This whole situation sounded outlandish and surreal. A teddy bear trying to get us to commit murder? But there was the gnawing possibility at the back of my head that I would have to remember... I could die. They could die. We could die.
— Kaori Hotaru
Danganronpa: Memento Mori is a Danganronpa Continuation Fanfic, written in 2021 by Wattpad user Reborn4Dog. It is the first installment in a trilogy known as the K.R.D. Chronicles, with Danganronpa: Komm Susser Tod and Danganronpa: Paradise Lost serving as its sequels.
Kaori Hotaru, the Ultimate Weaver, finds herself in a strange facility. Although she has a letter admitting her to Hope's Peak Academy in her hand, she has no recollection of actually going there — even after meeting 15 other students in the same boat as her. Unfortunately, they find themselves to be the next group victimized by the ever-present Monokuma and his Killing Game... and it's quite clear that Kaori must uncover the bigger picture if she is to escape with her life...
Danganronpa: Memento Mori can be read here
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Danganronpa: Memento Mori contains examples of:
- A Sinister Clue: Chapter 3's victim is found with wounds suggesting that their killer was left-handed. The left-handed Luka Aikuchi turns out to be the culprit — and also an eugenicist Serial Killer.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: In Chapter 4, Yukiharu attempts to avoid his impending execution by slitting his wrists with a pocketknife. Monokuma manages to begin said execution before he goes through with it, however.
- Breaking Old Trends: While 3 people die in Chapter 3 as per tradition, there's only one murder, that of Kozue by Luka. Masao dies beforehand after attempting to kill Monokuma and subsequently being subjected to the Spears of Gungnir.
- Canon Character All Along: A big question throughout the fic is the identity of the red-haired girl depicted on the spare e-Handbook Kaori finds early on. The survivors find her at the end of Chapter 5 and deduce her identity to be Ryoko Otonashi — the actual Ryoko Otonashi, to be in fact.
- Corrupted Character Copy:
- Ren Kurusu is, like Joker, a raven-haired young man known for criminal activities, and Ren is even named after Joker's real names in the anime and manga adaptations of Persona 5. Unlike Joker, who has a selfless desire to bring justice upon corrupt authority figures and draws the line at killing them, Ren is far more selfish and amoral to the extent that he murders Mugen after suspecting him to be the mastermind, then attempts to have everyone else condemned in the resulting Class Trial to save himself.
- Kaiji Kudo is one to Shuichi Saihara, both of them being insecure detectives with Signature Headgear (and to drive the point home, Kaiji's appearance is based off of one of Shuichi's beta designs). However, Kaiji is even more insecure about his talent than Shuichi is to the point that it's Kaori who has to step up and lead the Class Trials, and Shuichi ends up being the one to end his Killing Game, whereas Kaiji, or rather Naoya, turns out to be the one who instigated his own.
- Cowardly Yellow: Yura Ouka wears a yellow airsoft suit. She is also a braggart who quickly chokes under actual threat, who deliberately targets her most sickly classmate when she commits murder to retrieve her treasured airsoft medals, and goes to her death screaming and crying.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Umm, it's Danganronpa, so yeah. The executions are chockful of excruciating experiences for the murderers to encounter before their last moments.
- Chapter 1: The Ultimate Inmate, Ren Kurusu, has Death Penalty Trinity. First, Monokuma hangs him from a gallows before dropping him into an electric chair and having him electrocuted, before concluding by putting him on a guillotine and chopping his head off.
- Chapter 2: The Ultimate Airsofter, Yura Ouka, has Clay Yura Shooting. Monokuma starts off by tying her to a post and readying a shotgun, a seemingly simple death by firing squad. However, he decides to toy with her by shooting her precious medals and when he readies to shoot her, it turns out he's out of ammo. Monokuma's solution to this is pull out a minigun and reduce her body to paste.
- Chapter 3: The Ultimate Dentist, Luka Aikuchi, has Wash Out with Monokuchi Mouthwash. The execution starts Luka tied to a dentist chair while a bunch of Monokuma's have a faux ad spoofing the "9 out of 10 dentists recommend this" quotes on non-prescription medicine. Once the ad is done, chattering teeth begin to sink their teeth into her flesh, "freeing" her from her bonds before a wave of mouthwash-like acid is left to dissolve her body, leaving nothing but a skeleton when it's done with her.
- Chapter 4: The Ultimate Snowboarder, Yukiharu Fuyumura, has Avalanche! White Wall of Terror. Even before then, Yukiharu attempts to kill himself with a pocketknife, but fails. When the real execution starts, he's chained to a snowboard atop a snowy hill and Monokuma pushes him off. While he does well to avoid the incoming trees and rocks, Monokuma calls for an avalanche behind him. When it crashes into him, his chains are broken and he flies off the board, but ultimately ends up swallowed by the avalanche. All that's left of him as Monokuma digs him up are his frostbitten hands.
- Chapter 5: The Ultimate Prosecutor, Ayane Mitsurugi, has The Guilty Verdict. A giant Monokuma in the attire of a judge slams a gavel on a conveyor belt that Ayane is forcibly seated on. While she tries to wriggle her way out, Daigo tries to save her, but the conveyor belt speeds up, and Ayane is ultimately squashed flat by the gavel, her blood covering Daigo and leaving him in despair.
