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
- Ass Pull: Lots of them. Most blatantly the end of Volume II reveals that the Kagami Sisters are actually Mioda and Tanaka in disguise. Not once is this remotely foreshadowed. Other examples include Taeko being The Mole for a previously unmentioned Nebulous Evil Organization, Creepy Twins Asa and Yoru actually being triplets, and Kazuya being the culprit and raping Shinobu.
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
- Midway through the climax of the first volume, the writer suddenly steps in to start extravagantly praising his own book. One of the most widely criticized moments in the book, owing to it being a needless interruption in the story just so Satou can flaunt his ego.
- At the climax of the Whole Episode Flashback, Kazuya randomly reveals he has the power to manifest weapons made of light. How and why this is the case is never explained, and is mainly used as an Ass Pull to give said character easy access to a weapon.
- Creator's Pet: Suzuhiko Ootsuki. A blatant rip-off of Genocider Syo who smugly oozes his way through all of his page time. His Deus ex Machina moment at the climax of Vol 1 is mainly to slaughter most of the extra cast, mostly several children. In Vol 2, it's revealed that he's also a Togami, and a great deal of time is spent hyping up his incredible skills. He's also repeatedly assaulted his underaged sister, and despite being caught at this, suffered no more than a slap to the wrist. Ironically, his alternate personality is a much, much more well liked character.
- Designated Hero:
- Byakuya is an even bigger Jerkass than normal in the novel, insulting and belittling practically everyone despite his life being on the line. What makes this worse is that he decides to Take Over the World, and sees nothing wrong with this in spite of how immoral his behavior is. Despite this, he is still meant to be the hero.
- Volume III only makes this worse, as it's revealed that Blue Ink/Shinobu is actually Kudan, and he was deliberately manipulating her to have Undying Loyalty towards him. Including the fact that he convinced her that she was Shinobu in order to exploit the way that his half-sister came pre-broken thanks to her rapist brother. His sole 'redemptive' act, the decision to surrender and take the memory-erasing pill in order to keep her alive, is heavily undermined by it being a Foregone Conclusion.
- Fan-Disliked Explanation: The Despair Book is disliked by many fans.
- Fanon Discontinuity: A very common reaction from the parts of the Broken Base that dislike the novels.
- Just Here for Godzilla: Many fans read the book less because they're interested in the plot and more because they finally get to see the Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair students as Despairs.
- Like You Would Really Do It:
- The fifth chapter of the first volume really wants you to think Byakuya has been killed. Needless to say, this is a bit difficult to swallow, given that Togami has appeared in no less than three games set after this.
- Kazuya's true nature. DRT is dark, but there's no way that Satou would out Byakuya, a long standing main character in the franchise, as a murderous rapist. Sure enough, it quickly turns out Kazuya and Byakuya are different people.
- Misblamed: Yuya Satou is often accused of turning The Tragedy into a Hate Plague. However, both Danganronpa Zero and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair had heavily implied the same thing when one was shown a despair-inducing image, making the Despair Book little more than an expansion on the concept. Danganronpa 3 officially implemented the idea into the main series as well, though it was via brainwashing techniques applied to already horrific imagery. The final novel also reveals that the Despair Book didn't even work.
- Padding: Lots of scenes consist less of story development and more Satou Yuuya spouting random trivia. Most blatantly, a whole scene in Volume II is entirely Byakuya, Shinobu, and Celes discussing random Japanese historical figures, which, you guessed it, ends up contributing nothing to the plot whatsoever.
- Shocking Moments: Constantly. Needless to say, when the first chapter involves Byakuya getting his identity stolen, a lengthy car chase through Prague, the appearance of several students from both games and more, you just know things are going to escalate further. It does.
- Squick: While not outright stated, it is heavily implied that Kazuya rapes Shinobu after killing Hiru. Horrifying enough on its own, but then take into account that this is mere moments after Shinobu was violently maimed.
- Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Volume 2 falls prey quite badly to this. Even putting aside that its main plot is a Foregone Conclusion that'll end in most of the named characters dead, most of the Togami siblings are sociopathic assholes (with Asagao, the nicest of the lot, being killed off first), the story piles horror after horror on the characters (most infamous being Shinobu's sexual abuse and outright rape at the hand of both of her brothers) and Kazuya, the narrator and the most developed character, is revealed at the end to be murderous Yandere who rapes his own step-sister. This makes it hard for many people to care.
