Characters / Where Talent Goes to Die

Here is the characters page for Where Talent Goes to Die Be warned- all spoilers are unmarked.

Female Students

Kaori Miura

Ultimate Beginner's Luck

The protagonist and main POV character of Where Talent Goes To Die. Kaori possesses the Ultimate Beginner's Luck, a mysterious talent that greats her great intuition and luck in any game that she's only started playing, but which tapers off as she gains more experience, eventually deserting her when she's still an amateur.

Miura ultimately survives and escapes from the school.

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• Amateur Sleuth: When the killings begin, she takes to the role of investigating the crimes to find the culprits. In particular, she has a knack for finding out how various piece of information are related, and understanding the significance of seemingly innocuous remarks or events.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Katsura, in the middle of her attempt to kill Miura, briefly turns her attention to Edogawa, Miura asks her to stop, saying "I'm the one you want dead, aren't I?" The question causes Katsura to stop in her tracks and flee.
• Brainy Brunette: She has brown hair and is one of the smartest students.
• Character Development: Despite initially being somewhat reserved and hesitant to get close to the others, she starts bonding with the other students after the first Chapter. She also gradually stops seeing Sae as an idol and starts treating her more as an equal.
• Chekhov's Hobby: Her skill at video gaming makes her the most knowledgeable about FDR:VR among all the students, although she's still unused to playing virtual reality games
• Clear My Name: Since the first killer attempted to frame Miura for murder, she has to prove her innocence, as well as find the killer.
• Declaration of Protection: She mentally decides to protect Edogawa after witnessing her having a nightmare. This not only shows how important Edogawa is to Miura, but also shows that their relationship has changed a great deal from when Miura looked up to and wanted to rely on Edogawa.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: She serves as one for the Player Character of the Danganronpa series. As a relatively ordinary person in a cast full of Ultimates, she has many admirable qualities even if she doesn't have a talent, but at the same time, she also has many things that she's not able to do. As a protagonist, she's painfully aware that her attempts to keep people from dying don't work for long, that she's making little progress in finding a way out, and that even if she solves the mysteries, it doesn't do anything to prevent the rest of the class from dwindling one by one.
• Decoy Protagonist: In the April Fools' Day omake, she's executed for the first murder and replaced by Kagami.
• Disappointed by the Motive: While she believes that nothing can justify the killing game, she's especially appalled that the mastermind started the killing game because he was unhappy about getting an Ultimate Title that would (truthfully) label him as a plagiarist.
• Dismissing a Compliment: She tends to do this at times, albeit more out of humility than social obligation. Her mother doesn't especially like the idea of doing so, since it's more about avoiding coming off as arrogant than showing consideration for other people's feelings.
• Don't Call Me "Sir": She feels a bit strange about Iwasawa saying "Yes, ma'am" to her after becoming leader (for the formality, not the implications that she's old), and insists that Iwasawa treat her like she always has.
• Do You Trust Me?: Asks this of Edogawa just before the first trial, after Edogawa warns her that anyone could be a suspect. Edogawa says yes, since she finds Miura to be an honest person at heart.
• Dying Declaration of Love: In the April Fools' Day omake, she confesses her love to Edogawa before being executed.
• Failure Hero: As time goes on, she starts to consider herself one, due to being unable to stop the murders from taking place.
• Fall Guy: She's chosen to take the fall for the first murder, since the killer believes that the victim's hostility toward her gives her a motive to kill him.
• Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Her parents discourage her from pursuing a career as a writer. They're played somewhat sympathetically, though, since it's done for Miura's own good, and Miura herself realizes that they have a point.
• Fatal Flaw: Miura has trouble with making especially weighty and risky decisions unless under a strict deadline. While it does prevent her from doing anything rash, she also has trouble finding the mastermind's identity, simply because she's afraid of the consequences if she's wrong.
• First-Name Basis:
  • An omake shows that while she was attending Talent High School, she and Edogawa called each other by their first names without honorifics, indicating that they were very close.
  • Early on in Chapter IV, she proposes that she and Edogawa call each other "Sae" and "Kaori," and Edogawa accepts.
  • In the Christmas Episode, it's also revealed that she's taken to calling Yuuki "Ami-chan" during their time at school.
• First-Person Smartass: She can occasionally be fairly snarky in her narration.
• Foil:
  • To Mitamura. She's significantly more humble as a leader, and more willing to consult others' opinions and leave decisions to a vote. While Mitamura commits a murder to protect her own reputation, Miura is hesitant to kill, even for the sake of eliminating the mastermind. While Mitamura is devastated by a murder occurring on her watch, Miura takes Akasaka and Yuuki's deaths hard, but vows to persist.
  • To Iwasawa. While she looks up to Edogawa the same was Iwasawa looked up to Mitamura, she comes to understand and accept Edogawa's flaws, unlike Iwasawa, who didn't learn about Mitamura's flaws until after she was exposed as the second killer.
  • To Matsukaze. Both girls are inspiring authors who took an interest in Edogawa as a successful author, but Miura has more of a genuine interest in Edogawa as a person, which is why she's quite upset with Matsukaze for how poorly she treated Edogawa.
• Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Miura is fairly sympathetic toward the blackened, doesn't believe they deserve to be executed for their crimes, and tries to remember them fondly. However, she also realizes that by attempting to graduate, they'd endangered all the spotless' lives, and recognizes that convicting them was the only way the students could stay alive.
• Gamer Chick: Video games are listed as one of her hobbies, along with reading.
• Gayngst: She's a lesbian, and she's uncomfortable about how she's still attracted to girls after outgrowing the Gay Romantic Phase, having tried not to act on her feelings in the hopes that they'd eventually go away. That said, she is gradually coming to terms with her sexuality.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Despite otherwise being relatively girly, Miura has a few interests that aren't traditionally feminine, such as wearing pants from time (when asked to dress like a farmer, she wears overalls instead of a dress) and wanting to work outside the home, much to her highly traditional grandmother's disappointment.
  Miura: I may be a girl, but I'm not a lady.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Downplayed. Miura is far from naïve, but while she understands that people commit murder for a variety of reasons, she can't wrap her head around the idea of killing for despair.
• Good Parents: Kaori respects her parents, who are shown to love her and have raised her well. This even goes for her father's decision to discourage her from following her dreams, which Kaori recognizes is for her best interests.
• Good Is Not Soft: Miura is a compassionate person by nature, who sympathizes with the killers and believes that they don't necessarily deserve to die. That said, considering that the alternative is Miura and the other spotless dying, Miura is willing to vote to sentence them to death.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: At least according to Talent High School. The school saw her Beginner's Luck as a potential talent that could be passed off as the Ultimate Hope, which was why they were so desperate to bring her on board once they noticed it.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Miura sometimes sees her talent as less impressive than the others, since it only offers an ephemeral taste of being gifted, and isn't proud of solving the mysteries, since the spotless only survive by sacrificing the blackened. Depressed over how the killing game is going, she laments that she's nothing more than a coward who got into Talent High School purely through luck.
• Hidden Depths: Unlike other Danganronpa protagonists, she has a specific dream- becoming a published author- that she believes she will be unable to pursue.
• Hypocrisy Nod: Despite being somewhat wary of the others, she can't help but desperately hope that Edogawa isn't the killer, and inwardly realizes the contradiction in her thinking.
• The Idealist: Downplayed. Miura is painfully aware that her classmates can betray and kill each other, as some have done already, and that said classmates must be sacrificed for everyone else to survive, but she never gives up believing that there's a way for everyone who's still alive to escape without having to play by Monokuma's rules.
• Idiot Hair: She has one hair that persistently sticks up.
• I'm Your Biggest Fan: She expresses this to Edogawa when they first meet, since she's long admired her work.
• It Gets Easier: Downplayed. She has progressively fewer qualms about voting to sentence the blackened to death with each passing class trial, but still finds the idea of killing someone, even the mastermind, to be morally repugnant.
• It's All My Fault: She blames herself for the murders in the third chapter, because she didn't understand the killer's plan until it was too late to stop it.
• The Kirk: Miura is a relatively compassionate individual who's also reasonable enough to do what must be done.
• Last-Name Basis: Since Miura's polite by nature, she generally uses most people' last names and appropriate honorifics- "-kun" for boys and "-san" for girls. At the end of Chapter II, she starts calling Edogawa "Edogawa-san," instead of "Sensei," as a way of officially recognizing her as an equal.
• Last-Second Word Swap: In one omake, she quickly switches from calling Sae her "girlfriend" to calling her a "roommate."
• The Leader: Mitamura's successor in the role. However, she sees her role as less about giving orders and more about keeping the group together.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • When Monokuma shows the students a gun in a display case, with the expectation that they take the gun out and fire it, Miura does just that... firing at the wall so that the bullet won't harm anyone. Unfortunately for her, he replaces the gun and clarifies that he wants them to kill someone with it.
  • When Monokuma issues a rule against unlocking doors without the key, Miura tries to blow down the door to the data center with an improvised explosive, but fails.
• Love Confession: She confesses to Edogawa just before the final class trial begins, as well as during Edogawa's School Mode ending. Edogawa accepts.
• Love Epiphany: While in the middle of a session of trying to uncover the mastermind's identity, Miura realizes that Edogawa is the person she least wants to be the mastermind... because she's in love with Edogawa.
• Most Writers Are Writers: She likes writing as a hobby, and is an aspiring writer, but has been discouraged from pursuing it as a career.
• Multiple Gunshot Death: The April Fools' Day omake has her be practically pulverized by several Gatling guns after Monokuma's revolver jams right as he's about to fire.
• The Narrator: Most of the fic is told from Miura's first person perspective, apart from some omakes and flashbacks.
• Nerves of Steel: Downplayed. While Miura is affected by the events of the killing game, she is able to keep her wits about her in dangerous situations, in large part because she knows that she'll be in danger if she doesn't.
• Nice Girl: Kaori is completely serious about doing right by everyone else, including those who dislike her. Edogawa finds Miura's consistent kindness toward others to be one of her most appealing traits.
• Oh, Crap!: She has one such moment when she realizes that it's been three days since the last murder, meaning that before long, Monokuma will introduce another "motive" to cause the next murder.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • While normally very polite, Miura interrupts Sugiura when the latter suggests having someone use the gun to shoot themselves in the head to prevent a murder, since Miura doesn't even want to consider sacrificing someone in such a way.
  • Miura uses honorifics on most people, but makes two very significant exceptions- Sae Edogawa (her best friend and the girl she loves), and Junko Enoshima (whom Miura despises for causing the Tragedy and the killing games).
  • When Kagami gloats about how he's practically accomplished his evil plan by now, Miura's angered to the point at which she wishes she'd "killed the son of a bitch long ago."
• Out-of-Character Alert: Miura's usually a bit sensitive about talking about the bathroom, so when she tells Edogawa she's "got to pee," Edogawa follows her into the girls' bathroom for a private conversation.
• Pose of Supplication: Does this for Kurogane in the latter's Free Time Events, begging for his forgiveness.
• The Power of Trust: Played with. Miura is well aware that students will likely betray one another, as some already have, but also knows that unless the students can work together, they have no hope of escaping.
• Precision F-Strike: While Miura never swears, she calls Kagami a "son of a bitch" in a moment of anger during her narration.
• Reluctant Ruler: She's fairly hesitant to lead the students, and while she ultimately agrees, she doesn't think of herself as an absolute authority figure.
• Russian Roulette: She's executed this way, but because of her luck, she not only gets a blank chamber five times in a row, but the gun jams when it gets to the live round. In response, Monokuma uses gatling guns to reduce her to a fine red spray.
• Salaryman: Her parents both work for a large corporation. She considers getting a similar job after realizing that she can't become an author, and eventually does in an Alternate Universe.
• School Uniforms are the New Black: Miura finds her school uniform quite comfortable, and sometimes doesn't change out of it until bedtime.
• Straight Gay: She doesn't fit any of the stereotypes associated with lesbianism.
• Team Mom: After becoming leader, she aspires to be this trope, serving as a mediator and putting group decisions to a vote.
• Tender Tears: While comforting a grieving Edogawa, Miura quickly finds that she's started crying, too.
• Tragic Dream: While Miura is an aspiring author, she also realizes that she doesn't have the skill to pursue the dream. Her parents thus gently discourage her from trying, and ask her to focus on her studies.
• Transparent Closet: Despite Miura's efforts to keep her sexuality secret, it's implied that several others, including Edogawa, know that she's a lesbian.
• Unwitting Pawn: To Kagami in Chapter V. When he causes Edogawa to be suspected, she comes to Edogawa's defense and proves that Iwasawa allowed Sugiura to kill her, knowing that if they do not prove Sugiura is guilty, everyone will be executed. Because of that, Monokuma decides that Sugiura's murder of Iwasawa didn't count as far as his motive went, and decides to restart the timer.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: After investigating the bio lab, she throws up.
• Western Zodiac: Aquarius.
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Mitamura lambasts Sakuragi for killing Kurogane, Miura steps in and says that by now, Sakuragi understands that what he did was wrong, and even if he didn't, lecturing him won't do any good at this point.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Because her talent doesn't do her much good, she often feels out of place among the "real" Ultimates. Kurogane tells her as much in his "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: A part of her is disturbed that Monokuma's glad that she's skilled at investigation, knowing that he wants to keep the killing game going for as long as possible, which requires the classmates to thwart the blackened's attempts to graduate.

