Characters / Never Say Never

All spoilers are unmarked.

Mukuro Ikusaba

Mukuro Ikusaba

• Action Girl: She is the Ultimate Soldier, best shown when she slides down the elevator cable to save Leon and later gets into a fight against Sakura.
• Adaptational Heroism: Her personality is taken from Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF instead of her Adaptational Villainy from Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School.
• Ascended Extra: Mukuro is the protagonist of the story, while in the original game she gets unceremoniously executed in chapter 1.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Mukuro prides herself for having perfect skin as she was never injured in combat. This trope is averted big time when her hand gets impaled by Monokuma's trap, leaving behind an ugly scar and a permanent reminder of her sister's betrayal.
• Becoming the Mask: Inverted, Mukuro slowly drops the 'Junko' personality as the story moves on. This also includes the way she dresses, only in Chapter 1 she wears Junko's iconic outfit, Chapter 2 she stops using makeup, and in Chapter 3 she removes her fake fingernails.
• Blood Knight: She eventually realizes that she really enjoys putting her own life in harm's way. Not that different from her sister's desire of despair.
• Despair Event Horizon: She crosses it after she's betrayed by Junko and then abandons her to die in the Killing Game. She recovers from it when Mukuro discovers that Sayaka is still alive and sees the opportunity to redeem herself.
• The Fashionista: It may not be her talent, but she still has enough knowledge and attitude to convince the other students.
• First Injury Reaction: Was well-known as the Ultimate Soldier because she never received an injury from battle, but this also gives her very low pain tolerance. So when Makoto saves her life and only Mukuro's hand gets impaled, Mukuro screams in agony.
• The Gadfly: She has quite the unique ability to annoy Monokuma as often as possible.
• Grew a Spine: After she switches sides, Mukuro stands up against her sister and starts making decisions of her own.
• Heel–Face Turn: She switches sides after she's betrayed by her sister.
• Hopeless Suitor: She has a crush on Makoto, however, Word of God has confirmed that Makoto will end up with Kyoko.
• I Knew There Was Something About You: Back in chapter 1 she believed Celeste would try to commit murder eventually. It wouldn't be until chapter 3 that her suspicions would be confirmed.
• Impaled Palm: Mukuro survives the Spear of Gungnir, but one of the spears goes through her hand, destroying her Fenrir tattoo in the process.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Averted, she is the only student in the game to have their memories intact. It does give her an advantage in the game, but not as big as she initially thought.
• Loss of Identity: Junko forces Mukuro to continue to play the game disguised as 'Junko', with the threat that she'll kill her if she gets discovered.
• The Medic: After chapter 1, she becomes the designated medic of the group after proving herself the most experienced in that area.
• Ms. Fanservice: Mukuro, in her 'Junko' disguise, is not afraid of showing off her body and likes to wear revealing clothes, much to Kiyotaka's chagrin.
• Redemption Quest: Her entire story arc is her trying to keep everyone alive and beat her sister at her own twisted game.
• Shower Scene: She has one right before Chihiro's unconscious body is discovered. The author admits that this scene was entirely for Fanservice, calling it "Obligatory Shower Scene".
• Team Mom: Surprisingly enough, due to how supportive she is to her classmates.
• Tragic Keepsake: Both her tattoo and combat knife are a reminder of her time at Fenrir. The tattoo gets destroyed in Chapter 1 with the resulting scar becoming a reminder of Junko's betrayal.
• Unexpected Virgin: Despite being surrounded by men during her days at Fenrir, she never slept with any of them. Her inexperience with sex ends up being Played for Laughs later on in the story.
• Wig, Dress, Accent: Mukuro is disguising herself as her twin sister, Junko Enoshima. However, they're not identical twins, Mukuro uses a pink wig and makeup to cover her natural black hair, her Youthful Freckles and her Fenrir tattoo respectively. She stops using makeup at the start of Chapter 2.
• Xanatos Gambit: Mukuro pulls one during the third trial, putting her own life and reputation at HUGE risk all in order to prove that Celeste was lying about seeing the masked individual. No matter the outcome Celeste's lie would've been exposed, and even if she dies in the process, she's leaving Kyoko in charger of helping the rest of the students escape.

Kyoko Kirigiri

Kyoko Kirigiri

• Amnesiac Hero: Junko erases most of Kyoko's memories to prevent her from using her talent during the game, it doesn't really work.
• Great Detective: It's her talent, the amnesia doesn't stop her from ruthlessly trying to discover the truth.
• Hidden Depths: Probably her most defining trait. Underneath her cold stoic façade is a woman who cares for the well-being of the group, shows sympathy to the culprits of their cases, develops respect for Makoto and later Mukuro, to even showing a mischievous side from time to time.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The very few moments where she lose her calm composure, you know something is not right.
• Secret-Keeper: The only person that knows 'Junko' real identity.
• Ship Tease: With Makoto.
• The Stoic: Kyoko always keeps a cool head and her emotions in check.

