetched his tool kit, used it to break into the bathroom, and stabbed her with the knife, making it murder rather than self-defense.
* MediumBlending: The Closing Arguments are manga panels.
* MistakenForEvidence: Happens frequently, sometimes because the evidence was planted, and other times because the students love jumping to the most obvious conclusion.
* TheMole: The end of Chapter 2 reveals that one of the students is in league with Monokuma, but does not show who it is. The presence of a mole amongst the students is the theme of Monokuma's fourth motive. The twist is that he reveals who it is right off the bat — and openly orders them to kill one of the others.
* MotiveRant: In one chapter, Monokuma actually does this ''for'' the murderer, who doesn't want to explain what happened even after exposure. Lampshaded by Aoi in Chapter 4, when she demands to know why the others want her to explain everything to them just because she's the culprit (she's not the culprit).
* MundaneMadeAwesome: The school trials are some of the flashiest debates you'll ever see — you literally ''shoot down'' arguments as they fly across the screen in text form.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ''Twice'' in case 4. Aoi Asahina first, when Monokuma gleefully informs her that the suicide note that caused her to try to frame everyone else was a fake, so Aoi badly screwed up. The second one is by ''everyone else'', who admit that the real problem was that they all got angry at Sakura in the ''first'' place, so they decide to let bygones be bygones, ''not'' punish Aoi, and unite against Monokuma.
* NeverSuicide: Averted in Chapter 4, where the trial's discussion transferred from multiple suspects before arriving at this conclusion (thus justifying the LockedRoomMystery).
* NeverTrustATrailer: Promotional material showed all fifteen students in the trial scenes (obscuring who dies in Chapter 1) and heavily implied that Sayaka would be the main love interest for Makoto — while Makoto is somewhat interested in her, she's ultimately the first victim. The free demo goes so far as to change the victim of the first case to Yasuhiro. This was repeated in trailers for the anime.
* NewGamePlus: The player can replay chapters after completing them, letting Makoto keep any skills he has gotten from the other characters. In the PSP version, which lacks School Mode, this is required to view all the friendship scenes for certain characters who don't make it past the first chapter.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Chapter 2 introduces the men's idol group [[Music/{{Arashi}} Tornado]].
* NonStandardGameOver: Should the player choose to pursue Kyoko's lie during the chapter 5 trial, she'll end up as the blackened and be promptly executed. The game then fast-forwards to show that the remaining students have settled down in their GildedCage, with Aoi bearing children to the remaining male students and Toko dying sometime in the interem. Makoto questions whether this is truly hope before declaring that it isn't. The game then [[OnceMoreWithClarity jumps back to the point where the player chooses whether or not to pursue Kyoko's lie]].
* NoodleIncident: We never do find out what the Despairing Incident actually was — at least, until the prequel shed some light on it, and the sequel even more so.
* OhCrap: Sayaka has one when Leon breaks into the bathroom she was in.
* OneSteveLimit: It becomes a plot point that there's two different students with the name Yasuhiro. One has it as a given name and one as a surname, and only one of them is common knowledge.
* OntologicalMystery: None of the characters have any idea how the school was locked down (or even if they're still ''in'' the school). However, Monokuma explicitly permits the students to investigate what's going on, as long as they abide by his other rules.
* OverlyLongTongue: Genocide Jack has one that is constantly on display.
* PacManFever: A meta-example, in that the game, while not having any video games within the game, features monochrome 8-Bit representations of all of the students, and the executions feature 8-bit animations of Monokuma dragging off the culprit to their doom, complete with sound effects ripped straight from the Atari 2600 port of Donkey Kong. As if to reiterate to the characters that this is a game to the Mastermind. The anime ups this with the end credits that spoof an NES title screen.
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Played with. At one point, Kyoko finds a door with a password lock and uses every bit of information she can find on the man who set it up to try and figure the password. Turned out to be subverted — the password to the headmaster's private chamber is "kyokokirigiri", but since his daughter hates him and assumed he didn't care about her, she didn't think to try it.
* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Invoked by the dorm rooms, which are identical besides having blue sheets/blankets for male students and pink for females. A similar theme is used for the locker room doors on the second floor (except with red replacing pink).
* PoorCommunicationKills:
** Some of the students are more willing to cooperate with Makoto than others, but it's not unusual for somebody to hold back information until the trial.
** Poor communication almost kills ''everyone''! In chapter 4, Aoi reads a fake suicide note by Monokuma implicating the others, so she tries to frame everyone for murder so they'd all be taken down. The others forgive Aoi, though, because ''their own'' poor communication skills caused them all to get angry at Sakura in the first place since they thought, as the mole, Sakura was going to kill them and they didn't even talk to her to confirm it, which made it necessary for her to commit suicide to calm the discord and chaos.
* PrisonersDilemma: Celestia Ludenberg references the concept and uses the example of two countries building their military strength under fear of betrayal from the other to explain the [[DeadlyGame School Life of Mutual Killing]] that the 15 students have been forced into (in which uniting together against The Mastermind would be ideal, but none can escape the possibility of someone cracking under the pressure of wanting to escape the school by choosing to kill someone else).
* PublicExecution: The fate of every culprit who fails to get away with murder. The audience seems to be limited to the surviving students, until it's revealed that each execution, along with the rest of the happenings in the school, had been broadcast to the entire world since the very beginning.
* PublicBathhouseScene: In Chapter Three, if the player got the "A Man's Fantasy" item during Chapter 2, it will trigger an opportunity for a [[EasterEgg bonus cutscene]] during Chapter 3 where [[CovertPervert Makoto]] will gather the courage to [[ThePeepingTom go peeking at the girls while they're bathing]]. The player gets a {{fanservice}} event CG with Sakura, Aoi, Kyoko, Toko, and Celestia all clad in {{Modesty Towel}}s while bathing, except for [[AmazonianBeauty Sakura]] who wears her towel around her waist, but her modesty concealed by having her [[ToplessnessFromTheBack bare back]] turned to the camera, though she's still showing a [[BoobsOfSteel generous]] amount of {{Sideboob}}. The scene also reveals that Kyoko has HartmanHips.
* RapeAsDrama: {{Invoked}} and {{Exploited}} when Celeste lies to Hifumi that Kiyondo assaulted her, to convince him to assist her.
* RapidFireNo: Leon exclaims several no's before he gets executed.
* RasputinianDeath: Sakura's death. First, she fights Monokuma, who is unable to land a killing blow but still leaves her injured. After that, two people try to kill her by smashing bottles on her head. Both times, her assailants think they succeeded. Finally, she commits suicide by drinking poison.
* RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic: The trials always run smoothly enough that every student will usually have the chance to speak clearly and concisely, no matter if their characterization would imply a higher likelihood of shouting over everyone else (with things like [[HesitationEqualsDishonesty stuttering and pauses usually being used as a sign of guilt]]). As heated as the discussions get, only the protagonist will actually jump into someone else's sentence, to the point that the sequel decided to include interruptions as a gameplay element in the form of rebuttal showdowns. The various "white noise," however, does seem to imply that people are talking in the background.
* RedHerring:
** The Justice Hammers. More specifically, the numbering of the Justice Hammers, from smallest to biggest. Everyone thinks that they were used from one to {{four|is death}}, but it's eventually discovered that the culprit used them out of order to throw everyone off.
** After Kyoko says Makoto is the least likely among the group to be The Mastermind and he agrees, the screen flashes back to his mysterious daydream where he tells himself that his goal is to stay in the academy. He didn't end up being The Mastermind, obviously.
** To assist with murders, the boys are all given a toolkit while the girls receive a sewing kit. While the toolkit is relevant, the sewing kit never sees use.
* RelationshipValues: Makoto can hang out with the other students and give them presents. They'll reward him either with skills to be used during trial scenes, or by raising the maximum number of skill points Makoto has during trials, depending on how far he's progressed in hanging out with them. The downside to this, however, is that there's a limited number of "free time segments" in each chapter. When students get killed, they are no longer available to spend time with, and their skills cannot be acquired. Furthermore, even if they're still alive, some characters may be unavailable to spend time with for plot reasons. Fortunately, skills and free time progress both carry over on subsequent playthroughs, and in the re-release they can be earned at leisure in School Mode.
* {{Retcon}}: {{Subverted|Trope}} by the manga. The way it treats Sayaka's murder initially comes off this way, but all that's shown in-game is based on Makoto's deductions and what actually happened is never shown.
* RevealingCoverup:
** In Chapter 6, the mastermind goes out of their way to avoid showing Junko's face in any images depicting her before the memory-wipe happened and the DeadlyGame started. This is a necessary measure to prevent the characters from figuring out that she doesn't look like the "Junko" they knew, but it makes it ''really'' obvious that she's the mastermind. Indeed, Makoto uses it as a crucial piece of evidence to come to that conclusion.
** Earlier, in Chapter 1, some of the major pieces of evidence against Leon besides the dying message come from his attempt to destroy his bloodstained jacket[[note]]sometimes described as a shirt[[/note]]. Not only does it not burn completely, leaving a piece of bloody sleeve that matches his LimitedWardrobe, the other debris he leaves near the locked-down incinerator indicates it was turned on in a way that could only have been done by someone with his particular talent. All in all, he might have done better just stuffing it under his bed.
** Then, in Chapter 2, the clinching piece of evidence is Chihiro's broken e-card, which was taken from his body and found in the sauna. This leads to the question of who would have an opportunity to find out how the card ''could'' be broken, such as someone who previously went into the sauna ''fully dressed''.
* RiddleForTheAges:
** Kiyotaka and Mondo refuse to answer who won their endurance contest in the sauna. The manga purports that Kiyotaka was the first to pass out, but its canonicity has never been confirmed nor denied.
** Kyoko and Toko's motivational photographs in the final investigation, because Toko's never came up in the discussion and Kyoko refused to take hers. [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/danganronpa/images/b/b0/Danganronpa_the_Animation_%28Episode_12%29_-_Discussing_the_authenticity_of_the_photos_%2811%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20181018102840 The anime shows Toko's, depicting the students playing in the snow without her, with Junko's face hidden by a recently-thrown snowball.]]
** Most of the mysteries brought up in the final trial are addressed in later installments, but it's never explained anywhere why the twin sisters Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba have different surnames. When asked about it, Junko says she's tired of always getting asked that question and that the students should think of a reason themselves, and anyway the real answer is pretty boring.
* RolePlayingGame: The game has several play-by-post tributes, generally on Website/{{Tumblr}} but also other sites.
* RushmoreRefacement: One of the images of "the outside world" that the mastermind shows the class in the final trial is of several famous monuments with Monokuma's face added to them. While it's real (as Genocide Jill proves) and is stated to be one of the things that happened due to "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History", it's still undetermined to what extent the total damage is.
%%* SacrificialLamb: Sayaka and Chihiro.
%%* SacrificialLion: Sakura and Mondo.
* SadisticChoice:
** Monokuma specializes in these, the most basic of which is: Kill one of your classmates, or spend the rest of your life in captivity -- and when it comes down to the trial, fess up and receive a gruesome punishment, or escape with the blood of everyone else on your hands.
** Sakura was presented with one as well -- work as a mole for Monokuma and then violate her personal integrity and sense of morals by killing someone when Monokuma asks her to, or refuse Monokuma's demands and lose her family's dojo. She manages to get around this choice, however; see Take a Third Option.
** Makoto faces one in Chapter 5; expose a lie Kyoko's told, or let her lie slide. This doesn't look that sadistic until you realize that he's actually deciding either Kyoko or himself to be found guilty.
** Junko also offers one to the surviving students: kill her but be forced to leave for the outside world, which could very well be deadly, or sacrifice Makoto and spend the rest of their lives in peace, but only inside the GildedCage of the academy.
* SayMyName: "Daaaaiiiyaaaaa!"
* ScreamingAtSquick: Hifumi squeals in horror after learning Kyoko examined Chihiro's head wound.
* SecondLawOfMetafictionalThermodynamics: Intentionally invoked: series writer Kazutaka Kodaka has said his main problem with murder mysteries was how underdeveloped the victims usually were, and so the series came to be based around a CastOfSnowflakes put through as much [[KillEmAll death]] and [[TraumaCongaLine psychological trauma as possible]]. By the end of the game, [[AfterTheEnd the entire world turns out to be effectively destroyed]] just to make them [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn their happy ending]].
* SequelHook:
** Monokuma rises again after the students escape. Plus, we still don't know what happened in the outside world... or if anything happened at all.
** Also, the escape switch, and the bonus movie that it unlocks, foreshadows ''Danganronpa IF''.
* ShoutOut: [[ShoutOut/{{Danganronpa}} Has its own page]].
* SlasherSmile: Byakuya makes one before crucifying Chihiro's corpse.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** It's a plot point that Kuwata's first name is Leon rather than Reon.
** The NISA translation removed the U in Kyouko and Touko's names.
* SpoilerOpening: Along with introducing the cast, the opening sequence contains brief flashes {{Foreshadowing}} in-game events, most prominently borrowing from a {{Cutscene}} showcasing one of the murderers' ''punishment''.
* SteelEardrums: Other than obvious shock, no one in the group reacts to Monokuma exploding so close to them at the start of the game.
* TheStinger: After the credits, we see a scene where Monokuma comes back to life.
* SuicideNotMurder: Sakura Ogami's death turns out to have been a suicide; the victim had just admitted she was blackmailed into being TheMole, and she knew her continued presence was a ticking time bomb that would eventually get someone killed. So she locked herself in a room and drank some poison. Unfortunately for the player, Monokuma tampers with the suicide note, leading Aoi Asahina to believe she did what she did out of despair and try to cover up the suicide to get everyone killed.
* TheSummation: Closing Arguments boil down to this, with Makoto giving his take on how the crime was committed before calling out the murderer. He doesn't get to do a Closing Argument summation in chapter 5, because he never actually solved the entirety of how the murder happened. If the player decides to reveal Kyoko's lie in court, Monokuma cuts the trial short and executes Kyoko. If they decide not to reveal Kyoko's lie, Monokuma cuts the trial short and tries to execute Makoto, who is saved at the last minute by Alter Ego.
