Main installments: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | Danganronpa Zero | 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 | Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp | Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF | Danganronpa Kirigiri | Danganronpa Togami | Killer Killer
Warning! All spoilers below are unmarked.
- Abandon Shipping:
- In the lead-up to the game's release, Kotoko/Monaca was a fairly popular pairing. This stopped after the game came out and people were treated to a scene of Monaca repeatedly pressing Kotoko's Trauma Button by using the word "gentle," then repeatedly hitting her for added insult before trying to comfort Kotoko by saying that she won't be gentle, which both made Kotoko sympathetic and made Monaca into more of a Hate Sink. People understandably stopped shipping them after that.
- Most of the ships involving Monaca had this happen once it was revealed that she is trying to resurrect Junko and that she is emotionally manipulating the other children. Especially after what she did to Nagisa.
- Immediately after the game released in Japan, there was confusion in the English-speaking fandom over exactly how Hiroko and Yasuhiro were related. Rumors started and a lot of people ended up believing that the two of them were married. When her translated kill card revealed that Hiroko was actually Yasuhiro's mom, well, there was a lot of backtracking to be done and some porn that people weren't necessarily the proudest of.
- Nagito's treatment of Komaru lead to a number of people abandoning shipping him with either of the Naegi siblings.
- A lot of people jumped ship from Toko/Byakuya in favor of Toko/Komaru due to the close friendship that the girls develop as well as the fact Byakuya still doesn't treat Toko very well.
- Ass Pull:
- The reveal in the credits that Masaru, Jataro and Nagisa, all of whom having had seemingly died over the course of the story, actually survived and have turned against Monaca. Very little hinted that such a thing was possible and no explanation is given as to how it happened. While Masaru and Jataro were at least Hand Waved as a case of Never Found the Body, Nagisa very clearly got squished and yet somehow came out without a scratch.
- Komaru and Toko being at odds with each other in Chapter 3. After Genocide Jack rescues her from Kotoko, Komaru forgives Toko for not thinking of her as a friend, except she says this to Jack who doesn't know what she's talking about. Even after reverting back to Toko, Komaru shrugs it off and they forget about the issue. However, this later proves to be an invoked trope, as the issue comes back to bite them hard in Chapter 4.
- Awesome Music: "Progressive -zenshin-"
, the track that plays in the credits is the best in the franchise yet. The fact that it's duet with both the Naegi siblings' voice actresses makes it even better. - Captain Obvious Reveal: The fact that Monaca is a lot crueler than she seems at first surprised absolutely no one. It doesn't help that her voice actress basically gave it away in Famitsu prior to the game's release, though it seems a lot of people weren't prepared for how despicable she is.
- Catharsis Factor:
- As grim as this game gets, there's no denying how satisfying it feels to personally slaughter Monokumas en masse after spending two games of him being pretty much untouchable.
- Seeing Monaca's plan unfold and the depths to which she'll sink makes her into a genuinely loathsome villain, which is what the creators of the game were going for. It makes it very satisfying when Monaca's plan fails and she goes into a Villainous Breakdown.
- Similarly, Haiji's complete mental shutdown following the defeat of the Final Boss, with him being condemned to live the rest of days feeling as though he's dead on the inside. He more than deserves it.
- Continuity Lock-Out: Averted. While the game assumes the player knows the plot of the first game, it isn't incomprehensible to those who haven't played it. Even then, once Komaru and Toko contact Makoto at the end of chapter 2, a recap of the first game is provided anyway. References to the second game are a little more obtuse, since both Nagito's role and one of the scenes in the epilogue are largely devoid of significance if one doesn't know the ending. It's justified however, because the second game takes place after Ultra Despair Girls.
- Crack Ship: Hiroko x Takaaki has become a fun ship to explore during the 2020s despite the two adults never appearing together. Fans adore them thanks to their potential as a law-abiding, street smart woman getting mixed with a tough, somber man with a tragic past. There are also AUs that feature them and their sons Kiyotaka and Yasuhiro getting involved in wacky, but heartwarming, stepfamily antics.
- Demonic Spiders:
- Junk Monokumas. Very fast, hard to hit due to their height, and they take a ridiculous amount of pepper to kill. Switching to Genocider is a requirement if you plan on taking on more than one at a time (and even when you are just fighting one, sometimes). Doesn't help that they're by far the freakiest looking enemies in the game.