- Curiosity Killed the Cast: Souta's curiosity ends up getting him into a lot of hot water: such as causing him to be subjected to a Frame-Up for Kozue's murder in Chapter 3, and inadvertently getting Hirou killed via a Booby Trap meant for him in Chapter 4. Ironically, Souta himself is one of the survivors.
- Depraved Dentist: Luka, the Ultimate Dentist, turns out to be the Chapter 3 killer. And she's also a Serial Killer that operates akin to the infamous Kuchisake-onna Urban Legend.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: A few instances, compared to its sequels:
- Kaori is the only female protagonist of the K.R.D. Chronicles, as both of her successors, Reiji and Daisuke, are male.
- The students are supposed to scan their e-Handbooks to get in and out of their personal rooms, whereas in the sequels all participants are instead handed normal keys.
- There are no Monokuma Theater segments in-between chapters.
- Engineered Heroics: This turns out to be the reason why the Killing Game is happening to begin with — Naoya Edogawa becomes the mastermind so that he could "solve" the crimes and impress his deceased older sister Arisu.
- Expy: Madoka Uryu's status as a beanie and scarf-wearing Wild Card whose true allegiance remains unclear for most of the story is clearly based upon Your Turn to Die's Sou Hiyori.
- The Fake Cutie: Luka Aikuchi appears to be a rather bubbly and cheerful young girl you would hardly expect to be a Depraved Dentist. That's exactly what she is, and she's also a Serial Killer with no remorse over butchering her victims as she believes that those living on the fringes of society will not be missed.
- The Fatalist: Haruhi Hanazawa, the Ultimate Florist, is a believer in the idea of fate, and implores most of her classmates to accept the destiny awaiting them.
- Gentle Giant: The imposing Hirou Shinju is one of the more calmer and soft-spoken students, encouraging his fellow students to stay calm even as the Killing Game begins in full swing.
- Heroic Wannabe:
- Daigo Bushida, the deuteragonist, has the unfortunate tendency to take charge of the group and act akin to a hero even if it ends up causing his death. It nearly gets him killed via causing a heart attack out of sheer exertion, forcing him to moderate it.
- The mastermind, Naoya Edogawa, also turns out to be one... but unlike Daigo, he resorts to setting up the Killing Game just so he can play hero.
- Kendo Team Captain: Masao Mifune is outright the Ultimate Kendo Team Captain. He demonstrates a lot of honorable traits, such as samurai ancestors, skill in wooden swords, referring to his fellow students politely, and dying in a futile attempt to destroy Monokuma and end the Killing Game.
- Lotsa People Try to Dun It: This is the main complication of Chapter 5 — as it turns out that no less than 4 students made attempts on the life of the victim. In the end, it all comes down to figuring out who dealt the fatal blow.
- Murder by Mistake: Chapter 4's murder involves Yukiharu setting up a Booby Trap via a tripwire-activated shotgun with the intention of killing Souta. However, Hirou is the one to activate it and die instead.
- Mysterious Purple: Ultimate Game Master Mugen Kojima and Ultimate ??? Madoka Uryu are both associated with different shades of purple in their clothing, and both prove themselves to be amongst the more enigmatic students, their moral allegiances frequently being called into question.
- Papa Wolf: Hideo Otonashi, founder of the Otonashi Foundation that helps the survivors escape at the end, will not rest until he finds his daughter Ryoko safe and sound.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Kozue Sumiyoshi is the Ultimate Volleyball Player, and is quite energetic and encouraging towards the rest of the students.
- The Real Remington Steele: One of the big reveals in the final Class Trial is that the Ryoko Otonashi that the survivors found is real, with Junko Enoshima having the masterminds help her pull a Capture and Replicate for the events of Danganronpa Zero.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: Ryoko Otonashi was never indicated to be anything other than an amnesiac Split Personality of Junko Enoshima in Danganronpa Zero itself. Due to making Ryoko an actual person in her own right, Memento Mori explains that they are cousins.
- Salaryman: As the Ultimate Salaryman, Daigo Bushida fits the stereotype to a tee, wearing a gray suit, being noticeably upbeat, and eventually wearing a Necktie Headband.
- Secretly Dying: As it turns out, Haruhi has been diagnosed with the deadly Hanahaki Disease, which is why Yura targets her in her own murder scheme.
- Sequel Hook: The epilogue ends with Kaori, reminiscing about the Killing Game, encountering a young man with a camera, who has a story of his own to tell.
- Shrinking Violet: From the very beginning, Umiko Nitori repeatedly stutters her lines, has a shy expression on her face at all times, and rarely takes an active role in conversations.
- Taking the Heat: Daigo attempts to do this in Chapter 5, stabbing Madoka's corpse to hide that Ayane finished her off.
- Villain's Dying Grace: Naoya's final act before allowing himself to drown is to point the survivors towards an escape route, thus ensuring they'll be able to get away from the Collapsing Lair in time.
- The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Ren Kurusu is established to be a Prison Escape Artist who has broken out of every jail he was sent to. He ultimately ends up becoming the first killer in a moment of rage and is messily executed.