* SwissArmyTears: In Chapter 3, when the students find Hifumi once more knocked out with a bloody head wound, Aoi bursts into tears over Byakuya's cold reaction and cries over Hifumi's corpse, and he awakens briefly before truly dying. Makoto even lampshades this by saying "If this were some world of make believe, this might have been when Hifumi opened his eyes."
* ThisIsTheFinalBattle: Invoked by Kyoko before the last investigation, and The Animation milks this for all it's worth.
* TemptingFate: If a character is too happy, you can bet they're going to be involved in that chapter's murder. Sayaka implies that she has a crush on Makoto? Not only is she killed, but she had him pegged as her fall guy. Mondo and Kiyotaka become friends? Mondo kills Chihiro and Kiyotaka becomes completely broken. Hifumi finds his "ideal 2-D girl" in the ironically male Alter Ego and Kiyotaka bounces back after meeting Alter Ego? Kiyotaka's the next victim and Hifumi is killed by the person who convinced him to murder him. Sakura and Aoi, by far the kindest students? Sakura is TheMole and commits suicide, leaving Aoi heartbroken. Alter Ego gets over being a computer program and promises to help? Monokuma steals and crushes him. Makoto helps Kyoko screw over Monokuma? In the bad ending, Kyoko's the next one to be executed thanks to Makoto himself.
* TenLittleMurderVictims: An interesting case of this. Junko Enoshima is the first mole who set up the murder game in the first place, but she operates from a distance and uses two moles through the course of the story, neither of whom kill anyone. One of them outright kills themselves while the other's publicly offed by the mastermind, and later used to frame one of the students.
* ThemeMusicPowerUp:
** An arrangement of the title theme plays during the Closing Argument toward the end of each trial, when the protagonist explains how the murder happened and exposes the culprit once and for all.
** The theme plays again during Chapter 6's final argument, as Makoto convinces each of his surviving classmates to overcome despair and vote against the mastermind.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The mastermind decides to kill herself with ''every'' execution she has given to the killers in one big swoop.
* ThisIsReality: Spoken in Chapter 3. Monokuma also states this during Chapter 1:
-->'''Monokuma:''' We aren't living in a {{Shonen}} manga story. There is no such thing as dying without dying. This is reality!!
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: One of the first trailers released for the official English release of the game makes it blatantly obvious that Leon is the first killer, as well as showing the lack of Sayaka and Junko in the first trial scene. Then there's the one that not only shows Makoto on the conveyor belt in "After School Lesson" getting closer to the crushing machine, but the parts where he falls through the trapdoor into the garbage room. To make it even worse, most of these things are also spoiled by the opening movie that plays every time the player opens the game.
* TrumanShowPlot: It is revealed by Monokuma in Chapter 5 that everything happening inside the school is being broadcast all over Japan. To go even further, the game even ends like the TropeNamer movie, with the characters leaving the only world they know to venture into the "real" one.
* TonightSomeoneDies: In contrast to the previous chapters, Chapter 5 shows the player the upcoming corpse at the beginning of the chapter. However, since the body is masked, the player isn't really getting any hints about who's going to die...
* TwoDunIt: Near the end of the game, it's revealed that there are actually two Masterminds who are collectively Ultimate Despair. Subverted in that one of them betrayed and murdered the other early in the game.
* TwoTeacherSchool: Despair Academy is suspiciously lacking in faculty -- aside from Monokuma. And his idea of "teaching" is trying to get people to kill each other. The school also once had a human headmaster, though he [[PosthumousCharacter is murdered before the game begins]]. The flowers on the desks in the staff room imply they were all killed as well, and the mastermind says everyone at the school died except for her class.
* UndignifiedDeath:
** All the executions count as this. There's being bludgeoned to death by a pitching machine, being turned into pancake topping by a high-speed motorcycle stunt, being burned at the stake and then run over by a speeding firetruck, and being crushed into a ball by construction equipment. Monokuma seems to get off on killing people in sadistically comical fashion.
** Cruelly, ''cruelly'' subverted with Kyoko's execution in Chapter 5's Bad End: she's crushed to death by a giant block. The subversion is that Kyoko starts with a stoic expression, then becomes fearful, then shows acceptance ''while being fearful''. So poor Kyoko's death swings from Dignified to Undignified and back again.
** Same goes with Makoto in the Good End of that chapter: he sweats bullets and almost gets crushed until Alter Ego overrides the machine and stops the block. He still ends up falling down a garbage chute, though, and Monokuma gloats that slowly starving to death on a pile of trash is actually an even worse death than just being flattened instantly.
** Mondo and Celeste also FaceDeathWithDignity, undignified as the method of execution turns out to be, and Alter Ego doesn't seem to be entirely aware of what's happening, but Leon has to be physically dragged from the courtroom after breaking down and begging for his life.
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: School trials can be broken down into Non-Stop Debates (literally shooting down contradictions), Bullet Time Battles (breaking through AdHominem arguments in a RhythmGame), Hangman's Gambit (filling in blanks), and Closing Statements (assembling how the murder went down by placing events on a comic-style timeline).
* UnspecifiedApocalypse: In the last trial, the Mastermind a.k.a. Junko Enoshima reveals that the reason the students weren't actually trapped, but instead choose to stay inside the school for the rest of their lives, was because of: The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History, which caused the downfall of society. However, the specifics of it aren't shown until the second game.
* {{Utsuge}}: There are 15 kids that are for the most part very likable and interesting characters. Since this is a killing game, the player will watch most of these teenagers be killed or kill their fellow students through either conventional murders or executions in order to survive. If the player happens to get attached to any of the doomed cast members, they will feel bad, and even if they don't, the set-ups of the cases can be rather depressing.
* ViewersAreGoldfish:
** Flashbacks to not even a full scene ago happen fairly often, with one flashback showing something that happened roughly ''thirty seconds beforehand''.
** Flashbacks to the scene where Kyoko first informs Makoto of Mukuro's existence happen on a near-constant basis.
* VoiceGrunting: For the most part. However, some scenes (generally those with a full-screen illustration) and all Class Trials are fully-voiced.
* WakeUpCallBoss: The second murderer is much harder to take down than the first was, letting players know just how easy they had it in the tutorial case. This case is far twistier than the first, since the player goes through two red herring suspects before figuring out that the crime scene location was altered to conceal the true sex of the victim. Makoto is only able to unmask the true culprit through getting him to divulge information he couldn't have known if he wasn't involved.
* WarmupBoss: Leon is by far the easiest culprit to nail, for several reasons. The dying message left by Sayaka, "11037", is the biggest tipoff, since it's actually not a number, but ''Leon's name written upside down'', with the crossbar of the N slightly smudged out. Although this can be considered a case of DifficultyByRegion, since the clue is exactly the same in the Japanese version, and a native English speaker would pick up on the true meaning of the message much easier and quicker than a non-native speaker.
* WhamEpisode:
** Let's start with Chapter 1. The first victim is [[LoveInterest Sayaka]], and shortly after that, Junko is killed for attacking Monokuma. See NeverTrustATrailer.
** Then at the end of Chapter 2, it's revealed there is [[TheMole a mole]] among the students, ''and'' there's also a separate sixteenth student that Monokuma is hiding.
** The end of Chapter 3. After learning about it from Kyoko, Makoto finds a secret room in the boys' restroom. Before he can take a good look around, a mysterious masked man attacks him from behind, knocking him unconscious. When Makoto wakes up, he finds that the room has been cleaned out. Then, when he staggers to the gymnasium, he finds Sakura fighting Monokuma, and they have a conversation implying ''Sakura'' is TheMole.
** Chapter 4's one of the biggest wham episodes. Monokuma reveals Sakura's identity as the mole right off the bat... and then Sakura is ''killed''... and there's a bloody message with Toko's name just like with Leon! ...no wait, that was Yasuhiro framing Toko, ''he'' killed the ogre, he even confesses! ...no wait, actually his strike didn't kill Sakura, Toko and Genocide Jill confess to it... no wait, Aoi framed everyone, ''she'' confesses to the murder! ...no wait, it was actually a suicide! And Monokuma gave Aoi a fake suicide note! Nice going, Aoi... no wait, everyone decides not to punish Aoi and they're all against Monokuma now! Looks like Monokuma can't execute anyone... no wait, Alter Ego, NOOOOOO!!! And then, at the very end of the chapter? Kyoko suddenly reveals the name of the sixteenth student!
** Chapter 5's bad ending turns it into another wham episode, because this is the first episode where pointing out a lie in court, which ''the player has been doing the whole game'', results in a bad ending where Makoto, Byakuya, Aoi, and Yasuhiro, and Toko until recently all live happily ever after, with no more murders, but in a gilded cage. And if the player ''doesn't'' get the bad ending, and choose to trust Kyoko? ''Makoto'' gets judged guilty, and sent off to be executed, and it's only from a last-minute surprise interference from a virus planted by Alter Ego that he doesn't die. He's still trapped in the basement with no way of getting out, though... but then Kyoko herself comes to rescue him.
** Chapter 6 is made up of Wham Episodes. Monokuma agrees to do a re-trial of Mukuro's murder and seems to be slowly losing his sanity. Part of Monokuma's deal is that the students have to solve every mystery in the school. One of the sixteen students is the mastermind. Kyoko discovers her father's remains as well as hints that he really did care about her. Furthermore, all of the students had attended Hope's Peak before, but had their memories erased. The biggest part? Mukuro Ikusaba was disguising herself as Junko, and the real Junko was the BigBad all along.
* WhamLine:
** Chapter 2 had two of them, one about the victim ("This...this girl is...! ...is a boy!"), and the reveal of Genocide Jack's identity ("In fact, it's Toko.").
** Then in Chapter 4: "I am sorry... for keeping quiet." Spoken by Sakura, confirming that she is the mole.
** And then in the trial: "It's because I killed the ogre!!" No one expected [[ButtMonkey Yasuhiro]], of all people, to confess.
** Followed by...
--->'''Aoi''': I killed Sakura!
** And then the biggest one in that chapter:
--->'''Monokuma''': It's a suicide letter. The one Sakura wrote.\\
'''Makoto''': S... Suicide letter...!? But Hina already...!\\
'''Monokuma''': [[ForgedMessage Oh,]] [[ManipulativeBastard I wrote that one]]. It was all me, baby.
** And one more from Chapter 4, along a different tone. Up until now, Byakuya has ranged from [[{{Jerkass}} obnoxious asshole]] to [[VillainBall outright antagonist]], and has repeatedly spoken about how it's foolish to trust others in a game where the students have been challenged to kill each other. Which is what makes this line following the trial so surprising to both Monokuma and the player:
--->'''Byakuya:''' This is a life-or-death elimination match. The only way to survive... is to win. There can be no doubt that those are the rules of the game. [[HeelFaceTurn Which is why... I am bowing out of the game.]]
** From the start of Chapter 5:
--->'''Kyoko:''' Mukuro Ikusaba.\\
'''Makoto:''' What...?\\
'''Kyoko:''' Mukuro Ikusaba, the sixteenth student, lying hidden somewhere in the school. The one they call the Ultimate Despair. Watch out for her.
** From Chapter 5, which pretty much blows all others out of the water:
--->'''Monokuma:''' This school life of mutual killings is being completely broadcasted live on TV all over Japan!
** Later on:
--->'''Monokuma:''' I've been waiting until all of you get here. We can't begin without the entire group, can we?
** It might not be too shocking, but it's still big.
--->'''Kyoko:''' Because [the headmaster]'s my father.
** Invoked in Chapter 6, which doesn't seem like one until the FridgeHorror kicks in.
--->'''Monokuma: ''' There are 16 and only 16 high school students participating in this school life of mutual killing... By the way, ever since we started this game, those beary same students are the only people to have set foot in this school.
* WhamShot:
** After the fourth trial is ruled a suicide, Monokuma declares that he won't let his execution go to waste and will punish a "special guest". Makoto wonders who said guest could be... when suddenly the screen cuts to a close-up of Alter Ego's face, causing a massive OhCrap in the students (and likely the player) as they realize Monokuma's about to crush what seems like their only chance of escape at the time.
** During Makoto's "execution", we have another one when Alter Ego appears on the monitor, turning out to be NotQuiteDead.
* WinYourFreedom: The game's ultimate goal.
* WritingIndentationClue: In Chapter 1, Kyoko uses this to figure out that the victim called the murderer into the room where she was killed.
* WrongGenreSavvy: A meta example: ''The player'' is potentially this if they choose to reveal Kyoko's lie in court in Chapter 5. An experienced player would think they're playing a ''Franchise/AceAttorney''-style game where the truth counts over everything, and therefore reveal her lie, but in this case they're actually playing an "outwit-the-mastermind" game, where throwing Kyoko under the bus is what Monokuma wants. And the game makes sure to [[BadEnding rub it in the player's face]] if they fall for it.
* YouBastard: Taka says this to Monokuma after the second trial.
* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Leon says something to this effect during the first trial.
* YouWakeUpInARoom: Happens to Makoto, and presumably to all the other students.
[[/folder]]

* EasterEgg: The last gift the player receives for finishing the game — a literal "Easter Egg", styled like Monokuma.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The game can be a bit jarring for veterans for these reasons:
** The game is overall less outlandish than later installments. While it does get a bit weird in some areas, later installments took the series in a much more extreme direction. Notably, there are almost no elements of sci-fi like in the later games.
** The portrayal of Hope's Peak Academy is radically different to later games. In keeping with this game's BlackAndWhiteMorality, Hope's Peak is shown to be a GoodAllAlong noble institution who cared for and wanted to protect the students but was sabotaged by Junko/Ultimate Despair. In later games, when the morality gets much greyer and more complex, Hope's Peak is instead shown as a highly corrupt and unethical organization who only saw the Ultimates as cash cows and didn't even bother to make them come to class or provide them an education, as long as they could profit off having them enrolled, and forced its reserve department of "non-talented" students to pay absurdly expensive student fees, from which they saw none of the benefits the Ultimate students pretty much got for free, which the administration then pocketed for themselves or spent on [[MadScientist mad science]] "pet projects" using the reserve course students as guinea pigs.