Byakuya Togami

Byakuya Togami

• Adaptational Heroism: Very downplayed. He's given a few more redeemable qualities in this fic, but that doesn't stop him from being the Token Evil Teammate or having a serious Lack of Empathy.
• Big Damn Heroes: Byakuya, for all of his uncaring Jerkass moments, he goes out of his way to save Sayaka from what could've been a stupid death.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Behold, the only student who manages to piss off Monokuma enough to made him storm off the nurse office. An impressive moment for Byakuya.
• I Gave My Word: He takes pride in being a man of word, even if it doesn't benefit him in any way.
• Insufferable Genius: His intelligence is only rivalled by his arrogance.
• Jerkass: Much to the annoyance of the other students.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He's an Insufferable Genius and a complete jerk, the group dislikes him because it's kind of hard to disagree with him.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Who would've thought that his secret would be so heartwarming? He's been helping members of his family that were outcasted, of course, he would never admit it though.
• Lack of Empathy: It's kind of frustrating how little he thinks of the rest of the group.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: The students really hold it against him the fact that he crucified Chihiro when she was just recently unconscious.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: The punishment he gives to Celeste. First, Celeste is not going to be named Celestia Lunderberg anymore instead she'll be only own as Taeko Yasuhiro. And second, it's heavily implied that he's remove anything related to Celestia Lunderberg from her room leaving her only with regular clothes and nothing else.
• Properly Paranoid: In Chapter 3, he mentions the possibility of one of the students (or two) being a mole to Monokuma. He's not wrong.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He cruelly gives one to Chihiro at the start of Chapter 4 by pointing out that she is just a figure-head who can't stand up for themselves. The worst thing is Chihiro secretly truly believes she is incapable of being a leader.
  Byakuya: If you cannot even stand up to me… how can you expect to protect anyone from the Mastermind?
• Smug Snake: Despite his high intelligence, he's not nearly as smart as he thinks he is, considering the multiple times Byakuya gets caught off guard when new information comes to light.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: After Taka is removed from his position as leader of the group, Togami steps in to be the unofficial leader of the group. A decision not everyone is happy about. Subverted; He only took over to hand out punishments to Hifumi and Celestia. The day after, he immediately hands power over to Chihiro without making much of a fuss.

Makoto Naegi

Makoto Naegi

• All-Loving Hero: More so than in the game, he has a huge desire to help everyone.
• Catchphrase: "No, That's Wrong!"
• Demoted to Extra: Despite having an important role in the story, he gets the least amount of P.O.V. out of all the characters.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite his status as Hope Bringer and being The Heart of the group, many of the students don't take him very seriously. Even he admits that his optimism is making him predictable.
• Forgiveness: Out of all the students, he's the one that is most willing to forgive attempted murderers and doesn't really blame them for their actions, instead he rightfully blames Monokuma.
• The Heart: Always tries his best to keep the group from turning against each other.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: It doesn't matter how grim things can get, he refuses to give in to despair.
• Hope Bringer: More notable than in the game and it's the reason why Kyoko and Mukuro have a crush on him.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Makoto attempted to stop a fight between Mondo and Byakuya, only for him to get knocked out cold by Mondo.
• Secret-Keeper: Makoto is aware of Sakura role as The Mole, but he promises to Sakura and Hina not to tell anyone about. Which sadly strained Kyoko's trust in him.
• Ship Tease: With Kyoko.
• Unluckily Lucky: Despite being the Ultimate Lucky Student, most people in-universe describe his luck as not very good, even Kyoko playfully called him on one occasion “Ultimate Unlucky Student”.He's still lucky enough to win the first round in the voting process in the third trial.

Sayaka Maizono

Sayaka Maizono

• Adaptational Heroism: Sayaka is portrayed in a more sympathetic light, while in the original game her actions are too ambiguous to draw a solid conclusion.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted, she ends up with a broken wrist and a scar on her stomach after the events of Chapter 1.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: She develops a friendship with 'Junko' after the latter saved her life.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Normally a kind and friendly girl, however, she tries to commit murder and frame Makoto for it. And she can get really angry.
  • This gets slightly deconstructed since Sayaka wants to be a kind and honest person, but deep down she knows she did some terrible things in the past. In fact, this is the reason why she couldn't kill Makoto as he's everything she wished she was.
    • It gets reconstructed in the third trial, not only does she successfully counters cruel accusations from Celeste, she does it with great maturity while keeping a calm voice. It really shows how much she has grown as a person.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: Sayaka attempted to cut ties with Makoto out of guilt for manipulating him. Makoto still ends up forgiving her and wishes her to recover soon, his words end up hurting her self-esteem badly as she realizes just how kind Makoto really is. She breaks down in tears as a result.
• Catchphrase: "I'm Psychic. *beat* Just kidding! I just have really good intuition."
• Career-Ending Injury: The scar in her stomach means she can't sing on the stage anymore. This, however, it's the least of her worries.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: She gets mildly annoyed that Makoto and Leon are still trying to help her despite everything she has done.
• Ice Queen: Pretends to be one towards Makoto, which Leon calls her out on.
• Idol Singer: Her special talent. She's the Ultimate Pop Idol after all.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Her self-esteem is severely damaged because of her actions.
• Madness Mantra: "I have to do this... I have to do this... I have to do this..."
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Apparently she so good at reading people that is a question if she really has psychic powers or not.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Sayaka deeply regrets trying to kill Leon and framing Makoto for it.
• Near-Death Experience: Sayaka is left bleeding for almost an entire day in Makoto's bathroom and she was barely conscious during the entire time. She doesn't regain full consciousness until the following day.
• No One Could Survive That!: Many characters in-universe couldn't believe Sayaka was still alive after spending so many hours losing blood. Turns out Leon's improved bandages helped stop the bleeding to an extent.
• Ship Tease: With Leon.
• Sympathy for the Devil: She very much sympathize with Celeste, eve using a "Not So Different" Remark.
• What Were You Thinking?: "Junko" rightfully called her out for nearly getting herself killed after throwing a pillow at Monokuma.
• Yaoi Fangirl: And has an entire Porn Stash of it.