Sae Edogawa

Ultimate Mystery Novelist

A talented mystery novelist, and author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling Aiko Aizawa series. Miura is a fan of the series, and Edogawa by extension.

Edogawa ultimately survives and escapes from the school.

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• The Ace: In addition to her skill as an author, she's also an honor student at her school.
• Amateur Sleuth: To an extent. Like Miura, Edogawa knows a little about criminal investigations from writing mystery novels, but she lacks many of her detective father's skills and resources.
• Character Development: While Edogawa starts out as polite but somewhat distant toward others, she breaks out of her shell over time, becoming more willing to show vulnerability and confide in others, especially Miura.
• Covert Pervert: She secretly likes reading porn, but is somewhat more open about this than Mitamura is, at least as far as Miura is concerned.
• Establishing Character Moment: In her first scene, she waits for Miura to wake up, checks on her, and leads her to where the other students are gathered, answering her questions and listening to her. All this showcases her kindness, intelligence and burgeoning friendship with Miura.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: She sports these after the first trial, indicating that she didn't sleep well at all that night.
• First-Name Basis:
  • She starts calling Kaori by her first name in Chapter IV, at the latter's suggestion.
  • She also starts calling Inoue by her first name in Chapter V, and is slightly disappointed when he nonchalantly accepts, since she'd hoped her request would be more audacious.
• Foil: To Mitamura. Miura looks up to her, like Iwasawa looks up to Miura, but Miura and Edogawa trust each other more and end up having a more equal friendship than Mitamura and Iwasawa do.
• Forbidden Fruit: Her father forbade her from reading mystery novels, but failed to mention why they were forbidden- he didn't think they portrayed detective work in a real live. As a result, Sae ended up reading them in the library and eventually sneaking them home until she got caught.
• Forgets to Eat: Her weakness is that she sometimes does this while working on her novels, resulting in her being hungry and vulnerable. Of course, since she hasn't had any time to write since the killing game began, it's a non-issue.
• Friendless Background: It's indicated that Edogawa hasn't had many friends in the past, since she's hesitant to let others get close to her. She went to the same school as Inoue, but while they got along, they never became anything more than acquaintances. She admits that she's partially to blame, but notes that many people weren't interested in her as a person.
• Good Parents: Her father is fairly strict and not entirely open with emotional, but he's also open-minded enough to give Sae a chance to become a writer. Similarly, Sae remembers her mother as a kind woman who was always supportive of her daughter.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Averted. Unlike some Ultimates who master their talents without much time or effort, it took Edogawa a long time to become a good writer.
• Hidden Depths:
  • While she does come off as outwardly strong and confident, it's indicated that she's a bit shy at heart, a vulnerability she doesn't readily show to others.
  • Despite being generally polite and well-mannered, she doesn't particularly mind talking about bodily functions, and happens to enjoy raunchy material.
• Love Interest: To Miura. Over the course of the fic, Miura comes to realize that she is in love with Edogawa, and Edogawa comes to return those feelings.
• Meaningful Echo: After the first class trial, when Mitamura vows to prevent another murder, Miura remarks to Edogawa that "She's asking the impossible of herself." Midway through Chapter V, when Miura expresses her desperation to prevent another murder, Edogawa adds that "You'd be asking the impossible of yourself, just like Mitamura-san did."
• Missing Mom: Her mother died in a car accident when Sae was 10.
• Most Writers Are Writers: Her claim to fame is being a successful author at a young age.
• Nice Girl: She's polite, well-mannered and supportive of others.
• Odd Friendship: The polite and reserved Edogawa gradually strikes up a friendship with the cheerful and energetic Yuuki.
• The Power of Trust: Played with. She believes that blindly trusting others in a killing game is dangerous, but cooperation is necessary to find the truth.
• School Idol: Many people at her old school looked up to her, as a result of her grades and appearance, not just her reputation as an author. Deconstructed, in that Sae realizes that few people valued her as a person, resulting in her being fairly lonely.
• Secret-Keeper: To Sugiura. Sugiura confesses to murderin Iwasawa and asks Sae to share that in case they're about to convict the wrong person.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Edogawa was aware of Miura's feelings for her for some time, and reciprocated them, but chose not to say anything about it.
• Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Despite being a possible suspect for the mastermind, and being formally accused of it during the final trial, Edogawa is a kind person who cares for her classmates and falls in love with Miura.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Downplayed. Sae is decent at casual socialization, but doesn't have many close friends.
• Tender Tears: She breaks down in tears after the third trial, grieving over her friend Yuuki's death.
• True Blue Femininity: She wears a navy blue blazer-style uniform with a blue necktie.
• Western Zodiac: Gemini.
• Yaoi Fangirl: She's a fan of "Breakneck Canyon," a manga about a gay romance.

Reiko Mitamura

Ultimate Proofreader

A girl who has a perfect record proofreading her school's publications, as well as being a member of the morals committee.

She is the murderer in Chapter II, having killed Mizuhara in order to graduate. She is executed by being crucified, impaled and then crushed.