** The portrayal of The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History is radically different, presented as if Monokuma had taken over the world. In the later installments, the event is instead portrayed as a series of random terrorist attacks across the world, with Ultimate Despair being anarchic terrorists.
** Most glaringly, the conflict between hope and despair is played as straight BlackAndWhiteMorality, which is bizarre in retrospect when much of the series from then on is built on how hope can also corrupt. This also makes the straight portrayals of [[AllLovingHero Makoto]] and [[DarkMessiah Junko]] an outlier.
** The game is noticeably more chaste — bar some HoYay, the only elements of romance are Makoto's crush on Sayaka (which only lasts about halfway into the first chapter due to the latter's death), Toko's love for Byakuya (entirely PlayedForLaughs), and Kyoko becoming the ImpliedLoveInterest. Compare this to later installments, where the ShipTease and outright romance is considerably played up, [[LoveHurts usually to tragic results]].
** During the prologue of the game, you are introduced to all of the students right away, whereas the following games require you to do some exploration of the area in order to meet all of the students.
** The "Re:Act" dialogue mechanism, in which some words in a character's dialogue are purple, and you must click on them to "react" to them and continue the dialogue chain in order to complete the conversation. This is a somewhat-bizarre, rather unnecessary mechanic that largely just makes talking to characters take longer by requiring the player to initiate the same conversation multiple times in order to get a different branch of dialogue from each separate "reaction". Future games do away with it altogether.
** Unlike later installments, in which all characters have five Free Time Events each, some of those who die early on only have a few events (for example, Leon and Mukuro have three each while Sayaka only has two), while people who make it into the late game and survivors have longer chains — in Toko's case, she not only has five events of her own, but Genocide Jack has three, making it a total of eight free time events. In addition, spending time with a character can either give you a new ability or more points, which are necesary in order to use the abilities during the Class Trials. Future games have you collect a Hope Fragment every time an event is cleared, and once you collect five from one character (in other words, do all of their free time events) you'll receive their special ability.
** The 8-Bit sprites used for the student dorm portraits and to depict them being carried off to their execution are radically different from the sprites used in School Mode, being less SuperDeformed. Later games would use just the School Mode sprites for both portraits and for executions.
** The crossed-out monochrome portraits of the students that have died seen in the Class Trials are all the same, whereas on following games some of the portraits are customised in a way that relates to the student's talent or personality.
** Unlike in the sequels, a student's report card doesn't list their birthday, their blood type, or the things they like and dislike the most.
** Both the male and female students have a character with a [[NonStandardCharacterDesign much more unusual look than the others]] ([[{{Gonk}} Hifumi]] and [[LadyLooksLikeADude Sakura]]). Later entries in the franchise tend to stick with just one of the male students having an odd design.
** The Bullet Time Battles are used much more liberally than their equivalents in the later games, with cases 4 and 6 each having three [=BTBs=] spread across the trial, and cases 3 and 5 having one BTB at the beginning and midpoint respectively. Later games would only have one rhythm minigame per trial, and always at or near the end of the trial.
* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Implied with regards to the Academy, as shown by the top-secret documents hidden in the library.
* EmergencyMultifaithPrayer: After Hagakure sees Junko, actually Mukuro, get impaled by spears in Chapter 1, he claps his hands together and shouts "I'm begging you! God, Buddha, Mother Earth, God of Space, King Neptune, come save me!". In the Japanese version he also prays to [[Anime/DragonBallZ King Kai]].
* EmptyChairMemorial: The court room has a seat for every student — plus one, due to the court room being built for sixteen — and whenever a student dies, Monokuma puts up a monochrome portrait with their face crossed-out in their place.
* TheEndOrIsIt: After the students escape and the credits roll, Monokuma begins talking again even though the mastermind is gone... and his head lifts up. [[http://kotaku.com/a-brief-q-a-with-the-writer-of-danganronpa-1689628454 An interview with the lead writer confirms]] that it's [[spoiler:the A.I. which would become the BigBad of the sequel]].
* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The first murder, particularly after it's revealed that Sayaka did it to frame Makoto, and Leon, after killing Sayaka in what was (at least initially) a case of self-defense, also tried to frame Makoto for his crime. This not only establishes that AnyoneCanDie and no one can be fully trusted, but it also shows that decent people can be driven to do terrible things as a result of their circumstances while still having redeeming traits, a recurring theme.
* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: As the game progresses, evidence turns up that all of the students knew each other before attending Hope's Peak, even the unknown sixteenth student. And it turns out they ''did'' — they just had their memories tampered with.
* EveryoneIsASuspect: Everyone except for Makoto and Kyoko is suspected of killing Sakura in Chapter 4. There were multiple attempts on her life, and at least ''three'' people confessed to having done it.
* EvidenceScavengerHunt: Before each trial, Makoto needs to gather evidence in the form of "evidence bullets" in order to find the true culprit.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Electronic Student ID Card.
* FailedExecutionNoSentence: Averted in Makoto's case. After he survives his execution, Monokuma announces that he plans on killing Makoto again. Kyoko saves Makoto by convincing Monokuma that this would amount to breaking his own rules and convincing him to let them redo the trial.
* FairPlayWhodunnit: ''Usually''. In most cases, Makoto can gather enough information before the trial starts to expose the culprit. However, a few cases have the murder scenes tampered with, usually by people with no involvement as victim or culprit, unfairly screwing everything up and having the player re-think the scenario. One case doesn't even get properly solved until the chapter after! Rule 10 of Knox's Decalogue (No identical twins or duplicates) is also broken, though the fact that they aren't ''totally'' identical is an important point.
* FakeLongevity: Trying to [[GottaCatchEmAll get all the presents]] essentially boils down to replaying Class Trials a bunch of times to grind for Monocoins, as well as constantly replaying School Mode to max out the RelationshipValues for each character for their underwear. It's actually worse in the original release, which lacked School Mode. As a result, it takes an incredibly long time to get all the Free Time Events. To expand on that, there are 19 opportunities to preform Free Time Events (the first locking the player into Sayaka) and over 40 Free Time Events. It takes 3 playthroughs just to get all of them, particularly since Makoto can only build upon the relationships with the three people who die in Chapter 1 before the murders start.
* FanDisservice: At one point, Asahina is seen lying on her bed wearing nothing but a loose tank-top and underwear, but the TroubledFetalPosition and depressed demeanor she sports just makes you want to [[TheWoobie give her a hug]] (or, y'know, leave her alone).
* FieryCoverup: Chapter 5's murderer plants a bomb on the corpse in order to conceal the identity of the victim.
* FissionMailed: Get the Bad Ending in Chapter 5, and the player gets thrown back to the key decision before the execution is performed. However, if the player makes the right choice, Monokuma will cut the trial short and pin the crime on Makoto. Fortunately, he survives due to Alter Ego's intervention.
* FoeYay: In-universe, Jill seems to see this between Aoi and Byakuya.
** Mukuro Ikusaba — one of the masterminds of the killing game, and member of the Ultimate Despair — is one of Makoto's potential love interests in School Mode.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Nearly ''everything'' about Junko Enoshima, before her death. For example, one of her magazines covers reads the phase "''Monokuro'' de Kawaii", and yet another has a title beginning with "[[TwinSwitch Twin]]." Makoto also comments that Junko doesn't ''quite'' look like her photos, which Junko [[BlatantLies attributes to Photoshop]].
** On that topic, one of Junko's poses has her play with one of her ponytails with an annoyed face. After all, she's not Junko but someone posing as her — and as such not used to having such long hair.
** Kyoko's inquiry to Monokuma at the end of Chapter 3: "What have you done with my body?" She, much like the near rest of her classmates, [[LaserGuidedAmnesia is missing two years' worth of memories]], so she has reasonably grown quite a bit and doesn't remember it.
** Hifumi Yamada names "Yasuhiro" as the one who fatally injured him, but there's no plausible way for him to have learned that Yasuhiro is Celestia Ludenburg's actual last name, at least within the killing game. He also directly states that he had met everyone once, before the beginning of the killing game, but this is dismissed as a delusion caused by head trauma. Later, in the middle of Chapter 4's class trial, Genocide Jack complains about how unlucky she has to be for Sakura Ogami to startle Jack and then allow the latter to club the former over the head in response. It's not completely unreasonable to assume that the ''Ultimate Martial Artist'' would be capable of defending herself against a frontal surprise attack, but Jack says what she says because she has intimate knowledge of what Sakura is capable of because she's the only one whose school memories weren't wiped before the beginning of the killing game.
** In one of the Monokuma Theaters in Chapter 2, Monokuma states that he can't help but stare when he sees pretty girls. And then ends it with that he stared at a mirror. At first it might seem like the usual Monokuma Theater nonsense, but it takes on a whole another meaning once the Mastermind, Junko Enoshima (AKA The Ultimate Fashionista) is revealed.
** Then the next one talks about the difference between killing someone ("Oops! I killed him!") and murdering someone ("Yeah, that's right. I killed him"). Fittingly enough, the second murder is the result of an outburst of rage with no planning involved, and the killer greatly repents it after the fact.
** In the fourth chapter, during the third free time slot, you can find Sakura alone in the chem lab, standing next to chemical closet A. She mutters to herself that she's not ready to open up yet, and if you try to hang out with her she explicitly asks Makoto if he's willing to stand by her, but won't initiate a Free Time Event. As it turns out, she later commits suicide with poison found in closet C because even if Makoto and Hina will stand by her, the others likely won't ever again, and during the investigation Hina swaps it with a protein can she took from closet A.
** An early-game blackboard says it belongs to a "secret beauty". Initially reads like typical blackboard nonsense... except that very accurately describes Junko's takeover and current situation.
** At a point Monokuma mentions having been hibernating for two years, well before you learn why that's a relevant length of time.
* ForgedMessage:
** In case 4, Hagakure is convinced he killed Sakura after he smashed a bottle over her head (he didn't). He then tried to write a DyingClue [[CouldntFindAPen in Sakura's blood]] implicating Toko, like what happened in case 1. During the trial, one character pointed out that it was written with a person's finger, while Sakura's hands were clean.
** It turns out that the reason Aoi is trying to get everyone killed by implicating ''herself'' as Sakura's killer is because of a forged suicide note left by Monokuma, making Aoi think Sakura was DrivenToSuicide instead of committing a HeroicSacrifice for everyone else. After the truth comes out, Monokuma even has the ''gall'' to claim it wasn't his fault Aoi was fooled, since he didn't forge Sakura's ''signature'' on the suicide note as well.
* FourIsDeath:
** Of Justice Robo's four hammers, only the fourth actually kills someone. Possibly an InvokedTrope, as Celeste had Hifumi kill Kiyotaka first with the #4 hammer, and then staged assaults with Hammers 1-3 (including faking Hifumi's death with the third hammer), to make it seem as though they happened first.
** Leon Kuwata batted cleanup (the fourth position in the lineup). Fittingly, he's the fourth person to die on-screen.
** In the Bad Ending, due to Toko dying in the interim, there are only ''four'' surviving Hope's Peak students.
* GenderNeutralWriting: An inversion that may have made the second trial slightly harder occurs in the official translation. In the original, Mondo yells at Byakuya for calling Chihiro's body "a thing" using the genderless pronoun "aitsu" (commonly translated as "that kid"). Naturally, the localization team had no way to make this subtle clue more obvious without completely spoiling the trial.
** Though perhaps this was made up by the very next scene having Mondo unambiguously calling Chihiro "dude."
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GildedCage:
** Hope's Peak Academy isn't half-bad. Unfortunately, nobody's allowed to leave unless they commit murder and get away with it. If someone gets away with murder, the rest of their classmates die, but if they are caught, they get brutally executed and the game continues until someone decides to kill again.
** There are hints prior to the final chapter, which outright confirms it, that the students agreed to stay in the school, possibly for the rest of their lives, until a certain calamity had passed.
** The Bad Ending: the remaining students (Makoto, Byakuya, Yasuhiro, Aoi, and a recently deceased Toko) have grown into adults ''and they're still locked inside the school'', alongside their children, who will ''never'' leave either.
* GoryDiscretionShot:
** Most of the execution scenes cut away from the victim or use other camera tricks before the moment of death, and only the first shows a recognizable body afterward (Mondo is butterfied, Celeste is somewhere underneath a fire truck, and Kyoko/Junko are crushed under a giant block). The exception is Alter Ego, who [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman is a program on a computer]] and therefore doesn't have anything to cut away from.
** A non-bloody example: The full extent of the burns on Kyoko's hands isn't depicted onscreen, only the reactions to them.
* GratuitousEnglish: In the original version of the game, the title card for each execution is labeled with a Japanese title and an English subtitle. The translation isn't always exact; for example, "Thousand Knocks" becomes "Million Fungoes."
* GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty: Makoto is the first suspect in the first trial. Because game overs lead to him being the blackened, this trope takes effect if you game over after Makoto is proven innocent.
* HandWave: The methods behind removing their memories aren't explained by Monokuma, who dismisses the question as irrelevant information. ''LightNovel/DanganronpaZero'' shows that Junko had a relationship with the Ultimate Neurologist, but still doesn't fully explain the memory-wiping process.
-->'''Monokuma''': If I said it was hypnotism, would you believe me? Or we opened up your skulls and messed with your brains?
** Junko also refuses to explain why she has a different surname from her sister, although the context allows us to infer Junko is dissatisfied with the path her sister chose in life (so, presumably, one of them voluntarily changed her last name so as not to be assosiated with the other).
--> '''Junko Enoshima:''' Naturally, she turned out to be the letdown of the family. Leaving me behind to run off and join some band of mercenaries... Such a disappointment.
* HesitationEqualsDishonesty: ''Everyone'' in this game invokes this at several points. In the demo trial, when Makoto's accused of being the murderer, he stutters from shock. Leon leaps on this, insisting that ''proves'' he's responsible. {{Lampshaded}} by Junko's shocked question: "Seriously?! Stuttering makes you suspicious?!"