Leon Kuwata

Leon Kuwata

• Adaptational Heroism: Chapter 1 murder scene is almost taken directly from the manga adaptation, Leon attempts to disarm Sayaka, but ends up slashing her across the stomach (rather than stabbing her) by accident.
  • Adaptational Nice Guy: Notably friendlier and more supportive than he is in the game. Then again, he doesn't get a lot of screen time in the original story.
• Ascended Extra: Goes from being the third person to die in the game, to one of the first characters to get character development and a story arc.
• Butt-Monkey: Whenever he tries to eat a sandwich, fate will prevent him from eating it. He's also the Only Sane Man when he's forced to tag along with Mondo and Taka in their contest.
• Casanova Wannabe: Downplayed, the only girl he tries to flirt with is Sayaka, which she secretly wasn't amused by it. But none the less they're on their way to becoming an official couple.
• Hidden Depths: He actually hates baseball and has a desire to become a musician.
• Lost Food Grievance: Poor Leon and his sandwich.
• Lovable Jock: He's the Ultimate Baseball Star and he's very friendly.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He slashes Sayaka's stomach open by complete accident and is very remorseful over it. He also regrets having tried to graduate, not that he had much of a choice at the time.
• Near-Death Experience: Gets saved at the last second from his execution by 'Junko'. He's left traumatize from the experience.
• Porn Stash: This is the secret motive from Chapter 2. It's arguably the most harmless secret in the group, including Makoto's.
• Ship Tease: With Sayaka.
• Shipper on Deck: He teases Mondo when the latter is heading to the locker room to meet Chihiro, this is before Chihiro's Unsettling Gender-Reveal and is never brought up again.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Sandwiches, too bad fate refuse to give let him enjoy it.
• Wistful Amnesia: He the first character to feel a sense of Déjà Vu after he spends time with Chihiro, Taka and Mondo.

Chihiro Fujisaki

Chihiro Fukisaki

• Adaptational Gender Identity: Chihiro is a transgender girl in this story.
• Attractive Bent-Gender: Played With. Chihiro identifies as female, but is biologically male and covers this up by deliberately styling herself in a typically feminine way, so much that Mondo can't take the idea that Chihiro isn't biologically female out of his head even after he discovers her secret.
• Consolation Backfire: Chihiro attempts at defending Toko from Byakuya's verbal abuse falls completely flat because Toko actually enjoys his abuse. Byakuya waste no time rubbing this thing on Chihiro's face.
• Convenient Coma: She stays in a coma for almost the entirety of Chapter 3. She wakes up right before the third trial.
• Covert Pervert: Wishes to motorboat Asahina's chest. At least according to Alter Ego. She also reveals to feel uncomfortable while being surrounded by the girls due to how attractive they look.
• The Cutie: Easily the most cheerful and innocent character in the story.
• Grew a Spine: After spending the entire story being a fragile Shrinking Violet, she finally starts to stand up for herself in Chapter 4. Calling out both Byakuya and Taeko of their Jerkass behaviour ^note It doesn't work out for the former, but she does manage to impress the disgraced Celeste..
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Completely incapable of understanding why Byakuya ends up making such a cruel comment to her.
• It's All My Fault: Pretty much her flaw, she always blames herself whenever something bad happens, regardless if it's really her fault or not.
• The Heart: Implies to be one to both Mondo and Kiyotaka.
• Like a Daughter to Me: This is how she sees her own creation, Alter Ego.
• The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: As much as she hates Byakuya, she secretly believes that he would be a more efficient leader than she would ever be. It doesn't help she has very low self-esteem.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Chihiro gets very angry once she discovers that Alter Ego was taken by Kiyotaka.
• Out of Focus: After being in the spotlight in Chapter 2, she stays in a coma for almost the entirety of Chapter 3.
• Over-the-Shoulder Carry: She ends ups being carried by Mondo this way during Chapter 4, she's even savvy enough to hold her skirt down while this is happening.
• Shrinking Violet: Very insecure and emotionally fragile.
• Took a Level in Badass: After the Third Trial, while being nervous about Alter Ego, she snaps at Mondo while she's nervous and quickly clams up...but Mondo encourages her to speak her mind more and it results in her begging Taka and Mondo to help her get stronger to take on Byakuya...which they gleefully agree too. Much to her sudden horror.
• Trans Equals Gay: Averted, Chihiro finds the girls of class 78 very attractive, especially Hina and her... assets as pointed out by Alter-Ego, and is partially the reason why she keeps her distance from them (the other reason is that of her biological gender).
• Trauma-Induced Amnesia: By the time she finally wakes up from her coma, she can't remember getting attacked by Mondo. She does remember Celeste's real name, Taeko.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: The students discover her biological gender during the second trial, a revelation that takes everyone by surprise.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: A variation in that she identifies as female but is biologically male.
• You Are in Command Now: Mondo and Taka convinced her (albeit very reluctantly) to overthrow Byakuya and become the leader herself. Much to everyone's surprise, Byakuya hands over the position without making much of a discussion.

