WMG / Danganronpa: Despair Time

Teruko Tawaki is not who she says she is

• After waking up and walking outside of her bedroom, she notices the nameplate and calls herself Teruko Tawaki. It's more than likely that she forgot her name and took on the first name she saw. It's also worth mentioning that there's someone out there who wants revenge against Teruko. What better way to save themselves then by using a girl with her name as a diversion.

Min is a robot in disguise

• She was created by a government agency in order to portray the ideal student. A student who focuses primarily on studying and would not be distracted by social affairs or goofing off. Her eyes are robotic eyes which are covered so that others won't suspect her true identity.
  • Probably jossed since she bleeds during her execution.

Arei is a Red Herring

• Arei's twisted and cruel personality would make her perfect as either The Rival of the fangame or even a Chapter 3 killer. But given how early she showcased her disturbing characteristics, it's possible that she may die early on.
  • Confirmed: She dies in Chapter 2.

Levi is lying about his true talent

• His talent as a personal stylist is just a cover in order to keep his true identity a secret from MonoTV and his peers. Based on his professional demeanor and how he reacted to the robotic cat toy, it's possible that he's something of a secret agent who infiltrated the killing game for reasons unknown.

Teruko voted for herself and Arei voted for Teruko

• After the first class trial, 13 people voted for Min (the culprit of the case), and 2 people voted for Teruko. Teruko remarked how everyone voted to execute Min despite their grief, likely meaning she voted for herself instead of her out of concealed pity. During the trial, Arei said she would vote for Teruko no matter what. Adding in the fact that Arei is abrasive and petty, she would vote for Teruko despite her innocence.

Mai Akusaki is the unnamed classmate from the Bonus Episodes

• It is heavily theorise that she is the unnamed classmate.

Mastermind theories/motives:

• J Moreno/Julia Rosales because they want to use the killing game as a means of smearing their mother's legacy.
• Arturo: Maybe a motive about "beauty in despair".
• Eden: See below.

Eden created MonoTV...

...but not for the purpose of the killing game, meaning that MonoTV was an experiment Gone Horribly Wrong for Eden, or if she is or is connected to the Mastermind, Gone Horribly Right.

Nico and MonoTV will form an Odd Friendship.

MonoTV is secretly Good All Along

If this series ends up subverting the expectations of the canon series, there's a chance this might happen.

Episode 2 Blackened theories/motives

• Arei: She claimed in Episode 2 Chapter 1 that she doesn’t have a dark secret worth killing for, but her secret might be bigger then she’s letting on. If it’s not so bad then why didn’t she just spill the beans on what it was there and then? So this might mean that Arei has a very big Dark Secret and will murder one of the other students to keep it.
  • Jossed: She not only reveals her secret willingly (though it clearly brings up some trauma for her), she's the victim of Chapter 2.
• NOT Ace or Nico: due to Nico attempting to kill Ace, Ace and the culprit may attempt to pin it on Nico, when that's actually not the case. And it's doubtful Ace would kill so soon after nearly being killed himself.
• Ace: Contrasting with the theory above, maybe Arei, in an attempt of kindness after being touch by Eden and David's actions, tried to stand up for Nico against Ace, only for Ace to murder her in his rage. Whatever motive, since Ace was after Nico, killing Arei could have given him a chance to frame them for the murder.
• J: She and Arei might've been on friendly terms but if Xander taught us anything...you should be careful who you befriend in a killing game. Also Arei was rather quiet earlier in the video and J wasn't around, so possibly that could have been J disguised as Arei, and the real Arei was already dead. As for motive, if could had something to do with J's true identity OR she's using it as a warning for Arthuro to stay away.
• David: He seemed to bond with and comforted Arei when she revealed her tragic secret. Yet knowing Danganronpa, he could more malicious then he lets on OR there could've been an incident that left hi killing Arei (even if he didn't mean to). Another possible is that maybe Arei actually lied after her secret and David, enraged that she took advantage of his sympathy, killed her in heat of the moment.