* HiddenInPlainSight: Alter Ego's disappearance from the locker room kicks off the murders in Chapter 3. It turns out that Celeste simply shut him in a different locker and told him to keep quiet.
* HighPressureEmotion: Red is often used for angry poses.
* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: Chapter 5's trial is deliberately set up to frame someone, and due to the lack of enough information as well as Monokuma's meddling, cannot be properly solved until Chapter 6. The only way to "win" it is by choosing not to expose the intended frame, Kyoko, at a critical juncture, because of which Makoto ends up taking the fall for the murder. However, Alter Ego saves him from being executed. In the Bad Ending, where Makoto does expose Kyoko, she isn't so lucky.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Whenever the player maxes friendship with another student, they obtain a special skill from them somehow related to their talent. If the student turns out to be a murderer later on in the story, the player can use the skills they acquired in the trial to help him expose them as the killer.
** It was Sayaka's suggestion for Makoto to bring the gilded sword back to his room. Had she not, Leon may very well had lacked the means to disarm her and derail her plan.
* HopeSpot: Oh yes. Monokuma (and by extension, the Mastermind), [[HopeCrusher is a master of these]], and loves letting the students think they're getting the upper hand and finding a way out, only to cruelly pull the rug right out from under them.
* HopeSpringsEternal: Pretty much the game's theme.
* IdenticalGrandson: The kids in the bad ending look like miniature versions of their fathers. Byakuya's son is blond and has glasses, Yasuhiro's infant son has massive hair, and Makoto's son inherits his father's IdiotHair and even has a tiny hoodie.
* IdiotBall:
** Sayaka--one of the smallest and frailest students in the entire cast--hatches a murder plan that hinges on her being able to successfully ambush and overpower her intended victim with a knife. But not only does she ''not'' choose one of the students who's around her size or smaller (such as Chihiro), she picks Leon, one of ''the'' most physically fit students in the entire cast, whose Ultimate talent revolves around being athletic and in shape, to be her target. Naturally, it's not very shocking that he's able to turn the tables and overpower her instead.[[note]]It's possible she chose him because it's implied he has a crush on her, so she may have noticed this and guessed that he would be more likely to respond to the invitation in her note than some other students would. Still, she should have at least had some kind of a better plan than "attack and try to subdue him and hope he doesn't fight back."[[/note]]
** Celeste, after proving to be one of the more intelligent students in the first two trials, is quite sloppy in carrying out her murder plot in Chapter 3. She acts very uncharacteristically panicky and fearful after previously being completely unflappable during the first two cases, is highly aggressive about pinning the murders on Yasuhiro and dismisses any logic she's presented with in favour of her accusations (which is also out of character), loses her composure numerous times when the trial doesn't go according to plan, and completely gives herself away as the killer with an INeverSaidItWasPoison moment ([[{{Irony}} just one murder case after she herself inflicted this on the previous culprit, to boot]]).
** Makoto and Kyoko leave Alter Ego — their most important weapon, which they needed to keep secret to the mastermind at all costs — ''out in the open'' in a place where Makoto was previously attacked.
* IdiotHair: Makoto has a big curved one, Yasuhiro has ones all over his head and Hifumi has one pointing straight up.
* IHaveYourWife: Monokuma's first motive — he gives everyone a DVD that implies horrible things will happen to the friends/family they care about the most, such as Makoto's family supposedly being attacked and killed. Given what we learn in the final trial, it's implied to be true.
* IJustWriteTheThing: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jaLPYvptd4&t=18m49s Several]] [[http://kotaku.com/a-brief-q-a-with-the-writer-of-danganronpa-1689628454 interviews]] [[http://www.siliconera.com/2015/03/24/sci-fi-back-future-danganronpa-writers-ideas-danganronpa-3/ imply]] [[http://www.usgamer.net/articles/danganronpa-director-kazutaka-kodaka-on-the-power-of-psychopop that]] head writer Kodaka Kazutaka takes this attitude, writing scenarios as they come and seeing how the characters would react to them. Kyoko, for instance, was never intended to be a heroine, but rather fell into the role through sheer investigative tenacity turning her into a difficult target for murder and an easy ally for Makoto. The fact that she dies first in an earlier version of the script [[AnyoneCanDie hammers this point home]].
* IllKillYou: Byakuya threatens to kill Monokuma several times after the second trial.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Kiyotaka undergoes a HeroicBSOD after Mondo's execution, which he attributes to his not being there to calm [[SanitySlippage Mondo]] down.
* INeverSaidItWasPoison:
** Mondo mentions the color of Chihiro's sports clothing, in a situation where, aside from Celeste and Makoto (the former seeing Chihiro minutes before he was killed and the latter being the only person Celeste told this to before the trial), only the murderer would be able to know that information.
** In chapter 3, Celeste says that "We are going to die just like ''those'' guys" when, at the time, she had no way of knowing that there was a second murder victim.
** Byakuya, though not a culprit, also gets a chomp from this in Chapter 2, as once a murder is announced, he makes a beeline for Chihiro's body, where he posed it in the girls' changing room.
* InfiniteSupplies: Monokuma explains at the start of the game that the students' needs will all be taken care of during their stay and later explains to Maizono (Fujisaki in the anime) that the cafeteria's refrigerator gets restocked every single day.
* InformedAbility: While some students get to demonstrate their talents in-game (such as Chihiro creating Alter Ego), most of them are relegated to background information. It's justified in that the killing game limits their opportunities to use these talents; swimming, baseball, and fashion aren't really the sort of things that can help you get away with murder.
* IntentionalEngrishForFunny: Some of this happens around the English loan-phrase "dying message." In Chapter 4, Yasuhiro manages to [[MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels mangle it]] into "Vienna sausage."
* InterfaceScrew: When your opponent activates Nega Time in Bullet Time Battles, it blocks the bar that lets you see the rhythm markers. This can be countered with your own Fever Time, which allows you to lock, shoot, and reload regardless of rhythm.
* InterfaceSpoiler:
** The player is able to accuse dead students of the murder, implying the possibility of suicides and faked deaths. What is revealed in the fourth and sixth trials, respectively, are exactly those two gambits.
** Case 5 ends in a FissionMailed scenario where the player is shown Makoto's execution, only for him to be saved at the last moment... but the effect is somewhat spoiled by the fact that, immediately prior to this, the player is shown the victory screen for that Class Trial, which announces a verdict of "live another day" and awards them the usual bunch of coins.
** New players are likely to get suspicious when Sayaka, the ImpliedLoveInterest, has her report card completely filled out after only two interactions, with some ports even granting an achievement when it happens. Sure enough, she’s the first victim and dies before the first class trial. The same can be said for two other characters who also don’t survive the first chapter, but the game doesn’t encourage you to spend time with them like with Sayaka.
** In ports with achievements, completing Toko’s report card doesn’t grant the achievement for it, clueing the player in about Genocide Jill’s free time events. The fact that the report card extents past the usual ending point also suggests that Toko lives longer than most characters, and sure enough, she survives the entire game.
** The Steam trading cards are a bit weird about this — specifically the "Ultimate Heroes" and "Ultimate Heroines" full-size card images. The "Heroes" one includes a picture of Leon in considerable distress, which could be seen as a hint towards his death, though with no context. However, it also includes two characters (Kenshiro and Santa Shikiba) who aren't actually in the game at all. Meanwhile, the "Heroines" picture includes some pretty big spoilers, showing both Mukuro (as herself) and the real Junko; however, it also includes Chihiro among the girls. It's quite possible that the elements were chosen specifically to throw people off as to which spoilers were real.
* InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath: Everyone is locked inside the school, and forced under the constant threat of execution to abide by the rules of the Killing School Life. The only way to get out is to kill someone and get away with it, and once a murder happens, the innocent students are forced to either let the blackened be executed if they choose correctly, or be executed in the blackened's place if they choose wrong.
* IronMaiden: The first execution we see is someone being trapped in a rocket flying into space that doubles as an iron maiden. Their body burns up upon reentry if the spikes didn't kill them first.
* {{Irony}}: Celeste pruposes the "no leaving your room at nighttime" rule to the other students in hopes of preventing murders. In spite of this, all of the murders end up taking place at night. Celeste even breaks her own rule to kill two people too.
* JustOneLittleMistake: Many trials rely on this:
** If Leon had taken the time to check up on Sayaka's body, he would likely have noticed that she had literally written ''his name'' with her own blood. That said, it's implied Leon was in a state of panic during the incident.
** If Mondo hadn't mentioned the color of Chihiro's tracksuit, a piece of information no one but Celeste and Makoto are supposed to be aware of, he probably would have gotten away with murder.
** Celeste is revealed to have indirectly killed Kiyotaka after she says that everyone is going to die "just like those guys", when [[INeverSaidItWasPoison she didn't have any way of knowing that Kiyotaka was also dead at the time]].
* KarmicDeath: Monokuma's punishments for the blackened students are specifically tailored to each of them: Leon is bombarded to death with baseballs, Mondo is strapped to a motorcycle and driven around a Globe of Death so fast that he turns to butter, and Celeste is set up to be burned at the stake...only to be crushed by a speeding fire truck instead. The exception is Alter Ego, who Monokuma only "executed" to toy with the surviving students.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Playing right into Monokuma's desire to sow discord among the students? Maybe. But it's oh so satisfying when Aoi takes a swing at that SmugSnake Byakuya.
* KillTheCutie: Two of the sweetest characters in the game, Sayaka and Chihiro, are the first two murder victims (though Sayaka's status as a [[TheCutie cutie]] is debatable given that she tried to kill Leon and frame Makoto for it).

* DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc/Tropes

* TwoAndAHalfD: The player can pan around the environment, but the characters and props are all paper cutouts. It is even possible to pan around said paper cutouts.
* AbhorrentAdmirer: Toko, [[UpToEleven a lot]], for Byakuya.
* AbortedArc: The epilogue ends with the implication that Monokuma had gained self-awareness (or had been self-aware all along). However, WordOfGod related to ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' reveals that it was just [[spoiler:Alter Ego Junko controlling him]].
* AcademyOfAdventure: Not the ''fun'' kind of adventure, but Hope's Peak definitely qualifies.
* ADayInTheLimelight: The first manga series, rather than recount the entire series, basically acted as supplements focusing on specific characters, and was chock-full of {{Alternate Character Interpretation}}s for several characters. [[FridgeBrilliance These interpretations make a lot of sense as they're mostly the game viewed from the POV of these characters, especially some of the murderers, instead of from Makoto's POV.]]
* ADeathInTheLimelight: From Chapters 2 to 4, if someone starts to get more dialogue than usual or plays a big role in one of the chapter's plotlines, there's a good chance they're about to get murdered or executed.
* AfterTheEnd: According to the mastermind, the world as the students knew it no longer exists due to The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. Genocide Jill confirms it to be true, but the full extent of the damage done is left ambiguous.
* AlasPoorVillain:
** At the end of every trial except for the last two. The culprits are treated sympathetically, and only killed because Monokuma's motivations drove them to. The later revelation that the students' memories had been tampered with, and that they all chose to stay inside the school, may or may not add to the sympathy.
** Mukuro Ikusaba is a retroactive example. Sure, she's one of the people behind the killing game, but it's easy to feel bad for her after it's revealed that her own sister, whom she was slavishly devoted to, killed her and gushed about how betrayed she must have felt in her last moments. Even the other students are horrified by the cruel nature of it once they find out.
* AlienGeometries: In a level design sense. Somehow the swimming pool on the second floor occupies the same space as the multi-story gym on the first floor.
* AllCrimesAreEqual: In Hope's Peak, sleeping in class, stepping on the headmaster's face, and murder all carry the same punishment.
* AllForNothing: Everyone who either committed or planned a murder (except for the mastermind) did it for a reason that the final revelations of the game prove to be completely pointless. An example: Mondo snaps in the second chapter in part because of Monokuma's threat to reveal to the world that he caused his brother's death. It comes out anyway in the trial, and ''then'' it turns out the whole thing was on national television.
* AlliterativeName: Alliteration is less of a thing in Japanese, but the "biggest, most tragic, most awful event in human history" that kicks off the backstory is called ''Jinrui shijō saidai saiaku no zetsubō-teki jiken'' in the Japanese games — it doesn't look alliterative to an English speaker, but each word starts with a kana from the ''sa'' line.
* AllYourPowersCombined:
** A hilarious yet brutal example — when Junko loses Chapter 6's trial, she receives ''all'' the previous executions in a row as punishment.
** Makoto's skill points could be interpreted this way, with him gaining traits from his friends after spending enough time with them to use later in trials.
* AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair: Monocoins, used to exchange for gifts at the gift machine, are often hidden behind objects in the background.
* AmbiguousEnding: The ending cuts off just as the students open the door to escape the school, so we can't be sure just how much of what the mastermind told us about the outside world is true. At least, until the sequel.
* AnimationBump: Of a sort. The Trial scenes have more dynamic cameras and full voice acting.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Getting the Bad Ending kicks the player right back to the multiple-choice option that triggers it so that they don't have to sit through the entire trial again to get to that point.
* AnyoneCanDie: For the record, counting Toko and Jill as different characters, seven characters survive.
* ApocalypseHow: The screens showing the results of the Tragedy imply worldwide unrest and conflict (ApocalypseHow/{{Class 1}}).
* ArcWords: "Despair", as Monokuma's goal, is mentioned many times through the game, and to a lesser extent "hope". It even shows up in Junko and Makoto's talents.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Junko's "offer" to Makoto if he joins Ultimate Despair is "honor, status, and some of our home cooking!"
* ArtShift: Bizarrely, in one of the Monokuma Theater segments, the game switches from the static, visual novel style art to a full-out CGI cutscene featuring [[TheBigGuy Sakura]] fighting [[BigBad Monokuma]].