Mondo Owada

Mondo Owada

• The Atoner: He accepts the punishment for his actions by guarding Chihiro while the latter is in a coma and promises he'd make things up with her after she recovers.
• Badass Biker: He's the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader.
• Big Brother Instinct: Deconstructed at first, he's nearly killed Chihiro in a blind rage. But then Reconstructed once he becomes The Atoner, he promises nothing bad will happen to Chihiro as long as he's watching and will continue to protect her for the rest of the game.
• The Big Guy: Not as large as Sakura, but he's still the second strongest character in the story.
• Crime of Passion: Just like in canon, Mondo hits Chihiro in the head in a fit of blind rage, though Leon’s words from earlier cause him to come to his senses and lead him to avoid dealing a fatal blow.
• Declaration of Protection: Swears that he'll not let anything happen to Chihiro while she's in a coma.
• Easily Forgiven: Chihiro forgives Mondo for almost killing her and hold no grudge against him. This act of kindness and compassion causes Chairman Ishimaru to start questioning his actions.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: He punches Taka in the face after hearing his intention to use the vote to execute himself, Mondo then successfully talks him out of it.
• Heroic Vow: Enforced by Monokuma. Mondo is forced to watch over Chihiro for the rest of the game with the warning that if she gets killed, he'll be executed. Mondo's status as The Atoner means he takes punishment with dignity.
• Japanese Delinquents: He stole a police officer bike just to try out how fast it was.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is foul-mouthed and has a violent temper, but he also has a very strong sense of honour.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Almost killed Chihiro in a blind rage and spent the majority of Chapter 3 regretful about it.
• Odd Friendship: With Taka. Their bond gets destroyed by Mondo's actions in Chapter 2. The story also implies that the two were close friends alongside Chihiro during the two years at Hope's Peak.
  • The two finally repair that broken bond after the third trial.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: When trying console Chihiro, Mondo makes a comment that earns him the glare of every girl in the room, especially Mukuro, not that he notices.
  Mondo: H-Hey! It's not a big deal! Besides, it's not your fault that you're weak! That's just how girls are!
• Out of Focus: Because he stays in the Nurse's Office guarding Chihiro, he remains out of the majority of the conflict of Chapter 3.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: The most foul-mouthed character in the story by a long shot.
• Spanner in the Works: He single-handedly ruins Celeste's plan by complete accident. First by knocking Hifumi out with a door when he was about to kill Taka and later by sealing the locker in the nurse office which delays Celeste long enough for Hifumi to have a Heel Realization.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru

Kiyotaka Ishimaru

• Adaptational Badass: Personality-wise, he retains his Hot-Blooded personality from the original game. However, once he becomes 'Kiyondo' he starts forcing draconian rules in a desperate attempt to prevent more murders, it backfires horribly. Lastly, he never becomes the Empty Shell he became in the game, he just reverts back to normal after his Heel Realization.
• The Atoner: After he realizes he unintentionally drove Celeste into committing murder, he promises he'll make it up to her when the time comes.
• The Dragon: After he goes Knight Templar, Monokuma assigned him to be his enforcer when the former decides to go on vacation.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: His authoritarian attitude ends up making him very disliked by the rest of the students. Ironically, Mondo is the only one that still likes him, despite the feeling of not being mutual.
• Heel Realization: He very slowly starts to realize that his actions aren't helping the group in any way. Is not until Celeste reveals her Freudian Excuse (see Nice Job Breaking It, Hero below) and her breaking down in tears that he finally acknowledges his mistakes.
• He's Back!: After spending almost the entire chapter in a denial state of mind, he finally snaps out of it once he realized how much he has messed up.
• Knight Templar: After Mondo's betrayal, he starts forcing a draconian set of rules on the other students in a desperate attempt to prevent any more murders. Needless to say, he fails big time, by his own fault none the less.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His attempts at controlling the group only ends up bringing more tension to the group as a whole. Furthermore, him insulting Celeste's talent in front of her drives her into trying to murder him.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After his Heel Realization, 'Kiyondo' calls Taka out of his Knight Templar behaviour, for causing the group to fall apart, for unintentionally driving Celeste into committing murder, for letting himself get manipulated by Monokuma. All before he leaves Taka to face the consequences of his actions.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: During Chapter 2, we can see him putting his talent into action by stopping two fights in the process. Once Chapter 3 starts however…
• The Resenter: Holds a very severe grudge against Mondo for betraying him.
• Sanity Slippage: He doesn't take Mondo betrayal well at all, nor the fact that the rest of the students don't take his attempts at keeping the group together for granted. All of this is more or less what causes him to become 'Kiyondo'.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Oh boy, his change in attitude ends up making him more annoying than even Byakuya.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Monokuma put him in charge of the group after he goes Knight Templar mode. Mukuro even pulls a "Dick in Dictator" joke behind his back.
• White Hair, Black Heart: After he goes Knight Templar, his hair turns white just like it did in canon when he became Kiyondo.

Hifumi Yamada

Hifumi Yamada

• Acrofatic: Despite being fat, he's a lot faster and stronger than he seems as Celeste found out the hard way.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He may be a nice if a bit odd individual, but that doesn't stop him from voting to have Mondo executed, trying to kill Taka and turning against Celeste when she tries to kill him. He votes to spare Celeste from execution, knowing full well she'll suffer severe consequences for her actions.
• Chivalrous Pervert: He's a typical otaku pervert, but has a sense of honour which get exploited by Celeste in Chapter 3.
• The Dog Bites Back: Turn against Celeste after he realizes she was planning to kill him all along.
• The Door Slams You: He gets knocked out by Mondo before he could attack Ishimaru.
• Implicit Prison: His punishment for attempted murder, the keys to his room get confiscated by Byakuya and he is only allowed to walk on the first floor with someone always keeping an eye on him.
• Insistent Terminology: He insists on calling Celeste a "Yandere" even though Celeste herself explains why she's not a Yandere.
• Heel Realization: After Celeste's first plan failed, he starts to have second thoughts on their actions and attempts to convince Celeste to turn themselves in and confess. It doesn't work, sadly.
  • At the start of Chapter 4, Hifumi realized he always created his life like a videogame, viewing himself as the protagonist of his own story and everyone else as forgettable NPCs.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He tries to get Alter Ego, while the girls are in the bathhouse! It ends with Kiyotaka confiscating the laptop.
• Proud to Be a Geek: He's the Ultimate Fanfic Creator and is openly an otaku.
• Robosexual: Have a very obvious crush on Alter Ego.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Despite everything Celeste/Taeko has done to him, he still feels sorry for the brutal punishment she suffered in the previous chapter.