Nico didn't attempt to kill Ace

Nico doesn't seem to talking so much about attacking Ace and almost killing him. And we don't exactly know everything about what happened. So for we all know it's a pretty safe bet that it was not Nico who nearly slashed Ace's throat and was actually one of the other students. Maybe even a student impersonating Nico so Ace would think was them!

• One possible is that was actually Veronika who attacked Ace. In Chapter 2 episode 7, when Veronika snuck up on Teruko, she mentioned she had a black wig and there was a black wig in the dressing room. So this could indicate that if could been Veronika using this wig to pretend to be Nico and attacked Ace, framing Nico in the progress.
• I believe this theory, because even if you think Nico's revenge is somehow justified, if they were trying to get away with it, they would end up killing everyone who didn't do anything to them down with Ace. I don't believe they're the kind of person to do that. Either they're innocent, Nico wanted to be executed, or they never wanted to flat out kill him but things went haywire are my best theories.

Arei and J switched places

It might seem odd to say, but it's entirely possible that Arei is not actually the victim of Chapter 2, but J is. The reason being that she's been given a great deal of narrative weight by the chapter, as has J, and both of them were also featured in the FTE video, where the two of them discussed their family lives. J, who's been hounded by Arturo throughout this chapter, has been asking for help in dealing with him but nobody has. Arei, after she revealed her big secret to David, said she's going to try and be kinder to everyone. What better way to do so than by helping someone she considers a friend? One that unfortunately lead to her death, and will likely make Arei seem like the biggest suspect.

• It wouldn't too hard for them to switch places, given that Arei and J are both the same height, have similar skin tones and even a similar sort of blue highlight on their eyes. The only big caveat to this would be that J can't match her voice exactly, but the only time we saw Arei before the victim reveal was in the dining hall, she was quiet and facing away from the group. It also seems strange that Arei, who's said she wants to be kinder, isn't participating in the discussion about Ace and Nico. Possibly because it's really J, trying to maintain her cover.
• Arei disguising herself as J would also be pretty easy, given that the latter wears a hood all the time and she could easily hide her face and longer hair under it. All she'd really need is a short dark wig and to highlight it with green and blue dye.
• It's also entirely possible that the dark secret Arei got relates to Arturo, and she might've been trying to protect J with this switch.
  • Somewhat Jossed: Arturo's secret was received by Eden. However, Arei learned about Arturo's secret from eavesdropping on a conversation between Eden and Arturo.
• Another major flag is that Teruko seems to suffer from prosopagnosia, only highlighting that the differences between her and Veronika being their hair color, eye color and clothes. Veronika even asked, if she wore contacts, a wig and different clothes, would Teruko recognize her? It seems like an odd detail to include if it's not going to be important, and given that Teruko didn't want to be involved with the group this chapter, chances are it's going to be a vital clue that she missed these details. Teruko doesn't even confirm to Veronika whether or not she would recognize the difference.
• The victim reveal took place on the second floor, which has the clothing store. Inside the store is a collection of wigs, one of which looks a lot like both Arei's and J's hairstyles. However, the victim's hair actually seems to be a bit longer than hers, reaching down to her shoulders while Arei's, when in her braid, only reaches down to her chin. It's possible that's a subtle hint.
• There's also the conspicuous fact that the victim reveal seemed to cut off pretty early. Nobody went up to the body to confirm anything, it showed a long distance shot of her hanging, MonoTV saying that a body had been discovered and the episode ended even before the others showed up. The series has done so well at subverting canon conventions that it seems odd that a character like her, with so much narrative focus and development this chapter, would just die immediately without any fanfare, especially given that the games usually don't go with the clearly obvious victim.
• When MonoTV gathered everyone together to reveal the secrets, a lot of emphasis was placed on who was there before David announced that Arei was missing. So much focus was placed on her and how everyone was scared she was dead that it seems far too obvious for that to be what we were meant to focus on. Instead, it was likely trying to get us to pay attention to who was there. While we did see J, she was the first to leave.
• While it's clear that Arei likes J, J clearly doesn't like dealing with her. So it seems odd that, of all people, J would be the first to go look for her when she didn't show up to the motive reveal. Not unless something happened between those two behind the scenes, and either J does see her as a friend now or that's actually Arei in disguise.
• Meanwhile, Eden has been oddly cagey and evasive, saying that she and Arei patched things up after Arei told her off before. Teruko doesn't bother to ask why, since she doesn't want to be involved. It might be easy to suggest that Eden is the culprit, but that seems highly unlikely. Instead, maybe Arei and her did actually patch things up and Eden is the only one who knows about their secret switch. Furthermore, maybe Arei let Eden in on whatever dark secret she got, in an attempt to try and protect her too?
  • It is revealed that the reason for Eden's suspicious attitude is because Arturo threatened Eden's life if she revealed Arturo's secret (as Eden had Arturo's secret). It just so happened that Arei saved Eden at the time, and Arei & Eden made up to each other shortly afterwards. As a result, Eden couldn't go into much detail on how she and Arei made up to each other without mentioning Arturo and his secret.
• A small detail as well is the fact that, when Arei had her breakdown in the playground, Teruko had a moment of reflection and was reminded of someone by her crying. There was no follow-up on that, but it could be a subtle sign that, if the two of them did switch places and Arei is inevitably going to be accused of being the culprit, Teruko is going to be one of the few to defend her.
• During the Chapter 2 investigation, Arei is not only conspicuously missing her bowling glove, but her hair is also a bit longer and more frazzled. While her hair is typically chin length or reaches halfway down her neck, the corpse's hair reaches past her shoulders. Details that could suggest it's actually a wig.
• During the investigation, Rose chose to not go inside the crime scene because she didn't want to see another corpse again, especially due to her photographic memory forcing her to remember how the corpse looks like. However, if she had seen the corpse, she could have noticed possible subtle differences between the body and the real Arei. This would led her to get suspicious at why "Arei" looked different, possibly leading her to realize that the body is actually J sooner. That's why she the story didn't allow Rose to see the body. As for the real Arei disguising as J, Rose could probably notice something different about "J", but she wouldn't understand why right away. It is helped that the real Arei is wearing a hoodie to help hide her face and a wig.