* AssholeVictim: Most of the students who die throughout the Killing Game qualify as this to some degree, although it's downplayed since the story also emphasizes that they all started off as good people until some of them were pushed to do terrible things out of desperation. Still, out of the 10 students to die, only two of them--Chihiro (the victim of Chapter 2) and Kiyotaka (the first victim of Chapter 3)--are completely innocent:
** Sayaka, the victim of Chapter 1, actually kickstarts the entire Killing Game by attempting to murder Leon, only for him to fight back and kill her instead. Meanwhile, Hifumi, the second victim of Chapter 3, murders Taka in cold blood, before Celeste betrays and kills him.
** Leon, Mondo, and Celeste are executed by Monokuma for being the culprits of the first, second, and third trials, respectively. Leon had the chance to leave after thwarting Sayaka's murder attempt, but broke into the bathroom and killed her instead; Mondo killed Chihiro in a fit of rage; and Celeste premeditated the deaths of both Taka and Hifumi, manipulating the latter into killing the former before murdering the latter herself.
** The "Junko" who dies in Chapter 1, who is actually Mukuro, was one half of the Despair Sisters along with the the real Junko, and as such, was in on the entire plot to trap the students in the school and force them to kill each other, before being betrayed and murdered herself. The real Junko, the Mastermind, also executes herself at the end of the game.
** Sakura is probably a subversion, though. She's not a completely innocent victim since she is TheMole for the Mastermind for the first four chapters, with the stipulation that she would have to kill someone to kick off the killing game (although Sayaka's murder attempt and subsequent death rendered this unnecessary). However, she's quite a sympathetic example in that she was blackmailed into it and quickly realized she couldn't bring herself to kill any of her new friends, and ends up committing a HeroicSuicide to avoid murdering anyone else and to put an end to the Killing Game.
* BabiesEverAfter:
** A particularly depressing variant in the BadEnding, with Aoi having children with the rest of the survivors stuck in the school.
** Also PlayedForLaughs when Toko/Jill suggests this to Byakuya in the epilogue. Needless to say, he's opposed to the idea.
* BallCannon: The first case ends with the killer (Leon Kuwata) [[CruelAndUnusualDeath executed by being chained to a post and shot to death by a baseball pitching machine]].
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Monokuma has monitors and cameras installed throughout the building, except in certain places such as bathrooms, notably the public bath.
* BigDamnHeroes: Alter Ego at the end of Chapter 5, showing up just in time to stop Makoto from being executed.
* BigNO:
** Hifumi makes one during the first trial.
** Leon exclaims one before getting executed.
* BittersweetEnding: The surviving students put a stop to the mastermind's plans, causing the mastermind to execute herself. However, only six students are left alive, the world outside of the school has turned into a hostile place due to the effects of The Tragedy, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and the mastermind]] ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking enjoyed]]'' [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the self-execution.]] In counter to the "bitter" part of their escape comes the "sweet". Their Hope has reignited and beat their Despair, meaning there's Hope for their futures.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The windows in the student's dorm rooms have plates bolted onto the sides behind the customary bed, despite this basically meaning there were once windows there designed to look into the next person's room.
** If the hatch in her Monokuma control room is Junko's only means of getting meals, the building's layout implies that she would more likely get plopped into the third floor's hallway while being nowhere near the cafeteria.
* BlackBlood: Or ''pink'' blood, in this case, as a form of censorship due to the Japanese game-rating systems. Dialog indicates that it's actually red in-universe.
* BlackComedy:
** Junko keeps up a cheery attitude during her execution, coupled with her methods of avoiding death, at least until the very end.
** The executions in general. Just because someone's getting brutally and horribly murdered, doesn't mean Monokuma won't try to inject some comedy into it.
* BlandNameProduct: Averted. The localization mentions real products a few times, such as Genocider Syo/Genocide Jill comparing the state of the victim to an Italian restaurant serving Ragu or Chef Boyardee. Hifumi mentions his love for Diet Coke, and Leon in School Mode even mentions that he's a fan of Pepsi.
* BlueWithShock: The art style uses this for the sprites that depict characters in shock, fear, despair, or similar.
* BodyOfTheWeek: The only way out of the school is committing a perfect murder — obviously, someone's going to wind up dead in every chapter. This is subverted in Chapter 5, as an older body is used to fake the crime scene.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Monokuma offhandedly mentions that one of the flowers in the school greenhouse, the "Monokuma Flower" that he named after himself, eats "garbage and plastic and human flesh". It's fantastic for the environment!
* BreakTheCutie: Sayaka could be seen as an example. She seems to be a sweet, fairly innocent character, but the combination of being forced into the killing game and seeing the motive video revealing something happened to her friends caused her to snap and attempt to kill Leon and frame Makoto for the crime.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: When Monokuma starts expositing on the backstories of the culprit and victim in Chapter 2, he tells the player what button to hold to skip all this in case they don't want to hear it. Oddly enough, this is the first and only time this ability is mentioned, despite the fact that the tutorials tell the player which button makes you Re:ACT to certain phrases ''even though the button prompt appears regardless''.
* BrickJoke: After the first trial for Sayaka's murder, Makoto, probably as a [[DueToTheDead tribute to his only friend in Hope's Peak]], repeats Sayaka's joke.
-->'''Kyoko:''' By the way, I have to admit, I'm curious... How did you know I wanted to talk to you about Sayaka?\\
'''Makoto:''' Oh, well... I'm psychic.\\
'''Kyoko:''' Huh...?\\
'''Makoto:''' Kidding... I just have pretty good intuition.
* ButThouMust:
** Makoto runs into this a few times, such as being unable to avoid his NiceJobBreakingItHero moment in Chapter 3 or tell Kyoko about what he saw in Chapter 4.
** You also aren't allowed to investigate Hifumi's body when you first find it, as Makoto has, [[FakingTheDead for some reason]], gotten the idea into his head that investigating the "murder weapon" is more important.
** During Chihiro's final Free Time conversation, Makoto is asked (obliquely) which guy would be best for helping him become stronger. Even if the player has played to the end of Chapter 2 and knows what is going to happen, the game still won't allow them to get out of that conversation without recommending Mondo.
** Averted during a choice in Chapter 5. Taking the "wrong" option there leads to the BadEnding, after which Makoto informs the player that it was probably the wrong thing to do, before the game cuts back to the choice.
** Chapter 6 plays on the trope — the mastermind, after being revealed, [[WeCanRuleTogether offers for the students to join them]]. Accepting only leads to them saying they were joking. Later on, the mastermind forces the player to pick one of three identical options, only to immediately declare the player's choice as correct before Makoto even gets the chance to respond in the game, just because they didn't want to bother waiting.
* BulletTime: [[BilingualBonus How]] [[IncrediblyLamePun apt]]. During Nonstop Debates, Makoto can concentrate, which is presented as slow motion. This allows the player more time to aim and fire the Ammunition at weak points.
* CallBack: If you accuse Hiro of poisoning the victim in Chapter 4, he will swear he's innocent "on my best, broken crystal ball", which is likely the one Kuwata broke in Chapter 1.
* CharactersDroppingLikeFlies: Per the game rules, 2-3 characters (the killer and up to two victims) must die per chapter. {{Subverted}} later on, though.
* ChekhovsBoomerang:
** Alter Ego. Early in Chapter 2, a laptop is found in the library and seems to be inoperable. It quietly disappears, although no one comments on it. Chapter 3 reveals that Chihiro had fixed it and installed his own program, Alter Ego, to analyze the contents of the laptop. In Chapter 4, the files are cracked, Alter Ego is hooked up to the school's network to search for more information and contact the outside world, and he is executed. Chapter 5 has a copy of Alter Ego, planted in the school's network when the original was hooked up, save Makoto from his execution, helping to set the stage for the final confrontation.
** The sixteenth student. There is an empty seat in the trial room: when asked about it, Monokuma says that the room was built with a capacity of sixteen people and that there's no further meaning to it. At the end of Chapter 2, Monokuma admits to TheMole there actually is a sixteenth student, but refuses to elaborate further beyond the fact that they're his "ace in the sleeve". Their identity is only discovered later, at the end of Chapter 4, and Chapter 5 has said student supposedly murdered. [[UpToEleven And then]] Chapter 6 reveals that it was an older body used, someone who died all the way in Chapter 1! Come the start of the last trial, and Monokuma takes the sixteenth seat.
* ChekhovsGun:
** The "Blast Off!" execution — the very first thing we see when beginning the game. While we don't get a direct answer for who was executed, it's heavily implied that it was Kyoko's father, the original headmaster.
** In Makoto's introduction, and throughout the game, he notes that if there's one thing that makes him unique, it's that he's slightly more optimistic than most people. At the ''very'' end, this makes him "Ultimate Hope", and thus the perfect counter to Ultimate Despair — optimism and hope are basically the same thing.
** Most cases have important evidence that's introduced well before the murder actually takes place, or may still seem irrelevant until the trial is underway. An example of this is Mondo and Kiyotaka's sauna duel.
** If Makoto spends time with Chihiro in Chapter 2, the topic of ArtificialIntelligence comes up. In Chapter 3, it is discovered that Chihiro installed an AI, known as Alter Ego, on a laptop, to help assist the survivors.
* ChekhovsGag:
** At the end of each chapter, an 8-bit sequence video would pop up where Monokuma walks up to the chapter's culprit and drags them away with "GAME OVER" being displayed on the screen. Come the last trial, where the mastermind is executed, and they go willingly with Monokuma whilst "CONGRATULATIONS!" is being displayed instead. It could be showing how hope has overcome despair, or alternatively, if "GAME OVER" was a message to the culprits, then "CONGRATULATIONS!" is a message to the mastermind, who wanted this execution [[KarmaHoudini and]] ''[[TheBadGuyWins succeeded.]]''
** Yasuhiro mentions in his free time events that his predictions have a 30% success rate. Indeed, out of the three predictions he makes over the course of the game, only one of them will ever end up coming true.
*** One of the predictions he makes is that that he and Makoto will each have a child by the same mother. If the player gets the Bad Ending, they each father a child with Aoi.
*** He also predicts that there will be no more murders from Chapter 3 onwards. This comes true in the Good Ending: Sakura commits suicide, Mukuro was killed back in chapter 1, Makoto gets saved from his execution by Alter Ego, and Junko executes herself.
* ChekhovsLecture: Some of the "Monokuma Theatre" segments foreshadow future events. One example is his lecture about the difference between "I killed someone" and "I ended up killing someone" — later, somebody is murdered, not out of intention but out of a loss of control on the culprit's part.
* ClosedCircle: All of the doors and windows in the academy are covered with steel bulkheads, and the school greenhouse has a painted blue sky over top.
* ClothingConcealedInjury: Towards the end of the game, it's revealed that the reason that Kyoko wears ConspicuousGloves all of the time is to hide the fact that her hands were badly burned during a case early in her detective career.
* CollectiveIdentity: The "Ultimate Despair" identity, or more accurately an ideology or concept, as described by the mastermind.
* ConvenientlySeated: The trial room placement has potential to spoil who survives. Like a protagonist, Makoto stares directly across from the empty seat that Junko would eventually take, Aoi and Yasuhiro border the same spot while Kyoko and Byakuya are respectively two spots away from them. Toko spoils the symmetry.
* ConvictionByContradiction: This actually gets subverted in the second trial after Mondo is subjected to a PullingTheThread plot. He yells out that he's being treated like a criminal without a scrap of evidence, which leads to Kyoko admitting that her reasoning is weak taken on its own.
* TheCorpseStopsHere: Most of the students have a tendency to leap to conclusions. The murderers may do it as an intentional gamble to make students convict the wrong person. Fortunately, Makoto is usually able to spot this and avoid it.
* CouldntFindAPen: Overlaps with DyingClue. In the first murder, Sayaka writes the digits "11037" on the wall next to her with her blood after being stabbed. In reality, the message is upside down, and it should read «Leon».
* CrapsackWorld: The results of the Despairing Incident. Monokuma faces are everywhere, buildings are razed, and people on the streets are beating and killing each other in the name of despair.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The executions, obviously. Each execution is specifically tailored to its victim, save the ones in the fifth case. In order:
** The Intro Excution: Tied into a rocket, shot into space, and then sent crashing back to Earth, with the heat from reentry reducing him to nothing but bones.
** Leon Kuwata: Dragged into a baseball cage and bombarded with baseballs until he dies.
** Mondo Owada: Tied to a bike and forced into a sphere cage, where he is sent on a ride that goes so fast he is literally melted into ''[[ArtisticLicenseChemistry butter]]'', [[ImAHumanitarian which Monokuma puts on a stack of pancakes and eats]].
** Celestia Ludenberg/Taeko Yasuhiro: Tied to a stake and is nearly burned to death in a Salem-style execution, which is exactly the kind of dramatic, romanticized death she would ''love'' to have... [[BaitAndSwitch so Monokuma runs her over with a fire truck instead]].
** Alter Ego: Smashed with the arm of a backhoe over and over until the laptop is turned into a ball, which is then decorated to resemble Monokuma's face.
** Kyoko Kirigiri (bad ending)/Makoto Naegi (good ending): Strapped to a ConveyorBeltODoom and rolled into a giant crusher where they are smashed into a pancake, all while Monokuma lectures them about sex ed. Makoto only survives when a virus planted by Alter Ego hacks the execution and saves him.
** Junko Enoshima: ''[[UpToEleven All of the above]]''. [[NightmareFetishist And she]] ''[[NightmareFetishist enjoys it]]''.
* DarkReprise: The music for the first two executions, "Blast Off!" and "The 1,000 Blows", feature [[RepriseMedley similar thematic elements to Monokuma's theme]]. Junko's execution theme seems to remix elements of nearly all the execution themes as well.