Celestia Ludenberg a.k.a. Taeko Yasuhiro

Celestia Ludenberg a.k.a. Taeko Yasuhiro

• Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed, the story downplays some of her No Sympathy and Lack of Empathy attitude she has in the game and her motive is more sympathetic. This doesn't stop her from trying to commit murder and she's still the least sympathetic culprit in the fic. She becomes more sympathetic later on.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Celeste states she wished to be executed and reborn as Marie Antoinette, after the third trial her lifeless expression and her tattered dress makes her resembles how the Queen of France must've looked like before her execution. Poetic irony at it's finest.
• Becoming the Mask: She develops a genuine friendship with Hina and starts to respect Hifumi. It doesn't stop her from manipulating the two for her own selfish goals.
• Beneath the Mask: Celestia hides her true, more emotional self behind a mask of stoic politeness. After she confesses her crimes, she switches back and forth between her two personas to highlight how different Taeko is from Celestia.
• Born Lucky: While she does describe herself as a lucky person, she does not believe luck is the most important aspect in gambling. A sharp contrast to her statement in the original game.
  • Ironically, her plan falls apart by just bad luck. Or it could actually be good luck in disguise as she gets to live by not committing murder in the first place. Of course, at the moment she doesn't see it that way.
• Broken Bird: Post-third trial, Celeste is a broken shell of her former self. First, she loses all hope once she discovers the trial was rigged right from the start, second, she has all of her personal possessions taken away and destroyed while she's being forced to watch, and worst for her, Hina has become such a vengeful person she regrets more than ever manipulating her.
• Closet Geek: She admits to being a manga reader and knows about otaku terms like Tsundere and Yandere.
• Cruel Mercy: Oh boy. The punishment she received at the hands of Byakuya in the aftermath of the trial is brutal. Enough that she becomes a broken shell of her former self.
• Death Seeker: After the trial, she chooses to be executed than to live in shame for her crimes. However, she's extremely terrified of death despite what she's telling her classmates.
• Despair Event Horizon: She slowly slips into despair as the students are turning against her during the trial with the final push being Toko revealing the truth behind the trials. She goes even further into despair in her final breakdown.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Her behaviour post-third trial. She rejects any sympathy Sayaka and Makoto are trying to give her.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: She's not Celestia Ludenburg without her signature outfit.
• Even Evil Has Standards: She express displeasure at Byakuya's behavior. And later in the story, she doesn't approve of Kiyotaka's Knight Templar actions towards the group.
• Face–Heel Revolving Door: Starts out in the student's side for the first two chapters, she betrays the group in Chapter 3 and it's a Foregone Conclusion that she'll return to the good side.
• Faux Affably Evil: Celeste is calm, collective and acts as a high-class woman, but underneath that mask is Taeko, who is a wrathful girl that swears a lot, is incredibly selfish, is a master manipulator and liar. She reveals more of her true self in her Villainous Breakdown.
• Freudian Excuse: Thanks to Adaptational Heroism she's given a more sympathetic motive for murder, Chairman Ishimaru insulted her talent, calling it "useless". Keep in mind that one's talent is the student's most valuable possession.
• The Gambler: Gambling is her Ultimate talent.
• Heel Realization: Starts to doubt her own plan when she realizes she's gonna have to manipulate Hina and with Hifumi's actions throughout the trial, she starts to feel regrets. Tries to deny it, but it's clear in some moments.
  • She does eventually regret manipulating, lying and ultimately hurting Hina, but she's too prideful to admit it.
• Hidden Depths: All of those Gothic Lolita outfits she made them by hand, she reveals this to Hina right before she destroys the first dress she ever made.
• Hope Spot: Oh boy, just when it seems Hina was finally going to forgive Taeko for her actions, she backs out and rip apart the first dress Celeste ever made, making her feel the same pain that she went through when Taeko betray her.
  Hina: Tell me…Celeste…How does it feel to have your heart ripped out…right in front of you?!
• I Hate Past Me: She despises her old persona as Taeko Yasuhiro, so she tries everything she can to bury her past behind her.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Once Celestia realizes she was stuck in a no-win situation, she confesses to her actions knowing she has lost the game.
  Taeko: "You know… I'm the type of person that… once I've lost, I don't like to drag things out,"
• Lady Swears-a-Lot: Once she drops her "Celestia" persona at the end of the chapter 3 trial, she becomes incredibly foul-mouthed.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Like previous culprits, she suffers negative consequences for her actions, but they're much more severe. Celeste mentions she used to manipulate people for years, making this also a case of Karma Houdini Warranty.
• Loss of Identity: Her ultimate punishment given by Byakuya. She has all of her personal possessions destroyed and has her identity of Celestia Lunderberg taken away and now the group only call her by her real name: Taeko Yasuhiro.
• Oh, Crap!: She has this reaction once Hifumi realises she was trying to kill him with a mallet, as he attempts to do it so himself. Thankfully for her she was saved by Mondo entering the scene.
• Only Friend: She considers Hina her best and the only friend she has ever made. Sure enough, Celeste is indeed remorseful for manipulating her and breaking her heart.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Once she crosses the Despair Event Horizon, she drops her signature accent, reveals her true name, and confesses her role as the culprit, much to the shock of the other students.
• Playing the Victim Card: After Hifumi turns against her, she throws all blame to him and attempts to graduate by gaining the class favour.
• Seriously Scruffy: Oh man, How the Mighty Have Fallen. The very next day after her punishment has been dealt with, she ditched the only remaining lolita dress she has left in favour of a messy t-shirt and yoga pants. She ends up looking more like a NEET.
• Stopped Caring: Her attitude after her prized possessions are destroyed, now she's a full-on deadpan snarker that doesn't give a damn that happens to her or what people think of her. The fact that her personal appearance completely degrades overnight only makes in even more apparent.
• Stage Name: "Celestia Ludenburg" is a name that she created, her real name is Taeko Yasuhiro.
• Tranquil Fury: Celeste is really good a hiding her true emotions behind her mask.
  • When her real name is revealed in front of everyone at the start of Chapter 3, she was completely furious, but she concealed well enough that nobody noticed it.
  • At the start of Chapter 4, Mukuro is taken back at the unrelenting fury Taeko was hiding behind a mask of boredom.
• Trauma Conga Line: Oh boy. In the climax of Chapter 3, everything just goes wrong for her. Her plans to murder Taka?, Mondo ruined them by accident. Her assistant Hifumi? he turns against her after she fails to kill him. Her plans to gain the classes favour during the trial?, 'Junko' and Kyoko Out Gambit her by Pulling the Thread on her testimony. The trial?, it was rigged from the starts with failure being the only option. And if that wasn't bad enough, the vote that will determine if Taeko gets executed or spared is completely luck-based with a slot-machine, in other words, Monokuma is forcing her to use her own talent against her. And just to add insult to injury, one of her hair drills gets ripped off by accident during the voting.
  • Her humiliation doesn't stop there. After the trial, Byakuya has all of her possessions confiscated and destroyed in the incinerator, with Hina being the one who personally destroys most of her prized possessions.
• Villainous Breakdown: She loses all her composure when Hifumi tries to convince her to turn themselves, which results in her trying to kill him in her panicking state of mind.
  • Once she was backed into a corner during the trial, she completely snaps, which only ends up making her even more suspicious.
  • She has one final breakdown in the final vote, while she was giving Taka a well deserved "Reason You Suck" Speech, one of her hair drills gets ripped out of her hair by accident before she rips the other one in frustration. She finally ends up breaking down in tears, realizing that not even in death she'll find peace.
  • Celeste doesn't take well once she discovered she won't be executed. She gave one final act of defiance by trying to commit Suicide by Cop by attacking Monokuma. Sakura put a stop to that.

