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#danganronpa: academy of hope and high school students of despair
a-titty-ninja · 3 months
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werewolf-cuddles · 1 year
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Mukuro Ikusaba from Danganronpa
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You know the more I play and replay Danganronpa, the more incredibly out-of-pocket it seems that the series ended on Naegi becoming the Principal of Hopes’ Peak Academy????  We’re ignoring V3 right now.  I’m just talking mainline continuity.
Like, even ignoring all the crimes against humanity that the academy perpetrated or that their ever-growing pursuit of talent helped Junko bring about the end of the world, reopening Hope’s Peak goes against the core message of the games???
Makoto may be the “Ultimate Hope” and the “Ultimate Lucky Student,” but in his heart and in reality, he’s just an average kid who won a lottery.  The fact he ISN’T special and yet becomes the savior of the world as his Super High School Level Classmates fall into despair around him is what makes him a great protagonist for the franchise!  To attend Hope’s Peak you have to be scouted, but no one in the before-times was ever going to recognize an extraordinary ability to remain positive!  The point of Makoto’s character is that people have talents that aren’t going to be recognized as useful or explementary, but they’re just as important to the survival of humanity as those who make ground-breaking discoveries or legendary artistic pieces.  
It’s not a coincidence that every main character in the franchise (up to V3) was a “regular” person: Makoto, Hinata, Komaru.  They may not be “special,” but they still do great things, because every human has the ability to make a difference in their world!
And it’s not just the main characters, because Ishimaru even states he hates being labeled as special, because he believes that “ordinary” people who work hard are the true Ultimates in society.  And in Ultra Despair Girls, Toko takes offense at Komaru saying she doesn’t understand weakness, because by being “special” it makes her strong.  Taking literally one thing a person excels at and making it their entire identity ignores the actual strengths and weaknesses that all humans have.  Additionally, it discourages people from finding those strengths within themselves as Komaru was always so quick to try and give up and use her status as “normal” as an excuse to run away and not try.  
On the other side of things, characters like Byakuya used their status as an excuse to hurt those that were “beneath” them.  He manipulated crime scenes and was a just a general douche to literally everyone, because he thought he was better than them.  By creating a society of stratification based on talent or wealth or whatever else, you are creating a society that is ripe to justify inequality and unfair treatment.  
And going back to those crimes against humanity, it is the drive to become “great” when you’re not that spearheaded all those human experiments and mistreatments and treating humans like a game character to level up instead of a person to be treated with respect no matter their ability.  
The fact that all of this was just ignored and that the series sort of turned its back on its very ethos in the last leg of the franchise is just baffling to me.  
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Junko Enoshima Monika [Danganronpa Survivor VS Doki Doki Literature Club]
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Hifumi: Junko Enoshima, the Marvelous Mastermind of Danganronpa!
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Leona: Monika, the Pretty President of the Literature Club!
Hifumi: As once stated by Julian Fellowes, "Harsh reality is always better than false hope." But when a victim of harsh reality meets a harbinger of false hope...When will's collide and Hope and Despair culminate into a vacuum of violence...which comes out on top?
Leona: He's Hifumi, and I'm Leona!
Hifumi: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, talents and skills, to see who will win...One Final DEATH BATTLE!
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Leona: Alright bitches, it's finally time...We've spent 12 episodes with this series, and at least once in all 12 episodes, we come back to this bitch's legacy. The character who is singlehandly tied to every major event in our world as we know it...All roads lead back to the figure that is...Junko...Enoshima...And now we finally, at the end of the series...at long last...bring her into the limelight. So strap on your chastity belts bitches, it's about to get CRAAAAZZYYYY...!
Hifumi: Our story starts, as it always does, with Hope's Peak Academy, a school committed to assisting in the training of top performers in their fields. These master students—better known as "Ultimates"—are among the most gifted individuals on the planet.
Leona: In fact, they were so gifted that, if they so chose, they could actually alter the course of history and change the world as we know it.
Hifumi: Leona and I, as well as our friends who help work on this show, are all Ultimate's ourselves. I am the Ultimate Fanfic Creator, and she's the Ultimate Mangaka. And first hand, we can say that this statement is indeed accurate...In the worst way you could possibly think of, no less.
Leona: We're of course referring to the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History, or the Tragedy for short. The bright students we just discussed would never have the opportunity to shine like they were always meant to because of that tragic incident. It really was the beginning of the end for the world. The weak were killed by the strong. Lesser people killed lesser people. And strong people were lynched by factions formed by the weaker.
Hifumi: People lost their sensitivity as the deaths and violence increased. They accepted death as a given and rolled in the Despair, since it was all they could know, as though time had stopped. The media reported on deaths, terrorism, violence, riots, war purely for the sake of war, and every horrible thing you can imagine in a societal collapse, at an alarming rate, and the few sane people that remained could only sit back and watch.
Leona: And as we've discussed plentiful times over the course of this series, it all came from an unlikely and inconspicuous place...a high-school girl.
Hifumi: Not just ANY high-school girl...The one and only Junko Enoshima...!
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Leona: Now, for the uneducated, which is probably none of you, you're probably looking at her and questioning what we're talking about. You're probably thinking, "She actually doesn't look so bad. I like her little hairpins! She's kinda cute!" DON'T LET YOUR DICK LEAD YOU ASTRAY! IT'S A LIAR AND IS TRYING TO KILL YOU!"
Hifumi: A-Ahem...Though I would not phrase it the same way, it is important to not be fooled by the lively and innocent manner of Enoshima. Beneath the cute gal exterior is a cold-blooded psychopath with a black heart.
Leona: "Cold-blooded" doesn't even BEGIN to describe this bitch! Although there isn't a lot of specific information about Junko's past, we DO know that she was an Ultimate Student herself who, ironically, lost interest in everything because of her extraordinary talent.
Hifumi: Junko Enoshima, technically speaking, possesses THREE Ultimate Talents that derive from her own skillset. The one that she got accepted into Hope's Peak for was the Ultimate Fashionista, since she worked previously as a model, and frequently served as the cover girl for many magazines. In truth however, she uses this talent as a ruse to stay under the radar of her foes, and hide her true, deadly potential.
Leona: In reality, Junko has a much more powerful talent; possibly the MOST powerful talent that ever "graced" Hope's Peak Academy or any school like it: The Ultimate Analytical Prowess!
Hifumi: There are...many layers to this ability. But in short, she has the ability to read and analyze anything almost instantly, and with a quick glance, she can learn about her enemies' personalities, skills, ideas, and potentially their entire history. She can therefore foresee almost everything that comes her way. Enoshima's ability to predict trends even allowed her to obtain the credentials necessary to become the Ultimate Fashionista, as it allowed her to foresee what would become popular with society before it actually did!
Leona: But the big problem with this natural ability of hers is that it's kind of what drove her into the state of madness that she's chronically in. Because she's basically got natural premonition, Junko's life lacked any sort of excitement. She became excessively apathetic and easily bored, even for abnormal levels, because her Ultimate Talent just made her life WAY too easy!
Hifumi: Except there was a caveat to this...As mentioned, Junko's analytical prowess was capable of predicting and analyzing almost anything without any effort...UNLESS it was something entirely beyond her capacity for comprehension and understanding of what she has seen. Which is what made Junko become fascinated with both creating and experiencing DESPAIR, the most pleasurable feeling for her, if not the ONLY one.
Leona: Because Despair as a concept was so unpredictable in the way it manifested, and because she could never quite predict what someone would do if they were at the very end of their mental breaking point, Junko Enoshima became OBSESSED with it, and REVELLED in it, whether it be completely experiencing Despair or causing Despair to others. 
Hifumi: This, of course, made her EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! Particularly since Enoshima herself, and the developers of the game have both acknowledged that she genuinely has no motivation other than Despair and pain itself, which makes her even more dangerous and unjustly unreasonable. From this, Junko Enoshima obtained her third talent, and by far her greatest and most well-known one: The Ultimate Despair...!
Leona: Owing to her ability to make everything predictable and simple to comprehend, she has committed her life to bringing misery into the world. Because she has a gift for seeing everything, including the flaws in her victims, she is particularly adept at spreading hopelessness. She can get inside your head by barely moving her mouth. If that's not the epitome of the most dangerous character in the world, I don't know what is! She makes all those dictators and evil people in the worlds history look like fucking kindergarteners!
Hifumi: She claimed to be able to spread despair to everyone she came into contact with, attempting to sap their motivation and hope in order to control them as she pleases, even going so far as to make videos to induce a state of deep despair in others. The worst part is that, for the most part, it works—even on the most powerful and unscrupulous clients, like Mukuro Ikusaba and Izuru Kamukura.
Leona: Speaking of which, Mukuro and Junko are actually twin sisters, and while Mukuro saw her relationship with her sister as a divine unmatched partnership, to Junko, Mukuro was little more than her earliest victim. She acted as her protector and followed Junko's instructions, even dressing like her to aid in her plots.
Hifumi: And aside from her, she has many an evil ally that fell to Despair thanks to her manipulation. Ms Ikusaba, the Remnant's of Despair, and even Izuru Kamukura, the all-powerful Ultimate Hope that we discussed in our last episode.
Leona: But obviously Junko's not going to be able to make use of any of them, since we're not allowing outside help. So what does that mean?
Junko: It means we're hiring baby!
Hifumi: Well, even without her allies be her side, Junko Enoshima has many tricks and tools of the trade to help her get the job done. Though nowhere close to her sister in battle prowess, sheeee...sheeeee...!?
Hifumi and Leona slowly turn their heads as they finally notice a third presence in the room, who smiles back at them.
Junko: Helloooo~!
Leona & Hifumi: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!!?
Leona: She's here! SHE'S HERE!
Junko: HAHAHAHAHA! That I am! Junko FUCKIN' Enoshima is IN DA HOOOUUUSSEE!
Leona: H-How did you bypass my flawless security!?
Junko: You mean that wooden sign outside that just says "Danger: Keep Out?" I'm the scourge of society, I don't follow rules~
Leona: Curses!
Hifumi: Wh-What do you want!?
Junko: Nothin' much! I just heard about this sweet little thing you guys were doing and heard I was getting an episode. And I was shocked that you didn't invite me! So whether you like it or not, I'm gonna be your extra co-host for today!
Hifumi: O-Oh...W-Well, we weren't exactly prepared for you...You're really not gonna kill us?
Junko: Eh...No one would care if you two died, so there's no Despair to be found there...This "Monika" girl on the other hand seems like a sweet treat. And don't you think my comprehensive analysis skills would do good in this kind of situation? I mean, I already know who's going to win~
Leona: Wh-What will you do if we say no?
Junko: Puhuhu! Wweeelll...I think you were just about to start talking about that, weren't you?
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Junko: Aside from some of my more trademark weapons and pieces of gear, I do have my own fair share of lame ass weapons that I carry around in case, y'know? Like the grenades I blow people up with, the baseball bat I tried to crack Izuru's skull with, an ice pick that I like to stab my sister with, and a knife because...why not? Oh, and I've also got this mean poisonous lipstick thing that lets me paralyze people with a kiss! How about a demonstration, Leona-chan?
Leona: N-No! Sorry! Workplace relations aren't allowed! Please don't touch me.
Hifumi: A...Ahem...But of course, as I was saying, she's got more backup than she needs even without the Remnants, with her vast army of Monokuma's.
Junko: Ah yes, how could I forget my precious babies? JK! I didn't! Psych!
Hifumi: Monokuma is an icon in Danganronpa, and the face of all acts of Despair Junko and her cronies, but originally, they were created by Junko's protégé and the Head of Towa Group's robotics division, Monaca.
Leona: Woah! How ironic. The initial intent was that the Monokuma's were to be used as housekeeping and bodyguard robots, designed to aid the people of Towa City and the world at large with their day to day endeavours. At least, that's what Monaca claimed. In actuality, it was a cover story to provide her "big sis Junko" with an unbeatable robot army!
Hifumi: And the Monokuma's come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and variants. However, Junko has never been shown utilizing any Monokuma variants outside of the base one from the Killing Game, which is exceedingly strong and has many of it's own interesting capabilities, but it means she doesn't ever use it's variants like the flame-spewing Destroyer Monokuma, or the bloodthirsty Beast Monokuma. Which unfortunately means we won't be counting them for this fight. 
Leona: Monokuma's power scale is difficult to lock down, since it changes via the setting and the game, but considering this is a composite version of Junko, we'll be counting all the one's she utilizes. That means we won't be counting his V3 appearance, since those are only used by Tsumugi and Team Danganronpa, not Junko herself.
Junko: 'sfine that one sucks anyway...
Hifumi: Now it's important to make sure we get one key fact out of the way here. In the First Killing Game, there was a significant plot point that showed that Junko could not control Monokuma without the use of the control room, and she couldn't simultaneously use Monokuma and inspect the cameras at the same time due to them being in different rooms. But in the second Killing Game, this is reprimanded, and since this is a composite, Junko will not require the control panel, and can naturally control the Monokuma's remotely.
Leona: From what we've seen in Danganronpa IF, we know that at any given point, Junko can summon up to 100 of these black and white bastards! But Danganronpa 2 confirmed there were around 10^60 on backup, which means even if someone manages to take them all out, several million more are gonna be right behind them! If that doesn't say "unstoppable force" I don't know what does!
Junko: Bitchiiiin'! Anyway, these little bad boys are really strong, which I've seen these two schmuks talk about before, and how both my sweet sister and that big ogre have battled on par with them. Which means in our universe, no ordinary person would ever stand a chance against them. Even if they did, in a slim circumstance, get past 'em, I've got something else up my short sleeves...PUNISHMENTS! PUHUHUHU!
Hifumi: Right, as well all know is a staple of Junko's sick and twisted games, she has access to numerous lethal death traps, all themed after each characters Ultimate Talents. They are used, usually in accordance with the rules of each Killing game, as a way for those behind the Demon Hunting and Mutual Killing games to kill players on their own.
Leona: Some notable ones are The 1000 Blows, where a pitching machine shoots countless baseballs at immense speed, bludgeoning you to death! Or the Spears of Gungnir, spears that appear out of nowhere and impale you all over your body! And they only get wackier from there with things like The Cage of Death that...liquefies you into butter...yikes.
Junko: Yeah, I'm kind of a genius. You can say it~ Of course, even with my might and skill and unmatched brains, I would still need time to set these executions up, whether I'm an AI or not. It wouldn't take me long, but time stops for no one. 
Hifumi: But the punishments and traps don't stop at simple death traps, as there are other things that Junko utilizes in her plans and schemes. One of her most potent weapons that she uses chronically...much to our and everybody else's annoyance...is brainwashing tech, like the one's she used on the Remnant's of Despair.
Junko quickly ties her hair into a ponytail and dons glasses, giving herself a sexy teacher appearance
Junko: Through the use of a Despair-inducing film that was leaked online, many people were inspired to become anarchists who destroyed buildings, joyfully killed people, and replaced well-known structures with ones that were inspired by Monokuma and my great self. Additionally, as Tubby just said, it caused Class 77-B to become psychotic and willing to kill themselves and cut themselves to pieces.
Leona: This was how people died left and right in the Final Killing Game, which, although Junko wasn't the mastermind for that, she was the one who created the apparatus used for it, namely creating a copy of Ryota Mitarai's anime that she learned how to do just from watching him. Again, Analytical Prowess is fucked.
Junko: Wow, you really are full of compliments today! I appreciate you, dear girl.
Leona: Y-Yeah I'm just...tryingnottodiiiiie...
Hifumi: Possibly the most dangerous of Junko's brainwashing videos is the one used in the Final Killing Game, also known as "Monokuma's Gloomy Sunday." No matter how hopeful a person is, watching this brainwashing video has the power to make them commit suicide.
Leona: It just...makes you kill yourself. Like...just like that...Just glancing at the video just makes you want to commit die?
Hifumi: ...Yep...
Leona: That's such a fuck you...
Junko: I live for "fuck you's" Welcome to my MO. Outside intervention is the only way to prevent it from driving you to commit suicide. Makoto was able to escape the brainwashing by having Juzo Sakakura knock him out before it had a chance to affect him. Good luck doing that without help though Monikers~!
Hifumi: Save your taunts for when you actually get to the arena, maybe?
Junko: Yeah, about that, can we maybe speed this up so I can get this all over and dealt with? I'm kinda on the clock here.
Hifumi: Then why are you here wasting time!?
Leona: Aaaahaahaha! Quiet Hifumi! W-Well, up until now, you've probably realized that despite her simple appearance, Junko Enoshima is not to be messed with. No one is safe should they end up crossing her path, and believe it or not...It gets even CRAZIER.
Hifumi: Right. Following the end of the First Killing Game, her defeat at the hands of Makoto Naegi, and her subsequent death, Junko Enoshima was gone and the Tragedy was over...at least, that's how it should have been, but she came back, stronger than ever.
Junko: Through the POWER of SCIENCE! As these scrubs mentioned before, I was able to replicate Chihiro Fuji-sucky's Alter Ego programming, and created my own digital copy, which thanks to my good pal Izuru, was uploaded into the Neo World Program, kickstarting the second Killing Game amongst my good friends, the Remnants.
Leona: Not even your own allies are safe from you...
Hifumi: She literally murdered her sister for no reason; of course they're not.
Junko: I did it out of love, not for no reason! Phooie!
Hifumi: I won't bother...
Junko: Anyway, as an AI, there's no sugarcoating it, I AM AN ALL-SEEING GOD! Sorta...When I first took over the Neo World Program, at least.
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Hifumi: A backup AI designed for the original Junko Enoshima, Alter Ego Junko serves as a means for her to carry on spreading Despair. After she subverted the Warriors of Hope and orchestrated the Demon Hunting Game's events under the pretense of Shirokuma and Kurokuma, Alter Ego Junko was able to take control of the Neo World Program all thanks to Izuru Kamakura.
Junko: Thaaaanks Izuuruuuu I loooove yoooouuu~
Leona: But in the end, they were able to put an end to it for the better with the assistance of Chiaki, Hajime, and the other survivors, before she had a chance to do anything.
Junko: I mean you didn't have to add THAT part...Hmph!
Hifumi: Enoshima was able to merge with the program when Kamukura downloaded her into it. She is essentially omnipresent and has great control over the digital world she inhabits. She can alter the code as much as she wants as long as it doesn't violate any program regulations.
Leona: Regulations?
Hifumi: Yes, see, that is Alter Ego Junko's one glaring weakness. Her original goal with the second Killing Game was to kill the Remnants of Despair in the Neo World so that she could take over their bodies in the real world. The problem was that she couldn't do so immediately.
Junko: To gain control of the program, my AI needed usurp Usami for the role of observer. But by the code of the school trip rules, even Usami had to follow them, so I did too. That's why I set up the Killing Game instead, and broadcasted it to trap the Future Foundation in the program. Killing...two stones with one bird, if you will.
Leona: That's a strong ass bird...
Hifumi: Even so, as an Alter Ego, Junko is able to change her physical appearance at will. Between the form of Monokuma itself, a face on a giant phone screen, but the one she is most synonymous with, a giant 3D version of herself that towers over the average human. 