* DarkSecret: One of Monokuma's motives has him pass out cards to everyone with one of their biggest secrets written on it. He claims that if someone isn't murdered before 24 hours pass, he'll reveal these to the outside world. Only four of the dark secrets are revealed: Makoto's — because he's the player character — where he used to wet the bed until 5th grade. Chihiro's dark secret comes out during the investigation; Chihiro is actually a boy wearing girl's clothing, in a misguided attempt to avoid being bullied for being weak. After Mondo is revealed as the culprit, Monokuma reveals Mondo's secret for him: Mondo got his own big brother Daiya killed accidentally, and spread a lie saying his big brother got himself killed. Finally, Byakuya reveals during the trial that Toko's secret is her secondary personality: Genocide Jack. While Celeste's secret is not revealed, it's easy to guess that it has to do with her lying about her true name: Takeo Yasuhiro.
* DeadlyGame: The Killing School Life, which sets the formula for each installment in the franchise.
* DeadlyGraduation: The final ingredient in the despair the game is meant to inflict.
* DeathByAmbulance: At the end of the third trial, the killer is apparently set to be burned at the stake — only for a fire truck to barrel onto the scene, running over the guilty party.
* DeathByIrony: Monokuma [[InvokedTrope tailors his executions around this]], in addition to CruelAndUnusualDeath, and sometimes the murder victims have ironic deaths as well. There's more on this in the FridgeBrilliance section.
* DecoyProtagonist: Or rather, Decoy Deuteragonist. Throughout the prologue and most of Chapter 1 (up until the murder), Sayaka Maizono seems like she's going to be the {{Deuteragonist}} and LoveInterest to Makoto's protagonist: he obviously has a crush on her, they're {{Childhood Friend}}s, and she declares that she's going to be his assistant while they try to find a way out of the school. But then, as the twist to Chapter 1, Sayaka turns out to be the first murder victim, and it comes out during the class trial that she was planning to ''commit'' murder and frame Makoto for it, only to be killed by her would-be victim. From the trial onward, Kyoko Kirigiri (who, until then, was one of the least prominent students in the group due to being so quiet) gradually becomes a more and more important character; by the end of the game, her status as the true deuteragonist and Makoto's real love interest is solidified.
* DespairEventHorizon: Monokuma's stated objective is to bring despair. If the students don't start killing each other, he'll just keep pressing buttons until someone's pushed to the point where they murder.
* DespairGambit: Monokuma/Junko's goal extends to the ''entire world'': he broadcasts the footage of the world's best-of-the-best students murdering each other, to tear at the last shreds of hope left in the world after the Tragedy. This is inadvertently what screws Junko over in the end.
* DetectivesFollowFootprints: The notion of following footprints was brought up in the fourth case, and it actually gets used to disprove someone's involvement as the culprit.
* DidntSeeThatComing: The completely-destroyed Alter Ego saving Makoto's life at the last second during his execution, via a virus he implanted in the network. Kyoko lampshades this, stating that Monokuma could never have foreseen a being coming to their aid even after he'd killed it.
* DifficultyByRegion: Unintentional example with the solution to the first case: The numbers "11037" actually spelling "LEON" is obvious to English viewers with even a little bit of experience in puzzle games, whereas this hint was more obscure in the original Japanese, where characters referred to each other by their last names and wouldn't jump to the Latin alphabet for understanding the meaning behind the numbers.
* DiscussedTrope: Tropes are repeatedly discussed (especially towards the end), parodied, [[BreakingTheFourthWall and the fourth wall is broken repeatedly]]. Examples include the use of a DyingClue in chapter 1 and a digression on the LockedRoomMystery in Chapter 4.
* DoNotAdjustYourSet: The footage from the omnipresent security cameras is being broadcast nationwide as propaganda for the mastermind.
* DramaticIrony: Unlike the viewers, Makoto never actually got a look at the one who attacked him in the secret room at the end of Chapter 3, and so had no way of connecting that incident to the masked assailant who nearly stabbed him in the middle of Chapter 5.
* DubInducedPlotHole:
** In the original script, Monokuma simply told Makoto and Byakuya during the fifth investigation that Kyoko has something on her hands she wants no one to see, while NISA's script has him outright declaring that she's hiding hideous burn scars underneath her gloves. This leads to Byakuya seeming dumber/less observant by the fact that he still believes she's the victim after hearing that and then not comparing it to the corpse, which is free of any burn scars on the hands (while, Makoto's thoughts merely trail off towards the inconsistency of wearing gloves over fake nails).
** Byakuya calls the bloody classroom he finds on the fifth floor "like a battlefield" and the dub has Monokuma telling the two to "soldier on" in solving the room's mystery, as if to imply Mukuro did it. This line wasn't in the original, and LightNovel/DanganronpaZero reveals that [[spoiler:a battle did take place in the location]]. Years later, in ''Anime/Danganronpa3'', [[spoiler:we finally get to see said battle. Though Mukuro actually was present (and did indeed kill someone there), most of the killing was done by the student council themselves]].
* DubNameChange:
** A few minigames in the Class Trial (Machine-Gun Talk Battle became Bullet Time Battle, Flashing Anagrams became Hangman's Gambit, and Climax Inference became Closing Statement with Climax Inference as a subtitle).
** Amusingly, a minor character gets a rather hilariously awesome one. Sakura's boyfriend goes from Kenichirou to... [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]].
** Doubling as SpellMyNameWithAnS, NISA's translation removed the U in Kyouko and Touko's names.
* DutchAngle: Several times in trial, especially during Non-Stop Debates, the camera will show the characters from an inclined perspective.
* DyingClue: Two examples:
** Overlaps with CouldntFindAPen in the first case. As Sayaka is bleeding to death from her stab wound, she uses her blood to write "11037" on the wall beside her. It's actually the name of her killer, LEON Kuwata, but she wrote it upside down from the point of view of the investigators (and the crossbar on the N was incomplete).
** Hifumi, the second victim in the third case, tries to speak the name of his killer, but cannot talk clearly as he had been bludgeoned over the head and was near death. His last words are "...a...k... Yasuhiro". The real culprit, Celestia Ludenberg (real name Taeko Yasuhiro), uses this to frame Yasuhiro Hagakure, whom she had intended to take the fall for the murders, but it's pointed out that Hifumi had an idiosyncratic habit of referring to people by [[FullNameBasis their full names]] (original) or [[LastNameBasis their last names]] (localization).
* DynamicAkimbo: Junko Enoshima [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/danganronpa/images/3/33/Junko_Enoshima_Fullbody_Sprite_%281%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20170331094043 uses this]] for the sprite representing her "queenly" personality.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Tropes for School Mode]]

* AlternateUniverse: Sayaka's ending strongly implies that School Mode takes place in this. School Mode!Makoto even has a flashback from Chapter 1 of the main story!

[[folder:Tropes for the Stage Play]]

The sequel also included a side story by Ryohgo Narita of ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' fame titled ''Danganronpa IF: The Button of Hope and the Tragic Warriors of Despair'', a WhatIf scenario where Makoto manages to obtain an item called the "Escape Switch" from the gift machine before the first murder occurs, dramatically changing the events that transpire. Please put all tropes relating to the IF scenario specifically in the appropriate section below.

[[folder:Tropes for ''Danganronpa IF'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/danganronpa_if.png]]
* ACupAngst: Junko insults Mukuro's chest size (and general skinniness) a few times. Not that she seems to care.
* AdaptationalHeroism: Mukuro's characterization here runs counter to her later portrayal in ''Anime/Danganronpa3: Despair Arc'', which was a prequel to the first game. In both cases, she starts out as [[DevotedToYou completely devoted to Junko]]. In ''3'', her devotion crosses into a masochistic and borderline incestuous level. In ''IF'', Mukuro notes that she explicitly isn't a masochist, and her participation in spreading Despair has less to do with an actual fanatical belief as it does with her simply wanting to make Junko happy. One potential interpretation is that it was Makoto later influencing her that led to her eventual mindset in ''IF.''
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Junko invokes this to give Mukuro despair, suggesting [[ShipperOnDeck Naegi and Kyoko make a cute couple]] [[MythologyGag who would probably survive the entire game together]] (not that that stops her from wanting to save him).
* AmnesiacDissonance: The mastermind plans to invoke this with Mukuro as part of her punishment.
* ApologizesALot: The story quite disturbingly reveals this to be the case from Mukuro, regarding her sister.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When everyone affirms that they wouldn't ever be tempted to kill each other:
-->'''Monokuma:''' What do you think, Sayaka? Do ''you'' agree that no one here would kill a classmate?
* AscendedExtra: Mukuro Ikusaba ascends to protagonist status after Makoto gets severely wounded by one of the Gungnir spears.
** In the original game, there was a hidden "Escape Button" item that unlocks a video of [[EverybodyLives everybody leaving the school]]. The same switch is the instigator of the events that led to IF, likely showing how the secret video or a similar event could come to pass.
* TheAtoner: Lending credence to her final actions in the main story being done in atonement, Sayaka decides to tell Leon and Makoto that she had planned to kill the former and frame the latter for his death once she had her MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment below.
* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: For the two Ultimate Despair sisters, bringing each other despair is a really twisted form of affection. As such, the most heartbreaking thing Junko can say to Mukuro is "I know you'll make all your dreams come true someday."
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Junko accuses this of being the reason why Mukuro is so intent on saving Makoto's life and brutally mocks her for it, with plenty of disturbing innuendo to boot. During the two years spent at Hope's Peak, Makoto was the first person to smile at her, despite her title of Ultimate Soldier. In fact, Mukuro is always looking straight at Makoto in class photos--and according to WordOfGod, if she's looking into the camera, that means he's the photographer.
* BecomingTheMask: After talking to Makoto in the infirmary, Mukuro jokes about how Makoto would be the only person she wouldn't be willing to kill. However, afterwards, she's left confused as she's not sure whether she was actually being serious or not, and whether that was something she or Junko would say.
* BigDamnHeroes: Just when Mukuro is about to be overwhelmed by hordes of Monokumas, Mondo rescues her atop a motorcycle to get her to safety. Ironically, this is the same motorcycle that was prepared for his possible execution, and actually utilized in the game proper to do so.
** Later, Sakura holds off the countless Monokuma units so that Mondo and Mukuro can escape to safety.
* BigNo: Mukuro ends up screaming this after the realization that Makoto, the boy she has a crush on, is currently dying because he got impaled by a spear that was originally meant for her. Her narration states this to be the only time in her life in which she screams out in despair.
* BilingualBonus: The narration (describing Mukuro's feelings) at one point compares Makoto to a sapling of pure honesty, taken root in her heart. Now read his entry under MeaningfulName...
* BittersweetEnding: The students manage to get hold of the real escape switch, and everyone manages to escape. But Junko is still alive at the end, the world is still a hostile place due to her and Ultimate Despair's machinations, and Mukuro Ikusaba is now both a traitor to Ultimate Despair and a world-class criminal to many of the people opposing them. However, the world now knows that Junko is responsible for The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History, and Mukuro now has a reason to live other than pleasing her sister.
* BookEnds: The story begins and ends with Makoto holding an Escape Switch.
* CanonDiscontinuity: In his narration, Monokuma frequently points out that ''IF'' is only a possibility, and not the true canon ending. This holds true since [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair the sequel]] has cameos of the six survivors.
* CarFu: Mondo performs a reverse wheelie that smashes against a wave of Monokumas with the back end of the motorcycle he was on. [[BadassBiker All without hitting Mukuro, who those Monokuma were pinning down]] (before grabbing her and driving off).
* ClueFromEd: The title screen notes that the text refers to characters from ''LightNovel/DanganronpaZero''. The "IF Monokuma Theater" prologue serves as an additional one by suggesting that the reader should beat the first game and see Mukuro's free-time events.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Monokuma suggests the students are going to do this to Makoto once the two "terrorists" are caught (such as pouring soy sauce in his wounds). Mukuro has little difficulty believing Byakuya might actually do it (though in the main story we hear him dismissing torture as a barbaric method of extracting information).
* CombatPragmatism: Soon after being outed as an accomplice to Junko, Mukuro is forced into a head-to-head fist fight with Sakura. The two clash for several rounds, all the while Mukuro states that in terms of combating "The Ultimate Martial Artist", she would ordinarily choose sniping or poison. In the end, Mukuro makes tactical use of Toko's "Genocide Jack" persona to cause a distraction that allows her to recover Makoto and make an exit from the battle.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: After Leon attacks Monokuma for her sake, a clearly guilt-ridden Sayaka tells him there's something she needs to confess to him later. Leon assumes it's going to be a LoveConfession and is practically bouncing off the walls, not hearing the part where she's also going to confess to Makoto.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: In-game, the Monokuma units prove to be practically indestructible, so much that even Sakura can't destroy one whilst needing a day's worth resting from the mere encounter. Here, the little monsters go down in droves, with one falling to Leon of all people (to say nothing of the headcount earned by the fighters). This may have been given an in-story justification with Mukuro's narration claiming that controlling more than one Monokuma at a time (let alone 30) is a task of such Herculean difficulty that only the sheer willpower granted by Junko's need to bring despair allows her to pull it off.
* DecoyProtagonist: Makoto Naegi. The story starts from his perspective, but after he takes the spear that was meant to kill Mukuro, he's out of commission for most of the story.
* DefectorFromDecadence: What triggers Mukuro's HeelFaceTurn. Specifically, Makoto saving her from the Spears of Gungnir while getting severely wounded by one himself.
* DemotedToExtra: Despite being officially a main character behind Makoto and Kyoko, Byakuya is hardly featured. This is justified to an extent, as many of the things that defined his character in the game (such as his interactions with Toko and his decision to ally himself with the remaining students in Chapter 4) happen later in the story and thus don't happen here, but it's still notable when the death of his family --something which he has a significant breakdown over in the game -- is brought up rather off-handedly in the epilogue and though he's still stated to be shocked by the revelation, the story doesn't dwell much on it.
* DistressedDude: After Makoto takes the blow for Mukuro that was meant to kill her, she has to carry him to the infirmary to save him from dying.
* DomesticAbuse: Well, "Sororal Abuse" if you want to get fussy, but Mukuro is heavily implied to be on the receiving end of this from Junko.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Junko certainly doesn't make it easy for the students to escape the academy.