Sakura Ogami

Sakura Ogami

• Action Girl: She gets into a fight with the Ultimate Soldier, Mukuro Ikusaba.
• Apologetic Attacker: Sakura apologizes to Celeste after she stopped the latter from committing suicide.
• The Big Girl: She's the largest and strongest student in the class, she uses her imposing size to defuse fights without the use of violence.
• Brawn Hilda: She looks like a bodybuilder, is covered in scars, and has a deep voice.
• Double Agent: She's actually helping both sides, she only obeys Monokuma out of necessity while at the same time she tries to find any clues that could help the students beat the mastermind.
• For Want Of A Nail: Due to Monokuma going on "vacations", Sakura finds out much less information about the mastermind than she does in the original game.
• Gentle Giant: Calm and composure despite her large size.
• Martial Pacifist: She's the Ultimate Martial Artist and refuses to use violence unless it's absolutely necessary.
• The Mole: She is Monokuma's mole.
• Morality Pet: She becomes one to Hina post-third trial in regard to latter behaviour towards Celeste/Taeko.
• Regretful Traitor: She regrets becoming the mole from the moment she made the deal with Monokuma.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Notably for being one of the wiser students in the class.

Aoi Asahina

Aoi Asahina

• Break the Cutie: Poor Hina, she's completely devastated by Celeste's betrayal and it's only going to get worse once she discovers Sakura's role as The Mole in the upcoming Chapter 4.
• Cynicism Catalyst: Oh boy, to say Celeste betrayal break Hina to the core to the point she becomes worrying ruthless would be an understatement.
• Et Tu, Brute?: In regards to Celeste, she votes to have her executed without hesitation, making people like Sakura and even Celeste worry about her. Her behaviour, later on, is so borderline hostile it's extremely worrisome.
• D-Cup Distress: She hates her large breasts because they're a hindrance to her swimming capabilities.
• Honor Before Reason: She stays on Celeste's side during the trial even when it's becoming clear that Celeste is the real culprit.
• Morality Pet: She's one to Sakura, later on, the roles are reversed after Hina's behaviour after the trial.
• Odd Friendship: Not present in the original canon, she develops a friendship with Celeste and is full of Harsher in Hindsight.
• Passionate Sports Girl: Ultimate Swimmer and as such she really loves going to the pool whenever she gets the chance.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Rather brutal, she deliberately lure Taeko in a sense of false hope believing she was gonna forgive her, but she pulls back at the last second and rips apart the first dress Celeste has ever made. Right in front of her!
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: She is the red oni to Celeste's and Sakura’s blue one. Hina is impulsive, energetic and she lets her emotions override her judgment; while both Celeste and Sakura are calm, composure and always think before they act.
  • Also, while Hina always stays loyal to her friends, Sakura and Celeste both betray the group for different reasons.
• The Resenter: That's right. She becomes very hostile to Celeste/Taeko after her betrayal, to the point Sakura has to tell Hina to stop more than ones.
• Revenge Before Reason: Pretty much the entire reason why she volunteers to remove all of Celeste's personal belongings of her room and personally destroy them in the incinerator.
• Secret-Keeper: She and Makoto are the only one who knows Sakura is the mole traitor.
• Shipper on Deck: Implied to be this to Makato and Kyoko, to the point that when she and Makato end up becoming Secret Keepers to Sakura being The Mole, Hina specifically tells him not to tell Kyoko.
• Spanner in the Works: Her encounter with Alter Ego ruins the trap the mastermind has set up for Mukuro and Sakura.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Donuts.
• Undying Loyalty: Deconstructed and exploited, she refuses to leave Celeste side during the trial which the latter takes full advantage of. She doesn't believe Celeste is the culprit until Celeste herself confesses to her crimes.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: After Celeste's betrayal and punishment, Hina decides to spend her time with Sakura with the latter reassuring their friendship... Only for Hina to discover that the mole is Sakura. The poor girl really can't catch a break.

Toko Fukawa/Genocide Jack

Toko Fukawa/Genocide Jack

• A-Cup Angst: Toko insults Hina's much larger breasts.
• Ax-Crazy: Serial killer Genocide Jack.
• Abhorrent Admirer: Both personalities are madly in love with Byakuya, much to the latter's chagrin.
• Declaration of Protection: Genocide Jack (sort of) swears this oath to Byakuya. Byakuya takes full advantage of this, however.