Which secret is who’s?

• “You’re a murderer, and you hold no remorse.”
  • Levi’s got a shady history, and out of all of these, this is the darkest one.
  • With the previous theory about Arei and J switching places, it could also be Arturo

• “You exist to manipulate others. Everyone else exists to be taken advantage of.”
  • This one’s most likely David, considering the fact he’s being very shifty about his secret.
    • Confirmed.

• “Your body is falling apart but you’ll still refuse to eat.”
  • Arturo - due to his obsession with beauty, and his own belief he’s ugly, he could have anorexia, leading to this secret.
  • Could potentially be Eden, who's casually admittedly that she spends 15 hours a day working on clocks.
    • Both Jossed. Confirmed to be Ace.

• “Ever since you kissed her, you were afraid your sexuality would ruin your friendship”
  • Min. Since she’s a very uptight student, who struggles with friendship, this one could be hers.
  • Alternatively, it could be Hu. She was the first to defend Nico when it came to their identity, and has said her secret makes her uncomfortable. Someone who fears being judged for their sexuality would try to be as helpful as possible.
    • Both Jossed. Confirmed to be Eden.

• “You hid your name and birth right to pretend that you aren't the daughter of Mariabella Rosales”
  • Confirmed to be J.

• “Blackmail, rumours, lying, stealing, slander. You did everything to ruin your sisters’ lives”
  • Confirmed to be Arei.

• “You always treated the competition with ruthlessness, but poisoning them to win was a bit too far, wasn’t it?”
  • This could be Ace. He doesn’t even like jockeying, apparently, so why then would he be considered an Ultimate - maybe cause he poisoned those that are actually better than him? This could also explain why he’s so paranoid.
  • It could also be Min. Not only was this one handed to Xander, which makes since given both of them are dead and thus their secrets wouldn't be relevant anymore, but it also fits with her story from "The History of Hope's Peak," where she admits she spent 12 years preparing for the Ultimate Exam.