* EverybodyLives: Aside from expanding on Mukuro's characterization, this seems to be the point of the story.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Junko dismisses the concept of everyone working together as "boring" and "cheating".
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: As she's cradling the broken Monokuma with her sister's voice still feeding through its speakers, Mukuro tells Junko that their plan was inherently flawed because it required the students' school memories to be erased. Knowing they would never kill each other otherwise, by this act she's admitting that their hope was too strong for her to beat, thereby undoing the entire point she so badly wanted to prove to the world. Junko simply responds by once again calling her a disappointment.
* FastballSpecial: Mukuro and Sakura improvise one to get through the exploding Monokuma corridor during Junko's "final exam".
* FixFic: Even though it's official, it probably counts.
* ForWantOfANail: The shape of the story changes ''drastically'' all because of Makoto winning a fake escape switch and getting sick with a severe fever caused by electrocution when he presses it, leading him to regain his lost memories.
* FullFrontalAssault: Mukuro lets explosions burn all of her clothes off when charging for the switch of the main gate ([[FanDisservice while also badly searing her skin]]).
* TheHeart: Despite being impaled and in considerable pain, Makoto calmly talks the paranoid and confused group into uniting and giving Mukuro, the self-admitted terrorist, a chance to speak. He does this by talking though the bonds and secrets he shared with the others, including Sakura's hidden rivalry and Toko's next novel, proving the trust each of them shared before having their memories erased.
* HeelFaceTurn: Done by Mukuro after Makoto saved her from getting impaled by the Gungnir spears, getting severely wounded himself in the process.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Making up for [[WeHardlyKnewYe how little screen-time she got originally]], Mukuro's the protagonist (and the first one to lack any kind of [[IdiotHair ahoge]]). This is because of her sister's plan to kill her, which was successful in the original game, failing here.
* HopeSpot: Junko's love for [[YankTheDogsChain yanking chains]] is how Mukuro knows the Escape Switch she dangles before them is real. She's deliberately creating a hope spot so she can drink in their despair when they fail. Also, on the off chance they do succeed, she can experience the despair of watching her plan fail.
* HyperAwareness: Kyoko notices a specific bed sticking out more than the others in the infirmary, because of Mukuro [[CeilingCling clinging to the bed's underside by its frame]]. Chihiro is also in the room, and can't tell any difference at all.
* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Genocide Jill reacts badly to Makoto's spear-related injury... mainly because she thinks he deserves better than such a sloppy kill.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Mukuro spends the second half of the story fighting with an IV stand she used to block Monokuma's claw in the infirmary, which both sliced one end off and sharpened it to a pointed tip. [[JavelinThrower Her final gambit involves using it as a javelin on the Monokuma holding the real escape switch]].
* IndyPloy: Mukuro manages to escape the other students by wrenching Toko's sights towards the bloodied arm wound she got from Sakura, unleashing Genocide Jack as a distraction.
* IronicEcho: Several {{Call Back}}s to the original game are used in diametrically different fashion, particularly Leon using Yasuhiro's "crystal" ball to save Sayaka, Mondo's bike being used of his own accord, and Sakura refusing to let someone make a HeroicSacrifice out of [[TheAtoner atonement]].
* KungFuClairvoyance: Ikusaba manages to dodge roughly 3 Monokumas attacking her ''per second'' (at one point during a mid-air battle).
* LoveMartyr: Ikusaba has several traits of this towards her sister.
* LoveRedeems: One of the biggest reasons why Mukuro performed a HeelFaceTurn was due to her feelings for Makoto and her desire to protect him.
* MillionToOneChance: The chances of anyone winning the fake Escape Switch from the [=MonoMono=] Machine are 0.00000001%. Makoto manages to win it in one go.
* MoralityPet: Makoto is this to Mukuro to the point where, even before she drops the facade of posing as Junko, she admits that Makoto is the one person she refuses to kill.
* MultiMookMelee: Junko sends multiple Monokumas after Mukuro, eventually cranking it up to a full-on [[TheWarSequence War Sequence]] through sheer numbers.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: Monokuma (not-so-jokingly) suggests that Mukuro take out Kyoko for this reason, as the main romantic rival in her way for Makoto's affections. In reality, the two girls help each other out in defeating her sister.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Sayaka almost breaks down when Monokuma intends to reveal her plan to kill someone and frame Makoto for it. It didn't help that he also emphasized how the students had been her friends for two years.
* NervesOfSteel: Without missing a beat, Kyoko walks into the infirmary and points out Mukuro's hiding spot with the offer to hear her out before making a judgement call. Keep in mind that the information given so far insisted that this person was a dangerous criminal that everyone just saw fist-fighting near-equally against ''Sakura''.
* NewGamePlus: Junko gloats about planning to [[InvertedTrope invert]] this by erasing everyone's memories and re-entering Mukuro into the game... as ''herself'', but with a wiped memory so that she doesn't recall who she was or her role in everything. Naturally, this is all for the ''despair'' that'll follow when everyone eventually discovers the AwfulTruth of her identity.
* NotHelpingYourCase: Some of the first words out of Mukuro's mouth in response to Monokuma (under the guise of being hacked by someone trying to rescue the students) claiming that her and Makoto are Fenrir terrorists is to yell out that ''he's'' not a terrorist. Kiyotaka points out to her the claim doesn't deny the accusation against her being a terrorist, and politely asks her to correct her statement to include herself. Worse yet, Celeste zeros in on the fact that she's clearly trying to help someone she's supposed to have met only a few days ago (hinting at some other connection).
* NotSoStoic: Mukuro is rather impassive until she's standing up for Makoto.
* OneManArmy: Living up to her title, Mukuro personally destroys countless Monokumas and manages to outsmart most of the students when they initially turn on her. During said Monokuma fight, the narration explicitly states that as Mukuro was at that moment, she would have been an even match in a pure fist-fight with Sakura; and that is to say nothing of all of her other forms of combat proficiency.
* OrganTheft: Makoto mentions, as he's describing his restored memories, that he nearly had his organs stolen by yakuza pursuing Yasuhiro (following up on a free time event where he asked Makoto to donate some). In the localization, Yasuhiro ''handed him over'' to the yakuza.
* RedemptionEarnsLife:
** Mukuro, [[SacrificialLamb one of the original game's earliest kills]].
** Sayaka as well; she begins the ill-fated attempt on Leon's life that would have gotten her killed in the canon story, but loses her nerve when she finds Makoto suffering from a fever.
* SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: It's revealed here that Mukuro's title refers exclusively to combat and that she's actually terrible at negotiations or diplomacy (shown when she tries to convince the other students she's not their enemy). But when it comes to pure combat, she proves to be effectively unstoppable.
* SequelHook: As they're escaping, Junko states that they'll have to return if they want the key to restoring their memories. She also references an "[[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair interesting island]]". [[labelnote:note (Caution: Contains SDR2 spoilers)]]Strangely enough, as the ''IF'' story is a special feature earned by beating ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', the reader would have to already know that Junko ''didn't'' set up the situation on Jabberwock Island; she hijacked a plan that Makoto and the other survivors only came up with after leaving the school and meeting the Future Foundation.[[/labelnote]]
* ShipTease: Mukuro and Makoto, and a twisted version with Mukuro and Junko.
* ShutUpHannibal: Several, but particularly ironic is when Leon interrupts Monokuma's attempt to [[BreakThemByTalking break Sayaka]]. ''By throwing Yasuhiro's crystal ball''. Some things never change, it seems.
* SkewedPriorities: When Mukuro Ikusaba admits her identity to the class by taking off her blonde wig, Kiyotaka's first reaction is to chide her for wearing one against school regulations.
* SorryIFellOnYourFist: Internally -- and later externally -- Mukuro apologizes for surviving the Gungnir spears and thus denying her sister the despair of murdering a loved one.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Makoto becomes one once he tries the Escape Switch. The chemical reactions caused by him getting electrocuted-ly stung by a needle makes him so sick that he collapses when Sayaka comes over to suggest the room switch that led to the first murder, and when he wakes up, his memories start to return and he saves Mukuro from being impaled. This causes her HeelFaceTurn and sends the plot wildly off the tracks.
* StockholmSyndrome: Referenced when the (fake) Ultimate Hacker tries to convince Mondo not to help Mukuro.
* TakingTheBullet: Makoto shouts Mukuro's name, surprising her into jumping out of the way while he runs to where she was and ends up taking a Gungnir spear to the side for her.
* TapOnTheHead: Sakura attempts this on Mukuro, aiming a chop to the back of her neck. Mukuro's being able to parry this was something of an EstablishingCharacterMoment for her.
* TitleDrop: ''Danganronpa'' is worked into the big MultiMookMelee fight scene.
* UnbrokenVigil: Sayaka spent the entire night by Makoto's side in the infirmary after he passed out (perhaps in guilt for what she was about to do). She's stopped later by Kiyotaka suggesting a shift system, which leaves him waking up beside Mukuro in disguise (which he might not have if Byakuya hadn't decided to skip out on his turn).
* UnluckilyLucky: Mukuro can't decide if the spears failing to hit Makoto's major arteries is [[BornLucky miraculously lucky]] or [[BornUnlucky horribly unlucky]].
* VillainProtagonist: Subverted with Mukuro. She undergoes a HeelFaceTurn early on in the story thanks to Junko's attempt to murder her and Makoto saving her life.
* WeNeedADistraction: Realizing she is at a disadvantage in her fist-fight with Sakura, Mukuro opts to distract her by forcing Toko to become Genocide Jack. As Jack is ''very'' distracting, this allows Mukuro to escape the gym with Makoto.
* WhamLine: For Sakura, Makoto trying to reassure her about Kenichirou.
* XanatosSpeedChess: After Makoto saves Mukuro, Junko assumes the persona of Besshiki Madarai, Ultimate Hacker, and pretends to have hijacked Monokuma, claiming that Mukuro and Makoto are the ones responsible for trapping them in the school.
* XanatosGambit: Implied by the fact that Monokuma knew all along that Makoto had gotten hold of the escape switch, and thus Junko was willing to accept whatever outcome this brought upon her.
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: This is what Mukuro's whole response to Monokuma's [[BlatantLies blatant lie]] amounts to.
[[/folder]]

An [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-12-07/persona-4-kishi-directs-danganronpa-game-tv-anime anime adaptation]] aired as part of the Summer2013Anime season. Creator/{{Funimation}} [[http://www.funimation.com/shows/danganronpa-the-animation is streaming it for those in the US]], and has [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-04-04/funimation-announces-danganronpa-anime-english-dub-cast/.86761 dubbed the series as well]] in 2015. For the dubbed anime, the only returning voice actor from the original game was Naegi's.

[[folder:Tropes for the Animation]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/47913.png]]
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: The number of episodes clocks in at 13, unsurprisingly.
* TwelveEpisodeAnime: Thirteen-Episode Anime actually, as said above. While the short length may make it seem too rushed at times at the cost of character development, [[ThirteenIsUnlucky it's hard to deny that the number suits the series well]].
* AdaptationalContextChange: Kiyotaka does the "forget-it beam" in both the game and the anime. The game has him doing it when Makoto talks to him during the Chapter 1 investigation, when he almost reveals that the nameplates were switched before realizing Makoto could be the killer. In the anime, on the other hand, he does it the morning after his sauna duel with Mondo while asking Makoto to forget about who won.
* AdaptationDistillation:
** The introductions for all of the other students are toned down to a few sentences, whereas in the game they received several short paragraphs. The pacing of the story moves much more quickly. How much more quickly? [[http://howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=11730 The game averages 25-36 hours of content]] to the anime's 5-6 hours, and it only speeds up following Sakura's death in Episode 9: in the game, this is marked as the halfway point.
** The origin of the golden sword in Makoto's room is changed from he and Sayaka taking it from the gym for defense to one of Monokuma's "housewarming gifts" meant to murder other students with.
** Byakuya's knowledge of the Genocide Jack cases comes from prior knowledge from the Togami residence instead of being the only one to read about them in the library.
** The quick visit to the locker room, in which Kyoko shows the other students Chihiro's corpse to prove that Chihiro is a boy, is cut out entirely.
** In the game, Taka goes to Makoto's room and asks him to take him to Alter Ego, leading to his becoming "Kiyondo" and Makoto being scolded by Kyoko. In the anime, he's present for the first encounter with Alter Ego.
** The anime in general is heavily truncated, which is an often cited criticism. How truncated? The end of Sakura's trial is explicitly marked in the game as the halfway point. It happens in episode 9 in the anime.
* AdaptationExpansion:
** The scene preceding Leon's execution is made ''much'' more gut-wrenching as Leon [[UndignifiedDeath desperately tries to escape through the door while futilely pleading for his life]], really driving the point home of how utterly ''terrified'' he is of death.
** The scene before Mondo's execution in which Kiyotaka breaks down in tears and begs Monokuma not to kill him was considered somewhat {{narm}}y in the game due to how over-the-top Taka's reactions are, but the anime's more realistic rendition is truly ''[[TearJerker heartbreaking]]''. By the end of the execution, he's reduced to a [[InelegantBlubbering blubbering mess]] and is even leaning over a puddle of his own ''tears''.
** It may seem like an odd thing to bother animating, but during the investigation montage in episode 1, Yasuhiro can be seen flipping through a magazine in the laundry room. In the game, it's possible to find him there mentioning he's about to start doing his laundry.
** In episode 4, they give a shot of Chihiro working on something that anyone who played the game will recognize. How and when Chihiro had time for this was never explained in the game, and its existence was only foreshadowed in a Free-Time Event you may not see. The anime gives us a little more direct foreshadowing and explanation.
** In an act of foreshadowing, Chihiro is using his male-exclusive toolkit.
** In episode 6, the entire remaining cast gets to see the first suspicious class photo courtesy of Alter Ego, rather than Makoto simply stumbling upon it.
** In episode 10, the reason why the remaining students suggest that Makoto hold onto the survival knife found on the fifth floor is explained as Yasuhiro and Hina being untrustworthy after their actions in the fourth class trial.
