The Danganronpa video game series accomplishes the impossible in that it makes you eternally grateful for the high school you had to suffer through... because nothing could be as bad as the nightmare the high school students of Hope’s Peak Academy had to endure. The Elite school chooses students who show promise and a random ‘lucky’ student to be accepted in via lottery. Upon entry, the unfortunate students find themselves in a sadistic game where the only way to escape is to commit the perfect murder as part of an ultimate reality show called Danganronpa.
The series has introduced a number of unique and interesting characters that serve as the main focus of the games. This article ranks the main characters of the series by just how memorable or strange they were.
Updated July 14, 2021 by Jessica Thomas: The Danganronpa series only continues to grow in popularity despite the fact the series has yet to see a sequel to Danganronpa V3. The colorful cast continues to pull in more and more fans, especially since the game has now been ported off of PC and placed on the Nintendo Switch, mobile platforms, and PlayStation 4. This has allowed many players to get to know the characters below, all of which are incredibly important to the story of the Danganronpa series. Some of these characters have even been made into figures or other merchandise for fans to collect, thanks to their popularity.
14 Nagito Komaeda
Nagito is from Danganronpa 2 and is often known as one of the most recognizable characters in the series. He constantly antagonizes his class as he wants to see the ultimate hope and believes that it will only happen when Hajime overcomes despair. This obsessive personality often puts him at odds with others, but he does sacrifice himself to help Hajime in the end.
Nagito is the ultimate lucky student and, when not corrupted, has a pretty easygoing personality that just about anyone could love.
13 Kokichi Oma
Kokichi was an integral part of Danganronpa V3's plot as he acted as a bit of an antagonist during the game. He often lied about being the ultimate supreme world leader, and he ended up causing small bits of trouble for the group, which ultimately led to him being killed before the end of the game.
Kokichi was then revealed to have actually been the ultimate prankster and that he was part of a harmless group of jokesters.
12 Monomi
-(80).jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&dpr=1.5)
Monomi is the pick bunny that you run into when you first start playing Danganronpa 2. She is a gentle creature who is the exact opposite of the twisted Monokuma and seeks to help the class not fall into despair while they are trapped on the island, despite the fact that this only causes Monokuma to bully her even more.
Monomi is also working with Chiaki closely as the two try to help Hajime and keep him from reverting to their pre despair selves and undo Junko's brainwashing.
11 Kaede Akamatsu
-(4).jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&dpr=1.5)
In Danganronpa V3, she was initially believed to be the main hero of the game. A cheerful and dedicated piano player, she was dead set on finding a way to get everyone out of the game and home safe, even if it meant killing the Mastermind.
Her efforts seemingly led to the death of Rantaro, and she was hanged for her acts, though it was later revealed she was framed by the Mastermind. What’s interesting about her character is that she had her memory wiped and given a new personality with a new life prior to the game; her original character sought to commit the ultimate murder and loathed other people—this stunning twist on the supposed heroine made for an interesting character.
10 Masaru Daimon
Masaru is the face of the Warriors of Hope, a group of students who suffered abuse at some point in their lives and wished to spare others from a similar fate. This mission led to the Warriors seeking the destruction of all adults they claimed were 'demons.'
Masaru was abused by his alcoholic father and was deeply devoted to creating a paradise for other children. His plans were cut short by Komaru and Toko. He appears again in Danganronpa 3, recognizing the error of his ways and willing to stop Monaca’s robotic army of evil. This rejection of evil to become good made him a compelling hero.
9 Komaru Naegi
The younger sister of Makoto, Komaru, is the main heroine of Dangonronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. During the events of the first game, she was locked away in an apartment building with no knowledge of what was happening to her brother or anyone else.
After escaping, the Warriors of Hope put her through a number of brutal trials in an attempt to turn her into the next Mastermind. Fortunately, she remains strong and, with Toko’s help, dedicates herself to good and making things right. In the third game of the series, she’s actively fighting Monaca’s attempts to control the world, a long way for the girl locked in her apartment.
8 Shuichi Saihara
This hero of Danganronpa V3 doesn’t strike anyone as a champion for good initially. A quiet and soft-spoken young man, he has the smarts but completely doubts his own abilities when it comes to solving murder cases.