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• Being Personal Isn't Professional: Downplayed. She does confide in Miura to a certain extent in her Free Time Events, but doesn't actually consider her or any of the other students- even Iwasawa- to be her friends.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed at first, when it's indicated that she's leading the group for somewhat selfish ulterior motives- a desire to be respected and looked up to. Played straight when she murders Mizuhara and tries to mislead the others into convicting Sugiura instead.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • She becomes one to the entire class, especially Iwasawa, when she's exposed as the second murderer. Even Hoshino wasn't fully expecting her to do what she did.
  • To a lesser extent, Iwasawa's faith in Mitamura is shaken when Mitamura confesses to cheating shortly before Iwasawa's School Mode ending. Iwasawa is still grateful to Mitamura, but admits that she can't think of her the same way again.
• Covert Pervert: She'll never admit it, but she appears to enjoy reading pornographic material featuring naked men.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: She's crucified before being impaled and bleeding to death.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: She deconstructs The Perfectionist, since her determination to accept nothing less than the best possible results gives her the drive to succeed, but also results in her being unable to accept her mistakes.
• Establishing Character Moment: She corrects Miura for making a grammar mistake, and soon afterward, lectures Yuuki for being overly familiar. More subtly, she introduces herself with her talent first, showcasing how much stock she puts in her reputation.
• Etiquette Nazi: She's a bit of a stickler for etiquette, insisting on being addressed as "Mitamura-san," but doesn't really press the issue after making her point.
• Face Death with Dignity: While she does break down after her secret is exposed, she tries to accept her fate with as much dignity as she can muster.
• Fatal Flaw: Her perfectionism and inability to accept failure. Because of this, she cheats on a test rather than risk getting a bad grade, and kill someone to graduate rather than risk her secrets getting out.
• Grammar Nazi: She has a habit of correcting (or at least showing silent disapproval of) people's various grammatical mistakes.
• Heel Realization: She has one at the end of the second trial, recognizing that she's nothing more than a bad person who's willing to use unsavory means to maintain the appearance of perfection.
• Hidden Depths: Her Free Time events reveal that she's less secure than she initially seems, and craves approval. She also appears to secretly enjoy reading gay porn.
• Hypocrite:
  • She complains about how women are treated in pornography, but is implied to have borrowed a manga with gay sex scenes simply because she enjoys it.
  • More seriously, she is the first to lambast Sakuragi for "selfishly" killing Kurogane, then kills Mizuhara for a no less selfish reason.
• Karmic Nod:
  Monokuma: I hope you're all done with your goodbyes to your dear leader, because it's that time again.
  Mitamura: Yes. The time when I pay for all my crimes, past and present. [...] Everyone, please do not mourn me. This...is what I deserve.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: As the evidence against her piles up, and she's all but confirmed to be the second murderer, she eventually concedes and willingly shows Miura her notepad, thus proving that she knew about Mizuhara's peanut allergy.
• The Leader: She leads the students as a Levelheaded type.
• Murder by Inaction: Played with. While she was actively responsible for poisoning Mizuhara, she also takes him to the nurse's office while pretending to treat him, then withholds lifesaving medical care from him.
• Nepotism: She's a beneficiary of this, as she's implied to be the niece or granddaughter of Talent High School's chairman.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: When Edogawa asks Mitamura to let Miura hold on to the Monokuma File, Mitamura's response indicates some subtle distrust of Edogawa. Miura notes that perhaps Mitamura is the type who would at least outwardly appear polite when dealing with someone she dislikes.
• Prim and Proper Bun: She wears her hair in this way, as a testament to her serious and proper personality.
• The Perfectionist: She's unwilling to accept making mistakes, and since she sees the first murder as a personal failure, she takes it quite hard.
• Red Armband of Leadership: She wears one, signifying her membership on her school's morals committee.
• Sacrificial Lion: While she's executed in Chapter II, her death has a very significant impact on the group, particularly Iwasawa (who's forced to make her own decisions without Mitamura's guidance), and Miura (who ends up taking on Mitamura's mantle of leadership).
• Sailor Fuku: She wears a black one as her school uniform.
• Secretly Selfish: A part of her fears losing her status as a role model, along with the respect and approval of her parents and authority figures.
• The Stoic: Most of the time, she's calm and exceptionally serious.
  • Not So Stoic: Miura finds her openly weeping after Mizuhara dies under her care.
• Student Council President: She was president of Talent High School's student council. Some of her critics believe that she sought the position to build up her resume.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: While she puts on a cold and professional front, she often has a somewhat more caring side. When Yuuki says she's glad that Mitamura's herself again, Mitamura smiles, reminds Yuuki to call her "Mitamura-san," then thanks her.
• Stoic Spectacles: Her wearing glasses fits her calm and reserved personality.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: She drops crushed peanuts into the soup that Sugiura made, causing Mizuhara to have a fatal allergic reaction.
• Team Dad: She serves as this role among the students, being a leader who can be a bit of a strict disciplinarian.
• Tears of Remorse: She sheds them after killing Mizuhara, having realized she's done something unforgivable.
• Tragic Mistake: Shortly after being scouted, she, having fallen behind on her studies, cheats on a test to avoid getting a bad grade. As a result, this gives Monokuma blackmail leverage against her, thus causing her to commit murder to keep it secret.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: It's indicated that part of the reason she strives so hard is because she's desperate for her strict parents' approval. Hoshino mocks her for this in his "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Western Zodiac: Virgo.

Ami Yuuki

Ultimate Cheerleader

Ami Yuuki is known as the Ultimate Cheerleader, and earned her title after helping her cheer squad galvanize her team to a good season.

Yuuki is one of the two murder victims in Chapter III. Hoshino stabs her to death, then steals her notebook.

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• Afraid of Blood: She's too afraid to look at the first murder victim's body and passes out when the first execution reduces the blackened to a bloody smear. Seeing blood forces her to relive the trauma of seeing her senpai bleed to death.
• Book Dumb: Apparently, by her own admission, the best that can be said for her grades is that she's able to pass her classes.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Despite not being one of the more intelligent students, Yuuki makes a few good points from time to time.
  • During the first class trial, Yuuki is fairly quick to argue that Edogawa wouldn't lie about Miura's alibi, since Edogawa will die with everyone else if she's wrong.
  • During the second class trial, Yuuki notices that it's unlikely that Sugiura would have poisoned the dinner that she was making when everyone knew that she was making, and that Mitamura, who'd briefly stopped in, was much more suspicious. Yuuki turns out to be right, as Mitamura is the culprit.
  • Yuuki also picks up on Miura's crush on Edogawa as early as Chapter II.
• Dumb Blonde: Played with. She's not a very good student or very skilled at investigating, but she isn't necessarily stupid.
• Fainting: She's so overwhelmed by the first execution that she passes out.
• First-Name Basis: She uses first names on everyone, with "-kun" for boys and "-chan" for girls.
• Genki Girl: She's constantly cheerful and energetic, or at least tries to be.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Downplayed. Yuuki is somewhat jealous of Miura and Edogawa's intelligence and mystery-solving skills, although she's ashamed to admit this and is otherwise close friends with the two.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A blonde who's kind at heart.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Despite seeming cheerful and a bit airheaded, Yuuki occasionally shows that she's more perceptive than she initially seems, as well as being troubled by her shortcomings.
  • Although Yuuki is somewhat Book Dumb, she's nevertheless quite capable of following a strict diet plan and can give concise and easy-to-follow advice.
• Nice Girl: One of the most cheerful and friendly students.
• Odd Friendship: While Yuuki and Mitamura have little in common, since Yuuki's cheerful and friendly while Mitamura is serious and professional, Yuuki still expresses a desire to befriend Mitamura.
• Office Lady: She becomes one in an omake. She's a hard worker and cheerful, but she longs for the old days when she was a cheerleader.
• Passionate Sports Girl: She's in fairly good shape, enjoys watching sports, and once wanted to be a football player.
• Sailor Fuku: She borrows one from Mitamura to wear to the etiquette seminar.
• Save Our Team: Her claim to fame involves helping her school's football team dramatically improve its performance.
• Slashed Throat: Yuuki is found dead from knife wounds in the chest and throat.
• Stepford Smiler: She's often a Depressed variation, as she has a fair share of personal baggage, from insecurities to witnessing the death of her senpai, and takes the deaths of her classmates quite hard.
• Tragic Dream: She briefly wanted to play American football, just like her older brother, but was unable to do so as a girl.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: She throws up after witnessing the second execution.
• Western Zodiac: Libra.

Kuro Akasaka

Ultimate Checkers Player

A checkers player who has won many tournaments, but plays for fun, rather than to prove herself.

Akasaka is one of the two murder victims in Chapter III, being killed when Hoshino shoots her dead with the gun.

