Main installments: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair | Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School | Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Spin-offs: Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
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Fridge Horror
- With this being the 53rd killing game, the Japanese government probably sees nothing wrong with having killing games as if they did, they would've probably stopped them before they could do anything.
- As mentioned on the main page for The Truman Show (whose plot this obviously borrows from in part), the legal system and social structure to make this kind of show acceptable in both fields would be horrendous to even imagine. If we accept that Tsumugi was being truthful in saying that Danganronpa is a wildly popular show in a world that's otherwise peaceful and that the cast all willingly signed on, then it means we have a world in which children and young people are encouraged in any aggressive urges they may have (and certainly not treated for any personal issues they may have), because it may serve as a motive for them to volunteer for the killing games; this is how we get kids like Kaito, Kaede and Shuichi who have no faith in humanity and have been driven to homicide/suicide. In a deeply sick way, it's a system that makes sense; violent or suicidal teenagers volunteer for the killing game, a vast majority of them die, the ones that don't move up in the world as a reward, and the world has a few less prospective criminals to contend with. Everybody wins! And that's not even going into the changes to the legal system that would have to be allowed in order to make the killing game legally accepted...
- Overlapping with Fridge Sadness, throughout the Danganronpa universe, there was a constant battle between hope and despair. Given how there were 53 killing games and people are willingly joining them, it would seem despair has already won.
- It's arguably worse than that; if it was just despair, then it could be fought against with hope. But as we see in Chapter 6, Team Danganronpa has brought about a world in which both hope and despair are profitable to them, and the killing games will continue no matter which sentiment dominates. The survivors of Season 53 were able to fight against them only by rejecting both hope and despair, which was only possible because of the setup of the class trial; those in the outside world may not be as lucky.
- In other words, neither hope or despair won; complete apathy did.
- It's arguably worse than that; if it was just despair, then it could be fought against with hope. But as we see in Chapter 6, Team Danganronpa has brought about a world in which both hope and despair are profitable to them, and the killing games will continue no matter which sentiment dominates. The survivors of Season 53 were able to fight against them only by rejecting both hope and despair, which was only possible because of the setup of the class trial; those in the outside world may not be as lucky.
- Chapter 6 reveals that the "culprit" of Chapter 1 was actually innocent. Kaede was framed by Tsumugi, Rantaro's true killer and the mastermind of the killing game. Meaning the true "blackened" actually won in the very first chapter. Had Monokuma been following the rules, the entire cast should have been executed, if it wasn't for Tsumugi's desire to keep the killing game going (although Junko was also willing to execute Naegi or Kirigiri for Mukuro's murder, so this is not unprecedented).
- Although there was very little chance of that happening: the entire cast getting killed off in the first trial would likely have been almost as much of a Franchise Killer as what Shuichi and the others accomplished in Chapter 6.
- Not necessarily. They may have used that motive early on as a means of making sure the cast would actually work well for a killing game. Since parts of the set are still under construction anyway if this cast "failed" to get the viewers interest in time with murder this would let the studio quickly "re-cast" them without causing too much of a fuss.
- It at least makes sense for executions to be as grandiose as they are now. A series that's been going on for 53 seasons and an untold number of years is bound to have some serious money to spend on lavish death traps.
- In Korekiyo's second Free Time Event with Kaede, he asks Kaede whether she wants to be his sister's friend. She agrees without any suspicion and Korekiyo is very pleased. After seeing the motive of the third case, it seems Kaede won't last that long anyway even if she somehow survived the first case...
- Also note that this means that Kaede agreed to this when there was a "first blood perk" in effect that would've let Korekiyo get away with this murder without a trial and the time limit put everyone's life at risk on top of that. It's probably a really good thing for her that she was with Shuichi as much as she was as otherwise she could have just as easily been the first victim so Korekiyo could leave and continue "making friends" for his sister.
- Let's take it in even further. His Space Mode ending indicates that he might make an exception for Shuichi. Shuichi just escaped thanks to a "cute" little date fest only to be killed by Korekiyo because of how well they bonded.
- Unlike previous games, there is no rule to prevent somebody from killing them all as "two victims per case" rule does not apply here. While fortunately, nobody in this killing game attempted to kill more than two people, with there being 49 unseen killing games.