- Beast Monokumas, despite only appearing in a handful of areas and puzzle rooms, are an absolute pain to fight head-on if they spot you. Not only they come in numerous groups, but they are crazy fast, durable, and even capable of dodging your attacks very easily without moving, as they just shake off in place as the Truth Bullets go right through them unless you hit them at the right moment.
- Ending Fatigue: Most of the lengthy fifth chapter, but particularly the cutscene prior to the final boss. It repeats the same decision ad nauseum to trick the player into picking the wrong choice, though by the third time, it's presented like they'll have already caught on. The dialogue for the hour-long scene is mostly Monaca bragging about her evil plan while Haiji yells at Komaru to just break the damn controller already.
- Enjoy the Story, Skip the Game: The way people talk about this game, you might forget that it's actually a third-person shooter. Japanese reviews were also quick to point out that the gameplay is rough and unpolished in a number of areas, and that the story was clearly the main focus.
- Fashion-Victim Villain:
- Nagisa was mocked the moment his design was shown. Pretty hard to take a kid seriously when he's wearing plaid shorts. The scarf and Anime Hair don't help.
- Nagito's new outfit, full stop. Highlights include the giant chain around his neck, a single glove that has been sarcastically referred to as a baking mitten and his jacket, which would look okay if it weren't for the giant zipper at the back. At least his infamous two-zipper shoes are gone.
- Foe Yay Shipping:
- Nagito admits that he both loves and hates Junko Enoshima at the same time. This made people who hateshipped them very happy.
- Genocide Jack seems to have a case of this towards Nagito at times. While nothing serious compared to most of her "crushes", after Nagito pushes her too far Genocide Jack slices his legs and admits to being slightly attracted to him so it wouldn't contradict her killing criteria if it ends up coming to that. When Nagito later comments on how he finds her friendship with Komaru "beautiful" it triggers Genocide Jack to nearly kill him in response and the way she gets very close to his face doesn't help.
- Goddamned Bats:
- Siren Monokumas. They are basically just a regular Monokumas both in strength and speed, but come with the added effect of alerting every Monokuma patrolling the area if they discover you, which of course includes Demonic Spiders such as Junk Monokumas.
- Destroyer Monokumas. While not very durable, they are very fast thanks to their jet-packs and can attack you at long distances. It doesn't help that they often come in groups of three or more.
- He's Just Hiding: Quite a few people believe that Taichi Fujisaki could have survived. While he loses a lot of blood and is far away from medical attention, when you come back later, his body is gone and there is a note saying he must not die until he can confirm his wife and child's safety.
- He Really Can Act: Cristina Valenzuela, a voice actress known for playing Nice Girls or Broken Birds, pulls off Monaca's frightening tantrums and personality a little too well, with many players citing her performances as a highlight of the game.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: The joking comparisons of the Warriors of Hope to the KND because both groups want to free the kids of the world from adult tyranny (with the former simply being far more extreme and violent about it) become this after the Alternate Reality Game reveals that the Galactic KND are exactly as murderous as the Warriors and have the same “kill all adults” plan, only aimed on a galactic scale.
- Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: While Monaca does a lot of reprehensible things, she does a good job being a Love to Hate villain, and some do cut her slack with her Freudian Excuse. The same, however, can't be said about her brother, Haiji. He gets a lot of hate from players because of his shameless pedophilia, and his abuse towards Monaca, indirectly causing the events of the game, as well as him covering up his and his family's corporation's involvement with the Tragedy to his followers out of selfishness and cowardice.
- Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Nagisa has been shipped with all of the other Warriors of Hope and Komaru. That's about a third of the cast, and another two-thirds that he has little to no interaction with.
- Les Yay: Quite a few fans noticed the tension between Komaru and Toko throughout the game. It's meant to be indicative of their budding friendship, but the way they so casually make sex jokes and crude passes at each other, it's easy to get the wrong idea. Genocide Jack even lampshades it after saving Toko, causing Komaru to hug her with Jack calling it a "girl-on-girl development". The Cooldown Hug that the two of them share before the Final Boss fight is also pretty easy to read as flirtatious.