Fortunately, he meets Kaede, who gives him the confidence boost he needs to realize his full potential and step into the shoes he needs to fill. Similar to Kaede, it is revealed that his memories were also wiped, and he was a rather sadistic individual who wanted to be part of the game in order to commit the perfect murder.
7 Monaca Towa
While Masaru was the face of the Warriors of Hope, Monaca was the brains. Confined to a wheelchair with a cute and rosy demeanor, it enabled her to avoid suspicion and secretly pulls the strings in other people’s lives to accomplish her darker goals.
She is the brainchild behind the Monokuma robots she created in order to become the next Mastermind of the Game. She comes very close to achieving her goals but abandoned her effort after learning the secrets of her idol Junko. In the end, she leaves the planet, washing her hands of everything and everyone, which was a shame for this scary character with a lot of promise.
6 Hajime Hinata
---2021-07-06T154604797.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&dpr=1.5)
Hajime is the primary hero of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and has a fascinating back story prior to the events of the game. It’s revealed he was originally a talentless individual who had his memory erased and was part of an experiment with the Hope Cultivation Project.
Implanted with multiple talents, he lost touch with other members of mankind and was framed for the killing of the Student Council at Hope’s Peak Academy. Despite this horrific discovery of his past life, Hajime refuses to become his old self and actively works to save everyone he can. However, that darker part continues to haunt him in spite of his efforts to do good, making for a complex hero.
5 Chiaki Nanami
Serving as the heroine alongside Hajime in the second game, she’s a very relaxed student who lacks any real-world knowledge but is highly skilled at playing video games.
It’s later revealed she’s actually an artificial intelligence designed after a girl who attended Hope’s Peak. Her protocol is to protect the others during the experiment and serve the needs of the Future Foundation, but she bends the rules of her programming to help Hajime and free the students from the simulation. She’s the ultimate selfless hero even though she’s a computer program, earning her a spot in the top five.
4 Junko Enoshima
The first villain of the series, Junko, is the mastermind behind the Mutual Killing Game and is absolutely insane. She suffers from extreme boredom and only seems to derive pleasure from causing other people intense emotional and mental pain. Between this obsession and running the game, she slowly loses her mind.
She was such a powerful and dynamic figure that her legacy lives on in the subsequent games as many villains try to emulate her. She even has an alter ego that infects the virtual world of the second game like a virus, trying to find a physical host it can take over. Considering she’s such a driving force in the game, even after death, she’s more than earned her spot on the list.
3 Kyoko Kirigiri
The heroine of the first game in the series, she approaches problems with a calm that allows her to come out on top of any situation. It’s later revealed that the Mastermind was so worried about her cleverness that her memories were entirely wiped.
After surviving the first game, she goes on to play an active role in the other games to face evil and assist the heroes however she can. What’s interesting is that she’s always wearing white gloves to hide the burn scars she received when she was younger; though it’s never revealed what exactly happened, this mystery and her dynamic character put her third on this list.
2 Makoto Naegi
---2021-07-07T132846608.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&dpr=1.5)
Fighting alongside Kyoko in the first game is the main protagonist, Makoto. His entry into the Mutual Killing Game was completely random, having won the lottery. It’s discovered that he is an incredibly lucky person and is able to solve problems and survive events solely because of his luck.
He is also a very intelligent and clever student who is able to solve all of the murder mysteries of the game and stop Junko’s plans from happening. In later games, he plays an active role in stopping future games and taking down evil forces seeking to continue Junko’s original plans. For a kid dealt such a bad hand, he’s done extremely well.
1 Monokuma
Perhaps the most fascinating and most frightening character of the Danganronpa series is Monokuma. He’s a remote-controlled teddy bear with the left side of his body being a cute and cuddly white bear, while the other half is a sinister-looking black bear with red eyes.
He’s essentially the proxy for Junko and acts as the self-proclaimed headmaster of the school and punishes any student who breaks the rules of the game or the school. Though Junko dies in the events of the first game, he makes appearances in the rest of the series under the control of various masters until being crushed by a boulder with Tsumugi.