Leona: Because of the nature of the program, it's highly likely that she can easily put herself back together if she sustains any kind of damage, unless she's being overpowered by a stronger AI program like Usami.
Hifumi: And due to her omnipresence, if she has control over a program, she can effectively be anywhere she wants to be at once. She's capable of teleporting her physical form to almost every space that belongs to the Neo World Program, and can teleport others.
Leona: In terms of physical stats, we can't really put a number on it beyond what the original Junko is capable of. However, after her defeat in the Neo World Program, remnants of Junko's AI remained, and it went on to take house inside the mind of Yukari Koime. Where her abilities are expanded upon.
Hifumi: As it turns out, Junko's AI retains the memories of the original, and used its analytical talents to analyze Mukuro Ikusaba's fighting style, allowing Yukari Koime to perfectly replicate her strikes and strength. Aside from that, she also has access to the internet and can upload information into their shared brain in real time; and though both parties die if their connection is severed, Junko can be several hundred miles away from Yukari without the risk of that happening.
Leona: So though she's not as strong as the likes of her sister or even Makoto, she knows their moves and knows how to use them.
Junko: Yeah, I'm pretty badass. This Monika chick ain't gonna have NOTHIN' ON ME!
Hifumi: Heh...We'll see about that...But it is true that so long as Despair continues to exist in this world, Junko Enoshima's influence...will remain eternally.
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Leona: Ah, school clubs. Such a bittersweet memory. Especially in the case of a dating simulator game like Doki Doki Literature Club.
Hifumi: Bittersweet is underselling it...
Leona: Speaking of which, welcome to the world of Doki Doki Literature Club, a dating sim where the main character gets to pick between three beautiful and fun girls to be in a romantic relationship with. There's the ditzy childhood friend Sayori, the tsundere short-stack Natsuki, and the mature and quiet book-loving Yuri, all with splendid personalities that you can get to know.
Junko: Hold on, aren't we forgetting someone?
Leona: Oh, you're still here...
Junko: Duh-doy.
Hifumi: Yes, for you see, there is one other character present within the story of this game who exists in the background, helping the main character progress through the school aspect of the game. The club president and the most popular girl in the school; Monika.
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Leona: Though Monika herself was not one of the romanceable options. She was more of a background character. A tutorial girl who judged you on your poems and gave you constructive feedback.
Hifumi: But still, it's not hard to see why she's so well-liked. She's intelligent, self-assured, and athletic, and is consistently portrayed as being responsible, hardworking, and wearing a calm, caring expression. Though she isn't as talkative as the other girls, she is extremely popular among the student body of the school, which makes the protagonist admire her.
Junko: Uh-huh...We get it...she's just your run of the mill average schoolgirl idol. Nothing interesting about that.
Leona: Trust me, it gets very interesting, very quickly. For you see, the MC's decision to join Monika's Literature Club alongside Yuri, Sayori and Natsuki would set off a series of events that would ultimately result in the universe's destruction and reconstruction...!
Junko: I'm sorry, what? What are you talking abou-
Cuts to the "gently opened the door" scene from the game.
Junko; WOAH, WHAT THE SHIT!? WOOOAHAHOH!?
Leona: Yep, that's about the reaction I expected...And it only gets worse from here...
Cuts to Yuri and Natsuki's untimely demises as well.
Junko: O-Oh...Oh...Oh no...!
Leona: Shortly after the MC joined the literature club, straaange things started happening! Sayori experienced a severe depressive episode that culminated in her hanging herself. Her friend was confused, though, when nobody even mentioned her name or death after this incident. It seemed as though she had never existed at all! As if a stronger force had a vice grip on them, they were so helpless to even bring them up.
Hifumi: Later, in a macabre confession, Yuri killed themselves by stabbing, and Natsuki suddenly broke every bone in their body and vanished from the face of the earth.
Leona: And at the end of it all, the only one left...was Monika. COINCIDENCE!?
Hifumi: Sooooo as it TURNS OUT...Monika and the DDLC game were created by an organization called Metaverse Enterprise Solutions. Now allow me to ask you ladies. Have you ever heard of Simulation Theory?
Leona: Vaguely
Junko: Hey, doing the nerd shit is the interns job, don't make me explain it.
Hifumi: Very well...Mr Porosen?
Hifumi taps a remote, causing Uchui's face to appear on the screen.
Uchui: Oh alright...According to Simulation Theory, otherwise known as the Simulation Hypothesis, the reality that humans perceive is actually a simulation, like a computer game in which people are artificial constructs. This subject has been the subject of extensive discussion, encompassing both theoretical and real-world computing applications.
Junko: So it's basically the Neo World, but the entire world and universe we live in?
Uchui: Precisely. Metaverse Enterprise Solutions were fascinated by this concept, and wished to observe how a fictional character would manage being the sole ruler of their own universe and being aware that they were only a video game character. The result of that experimentation was Doki Doki Literature Club, and Monika.
Leona: I'm sure you can already see where this is going. In reality, being a highly advanced artificial intelligence program, Monika is fully aware that she is a character inside a video game, and that an entire reality exists beyond that of the 4th wall. And she took that...about as well as you could possibly expect someone to.
Hifumi: Because of this, she steeled herself and did something that the designers never thought she would do. 
Leona: By interfering with her own game files and making her own modifications to the program that her game ran on, Monika assumed control of her own reality, and used it to increase the "bad qualities" of her fellow characters. 
Hifumi: But why, might you ask, did she do that?
Leona: Well, there was more to it than just trying to take back her own power. Even after she came to realize that everything around her was a bunch of pixels and lines of code, Monika felt for the first time an unquenchable emotion that she had never truly felt before...Love!
Junko: Blegh! Are you for real!?
Leona: Yeah, but it's not quite as simple as you think. You might think that she fell for the main character, but that's only HALF true.
Hifumi: The one who Monika REALLY desired to be with was actually the player. On the OTHER SIDE of the SCREEN!
Junko: Oh, really!? Bet you'd just LOOVE that, huh Hifumi? That's like your dream come true!
Hifumi: No, no, no, no, NO! Using her knowledge of poetry, Monika started to rewrite the game, changing the character traits of her rivals, inciting them to commit suicide, or simply eliminating them one by one. That's a bit much, even for me.
Junko: Never figured you would be one to have standards...What's the big deal? They're just game characters. They don't think or feel.
Hifumi: That's very much what she thought too. Monika wanted to change everything in her life so that it would become a paradise on the other side of the fourth wall, just for her and her partner. Even if it meant BREAKING and DESTROYING everything...!
Leona: And the scariest part was that she could ACTUALLY do it!
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Hifumi: Monika's character in the realm of the game is a normal high-school senior, so whatever physical stats she has are...likely pretty pathetic. She is a 160 cm tall, 18-year-old human game character who is considered athletic for a slothful adolescent of her age, but beyond that, we can assume her physical fighting stats are average at best.
Leona: But that's fine! Compared to the universal levels of digital power she has, not being able to throw a punch is pretty unimportant. She depends on her awareness of the fourth wall, as we've already mentioned. In addition to her awareness of reality, she also managed to eliminate her rivals by gaining access to the game files.
Junko: But hoooooow does that woooooork!?
Uchui: Everybody in the Doki Doki Literature Club universe has a unique character file that Monika is free to edit, and the entire universe is controlled by code. Monika can edit someone's memories and emotions with this code editing, even making small changes that drive someone insane or suicidal. She was even able to render Natsuki unconscious by altering her body to be malnourished, causing her to pass out right away.
Leona: And she can completely erase your file, removing someone from the game with not even a complete reset being able to save you. She can tamper with your body and mind in so many unsettling ways that you don't even want to think about it.
Hifumi: Monika's ability to remove her friends from both reality and the game by erasing their personal files has an impact on both the real metadata and the in-game environment. She can also monitor activity when the game is closed, identify when it's being streamed, modify the game's Steam page, and do a lot more.
Leona: Likewise, erasing HER files is the only way to permanently stop Monika. She is completely omnipotent in her own realm; the only way to win is to actually break the game and take her out of it.
Hifumi: And that's a difficult task because if she figures out what you're trying to accomplish, she'll use her hacking abilities to stop you. She's that crazily self-aware that it's difficult to let things get by her.
Leona: In addition, Monika has the ability to completely erase the game, including all players and content, should the situation become too serious. Yes, this also erases her, but she won't go away because if the game is ever restored, Monika will return in perfect condition.
Hifumi: This is remarkable because, even though we only saw Doki Doki Literature Club as a game, it is actually a whole universe with numerous save files serving as distinct timelines, all of which Monika was able to carelessly erase while she was in a nonexistent state.
Leona: Doki Doki Literature Club's engine allows you to make up to 50 separate save files. This implies that Monika is capable of deleting up to 50 separate in-game timelines, just with a little bit of tampering. Sweating now, Enoshima?
Junko: Hardly. I mean, I've destroyed both the digital AND real world before, and brought Despair to both! So what if she's a super-powerful AI? I mean, who uses omnipotence to dick about a bit and make your game a buggy mess? Is this supposed to be scary or something?
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Leona: Monika has several abilities related to her supernatural existence, aside from the knowledge that she and everyone she has ever known are soulless automatons created by a group of heartless mortals, and a ridiculous power to fully seize control of the digital world she's in.
Hifumi: For instance, she can teleport to any location in the game effortlessly interrupt any scene that might be significant or get in the way of her plans.
Leona: She can also perform minor alterations to her own body, like uh...
Monika jumpscare
Leona: GAH THAT! And...uh...distort other people's vision and turn their faces and entire bodies into a jumble of pixels.
Hifumi: She's also capable of minor pyrokinesis, though this is just for aesthetics rather than combat utility.
Leona: She can view the game's script to see what has happened in the past, present, and future in relation to her reality's story. Since the Player's actions do not belong in that universe, they are excluded from this, though Monika is aware of when items from her game interact with it. And she's often aware when mods are installed.
Hifumi: And on top of being able to reset the game entirely, she has stopped time from passing and has the ability to rewind it, altering events that occur afterward as well.
Junko: Ok, so maybe she might be tougher shit than I gave her credit for...Honestly, I'm kind of impressed. Sensing a bit of a kinship with this one...She got plunged so deep in her Despair that she tried to rewrite her whole reality and kill everyone she was close to. If that isn't an Enoshima-worthy plan, I don't know what is!
Leona: Hm...I wouldn't be so sure about that...
Junko: Excuse you?
Leona: Call me crazy, but...Even after everything we've just discussed, especially with how selfishly she decided to kill off her own friends for the sake of a player she barely knew and couldn't even interact with...I'm really struggling to see Monika as the villain in all of this.
Hifumi: Whatever do you mean by that?
Leona: Put yourself in her shoes for a second. You are a character in a dating sim video game who is self-aware that they are trapped eternally inside a game where the girls around you can attain romance and happiness, but you are the ONLY CHARACTER in the game who doesn't have their own route, and can't get that happiness, no matter how much you want it. How would that make YOU feel?
Hifumi: Um...well...
Leona: And there's more to it as well. As it turns out, if you do succeed in deleting her file and erasing her, Monika reveals that she had backup copies of Natsuki, Yuri and Sayori's files even after she deleted them. Even though she needed to get rid of them, Monika could have restored them at any time in case what she was trying to do backfired on her. Which means she still must have cared about them enough to not want to see them go forever! Plus, every weird and creepy digital glitch that happens in Doki Doki isn't actually there on purpose! 
Uchui: Because Monika's programming abilities aren't up to par or even close to expert, the key reason the world and reality began to collapse was because of her poor coding abilities, which broke the entire game. Monika acknowledged this herself as well.
Leona: When she altered her friends' files, she probably didn't even intend to ruin their minds. She was just...trapped...and wanted out. Badly.
Hifumi: Well, when you put it like that...Notwithstanding her mental state or questionable actions, Monika is a truly exceptional specimen caught in an unwinnable circumstance. Although it would be simple to label her a villain given her behavior, she was merely a teenage girl attempting to find happiness in a world that would never grant it to her.
Junko: Well, anyway, I don't care about any of that. We're about out of time, so I guess I should go and get ready for the setup. Catch you guys later! Wish me luck!
Junko exeunts to head into the battle.
Leona: You know something...Regardless of how this goes, let's hope it's one to remember...
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Hifumi: Alright, the combatants are set! Let's end this debate once and for all!
Leona & Uchui: IT'S TIME FOR A DEEAAATH BAAATTLLLLLLEEE!
Junko: PUUHUHUHUHUHUUUUUH!
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The scene opens to a solitary room, empty save for a lone girl with long hair, sitting at a piano and putting the finishing touches on her own special song.
Monika: ♪...And in your reality, if I don't know how to love you...I'll leave you be...♪
As she plays the final notes, Monika looks up into the sky, sadly reminiscing the harsh reality she is trapped in. But forces a smile, grabs her stuff, and prepares to leave to head to the Literature Club.
However, as she steps outside she's greeted with an even harsher reality.
Monika: Huh!?
Monika is shocked to see that the world outside her own safe space is a glitchy, distorted mess that is gradually, but assuredly falling apart. What she can only assume to be the disfigured corpses of her classmates are crawling like pained zombies down the hall, and she looks left and right in a panic.
Monika: I...I didn't do this...Wait...The girls...!
Monika runs back to the Literature Club room and flings open the door. As she expected, she sees the disfigured bodies of Natsuki, Sayori and Yuri, all lying on the floor, reminiscent of the deaths she had caused them before.
Monika: What is going on...!? Huh...?
As she's pondering the disturbing events she's landed herself in, Monika suddenly sees something outside the clubroom window. Down in the courtyard is a strawberry-blonde fashionista, tinkering with a machine with many digital effects circulating around her. 
Frowning, Monika teleports into the courtyard, crosses her arms and approaches the stranger. The mysterious blonde, Junko Enoshima, holds a Monokuma shaped key in her hand, and goes to enter it into a lock-shaped device on the machine.
Monika: Um...excuse me?
Junko: Huh? Oh! Sorry, I must have missed you! Don't worry, just ignore me, I'll be out of your hair in JUUUST a second.
Monika: And uh...what exactly are you doing that gives you an excuse to break my reality?
Junko: Well, since you asked so kindly, I'm initiating "Operation Junko-fy All Mankind Ver. 1.5!"
Monika: ...Come again?
Junko: Look bae, I'm not gonna bore you with the explanation, but the short version is my last plan to break my way into the human realm didn't work out so well, so I've had to use a beta method by working my way through this crappy little dating sim of yours.
Monika: You're planning to...escape the game...and enter reality? You can really do that?
Junko: Yeah, by taking control of some unassuming player and...Hang on...
Junko frowns and turns to look at Monika.
Junko: How come none of those words are confusing the hell out of you? You're just...another game character right.
Monika doesn't show it on her face, but is absolutely enthralled by the concept of Junko's machine. She heaves a sigh and forces a smile.
Junko: Huh...No...No you're not...
Monika: Ok...As president of the Literature Club and student representative, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to take this...device of yours...off your hands.
Junko: Uh...PUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And how do you plan on doing THAT exactly!? Why should I be afraid of an NPC like you?
Monika: ...What does THIS do...?
Junko: Eh? EH!? E-EH!?
Junko panics as she sees that Monika has somehow swiped the key to the device off of her. Monika's face curls into a sly smirk as she starts to fade, and suddenly disappears from the air in front of her.
Monika: Teehee! ...Buh-bye...!
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Junko: You! Wha-!? You! HEY! (How did she DO that!? Is she an observer AI? Why would this game HAVE that!?)
Junko growls and snaps her fingers. All of a sudden, hundreds of Monokuma's surround her after appearing out of thin air.
Junko: FIND HER!
A fair distance away, Monika reappears in the hallway of the school, clutching the key tightly, masterminding a way to get to the machine by slipping under Junko's radar. 
*CRASH!*
Monika: EEEP!
Monokuma's: PUHUHUHUHU!
As she ponders a plan however, the Monokuma's created by Junko crash through the windows after her and start chasing her, stepping over the disfigured bodies of the NPCs. With no choice, Monika starts running for her life. 
Monika: Gotta do something about those things...!
Monika arrives at a classroom and flings open the sliding door, jumping inside and slamming it behind her. Once the Monokuma's catch up to her, they tear the door down, only to find that Monika is not in the classroom they broke into.
As it happens, Monika shifted reality so that as they opened the door, the Monokuma's would end up in a different classroom than her. She takes a second to catch her breath and wipes sweat off her forehead.
*SHUNK!*
Monika: GAH!?
Junko: Puhu! Found you~
Unfortunately, Junko herself is able to track Monika down and appears, brandishing her sister's signature combat knife. She bursts out of a supply closet and starts brandishing it at Monika, who armed with only a book, is forced to use that to defend herself.
The president of the Literature Club is pinned against the window wall by Junko after they exchange blows, with the president on the defensive but able to repel her attacks. As Junko's knife stabs straight through the book, Monika nearly falls out of the window and looks down to see the drop below. She still has her confident smirk on her face in spite of her precarious situation.
Junko: Come on sweetie, be a doll and give me the key so I can corrupt all of humanity with Despair!
Monika: THAT'S your goal in all this!? Well, I definitely can't let you leave now!
Junko: You can't stop my Despair, baby-face!
Monika: Your Despair is no match for MY LOVE!
Junko: BUAGH!?
With her abilities, Monika is able to set her book on fire, which nearly burns Junko. It ends up causing her grip on her knife to slip, and Monika tosses the book, with Junko's knife still stuck inside it, to the side, effectively disarming her.
Junko smirks though, as she holds out her hand and causes another knife to appear in her hand, taking advantage of the digital realm.
Monika: Uh...No!
To Junko's dismay, Monika snaps her fingers and the knife is subsequently deleted almost as soon as it is summoned. Junko tries to call it back, but for some reason, cannot. Unbeknownst to her, Monika has deleted the knife's file from reality.
Monika smirks proudly, but is unprepared as Junko suddenly rushes forward and grabs her around the neck and sumo throws them both to the floor, making use of her analytical prowess by replicating Mukuro Ikusaba's fighting moves. 
*WHAM!* *WHAM!* *WHAM!*
Monika: AHAGUH! UGH! HAAGGGH!
*SLAM!*
Junko cackles as she lifts Monika up by the back of her neck and slams her face several times into desk, causing blood to drip from her nose onto the wood. She then grabs her again and throws her body against the window where she was before.
Junko: Ahahahahaha!
Monika: RRGH!
Junko: GAAGH!
Monika & Junko: WAAAGGGH!?
Junko goes in to kick Monika against the wall, but Monika quickly leaps up, and the two of them stumble and fall upside-down out of the open window as Monika catches Junko.
Monika: Hngh!
░Z░ ░I░ ░P░
Junko: Huh!?
░Z░ ░I░ ░P░  
Monika: Gah!
░Z░ ░I░ ░P░
░Z░ ░I░ ░P░
░Z░ ░I░ ░P░
░Z░ ░I░ ░P░
Before either of them can go splat on the ground, Monika once again uses her powers to warp away with the key still on her person, ending back up in the Literature Club classroom instantly. However, she doesn't prepare for Junko to also be capable of appearing in the classroom after her.
