The “Ultimate” Students:
Makoto Naegi
Makoto was given the title “Ultimate Lucky Student.”
He is the main protagonist of the series. Despite his title, he appears to have both good and bad luck. He was accepted into the academy through a raffle, which ironically, was his worst experience as it led him to participate in a game filled with despair at the academy.
He is an ordinary high school student with no expertise in any field or any talent. However, because of Makoto’s optimism, it became his weapon as the series progresses, his title was later changed into “Ultimate Hope.”
He has spiky brown hair with an ahoge (foolish hair), hazel eyes, and a short and thin build. Makoto wears a zipped-up dark green hoodie with a red stripe at the zipper, an unbuttoned black jacket, black jeans, and red sneakers which have white toes. In addition, his hoodie has a logo of a red gas mask in a circle at the back of the hood which is a sort of reference to Zero in the game 999.
Makoto describes himself as an ordinary student and becomes a bit insecure about it. He is shown to be forgiving and supportive of others. Often, he is also a bit naïve. He is polite, friendly, and down-to-earth compared to the other students, to the point that he is able to befriend even the most antisocial students in the class, such as Byakuya and Toko.
Junko also refers to Makoto as a ‘herbivore man,’ meaning that Makoto would be most likely the passive on when in a relationship. However, even if Makoto is a bit of a pushover at times, it is also shown that he is capable of becoming a charismatic and determined speaker.
Before joining Hope’s Peak Academy, Makoto had lived a normal life with his family. Makoto enjoyed normal activities such as watching TV and playing video games. At the start of the series, Makoto is shown entering Hope’s Peak Academy, only to be knocked unconscious and find himself inside the academy. Later he meets the other “Ultimate” students who also experienced the same situation.
On their first day in the academy, Makoto and Sayaka were able to recognize each other as they had attended the same middle school together but did not have the chance to talk to each other. Sayaka then tells him that she has always wanted to talk to Makoto after seeing him take care of an injured crane back to health after being lost and stuck at the pool in their school. However, they ended up graduating without being able to talk to each other. Instantly, they became friends and Makoto tells her that he will find a way for both of them to escape the academy.
Makoto is also shown to be close to Kyoko, as she helps him on the debates during the murder cases. Makoto treats her as a friend and hopes that she trusts him as much as he does her.
His voice actor is Megumi Ogata.
Kyoko Kirigiri
Kyoko is a mysterious student who appears to have amnesia. The skill or talent which she had for her to be able to be accepted in the academy was unknown at first, leading her to have an unknown title as well. Later on, it was revealed that her title was “Ultimate Detective.”
She is a tall girl who has purple eyes, a pale complexion, and lavender hair, which she braids on the side and ties with a black ribbon. She wears a dark purple jacket with a collar, underneath is a white blouse with a brown tie. She also wears a black short skirt and knee-high boots. Another trait that pops to mind are her black gloves, which are later revealed to be a method to cover the burn scars on her hands that she received when she was still young.
Kyoko is shown to have a cool head and has great reasoning skills, she also tends to hide her true feelings. She is also one of the few students who tries to see things objectively and does not jump into conclusions during the class trials.
She also has a calm demeanor and remains poised even when something big happens or when a body is found dead. Despite having a cold personality, Kyoko is shown to be emotionally upset easily. She hides this by showing a strong will. However, she lets her emotions get the best of her when it comes to sensitive topics. She also dislikes it whenever people try to hide secrets from her. Moreover, she is very keen and is shown to find good things behind people’s actions.
She comes from a family of famous detectives. Kyoko became very close to her grandfather who taught her a lot of things in the detective business.
At the start, Kyoko keeps her distance from the other students, refusing to cooperate with them and tending to investigate on her own. However, she has played major roles in solving the mysteries in each murder case because of her skills as a detective, making her one of the top investigators in the class and a valuable ally to Makoto.
As the series progresses, she is shown to be on good terms with Makoto and interacts with him a lot, she trusts him and helps him out on class trails whenever he runs out of clues. Makoto trusts Kyoko as well and treats him as a friend and ally. As the series progresses, it has been hinted that Kyoko has started to care more for Makoto and starts to develop romantic feelings for him.
She was the one who discovered the broken laptop in the library, which was then fixed by Chihiro, as well as one of those that found a letter which states what happened at the academy in the past. Later, she told the others to keep Alter Ego’s presence away from Monokuma and forbid them from using Alter Ego for their own personal gain.
Her voice actor is Yoko Hikasa.
Byakuya Togami
Byakuya was given the title “Ultimate Affluent Progeny.”
He is the heir of a financial giant called Togami Corporation.
Byakuya is a tall man with a slim figure who wears a black suit and eyeglasses. He also wears a white dress shirt underneath his suit and a green criss-cross tie. He also has blond hair and light blue eyes. He also has a habit of crossing his arms, a personal quirk in line with his arrogance.
Coming from a highly successful family corporation, Byakuya considers himself as superior to all of the students in the academy. He is cold and blunt towards the other students and sees them as his competition, especially Makoto. He also hates losing and is reluctant to admit the mistakes he have committed. Moreover, he initially refused to cooperate with the other students’ attempts at escaping the academy and in murder investigations.
He would often express his irritation of Toko and Genocider Sho’s obsession of him, but would take advantage of it by ordering them around.
Byakuya is also shown to have a high level of intellect and has proven himself to become one of the most insightful and competent investigators in the class. However, he prefers to work alone because of his trust issues with the other students. He often reads in the library and would tell the others not to disturb him.
As the story progresses, Byakuya learns to care about the welfare of the other students and became nicer to them.
His voice actor is Akira Ishida.