- Love to Hate: Monaca's character was intentionally designed to be as utterly loathsome a Hate Sink as can be, without even any Evil Is Cool factor like Junko Enoshima, Mukuro Ikusaba, Izuru Kamukura, or Nagito Komaeda, or even the Black Comedy Laughably Evil traits of Monokuma. As a result, she's gained quite the fan following of people who just enjoy hating her guts and rooting for her downfall whenever she's on-screen. Helping matters is that following Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School and Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, Monaca became more commonly regarded as the last really great major antagonist in the franchise.
- Memetic Bystander: The random Monokuma Kid shown thrusting his pelvis forward over and over has become the target of jokes by fans.
- Moe:
- Jataro to quite a few fans. His unmasked appearance especially.
- Komaru herself is quite the cutie, which is why the game seems to make an active effort to break her. Even Kotoko thinks so.
- Monaca plays it up for deceptive purposes, so she arguably subverts this trope.
- Narm Charm: The finishing blow Komaru and Toko perform on the Final Boss looks completely absurd, as it's an attack like something out of a typical shonen anime. But the sheer Catharsis Factor of taking it down means that it's still awesome.
- Nightmare Retardant: While some found the part where Komaru gets possessed scary, some found her unique sprite for that scene rather funny looking.
- One-Scene Wonder: It may have been twenty seconds of the epilogue and he didn't even speak, but damn were people happy to see Izuru make an appearance.
- Only the Author Can Save Them Now: A defenseless Kanon and Yasuhiro are being chased down by Kotoko and Masaru. There is no logical way the two could survive this encounter, so instead the kids get blocked off by a completely random cave-in. Granted, Yasuhiro had foreseen this happening.
- Padding: The climax of the game has Komaru repeatedly being told to break the controller to supposedly end everything, which would also kill the children with the Monokuma masks. The player has to refuse to break the damn thing four times, which is the only interactivity for nearly an hour if you want to see the entire cutscene. And all of this is going on while hearing everyone else losing their minds, screaming at Komaru, and Monaca endlessly teasing Komaru about her Xanatos Gambit.
- Polished Port: Fans seem to agree the best control scheme is mouse and keyboard from the PC version, as the original Vita version was criticized for sluggish aiming. Players that had trouble landing hits using a controller found themselves easily nailing the Monokuma eyes with a mouse. However, this is mostly an issue with each version's input method — aiming has always been easier with a mouse rather than a controller.
- Portmanteau Couple Name: "Tokomaru" for Toko/Komaru.
- Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Toko, to many people, went from an annoying cynic to a much more interesting and likeable character in this game. While Toko was never exactly hated, dropping her overly nasty nature from the first game shortly after being introduced helped her. Getting a lot of legitimate Character Development and actually having a believable friendship with Komaru pulled Toko out for good.
- Spiritual Adaptation:
- To some fans of Resident Evil, this game provides a better survival horror experience than the later mainline titles of said series. The gameplay seems to be heavily based on Resident Evil 4: having a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective with laser sight on your weapon, a few Quick Time Events here and there, having a secondary character that follows you most of the game who ducks when you aim at her and can give you advice, and basic enemies that move at you fast before trying to sidestep your shots and then trying to lunge at you as well as dropping items and money when defeated. It also takes a few cues from the classic Resident Evil titles, due to a couple of fixed camera segments, and files to collect that are presented the same exact way as in said series (with text in front of a black background, save an angled picture of whatever file you picked up). The difference is that the character you're escorting is completely invincible, and horror isn't the focus, rather it's the story, so the game may use some of these elements for entirely different purposes such as humor.
- The surreal technicolor environments and third-person shooter gameplay where you can insta-kill enemies by shoot them in their glowing weakspots show an obvious influence from Killer7. Like the rest of the Danganronpa series, the staff on Despair Girls includes key members such as composor Masafumi Takada who worked on classic Grasshopper games including Killer7.
- Spoiled by the Format: Although the game has 5 chapters instead of the classic number of 6 chapters, the format makes it clear that each Warrior of Hope will be the final boss of one chapter. Plus, the plot takes place entirely in Towa City. Thus, you could probably tell that Komaru is not going to leave, even when Nagisa offered to help her escape and when she had the passageway right in front of her.
- Squick:
- Kotoko's backstory is definitely this, mainly due to her parents being responsible for it.