** In the final episode, Makoto doesn't just spout out "You must not lose hope!" alone but goes on a whole RousingSpeech for each of the surviving students to keep their hope up, tailored to each specific student.
** In the manga adaptation for the anime, Junko briefly gloats about how since Kyoko's father hoped the school would protect her, Makoto can't count on her to vote for hope alongside him. [[NearVillainVictory While it seems as though hope is lost for a moment]], Makoto manages to convince her.
* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: In the game, Chihiro brings up the possibility that the infamous Genocide Jack has locked them up, and Toko wears a worried look on her face with some VisibleSilence, before freaking out when Aoi says that the police will surely arrive to help them (as if to imply she's afraid of getting caught for her crimes). Here, the discussion never turns to Genocide Jack at all and Toko freaks out over nothing when Aoi says the same (the dub got around this by changing the context to have Toko agree that the police arriving would be a good thing... [[OutOfCharacterMoment which is a whole other can of worms]]).
* AdaptationalHeroism:
** While Byakuya's still a huge {{Jerkass}}, at least he doesn't openly and contemptuously talk about his plans to eventually be the successful blackened. He also has more pragmatic reasons for tampering with the crime scene of Chihiro's murder, stating it to be a test of his classmates' abilities and a way to throw the real killer off guard, whereas in the game he did it [[ForTheEvulz partly for his own twisted amusement]] and partly to find out which of his classmates would be the biggest threat to him when he decides to become the blackened.
** In the game, Celeste proudly declares that she has a LackOfEmpathy when asked how she could murder Hifumi and, by proxy, Kiyotaka, in such a cold-blooded fashion. This is omitted from the anime, and while her selfish motive remains unchanged and she thus remains the least sympathetic culprit by far assuming that motive wasn't another one of her lies, it does make her a bit more human.
* AdaptationalIntelligence: A lot of the observations and points that were up to the player to point out in the original game are things that some of the other characters figure out on their own in the animation. Also, Chihiro did a lot more work trying to figure out the "11037" clue from a number code angle, running it through every decryption method he knew even before the trial trying to make sense of it, rather than merely apologizing and saying he didn't know when asked.
** Another noteworthy example is in the final class trial, only [[TheDitz Hagakure]] leaps to the conclusion that a class photo he was gven featuring everyone except him means that this entire ordeal is a grand conspiracy against him that everyone (including all the people who died) was in on. Nobody else thinks that way, with Byakuya having outright guessed right away that it was what the Mastermind wanted them all to believe and thus not falling for it. In the game, however, everyone except for Makoto and Kyoko, ''including'' Byakuya, came to this same absurd conclusion until all of their photos were shared.
* AdaptationalJerkass: The generally-honorable Kyoko in a single act from episode 11. In the game's fifth trial, suspicion jumps between Makoto and Kyoko several times before settling on the planted locker key. Based on a later line to Byakuya, she probably wanted to prove that the trial was a trap by showing that none of the students could have done it, except she miscalculated the mastermind executing someone else in desperation. When time runs out with all the suspicion on Makoto, she first argues at Monokuma [[MovingTheGoalposts for inventing a rule]] and then [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone looks thoroughly disgusted with herself]], calling her own actions [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable]] and trying to tell Makoto she's sorry and that she'll avenge him in what look like the last moments of his life. In the animation, however, no suspicion ever falls on Makoto ([[AdaptationDistillation since the trial gets condensed to roughly 10 minutes]]) and he later moves the discussion towards the whole trial seeming questionable without the provocation of trying to defend himself like in the game. When time runs out in this version of the trial, she tells a bold-faced lie about him planting the locker key in her room -- which was originally an explanation brought up by Byakuya in the absence of a suspect -- after he just defended her when she was backed furthest into the corner. We never see her show the same intense regret over her sending him to his death, and her lengthy apology in the trash dump was also cut very short. While removing the player choice was necessary, this set-up ends up making her look a lot more petty and cold-hearted.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Leon gets a downplayed example, due to Celeste's FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse line being ommitted--when Leon tries to rationalize that Sayaka's murder was done in self-defense, the focus is placed more on his misfortune of being her chosen victim than anything, to the point that he hysterically points out that anyone of them would've done the same if they were in his place.
* AffectionateNickname: In the English dub, Kyoko occasionally gets her name shortened to "Kiri" (mostly by Makoto).
* AutoTune: Used in the credits theme, "Zetsubōsei: Hero Chiryōyaku" ("Despairity: A Hero's Treatment").
* BareYourMidriff: Sayaka's idol outfit gets changed to this.
* BoobsAndButtPose: Aoi's portrait seen in the opening is one of these. [[https://www.eschergirls.com/photo/2013/04/16/viridian-plains It may or may not be anatomically possible to pull off]].
* {{Bowdlerise}}: The first execution is ''noticeably'' censored in the broadcast version, specifically as [[GoryDiscretionShot there's FAR more focus on the surroundings (and specifically the machine that delivers said death) than on the victim]].
* CallBack: During the trial in episode 7, Monokuma can be seen eating pancakes with the butter Mondo was turned into in the previous episode.
* CatchPhrase:
** The dub changes Makoto's "sore wa chigau yo" from a proper catch phrase to a more context-sensitive rebuttal, i.e. "I can prove you wrong," "that's where you’re wrong," "no, that wasn't the weapon", and "it's close but not quite" (etc.)
** There was a point the script-writers contextually could have mimicked NISA's official translation to "No, that's wrong," but LipLock presumably forced them to change it to "No, that’s incorrect!"
* CluelessMystery: Each chapter in the animation rushes through the investigation phase, so that many of the clues and witness accounts which were originally detailed in the investigation phase are instead only revealed or properly explained in the middle of the class trials. This means you are always one step behind the characters in terms of what they know, and can't really solve the mystery as you go along unless you've beaten the visual novel already.
* DeadpanSnarker: The dub's script changes everybody's dialogue to sound more snappy and sarcastic.
* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The opening theme. Could also apply to Hope's Peak Academy in general.
* DiesWideOpen: [[http://i44.tinypic.com/2m4f5aw.png Chihiro is found like this]].
* EvolvingCredits:
** The ending credits. The first episode has a blank screen, but the second episode features an empty classroom, with Naegi and the first dead characters. More characters are added as they die.
** Any trial/execution episodes would skip the opening and "Makoto plus dead students" ending scene, instead showing how the trial is about to begin, and the students' horrified reactions on the executions respectively. Episode 7 is the exception to this opening rule, as the episode begins not with the trial, but with the discovery of Yasuhiro in the Justice Robo outfit. As of Episode 10, the surviving students are also included. And in the final episode when the picture is back, the fake Junko has been replaced by Mukuro while the real Junko stands behind Makoto.
** Starting in episode 6, the opening credits add Toko switching into her Genocide Jack personality.
* {{Fanservice}}: Like in the game's chapter 3, Episode 6 opens with Aoi crying on her bed... while wearing nothing but a revealing sleeping suit.
* FemaleGaze:
** In episode 4, Makoto has a very detailed ShowerOfAngst while recalling the first murder and trial. This is later followed by Mondo and Kiyotaka's sauna scene.
** Let's not forget Kiyotaka in Episode 6 walking out of the baths wearing nothing but a small ModestyTowel, with the camera initially fixated on his backside.
* FloweryInsults: In the dub, Celeste calls Hifumi a "corpulent bootlicker" while getting him to move quicker with her tea.
* ForeignLanguageTheme: The opening theme is mostly in SurprisinglyGoodEnglish, featuring a rap outfit from Delaware called the 49ers, while the bridge is in French.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Sayaka reintroduces herself to Makoto during Episode 1, Junko can clearly be seen behind her, fiddling with one of her MegaTwinTails with an odd expression. It's because she's actually Mukuro, and not used to having such long hair.
** During the {{Mole}} scene in episode 5, Monokuma says he can tell them anything "aside from my three sizes", giving away that the mastermind is a woman.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: During the 2nd trial in episode 5, you'll often spy Monokuma eating honey as he did in the 1st trial. This may also double as a ShoutOut to ''Literature/WinnieThePooh''.
* {{Gonk}}: Monokuma's animation is noticeably more cartoony than the other characters, though this is probably deliberate.
* GoryDiscretionShot: The broadcast version of Leon's execution focuses on the pitching machine instead of Leon's beaten body. It is shown uncensored in the DVD/Blu-Ray version and in the English dub (which was never meant for broadcast).
* KiManipulation: Sakura sometimes uses these for dramatic effect, such as having her fist light up in flames or appear to be 'powering up'.
* KickTheDog: Monokuma further shows how much of a bastard he is in episode 7 by eating the Mondo Butter pancake throughout the whole trial, as if sentencing Mondo to his execution wasn't demeaning enough.
* LamePunReaction: Yasuhiro has one of these in the dub when Byakuya describes the serial killer he's calling out as "A Syo and a No-Show."
* LastNameBasis:
** The dub takes this convention even further than any other translation, with Toko calling Byakuya by his last name instead of "Byakuya-sama/Master Byakuya," Aoi occasionally switching to "Ohgami" (h-sound emphasized) and Makoto's own mother dropping "Makoto-kun" for the usual Naegi as if it were his first name.
** In early episodes of the original Japanese, Aoi called Sakura "Ogami-san," before switching to her first name.
* LaughingMad: The 12th episode ends with Junko's wild cackling echoing in the court room, and close-ups of the surviving students with unnerved expressions.
* LipLock: Kyoko has a brief moment in episode 7 where Creator/CaitlinGlass is speaking without any MouthFlaps.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: 'Junko' [[ValleyGirl keeping character]] after being impaled in the dub probably counts.
-->"Okay... not-gonna-lie, kinda weird... it's, uh... I dunno, really?" *'''she expires'''*
* MaleGaze:
** The OP features profile pictures of all of the students (just like in the game), including Asahina. There is a [[FreezeFrameBonus split-second]] close up on her boobs.
** In the final episode, there's quite a bit of focus on Junko Enoshima's breasts. They even appear to be a bit bigger than from the game.
* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: In Episode 9, when Aoi reveals what she thinks is Sakura's suicide note, [[ManipulativeBastard Monokuma]] starts giggling in the background.
* MoodWhiplash: Monokuma attacking "Junko Enoshima" with his claws out for refusing to participate in the class trial, followed by her promptly stomping on his face, followed by what happens to her as a result.
* MrFanservice: Kiyotaka is the go-to guy who'd go topless (especially when sauna is involved) and shows off his well-built muscles on the chest.
* MythologyGag: The game's targeting reticle is often used as an [[IdiosyncraticWipes Idiosyncratic Wipe]], and the loading screen before Makoto's motivational DVD starts is the same loading screen from the game.
* TheNicknamer: In the dub, Monokuma seemingly has a demeaning new name every time he addresses the students.
* NoCartoonFish: Played in a weird way. The series has Monokuma occasionally holding a live salmon to keep up the bear motif. At one point he uses it as a punching bag to relieve stress.
* OffModel: There is actually a manga adaption of the anime (not to be confused with the manga adaptation of the game, which is very different). To say its art is bad would be an understatement.
* {{Ondo}}: The opening of Episode 4 is one, appropriately titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruz4PXSYZKo Monokuma Ondo]]." Appropriately, it looks look a Bullet Time Battle.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/danganronpa/images/2/2b/Monthly_Animedia_October_2013_-_DRtA_-_Chihiro_Fujisaki_Kyoko_Kirigiri_Makoto_Naegi.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140730153145 One Halloween-themed piece]] of SideStoryBonusArt made for advertisement has Kyoko dressed as a vampire and in the midst of plucking one glove off with her teeth. This whole sequence is ''extraordinarily'' out of character.
* PinkySwear: Makoto and Kyoko link pinkies before she heads off into danger. He's making her promise to come back safely.
* PragmaticAdaptation:
** Many of the characters' backstories are condensed or left out in order to accommodate for the show's length.
** Significant details on the setting are also left out. For instance, the anime completely skips over the revelation of how one room in the library is filled with top-secret documents, files, and records from all over the world, and chooses to focus solely on how it has important files on Genocide Jack.
** In episode 5 the trial skips important details about the victim's identity as a whole (in the game we find out about Chihiro's "secret" when Sakura inspects the body in front of everyone, but in the anime, Kyoko finds out off-screen and then explains it in the trial). However, Genocide Jack's ''very'' dramatic trial appearance and [[DespairEventHorizon a certain character's reactions]] to the trial's results and the execution that follow are expanded.
** Episode 7 skips a lot of several important details (such as Hifumi's tendency on calling people in last name-first name order, which reveals Celeste being the mastermind behind that trial). However, some of the cut off parts might end up for a better light on Celeste. In the anime, her statement that she has a LackOfEmpathy and has no problems in manipulating and disposing others for her own gain was removed, removing some of her unsympathetic points, and on the other hand, only Makoto was shown noticing her bluff instead of him and Byakuya, making her scheme less blunder-filled. On the other hand, however, Makoto's monologue about how Celeste was faking her smile to hide her fear of death was ''also'' removed.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: In the English dub Celeste offhandedly [[NotBad compliments]]/[[DoubleSpeak condescends]] Kyoko playing into her plan by happening across Yasuhiro in the pool locker with "First-rate detective work, Kiri. What were you on the outside, an {{amateur sleuth}}?"
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Byakuya is presented as more of this than a {{Jerkass}}, though he's still as cynical as he was in the game.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Byakuya indulges in this often. One of Junko Enoshima's personalities at the end of the anime does this too.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Makoto, when discovering Sayaka Maizono's corpse.
* SequelHook: Usami is seen waving at the end of the credits...
* ShowerOfAngst: Makoto has a very detailed one in episode 4 while recalling the first murder and trial.
* SideStoryBonusArt: A lot of it was made during the anime's run, often for use in magazines (including some that were Summer and Halloween themed despite the game taking place no where near those dates).
* SpoilerOpening: Averted. The opening credits show all fifteen students on the trial elevator and in the courtroom, in order to hide who dies first.
[[/folder]]

* InformedAbility: Most of the students don't get to use their talents because of the situation they're in.