- Similarly, Monokuma stated if there are two different killers for two different murder victims, then the person whose victim's body is discovered first will be considered the blackened. While there isn't exactly a case where that ended up happening, somewhere in 49 unseen killing games may ended up having something like that with a second killer managing to get away with their murder without ever having to be executed for their crimes.
- Kirumi mentions in bonus mode that she doesn't like to be regarded as a Team Mom. Why does she play along with it for Kokichi in Chapter 2? It was partly a distraction, but it also could be viewed as the last rite for a victim of her graduation ploy.
- Gonta could've been a very dangerous person in the killing game. Gonta is not the most intelligent person out there as Tsumugi could've convinced him to kill somebody like how Kokichi did in Chapter Four. However, unlike the case of Kokichi, the mastermind could've convinced him to get rid of somebody who is more of a threat to Tsumugi like Kokichi and Shuichi. If Kokichi decided to go against what he did in Chapter 4 for some reason, then things could've been a lot worse.
- The Flashback Lights' usages come with their own share of horrors:
- Given how there is 52 previous seasons and there is a memory light that can implant false memories, there might be some other people who fell victim into what ended up happening to Kaede. It is very likely that could have happened given how having everybody die without defeating the mastermind would be a very big Franchise Killer as stated above.
- Among those lines, Team Danganronpa has shown a Lack of Empathy and is willing to do anything for public enjoyment. A simple murder case that a past season had could've been way more complicated thanks to the Flashback Lights' power all for the sake of "good television".
- The Light is described to induce any kind of Fake Memories into the victim. As written by a 4chan user, Kirumi went from a dutiful maid to a ruthless person willing to kill just to go back to her 'citizens' that don't even exist. Tying with the ultimate twist, maybe the Lights are also triggered those turn students into Manchurian Agent-esque killers once the act calls for them.
- Are people even tuning in to Danganronpa out of genuine enjoyment? Who's saying that the reason why no one sees killing games as immoral is that humanity has been conditioned on a societal scale to show enthusiasm with the franchise?
- The Flashback Lights could have had a very, very wide variety of uses. They can grant amazing talents to average nobodies just by flashing the right things at the desired subjects. Military training, ANYTHING-training, brainwashing, therapy, hypnosis, interrogation... yet (for now) it doesn't seem like they're being used for anything except to create "real fictional characters". Crosses into Reed Richards Is Useless.
- Given that the flashback lights can be used to implant false memories, it is possible that the audition videos shown in the last trial were fake as well, and in the interviews where the characters confessed their love for the show and their willingness to participate they were already brainwashed to act like that; it is, therefore, possible that Shuichi, the rest of the cast and EVERY participant of the 53 seasons were all forced to play the game from the beginning. In fact, there is direct evidence for this: in the prologue, before getting their memories from the Monokubs, the characters react in an entirely different manner to the announcement of the killing game than in the video of that same scene shown in the last trial, suggesting that the Danganronpa Studio kidnaps teenagers from the street, brainwashes them to believe they want to participate in the killing game to make the audience think they're watching volunteers lessen the moral burden, then installs the false characters into their psyches and makes them kill each other.
- Which is backed up by Kaede's recollections at the beginning. First, she was shoved into a black van and taken away on a street in broad daylight, which would be a strange way of getting someone who auditioned to appear. Second, she seemed to recognize the Monokubs and seemed really confused and annoyed, not in an exciting way that a fan of the Killing Games likely would be. If this has gone on for 52 previous seasons, it's quite likely she would've recognized them for exactly who and what they are if she were a fan. Depending on whether or not you believe Tsumugi, it could be that she recognizes either from these previous seasons, from the Danganronpa games themselves, or even from the Remnants of Despair. Either way, there's a lot to suggest that she and her friends participate in the games was not their own desire.
- And whether or not any of this is true, there are still fans such as Makoto (not Naegi) who actively want to participate in Danganronpa. Despite knowing that they will be subject to immense amounts of psychological torture and risk brutal deaths, the show still has countless fans who want to escape their lives and live in the world of Danganronpa instead.
- If kidnapping is the reality of Killing Harmony's cast, they were also obligated to participate in the sequence of psychological torture completely unsolicited, just like the first
three killing games, along with the Final Killing Game involving Future Foundation's members.