• Cool Big Sis: Akasaka is a good older sister to her younger siblings. Part of the reason she persists as a professional checkers player is because they're rooting for her, and are happy to see her succeed.
• First-Name Basis: In Chapter III, she switches from calling Katsura "Katsura-san" to calling her "Komaki-chan."
• Foil: To Shiro. She's friendly, good-natured, and has a hard time with pressure, while he's prickly, ambitious and doesn't take kindly to losing.
• Good Is Not Soft: She gradually develops toward this personality type, as she comes to see executing the blackened as a harsh but necessary step to stay alive.
• Growing Up Sucks: She seems to have this fear, particularly worrying about the stakes rising as she gets older. She's interested in one day having a family, but knows that it will be more difficult to be a good mother than a good older sister.
• Housewife: She ultimately hopes to get married and have children.
• Loophole Abuse: She wears a black shirt with her uniform because the uniform requires an shirt that isn't colored, not a white one.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: She's the oldest of six siblings.
• Meaningful Name: Her name means "black," which emphasizes her contrast with Shiro, whose name means "white." Her surname contains the word for "red", and the two colors combined fit with her love of checkers.
• The McCoy: She takes the first execution especially badly, and is heartbroken about the idea of killing someone to stay alive.
• Nice Girl: In stark contrast to Kurogane, she's polite, friendly, and says she's a bit disappointed she couldn't play against Miura, since she probably would have enjoyed it.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: She wears a black shirt with her mostly red blazer-style uniform.
• Office Lady: Ends up becoming one in an Alternate Universe in which Talent High School never existed. Unlike Katsura and Miura, she's hoping to get married.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Averted. She wears a red blazer, skirt and neck ribbon with a black shirt, but she's a pleasant individual.
• Save Our Team: Her elementary schools chess club almost got shut down, but Akasaka convinced their advisor that if someone from the club tournament, the school would spare them. Akasaka succeeded, launching her checkers career.
• Tender Tears: She cries after the first execution, and Miura notes that Akasaka probably cried herself to sleep that night.
• Theme Naming: Kuro and all her siblings- Midoriko, Shiro, Aoi, Akane and Fujiko- are all named after colors.
• Western Zodiac: Aquarius.

Anzu Sugiura

Ultimate Waitress/Ultimate Poisoner

A talented waitress who happened to impress a talent scout who dined at her family's restaurant. She's also thought to be a talented poisoner who murdered a patron at said restaurant.

Sugiura is the culprit in Chapter V, killing Iwasawa in order to prevent Miura's family from being harmed. She is executed by being force-fed poison and attacked by poisonous animals.

---

• All for Nothing: Her plan is to kill Iwasawa and be executed for the crime in order to satisfy Monokuma. However, thanks to Kagami forcing Miura to reveal that Iwasawa allowed herself to be killed, Monokuma declares this to be invalid, even if he has Sugiura executed anyway.
• Aloof Big Brother: Anzu is not particularly close to her older brothers, partly due to their being significantly older than she is, but she cares for them anyway.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: A Talent High School recruiter, having obtained a photograph of her serving the poisoned meal to the patron, tells her that she can either come to Talent High School, or he'll report her to the police.
• Because I'm Good At It: She isn't particularly proud to be Ultimate Waitress, but she has to admit that she's grateful to actually be good at something, since not everyone can say the same.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She acts polite at first glance, but in reality, is cynical, bitter and a possible murderer. Ultimately though, this is Downplayed, as she still has a good heart and even though she does eventually murder someone, it's with their consent and for sympathetic reasons, as noted below.
• Blatant Lies: In the second murder investigation, Sugiura claims that Edogawa received her weakness. At this point, Miura, as well as the reader, knows that Edogawa actually got Yuuki's weakness.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She's initially distant toward others despite putting up a polite façade, then outwardly standoffish, but warms up to Miura over the course of her Free Time Events.
• Didn't Think This Through: Her plan for murdering Iwasawa involves her restraining Iwasawa with handcuffs and rope and then rendering her unconscious with a chloroform-soaked rag before putting her in the water, all of which would be impossible unless the much larger and stronger Iwasawa let her. Sugiura admits this, but notes that since Iwasawa was a Christian and hadn't asked people to kill her, the others would be less likely to assume that she'd committed suicide.
• The Eeyore: She's convinced that no one believes she's innocent, and holds out little hope of clearing her own name.
• Everyone Has Standards: As much as she dislikes Hoshino, she refrains from badmouthing him at the memorial service, and notes that he didn't deserve to burn alive.
• Fall Guy: She's set up to take the fall for the second murder, after Mitamura learns that she's the Ultimate Poisoner. Since Mizuhara was the one who learned of her weakness, Mitamura hopes that people will assume Sugiura killed him to keep him silent.
• Heroic Suicide: Defied. Sugiura proposes having someone shoot themselves with the gun, but Miura refuses to even hear the suggestion.
• Frame-Up: It turns out that Sugiura was not actually guilty of killing the victim she was thought to have poisoned. She was unable to say this, though, thinking that no one would believe her.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Despite initially coming off as polite and good-natured, Sugiura privately admits to having a pragmatic attitude toward manners, noting that they generally exist for the benefit of the person practicing them.
  • At the end of the second trial, Mitamura admits that she feels somewhat responsible for Mizuhara's death, indicating that she possibly does have a conscience.
  • As cynical as Sugiura is, she has a strong (albeit not romanticized) belief in the importance of family, surprising Iwasawa.
• Hidden Disdain Reveal: She doesn't fully trust Mitamura, but mostly keeps those feelings to herself until she's outed as the Ultimate Poisoner. After Mitamura's conviction and execution, Sugiura is far more forthcoming with her dislike of Mitamura.
• Hypocrisy Nod: She bitterly notes that Kagami seems like she's hiding something, before noting in passing that she isn't one to talk.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Sugiura is ruder and more hot-tempered than she initially appears, she nevertheless cares about the others and is willing to cooperate with the group.
• Master Poisoner: She's reputed to be an extremely skilled poisoner, although Miura is somewhat suspicious that Sugiura doesn't give many details about her methods.
• Only Friend: She considers Miura this, as the one person she respects and trusts.
• Out of Focus: In Chapter I, she's the only student with whom Miura does not have a conversation at any point.
• Red Herring:
  • She's chosen as the person to take the fall for Mitamura's crime, with a talent that suits the means of killing and a dark secret she wants to keep hidden. She's not the murderer.
  • For much of the story, she's a prime suspect for the mastermind, since she's skilled at deceiving others and is presumably bitter about being blackmailed by Talent High School. That ends up being disproven when she's executed for killing Iwasawa and the killing game resumes.
• Rejected Apology: She's unwilling to forgive Mitamura for killing Mizuhara and trying to frame her.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: After dropping her façade and revealing her true nature, her language is considerably coarser, and she freely uses profanity.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: Zig-zagged. She bluntly notes that she has little sympathy for Hoshino, admitting that she's still bitter about him killing two people and trying to frame her. That said, she keeps her thoughts to herself during the memorial service.
• Suicide by Cop: In Chapter V, she tries to get the others to kill her to satisfy Monokuma's demands for a murder, lest he kill someone's family. They refuse, whether because her murderer will be executed, or because they don't want to give Monokuma what he wants.
• Sympathetic Murderer: She kills Iwasawa in order to to fulfill the conditions for the motive and prevent Monokuma from harming Miura's family (and by extension, everyone else's, who might have been targeted once he'd killed the Miura family).
• Team Chef: She shares this role with Iwasawa. Despite almost being framed for Mizuhara's death, Miura has her cook dinner and tastes her food, in order to ensure Sugiura is trusted once again.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • She and Hoshino cannot stand each other after she's exposed as being the Ultimate Poisoner, resulting in open hostility between them. Despite said hostility, they are actually able to guard the display case together without any problems.
  • To a lesser extent, Sugiura has this with Kagami. There's little open hostility, but both of them suspect each other of being the mastermind, and so don't trust each other.
• Thicker Than Water: While she doesn't always get along with her family, she strongly cares about them and isn't willing to let them die.
• Walking Spoiler: Her true personality and true talent are difficult to discuss without spoiling the second chapter.
• Western Zodiac: Aries.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: When she thanks Miura for being her friend, Sugiura uses "-san" on her, despite typically being rude enough not to use honorifics on most people.

Momo Iwasawa

Ultimate Farm Hand

A girl who hails from a remote farming community, but was nevertheless recognized for her talent as a farmer.

She is the murder victim in Chapter V, allowing Sugiura to kill her in the baths.

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• Both Sides Have a Point: Momo's mother wants her to make a life for herself outside her village, since she doesn't see much of a future for her there. Momo's father wants her to return home after graduating from Talent High School, since he doesn't believe that she can eke out an existence outside the village. Momo acknowledges that life is difficult outside the village but the village is stagnating, and so chooses to return home in order to bring change to her village.
• Character Development: She's forced to learn how to think for herself, and come to terms with Mitamura's betrayal of the group.
• Country Mouse: As a girl from out in the country, she's out of her element in the city and doesn't know how to use technology.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: She deconstructs Country Mouse, since it's indicated that her lack of knowledge makes it difficult to integrate into or function in modern society.
• Despair Event Horizon: Zig-zagged It's implied that the destruction of her village sent her over it, since she's willing to accept death as part of her plan with Sugiura. That said, she's more motivated by a desire to save anyone rather than having given up on the will to live.
• Doomed Hometown: Her village was destroyed during the Tragedy, resulting in the deaths of her family and everyone she knew.
• Farm Girl: Not only is it obvious from her talent and background, but she looks the part. Miura notes that she guessed that she was a farmer, just from a glance.
• Fish out of Water: She's a bit out of her element in the big city, unused to technology and other aspects of modern life.
• Gratuitous English: Downplayed, but Iwasawa addresses others with the English honorifics "Mr." and "Miss", rather than using Japanese Honorifics. While she was a student at Talent High School, though, she switched to using "-san" on all her classmates.
• Hopeless with Tech: Coming from a farming background, Iwasawa often struggles in using modern technology, such as the student handbooks, and often relies on Mitamura for help. As a result, Iwasawa gives Mitamura her "broken" weakness notepad, which actually has a defective battery, thus giving Mitamura a reason to commit murder.
• Huge Schoolgirl: She's roughly six feet tall and quite muscular.
• Japanese Christian: She's a Christian, having been raised that way in her farming village.
• Loophole Abuse: When she's unable to loan Miura her memory card, she instead puts it in and lets Miura play the console.
• My God, What Have I Done?: She's horrified when she learns that by giving Mitamura her notepad, she allowed Mitamura to learn about her own weakness, thus driving Mitamura to kill in order to keep it secret.
• Muscles Are Meaningful: She's probably the most physically strong of all the students, as a result of doing manual labor at the farm, and has the muscles to show for it.
• Nepotism: She has a distant relative on the board of directors, and he was the one responsible for finding and recruiting her.
• Nice Girl: She's polite, friendly and modest.
• Not a Morning Person: Inverted. She wakes up significantly earlier than the others, even before the end of Night Time.
• Odd Friendship: While she and Sugiura aren't exactly close friends, they do manage to achieve an understanding of sorts despite their very different personalities.
• Overalls and Gingham: She wears a pair of bib overalls over a button-down shirt.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: After hearing Iwasawa lament that she doesn't even have a dress for church, Miura imagines that Iwasawa would look quite nice in her Sunday best.
• The Simple Life is Simple: Played with. Iwasawa says her village offers a refuge from the modern world, but some of her classmates note that they'd have a difficult time there.
• Take a Third Option: Faced with the decision of returning home or finding a career outside her village, she decides to return to her village and help them adapt to th emodern age.
• Team Chef: She's usually the one who cooks meals for the group.
• Token Religious Teammate: She regularly attends church and reads the bible, but she's starting to have a crisis of faith.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the second Chapter, she shows Mitamura her "weakness" notepad, hoping that Mitamura, her go-to person for technological problems, will fix it. Mitamura instead surreptitiously views what's on it, lies about not being able to fix it, and then goes on to commit murder in order to keep her dirty secrets under wraps.
• Western Zodiac: Taurus.

Komaki Katsura

Ultimate Saleswoman

A talented businesswoman who's skilled at advertising, and can make succinct and convincing sales pitches.

She is the victim of Chapter IV, having been accidentally pushed down the stairs by Fukuda.

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• All Women Love Shoes: She has several pairs of shoes, which she wears for various occasions.
• Apologetic Attacker: She asks for Miura's forgiveness before trying to kill her with a knife.
• Asshole Victim: Subverted. While she initially seems like she was killed as a result of her attempt on Miura's life, she's actually a would-be Sympathetic Murderer instead, who deeply regretted what she'd almost done.
• Cannot Spit It Out: She's unable to tell the others why she doesn't want to finish FDR:VR. Unfortunately for her, no one is convinced.
• Character Development: Over time, she's forced to accept how her pragmatic worldview isn't always easy to put into practice, especially considering that her own feelings come into play more than she'd like to admit.
• Dead Man Writing: Before setting out to kill Miura, she wrote up a confession letter to identify herself as the culprit in the event that she died during or shortly after the murder.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Her character arc deconstructs The Needs of the Many ideology, since Katsura comes to realize the flaws of following this ideal, not the least of which is that she has personal feelings and can't be rational all the time.
• First-Name Basis: In Chapter III, she starts calling Akasaka "Kuro-chan" at the latter's invitation.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Despite generally being well-dressed, and believing that one must wear clothes suitable to the occasion, she personally enjoys wearing overalls when she's not expected to look nice, finding them to be quite practical.
  • While she's generally fairly calm, logical and rational, Katsura confesses that she tries to be because she knows that she's emotionally vulnerable, and has to remain dispassionate to avoid doing something she'd regret.
  • She initially seems like a serious individual who doesn't have many friends, but even apart from her friendship with Akasaka, Katsura was close to her cousin, and didn't like having to keep a professional distance at club.
• I Have Your Wife: Monokuma is threatening to harm her family if she doesn't prevent everyone else from completing the game.
• Ma'am Shock: Katsura strongly prefers that her young niece, her oldest sister's child, not call her "Komaki-baa-chan," since Katsura's only a teenager.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: She's the youngest of five siblings- she has one sister and three brothers.
• My Card: She offers Miura a business card upon meeting her.
• My God, What Have I Done?: She has this reaction after Miura asks if Katsura wanted her dead, causing her to be overcome by remorse and panic.
• Neck Snap: She suffered a broken neck before her death.
• The Needs of the Many: She favors this sort of logical approach, and even goes so far to suggest that if they kill the mastermind, they can save fifteen innocent people by killing someone who deserves it. That said, she sympathizes with Akasaka's anguish over condemning one of their own to death.
• Nepotism: Averted. Katsura's father points out that if his children hope to succeed him as head of his company, they'll have to work hard and earn the honor.
• Non-Idle Rich: Katsura is a hard worker, who seeks to earn her own successes, thus resulting in her becoming the Ultimate Saleswoman.
• Nouveau Riche: Her father grew up in poverty, but put himself through school and established his own company, enabling Komaki to grow up in relative comfort.
• The Ojou: She comes from a wealthy family.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The other students suspect that something's up when she suggests aborting their efforts to complete FDR:VR on a hunch, without providing any evidence for her decision.
• Running Away to Cry: She does this after the third trial, while grieving Akasaka's death.
• Salaryman: She becomes Miura's coworker in an omake, having a career in marketing that fits her talent.
• Say My Name: She screams Akasaka's first name after finding her body.
• Sharp Dressed Woman: She wears a pantsuit instead of a school uniform.
• Shoot the Dog: Zig-zagged. She says that if she were a judge, she'd willingly sentence Mitamura to life imprisonment or death if doing so was necessary to prevent any more murders. That said, she then admits that while she felt that way in the past, she's no longer so sure of herself.
• Skirts and Ladders: This trope is part of the reason why she enjoys wearing pants.
• Staircase Tumble: She dies of a broken neck after falling down the stairs.
• Sympathetic Murderer: At least attempted murderer, as she considers killing Miura in order to save her own (fairly large) family, then accepting her execution to save the remaining students. She succeeds in one omake.
• Tender Tears: She sheds a Single Tear while comforting Akasaka after the first trial, and runs off in tears at the end of the third trial.
• The Spock: She thinks practically, and her efforts are primarily in service of the greater good. That said, not only does she get along well with Akasaka, but she also admits to being emotionally vulnerable.
• Western Zodiac: Virgo.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: In an attempt to convince Monokuma to let everyone go, she considers making a sales pitch regarding their value to society. Kagami, however, dismisses her plan as unrealistic.

Male Students

Shiro Kurogane

Ultimate Shogi Player

Shiro Kurogane is the Ultimate Shogi Player, who'd gained his fame by competing in and winning several tournaments, only to be humiliated when Miura faces him as a demonstration of her talent.

Kurogane is the murder victim in Chapter I, when Sakuragi bludgeons him on the back of the head in an attempt to frame Miura and graduate.

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• Asshole Victim: Played with. While he's a jerk to Kaori and not many people are upset over his death, his death is only an indirect result of his being an asshole- his killer was trying to frame Kaori.
• The Can Kicked Him: He's murdered in the boys' bathroom.
• Couldn't Find a Pen: He supposedly wrote a message in his own blood. It turns out that his killer did so instead.
• Dying Clue: Subverted. He died instantly and couldn't have left the clue behind.
• Everyone Has Standards: He's bitter about Miura humiliating him, but doesn't plan on killing her, even in order to graduate.
• Foil: To Akasaka. He takes shogi far more seriously than she takes checkers, and while Akasaka is fairly friendly with Miura, he holds a grudge against her.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Because of his attitude, no one cares much for him, and their efforts to find the killer are more for their own survival and that of the rest of the spotless, rather than for his sake.
• Hidden Depths: His Free Time Events show that while he's still bitter about losing to an amateur, he also has some respect for people who persist in the face of great odds.
• Jerkass: He's persistently snide and rude to Kaori, refusing to accept her apology.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He does have a point that Miura defeating him has caused him trouble with his family and potentially damaged his career as a pro. Miura recognizes this, and does try to apologize to him.
• Jerkass Realization: In his Free Time Events, he realizes that he's been treating Miura unfairly.
• Meaningful Name: His name means "white" in Japanese, highlighting his stark differences with Akasaka.
• No Sympathy for Grudgeholders: His persistent refusal to forgive or even be civil with Miura is a large part of the reason why no one likes him.
• One-Steve Limit: He shares a name with Akasaka's brother.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one to Miura, accusing her of not understanding what she's done to him.
• Rejected Apology: He refuses Miura's apologies at every turn until he's murdered. His Free Time Events reveal that his parents haven't completely forgiven him for losing to Miura, which is part of the reason why he's so hard on her.
• Sore Loser: He's bitter about being defeated by Miura- not just because of the loss but because of the blow to his reputation.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He's killed on the third evening after arriving in Talent High School.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: It's indicated that part of the reason why he pushed himself to become good at shogi was to earn his parents' approval. Unfortunately for him, they did not take it well when he lost to Miura, and he knows he will have to work hard to earn their forgiveness.
• Western Zodiac: Leo.

Minato Mizuhara

Ultimate Fisherman

Mizuhara is a talented fisherman who is calm and polite, if a bit distant from his fellow classmates.

He is the murder victim in Chapter II, suffering a fatal allergic reaction when Mitamura adds ground peanuts to his dinner.

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• Alliterative Name: Minato Mizuhara.
• The Cynic: He believes that many people keep secrets and keep others at a distance, maintaining stable but not particularly close relationships.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: During the first trial, he points out the killer couldn't have used the laundry room to wash their clothes because he was inside. In the middle of his sentence, he realizes that when Sakuragi stopped by just before the body discovery announcement, he was planning on washing his blood-stained clothes.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Miura fears that Mizuhara may end up becoming this, since he wasn't close to anyone in the group, and so vows to remember him.
• Friendless Background: He hasn't had many friends in the past, partly because not many people he knew shared his love of fishing, and partly because he doesn't put much faith in others. He's also one of the students who never fully becomes friends with Miura before dying.
• Happily Married: His parents subvert this, since his mother isn't happy with his father spending time and money on fishing, but doesn't openly complain about it. Miura, however, suggests that this is out of respect for her husband and son's passions, rather than cowardice.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: He doesn't think his talent is anything particularly special, but is glad that being recognized as an Ultimate helped his mother approve of him fishing.
• Nice Guy: He's well-mannered and pleasant, if a bit prone to keeping others at a distance.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His showing Mitamura his notepad, thus revealing that Iwasawa is the Ultimate Poisoner, gives her someone to frame for when she kills him, and ends up outing Sugiura as a poisoner.
• Oh, Crap!: He has this reaction when he realizes Sugiura made dinner, just before being fatally poisoned.
• Properly Paranoid: He's somewhat distrustful of others, which is only natural considering he's in a killing game. That said, he is somewhat open to the idea of trusting and becoming friends with the others once he gets out.
• The Stoic: Subverted. While he initially seems to be the calmest about being trapped in the school, he confesses in his Free Time Events that he wasn't being completely honest, and Miura theorizes that he didn't want to show anyone his vulnerability.
• Weaksauce Weakness: He's severely allergic to peanuts, a factor that Mitamura uses to kill him.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Downplayed. He doesn't actively seek his parents' approval, but is glad that his being recognized as an Ultimate did help his mother become more tolerant of him fishing.
• Western Zodiac: Pisces.

Akito Sakuragi

Ultimate Sprinter

An athletic boy who achieved Japan's record for the 100 yard dash in his age group.

He is the murderer in Chapter I, killing Kurogane in an attempt to escape. He is executed by being forced to run from a steamroller until he is unable to go any farther, at which point, the steamroller runs over him and crushes him to death.

• Book Dumb: Apparently, he isn't very good at school. He's somewhat better at running, though, since he considers the skill relevant to his life.
• Chekhov's Skill: He uses his talent for sprinting to quickly escape the crime scene after killing Kurogane, saving himself from being caught at the scene.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Unlike most of the Chapter 1 culprits in the games, he commits a premeditated murder without even needing a motive.
• Didn't See That Coming: Part of the reason why his plan fails is because of two variables he didn't foresee- 1)The Monokuma File confirming that Kurogane died almost instantly and couldn't have written Miura's name and 2)Miura having an alibi at the time of the killing.
• Didn't Think This Through: He chooses to kill Kurogane just before Night Time, so that most of the class will be busy. Miura concludes that also means most of the others (herself included) have alibis.
• Fatal Flaw: His selfishness and the inability to give up on his dreams. He has trouble accepting that his senpai could have given up a promising running career for his family, and doesn't imagine himself doing the same. Because of this, Sakuragi ends up killing Kurogane and trying to graduate, since he's that desperate to get out and run again.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: When accused of the murder, he, desperate for a way out, argues that Hoshino could have killed the victim, since Hoshino got a wrench. Hoshino then points out that he never told anyone what weapon he had, and asks how Sakuragi could have known. Sakuragi also casually notes that Mitamura got the weapon he thought she would, but no one picks up on it until later.
• It's All About Me: Downplayed. Sakuragi isn't completely self-absorbed, but he's unwilling to make sacrifices for others, and ultimately commits murder because he doesn't want to give up running.
• Karmic Nod: In the end, he concludes that it's for the best that he gets punished if that's what it takes for everyone else to survive, but doesn't want to die.
• Obsolete Mentor: Sakuragi's senpai started out as a better runner, but ended up having to take time off of the team when his father died in a car accident, resulting in Sakuragi surpassing his senpai.
• Oh, Crap!: He has a low-key example when Miura accuses him of being the murderer, nervously trying to argue that she's overreacting to his accusing her of the same thing. He has a more severe example when he inadvertently reveals that he knew which weapon Hoshino had.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Shortly after the first murder, Fukuda notices that Sakuragi didn't want to go running with him. Considering that Sakuragi is quite passionate about running, even scolding Miura when she declines to run during his fourth Free Time event, Fukuda realizes that something's off. In reality, Sakuragi took a break in order to carry out his plan to murder Kurogane.
• Spirited Competitor: He sees having competition as a good thing, which is why he's offended that Kurogane would take losing so personally.
• Squashed Flat: Averted. While it would seem that being crushed by a steamroller would do this to him, the actual results are significantly more gruesome.
• Starter Villain: As the first murderer, he proceeds without knowing about the skills or resources at his classmates' disposal. As such, he doesn't realize that they would get a Monokuma File proving that his victim died instantly, or that they would be able to figure out that he knew who got which weapons in advance
• Sympathetic Murderer: Downplayed. While he commits murder to graduate without having a "motive" to force him to act, Miura pities him and realizes that he isn't necessarily evil as much as scared and desperate.
• Villainous Breakdown: It's relatively subdued compared to Leon and Teruteru's, but after Miura accuses him, he tries to act evasive at first, then grows increasingly agitated, making false accusations and speaking from the cuff.
• Western Zodiac: Scorpio.

Yusuke Tezuka

Ultimate Abstract Artist

An abstract artist who's talented in many forms of art.

Tezuka ultimately survives and escapes from the school.

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• Be Yourself: During an art critique assignment, he tried to emulate professional art critics, but a friend of his told him that wasn't any good, at which point Tezuka rewrote the assignment using his own style. He got a bad grade, but has no regrets.
• Brutal Honesty: After the end of Chapter III, he takes up this trait of Hoshino's, speaking plainly and bringing harsh truths to light.
• Gallows Humor: After making portraits to serve as memorials for the dead students, he says he'll help out again next time, assuming he's not one of the dead. Miura's fairly disturbed, not only about his joking about something like this, but also that he's more or less accepted that there will be another murder.
• The Generic Guy: He notes that he has probably the most ordinary upbringing out of anyone here, with a Salaryman father and a Housewife mother. He's grateful for that, though, noting that any traumas would probably make it more difficult for him to make art.
• Hidden Depths: Despite not seeming like a very thoughtful person, he sometimes questions whether he's worthy of the Ultimate Abstract Artist title, with so many other athlets out there and no conclusive criteria for evaluating them.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be fairly blunt and rude, but he also cares for the group. Despite pointedly noting that Akasaka and Yuuki had little knowledge of or appreciation for art, he fondly remembers them.
• Odd Friendship: With Inoue. Tezuka's rough, unsophisticated and vulgar, not thinking much of the power of language, while Inoue's polite and a master of multiple languages.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Miura's a bit shocked that he swears so much, having expected him to be a dignified and gentlemanly artist.
• Skewed Priorities: Downplayed, but he insists that Miura not get blood all over his painting when she removes it from the wall to investigate the murders in the gallery.
• Sophisticated as Hell: He briefly slips into this when trying to emulate Mitamura's formal diction, giving up after the first curse word slips out.
• Troll: He tries to troll Mitamura by telling her that Inoue's teaching him how to swear in foreign languages. He's quite disappointed when she only expresses mild disapproval, rather than flipping out like he'd hoped.
• Western Zodiac: Cancer.

Sora Hoshino

Ultimate Astronomer

A talented, if tactless and brutally honest, young astronomer.

He is the culprit in Chapter III, having stabbed Yuuki and shot Akasaka. He is executed by being burned alive by a giant magnifying glass.

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• At Least I Admit It: He has this opinion of himself compared to the other two killers, decrying them as selfish and saying that he's merely more honest about being willing to let the others die.
• Atomic F-Bomb: Screams "FUCK!" after being convicted of killing Yuuki, which seals his fate.
• Brutal Honesty: Perhaps the trait that most defines him. He's willing to say whatever is on his mind without even trying to sugarcoat it.
• Commander Contrarian:
  • He doesn't like the idea of Mitamura being leader, and makes no secret of it. That said, he does develop a bit of respect for her after he notices that she's less naïve than she initially was.
  • He also butts heads with Miura once she replaces Mitamura as leader.
• The Cynic: He's eager to assume the worst about students. As he puts it, it's highly unlikely that Monokuma wouldn't have chosen the students for the killing game if they weren't the sort who'd kill other people.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's often fairly sarcastic when he's not brutally honest.
  "Talk about a half-assed murder plan. Too bad the 'murder' part went off without a hitch."
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of The Rival archetype in the series. As a selfish and standoffish individual, he's not much of a team player, and is more likely to commit murder to graduate than he is to be a strong contributor to the group.
• Establishing Character Moment: He points out that he's the Ultimate Astronomer, not the Ultimate Astrologer, and rubs Tezuka's mistake in his face, showing his irritability, rudeness and lack of tact.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He fondly remembers looking at stars with his mother, and continues to do so in order to keep her memory alive.
• Everyone Has Standards: He doesn't mince words when he's talking about the living or the dead, but he's unusually restrained when dealing with those who are about to die. He agrees with Sakuragi's suggestion that it's better that one person die than everyone else, but doesn't have anything to say when Sakuragi admits that he doesn't want to die.
• Face Death with Dignity: Zig-zagged. He fights to the bitter end, but ultimately calmly accepts his fate, if partly out of pride.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Because of his abrasive attitude and lack of tact, virtually no one likes him. Miura's the closest thing he has to a friend, and even she calls him out on his behavior from time to time. It turns out that because he had some friends who badmouthed him behind his back while pretending to be friends, he would rather be openly hated than have such insincere friends.
• Hidden Depths: It's implied that some of his harsher statements are actually meant to come off as good advice. He's also not against the idea of friendship, per se, so long as the people in question are true friends, but believes that the killing game is not the time or place for that.
• Honest Advisor: Miura seeks out his advice in Chapter III, partly to include him and partly because she values his input.
• Hypocrite: He makes it clear how much disdain he has for killers... and ends up killing two people who did nothing to deserve it.
• Hypocritical Humor: After spending most of his time not mincing any words, he wryly notes that Miura doesn't pull any punches in her final remarks to him.
• Ineffectual Loner: He's not one for cooperation, but he also doesn't have the skills or knowledge to do well investigating on his own.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: He inadvertently admits to having moved the painting to cover up his crime as a result of mentioning the blood on it. The problem? No one besides Miura and the three boys guarding the crime scene should know about that, so Hoshino could only have seen it if he tried to cover up his own crime.
• Ironic Echo: He throws Miura's "When something happens for a third time, you notice a pattern," back in her face when she asks about why he did what he did.
• It's All About Me: He admits that his murders were solely done to graduate, and mocks the idea that doing it for his loved ones would be any more noble.
• Jerkass: He's ill-tempered, rude and says what he likes with no regard for others' feelings.
• Jerkass Has a Point: As unpleasant as he is, he's also often right about many things.
  • He points out that people cannot be blindly trusted in a killing game, which is why he doesn't think much of Mitamura. Before long, a murder does occur.
  • When the students get murder weapons, and Mitamura asks the other students not to open the boxes, he points out that they aren't the only way students can kill each other, and reminds Mitamura that she was the one who'd pointed out that there were possible murder weapons all around the school.
  • He also accurately predicts that Mitamura isn't as good of a person as she seems, although he didn't entirely anticipate her being a murderer.
  • He points out that regardless of the murders' circumstances or reasons for their actions, they're responsible for their choices, which end up furthering Monokuma's game. Sugiura despises him, but admits that he has a point.
  • He's the only one who openly criticizes the idea of guarding the gun case, noting that it isn't a permanent solution, even if he doesn't have any other ideas. Miura agrees, and after the meeting, asks him for advice.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Beneath his brutally honest exterior, there are a few hints he isn't completely heartless, but in the end, he's entirely out for himself, and commits a double murder in order to graduate once he's given up hope of escaping.
• Man on Fire: He slips on an oil slick during his execution and is burned alive.
• Missing Mom: His mother died when he was little.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one to Mitamura, essentially accusing her of being naïve and saying that he doesn't trust her to lead them.
• Self-Deprecation: Despite being fairly judgmental about the other students, he doesn't spare himself from the same judgment, and freely admits that he doesn't think he's any better than the others.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: He calls Sakuragi "a selfish, idiotic, murdering asshole" minutes after his execution.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He doesn't trust Sugiura after she's outed as the Ultimate Poisoner, and doesn't hesitate to say it to her face. That said, the two manage to guard the gun together without any problems.
• Touché: He complains about Miura not "pulling any punches," and when she points out that he's the last person to call her out on that, he says "Good one."
• The Unapologetic: Hoshino generally isn't one for apologizing. The closest he gets is when he doesn't argue Katsura's assertion that by killing Akasaka and Yuuki, Hoshino caused their families suffering.
• Villain Has a Point: He correctly observes that the group is getting nowhere in their efforts to escape.
• Villainous Breakdown: He becomes increasingly agitated as a result of his "Plan A" (convince everyone that the victims killed each other) and "Plan B" (frame Sugiura) fall through, progressing to wildly accusing Inoue and Sugiura of being in cahoots, then using the gun to intimidate the others. When he's finally convicted, he screams "FUCK!"
• Weapon for Intimidation: When things start going badly in the trial, he threatens the other students with the empty gun, threatening to shoot and kill Edogawa if Miura doesn't tell everyone to vote for him. It fails when Miura realizes he's out of ammunition.
• Western Zodiac: Sagittarius.
• Would Hit a Girl: During his argument with Sugiura in Chapter III, he comes dangerously close to hitting her, and Miura notes that he wouldn't hold back just because of Sugiura's gender. Miura is proven right when both of Hoshino's victims end up being female.

Shinichi Inoue

Ultimate Linguist

A boy who's mastered a dozen languages, as well as an old schoolmate of Edogawa's.

Inoue ultimately survives and escapes from the school.

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• But Not Too Foreign: He's half Caucasian and half Japanese, and has spent a significant portion of his life abroad.
• Character Development: While Inoue's fairly pessimistic and resigned to the possibility of dying in the first trial, he's horrified by Sakuragi's execution. He isn't particularly optimistic about the group's odds, but becomes determined that the majority of them won't suffer that fate.
• The Eeyore: To an extent. He's more or less convinced that the entire group besides the blackened will be executed in the first trial, since he doesn't believe anyone can find the killer.
• First-Name Basis: He calls his old friend Marie "Marie-chan," and eventually starts referring to Sae by her first name in Chapter V. At the very end, he also starts calling Tezuka by his first name.
• My Greatest Failure: He feels guilty for not being able to do more to help his old friend Marie's time in Japan be more pleasant.
• Nice Guy: A pleasant and well-mannered individual who respects the wishes of others and is willing to reach out to and befriend a lonely foreign transfer student.
• Odd Friendship: He, a relatively polite and sophisticated lover of language, forms one with the rough and unsophisticated Tezuka.
• Omniglot: His talent relates to his mastery of multiple languages.
• Only Friend: Was this to Marie, an American transfer student in Japan who had trouble fitting in due to her poor grasp of Japanese and very different values.
• Pen Pals: He and Marie ended up keeping in touch by mail after she returned to America.
• Sacred Hospitality: A strong believer in this concept. He believes that hosts should treat their guests well, which extends to countries welcoming immigrants and visitors.
• So Proud of You: Played with. His parents are proud of his skill as a linguist, but are forced to downplay his achievements or insult him, in order to seem humble from a Japanese perspective. Inoue understands why they're doing this, but is a bit uncomfortable that his parents have to essentially lie to their friends.
• Stranger in a Familiar Land: Downplayed. After spending a year abroad in America, he settled back in relatively easily, but found that he'd started questioning many things he'd taken for granted.
• 13 Is Unlucky: He believes this, in part related to his slightly superstitious personality.
• Western Zodiac: Sagittarius.

Daichi Fukuda

Ultimate Rock Climber

A talented young rock climber who apparently saved a scout from Talent High School.

He is the killer in Chapter IV, having accidentally pushed Katsura down the stairs when trying to calm her down. He's executed by being forced to climb a high cliff, which is blown apart when he's near the top.

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• Accidental Murder: He accidentally pushes Katsura down the stairs, killing her by breaking her neck. He panics and hits her over the head, but she was likely already dead at the time.
• Big Brother Instinct: He says that he cares a lot for his siblings, even if his younger sister Futaba's probably more mature than he is.
• Book Dumb: Like Yuuki and Sakuragi, he's not especially good at school, so he's a bit worried about his future. Despite not being good at school, he's not only a good rock climber, but also good at various wilderness survival skills, something he believes is because he actually has a use for that knowledge.
• Brutal Honesty: He makes it clear that some people are better off not trying rock climbing, lest they endanger themselves or others.
• Face Death with Dignity: He apologizes for what he's done, explains the events leading to the murder, and calmly accepts his punishment.
• Friendless Background: Downplayed. Due to moving often, he's often had to say goodbye to his friends, and ended up giving up on getting close to people.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: He tends to be somewhat apologetic about his poor grades, and downplays his rescue of a Talent High School scout while rock climbing.
• I Have Your Wife: Monokuma is holding his parents and siblings hostage, and threatens to kill them unless he finishes the game first. After Fukuda accidentally kills Katsura, Monokuma threatens to kill them if he doesn't try to get away with his crime.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: He briefly assumes that the "murder weapon" Miura mentions being hid in the compartment was Katsura's steak knife. It's actually the trophy used on her, and this slip of the tongue gives Miura a reason to suspect him.
• Moment of Weakness: He's too afraid to admit that Katsura is dead, resulting in him staying silent until Monokuma blackmails him.
• Muscles Are Meaningful: He has a muscular physique, showing that he works out regularly.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He's overwhelmed by remorse after accidentally killing Katsura, and contemplates suicide.
• Nice Guy: He's calm and good-natured. Despite briefly suspecting Miura due to seeing her name and hearing her doubt his alibi, he quickly apologizes and cooperates by showing her and Edogawa his shoes.
• Sympathetic Murderer: He kills his victim by accident, and only tries to cover it up because Monokuma is threatening his family.
• Theme Naming: He and his siblings, named after the Yamura siblings from Bokurano have the words for various numbers in their names- Daichi, Futaba, Santa and Yoshi.
• Tragic Dream: He wants to be a teacher, out of gratitude toward and a desire to emulate the teachers who never gave up on him, but he's told that his grades aren't good enough. Instead, he decides to settle for being a climbing instructor.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He brings up the idea of breaking the notepads, resulting in Miura mentioning the rule about having to view them, which in turn leads Iwasawa to loan her notepad to Mitamura, causing Mizuhara's murder.
• Western Zodiac: Scorpio.

Sousuke Kagami

Ultimate Copycat

The last student to be introduced, Kagami supposedly doesn't remember his own talent... only this turns out to be a lie. In actuality, he is the mastermind behind the killing game.

Kagami is unmasked in Chapter VI, and defeated when the other classmates vote for hope. Unwilling to face justice for his crimes, he lets himself be executed.

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• Amnesiac Hero: In addition to having his memories of his time at the school wiped, he also has forgotten his talent. Subverted when he turns out to have lied about his amnesia.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Zig-zagged. Kagami is able to kill most of his classmates, but in the end, he gets exposed and executed.
• Batman Gambit: He deliberately argues that Sugiura needed an accomplice in the fifth trial and makes Edogawa the suspect in hopes of casting doubt on the conclusion that Sugiura is guilty. He does so knowing that Miura will act to defend Edogawa, and that the only way to prove that Sugiura is the culprit is to reveal that Iwasawa let Sugiura kill her, thereby rendering the murder invalid.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: He lets himself be executed rather than face justice for his crimes.
• Big Bad: He's the mastermind.
• Birds of a Feather: He sees a certain amount of similarity with Miura in that neither have a defined Ultimate talent, and many of Kagami's Free Time events discuss what it means to have one.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He pretends to be a relatively pleasant if distant individual,
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Unlike Enoshima, he is not part of Ultimate Despair, but is using it for his own twisted goals. Notably, unlike Enoshima, he's utterly terrified in his final moments, and executes himself to avoid justice for his crimes.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: He suffers an agonizing combination of all five executions, and unlike Enoshima, does not enjoy it.
• Dirty Coward: He decides to execute himself rather than be brought to trial for his crimes.
• Disproportionate Retribution: His descent into evil is motivated by a desire to get back at Talent High School for blackmailing him.
• Evil Is Petty: As mentioned under Disproportionate Retribution, there's no kinder way to describe his motives.
• The Generic Guy: He has the fewest eccentricities of the main cast, which is why Monokuma chooses him to replace Miura as protagonist in the April Fools' Day omake.
• Fair-Play Villain: Averted. Miura notices that he did everything in his power to stack the deck in his favor. This is most evident in the final vote, in which he intends to vote for despair and condemn the other survivors to death.
• Gambit Roulette: Miura notices that killing game ended Kagami had planned- in other words, being drawn out as long as possible and both Miura and Kagami surviving to the end (with the former being instrumental in uncovering the murders)- is dependent on many factors that are beyond Kagami's control.
• Hate Sink: He has no redeeming or entertaining qualities and gleefully displays his twisted nature after being exposed.
• Hidden Villain: He hides among the other students participating in the killing game, keeping his identity secret until Miura is able to deduce it.
• I Just Want to Be Special: His desire to recover his memory of his talent is partly based on this, since he knows that one's talent is a large part of one's identity, and he wants to get that piece of himself back. This desire is also one of the few things he can clearly recall from his pre-Talent High School life.
• Mouthful of Pi: He demonstrates his ability to memorize things by reciting several dozen digits of pi.
• Narcissist: He has an inflated view of his own self-worth, and his grudge against the school is purely due to his belief that he was slighted and not given what he thought he deserved.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By questioning whether Sugiura could have the physical strength to hold down Iwasawa, he ended up forcing Miura to reveal that Iwasawa had gone along with her murder, thereby causing Monokuma to declare that the murder didn't count as far as the motive went. Subverted when it turns out this was almost certainly intentional.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His above moment also helps Miura realize that he is the mastermind.
• Photographic Memory: He claims to have this skill, and his memory is proven to be highly reliable.
• Saying Too Much: When Miura points out his interview with the headmistress was different than the others, he protests that the headmistress turned off the camera before they discussed a confidential matter. Miura is the only one who watched the DVD, so Kagami should not have been able to know what was on it unless he remembered the meeting.
• The Stoic: He's perpetually calm and unflappable, or at least seems to be.
• This Cannot Be!: He's utterly bewildered when he realizes that hope has won over despair.
• Villain Has a Point: Miura admits that Kagami actually has a point about Talent High School's shortcomings as an
• Villainous Breakdown: He becomes increasingly unhinged as Miura convinces the others to vote against him, and is reduced to screaming and swearing at the others.
• Western Zodiac: Gemini.

Other Characters

Monokuma

The "headmaster" of Talent High School, and overseer of the killing game.

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• Artificial Intelligence: Strongly implied to be this, since unlike in the first game, the mastermind is not controlling him. In the end, it's suggested that he is controlled by Junko's AI.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Miura notes that while Monokuma often comes off as whimsical and childish, his unpredictability only makes him more dangerous. This is especially true in Chapter V, once the group finds out about the hostages.
• Cruel Mercy:
  • While technically speaking, his hostages from the Katsura and Fukuda families are no longer useful after the latter kills the former, he leaves them alive so they can suffer from the knowledge of what their children have done.
  • He also lets the survivors go, confident that they'll die soon enough in the post-Tragedy world, regretting their choice to leave.
• Even Evil Has Standards: It's implied that even he doesn't really care for the mastermind's reasons for setting up the killing game, albeit because the mastermind doesn't subscribe to his ideology.
• Exact Words: He tells Miura that no one inside the school (and when questioned, elaborates that no one Miura cares about) will be harmed if she completes FDR:VR. The two families whose lives are on the line aren't in the school and aren't related to her, so he believes she has no reason to care about them.
• I Have Your Wife: It's revealed that he took Katsura and Fukuda's families hostage to use as leverage against them in Chapter IV. The next Chapter reveals that he also did this with the rest of the cast.
• Moving the Goalposts: Much to Fukuda's dismay, after Fukuda accidentally kills Katsura, Monokuma threatens to kill Fukuda's family unless he tries to graduate.
• Obvious Rule Patch: He institutes the rule against attacking or threatening anyone during class trials after Hoshino suffers a Villainous Breakdown and resorts to threatening the others. While Monokuma knew Hoshino was bluffing, the rule change was meant to protect the mastermind.
• Oh, Crap!: He suffers one when Miura suggests that she knows the mastermind's identity.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • He'd prefer to keep the killing game going as long as possible in order to prolong the students' suffering, so he'd prefer that the students find the blackened and avoid getting executed.
  • He also finds it more entertaining to watch students kill each other and then get executed. As such, he makes sure that the students understand the rules, since he'd rather not have to execute them for breaking one.
• Saying Too Much: He refuses to let the students investigate Sakuragi's room, saying it would make the trial too easy. Edogawa then concludes that means that Sakuragi did, in fact, hide incriminating evidence in there.
• Taught by Experience: He appears to have learned from the previous killing game, and as such refuses to spill the beans about whether the first murderer acted alone when Mitamura asks him about the "no accomplice" rule, unlike how he did so when Fujisaki asked him the same thing.
• Villains Never Lie: Played with. While he can be somewhat choosy when it comes to what he discloses to the students, he never actually lies when he can tell a more disturbing truth.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Averted. He doesn't kill his hostages as long as he can make them suffer.

Junko Enoshima

Ultimate Fashionista/Ultimate Despair

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The founder of Ultimate Despair and the mastermind behind the Tragedy. Even though Junko is now dead, the legacy of her efforts to bring the world into despair lives on.

• Dirty Coward: Miura interprets her as this, pointing out that she did everything in her power to prevent herself from being discovered, put herself at an advantage in the final trial, and was willing to die rather than face punishment for her crimes.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Discussed, as while Miura knows that Enoshima is a terrible person, she realizes that she may have cared for Mukuro in her own way.
• Greater-Scope Villain: She's thought to be behind the Talent High School killing game in some shape or form. It turns out she is via blackmailing Kagami into doing it in exchange for copying Hope's Peak's air purifier plans for Talent High School and appealing to his resentment over being forced into attending Talent High and then giving him the tools necessary to carry it out.
• Posthumous Character: The Talent High School killing game begins after the Hope's Peak one ended, so Junko is already dead.