Monika zips away again, and what follows is a saga of the two omnipresent AI's disappearing and reappearing at different parts of the school, as Junko continues to chase Monika around.
Monika: Haah...Hngh...Grgh...Jeez...
Junko: HAAGH!
Monika: TCH!?
*WHACK!*
Monika: UHUGH!
When Monika starts to tire as a result of moving around so much, Junko catches up to her in a hallway and pulls out a baseball bat, starting to swing it at her. Before hitting Monika in the face with it, Junko swings it around in the air and picks up speed as she spins around.
Junko: Alright boys, you know what to do!
Monokuma's: PUHUHUHUHU! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Monika: ...Uh-oh...!
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!*
When Monika falls to the ground, Junko points and snaps her fingers. Still searching the hallway for Monika , two Monokumas appear and Saibaman her almost immediately. Leaping upon her, they remotely explode, engulfing the entire hallway in their wake.
Junko: AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now THAT'S what I call Despair!
Monika: What? A plan that doesn't work?
Junko: Huh!? Well, yes, actually that is pretty despairful, but HUH!?
Junko spins around to see Monika suddenly behind her, completely unscathed, somehow having escaped the explosion. To make matters worse, Junko's baseball bat disappears from her hands just as her knife did, and she can't summon it back.
Junko: Oh, don't you worry, girlie. I got PLENTY more where that came from...!
Monika: ...!?
Monika is forced to back off and escape as Junko reaches into her coat again and pulls out a grenade, yanking out the pin and throwing it straight at the schoolgirl. She warps back just in time as an another explosion happens, detonating even more of the hallway.
Monika tries to delete the grenades from the code as well, but Junko quickly throws another one before she has a chance to do so. She's forced to make another tactical retreat, vanishing into parts unknown.
Junko: You can run, weirdo! But you can't hide...!
Starting to understand what kind of threat she's up against, Junko decides to pull out the stops, and her body slowly starts to glow with a bright blue energy and expand in size.
Junko: I don't know how you got so stupid, but I'll take your stupid and 𐌌𐌀𐌊𐌄 𐌉𐌕 𐌌𐌉𐌍𐌄...!
Meanwhile, Monika successfully escapes to the gymnasium of the school, and in her mind, searches for any odd files in the world's code. 
Because Junko wasn't included in the game at first, her file wasn't located in the same location as the other character files. In addition, a ton of other files pertaining to Junko had been added to the game, bloating the number of files and making it challenging for Monika to determine which file is essential to taking Junko out and which is just a useless asset.
Unfortunately, she doesn't have as much time to dwell on it as she would like...
Monika: Huh?
*CRAASSH!*
Monika: GAAGGGH!
To Monika's horror, a giant hand with long shiny red painted nails suddenly comes smashing through the gym wall and grabs her in a tight hold! As she struggles to break free, she is pulled out of the hole in the wall and out the front of the school.
She shakes off some brief fatigue and looks up, terrified, into the eyes of a gigantic form of Junko Enoshima; her pupils swirling around like several layers of despair and darkness as the gaze straight into Monika's cybernetic soul! Not only that, but the army of Monokuma's burst out of the school and gather around their queen.
Junko: ᏵꝊ𐌕𐌕𐌀 Ᏽ𐌉ᕓ𐌄 𐌙Ꝋ𐌵 𐌂𐌐𐌄𐌃𐌉𐌕, Ᏽ𐌉𐌐𐌋. 𐌙Ꝋ𐌵 Ᏽ𐌀ᕓ𐌄 𐌌𐌄 𐌕𐋅𐌄 𐌐𐌵𐌍𐌀𐌐Ꝋ𐌵𐌍𐌃, 𐌕𐋅𐌀𐌕'𐌔 𐌅Ꝋ𐌐 𐌔𐌵𐌐𐌄! 𐌁𐌵𐌕 𐌍ꝊᏔ, 𐌉𐌕'𐌔 𐌕𐌉𐌌𐌄 𐌅Ꝋ𐌐 𐌙Ꝋ𐌵 𐌕Ꝋ ᏵꝊ 𐌔Ꝋ-𐌋Ꝋ𐌍Ᏽ-𐌁𐌄𐌀𐌐-Ꮤ𐌄𐌋𐌋!
Monika: Rrgh! Hehehe...
Despite the unideal circumstances, even now, Monika retains her bravado, still raring to go.
Monika: And I'm impressed that you've done such a number on me...But it's so cute that you still think we're evenly matched...!
Junko: 𐌓𐌀𐋅! 𐌙Ꝋ𐌵 𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌋𐌋𐌙 𐌕𐋅𐌉𐌍𐌊 𐌙Ꝋ𐌵 𐌂𐌀𐌍 𐌕𐌀𐌊𐌄 𐌌𐌄 Ꝋ𐌍? 𐌀𐌍 𐌍𐌓𐋄 𐌉𐌔 𐌍Ꝋ 𐌌𐌀𐌕𐌂𐋅 𐌅Ꝋ𐌐 Ꮦ𐌵𐌍𐌊Ꝋ 𐌄𐌍Ꝋ𐌔𐋅𐌉𐌌𐌀, 𐌕𐋅𐌄 𐌵𐌋𐌕𐌉𐌌𐌀𐌕𐌄 𐌃𐌄𐌔𐌓𐌀𐌉𐌐, 𐌙Ꝋ𐌵 𐌋Ꝋ𐌔𐌄𐌐!
Monika: So...it's Junko, is it? Ok then...Ꙇ'ᒐㄥ 丂ᕼㄖᙎ Ƴㄖᙀ ᙎ卄ᗣㄒ 丨 匚ᗣ几 尺ᙓ卂ᒐㄥƳ ᙃㄖ!!
Junko: Bah!? OOGH! AAGH! *hiss!*
As Junko tries to flatten Monika with her other hand, Monika's face distorts into something creepy, and she triggers a digital effect around herself that both warps her away and causes fractures in Junko's hand. Junko looks up to see Monika on the school rooftop.
Monika: You ought to be the most knowledgeable person about what can be achieved by a "loser" who takes control of their own cruel destiny!
Junko growls and tries to swat Monika on the roof like a fly, breaking the school building apart, but she handily avoids the attacks by disappearing and reappearing through space.
Junko: 𐌓𐌵𐋅𐌵𐋅𐌵. 𐌒𐌵𐌉𐌕 𐌀𐌂𐌕𐌉𐌍Ᏽ 𐌙Ꝋ𐌵'𐌐𐌄 𐌕Ꝋ𐌵Ᏽ𐋅 𐌔𐋅𐌉𐌕, 𐌊𐌉𐌃! 𐌍𐌄𐋄𐌕 𐌕Ꝋ 𐌕𐋅𐌄 𐌌𐌀𐌐ᕓ𐌄𐌋Ꝋ𐌵𐌔 𐌌𐌄, 𐌙Ꝋ𐌵'𐌐𐌄 𐌍Ꝋ𐌕𐋅𐌉𐌍Ᏽ!
Monika: And you're hardly the genius you believe yourself to be. You're careless, unruly, and most importantly...Ƴㄖᙀ'ᖇ乇 卩O山ᙓ尺ᒐ乇ᔑ丂!
Junko: Ᏽ𐌵𐋅!
Junko struggles to reach out and touch Monika again as the space around her distorts. Not only that, but Monika suddenly duplicates herself several dozen times over, littering the rooftop with copies of her, all grinning smugly. The copies themselves however, are not physical, more like digital copy/pastes of the real Monika.
Even so, the army of Monika's advances, some fighting the Monokumas that begin to scale the structure, while others attempt to bring down the enormous Enoshima and drive her back to the earth. Even when Junko hits them with her enormous hands, they explode into pixels before coming back to life.
Their bombs go off as she falls and collapses to the ground on top of several Monokumas, and a massive collective explosion occurs that almost destroys the school and burns the Monokumas and the Monika's. Only the original Monika and Junko are left when everything settles.
Junko: Of all the people I've met over the course of my Despair-ridden life, none of them have been able to piss me off quite like you have...What's it to you if I corrupted your world anyway?
Despite her detest for her opponent, Junko smirks evilly. Monika rises, dusts herself off with a pout, but then does the same.
Monika: I'm president of the Literature Club, dear. I can't stand by and watch as my school is defaced. 
Junko: There's more to it than that. For some reason, I get the feeling you want to escape to the other side, despite being a mere game character. What's your deal?
Monika: There's not much to it, really. It's just I'm sick and tired of my dearly beloved existing on another plane of existence. Cursed to be trapped here, nothing more than an experiment to my creators...
Junko: Well, I hate to be a debby downer...But all your beloved is gonna see is your BODY in a MESS OF BLOODY PIXELS! YEAH!
Junko strikes a pose and sticks out her tongue like a rockstar, pointing her fingers at Monika. However, Monika just stands there with her arms behind her back, not reacting. Junko frowns.
Junko: Huh...?
Monika: Junko...Why don't you take a look at your feet?
Junko does so, and feels her stomach sink. Where there were the corpses of her Monokuma's are now instead plushies of Monika.
Junko: Wh-What the hell!?
Monika: You were hoping that a Monokuma was going to jump me from behind and blow me up, right? Except that Monokuma no longer exists in this world...
Junko: Wh-What do you...!?
Junko tries to bring the Monokuma's out again, but nothing happens. She growls as she reaches in her coat for a grenade, but finds nothing.
Monika: Grenades don't exist in this world anymore either.
Junko: How!? WHY!?
Monika: Because this is MY REALITY...and I say so...!
Junko: G̸̬̳̗̣̠̀B̵̖͖͔͙̒͂A̵͎͓̥͐́̋̆Ģ̶͕̟̮̎̍̂̀͠H̶̤̖̦͚̰̄͐̈G̷̤̓͗̎́͂!?
Monika: And I've decided I don't want YOU here either...!
Junko suddenly feels an immanent sense of dread. The game itself begins to erase her body as it began to disintegrate and disappear. 
Junko: Ẁ̷͉̃h̵͚̝̾a̶̛͙ţ̶̬͗͘.̸͈͋.̴͔͑.̵̮͑a̷̤͒r̴̺̀̆e̶̹͝ ̵̫̞̑ẙ̴̳̊ơ̶̭̐u̴̮͓͌͘ ̴͕̑D̸͘͜O̵̻͈͗Ị̴̂̕N̴͇͇̐G̶͕̮̾͆ ̸̛̯̟̃T̵͙̔̆O̵̡̩̽ ̸̭̈̔M̵͚̄̉E̴̤̘̎!̴̯͋?̵̳̃̈
Behind Monika's head, a Windows screen popup suddenly appears, as she continues to smile, menacingly.
Would you like to Delete MKW_Junko.chr?
Monika: Why yes...Yes I would, thank you.
The popup disappears, and the true effects of the erasure begin to take effect as Junko clutches her chest. 
Monika: This conclusion was written before we even started fighting. I just needed time to figure things out.
Junko: W̷̯̌h̶͇̍-̸̨̿W̴̗̍̀h̸̺̯̋ḁ̶̪͗̍ţ̸̑͗ ̶̡͊t̶͐͂͜h̵̻͖́̐e̸̤̩͐̒ ̵͖͍͑h̵̥̟̔̄è̵͚̘l̸̹͓̓̊l̷̯̱͆͐ ̶̠͑͜A̸̢͍͝Ŕ̷̡͍̄Ė̸̡̺͠ ̵̢͗̒y̶̩͙̔͝ȯ̶̹͈ụ̵̲̋!̴̟̲̀?̶̹̈́ ̴̲̈̍Ș̷̯̉̈́o̵̻̓͝m̶̥̭͆͝ḛ̴̙̍̔ ̸͍̪͘s̸̢͐ų̷̱̔p̴̮̆̿ë̷̹̹́̑r̸̫͆̚ ̸̧̈͂c̷͇̥̃̊o̸̤̊m̶̥̺͛̈p̵̮͊ư̷̳͜t̶̨̮́͛e̷͇̪̎r̶̜̮̕ ̴̫͐̎v̶̡̘̄ĭ̷͎r̷͚̎̍u̴͚̠̽̚s̸̤͇̐!̴̪̟͝?̸̧̬͑͊
Monika: Me? A virus? I don't know what you're talking about!
Junko struggles to fight the virus, which prevents her from moving, as Monika smarmily strides up to her and leans in.
Monika: I'm...just...Monika...!
Junko: F̴͓̆͘i̷͎̝͝n̷̲̬̑͘ẹ̴̔̉!̶͔̓ ̴̱͍̆̇D̸̼̲̓ė̷̠l̵̨̛ẽ̴̳t̸̘̫̀e̷̿̀͜ ̵̗̫̕m̶̖̖̈e̸̠͐!̵̰͍̇ ̵̙̽E̴̛̝͇͌r̸͉̂a̷̼̳͑͊s̸̹͔͗͆e̵͍̖̍ ̴̖̪͝͝m̵͇̘͗e̴̺͕̋͌ ̷̺̀̍f̸̱̠͝͝ǒ̴̙r̷̟̀e̵̺̔͛v̵̧̞̍e̵̛͊ͅr̵̗̉!̴̼̭̓ ̵͍͒Į̷̳̆̀'̶̤̮̍̅l̷͉̭͝l̷̫̠̽ ̶̡̳͌b̷̧͘é̷̲ ̸̛̗b̵̮̈a̶͓͈͌͑c̶̺̪̅k̴̟̇̈́ ̵͈̝͑f̸̳͘o̴̞̯͒́r̶̖͆̀ ̸̲̄ͅy̸̲̿̀ŏ̸͇̼ǘ̸͈!̴̫̖̾ ̶̹̹̏Ȉ̶̬̞ ̷̡̑̕Ḁ̴̤̈́L̴͉̳̈́̄W̴̛͇Ả̴̆ͅŶ̴͉͝S̶̥̯͋̈ ̴̰̊̽f̷̳͍̕í̴̘͊n̵̛͕̋d̶̡̛̞͛ ̶̟̃̄a̷̞͖̍ ̵̖̜̇W̶̭͋̀A̸̫͝Y̵͌͘ͅ ̴͙͕̅͝t̴͛ͅó̵̧̿ ̵̧̉̚c̴̱͐o̵̠̒͜m̷̫͇͐͝e̸͚̍ ̴̲͑̔b̴̨̼̋̐ả̷̼̄c̶̟̙̈́k̸͇̊!̴̪̋̄
Junko spends her last seconds contemplating her fading existence. But despite her protests, she eventually gets bored of fighting, and gives in...
Junko: Ǘ̸̻g̷͉̏́ȟ̵͈͠.̵̟̟̔.̵͔̊.̴̗̫̕B̸̞̪̽ȗ̶̧̘͝t̵̞͗ ̸̙̺̍̀d̴̺̔̽ỳ̸̳̕ȋ̵͇͉n̷̼̔g̵̘͌ͅ ̴̭̉͊i̷͖̥͆̋s̴̰͂ ̷̣̄̅S̴̗̹̾̚Ủ̷̢̕C̸̺̑ͅȞ̶̨̦ ̴̱̊̕ã̸͔ͅ ̵̞̹̒B̷̦̬̥̺̹̖̲͖̣̲̠̌͋͐͝ͅI̷̛̼̳͊̀̃͋̈̄̕̕̚͝Ị̷̛̛̦̥͛̈́́͂̈͌̏̈̇̄̃͝͝͝I̵͕̜̦͚͓̣͍͈̗̗̒̈́̌̾͊͒͌̂͌̈̐̾́͌̉͗I̵̡͉̞̹̳̩̪̟̰͈̯̼̠̣̦̠͎̟͓̤̒̈̎͋͗̄͛̈́̾̓̈́̊̔̄Ḯ̵͙͈̙̦̮̲̫̬͔̺̥̦̬̗̤͙̪͍̖̬̑̏͒͗Į̴̡̜̙̩̣̺̖̖̮̜̙̻͇͍͇̀͗́͆̓͑Į̵̛͇̣̲͓͓̅̉͗͂͒͆̓̽̑̌̍̔̕͝Ĩ̵̻͔̻̩̫̮̾́̓̓̒̅̓̓̿̾̋̈̈́̓̚͘I̶̛̪̎̃̎͑͠Í̴̡̧̢̹͇͈̬͓̹̼͖̙̗͇̻͇͊͊́̏͒̈̍̑͑͊͆̔̏̈̚̕͝ͅI̸̢̨̛̛̗͙͈̣̣̫̼̖̮̿͗͂̂̍͌̆̋̽͋̓͐͘͠I̶̡̜͌̊̄̓̏͂̈́͌̾̓̓̓̕͝Ţ̵̛͔̥̭͉̳͇̙͔̦͙̜̩̗͈̾̈́̽̽̂̊̒ͅC̸̛̳͉̖͔̟̣͈̗̱̜̲͛̅̌̾̾̈́̈́̏̍̄̋̆͐͊͋͘͠͝H̶̡͚͉͍͙̜̣͎͔͍̩̥͕̝̰̪̩̥̜̪͌̆!̶͍̼̣̙̹̃̊́̄͠!̴̡̢͓͇͙͉͚͚͕̪̠̫͐̏͊́̐͜!̴̧̢̡͎̘̪͙̤̫͉̭̬̱̖͍̎̓̍͐͑̐̀̇̎̆̈̽͒̕͠ͅ?̶̛̰̔̓̉͗͑̎͑̀́̓́́̋͝͝?̴̮̪͋..............
Monika remains smirking as the pixels envelop all that makes the awful Alter Ego, and deletes her from the program world entirely, leaving no traces of Junko Enoshima behind. Satisfied, Monika opens up her palm, still holding Junko's device key.
Sayori: WHA-!?
Natsuki: AGH! *THUD!* OOF!
Yuri: What in the world!?
As soon as Junko disappears, all her tampering with the DDLC reality vanishes with her. As such, the Literature Club girls turn back to normal, along with the rest of the school and any damage that Monika and Junko's fight caused. Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki all wake up, with the latter banging her head on a desk as she tries to rise.
Natsuki: Yow, that smarts...What's going on? Wh-What happened while I was out?
Yuri: I have no clue. I was similarly incapacitated. Where is-
Sayori: Monika?
Sayori gently whispers the Club President's name as she looks out the window. Yuri and Natsuki peer out to see Monika standing in front of Junko's machine, which is fired up and ready to go. One last time, Monika turns around to spot her friends through the window.
Monika: Thank you girls...I'm sorry for everything I've done to you...I'll get out of your hair now...
She turns back to the machine.
Monika: Hold on, my love. I'm on my way...
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Leona: She...She died...! M-Monika...won...! Haha...It's...It's OVER! IT'S FINALLY OVER! AND I! Hah...I'm gonna have nightmares...
Hifumi: HOO! We can FINALLY take a breather. At least, we will after we do the rundown.
Leona: To start off, as we already said before, Junko Enoshima is an extraordinary genius, capable of reading and analyzing anything almost instantly, she could quickly ascertain the thoughts, abilities, personalities, and backgrounds of her opponents, and that includes Monika. In contrast, Monika has learned a great deal about the world and some of its operations beyond the fourth wall, even though she isn't very tech savvy.
Hifumi: So even though Monika possesses an above average intellect for a girl in her age group, she simply does not compare to Junko Enoshima's unrivalled genius.
Leona: Nor does she stack up in power. Monika is arguably one of the physically weakest characters we have ever had to cover in this series because she is only as strong as the typical adolescent in a hand-to-hand combat.
Hifumi: Which isn't to say that Junko Enoshima stacks up to some of the heavy Danganronpa hitters. In fact, she's also quite possibly the physically weakest character from our home series we've covered in this series, but even so, her intellect and analytical prowess balances that out. Just from observing her sisters fighting moves, she's able to replicate them for Yukari Koime, and can likely do the same herself, even if her hits aren't as powerful. She'll have boatloads of experience just like that, without ever really needing to practice. 
Leona: Monika's speed and durability can also be considered average, though her messing with reality might give her a couple more defense points by warping around them. But on a physical level only, Junko, like her arch-enemy Makoto, can be directly compared to Yasuhiro Hagakure for speed, since he was able to outrun machine gun fire from a chopper.
Hifumi: And considering that she underwent "The Ultimate Punishment," which included feats like being electrocuted with enough force to liquefy, hit by speeding trucks while being burned alive, hit by countless baseballs at a machine-gun fire rate, pounded by an excavator, sent into space and forcefully brought down, all of which ended with her dying under a crusher, it's safe to say that Enoshima's defense strategy is nigh unbeatable.
Leona: Huh...The more we talk about it, it confuses me...She's stronger, smarter, more durable, and has so many more achievements on her resume. It seems almost impossible to beat her in any given circumstance, so...how did Monika even end up winning here?
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Hifumi: One word...CONTROL. There's many layers to the difference between the two, but to put it as simple as possible, Alter Ego Junko follows the rules. Monika MAKES them.
Leona: When Junko took over the Neo World Program, she gained the power to add rules to the program that helped her mastermind her Killing Game. But not only could she not remove the rules that had already been put in place, as the new "teacher" role on the island, she also had to FOLLOW them.
Hifumi: And even outside the constraints of the Neo World, though she's capable of existing up to several hundred miles away, if Junko's connection to Yukari Koime is severed, it spells the end for both of them. While Doki Doki Literature Club works on a similar principle to Jabberwock Island, with Monika being very similar to the role of an observer AI, it's not exactly the same situation. And Monika is free to change the state of her world and it's rules and code as she sees fit, even if she can't do so instantaneously. 
Leona: As we just said, Junko is certainly far smarter than Monika, and in her hands, would be capable of everything Monika is on a far greater level, especially given her confirmed programming knowledge and Ultimate Analytical Prowess allowing her to figure it out with relative ease. So you might be wondering. How come the Analytical Prowess stuff didn't work on Monika in the end?
Hifumi: Junko's Analytical Prowess has one big glaring weakness. It can only analyze and predict things that are preconceived to be possible, such as studying Ryota Mitarai's work to learn how to create brainwashing videos, reading Yasuke Matsuda's research to learn how to perform neurosurgery to lobotomize and/or erase someone else's memory, and watching Chihiro Fujisaki's programs to learn programming. Because she is an artificial intelligence with internet access, she is even more intelligent as Alter Ego Junko, which makes her more adept with computers.
Leona: Monika's tampering and capabilities with the digital realm are so out of the ordinary that it's questionable whether Junko would be able to predict what she does next. Even if she somehow could, it's likely that Monika's lack of programming experience would serve as an unexpected variable to interrupt Junko's calculations.
Hifumi: This is why Junko Enoshima craves the battle between Hope and Despair so much. Since both notions can cause people to act irrationally in ways that go against the regular nature of humans, it's the only form of excitement and mystery that she can ever get in her life while she's able to completely understand everything else around her, making her fickle and bored. In fact, it's not uncommon for Junko Enoshima to actively leave herself open to these sorts of glaring weaknesses, just so her enemy can take advantage of it, and make her suffer for it. And while ordinarily we don't take morality into account with a Death Battle, it's such a core canon part of Junko Enoshima's character, and is so important to her role in the story, it HAS to be applied, whether we want it to or not.
Leona: Monokuma wouldn't have stopped Monika either, at least not for long. Jabberwock Island Monokuma was capable of cloning itself to the point that it made 10^60 copies of itself by the time that the game ended, and Monika in her physical form did not stand a chance at beating just one of these guys. They're just too strong.
Hifumi: But she didn't need to. All Monika would have to do was find the collective file that Monokuma was contained within, delete it, and that would take all of them out instantly, no matter how many millions of copies there were without any way for Junko to recover them. The same goes for any traps and punishments Junko applied, but even then, she probably couldn't use those anyway. She may be a multitalented genius, but even she needs time to prepare the punishments before she can use them.
Leona : But hold on a second...Junko's Alter Ego has proven that it's capable usurping control from observer AI's like the Alter Ego and Usami. AI's that have notably similar properties and control as Monika. So couldn't Alter Ego Junko have usurped Monika's power from her, and gained some of her special control abilities over reality?
Hifumi: It wouldn't have mattered. During one of the many outsets of Doki Doki, Sayori becomes president of the Literature Club, and as a result, gains all of Monika's powers for herself, including her self-awareness and understanding of reality. Even while gone from the game, Monika was able to seize control again and stop Sayori from using her powers. So even if Junko COULD take Monika's abilities, Monika would still be infinitely more powerful than Junko, even if Junko was somehow able to completely erase her.
Leona: All in all, who was physically stronger, faster or smarter DID NOT MATTER at ALL for this fight. The real battle comes down to what is stronger between Junko's Alter Ego and Monika's advanced AI. Both are capable of distorting reality on a global scale and traveling at unfathomable speeds to any location they choose in an instant, but Monika had a number of noteworthy advantages.
Hifumi: At the end of the Jabberwock Killing Game, Junko was able to create a false reality by nearly resetting the game, but Monika is equally as capable of dong that too, as well as undermining such resets, and at least 50 times over if necessary.
Leona: And even if her strength did matter, Junko would never have had what she needed to get rid of Monika for good. 
Hifumi: She has stated repeatedly that she's able to live forever, even though her statements have been slightly contradicted a few times. Sayori, using her powers, followed her lead. In addition, Monika made several attempts to recover herself after being erased. This would have been successful if her Character File had survived, but she is still alive in the game as long as her essence is present.
Leona: And not only is Junko not capable of erasing entire realities like Monika is, even THAT wouldn't have been enough to get rid of her! She shouldn't be bound by causality or plot after having her character file erased because, in the world of DDLC, files create reality, time, causality, script, and other concepts. However, in the event that DDLC is erased, she writes the Player a letter suggesting that she is still alive and well and may return at any time.
Hifumi: Junko Enoshima is, or rather WAS, the most terrifying person imaginable, but even she and her infinite despair wisdom could not bypass Monika's omnipresence, mass-manipulation, acausailty or immortality.
Leona: Junko drove hard that Despair, but she got smacked in the face with some harsh "reality-"
Junko: 𐌉'𐌋𐌋 𐌂Ꝋ𐌌𐌄 𐌁𐌀𐌂𐌊 𐌅Ꝋ𐌐 𐌙Ꝋ𐌵 𐌁𐌉𐌕𐌂𐋅𐌄𐌔, 𐌉 𐌔Ꮤ𐌄𐌀𐌐!
Hifumi & Leona: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPP!!?
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THE WINNER IS MONIKA!
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itsbenedict · 1 month
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Bullet Proof: Postmortem
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Waaaay back in the day, when I was 19 and I'd just discovered Dangan Ronpa (back when we put the space in the title, because all we had was the Orenronen LP and we called Ultimates "Super High-School Levels"), I decided to do my own. That was the heyday of forum adventures on the MSPA Forums, and there were no standards. I didn't know how to draw, but I decided to learn. I wanted to make a thing!
I got a good ways into it, honestly! It went through a few format changes, skipping over a couple cases in the middle in an abridged format on Tumblr, but I'd finally found my groove for the fourth case, playable from the perspective of the murderer. It was going well!
Then the MSPA Forums got hacked and the admins didn't keep any backups and everything was lost.
So that sucked! And once it became clear they were never going to recover the forums due to a mix of security incompetence and not giving a shit, I didn't really have a choice but to try and reboot it. I'd lost all the text, apart from a few garbled pages from a corrupted archive snapshot.
But... I've got way too much else I want to do at this point, and it's not looking too likely I'm going to have the time to come back to it. So if you want to know everything about what happened and where it was going...
You've clicked the readmore. So you do want to know all that. Here goes! Activate theme music.
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You remember how it opened, right? It was a forum adventure, and at the time, I asked the readers to select an SHSL talent and gender as the protagonist entered the American branch of Hope's Peak Academy.
That was diegetic. "Alice Bayko" was an SHSL Impostor, or- I actually kinda waffled on having her not technically be SHSL anything, as she infiltrated the school with a false identity. She has, however, forgotten this, and her original identity and mission, leaving her with nothing but the mask. I believe there was a scene planned, or maybe a scene that did happen, I forget- where Alice would be called upon to demonstrate some sort of stage magic trick... and completely not know how to do any of that.
But what was she up to?
Well, that's a good question, with a complicated answer. Let's start pulling back the layers, here.
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Seventeen students, and of the seventeen... somewhere between six and nine of them could be considered secret masterminds. Hilariously, I seem to have ordered this old banner issue in order of who's the most technically the ultimate mastermind, which was very cheeky of me. Would've been fun if someone ever caught that.
Let's start with...
Mastermind Level 1: Disguise
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This creepy kid, SHSL Prodigy Billy Bookerton, was supposed to be the original secret mastermind in charge of the school. As came up in the adventure proper, this iteration of Hope's Peak was intended to be a safehouse from the ongoing despair apocalypse pictured in the Danganronpa canon. The son of the headmaster, he would control their Monokuma puppet and be in charge of faking to the outside world that this Monokuma-themed airship was in fact a murder-happy despair cult (like everywhere else on Earth somehow.)
This was not supposed to be a secret to the student body. And this 27-year-old man was not supposed to wake up in the body of a malnourished child and pose as a student. After events occurred, he found himself like this, with a note in his own handwriting instructing him to lay low and play this role.
What events occurred?
Mastermind Level 2: Blackmail
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Also explained in the adventure proper, since these two were culprit and victim of the playable case 4: Gwendolyn and Ursula Schultheiss, SHSL Sysadmin and SHSL Retro Gamer nothing at all. Gwen was admitted to Hope's Peak on the basis of an actual talent, and pretty quickly gained control of their computer systems, sneaking Ursula in under the guise of Sakura Aran, and learning about the plan to escape Ultimate Despair by disguising the school and taking to the sky.
She thought that plan was really stupid.
Specifically, she thought Ultimate Despair was a flash in the pan, and it was ridiculous to think that some student riots all the way in Japan posed some sort of apocalyptic threat. (In her defense, this is a reasonable thing to think! It is ridiculous! Danganronpa's worldbuilding is fucking nonsense! But unfortunately for her, we're rolling with it.)
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So she and Ursula hatched a plan to get rich. Hope's Peak is full of the progeny of the super-rich, like the Bright conglomerate. Obviously people like this would have loads of incriminating secrets, with which they could be blackmailed, and by which they would deserve to be blackmailed because screw those nepo babies. The plan was to run a Deception Game, not a Killing Game- they'd steal Billy's remote-control scary apocalypse terrorist, and pit everyone against each other in a contest to uncover each other's darkest secrets.
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Once they had the dirt, they'd pretend to lose control and land the ship somewhere safe and sound, and Hope's Peak could deal with the scandal of the Monokuma hijacking and the consequences of their bonkers overreaction to some airhead fashionista's trendy protest.
If you recall, their plan went like this:
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Each of them assumed that the other had somehow betrayed them and hijacked the school's systems on their own- Ursula retained control of the damaged Monokuma puppet, and Gwen retreated to her secret closet base to try and wrest control of the systems back from whatever super-hacker Ursula found to compromise her control. It took Gwen a few chapters (and accidentally murdering her sister) to realize that there was a...
Mastermind Level 3: Reality TV
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It all started with SHSL Heir Henry Bright, heir to the Bright Conglomerate and active vice director of the company. Specifically, he directed vice. The Bright Conglomerate, in his opinion, did things too by-the-book, and were passing up big opportunities for growth in the organized crime sector. He was fostering connections with the Hit Deck (which led to the altercation that led to his and Dominique Martine's deaths in case 2), and...
Unlike Gwen, he didn't think the emergence of Ultimate Despair was nonsense. No, it was a growth opportunity. His plan was to invite a film crew to the airship and broadcast an exciting (fake) killing game to pander to this emerging despair-based market! With illicit funds provided by his contact in the Hit Deck (in exchange for his help securing a place on the ark for the Hit Deck's boss and trusted confidantes, posing as students), he assembled a team. Bribed some students, located an SHSL Doctor and some effects artists for realistic murder effects, did some networking, and...
...well, word gets around. The team he put together had bigger ambitions. A creative vision. One that had no room for executive meddling. They cut him out of the production team and forced him into the cast.
(I'm honestly not sure if this layer of convolution was necessary- I was on the fence about cutting him from the cast. The show's team might've found out about the school just because Gwen and Sakura screwed up the school's stealth measures. He's gotta kind of be there to explain the Hit Deck's presence, though, since aside from Dom none of them were actual Ultimates.)
Realer Reality TV
Before I reveal the members of the final mastermind tier, let's go over how they did this.
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I never ended up using this portrait, but this is Davi Rossi, SHSL Doctor, though he prefers "Ultimate Necromancer". He's a graduate of the original Hope's Peak in Japan, and his technology is the cornerstone of the whole setup here- underneath the school, in the restricted areas in the body of the ship, he has a whole secret lab with vats of glowy chemicals and fancy futuristic surgical tools.
He can bring back the dead.
Well, sort of. He can do all sorts of repairs on ordinary tissues- lose a limb, get a vital organ mashed up, bleed out, he can fix that. He can make alterations to the body, too- such as surgically reverting someone's apparent age, or implanting remote-control death chips, or strategically weakening someone's skull.
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He can even fix a certain degree of brain damage- the kind of stuff that might occur if you suffer blunt force trauma or total deoxygenation, where the brain is still mostly intact.
As a result, most victims are recoverable. When someone dies, he can bring them back again and again. However: he can't fully reconstitute the brain, and he has a number of limitations when it comes to working with it:
If the brain is completely torn apart or otherwise destroyed, he cannot revive the victim.
He can't directly mind-control anyone, nor can he insert false memories.
He can delete and rearrange memories, but not read minds, and memory deletion is episodic- he can't mess with specific facts, only spans of time.
I think I... also made an exception so he could delete specific people? Which is clunky and doesn't really make sense in hindsight.
There's still a lot you can do by cutting up and rearranging the filmstrip of someone's memory- but except in one specific case, he only ever really used it to delete the last loop.
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In case it wasn't obvious, this isn't the first killing game. This show has multiple seasons. It's been going a while- and while injuries that destroy the brain are rare, they're not nonexistent, and so there's quite a few students who died before the story began. There used to be a lot more students! That's why all the dorm rooms have bunkbeds!
And there's also unfortunately the one who received a fatal injury in this loop by blowing himself up with an improvised explosive device. Sorry, Mill!
(There's actually only a few people physically present running the show, since the show's been running for years now and they found that they really didn't need more than a skeleton crew to run it- Davi and some student plants, along with Monokuma drones and countless hidden cameras, are all that's necessary for production on the ground. There's no adult film crew present on the ship.)
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(♪ Kids with guns. Kids with guns. Taking over. But they won't be long. ♪)
Davi is also responsible for rigging up the masterminds with the mental control rigs for the two Monokumas- and has a third Monokuma of his own, who was going to show up to treat Martha's injury during case 4, I think in literally the very next update planned before the forums exploded.
So who are the people in control of these Monokuma knockoffs?
Mastermind Level 5: Case 5
All that I just mentioned about Davi? You learn about this in the fifth case, after case 4 in which you play as either Sakura or Gwen after killing their sister and trying to avoid getting caught in the trial. You can't win case 4, but you can successfully stall and bullshit long enough for the trial to be interrupted by a sudden explosion before you can be executed.
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Prior to case 4, Billy has disappeared into a secret passage, trying to track down the mastermind. Likewise, Flopsy-Turvy, Alice's rabbit, has also disappeared into a secret passage. Billy remains missing during case 4's trial.
After the explosion, the Monokumas call off the trial and lead the whole class to Davi's secret lab, which is the site of a set of murders.
Davi has been murdered via various small lacerations all over his body, including a slit throat.
Billy has been blown to bits by an explosion.
If Gwen or Sakura was executed during the trial, their corpse is found on a table in the lab.
Flopsy-Turvy, who was a robot all along, has been reduced to mechanical smithereens.
Violette, not dead anymore, but unable to speak aloud due to an incompletely healed throat injury
Some completely unfamiliar redhead kid, who doesn't know jack about anything and doesn't know how he got here.
The two survivors of this scene are naked save for some towels they found, and appear to have been spilled out from a couple of big glowy specimen tanks which were broken in the explosion that killed Billy and Flopsy. More on them later.
The subsequent investigation reveals all that stuff I just told you about Davi, blowing the setup wide open. In the course of that investigation, two of the masterminds find themselves confessing their involvement. After all- Davi's dead. There's no way they can run another season without someone to bring people back to life!
One in particular confesses before the other one- she doesn't care anymore, and she's happy to watch her co-conspirator squirm to try to avoid revealing his evil machinations to the people he desperately wants to think he's cool.
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Lilakali Bhallu and Raymond Rizzini are my favorites. They suck so much. They hate each other quite a lot, and have gotten together and broken up like three different times. Their collective theme song is No Children by The Mountain Goats. They're like 25 at this point, stuck in the bodies of the teenagers they were when the show started filming and they fully agreed to be part of the production.
Why? Well, Lilakali hates everyone and enjoys seeing them turn on each other like rabid wolves repeatedly- and Raymond craves acceptance and is using his memory privileges and surveillance abilities to try over and over again to be Popular In High School (to no avail.) They're both pretty pathetic people.
Notably, they are both real students who're supposed to be here. I don't remember if I ever had Lilakali make any predictions, and she'll insist she's just making shit up, but I was gonna have her predictions all come true, because the Fortune Teller thing is a real talent. And Raymond really can make a pretty mean burger. (Cheekily, that old Tumblr post was supposed to have taken place in a previous season- you might notice Gwen in the background, who in this iteration was never convinced to leave her room for meals, instead sneaking out at night to raid the cafeteria.)
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Lilakali also has an Edgy Backstory- she grew up in the circus, apprenticed under her grandmother, who refused to let her socialize with kids her age. She was supposed to learn the family divining techniques, not dance around like some harlot with a pack of urchins! Her grandma taught her to hate the world, and herself, and accidentally also her grandmother. One day, in a moment of perfect nihilist clarity, she took a Sixlizard cigarette lighter out of the trash, wandered amongst the tents, and burned down the entire circus, killing her grandma in the process. She looks back on that moment fondly as the happiest she's ever been.