• “You're constantly blaming yourself for the death of your parents and siblings. It doesn’t matter that it’s not your fault, just that you didn’t go with them.”
  • With the ‘Visiting Graves’ video, this one could be Xander, if his family died in the Chariton incident. Else, it could just be another reason he’s so rebellious.

• “Your mother is dead. You always omit that truth.”
  • Whit. As he was fairly nonchalant about his secret, the fact he ‘omits that truth’ could be why - he either doesn’t remember, or decides just not to talk about it and pretend it didn’t happen.
    • Confirmed.

• “Your older brother died, but you don’t remember him at all.”
  • Confirmed to be Charles.

• “Your younger sister killed herself because of you. You should have never left.”
  • Hu. She said her secret made her uncomfortable, if it was about the death of a sibling (especially one that she supposedly caused), that would make sense. Also, this could explain why she’s so much of a ‘mom friend’, due to being afraid of making similar mistakes in the past?
  • It could also be Levi, who's talked about how he was eventually disowned and his family were all bad influences on each other. He mentions his father, mother and brothers, but he could also be hiding the fact that he had a younger sister too.
    • Both Jossed. Confirmed to be Arturo.

• “You only took on your talent to distract from your incessant need to harm yourself for fun.”
  • Veronika did talk about how she’s bored by everything, hence why she likes horror - this could be an extra reason for that.

• “You were quite the hopeless child. Dying once wasn’t enough, so you attempted suicide three times.”
  • Eden. Often, those with depression mask it by acting happy and optimistic - this explains Eden’s personality, while also showing why she reacts to things so much - and is clearly trying to mask her sadness as shown in the execution. This also says ‘were’, implying that the person who has this secret isn’t anymore, so this could still apply to her.
  • Alternatively, it could also be Ace. Between his hidden quote- "I just don't know what to do with myself anymore"-and the possibility that he tried to hang himself suggests he's hiding severe depression under his aggressive attitude.
  • Another alternative is Hu since she is so insistent on hiding what her secret is and the secret could likely only be hers due to the process of elimination as it is confirmed to not be Eden or Ace's.

• “You took on your talent to earn money for your family. But you’ve since put them in a lifetime of debt.”
  • Confirmed to be Rose.

• “No one accepted you because of your identity. You were constantly mocked by your family, your peers and everyone else.”

  • Confirmed to be Nico.

• “How could I even select what secret to be your motive! Just about everything you’ve done in your life is worth killing for. This killing game is all your fault.”
  • Teruko clearly has something to do with this game, so this one’s most likely hers.

David is responsible for Arei’s murder but didn’t kill her directly

• I believe David has some sort of role in Arei’s death for multiple reasons, the rumors that he’s not as nice as he comes across, him deciding to rest in the relaxation room which is where the fish in the playground came from the night before the body discovery, the reveal that his supposed secret wasn’t the real one and he refused to talk about which one was actually his, the pressure he gave everyone to reveal their secrets right off the bat, including Arei’s, and how him killing Arei makes sense narrative wise considering he was the closest to her before she died. However, I believe he is not the true blackened because of how clearly suspicious he is, especially regarding the motive. Instead, I think he’s actually a secret non-mastermind antagonist whose true nature will be revealed in this trial.

David told Xander to kill Teruko in Chapter 1

• Due to the reveal of David's true nature in Chapter 2, it is quite possible that, because of Xander's complete infatuation with David, he convinced Xander to kill her. This could also imply that he is working for the mastermind and actively trying to keep the killing game going.