Toko Fukawa
Toko was given the title “Ultimate Writing Prodigy.”
She is shown to be a gloomy girl who suffers from a dissociative identity disorder. Toko’s other personality, a homicidal maniac, is known as Genocider Sho which was then given the title, “Ultimate Murderous Fiend.”
Toko wears a dark sailor uniform in which her skirt is lengthy compared to the other girls including Chihiro. She also wears round eyeglasses and has a red tie on her uniform. She has long purple hair which is divided into two long braids.
She is a bestselling novelist and is intellectually gifted, but she has not developed her social skills. Due to her persecution complex which has developed from people bullying her when she was young, she has become highly suspicious of other people and usually accuses them of thinking bad things about her.
Toko is also very blunt with people, she expresses her opinions freely and would not be ashamed of it. However, she rarely trusts other people.
Toko switches her personality whenever she sneezes or when she passes out, usually because of the sight of blood (making her a hemophobic) which then causes Genocider Sho to take control over the normal Toko.
Toko and Genocider Sho both share the same knowledge. However, it was shown that Toko and Genocider Sho’s memories are separate from each other.
She also has a crush on Byakuya, calling him as the ‘ideal boyfriend.’ As a result, she often stalks him and her obsession to him becomes her major motivator to action.
Her voice actor is Miyuki Sawashiro.
Aoi Asahina
Aoi was given the title “Ultimate Swimming Pro.”
She is a young sportswoman who is active in five different sports clubs. Aside from swimming, she also plays basketball, tennis, volleyball as well as track and field. She was also chosen as a representative in the Olympics due to her great skills.
She is also shown to have love for donuts and is a fan of Jason Statham. Aoi also practices a self-healing technique Kanpu masatsu, in which one would rub their body with a dry towel in order to keep illnesses such as the flu away.
She has brown hair which she keeps in a ponytail, blue eyes, and tanned skin. Aoi wears a red track suit jacket, a white shirt under her jacket, blue athletic shorts, white socks, and yellow rubber shoes.
Despite having a curvaceous body, which is usually the subject of Toko and Genocider Sho’s harassment, Aoi actually has insecurities about not being feminine enough because of her being an athlete.
She is a very energetic and friendly student. However, it is also shown that Aoi is a bit of an airhead and has trouble remembering names. She is also the emotional type.
She hangs out with Sakura a lot as they both have interests in sports and the two are often seen drinking protein shakes together.
When the third floor was opened by Monokuma, Aoi seemed pretty excited after finding a swimming pool. However, none of her classmates would accompany her to go swimming.
Her voice actor is Chiwa Saito.
Yasuhiro Hagakure
Yasuhiro was given the title “Ultimate Clairvoyant.”
He is a rising star in the field of fortune-telling with an accuracy rate of over 30% for his predictions. He is also the oldest student in the academy as he has flunked three times in the past.
He has brown hair which is spiky and very large. He wears three layers of shirts. The innermost is a dark yellow short sleeved shirt, the second is an unbuttoned white shirt and the top is a black uniform jacket. He also wears black pants, a big brown sash and a yellow rope as his belt.
He is a cheerful and laidback student. However, he can be gullible and is prone to panic. Yasuhiro is slightly slow in the head and tends to talk absurdly. He also has constant problems with money, in fact, he bought his crystal ball for 100 million yen (despite it being made of glass, instead of a real crystal) since it was said to have been used by Napoloen, Genghis Khan, and George Washington in the past.
Yasuhiro also shares with Makoto that he does not have any friends as people often misunderstand his eccentric lifestyle. At the academy, he treats his fellow classmates with sincerity and adds the suffix ‘-chi’, an affectionate term for dear friends, at the end of his classmates’ first names, except for Sakura whom he calls ‘Ogre.’
He also hates people who compare his fortune-telling to occult and frequently insists that they are not similar at all. He is also shown to be confident and proud of his skills in fortune-telling, which is probably why he charges his readings at such high prices.
His voice actor is Masaya Matsukaze.
Sayaka Maizono
Sayaka was given the title “Ultimate Pop Sensation.”
She is the leader of a popular five member idol girl group and is considered by both fan girls and fan boys to be very attractive. She often wears makeup such as blush and eyeliner to be able to keep her youthful appearance.
She also has blue eyes and dark blue hair that she puts several hair clips in. In the anime adaptation, she wears a white and blue sailor uniform with a pink bow at the front, and a plaid blue skirt.
As the leader of their idol group, Sayaka cares a lot for her fellow group members and will not hesitate to take action if something happens to any of them.
Sayaka went to the same junior high school as Makoto. However, they didn't get a chance to talk to each other until their reunitement at Hope’s Peak Academy where they were able to recognize each other easily. As the game progresses, she helps out Makoto and trusts him, to the point where she assigns herself to be an assistant for Makoto while the later promises her that he would find a way to get both of them out of the academy.
She has a sweet, cheerful and supporting personality. Sayaka also develops a bond with Makoto and considers him her friend. She is also shown to have great intuition since she can easily tell what a person is thinking. She would often joke by telling people that she is an esper (a person with supernatural powers).
Her voice actor is Makiko Ohmoto.
Leon Kuwata
Leon was given the title “Ultimate Baseball Star.”
He is an ace player with his position as the fourth batter in his school.
Leon has a punk appearance, having red-orange spiked hair, has lots of piercings (one on his chin and six on his right ear) and has a goatee. He also has pale blue eyes. He wears a white shirt with a red grunge design of a skull and a white jacket that has a popped collar. He also wears black pants and white platform shoes. Moreover, he also has accessories such as a belt and a chain necklace.
He is a very fiery person, but is a passionate individual as well. