Fanfic / Through The Cracked Mirror

Hope is mandatory.

Despair is outlawed.

Roles have been reversed.

Welcome to the Mirrorverse.

Through the Cracked Mirror is a Danganronpa Alternate Universe fanfic written by Vesperlord. It is the first in a planned series known as The Mirrorverse, which explores an interesting High Concept: what if the roles of Hope and Despair were reversed?

Warning: Spoilers from the series itself are unmarked.

Junko Enoshima awakens in an unfamiliar building, with unfamiliar people, and is told by a small, animatronic robot that they are to live there for the rest of their lives... unless they can kill another person and get away with it.

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This Fan Fiction contains examples of the following tropes:

• Action Girl: Mukuro, naturally.
• Adaptational Heroism: Junko does not seem to get off on inflicting despair in others.
• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • Hiyoko is even more of a Jerkass than she was in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. Go ahead and compare the quote below to her canon interpretation:
    Hiyoko: (Referring to the bandages on Mikan's arm) You some kinda freak who likes to cut herself?
  • Izuru is more antagonistic towards others than he was shown to be in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, at one point slamming Hiyoko's head down onto a table after she insults him.
• Adaptational Villainy: Usami is the one putting 77-B, Junko, and Mukuro through the killing game.
• Anti-Hero: Junko. She wants to bring down the empire by whatever means necessary, and apparently broke into someone's apartment so she could have somewhere to sleep.
• Berserk Button: Hiyoko presses Izuru's when she suggests that the Kokeshi Dynamo can pleasure his girlfriend more than he can. He responds by slamming her head down on the table and breaking her nose.
• Bilingual Bonus: Sonia chooses to speak French instead of Japanese. And she does so very harshly.
  Sonia: Je m'appelle Sonia Nevermind. Quant à mon Ultime Talent pourquoi devriez-vous vous en préoccuper, enfoirés?
  Hiyoko: “Do you speak Japanese?”
  Sonia: “Oui. Juste pas devant des idiots comme vous.”
• Bizarro Universe/Mirror Universe: Has qualities of both.
  • Junko, Mukuro, and most of the students of Class 77-B have been imprisoned inside Hope's Peak Academy by Usami.
  • The Ultimate Impostor has taken on Ryota Mitarai's identity, rather than Byakuya Togami's.
  • Fuyuhiko is the SHSL Police Officer.
  • "Mukuro Ikusaba" is just an alias. Her real name is Ryouko Otonashi.
  • Izuru is already around, and a conscious participant of a killing game.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Fenrir was hell for Mukuro, and Junko had to leave on the streets for six years after their parents died.
• Elmer Fudd Syndrome: Usami.
• The Empire: There are multiple references to one, who are the ones that sent the group into Hope's Peak, deeming them all threats that can either be reformed or kill each other off. They also seem to allow members of prestigious families to have more sexual partners.
• Happiness Is Mandatory: According to Junko, this is what life is like the empire.
  Hope. A meaningless concept. A boring lifestyle. At least, when applied to this world. Despair. Outlawed. Deemed unnecessary. Did your lover die? Your parents? Your closest friend? You are not allowed to feel despair because of it. You must feel hope. Nothing but hope.
• In Spite of a Nail: A lot of the characters still have the same talents and personalities.
• Killer Rabbit: Usami is the one putting the group through the killing game.
• Neck Lift: In the prologue, Izuru inflicts this on Nagito to get him to stop rambling.
• State Sec: Fenrir functions as one for The Empire, hunting down dissidents. According to Mukuro, she and the other recruits were subjected to Training from Hell. She doesn't elaborate too much, but she was only referred to as 35 and awakened every morning at 4AM with a bucket of ice water. And out of thirty-five recruits, less than ten had survived the training.
• The Stoic: Izuru.