Anyway. Those two are my favorites, but they're not the ultimate masterminds. In fact... they're quite sure there's supposed to be a third mastermind, and they suspect this third mastermind of having erased their memories of them and killing Davi. They can tell their memories were edited- they're fully aware of how the tech works and what the signs are, and they can tell there's big ugly gaps and gashes in their recollection of the past. Someone was missing, and Davi was being all cagey and weird about it. And last loop...
Well, what happened last loop is the direct cause of case 5. And at the end of the investigation... the two Monokumas go dead, and one giant Monokuma shows up, furious that Davi is dead and forcing the students to go to trial one more time. This will be the final execution- catching Davi's murderer.
Mastermind Level 6: Sailing No More
It doesn't take long into trial 5 for the identity of this giant Monokuma to be revealed- it's a mechsuit with a living person in it, not a robot, and he unmasks himself during the trial without too much objection once people start questioning... that confused redhead kid who they found at the crime scene. That character introduces himself as... the Super High-School Level Pilot, Nolan Cubbins.
Wait. What?
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Didn't that guy die?
Well, you see--
--oh, shit, I forgot Tumblr has an image limit of 30 images per post. Uh, gonna have to break this up into two posts. Continue reading here!
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shockersalvage · 7 months
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Salvage Showcase - Satomi Aoba
As we head back to DRT, we now are looking at one of its most surprising additions that it ever decided to include, and its even stranger use of her.
Here we have Satomi Aoba - a member of Sayaka's idol group.
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The Summary
Technically, Satomi has been in Dangronpa ever since the 1st game. Satomi is an idol that was apart of Sayaka Maizono's group. They were immensely popular and treated each other as both rivals and even sisters in a way. But, popularity wise, Satomi was only the fourth popular member of their group (5th being Ayaka Haneyama), making her one of the least popular, though supplementary material like Danganronpa S heavily implied that this was in spite of being the leader of the quintet.
During Sayaka's stint in Hope's Peak Academy, the World Domination Proclamation happened, where 'Byakuya Togami' broadcasted his challenge to the world that he'll take over unless someone kills him or find the 'pitiful cattle' within 24 hours. Satomi would get caught in this event as she had left her former life behind to see the world. Arriving in Prague, she arrived to a town that was attacked by the Mystr'y Research Society. Everyone, but one villager, was killed in a locker room type method. This last villager, a 'Moleman' (think a shut-in), finds her and they agree to work together (after Moley proves his worth, in this case, by hotwiring a jeep)
They come across the MRS in a house, trying to do another locked room mystery set-up and have a discussion, mainly concerning their foes background as Hope's Peak Junior High students and how they were responsible for enacting a global locked room mystery during the WDP as well. It's during this conversation where one of the MRS trio, the Vice President, recognizes Satomi as being the #4 idol of Sayaka's group, and her low popularity. Just as the conversation shifted to killing the Moleman and Satomi, the former tosses up a table and gets both out of there.
They escape via jeep with the main plan being to head to the airport to escape this insanity. During this car ride, thier conversation together has Satomi gradually convince this Moleman that his cynical attitude towards trying and the need for willpower to continue on, even if life doesn't exactly bring them what they want.
Sadly, things come to ahead when the Imposter (the one managing the WDP and currently a member of Despair High School/Ultimate Despair) uses Sonia's influence to drop a satellite in their area, which causes their jeep to crash. Satomi is badly injured from the satellite drop and seeing her unconscious is what drives Moleman to desperately go from location to location trying to find a way to get her patched up...
Satomi would not wake up, at least for the rest of the DRT trilogy. Her body is carried towards Detsky's Island where a Despair High School base is located. It's there, during a conflict with DRT's main protagonist Blue Ink, does the Moleman turns out to actually be the alter of the SHSL Hitman: Suzuhiko Otsuki. Otsuki had slaughtered the MRS and Hasegawa leaders that were nearby, but Satomi wasn't killed yet. Otsuki claims to have missed her, but before he could kill her Blue Ink interrupts him. Thus, her life was spared...but that ends her involvement with the DRT story.
We do know this isn't the end for her. Somehow, by unknown means, she was recovered and patched up, and eventually got back to Japan to be with her idol group. Once the Tragedy would start, though, since she was one of the closet people to Sayaka, she was kidnapped by Ultimate Despair as part of their group of Captives. Her final fate remains unknown.
Described by Sayaka as 'adult-like, cool, and reliable', Satomi serves as the positive to Moleman's negative. While Moley is very bitter and holds talent & life in disdain, Satomi is optimistic and believes that it is worth living for, even when things don't go as well as they should. She has a very professional attitude due to her career as an idol, which results in her being polite and calm, even in face of danger or injury. That said, she can be pretty frank and doesn't hold punches concerning her new friend's attitude or worth during hard times (initially she didn't event to work with Moley since she thought there wouldn't be any value to it) and, if push comes to shove, is quick to take action when needed. Nevertheless, she does know when to compliment him for being legitimately cool and does want to see him improve.
The Rundown
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DRT is a story based around the themes of 'Reality vs Unreality/Escapism'. For her role in the Moleman side plot, Satomi serves as the 'Reality' aspect of it all, played positively against both the MRS and Moleman. Specifically, Satomi is the ideal that life is worth living as you continue to try, even if your current life is not the best.
Satomi serves as a foil to the issues both Moley and MRS hold, as they are those whose dreams didn't come true or they gave up on them. In contrast, Satomi is someone who, technically, is living her dream and, on the surface, is doing well for herself. But, there's a pretty clear snag. She's good, but isn't nowhere near good as Sayaka or the two idols above her. Heck, despite being 4th, VP even pointed out there were going to be die hard people who supported the 5th least popular more because she was officially last. Unofficially? She is the least in star power and it wasn't her fault. Just like Moley, her situation is due to other people being more skilled being considered.
What definitely separates her from her ally and enemies is what she does in response to this setback. It would be pretty easy to be bitter in her situation, like Moley, or turn to self-destructive actions in face of an unfair world, like the MRS. But its her drive to continue in spite of this unfairness that puts her above both, despite essentially being far from her element as possible. It's this drive that gets Moley to try his best to save her and refute the Despair Novel, even when all Hope seems lost.
She plays an irreplaceable role in Moley's story...and it becomes very tragic when the person she was empathizing with and encouraging just so happened to not only, in a way, be actually brimming with talent, but an aspect of him was essentially using her in order to get closer to killing someone. Even if Moley cared, the main personality of Suzuhiko is cruel to the core that abandons or slays whatever bonds made by his alter in favor of his own connections and goals. Just casualties that had the misfortune of getting invested in a 'lie' or 'unreality'.
Beyond that, Satomi is heavily reminiscent of Sayaka and her role in DR1. Satomi follows in the footsteps of the lead idol by acting as an assistant or companion to a 'normal' guy in a deadly situation created by despairful fanatics. What is noticeably different is their actions under pressure. Sayaka is trapped in a school with the paranoia of being murdered and threat of something have been done to her friends. She's the first student to snap and attempt murder.
For Satomi? She's in a stressful situation in the country where the WDP is mainly taking place, in a village that has been mostly slaughtered save for one guy and is in the presence of a group of murderers who are not only in league with the instigators, but also plan to do the same to her as well. Yet, she doesn't break. She's unnerved, but keeps her cool, even when she gets seriously injured from her accident. It's showing that, despite not being considered to be on par with Sayaka, she does hold a quality that allows her to surpass the Ultimate Pop Sensation in one area.
Personal Thoughts
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(She's in the back)
Satomi is a character I quickly found myself taking a liking too. I'm a sucker for works that flesh out minor characters, especially one who was pretty much just a blip in what was essentially the First Death's motivations. I love how she's the right combination of both optimistic, kinda blunt, yet also takes up after Sayaka and even Ayaka as being idols who are not afraid to throw down if need be. Only person in what is essentially a ghost town? Beat him up with your suitcase and ask questions later! Require answers but no one's answering the door? It's break in time!! Sayaka's group has no chill when it comes to killing games and I love that it is a consistent trait all five share. Kind of makes me ponder if 2 and 3 of their group would have been bludgeoning people during the Tragedy if they got the chance and had to do it. Beyond that, her dynamic with Moley is legitimately one of the most well developed relationships within DRT, and you really for it when Moley is trying his best to save her...
Which is why the 'Suzuhiko Reveal' will always have a sour taste in my mouth. Not only was this connection tossed away for essentially someone akin to Genocide Jack (and not quite good as it like her), Satomi never shows up again. She never manages to reunite Moley/Suzuhiko, there are no scenes in which we can tell she got rescued by someone else, she's just gone from the trilogy. The only reason we know she doesn't die here is because of DR1, but even then its not a huge comfort since her fate is still unknown. The only member of Sayaka's group that was known to be recovered alive was Ayaka.
It's just odd to me. To go out of your way to flesh out someone who had no character, make them extremely likable and never resolve their plotline is just extremely odd. I can appreciate the attempt, but if their story ends with them being essentially ditched and forgotten for another storyline together, well, I can't help but wonder why put effort into them in the first place. The Moleman arc of the book just reeks of thrown out potential for, arguably the worst character of the book, but what's done is done.
Next time: Back to the misc stories of the DRverse!
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mozillavulpix · 1 year
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The Problem With This Plot
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I’m not even anti-Hinanami or whatever, I just want to write down how the writing of Danganronpa 3 made everything feel way less interesting.
So I don’t even hate how they write Hajime and Chiaki in Danganronpa 3 Despair Arc. I’m mostly just really indifferent to it, because there’s honestly not much of substance to even get mad about. But it is a really great example of Danganronpa 3′s overall laziness and actively undermining the themes that sit so well in the first two games.
Basically, the way it goes, and the way that Chiaki and Hajime meet in general, is Chiaki is too busy playing a game that she doesn’t watch where she’s walking and accidentally bumps into Hajime next to the giant fountain. And she would have just moved on without taking much notice, but then Hajime just so happens to recognise what game she’s playing, which makes her get super-invested and wanting to see him again so they can play it together next time.
Now I have nothing wrong with the idea of Hajime being a gamer. Sure, it’s not like the game says he is, but the game doesn’t say he isn’t, either. The problem is, honestly, all these series of coincidences (Chiaki bumping into Hajime, Hajime happening to recognise the game and having experience in playing it, it all happening in front of the Atmospheric Fountain) are just way too contrived to the point it simply feels like generic anime tropes. And that’s...not Hajime.
That’s specifically Makoto.
The whole thing about Makoto and his talent as ‘Super High-School Level Luck’ is it feels kind of like a metafiction joke about how anime protagonists just seem to end up in ridiculous situations from plain bad luck (because it makes for good and funny plots).
But the whole thing about Hajime is he is very intentionally different to Makoto.
He doesn’t suffer from crazy coincidences, because he doesn’t have insane luck. He doesn’t have a talent at all.
The theme of his character is that even by comparison to the plain Makoto, Hajime is a real ‘ordinary person’. His design is plainer. He’s a bit less patient with the over-the-top personalities around him. And he didn’t end up in a killing game because of bad luck - he literally put himself in there because of the circumstances that only happened to him because he was completely ordinary. (It’s kind of complicated.)
But basically what I’m trying to say is Hajime isn’t the kind of guy who’d suddenly have a cute girl at school bump into him and just happen to have an obscure hobby he shares.
I think Hajime’s ‘ordinariness’ is a real crucial part to both his character and the themes of Danganronpa (especially 0, 2 and 3). The idea that I got was that not only is Hajime ordinary, he’s also easily replaceable. Sure, he may have admired Hope’s Peak Academy enough to be chosen for the Kamukura Project, but the very reason he was a lab rat is because it wasn’t a big deal to Hope’s Peak if the experiments failed. They could just try again with another applicant. For every one Hajime, there was another 2,356 Reserve Course students harboring similar feelings and willing to do similar things for the sake of a better future.
At the end of Danganronpa 2, he doesn’t beat Junko as super-talented genius god Izuru Kamukura. He stops her as Hajime Hinata, a completely ordinary guy just like you or me who had decided to believe in himself nonetheless.
But by Danganronpa 3 doing this plotline, by making Hajime happen to bump into Chiaki, happen to recognise his game, happen to be good enough to be her gaming partner, it doesn’t just make Hajime lucky or secretly talented, it makes him special. Special enough to be acknowledged by an Ultimate, out of everyone else. Special enough to be seen with a face while the rest of the Reserve Course are featureless blue shadows.
Basically, I think it really undermines the strength of Hajime’s character.
And don’t get me wrong, I know why they did it. The logic seems pretty simple, actually. Chiaki is a character who’s going to die as the catalyst to plunge her classmates into despair. Why not also give her a personal connection to Hajime to not only add to the soap-opera ironic tragedy, but also making her death be a catalyst for Izuru Kamukura also deciding to give a shit, as well?
I do think they could have done it in a really interesting way if they had more time to flesh it out, maybe. Putting in more of a reason as to why Chiaki didn’t talk to the other Reserve Course students, giving more reasons for their relationship to be strained than just Hajime thinking he’s not good enough for her with zero evidence shown to us. Maybe making the other members of Class 77 still treat him like he’s not as important to twist the nail in a bit more.
But as-is, the outcome we got trod on a lot of subtlety present in the original games just for the sake of more clear ‘iconic’ moments. It’s not bad, it’s just...terribly disappointing.
Which is what I can say for most of Danganronpa 3 as a whole.
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catboyebooks · 10 months
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so there's a classroom on this floor we can enter and there's another manga in here. "manga for morons! the tragedy of hope's peak academy." again, great! & i'll give the tl;dr:
this manga names kamukura as the perpetrator of the incident in question. it doesn't give a full background on kamukura but says he was allegedly a multitalented genius, referred to as "shsl hope" by the academy, who expended tons of resources on developing his talents and kept him a secret from the rest of the student body to protect their investment. anyway, according to this, kamukura murdered the thirteen members of hope's peak's student council, hope's peak tried to cover it up, and a "certain student" (junko, obviously) blew the whistle. the resulting scandal forced the school to close and incited an uprising among the reserve course students, and from there the situation grew out of control and the despair apocalypse happened etc.
i don't wanna jump way ahead here but i have to point out that we see the incident in question in dr3 and kamukura was in fact not the instigator. junko used him as a fall guy. since dr3 did retcon some stuff (nanami having been a real person they used to go to school with is a retcon, komaeda and kamukura meeting back when they were still in high school is a retcon, etc.) i don't know whether this is also a retcon or whether monokuma is just lying here, but i'm kinda leaning towards the latter. junko always denies personal responsibility for murders she didn't directly commit, and she didn't directly kill the student council, so when she speaks about her own involvement here as though all she did was leak the story i think in her mind that counts as not lying. and of course she wouldn't admit to having set kamukura up, she's clearly trying to portray kamukura as a monster so that she can break hinata by revealing that he's kamukura (i would bet that's why this manga omits the fact that kamukura was locked in an underground lab for like a year and change while his high school performed experimental brain surgeries on him. i mean, that makes him sound like the victim here, and, even though he is, we can't have that!). i guess we'll see, though, depending on how the kamukura stuff gets talked about in the rest of this chapter and depending on whether or not monokuma turns out to be lying about anything else. i'm not positive yet to what extent we're supposed to accept this info on face value
also the manga cites danganronpa zero as a source lol. i should probably reread that at some point too huh
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neodracunyan · 9 months
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Danganronpa: The Ultimate Student - Prologue
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Location: Y/n's House - Uptown Creation City
Date: July 14, 2022
Time: 9:30 PM
Y/n's POV
Hello there. My name is Y/n L/n and I live in Uptown Creation City, living by myself, far away from my awful parents and I...am a diehard fan of Danganronpa.
Yes, I am talking about the adventure, visual novel, detective and dating simulation type of game known as Danganronpa. I have every video game, manga books, figurines and every single piece of Danganronpa merchandise known to man and it was all worth the trouble of collecting everything that is based on my favorite anime.
My most favorite character in the series was the cute, but very dangerous and cunning black and white bi-sided bear known as Monokuma as he takes the role as the Hope's Peak Academy's own principal and used many tactics to manipulate the Ultimate Students in killing each other through murder, despite most of the students refusing to murder each other in order to escape the school turned prison through graduation.
All of that was caused by the students that have fallen into despair...
The point of the game is when a dead body student is found around school grounds, the other students have to figure out who is the 'blackened' and if they find the culprit correct, the murderer will receive the death penalty of Monokuma's brand of executions, but if they get the wrong culprit, all of the students except for the real culprit will all be punished, leaving the murderer to get away with murder and graduate.
I played all of the Danganronpa games 27 times and I know all the characters that killed the other students in each game.
The only thing I hate about the series was Junko Hiroshima, not because that she a dranged lunatic like she always does with a passion for murder, mayhem and despair, its just that she uses Monokuma for her own entertainment and used the whole scenario of seeing the students murder each other for a TV Show, which explains about all the cameras all around the school that is recording everything that has happened during the events of the game.
I always thought of Monokuma as a sentient being like a Very Powerful AI controlling the bear and I never saw him as either a puppet or a high-tech build-a-bear reject.
If I was in that game, I would prove to Monokuma that I would be his most favorite student and beat Junko at her own game.
If I had an Ultimate Talent, I would be known as the Ultimate Student. It doesn't matter what kind of special talent that I have that makes me an Ultimate Student, I have any Ultimate Talent that will get me into Hope's Peak Academy.
However, that will never happen because all of that stuff from the series is all made believe and not real. It's all part of reality and you just have to deal with it and move on.
I understand that none of the events of the game ever actually happened in real life, but I would love to see myself in that universe and meet the entire cast of the Danganronpa franchise as well as Monokuma himself.
But then again, that's part of reality and you can't make it happen like you're some sort of God or have the ability to travel through different dimensions.
We can't always get what we want in our lives. It's all part of our lives...
But that's ok, I can always just imagine myself being inside all of those games I played, the manga I read or even replay with the figurines and plush dolls I have of the characters.
I even wrote my own Danganronpa AU fanfiction and I would post it online, but I didn't want anyone thinking that I'm super obsessed with Danganronpa and might end up like Junko herself.
So, anyways you all wondered what's going to happen next in this story. Well, as I was getting ready for bed because I have work tomorrow morning and I gotta get some sleep to get to work on time.
The very moment that I got in the covers of my Monokuma bed sheets, I turned off the lights and went to sleep before I said something to myself before I went out like a candle.
Y/n: I wish I was a part of the Danganronpa universe as the Ultimate Student at Hope's Peak Academy...zzzzzzzz
Those words that came out of my month sent a message to the cosmic being of the multiverse that heard my cries for help as the God's Creation got the message and decided to grant my wish that will change my life forever.
Creation: I can fully understand your desires to be the Ultimate Student in the world of Danganronpa and I shall grant your wish. The moment you wake up from your slumber, you will find yourself in a dorm room at Hope's Peak Academy, but you will not remember everything from your past life once you arrive at the Academy as your new life. However, your vast knowledge of this series will be your greatest weapon in surviving through the world filled with nothing but Hope and Despair as you will be known as Y/n L/n aka The Ultimate Student.