- Considering Flashback Lights can alter human personalities, it's not a stretch to think that they are responsible for some nasty personality quirks like Kiyo's insanity, Tenko's hatred of men and Kokichi's lack of empathy. In other words, this thing can give people mental disorders just by shining light on them.
- Given how there is 52 previous seasons and there is a memory light that can implant false memories, there might be some other people who fell victim into what ended up happening to Kaede. It is very likely that could have happened given how having everybody die without defeating the mastermind would be a very big Franchise Killer as stated above.
- More like Fridge Squick, but considering Keebo was the intended Audience Surrogate in the reality show format, and as such was their eyes to what happened in the killing the game, certain comments in the game makes this disturbing in context. Remember how Miu installed a camera into K1-B0's eyes for the sole purpose of taking photos of her poop? Yeah, turns out since said eyes are also the window for the audience to observe the killing game, the audience also got a collective Brain Bleach because of Miu on regular basis.
- This actually perfectly explained Tsumugi's absolute shock when she heard about the subject, she knew that the audiences would suffer brain bleach and decide to ditch the show.
- One has to wonder if Miu being the next victim was a hasty rewrite by Tsumigi just so she could get said stool sampling off the air. And if so, the idea of her being killed by toilet paper takes on quite a connotation indeed.
- This actually perfectly explained Tsumugi's absolute shock when she heard about the subject, she knew that the audiences would suffer brain bleach and decide to ditch the show.
- By the end, it is implied that if the group votes for Hope to win, Tsumugi would have returned as the mastermind once again for the 54th Danganronpa. Given how she can make pitch-perfect cosplays as the past characters, it could very well be likely that Tsumugi was the mastermind for almost all of the past killing games, and the "Tsumugi" we saw was actually her "cosplaying" as a "fictional" teenage girl.
- Adding to this, it is quite possible that for most of the killing games, she received zero consequences for becoming the mastermind for those killing games, and she only got hit by karma after the 53rd season.
- Some Fridge Squick can be added to this. If Tsumugi was the mastermind for a vast majority of those killing games, then Shuichi doing her Love Hotel scenes as well as perusing her Space Mode path would basically be him unintentionally trying to romance at least a middle-aged person.
- For some evidence to support this theory, Tsumugi accidentally Saying Too Much during her Ultimate Salmon Dating Simulator ending implying that her current appearance might be a cosplay. To further cement the implication, Tsumugi's "mastermind eyes" briefly appear when she realizes her mistake, and she plays it off as an "inside joke".
- While it's possible that Tsumugi was involved with all 53 seasons of Danganronpa, it is just as likely that she was an obsessed Otaku fan who got a job writing for the game at some point during those 53 seasons. Furthermore, if you look closely during the reveal, whenever Tsumugi dressed up as one of the past characters in the series, their eyes always had a V3 symbol in them, V in their right eye, 3 in their left. Yet, when Tsumugi is in her high school outfit, you just see her real, evil version of her eyes, which are brighter and colder. Therefore, her dressing as a teenage girl could be her real appearance but is older than she looks, which isn't hard to pull off for a Japanese woman.
- Or it may go beyond just that. Since the Flashback Lights have proven they can essentially transform a person's personality into virtually anything, who's to say you couldn't have a template personality you copy-pasted into numerous people? The person known as Tsumugi Shirogane could've been around for all those Killing Games by jumping into the bodies of new participants each time, helping to run the show and never even being at risk of dying in any of the games. The blue-haired girl seen at the beginning may not have been the real Tsumugi at all, but just the latest victim of her Grand Theft Me.
- A few characters develop feelings for the protagonist by the end of their friendship arcs. This includes some of the killers (or attempted killers in the case for Miu). If their character arcs are finished before they commit murder it would mean they did it, knowing full well the one they loved would be executed alongside everyone else if they avoided being convicted during the class trial.
- The protagonist must be going through hell during the trial, as they realize the same person who declared their feelings for them is the murderer. Prove it, get them voted guilty, and watch he/she get executed. What if they had felt something for them too?
- Miu's Love Hotel scene has her attempt to have a kid with Shuichi so he wouldn't abandon her, with no indication that she didn't actually succeed. If you, by any chance, happen to visit Love Hotel with Miu before Gonta murders her in Chapter 4, it gives Monophanie's Death by Childbirth in Gonta's execution a whole new layer of irony.
- The Love Hotel events in general if one really thinks about it, especially with the "Truman Show" Plot reveal. It's indicated Monokuma could be drugging the students that come to the Love Hotel with Shuichi to make it them think he is their "ideal" as it's quickly mentioned that the students involved will easily write off anything they remember of the night as a dream and part of why Shuichi needs to play along with the role they set for him or it will end the scene. The mastermind also claimed that she brainwashed Maki to fall in love with Kaito as "a part of her character" so that could also be at play here. There is also the strong possibility that the entire thing is being filmed for the world to see, and might not be "cutting off" where it does for the player which given the ages of the cast is concerning.
- Additionally, who is to say that Shuichi wasn't the only key holder? It's possible that he was the "invited" for another student that got a hold of the love hotel key but just doesn't remember like the students who he visits. Students of particular concern are Keebo due to being a living first-person camera, Tsumugi for likely being the only party who wouldn't need to be drugged for any of these and may have "wrote" them, Tenko needing to play along with any male student's scenarios, and Korekiyo for any scenes he could have with a female student period.
- Tsumugi states she can only cosplay fictional characters. Fictional doesn't necessarily mean they were never real. After all, it just that matters if if the world believes they're fictional. All the sacrifices that Makoto, Hajime, and all his friends made; all that struggle and hardship; all those promises of hope and friendship. Every last bit of it wiped away and transformed into a fictional narrative in this new hellish world.
- It also makes her antics in the sixth trial a major Kick the Dog moment.
- While it was just at Hope's Peak in the original games, here it's the entire country that's divided by a Fantastic Caste System. Ultimates are the only high schoolers allowed to vote and run for public office. And this was during the intro before the Fake Memories are implanted and in a period of time that was erased from everyone's mind. In other words, this tidbit of information might be true.
- And suddenly it makes a bit of sense why the Killing Games exist and are so popular in at least three major ways. 1) What better way to vent your frustrations at the privileged upper class of society than by making them kill each other, particularly if they have been trying to hide the fact they are gifted. 2) They are taking ordinary people off the streets, making them think they're these very same people, and then making them kill each other either to show why "ordinary" people can't really match up to a "true" Ultimate or vent those frustrations on easier to reach targets. 3) Ordinary people do volunteer for the games as a way to "win" the right to be made into an Ultimate and earn these privileges by keeping the memories and personas they are implanted with to start the killing game.
- Though to be fair, this is after the first flashback light and it comes from the Monokubs, so it might very well be a lie too.
- One can only imagine just how the others would've reacted to the news that they're all "fictional characters" and the sight of their audition tapes.
- There are multiple references to the cast's families and loved ones, such as Shuichi's uncle, Kaito's grandparents, and Himiko's master. Are they also a fabrication or were their memories of their loved ones twisted around as part of their new identities as Ultimates? If they do exist, are they watching the 53rd season of Danganronpa as well? Were they aware that these kids possibly signed up willingly?
- And then there's the matter of Korekiyo's sister, which opens up many horrifying cans of worms. Was she real? Is she still alive? Is Kiyo's backstory with her true or a fabrication in and of itself? If it's true, did Team Danganronpa take an implied sexual abuse scenario and milk it for drama? If not, and Kiyo's sister is still alive and had a normal relationship with him, did she have to watch her brother die two horrible deaths right after seeing the show portray her as being sexually involved with him?
- In Trial 6, Shirogane says "I'm also part of Team Danganronpa... We make the finest killing entertainment! Everyone enjoys our work oh-so-much!" If she claims that they make the finest killing entertainment, could there be other killing shows in production as well? Could entertainment revolving around death and killing have become an entire industry?
- Let's assume for a moment that Tsumugi was telling the truth about the killing game being a beloved reality show that everyone signed up for. After 53 seasons, the show must also have been a truly massive undertaking, with hundreds or even thousands of people employed by Team Danganronpa. With the show's death, as hopeful as that ending might seem, what does it mean for Shuichi, Himiko, and Maki? They ended one of the world's most popular shows, which could have put countless people out of work. And while it's true that their desire to change the world could have reached people, in a world that places so little value on human life that shows revolving around murder not only exist but are popular, how long before someone comes after them for ruining everything?