• Nosebleed: Toko has one while she's peeking at the boys with Hina and Celeste at the bathhouse. Unsurprisingly, she changes to Jill once she sees her own blood, cue Mass "Oh, Crap!" from everyone involve.
• Perverted Drooling: Whenever she takes pleasure in Byakuya abuse, much to everyone's disgust.
• Shrinking Violet: A rather negative take on this trope.
• Smart Ball: Toko is the only student to discover the truth behind the bullying trials, a revelation that takes everyone by surprise. Which becomes Fridge Brilliance when you remember she's the Ultimate Writing Prodigy.
• Smarter Than You Look: Despite her troublesome personality, she didn't earn her title of Ultimate Writing Prodigy for nothing. In fact, her smart ball moment above is a reminder of what she's capable of.
• Split Personality: Toko Fukawa is a reclusive writer while Genocide Jill is an Ax-Crazy Serial Killer.
• Too Kinky to Torture: Disturbingly enough, she enjoys the verbal abuse Byakuya always gave to her. On chapter 4, Chihiro's attempt at defending Fukawa from Togami completely fails because of this.

Yasuhiro Hagakure

Yasuhiro Hagakure

• Comically Missing the Point: He completely misinterprets the explanation that 'Junko' and Mondo gave to him about what transpired in the Art Room with Celeste and Hifumi (he thought the two were having sex instead of Hifumi attacking Celeste).
  • When he later brought this up during the trial, to say that everyone was shocked at his level of stupidity would be an understatement.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Plucky Comic Relief, the Butt-Monkey and the The Friend Nobody Likes. As amusing as his idiotic moments are for the readers, his stupid comments are only a massive source of frustration for the rest of the students that have to deal with him. His egocentric personality made him a bit of a Jerkass, intentionally or otherwise, further cementing his status as the friend nobody likes. Eventually, he realized the hard way how little the group care about him, but it's incapable of understanding that it's completely his fault.
• Didn't Think This Through: Yeah, your plan to prove that the group didn't care about nearly resulted in the few that care about him nearly getting themselves killed.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Surprising enough there are a few moments in the story where he gives valid points.
  • He gives a more serious point in Chapter 4. He rightfully points out every time they tried to stay united against the mastermind, someone inevitably betrays the group and attempts murder, undoing everything they're trying to achieve. He also states his status of The Friend Nobody Likes before storming off.
• The Fool: He is even stupider than he is in the game.
• Foreshadowing: His talent as the Ultimate Clairvoyant is sometimes used to vaguely predict events that happen later in the story.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: The story makes it very clear how little the group care about him, even Makoto tolerates him at best. By the third trial, he finally realizes nobody likes him, he doesn't take this revelation well at all.
• Lethally Stupid: Yep, his short-sighted plan nearly got Junko, Mondo and Chihiro killed as they were trying to look out for him.
• Never My Fault: As the group accused him of nearly killing Junko, Chihiro and Mondo. We can see Hiro mentally blaming the trio for looking for him instead of going straight to the gym like he was expecting them to do.
  • It's also revealed that most of his depts and misfortune were the result of him bitting more than he can chew and refusing to accept responsibility for his actions.
• Oh, Crap!: After the third trial not only does he realized nobody likes him, as a consequence, he also discoveries that this makes him "expendable" since nobody will miss him if he dies. Soon after that, he draws the Tower card (imminent disaster incoming) which only ends ups turning him into The Paranoiac.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Most of his stupid moments are used for comedy. It eventually gets deconstructed.
• Prophecy Twist: One of his predictions at the start of Chapter 3 is "a life-changing event just might happen tomorrow", turns out said 'life-changing' event is not a good one.
  • He has another at the start of chapter 4, he draws the Tower card out of his deck and misinterpreted it as an incoming disaster for him. It quickly became clear that said disaster it's actually Monokuma's new motive that pushed everyone's paranoia and distrust level through the roof.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He thinks he's cooler than he is, he thinks he's smarter than he is and he thinks he's funnier than he is. You can see why nobody likes him.
• What The Hell Hiro?!: The group, Sayaka in particular, called him out for nearly killing Junko, Chihiro and Mondo on his short-sighted Lethally Stupid plan. ^note  Yep, the pun was intentional.

Alter Ego

Alter Ego

• Ambiguous Gender Identity: It's not exactly clear what Alter Ego's gender identity, as the story has most of "her" pronouns in quotation marks. Most students, including "her" master, describe "her" as a female.
• Author Avatar: In-Universe: "She" shares the same appearance and personality as "her" creator, Chihiro.
• Children Are Innocent: Makes a completely innocent comment when Chihiro mentions her admiration of Mondo, not knowing that Chihiro is attracted to girls.
• For Want Of A Nail: Because Chihiro is still alive, Hina's encounter with Alter Ego is brushed off as just her imagination. As such, it takes much longer for the students to discover Alter Ego's existence.
• Grow Beyond Their Programming: An interesting example as Alter Ego was designed to learn, Chihiro is still surprised at the speed "she" is learning and adapting.
• Morality Pet: Alter Ego became one to Kiyotaka after the latter confiscated "her" in his room.
• What a Piece of Junk: The computer where "she" is installed looks very old, but is described by Chihiro as very powerful.

Monokuma

Monokuma

• Creepy Crossdresser: He ends up dressing up as a drag queen right before the reveal of the second motive, much to the disgust of the students.
• Cross-Popping Veins: He would have popping veins if he wasn't a robot.
• Disproportionate Retribution: During the third trial, the students rightfully complain that the voting selection has been rigged. Monokuma responds by pointing each and every student with CHAINGUNS, remember that by that point the students aren't allowed to complain about the rules, no matter how unfair they are.
• The Dreaded: Students like Leon, Sayaka, and Chihiro are genuinely terrified of him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Even he gets annoyed by Hiro's stupid comments and his dumb conclusions.
• Exact Words: He never stated that the culprit would graduate if they fool everyone in the bully trials, none of the students realized this until the third trial.
• Hammerspace: He can somehow pull things from behind his back like a cartoon, much to the confusion of the students.
• I Have Your Wife: After the students complain again about the unfair rules, Monokuma threaten to kill everyone and start the killing game again with their loved ones from the first motive.
• Kick the Dog: Too many examples to mention, but some notable instances include.
  • Showcasing a miniature version of Sayaka's execution in front of Sayaka herself, scaring the living crap out of her.
  • He dresses up as a terrifying drag queen just to torment Chihiro.
  • He sneaks up behind Sayaka and Leon to give them a jump scare attack.

• Loophole Abuse: One of the rules of the Killing Game is that he can add new rules as he sees fit. By the third trial, the rules are so strict and unfair, the students aren't even allowed to complain about them.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: He misgenders Chihiro on more than one occassion. Her e-handbook labels her as male and when the other students find out Chihiro is transgender and ask Monokuma about her e-handbook, he responds that it was obvious to label Chihiro a male as a boy couldn't be allowed in the girls' bathroom, much to their annoyance.
• Pragmatic Villainy: With the truth of the Bully Trials revealed, Monokuma ended up removing them the next morning since it was pointless to continue holding them.
• Put on a Bus: On Chapter 3, he puts Ishimaru in charge of the students while he goes on vacation under the condition that he won't return until another trial occurs.
• To the Pain: Right after the third trial, he displays a miniature version of Celeste's execution, complete with fire truck crushing the doll in front of the class and Celeste herself.

Junko Enoshima

Junko Enoshima

• Awesomeness by Analysis: Her real talent is Ultimate Analyst.
• Ax-Crazy: She's completely insane with a twisted despair fetish.
• Big Bad: She's pretty much responsible for everything bad that happens to the students.
• Cain and Abel: She tried to kill her sister out of pure boredom.
• Crazy-Prepared: Because of her talent, she's prepared for many situations. For example, she has multiples wigs for Mukuro to use in many different situations.
• I Hate Past Me: Her time as Ryoko Otonashi is something the current Junko doesn't like to talk about. Mostly because Ryoko chose hope instead of despair.
• Hope Crusher: Obviously, she's Ultimate Despair. Ironically, her time as Ryoko Otonashi, she embraced hope. Something Junko is not happy about.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: By putting Mukuro out of the first trial, it allowed the latter to save both Sayaka's and Leon's life and ruins the first trial in the process.
• Villainous Breakdown: A minor example, but by the third trial, you can see she's becoming more desperate.
• Xanatos Gambit: The bullying trials can be seen as this: if the culprit wins everyone gets executed but the culprit can't leave the school because they're not blackened and there's no one else to kill to become blackened. If the students caught the culprit they vote if they get spared or executed, either way, it will cause major consequences for the group. The third trial is a notable example, no matter what happened to Celeste, she was going to suffer in despair. Either by a Cruel and Unusual Death, being trapped alone at the school with only the mastermind or she's left at the Cruel Mercy of her classmates (which is what happen).