- The minigame about Kotoko strapping Komaru to what can only be described as a molestation machine, and this is treated as a minigame sequence, while probably meant to be disturbing, also manages to come across as exploitive in a tasteless and creepy way. The clincher, however, is that the short tutorial for said minigame seems to treat the situation with a somewhat comedic tone, which comes across as extremely tone-deaf at best.
- Nagisa and Monaca's notorious kissing scene. It's creepy as hell for a variety of reasons, but consider that both characters are probably no older than 11 years of age.
- Most of the sexual stuff involving the Warriors of Hope in general. Notable examples include Kotoko's gratuitous panty shots and Kurokuma's reaction to coming into contact with Monaca's "little hills".
- Seeing as Kurokuma was actually Junko Enoshima, we can only hope that incident was just part of the persona. Otherwise, we have something else to add to her already-too-long list of crimes.
- Haiji Towa flat out says that he likes girls to be as young as possible. Ew.
- Strawman Has a Point: The reasons the Adult Resistance members give for why they hide and don't fight back, such as it being senseless suicide and not bravery, are supposed to be flimsy excuses for inaction that Fukawa (ostensibly rightfully) tears into them for. Except that this only really applies to Haiji, who held off on making a run for the Big Bang Monokuma, the main thing that made their eventual strike back at Towa Hills possible, out of cowardice. The rest of the adults are being rather sensible in not jumping into a fight against hordes of slaughter bots with nothing but blunt instruments and rage.
- Toy Ship: A partially canon example is set up from the beginning between Nagisa and Monaca, which gets increasingly obvious as the game progresses. As to what happens to it, well... see Abandon Shipping for some details. On a lighter note, Kotoko and Masaru also get a bit of Ship Tease.
- Unintentionally Sympathetic: The majority of the Adult Resistance is meant to come across as a bunch of ungrateful, cowardly, and violent jerks. While they do eventually cross the line by insisting that the controller be broken knowing full-well that it will kill thousands of innocent children, it's not hard to see how they ended up getting pushed to that point. Part of this may stem from the fact that the survivors, by design, are all those who never had any children, and therefore are even less likely of being guilty of the child abuse that defines the Warriors of Hope. They're simply a bunch of innocent people who had everything taken from them in the most cruel and senseless manner possible. Until the truth behind the helmets is revealed and the aforementioned controller incident, there isn't much reason for them to have deserved any of the horrible things that they were subjected to.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic: The Warriors of Hope, while villains, are quite clearly meant to be sympathized with once their backstories are revealed. Some fans have trouble doing this, as while the abuse they experienced is awful, it doesn't change the fact they are unrepentant mass murderers whose victims likely include child abuse victims as well, or that they knowingly brainwashed other children into killing their parents regardless of whether they were abusive. Masaru's case is particularly jarring, as his past is implied immediately after he shows off a pile of adult corpses he was responsible for killing. The scene is framed in a way that clearly assumes the audience will feel bad for him, but it seems rather inappropriate and almost insensitive considering the glee on his face when unveiling his kills. It doesn't help that they survive the game relatively unscathed despite the fact that only one of them (Kotoko) has anything resembling a proper Heel–Face Turn.
- Unpopular Popular Character: Jataro is hated by most people in-universe (and by himself too), but he's just as loved as the other kids in the fandom.
- Viewer Gender Confusion:
- Despite having visible eyelashes, rosy cheeks and a very feminine voice, Shirokuma is confirmed to be male in the game, using "boku" and generally speaking in a boyish way as well as being referred to as "he" by the adults at the base and "brother" by Kurokuma. The fact that they're a actually part of the female Junko Enoshima AI makes this even more awkward.
- Nagisa's gender can be a bit hard to determine initially thanks to his Gender-Blender Name ("Nagisa" is primarily but not exclusively given to male children) and the fact that Kotoko and Monaca are both clearly girls while Masaru and Jataro are equally clearly boys, leaving no real hint as to how the ensemble will round out. It's not until you remember that basically no girls in Danganronpa wear shorts/trousers as part of their default outfit (Hina is perhaps the sole exception, with even other athletically-inclined girls like Sakura, Akane, and Peko favouring skirts) that you can really figure out he's probably a boy, but even then it requires a bit of further context to be sure.