Who should survive this story

Definitely

• Teruko - being the main protagonist of the fanfic, it seems appropriate that Teruko makes it out of this killing game show, as long there's no "she's the mastermind" or "she sacrifices herself" plot twists of any kind. Teruko also has potential Character Development as she should eventually learn to trust the other students again in order to get out of this game together with them and be able to call the surviving students her True Companions like every other protagonist in Danganronpa (canon or fan games).
• Nico - Nico is one of the most likable characters, so to me it would be heart-breaking if they end up killed by a blackend or becomes a blackend and executed. Like Teruko, they also have potential to go through Character Development, as they could eventually grow a spine and stand up for either themselves or one of the other students against another character (whether it's MonoTV or one of the other students such as Arei, Ace, David, or any of them). Behind all this Nico is just super adorable and one of the best character in this Danganronpa fan story. To add points on Nico surviving, they were one of the students who believed in Teruko during the Debate Scrum.
• Whit - Like Rose, Whitt could be one those characters who's living, providing comic-relief, and keeping the other characters down-to-earth and manages to survive. Like the other mentioned characters, he is one of the likable characters and seeing him executed would be very sad, especially when you consider characters like them don't always tend to survive killing games. And he was one of the students who believed Teruko during the Debate Scrum.
• Hu - Like the characters mentioned above, Hu is one of the likable characters in the story, being kind-hearted and motherly-like. Like Nico, killing or executing would be very sad and heartbreaking. Like other characters in Danganronpa, Hu could be the survivor who keeps everyone settled and not let Mono TV get more murders (which is what they want). Plus after seeing her break down in rage in Chapter 2 Episode 11 when David revealed his true colors, Hu should remember that genuinue goodness does exist and survive along with the others whom she can call her True Companions and Family of Choice.
• Rose - Another likable character who is also hilarious due to her Sleepyhead personality. While the other characters become more and more horrified being trapped in this killing show, Rose could be one OR one of two characters who's being funny and living (like Toko/Genocide Jack) and will manage keep some of the rest on the ground until they get out of there. Also Rose was one of the students who during the Debate Scrum took Teruko's side.
• Charles - another character who could make it out of the killing game alive and help Teruko trust again. Charles clearly plays an important role in the story, so him surviving is certainly a possibility.

Possibly

• Levi - This story is already Breaking Old Trends, like Teruko not trusting the other students unlike most leads. Another old trend of the franchise they can break is The Big Guy actually not dying (murder, execution OR sacrifice) and being able to walk out of the killing game alive. On the other hand, he could also end up sacrificing his life for the other students like Sakura and Nekomaru before him.
• Eden - Eden is probably the sweetest student in the killing game and one of the first to believe that Teruko was innocent, so if it is written that way, Eden could survive the killing game and could play a part in convincing Teruko to trust again.

The characters were designed to be expies of the canonical blackends.