- You have to wonder what Team Danganronpa could potentially do to those who DID survive the killing games whenever it's by lobotomization, outright torture, or being killed at the end...
- Gonta's execution is horrible, but it gets worse when you consider that Gonta dies knowing that he committed a murder, but he doesn't remember killing anyone, doesn't feel as if he has the capability to kill anyone, and likely still doesn't really understand how it happened.
- Ryoma's death. Imagine how frightening that was for him, knowing that Kirumi, the mature and calm Team Mom of the group has given into Monokuma's motive, and though Shuichi determined Ryoma struggled thanks to all the scratch marks his handcuffs left on the sink, Kirumi overpowered him.
- If you believe that everything was just a reality show with participants being brainwashed to have talents and personalities, it gets ultra horrifying if you think about characters from previous games. Toko and Hajime were likely given other personalities on top of their real ones, as seen with Korekiyo. Whoever Nagito was could have somehow been given frontotemporal dementia for the sake of good TV, and this isn’t much of a stretch since Team Danganronpa was able to infect Kaito with a made-up virus. The implications for Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls are even worse, since the antagonists were literal children.
- DICE only has a rule against direct murder. Given what Kokichi does in the game, they surely could have driven people to suicide or mentally break someone into committing murder, technically still not killing anyone. And even though they are said to be only committing "laughable crimes", consider what Kokichi's idea of amusement is... In other words, it's very likely that Kokichi has caused people's deaths even before the killing game and, in addition to that, has done many other terrible things since DICE has no rules against torture, burglary or any of the like.
- When playing the Ultimate Talent Development Plan mode as Miu, an optional scene has her use the Hookup Counter on Mikan...with results that apparently surprise Miu. Now recall Mikan's backstory of abuse...
- The idea that Tsumugi lied about how popular the Killing Game really is is ripe with its own kinds of horror and especially tragedy. For all we know, Danganronpa might actually be some underground, but well-funded bloodsport run by people who find the peaceful world too boring. People like Kaede, Shuichi and the others don't sign up willingly, but are instead dragged into it to feed the bloodlust and satiate the boredom of society's most twisted underground.
- The "talent fraud" chapter in the manga tie-in is mostly hilarious, but the fact that Korekiyo was apparently reminded of his sister while acting like an infant raises the question of exactly how young he was when their "relationship" began.
- It’s implied that Ryoma was a victim of Prison Rape. Considering his size and the fact that well, it was prison, the implications could be even worse.
- Giving that both Shuichi and Kaede and Kaito and Maki’s romantic interests came from brainwashing suddenly it doesn’t look like they’d have an entirely healthy relationship if Kaede or Kaito lived. (If at all)
- The Monokubs. While on the surface, they may seem like goofy, pointless in universe side characters, think carefully about their situation. If they’re self-aware AI, then they were literally born to be characters in a morally bankrupt show. That’s not to mention their fucked up family life. THEN they brutally are killed off, twice! If they’re actors, then they have to watch each other be killed off, once again twice. In the second instance, Monotaro and Monophanie BEG not to be killed. Need I say more?
- The pure fact that Kokichi can just easily lockpick himself into the other's rooms makes him terrifying to have all things considered. Monokuma pushes the idea for everyone to make sure they keep their doors locked, but this does not apply to Kokichi even if someone decides to lock themselves in their own Ultimate Lab. It's a good thing for everyone else that Kokichi's sense of self-preservation is too high to attempt killing someone directly. But imagine if someone without those restraints had this type of ability such as Kiyo...
- Speaking of the Monokubs, this trope noticed in Gonta's execution that Monokid and Monophanie were leaking the signature pink blood when they were killed off! Did all of the cubs have that function? Granted, Monokid and Monosuke were mostly covered up by the respective victims blood and we couldn't have seen Monodam's once he ran into the flames but still...
- And for that matter, was the blood real or fake..? If it was the former, where or who did it come from? And if it was fake, it's still just plain creepy...