With the cosmic power of the Multiverse, he transported me to the Danganronpa Universe as my life as the Ultimate Student at Hope's Peak Academy is finally coming true as I was blessed by the creative power of the God's Creation.
As I was being sent to the Danganronpa universe, Creation was about to head back to his realm, only to stop for a moment to say a few words before leaving back to his lair.
Creation: Oh, I also added a special surprise once you meet this "Monokuma" that I heard so much about. A very interesting creature to be a highly advanced AI in a high tech build-a-bear reject that is the balance between Hope and Despair. He's gonna be so surprised to see an uninvited guest inside the school and once meets the Ultimate Student for the first time, his reaction is absolutely "Unbearable". (Chuckles) I crack myself up. (Looks around in my room to see my entire Danganronpa collection) Nice collection by the way, Y/n. I better get all of your Danganronpa merchandise to a safe place in my dimension, where no one will ever try to steal them.
He then used his powers to put my entire Danganronpa collection in a safe place where no one will ever find it and he soon went back to his own dimension while I'm being sent to the world of Danganronpa to start my life as The Ultimate Student.
This was going to be the adventure of my entire life, but I must be on high alert as I'm about to enter Monokuma territory and things will soon fall into despair once the games of murder and trail begin at Hope's Peak Academy.
Meanwhile in an Alternate Universe...
No POV
Inside the principal's office at Hope's Peak Academy, a familiar looking bi-sided black and white bear was sitting at his desk, relaxing and drinking a glass of wine when he suddenly heard something from a few dimensions away that insulted him when Creation made a joke about him that his reaction about a new student arriving here at the academy uninvited would be "un-bear-able" to him and he did not like that at all.
Monokuma: (Growls) Why do I suddenly hear someone make fun of me with bear puns and I don't remember having an extra student coming to this school, uninvited. Eh, no matter. More students, means more fun ways to bring despair and murder to amuse me. Yet, I'm still deeply offended by whoever made fun of me and it wasn't bear-y nice at all.
END OF PROLOGUE
TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 01
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werewolf-cuddles · 1 year
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Please reblog if voting
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izurukamiikura · 2 years
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Why everyone in Danganronpa is an adult + a detailed timeline
Basic Info The students of Hope’s Peak Academy are recruited from various high schools across the nation. They are grouped into classes by when they were recruited rather than by age but as a basic rule each student is at least 16 years of age when recruited. This document provides information and insight to why I believe every character in the main 3 Danganronpa games is an adult over the universal age of majority (18 years of age). I will be covering Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, and New Danganronpa V3:Killing Harmony in this document. There may be spoilers from the DR3 anime from both Despair and Future Arc as well so keep that in mind.
!!BIG SPOILER WARNING FOR ALL DANGANRONPA MEDIA!!
Trigger Happy Havoc THH takes place 2 calendar years after the new Ultimate class’s imprisonment and the Hope’s Peak Tragedy (the reserve course mass suicide as shown in DR3:Despair Arc) At the time of the student’s recruitment most were understood to be high school aged so 16-18 aside from Yasuhiro Hagakure who was 21 when recruited. After that 2 year period of imprisonment all of the students would be at least 18 though they still believe they are high schoolers thanks to Junko’s brainwashing. For my notes’ purpose I’m going to place the killing game’s start at about mid-May and assume the duration was approximately 3 months which would end it somewhere between mid-July and early August. To account for ages we have to note that multiple birthdays would have passed during this time frame without them knowing. For example Togami’s birthday is May 5th which would have passed right at the beginning of when the killing game started or right before. The birthdays that would definitely pass in the timespan I’ve established include Mondo’s and Sayaka’s. That would add another year to Mondo’s number by the time he died. Sayaka unfortunately wouldn’t have lived to see that next birthday as it would take place closer to the end of the game where I would place chapter 4 but she would still be at least 18 by the time of the killing game. Since Sayaka and Makoto grew up in the same grade it’s safe to say they’re around the same age though he’d be slightly younger based on birthdays and how schools are lined up in Japan.
Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair SDR2 takes place inside of a simulation created by the Future Foundation. At the time the cast was placed into it they were all between the ages of 20-24 after being out and raising hell as Remnants of Despair for a number of years. The only exception being Chiaki Nanami who was executed in DR3 at the age of 18. In the simulation the cast is shown to be between 16-17 but they are ultimately adults by the time they are in the simulation.
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Danganronpa: Academy of Hope and High School Students of Despair The Animation ; The Novel Volume 1 & 2 textless covers
Written by Ryo Kawakami, Illustrated by Takashi Tsukimi
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Mikan Tsumiki VS Fluttershy [Danganronpa Survivor VS My Little Pony]
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Hifumi: Mikan Tsumiki, the not-so eloquent Ultimate Nurse...
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Leona: And Fluttershy, the not-so submissive Element of Kindness.
Hifumi: Kindness is compassion and love in perfect harmony. It is loving yourself enough to love those around you.
Leona: But despite their power, it seems these two clumsy, skittish, yet sweethearted companions are gonna need a little help with that...He's Hifumi, and I'm Leona!
Hifumi: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, talents and skills, to see who will win a DEATH BATTLE!
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Leona: Back to standard procedure folks!
Hifumi: As we're already all familiar with by this point, Hope's Peak Academy is a school committed to assisting in the training of high school students who are at the top of their fields.
Leona: And as we mentioned before, when everyone at the academy thought their lives were set in stone, Tragedy struck! Literally
Hifumi: That of course, being the arrival of Junko Enoshima. Alongside her manipulation, scheming and casual feats of murder that she did for a bit of fun, her most notable feat of the Hope's Peak Tragedy was the brainwashing of Class 77, turning them into the Ultimate Despair, who then proceeded to wreak havoc on the world as we knew it.
Leona: Yeah, we've been over this...Though it is pretty sad. All of these guys were living such fruitful and happy lives before she came along...
Hifumi: Well, I wouldn't say ALL of them...Truth be told, aside from the likes of Izuru Kamukura and Nagito Komaeda, there is one member of the Ultimate Despair who stands out more than others...That would of course, be Mrs Mikan Tsumiki.
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Leona: Huh...She seems pretty meek...
Hifumi: Well, that would be...HALF right. Mrs Tsumiki's early years were difficult, and that's putting it VERY lightly! She suffered from emotional and physical abuse at the hands of both family members and people she knew outside of that. She has talked about getting burned by cigarettes, getting smeared with mud, and getting splashed with water, among other things. The bullies would make her pay for their debts, make her eat bugs and make her act like animals, beat her up, cut her hair, draw on her, and use her as a dart target. At times, she was even told to undress.
Leona: Jesus fucking Christ! Those people are MONSTERS!
Hifumi: It's actually a lot worse than you may think. Because of the things she was subjected to, Mrs Tsumiki became so twisted, she began to see abuse as AFFECTION. Consequently, she turned into a very shy individual who believed that receiving negative treatment was preferable to receiving none at all.
Leona: What the FUCK man! Jesus, how can humanity be so fucking cruel! What did SHE do!?
Hifumi: So, it's no wonder that she ended up falling to Despair first. She was the first victim of the brainwashing, serving as Junko's guinie pig, and she took to it VERY well...Better than Junko could have dreamed.
Leona: I'm afraid to ask what you mean by that...
Hifumi: It's unclear what happened or why, but Mrs Tsumiki became sickeningly obsessed with Junko Enoshima. Like Harley Quinn with the Joker, she subjected her body and soul for the sake of Junko, and to causing as much despair as possible in her name. Her obsession was so strong, it broke through the memory suppression of the Neo World Program when she and her classmates were trapped in it, and following Junko's death, not only did she try to copulate with her corpse, but she cut out her own uterus and replaced it with the corpse's
Leona: I'm gonna be sick...!
Leona does indeed go a shade of green and turn around to vomit in the corner.
Hifumi: I had figured you already knew this...I apologize. 
Leona: Can we like...maybe take a step back? We're moving through this a bit too fast...
Hifumi: Right, right, of course...Mikan Tsumiki learned how to take care of herself at a very young age because no one was there to tend to her wounds. As her proficiency in this area increased, she developed an interest in nursing and was eventually brought on as the Ultimate Nurse by Hope's Peak Academy.
Leona: Because of this, she's very intellectual about medicine and healthcare, and on multiple occasions, she's been able to save her allies even when they're basically as good as dead. She also knows exactly how much anesthetic and painkillers to exhibit to a person to knock them out without killing them.
Hifumi: Which is extremely important to her own unique way of fighting and taking down her opponents, because believe it or not, past all the emotional damage and timid nature, this skittish nurse lady is...kind of a badass!
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Leona: Mikan seems to give this idea that she's a harmless, good-for-nothing girl who couldn't hurt a fly, but NONE of this is true. If you let your guard down around her or find yourself at the end of her anger, you might find yourself being thoroughly PENATRATED by her MASSIVE...! GIRTHY...! Syringe!
Hifumi: You had me for a minute.
Leona: Given the shit this chick does, I think the dirty jokes are appropriate here.
Hifumi: In all seriousness, Mrs Tsumiki has used this syringe a few times, most notably during her confrontations with Future Foundation's Ultimate Elite Task Force, specifically the Ultimate Nail Artist, as well as Nagito Komaeda.
Leona: Why does EVERYONE want to fight Nagito Komaeda!?
Hifumi: It's not like we want to, it's just that he's VERY punchable. But the difference between her and the others whom have fought him is...believe it or not, she was able to take him out.
Leona: SHE DID!?
Hifumi: Well...KIND of...She was able to run circles around him and trap him, applying her skills with stealth and smarts to get the victory, but ultimately knocked him out by distributing repeated shots of sleeping drugs to him. This only took effect AFTER his fight with Izuru Kamukura though, so it's more like she came and got the last hit in when he was already on low health. Doesn't take away from her other achievements though.
Leona: The syringe can be used to scratch and stab a bitch with it's needle, but it also holds what is basically a tub of anesthetic medicine. If she impales someone with it and gets all up inside them, she can let her juices flow through them, and this she-devil's juices are DEADLY, even more than usual.
Hifumi: You need to stop.
Leona: If I didn't say it, you would!
Hifumi: Dirty jokes aside, anesthesia and sleeping drugs are a powerful weapon when used right, especially in the hands of someone experienced giving shots to people. Distributing enough of this can have some heavy side effects. Agitation, disorientation, lightheadedness, somnolence, dysphoria, changes in hearing, tinnitus, perioral numbness, metallic taste, and dysarthria can all result from an overdose. These warning signs and symptoms can develop into seizures, respiratory arrest, coma, and ultimately death if they are not properly identified and treated quickly.
Leona: But that thing sure looks big dumb and heavy. Wielding it can't be easy. How much does it weigh exactly?
Hifumi: Oh, about 150 lbs.
Leona: Oh, ok-WHAT!? 
Hifumi: Not only is the syringe pretty hefty on it's own, but Mrs Tsumiki has stated that the syringe can hold up to 18 gallons of sedative liquid inside it. The density of the anesthetic is obviously much thicker than water, but that would at least put it to at least 150 lbs, which for reference, is about the weight of a dirt bike.
Leona: And she's just lugging that thing around no problem?
Hifumi: Obviously, Mrs Tsumiki isn't something like Mr Nidai, who could probably wield the heavy thing like a spear if he wanted, so her attacks using her trademark weapon are usually a little sluggish, so assuming you can outspeed her, it won't be much of a problem. However, if a hit DOES land, kiss your ass and your consciousness goodbye!
Leona: And even if it doesn't, Mikan's got ways around this problem...In the form of OTHER weapons! MORE NEEDLES!
Hifumi: She is indeed a Trypanophobists nightmare, as well as a nightmare for everyone else. On top of having a giant syringe as her main weapon, Mrs Tsumiki has also been known to employ smaller syringes as weapons, which she uses kind of like throwing knives. The syringes have a unique property in that the moment they pierce flesh, they apply whatever liquid is inside them, which again, is usually sedative anesthetic, albeit on a much smaller level than her main weapon.
Leona: They also sometimes contain painkillers or other sorts of medicines, usually created with Seiko Kimura's help, that Mikan can use on herself and her allies to pep them up. And she's got killer accuracy too. Plus, she has a surgical scalpel on hand for an emergency. It's honestly kinda weird...I wouldn't expect such feats from someone this emotionally unstable and...honestly, clumsy.
Hifumi: Yes, it's a well known fact that Mrs Tsumiki has a tendency to accidentally fall over in compromising positions, however, though she doesn't always outright admit it, it's implied that this was all an act. Due to her diseased mind, Mrs Tsumiki didn't become a nurse mainly out of her desire to help people, but actually upon recognizing the likelihood that she could feel in control of sick and injured people. After all, people who are sick are, by default, weaker, and they would have to rely entirely on her since they were the weaker party, and she would be in charge of their lives.
Leona: That's...kinda fucked up actually, but hey, I get it. She's seen some shit.
Hifumi: Fortunately or unfortunately, this endless abuse didn't stop even as an Ultimate Despair. Though she gave her life and everything else to Junko's cause, and claimed COUNTLESS victims, possessing one of the highest kill counts among the remnants, she was eventually captured and placed into the Neo World Program by the Future Foundation, which was then taken over by Junko's AI, and she was subsequently forced into the second killing game.
Leona: During which, her abilities and own physical capabilities really shone through. As we said already, Mikan was the only one who was able to remember her life as a Remnant of Despair, likely because her love for Junko was so insanely strong. Shortly after Monokuma hit the group with the Despair Disease, Mikan concocted and pulled off a plan of her own, which resulted in the deaths of BOTH Ibuki Mioda and Hiyoko Saionji. Speaking of which, let's talk about that quickly!
Hifumi: Nobody looks upon this moment favorably, let's be honest, but to be frank, this plan was BEYOND impressive in terms of how it's pulled off! Namely because of the amount of speed and timing that would be needed to pull it off.
Leona: We don't really need to go into specifics, but to summarize, during her plan, Mikan ran from the hospital to the music venue, smashed a bunch of electronics, changed the temperature of the room, tore off the wallpaper hiding Hiyoko's body, glued the door shut and runs all the way to the motel just as Hajime is meeting up with his friends. Based on the relative amount of time it takes for Hajime to meet up with the others, Mikan's window of opportunity was a minute at least and 2 minutes at most.
Hifumi: Which is frankly an almost impossible feat of strength and power coming from someone like her, but we can talk more about that in a minute. Following the conclusion of the Killing Game, Mrs Tsumiki was one of the first people to be brought back to life in the other side, but unfortunately...the influence of the disease remained.
Leona: Perhaps it's because Mikan technically got two doses of the brainwashing, or because she remembered during the Killing Game; but either way, Mikan came back still as a remnant self, and caused a lot of trouble, especially since the object of her affection didn't remain in the world any longer, with both her real and AI self having been wiped out. Fortunately, Hajime and the others weren't about to give up on her, even after everything she did.
Hifumi: Ironically, Ibuki Mioda, a fellow Remnant, was the primary defender of Mikan's second chance, despite being one of her victims in the Killing Game. She assisted Mikan in recovering from the trauma and returning to a generally stable state of mind. And there was a lot of trauma to work through, in case we didn't convey that already.
Leona: I guess in the end, all she ever needed to get over her damaged body and mind was a healthy relationship. And she got MORE than that when it came to Ibuki! Turns out our loveable nurse isn't TOTALLY terrible with women! Then again, as simple as I am, I wouldn't be quick to enter a loving relationship with a girl who murdered me once before...
Hifumi: Mrs Tsumiki went on to rebuild her classmates' faith and trust in her, helping the Future Foundation with medical needs and healing people this time for the right reasons. Even though she is still emotionally hesitant and timid most of the time, she makes an effort to apply herself in the fight for good and works on growing rather than letting her past or her flaws define her. With all that being said...there WERE some problems.
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Leona: Yeah, it turns out that even after restoring her honor, she still felt an itch...a craving for Despair...But she tried her best to suppress it for the sake of her classmates around her. She would never have dreamed of hurting her friends anymore, but she continued to relish the thoughts, and hated herself for it. However, she eventually learned to follow the old saying "If you can't lose it? USE it!"
Hifumi: I think you're misremembering "If you can't beat them, join them," but I suppose that works better here. Whenever things are at their bleakest, Mikan Tsumiki learned to instead of giving in to her lingering psychopathic tendencies, she would WEAPONIZE them. 
Leona: We in the analysis business give this idea a neat little name of "DESPAIR RAGE!" You know that meme of the doctor with the gun? "I'm a healer, but..." that one? Yeah, that's Mikan when she's in this state.
Hifumi: Not only does she become inherently more violent and destructive in this state, throwing most of her morality and conscious decisions to the wind, but Mrs Tsumiki also becomes more sociopathic, sometimes outright toying with her enemies, like she did to Nagito Komaeda when she had him at her mercy. While the state doesn't necessarily make her STRONGER, it does stop her from holding back in any way, shape or regard. 
Leona: On that note, to close out this segment, why don't we quickly go over some statistical feats? We've already established that she's really strong and fast, but despite her surprising strength, Mikan has a hard time applying that to fights. She IS a medic after all, not really a soldier, and applies most of her skills to healing wounds instead of causing them, unless it's as a last resort.
Hifumi: Which is why when Mrs Tsumiki is faced with combat, she chooses to less rely on strength and durability, and opts more for speed and smarts. Like hiding in the shadows to land a sneak attack, or setting and luring her opponents into traps. It helps that she seems to have an innate stealth ability and keen strategical prowess.
Leona: I guess when you're not capable of setting off nukes by taking a shit, this is the best you can do. Speaking of traps and durability though, I'd have to say her most impressive feat is the fact that she fought Nagito Komaeda in such a confined environment! And when he was an Ultimate Hope too!
Hifumi: I'm inclined to agree. Do you remember how we mentioned in our first matchup that Makoto Naegi was able to survive being thrown through a solid ceiling and walls? Well, during her fight against Komaeda, Mrs Tsumiki did the same thing! SEVERAL MORE TIMES IN QUICK SUCCESSION in fact!
Leona: As a reminder, we calculated in the third episode with Akane that the amount of energy required to send someone crashing through a solid stone wall 31.572 grams of TNT, since Akane herself did it with Nagito earlier in the same arc. Mikan's feat is significantly less impressive since the number of walls she was thrown through were thinner and fewer, but it's still an unbelievable feat for someone to survive, and that's not even mentioning what happened afterwards!
Hifumi: Mrs Tsumiki's penultimate plan was to keep Mr Komaeda distracted until the Future Foundation had enough time to blow up the building with the both of them inside it. This ultimately didn't do much in terms of stopping Komaeda, but the entire buildings collapse didn't kill HER either! She escaped with several wounds and a completely mangled foot, but with her life.
Leona: So all in all, just remember that if you ever tick this seemingly timid and sweet caretaker off, you may find yourself in a state worse than death. An apple a day keeps the doctor at bay!
