Guilty All The Same.
Here is a rambling entry about my favourite characters and cases across the three main Dangan Ronpa games, because I've remembered how passionately I love this series and I need to talk about it. Major spoilers!
I was thinking that all three games have characters who fall into certain categories, and then I thought 'hey, so what's my favourite of each character in those categories?'
Let's find out!
Protagonists: an extremely tough decision! The protagonist is my favourite character in all three games. But, as I've mentioned, I think Hinata's probably my favourite Dangan Ronpa character overall. This means he also takes first place amongst the characters with unknown talents (Kirigiri, Hinata, Rantaro).
To explain my love of Hinata, I'm going to reproduce something I wrote in a comment to
lucifertm:
Hinata is so good! He feels so real to me: his insecurities, his sarcasm, the way he relates to the other characters. I love Naegi, but his optimism meant that, in a way, he never seemed to grasp how terrible the situation was; the potential of murder wasn't a real thing to him, because he was always going 'nobody's going to kill anyone, right?' right up until a body showed up. So it caught my attention very early on that Hinata's plagued by dread in a way Naegi isn't; he really grasps the weight of the situation, and as soon as he learns the rules of the game he's asking himself whether he can trust the others not to kill, and whether he can trust himself.
Characters who shake things up: Togami, Komaeda, Kokichi. Absolutely Komaeda. Kokichi's fun, but I find him harder to pin down, and I still haven't forgiven him for the EXTREMELY UPSETTING fourth case. I love that, whereas Togami and Kokichi both know they're being awful, Komaeda is convinced he's acting for the greater good. He's such a strange, frustrating, fascinating character. Great fun to write fanfiction about. He's also my favourite of the first-chapter companions to the protagonist (Maizono, Komaeda, Shuichi).
Female characters who connect strongly with the protagonist: Kirigiri, Nanami, Maki. The Dangan Ronpa series has a lot of really interesting female characters, so it's a shame the characters in this role have never really caught my attention. Both Kirigiri and Maki tend to conceal their emotions; I wonder whether that's a factor. Kirigiri might be my favourite of the three.
Huge muscular characters: Sakura, Nidai, Gonta. It's Sakura for me, with her thoughtfulness and her quiet, stoic loyalty. But Mondo is also a huge muscular character, and he takes first place if we're looking at all the huge muscular characters. (Ah, Mondo, the first Dangan Ronpa character to absolutely break my heart. He appeals so strongly to my love of characters who make exclusively terrible decisions.) It's just that, if we're only taking one per game, Sakura is definitely huger and more muscular.
Characters whose talents we learn posthumously: Ikusaba, Imposter, Rantaro. I hadn't realised until writing this entry that there's one of these in each game! This is a tough one, actually. Ikusaba has so much interesting potential. I love what we learn of her in Danganronpa IF, but I'm less interested in her in Danganronpa 3. I really like Rantaro and was so unhappy to find his body. But Rantaro's most interesting to me when he's interacting with Kaede, whereas I find Ikusaba interesting in many respects, not just in her interactions with Naegi (even if I ship them a lot). Ikusaba? Maybe? I don't know!
Characters with non-Japanese names: Celes, Sonia, Angie. I like Celes more now than I did at first - her very carefully constructed persona, the fact that she's pretty smart in a game where the main flaw in the cast is that hardly anyone has anything sensible to say in the trials (all the games have a major cast flaw; I love a lot of Dangan Ronpa characters, hence this entry, but the first game's cast is too unhelpful, the second game's is too wacky, and a lot of V3's characters feel too shallow). Sonia, though, is my favourite here. She's a wonderful weirdo and I love her enthusiasm.
Hot-headed characters up for a fight: Mondo, Kuzuryuu, Kaito. Oh, man, I love all these guys! But I think Kuzuryuu is my favourite. I love how he matures over the course of the game.
Masterminds: Junko, Kamukura, Tsumugi. It has to be Junko. She's just having so much fun.
(Each game also has a character whose survival I slightly resent because why couldn't a character I like have lived instead, but it seems slightly weird to choose a favourite in that category. I can give you a least favourite, and it's Souda. (The others are Hagakure and Himiko, if you're curious.))
Favourite of characters with shared talents:
Detective: Kirigiri, Shuichi. It's Shuichi for me. I ended up liking him a lot more than I expected to. Smart and analytical, anxious and insecure, cautious, reserved without being cold.
Lucky Student: Naegi, Komaeda. Oh, nooooo, this is a tough one! But I think Naegi takes it. He's so earnest and good-hearted and I love him.
Heir: Togami, Togami. I think it might have to be Togami.