• In summary:
  • Ace Markey, a grumpy red-haired jock who hates his talent, which he is inexplicably great at, survives an assassination attempt and acts like a coward when things don't go the way he wants, like Leon Kuwata.
  • J Moreno, the abrasive but well-intentioned member of the group, who has a hot head and has a complicated relationship with her talent and family, much like Mondo Owada.
  • Min Jeung, a nerd with a peculiar behavior and a heart of gold hidden beneath all these peculiarities with hidden depths that imply that she is not as bad as she seems. She also became the blackened when "defending someone" and dies crying because she regrets almost killing her friends, like Hifumi Yamada.
  • Arei Naegishi, is the player who acts like a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, and tries to appear to be calm and friendly but is actually an angry, sad mess, needed to reinvent herself to avoid suffering in life, even if secretly she just wanted to be understood, her death also happens immediately after she tries to help the group, albeit in different situations, just like Celestia Ludenberg.
  • Levi Fontana, the Gentle Giant of the group who is socially awkward and does not wish to appear intimidating (which becomes impossible under the circumstances), he also tries (and fails) to befriend the more aggressive members of the game, in an failed attempt to avoid further deaths and is one of the few members who directly attempted to physically confront the robotic host, like Sakura Oogami.
  • Whit Young, a camp boy with an implicit interest in men, who has a provocative and mischievous behavior, who likes to make inappropriate jokes but deep down is friendly and a little nervous, who keeps the secret from one of the group's most malicious members (which comes back to bite him later), like Teruteru Hanamura.
  • Teruko Tawaki, a girl who was Born Unlucky, accustomed to being treated like dirt, with insensitive behavior, lack of empathy, and no problem resorting to murder if she believes there are risks. All of this is a coping mechanism for all the suffering she went through, even before the killing game, deep down she just wants to be normal and make friends, but circumstances beyond her control make this impossible for her, like Peko Pekoyama.
  • Nico Hakobyan, the group Shrinking Violet, Prone to Tears and Dark Is Not Evil, who has been abused their whole life, and is abused again by a Dirty Coward in the middle of the group, they also have a twisted and cruel side, is a nightmare fetishist, and try to kill their tormentor with a throat slit, like Mikan Tsumiki. .
  • Veronika Grebenshchikova: The “Creepy Member” of the cast who is much smarter and more observant than she appears, and even though she seems like an Jerkass in the way she acts she is actually one of the nicest people in the group, even if she is not affected by the game in the same way as others, like Gundham Tanaka.
  • Rose Lacroix, the emotionless girl, prone to sleeping at inconvenient times and getting lost in social situations, with a kind heart, and a sharp mind, who tries to make new friends even in such a bad situation and has her altruism used against her in a situation involving poisoning and planned murder, like Chiaki Nanami.
  • Hu Jing, an Elegant Classical Musician with a kind heart and friendly demeanor, who wants to be someone the rest of the group can trust but which can be hindered by her own judgmental and impulsive nature and also who reminds everyone in multiple moments that Good Is Not Soft, like Kaede Akamatsu. As a bonus, the person she is closest to is a shy dark-haired person which she defends even with all the evidence pointing to the error while the person manipulating her is a blue-haired Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.
  • Charles Cuevas, The Ace, with a distant and stoic demeanor who tries to act Wise Beyond Their Years at first, but is soon revealed to be just as affected as the others by everything that is happening, having a moment where he loses all dignity and composure due to being panicked, which completely changes the group's view of him, just like Kirumi Tojo.
  • Arturo Giles, the member of the group who always wears a mask, is obsessed with "human beauty", has a complicated relationship with his sister, displays weird and unpleasant behavior initially, and is revealed to be even worse when you get to know him better, just like Korekiyo Shinguji.
  • Eden Tobisa, the Nice Girl of the group, who is adorable and wears glasses, is prone to tears and blames herself for the deaths that continue to occur. She just wants everyone to be friends, but ends up being mistreated by members of the group, who believe that they are being Cruel to Be Kind, like Gonta Gokuhara.
  • Xander Matthews the local hot-blooded virile guy with strong ideas who tries to act as a leader for the group but is rarely treated with respect. He can also secretly act like a hypocrite, which causes more harm to the group and himself, ending with him dying before the robotic host can try anything with him, like Kaito Momota.
  • David Chien, who starts off as a friendly, well-mannered blue-haired guy with an implied dark side, but generally a well-intentioned person. It's a facade, his true self is outrageous, bad-tempered, manipulative with a passion for Kick the Dog and a messed up appearance, like Tsumugi Shirogane.
  • In this line of thought, Mai Akasaki, would be the equivalent of Junko Enoshima, the mastermind of the first game, and the real blackened of the fifth chapter, who is a member of the class, but never actually participates in the game.

David wasn't lying about his original secret. He is undergoing a Then Let Me Be Evil episode over another of his secrets being revealed, and his friends losing trust and faith in him as a result.

• David's downfall began upon trying to encourage everyone to reveal their secrets to prevent a killing. He begins by claiming that his secret is that "his family has a history of depression", which is later revealed to not be on the lineup of secrets that have been shared with everyone else. His official secret that was chosen is deliberately phrased to make David seem worse than he is, and being the Ultimate Motivational Speaker, his well-intentioned plan turns awry quickly in Chapter 2. Arei is murdered, David's official secret is exposed, and his friends all deem him a highly manipulative liar who cannot be trusted whatsoever. Realizing that his career is over and his reputation is now ruined, David finally self-destructs and bitterly lashes out at everyone after having bottled up his negative emotions and feelings from the very beginning. He then goes as far as to pretend to be Arei's killer out of spite in the hopes of taking everyone but the true killer down with him. David's behaviour during his breakdown is his mental state collapsing after trying to hide his depression and negativity from others with his cheerful and helpful facade for so long that he finally snapped after the backlash he received in Chapter 2's trial.