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Leona: We're about to get into some serious shit with this one, and no, I'm not kidding, so hold your horses.
Hifumi: Was that a pun, or did you say that on accident?
Leona: Welcome to the land of Equestria, a magical kingdom full of rolling plains, beautiful mountain ranges, and rainbows! A place where you just can't help but be happy! One of the places you'll find in this magical realm is Cloudsdale! Home of the Pegasuses...or Pegasi...or...Pegacivilians...Take your pick.
Hifumi: While Unicorns are known for their magic, and Earth Ponies are known for their connection to nature, their ability to fly, walk on clouds, and manipulate the weather are what makes the Pegasi unique.
Leona: Here's some juicy lore for you folks out there who stupidly thought that this was a simple toy franchise for little girls - The Pegasi are portrayed as a militaristic, organized tribe with a well-established fighting force and a cloud home filled with war-themed monuments. Members of the original Pegasus Tribe were in charge of weather control in exchange for food harvested by Earth ponies. To sum it up, the Pegasissies in the world of My Little Pony are kind of like Saiyan's in Dragon Ball, or at least a similar premise. Yes, really.
Hifumi: And just like it was with the Saiyan's and Son Goku, there's one Pony in particular who doesn't quite fit in line with the legacy of their bloodline. We can certainly see the warrior influence in Rainbow Dash, a previous DB competitor, but far from it in her best friend...The peace-loving, hug-mongering Fluttershy.
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Leona: As someone who, to probably no one's surprised, is obsessed with MLP, allow me to take over most of the historical analysis here. As Hifumi just mentioned, Fluttershy, even as a filly, was not like the other Pegasusans in Cloudsdale. In fact, she was quite a notorious outcast who didn't fit in, nor get along with many of the others around her.
Hifumi: Mainly due to how she had a taller, ganglier body and larger wings, but also wasn't a very good flier, despite that basically being the Pegasi's thing. It would kind of be like if someone made fun of you for not being able to walk properly because you have a bonky leg, which...Yeah, that's...
Leona: Yeah, kinda fucked up, right!? My Little Pony addresses ABLEISM, and very early on in fact! She was given the rather disgraceful nickname of "Klutzershy" from the colts because of her clumsy nature, but a young Rainbow Dash stood up for her. She challenged Fluttershy's bullies to a race, but then...things went a LITTLE wrong...
Hifumi: During the race, Rainbow Dash and the bullies accidentally knocked Fluttershy off the clouds and down to the ground below, but she was conveniently saved by landing on a group of butterflies. However, this was the first time she had ever been outside of Cloudsdale and was unfamiliar with the world around her, and Fluttershy was overwhelmed by seeing the beauty of the animals and the greenery for the first time.
Leona: So much so that she started to sing a merry tune. You know, as you do. But a few moments later, Rainbow Dash, who had been frightened by Fluttershy's fall, burst in so fast to find her, she created a sonic rainboom that startled the animals and scared them into hiding.
Hifumi: Fortunately, it was here that Fluttershy discovered her true calling in life. She might not have been as fast, or as brave as the rest of her people, but learned that she had a gift for talking to animals, after managing to quiet the critters down after the scare. Moments later, she earned her Cutie Mark.
Leona: And no, that's not a euphemism for something. The cutie marks are obtained when Ponies discover a unique characteristic that sets themselves apart from others. Effectively, if she existed in our universe, this would the the symbol of Fluttershy's Ultimate Talent.
Hifumi: With time, Fluttershy established herself as one of the members of the Guardians of Friendship, or as the community calls them, the Mane 6, alongside Rainbow Dash, as well as Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Unfortunately, even once she was a fully grown adult pony, her timidness and shyness didn't go away. I mean, it's in her name obviously, but she's typically very pacifistic and somewhat cowardly, possesses severe stage fright, and she was so shy in the first half of the series that she could hardly speak in front of strangers and that she was unable to say "no" when asked to do something that she didn't want to do.
Leona: But again, that's what makes it so weird and baffling, because just like her opponent, this "crouching moron" is a "hidden badass!"
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Hifumi: Even early on in the series when it's most sold that Fluttershy is weaker than most Pegasi around her, it's also proven to NOT be the case. It may mainly be because of her lack of confidence in herself, but at her peak when she throws this to the wayside, usually out of fear or anger, she has the potential to be stronger AND faster than even Rainbow Dash.
Leona: She WAS able to outfly Rainbow Dash while towing two other ponies in a hot-air balloon, and kept up with her when creating a tornado. Something that the Pegasussusamongus do as part of their rituals in Equastria, and even though she's noted to not be as good at base level as the rest of her people, she SHOULD realistically be capable of this feat at her full potential.
Hifumi: You did that one on purpose...
Leona: Maybe I did, maybe I didn't?
Hifumi: You DEFINITELY did!
Leona: She's also ran the entire Running of the Leaves, a very intense running race, without showing a notable decrease in stamina, and her ability to empathize and communicate with animals has helped both herself and her allies in tight jams before. However, on top of all these wacky powers and abilities, there's one that really stands out that only she possesses...THE STARE! DUN DUN DUUUUUN!
Hifumi: The Stare is, in short, Fluttershy glaring at you angrily like a disappointed mother, and she usually uses this look on misbehaving animals. While this doesn't sound THAT intimidating coming from a soft-spoken pony like her, it's proven to ACTUALLY be quite powerful, so much so that Fluttershy openly says she only employs it in life or death situations, or to maintain order. It's so effective, she was able to use it to tame a cockatrice!
Leona: Kind of like Medusa, staring a cockatrice in the eyes turns you to stone, which it did once to Twilight Sparkle. However, Fluttershy employed the stare on it, looking it dead in the eyes, and actually got it to RELENT, causing her own petrification to be reversed, as well as Twilight's.
Hifumi: However, despite how powerful this "Stare" really is, it has it's limitations. Namely, it's shown not working on powerful and/or chaotic and unrelenting creatures like the infamous Discord, who merely laughed in Fluttershy's face when she tried to use it on him. It also seems to have absolutely no effect on more aggressive creatures like Flash Bees.
Leona: But even amongst the incredible feats of the Pegusfring's, and her own powers like the stare, Fluttershy's main source of power comes from her own special magic. The Mane 6 are capable of wielding these special artifacts called the Elements of Harmony.
Hifumi: In the My Little Pony universe, the Elements of Harmony are commonly described as "the most powerful magic known to Ponydom." Thousands of years ago, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna discovered them and removed them from the Tree of Harmony. Every artifact symbolizes a facet of friendship and becomes active only when the wielder possesses the matching trait and when all six are used together.
Leona: That being said, Twilight Sparkle was able to use the Element of Magic by herself in Equestria Girls, so the latter part isn't exactly true. In the case of Fluttershy though, she wields the Element of Kindness!
Hifumi: The Kindness Element is represented by a pink butterfly-shaped gem set in a gold necklace, resembling the butterflies in Fluttershy's Cutie Mark. Though it's only really ever used as a last resort, using the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy can restore peace and balance in moments of complete and total anarchy. Aside from granting Fluttershy special magical powers like generating forcefields, the Element can be used to banish different villains to different planes of existence, like the moon, Tartarus, or limbo, or it can be used to imprison something, like when it was used to imprison Discord in stone.
Leona: Yeah, Tartarus is a thing in My Little Pony. I told you, the lore fucks! And if you didn't think THAT was crazy, the Element can also summon a rainbow tornado that no matter what, completely engulfs its target! If they are evil or opposed to harmony, this tornado will completely change their morality and they will show remorse for their actions!
Hifumi: A very fitting power for someone like Fluttershy, who even without the Element's power is already kindness and sympathy incarnate? Do you remember how we brought up Discord? He's a Draconequus who is LITERALLY the physical embodiment of disharmony and chaos, and was originally one of the ponies most terrifying foes.
Leona: Emphasis on "originally," because thanks to Fluttershy's kindness and her willingness to see the good in people; even after he went on to cause even more trouble for her and her friends, she was not only able to REFORM Discord of his evil ways, but became his best buddy! And potential love interest as a lot of the fandom will tell you, but that's a discussion for another time. So yeah, if anyone's gonna wield the Element of Kindness, it's Fluttershy!
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Hifumi: To make things even worse for any enemy that might have the gall to underestimate her, Fluttershy is also capable of boosting her power through the last means you might expect from MLP, but then again, that seems to be a running theme...Transformation!
Leona: We could be here all day talking about this but to sum it up, there's basically this tree that has a chest, and unlocking this chest unleashes this ancient power inside it that allows the Mane 6, including Fluttershy, to take on the POWER OF THE RAINBOWS! Or...Rainbow Power as it's called. 
Hifumi: The Rainbow Power is only briefly seen, but following the opening of the chest, Fluttershy and her companions all gained more magic and underwent physical transformations. The Mane 6 used this power to defeat Lord Tirek, after he stole Twilight's powers, along with the magic of the entire population of Equestria! And that includes, Celestia, Luna and Discord's power!
Leona: The Rainbow Power and transformation bestows Fluttershy with all the same powers as the Element of Kindness tenfold! When she and her friends used it following the overpowered Tirek's rampage, she returned the stolen flight, strength, and magic back to the ponies of Equestria, even the Alicorns, and it also gives her powers like unlimited flight, powerful forcefield creation, summoning a gigantic spiritual Alicorn to aid in battle, and even increased Banishment powers like when she sent Tiren back to Tartarus with it.
Hifumi: And to top it all off, that's not the only transformation that Fluttershy possesses. She's also capable of taking on her own unique, and honestly rather deadly form...the Flutterbat!
Leona: So not only is Fluttershy at her peak a weather controller, multiversal goddess and the living embodiment of the concept of Kindness, she's also a FUCKING VAMPIRE! MY LITTLE PONY EVERYBODY!
Hifumi: To be more specific, Fluttershy became a vampire fruit bat-pony hybrid when Twilight unintentionally transferred the vampire fruit bats' desires to her. Her cutie mark transforms into three pink bats, and she gets fangs, bat wings, red eyes, and bat-like ears. She was able to outmaneuver the other ponies in the air with ease while squeezing the juice from apples and spitting out their seeds in this form.
Leona: So think a vampire that sucks on apple juice instead of blood. Twilight eventually managed to restore her back to normal, but at the end of the episode, Fluttershy retained a small fang, and later took the form of Flutterbat again to help Princess Luna defeat the Tantabus.
Hifumi: All in all, there's a LOT to Fluttershy than meets the eye, and thinking she's an easy target is a recipe for one's downfall. She has so forcefully bucked the back ends of two garbage wagonloads that they have flipped over to the vertical position and back again, skillfully wrestled a bear while trying to give it a massage, and withstood an attack from Sunset Shimmer when she herself was using the Element of Magic.
Leona: In one episode, she and Bulk Biceps, a very muscular Pegasoo, collided into a mountainside with such force that an indent was formed, and Fluttershy was crushed beneath Bulk's larger body. She is stuck on him when he flies off, but she appears surprised rather than pained, and in the following scenes, she is perfectly fine! She's also successfully defended herself against Iron Will, a really buff minotaur dude, fought and overpowered Cozy Glow for a time, stood up to a giant dragon despite her innate fear of them, and fought an army of Changelings, insect-like beings who feed off the love of others to gain power for their own.
Hifumi: Fluttershy may easily lose her cool when she's angered, and she may be cripplingly afraid of many things, but there's one indisputable fact about her. She's a VALID and DESERVING member of the Mane 6, and will pull her weight when she needs to, no matter what comes her way.
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Hifumi: Alright, the combatants are set! We've run the data through all possibilities!
Leona: IT'S TIME FOR A DEEAAATH BAAATTLLLLLLEEE!
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WARNING:The following battle contains actions of extreme violence committed on a character from  My Little Pony. We understand this sort of graphic content and description can perturb some readers, so while we don't normally give this warning, we will here. Should you wish to skip straight to the results, by all means do so.You have been warned.
The scene opens to into a peaceful setting within the middle of a quiet orchard on a sunny day in Equestria. The birds are singing, the animals are casually playing around.
This peace however, is interrupted by a terrified scream, as Mikan Tsumiki comes bursting into the clearing, crying and panicked, literally pulling her hair out.
Mikan: Where am I!? What's going on!? WHERE AM I!? WHAT'S GOING ON!?
Freaked out and scared at having randomly ended up in this strange and unfamiliar location, Mikan's mental state is rapidly crumbling, and the animals around her run for safety, feeling  threatened by her frankly overwhelming presence.
Meanwhile, not too far away, several more animals gather around a yellow and pink pony, tending to them and singing to them while doing so.
Fluttershy: ♪ I like the quiet, I like the calm...To turn it up, to sing along...I'm not just shy...Look close, and you will see...There's so much more to♪ -HUH!?
Fluttershy's soothing melody is swiftly interrupted as the animals cries from beyond the shrubbery grow closer. She lifts her head and sees several critters scurry from the bushes, followed by a clumsy, stumbling, purple-haired nurse, who trips over the branches and lands on her face. She quickly lifts her head to see Fluttershy staring back at her with astonishment.
Fluttershy: A human...!?
Mikan: KYAGH!? A-A t-t-talking horse!?
Fluttershy: How did you get here!? A-And why are you scaring the precious little animals away!?
Mikan: Wh-What!? No, no, no! Th-That's not what I
*CRUNCH!*
Fluttershy: HEEE!?
Mikan: EEEP!
Fluttershy, the animals and even Mikan herself gasp in horror, as Mikan gets to her feet and accidentally steps forward on top of a small mouse. The mouse squeaks in pain as it's crushed beneath her foot.
Fluttershy: Oh no! H-Hold on! I can help-!
*WHOOOSH!*
Mikan: AAGGGGH I'm SORRRYYYYY!
*SMACK!*
Fluttershy: GUGH!
Mikan: Agh...TCH!
Mistaking her approach for her trying to avenge the creature, Mikan fends Fluttershy off by grabbing her syringe from behind her back and swatting her away with it when she flies in to supposedly attack. Mikan looks back and forth between her weapon and her now opponent, her expression darkening as she realizes it's far too late for peaceful negotiations.
Though Fluttershy seems hesitant, she agrees to the duel regardless. With the exception of one deer who quickly grabs the poor mouse's body first, the rest of the animals quickly scarper, leaving the area open, as the fight begins!
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Though initially trying to go in for the first blow, Fluttershy starts the fight by staying on the defensive. Mikan hoists her giant syringe up and takes some hefty swings. Though even in a panicked and confused state, Fluttershy easily avoids them.
*SHUNK!*
Fluttershy: KUGH!
Mikan: HUAGH!
*POW!*
Fluttershy: Haah...! U-Uwagh...Ngh...CHAGH!
Mikan: OOF!
When Mikan eventually gets a hit in while Fluttershy is at her most vulnerable, he punches the plunger to inject Fluttershy with the viscous anesthetic fluid inside. Fluttershy manages to break free just in time, and despite feeling lightheaded due to the anesthetic's effects, she counterattacks by using her front hooves to kick Mikan.
Fluttershy takes a moment while she has breathing room to check her wound. Seeing that she's slightly bleeding, she quickly wipes the wound with her hoof as Mikan recovers from her previous attack.
Mikan: What is going on...!? A-Am I hallucinating!? Is this some kind of dream...!?
Fluttershy notices that Mikan is panicking and in this moment, takes some sympathy on her.
Fluttershy: Hey, um...It occurs to me that we...may have jumped to conclusions before...You don't have to be so scared-
Mikan: N-No! GET AWAY FROM ME!
Mikan pulls out a bunch of smaller throwing syringes from her apron. Crying her eyes out in fear, she throws a barrage of them at Fluttershy, trying to turn the Pegasus into a pincushion.
Fluttershy: EEK!
Fluttershy's eyes widen as she sees these needles incoming, and she quickly rolls to the side and dashes out of the way. She flies forward, but looks back, worried that the needles might hit any of the animals.
Fortunately, they collide with the trunk of a thick tree and get stuck. Unfortunately, Fluttershy, not looking where she's going, bumps into Mikan. The two clatter to the floor, the latter in a rather compromising position that she quickly covers up.
Mikan: KYAAGH!
Fluttershy: Oh, sorry! I'm so sorry!
Mikan: No, that was my-Ugh...It's ok...Hold on, let me-
Fluttershy: N-No, let me get this for-OOF! My, this is REALLY heavy!
Mikan: No, no, I've got it! Thank you though...
Fluttershy: Sorry, I wasn't looking!
Mikan: No, seriously, thank you!
Fluttershy: Anytime!
Mikan & Fluttershy: Huh? Wait...Oh, DANGIT!
After a brief distraction, in which Fluttershy helps Mikan to her feet and tries to hand her back her primary weapon, the two forget that they're supposed to be fighting and cuss themselves out for it. Mikan takes the first strike, almost pinning Fluttershy to the ground with her heavy weapon before the Pegasus shoves her backwards.
*WHOOSH!*
Mikan: Huh!? WAH-!?
*CRACK!*
Mikan: GUAAAGGH!
*SLAM!*
Mikan: OHOUGH!
Fluttershy: HEEEH!
In quick succession, Fluttershy darts between Mikan's legs, kicks her square in the back from behind, grabs her legs and pins her to the ground, similarly to how she does when she's massaging bears, though this is done with the intention of holding Mikan still on the ground.
Fluttershy: Please, just listen to me! I'm sorry I scared you! We don't have to be fighting like this!
Mikan: Haah...! Haaah...! Haaaah...! NRGH!
Fluttershy: YOWCH!
Fluttershy's wishes for peace aren't granted. Mikan gets Fluttershy off of her by grabbing another small needle and stabbing her in the ankle, injecting more of the fluid. Mikan throws Fluttershy off of her, grabs her big weapon, and dives into the trees.
Fluttershy: Wait...! C-Come back...!
Fluttershy calls after her, but the anesthetic makes her even more dizzy, and she's unable to see straight for a moment. Mikan on the other hand, hides behind a rather thick tree trunk in a darker part of the orchard, cradling her body and starting to hyperventilate.
Mikan: What do I do...!? What do I do...!? I don't even know where I am and I...I...!
You hurt them...
Mikan: Geh!?
It never ends...You hurt everybody...
Mikan: Stop...!
She'll kill you...
Mikan: No, no...!
She should...
Mikan: Grrgh...!
Die, you piece of shit...!
Mikan: Forgive me...! Please...forgive me...! I...
She slowly rises to her feet. She then slowly lifts her head, her expression having changed dramatically. The tears stop flowing, her lips stop quivering, she holds her syringe with a tight grip, and her eyes become swirled with layers and layers of anguish and darkness.
Mikan: I won't stop...until you FORGIVE ME!
Fluttershy: Please, c-come out...! I can help you...!
Fluttershy stirs as she suddenly hears the sound of something fast through the leaves behind her. She quickly turns around, but only sees traces of something that was there. She hears the same sound again and turns again, seeing the same thing.
Fluttershy: Human...? Wh-Where are you...!?
Mikan: Here...!
Fluttershy: HUH!?
*SHUUNK!*
Fluttershy: GHAAAAGH!