Other characters who invite comparison despite not sharing a talent: Asahina and Owari, Fujisaki and Nanami, Koizumi and Tenko. My respective favourites are Asahina (love her, she seemed so friendly and good-hearted and I really came to trust her), Fujisaki (adorable!) and Koizumi (spirited, sensible and a breath of fresh air in an over-the-top cast; I did warm up to Tenko eventually, though, despite disliking her at first).
Following on from favourite characters, I started asking myself which game had my favourite first case, favourite second case and so on.
Case 1: V3. The first case in the first game is a strong way to kick things off - just enough of a twist to make things interesting without being overcomplicated - but the 11037 clue is far too obvious, and it's frustrating that Kirigiri flat-out explains the clue to the player despite how obvious it is. V3 does some really interesting things in its first case, and it was definitely the first case I had the most emotional investment in, even if being emotionally invested in a Dangan Ronpa case isn't necessarily a good thing.
Case 2: first game. Really no competition here. The second case of the first game was the point at which I was first hit by the danger of getting emotionally invested in Dangan Ronpa; I was upset to find the body and extremely upset to realise who the murderer was. It ignited phenomenal quantities of fandom wank, and I can understand why, but it's still my favourite of the second cases.
Case 3: the third cases are traditionally double murders and tend to be a bit overcomplicated as a consequence. V3's might be my favourite; all of V3's cases feel a bit overcomplicated, but that complication fits perfectly naturally into a double murder case. It actually ends up feeling slightly less complicated than the other double murders, because we're in no doubt of the order in which the murders occurred.
Case 4: to be honest, I hate the fourth case in both the second game (WHY IS THE ENTIRE CHAPTER SET IN AN AREA WITH AN EYE-HURTING COLOUR SCHEME) and V3 (the Virtual World is cute but massively overstays its welcome, and the case itself is just depressing), so the first game wins this handily.
Case 5: SECOND GAME. PERFECT CASE. My favourite case in the entire series, easily. All the games have interesting fifth cases, though!
Case 6: the sixth case in every game is absolutely batshit and I love them all. I was originally going to say 'I think V3 might win by being the most batshit', but I really love the second game's ending, watching Hinata struggle to cope with all the terrible revelations, and Junko is more fun than Tsumugi (even if I appreciate V3 trying to do something different). So I'm going to give it to the second game.
If you've experienced all these games, I'd be interested to hear your favourites as well!
I was thinking that all three games have characters who fall into certain categories, and then I thought 'hey, so what's my favourite of each character in those categories?'
Let's find out!
Protagonists: an extremely tough decision! The protagonist is my favourite character in all three games. But, as I've mentioned, I think Hinata's probably my favourite Dangan Ronpa character overall. This means he also takes first place amongst the characters with unknown talents (Kirigiri, Hinata, Rantaro).
To explain my love of Hinata, I'm going to reproduce something I wrote in a comment to
lucifertm:
Hinata is so good! He feels so real to me: his insecurities, his sarcasm, the way he relates to the other characters. I love Naegi, but his optimism meant that, in a way, he never seemed to grasp how terrible the situation was; the potential of murder wasn't a real thing to him, because he was always going 'nobody's going to kill anyone, right?' right up until a body showed up. So it caught my attention very early on that Hinata's plagued by dread in a way Naegi isn't; he really grasps the weight of the situation, and as soon as he learns the rules of the game he's asking himself whether he can trust the others not to kill, and whether he can trust himself.
Characters who shake things up: Togami, Komaeda, Kokichi. Absolutely Komaeda. Kokichi's fun, but I find him harder to pin down, and I still haven't forgiven him for the EXTREMELY UPSETTING fourth case. I love that, whereas Togami and Kokichi both know they're being awful, Komaeda is convinced he's acting for the greater good. He's such a strange, frustrating, fascinating character. Great fun to write fanfiction about. He's also my favourite of the first-chapter companions to the protagonist (Maizono, Komaeda, Shuichi).
Female characters who connect strongly with the protagonist: Kirigiri, Nanami, Maki. The Dangan Ronpa series has a lot of really interesting female characters, so it's a shame the characters in this role have never really caught my attention. Both Kirigiri and Maki tend to conceal their emotions; I wonder whether that's a factor. Kirigiri might be my favourite of the three.
Huge muscular characters: Sakura, Nidai, Gonta. It's Sakura for me, with her thoughtfulness and her quiet, stoic loyalty. But Mondo is also a huge muscular character, and he takes first place if we're looking at all the huge muscular characters. (Ah, Mondo, the first Dangan Ronpa character to absolutely break my heart. He appeals so strongly to my love of characters who make exclusively terrible decisions.) It's just that, if we're only taking one per game, Sakura is definitely huger and more muscular.
Characters whose talents we learn posthumously: Ikusaba, Imposter, Rantaro. I hadn't realised until writing this entry that there's one of these in each game! This is a tough one, actually. Ikusaba has so much interesting potential. I love what we learn of her in Danganronpa IF, but I'm less interested in her in Danganronpa 3. I really like Rantaro and was so unhappy to find his body. But Rantaro's most interesting to me when he's interacting with Kaede, whereas I find Ikusaba interesting in many respects, not just in her interactions with Naegi (even if I ship them a lot). Ikusaba? Maybe? I don't know!
Characters with non-Japanese names: Celes, Sonia, Angie. I like Celes more now than I did at first - her very carefully constructed persona, the fact that she's pretty smart in a game where the main flaw in the cast is that hardly anyone has anything sensible to say in the trials (all the games have a major cast flaw; I love a lot of Dangan Ronpa characters, hence this entry, but the first game's cast is too unhelpful, the second game's is too wacky, and a lot of V3's characters feel too shallow). Sonia, though, is my favourite here. She's a wonderful weirdo and I love her enthusiasm.
Hot-headed characters up for a fight: Mondo, Kuzuryuu, Kaito. Oh, man, I love all these guys! But I think Kuzuryuu is my favourite. I love how he matures over the course of the game.
Masterminds: Junko, Kamukura, Tsumugi. It has to be Junko. She's just having so much fun.
(Each game also has a character whose survival I slightly resent because why couldn't a character I like have lived instead, but it seems slightly weird to choose a favourite in that category. I can give you a least favourite, and it's Souda. (The others are Hagakure and Himiko, if you're curious.))
Favourite of characters with shared talents:
Detective: Kirigiri, Shuichi. It's Shuichi for me. I ended up liking him a lot more than I expected to. Smart and analytical, anxious and insecure, cautious, reserved without being cold.
Lucky Student: Naegi, Komaeda. Oh, nooooo, this is a tough one! But I think Naegi takes it. He's so earnest and good-hearted and I love him.
Heir: Togami, Togami. I think it might have to be Togami.
Other characters who invite comparison despite not sharing a talent: Asahina and Owari, Fujisaki and Nanami, Koizumi and Tenko. My respective favourites are Asahina (love her, she seemed so friendly and good-hearted and I really came to trust her), Fujisaki (adorable!) and Koizumi (spirited, sensible and a breath of fresh air in an over-the-top cast; I did warm up to Tenko eventually, though, despite disliking her at first).
Following on from favourite characters, I started asking myself which game had my favourite first case, favourite second case and so on.
Case 1: V3. The first case in the first game is a strong way to kick things off - just enough of a twist to make things interesting without being overcomplicated - but the 11037 clue is far too obvious, and it's frustrating that Kirigiri flat-out explains the clue to the player despite how obvious it is. V3 does some really interesting things in its first case, and it was definitely the first case I had the most emotional investment in, even if being emotionally invested in a Dangan Ronpa case isn't necessarily a good thing.
Case 2: first game. Really no competition here. The second case of the first game was the point at which I was first hit by the danger of getting emotionally invested in Dangan Ronpa; I was upset to find the body and extremely upset to realise who the murderer was. It ignited phenomenal quantities of fandom wank, and I can understand why, but it's still my favourite of the second cases.
Case 3: the third cases are traditionally double murders and tend to be a bit overcomplicated as a consequence. V3's might be my favourite; all of V3's cases feel a bit overcomplicated, but that complication fits perfectly naturally into a double murder case. It actually ends up feeling slightly less complicated than the other double murders, because we're in no doubt of the order in which the murders occurred.
Case 4: to be honest, I hate the fourth case in both the second game (WHY IS THE ENTIRE CHAPTER SET IN AN AREA WITH AN EYE-HURTING COLOUR SCHEME) and V3 (the Virtual World is cute but massively overstays its welcome, and the case itself is just depressing), so the first game wins this handily.
Case 5: SECOND GAME. PERFECT CASE. My favourite case in the entire series, easily. All the games have interesting fifth cases, though!
Case 6: the sixth case in every game is absolutely batshit and I love them all. I was originally going to say 'I think V3 might win by being the most batshit', but I really love the second game's ending, watching Hinata struggle to cope with all the terrible revelations, and Junko is more fun than Tsumugi (even if I appreciate V3 trying to do something different). So I'm going to give it to the second game.
If you've experienced all these games, I'd be interested to hear your favourites as well!