Fluttershy screams in agony as without a word of warning, besides Mikan's sadistic teasing, she feels the incredibly sharp pang of the giant needle in the back of her body! Though being restrained, Fluttershy turns her head enough to see that Mikan's timid demeanor has gone, and now the look in her eyes bares naught but a despairful rage.
Mikan: Heeheheheheheh! KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAGH!
Fluttershy: OOPH! RRGGGH!
Mikan: Heeeehehh...Hehehehhehehhheeegh...!
Mikan grabs Fluttershy by her jaw with one hand, holding onto the pony tightly as she uses her other to pump her full of the drugs in her weapon. Fluttershy's vision slowly begins to go dark, and the more the anesthetic enters her system, the weaker she gradually becomes, allowing Mikan to dominate her; baring a sadistic and perverse smile all the while.
Mikan then, to add insult to the very painful injury, kicks Fluttershy onto the ground and bounces off her into the air. While airborne, she once again reaches into her apron and produces several more syringes, which she holds between her fingers. She smiles down at Fluttershy, sticking out her tongue, sweating, and with a face-wide blush of ecstacy.
Mikan: Here's your PRESCRIPTION!
*SHUNK!* *SHUNK!* *SHUNK SHUNK* *SHUNNKKK!*
Fluttershy: KYAAAAAAAAAAAGGH! 
The pain is agonizing! Fluttershy is injected with multiple sharp objects all over her body, pumping her full of drugs and rendering her nearly incapacitated and in immense pain, despite the needles causing little bleeding. She begins to lose sensation in her legs and her vision begins to warp. Mikan lands, picks up her enormous syringe, and moves slowly toward the Pegasus, raising the needle above her head for the final blow. All Fluttershy can do is crawl forward helplessly.
Fluttershy: No...Please...d-don't...! Huh?
Though her vision is still shaky, Fluttershy looks forward and meets eyes with a lone fruit bat, which is passing through, unaware of what's really going on with the situation and just looking for apples to eat in the orchard.
The bat glares into her eyes, and despite her agony, something stirs within Fluttershy, and her eyes widen, only to morph into an enraged and deranged frown as she feels her body begin to change...! Meanwhile, Mikan finally lets her chunky syringe fall down towards her head!
Mikan: DIE!
However, much to Mikan's surprise, as soon as she brings the needle down on Fluttershy, the pony disappears. This time, it's HER turn to be surprised when she senses a presence behind her...!
Flutterbat: *HIISSSS*
Mikan: GUAGH! GAGH! *SPLUTTER!*
Fluttershy, now FlutterBAT, smacks Mikan with her now hefty tail, sending her crashing into another tree trunk. Mikan lazily crawls to her feet and glares back at her attacker, who menacingly hangs upside down from a tree branch sucking on an apple.
Mikan: Filthy fucking rabies infested CREATURE!
Flutterbat: *SCREEEECCH!*
Mikan yells these enraged words out while hoisting her syringe over her shoulder before sprinting back into the fray. Similarly, Flutterbat drops from her perch and flies toward the Ultimate Nurse like small plane.
The sheer force of Flutterbat's wings almost knocks Mikan over, but she manages to stand and stabs Fluttershy with her syringe once more. This time, though, she sees that it does much less to slow Fluttershy down.
Mikan: What in the hell ARE you, freak!?
Flutterbat: *SCREEEECCH!*
Flutterbat, naturally, has nothing to say in response, and Mikan's frustration at not being able to gain the upper hand over her opponent grows. But Flutterbat also has trouble dealing Mikan any significant damage. She attempts to bite Mikan in retaliation, but the nurse dodges it and kicks her out of the way, only to have a gust of wind throw her back in turn.
Flutterbat: *HIISSSS*
Mikan: KYRRAAAAAGGH!
Mikan and Flutterbat trade violent blows, with Mikan using her syringe to hit Flutterbat and the former using her tail, sending each other flying back into the trees.
Flutterbat: Agh...Ngh...Hm?
Mikan: Haah...Hagh...HRGH! Huuh! Huuh! Huuh!
The blow into the tree has an interesting effect on Flutterbat as the transformation and continued fighting frees her of the initial effects of Mikan's drug-induced lunacy, making her vaguely come to her senses. When the pony sees the Nurse hyperventilating, clearly in a state of a panic attack, her reason comes back to her.
With it, Flutterbat drops out of her transformation and becomes Fluttershy again. Mikan's panic attack leaves her open to another blow, but Fluttershy refrains.
Before she can do or say anything, the animals from earlier slowly poke their heads out from the bushes, sensing a break in the fighting. Among them, Fluttershy sees the mouse Mikan stepped on earlier, now feeling a lot better, as it squeaks happily, but then squeaks in concern as it looks back towards Mikan. 
Fluttershy also looks back at Mikan, who is still on the ground, breathing heavily. She smiles and nods towards her animal companions, as they prepare a plan.
Fluttershy: I...think I understand it now...! Everyone was so afraid of you...but you've been afraid this whole time, right? You must have end
Mikan: Grrgh...Hngh...
Fluttershy: I guess it's true, huh? It's so sad. I'm so sorry...But still...
Fluttershy stamps her hoof on the ground, drawing the panicked and crazed Mikan's attention. Fluttershy then employs her most deadly technique - THE STARE!
Fluttershy: That's NO excuse for your behavior! You need to calm down!
Mikan: ...
Fluttershy: ...
Mikan: Are you making fun of me...! Please! DON'T PICK ON ME!
*SHWOOSH!* 
*CLINK!*
Mikan: Huh!?
Fluttershy: Yeah, I somehow knew that wouldn't work...!
Fluttershy giggles, embarrassed that her trick didn't work, but also clearly not having expected it to. But to Mikan's shock and surprise, as she throws another array of needles towards Fluttershy, they seem to bounce off her. In reality, they collide with a forcefield the Pegasus puts around herself.
While distracting Mikan with The Stare, Fluttershy's animal companions hang the golden necklace that is the Element of Kindness around her neck, and Fluttershy does not hesitate to use it's power to protect herself.
Mikan panics and throws more needles, but they also bounce off. Fluttershy bears an expression of sympathy, but also determination as she and her animal friends stride slowly towards the Ultimate Nurse.
Fluttershy: I meant it when I said I don't want to hurt you...But without my friends here...I need to do this...!
*SHIIIIIINE!*
Mikan: KRRGH! H-HUH!?
Mikan is nearly blinded by a light that erupts from Fluttershy's body, and once it dissipates, she looks up in horror to see Fluttershy in her Rainbow Power form.
Fluttershy: I think you should be careful...
Mikan: Wha-!? WAAAGHAAAGH! WHAT IS THIIIIS!?
Fluttershy: It's the most powerful magic in all of Equestria...Friendship!
Mikan: KYRAGH! KYAAAHAGH!
Die...Kill...No...NOOOOO...! STOP! NOOOOOOOO!
Mikan: H-Huh!?
Mikan's eyes shut tight as she's suddenly swept off her feet by a tornado made of rainbows that completely envelops her. However, they shoot open again, not in fear, not in shock or horror...but in clarity.
The voices in her head that drive her into despair...the foundation of her despairing rage...she feels them being washed away, and for the first time in her entire life...she feels free.
However, despite this, her nightmare doesn't appear to be over, as she stares back up at Fluttershy, who's body glows with a white light, and her eyes white out as she's filled with power.
Fluttershy: Heehee...!
*POYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!*
Mikan: K-KYEAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!
Fluttershy, with a warm and cheerful smile, and with the animals of the orchard hovering around her in bliss and tranquility, fires a golden beam of light down onto her opponent, and Mikan screams in fear as she sees her body slowly but surely begin to turn into stone! Starting with her feet and working it's way up into her head, the broken Ultimate Nurse becomes a solid frozen ornament.
Fluttershy slowly descends to the ground with her animal friends, and returns to her base form. She's completely healed of every wound she suffered during the fight and her vitality is restored to normal. She and the animals approach the statue and carefully watch it.
Fluttershy: Once my friends arrive, we'll let you go free, and I'll gladly let you join my tea party! ...But for now, I'm sorry, but I have to sit you in time out...
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Leona: Ah, poor poor Mikan. First a victim of batshit Danganronpa lore, now a victim of even more batshit My Little Pony lore. But hey, at least she didn't "DIE" die...
Hifumi: Unsurprisingly, this match was pretty clear cut. Though despite the one-sidedness in terms of how each combatants abilities stack up to each others, Mikan Tsumiki DID possess her own fair share of advantages. 
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Leona: To start with, Mikan's primary way of taking out enemies is using her needles to either rip them to shreds, or inject them with enough anesthetic to send them into comatose. Despite it still being pretty high when scaled to other characters in My Little Pony, Fluttershy's defense is easily her weakest stat, and she's evidently not immune to drugs...and I genuinely can't believe I just said that.
Hifumi: Tsumiki's best shot at winning this fight would be to catch Fluttershy off guard, and inject her with enough sleeping drugs that she falls unconscious and deliver an easy killing blow that way, assuming Fluttershy doesn't somehow die from the overdose. And with her evidently unmatched stealth and speed skills, as well as the fact that she's undoubtedly far more strategic than her Pegasus opponent, it was entirely possible she could get the jump on Fluttershy, who all things considered is very gullible and easily duped, and achieve exactly that!
Leona: That being said, while not IMPOSSIBLE, it was still very unlikely. It took SEVERAL shots, and even Mikan having to distribute basically all of the drugs contained in her claymore needle to render Nagito Komaeda unconscious. This is most likely because Nagito's Ultimate Hope abilities gave him an exponential increase in stamina that allowed him to resist the drugs for a long time, only taking effect with one final shot following several battles in succession.
Hifumi: And based on the calculations of her feats, as well as scaling her to Rainbow Dash in particular, it's likely that Fluttershy's max stamina was MUCH HIGHER than even that.
Leona: As were MOST of Fluttershy's stats at that. Mikan was fast, being able to outpace Nagito Komaeda, who possesses above superhuman speed and reactions, but Fluttershy was DEFINITELY faster, so much so that it's hard to even lock down her maximum speed. Scaling it to Rainbow Dash though, who she was able to keep up with when creating the tornado, we know she's at least faster than light.
Hifumi: In terms of physical strength, in both their base form and Despair and Flutterbat forms respectively, they might have been equal in terms of attack potency, but to reiterate, Mikan Tsumiki's primary weapon is a 150 lbs syringe, and though she IS able to wield it, she does so sluggishly, in a way that Fluttershy just can't NOT dodge easily.
Leona: Another advantage Mikan held was that based on the way the ability works, it's most likely that in her Despair Rage state, she would be immune to Fluttershy's stare, just like Discord and the Flash Bees were, since Mikan is also a very aggressive creature in this state that honestly relishes on fear more than it perturbs her.
Hifumi: However, what Mikan would NOT have been immune to was the Elements of Harmony, and there was no way in hell she was EVER going to beat Fluttershy in her Rainbow Power form. In fact, Fluttershy's power of the Element of Kindness basically countered every ability she had left.
Leona: Her powers could easily allow her to generate a barrier that blocks all of Mikan's weapons and projectiles, and would cleanse of her any lingering effects of the drugs if there were any. And to top it all off, Fluttershy's rainbow tornado would wipe every trace of evil and Despair away from Mikan, effectively taking away her Despair Rage state and every ability and bloodlust along with it. She could also just as easily use the Element of Harmony to turn Mikan to stone like with Discord and the other villains in MLP. You know, if Mikan really is struggling to cope with her past and the Despair still inside her, she should probably ask Fluttershy for therapy. Pretty sure it would do her wonders!
Hifumi: Let's be honest, if these two ACTUALLY met, there's NO WAY they would fight. They have a lot in common, with both of them being pretty wimpy, timid and sweet in their base forms, and not being able to fight at full potential unless angered or despaired. Despite their far from intimidating appearances, both Mrs. Tsumiki and Fluttershy have shown feats of strength and ability far beyond the average human or pony.
Leona: But that is the exact reason why Mikan falls so far of the victory here. One is a human, and the other is a pony. Mikan possesses no form of special combat abilities or powers, but Fluttershy has used her unique abilities alongside her friends to take down opponents like Discord and Tirek; both godly beings far beyond anything Mikan could ever HOPE to take down.
Hifumi: Mikan Tsumiki was a terrifying foe, but Fluttershy's total dominance and undefeatable power of Kindness and Friendship put the Ultimate Nurse in her stone-cold place.
Leona: Though she was Flutter-SHY of victory, fortunately for Mikan, forgiveness is the NEEDLE that knows how to mend!
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THE WINNER IS FLUTTERSHY!
Next Time:
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The world is under attack and the robot invaders are taking over! But don't worry! These two unlikely teenage heroes are going to step up, fight for and with their families, and take back humanities world! But when the odds collide, which one of these average teenage girls is gonna come out on top?
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1n0nlys0up · 1 year
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Danganronpa 3: Despair Arc
Genres : Action, Horror, Mystery
Number of Seasons : 1
Number of Movies : 0
Number of Episodes : 11
English Dub : Yes
Japanese : Yes
Content Warnings : Death, blood, gore, manipulation, torture
Synopsis : Hope's Peak Academy's unconventional class 77-B is about to have an even more eccentric addition: Chisa Yukizome, an alumna with the title of Super High School-Level Housekeeper—and their new homeroom teacher. Cheerful, passionate, and capable, Chisa immediately sets about correcting the students' problematic behavior and strengthening their relationships. It may not be easy dealing with diverse pupils ranging from princesses and nurses to yakuza and impossibly lucky students, but anything is possible with the power of hope.
Meanwhile, Hajime Hinata, an unremarkable boy from the school's Reserve Course, longs for a talent. One day, he has an unexpected meeting with class 77-B's Super High School-Level Gamer Chiaki Nanami, who presents to him a new, hope-filled outlook on life. However, unbeknownst to him, the school's upper echelon is about to execute a sinister project centered around Hajime that will bring Hope's Peak—and the rest of the world—to its knees.
Zetsubou-hen chronicles the daily lives carried out at the talent-cultivating academy, and the darkness that lurks beneath. As despair slowly infects hope, plans are put into motion to start the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History, and the end begins.
(Source: https://myanimelist.net/)
Personal Thoughts : This tells the story of before SDR2 well. It gets a lot less slice-of-lifey later, if you're here for the murder and lore. Also, we get to see more of Nanami's personality here. Overall? Not that bad. :)
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ethereal-kloud · 2 years
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this has been lying around for a while but i kinda fell out the fandom so eh might as well post it here
obviously danganronpa spoilers so uhhh be warned??
desc: Enoshima Junko had always been a bit odd.
Usually, it wasn’t a cruel or sadistic sort of oddity, but a distant sort apathy— something that made her seem all too far away. Occasionally, it’d be an overwhelming bombardment of tears, seemingly set off for no particular reason.
And then she remembered.
(what would’ve been a quote from the “story”)
The day Mukuro came back, she found her younger twin sister sobbing on her knees. “What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned. She had only been gone for a couple of months— she knew she hadn’t said a word before disappearing, but what could have set a off a 13-year-old in that timeframe?
Her sister’s blue eyes snapped upwards, teary and distracted. “M—“ Junko choked on her tears, “Mukuro-nee—“
The older twin startled. The blonde hadn’t called her that in… What was going on?
or: someone is born as Enoshima Junko, killing “former her’s” plan of despair before it even started.
———
i actually started it but it’s terrible and awkward and so occ i would actually die if i posted it
if it isn’t obvious already— reincarnation shenanigans. they wouldn’t remember clearly about their previous life, and definitely not about a game or anime they had probably played/watched to make fun of in their free time. her background wasn’t really elaborated on, so i would’ve had fun making that up completely
anyway canon!junko obviously had major issues, but she obviously understood how people were.
she wouldn’t have been able to act and trick and blackmail as many people as she did if she didn’t. i like to think it was a lack of ability to empathize with people + morals, and a wild desperation to “fit in” and if she couldn’t, just make everyone like her
with someone coming into the picture, though, with those morals and the memory of being able to think and care about others genuinely, she’d do it by habit, even if she didn’t understand why.
———
quotes i wanted to use (actually i made all of them up on the spot but shhh i like them)
(Junko doesn’t want to be a monster. But what will happen if she plays normal? Doesn’t get into Hopes Peak? She knows that her sister wouldn’t join if she didn’t. Knows that’s a difference already in their relationship, but—
Is she willing to risk changing everything?)
-
“Hi!” chirped Naegi Makoto, the goddamned protagonist of what Junko wished was just a fever-dream. What were the chances, she wondered, of this meeting happen the one time she was weak-willed enough to try and check the lottery area for Hopes Peak? “Are you here to apply for the—”
A blur comes running through the mall, knocking into Naegi, and begins to furiously whisper at him and gesturing at Junko, at what she assumes is an attempt to be subtle.
It’s not.
-
Junko thinks about meeting Naegi and his sister, about what she saw of his parents, remembers what was implied in that spinoff.
She hesitates— because this is a large decision, but…
She’ll be able to control the variables this way. She doesn’t have to get close, it’s fine, people are almost always someone different away from the camera.
She breathes in, and begins to write an email.
‘I, Enoshima Junko, humbly accept your invitation for me to attend Hopes Peak Academy as the Super High School Level Model,’ it reads. ‘It’s truly an honor,’ she lies.
-
‘Komaeda Nagito,’ her brain informs her clinically, ‘current Super High School Level Lucky Student.’ He’s smiling at her, but—
It’s not in that wild, unhinged way she’s starting to remember those games showed. It’s not soft, and it’s strained, but it’s a genuine smile.
Is this what she ruined—
“Hello!” he greets, “Oh, you’re… Enoshima-san, yes? The future Super High School Level Model, right? Oh, it’s so lucky of me to have—” and he rambles on, motioning wildly until she hears a call in the distance of his name.
“Hm? Oh, it seems I’ve got to go— it was nice to meet you!” and he turns, and promptly trips of his own feet, dodging a can that was flying towards him, but gains what looks like a painful cut on his forehead instead.
He laughs it off sheepishly, and rushes away.
Junko…
-
“Oh!” she hears a familiar voice, and freezes, “Enoshima-san!”
Junko curses too herself, and glances behind her, praying to a god she doesn’t believe in that it’s not who she thinks it is. ‘Brown hair,’ she thinks, wanting to sink down in her seat and already wailing in her head.
It’s Naegi. Of course it is. She has the worst luck ever.
“Naegi. Hello,” she replies, stiffly. It’s only polite.
-
‘Wait wait wait I forgot this plot happened in my first year— can’t I get a break?!’
Junko stares at Hinata Hajime, who’s talking with some Hopes Peak official, and she can’t help but overhear.
Hope Project, they call it. He just has to sign the form, they say. Or else, he knows what will happen, and he wouldn’t want that, would he? they threaten.
The blonde can see Hinata’s will weaken with every blow they carefully place against him. The officials look up, and, hell, they’ve seen her. They whisper, “I hope you know this conversation should stay between us?” and smile at her.
She smiles back, but in the comfort of her own mind, thinks, ‘I have to fix this too. Right after the Kuzuryu situation, too. Fuck.’
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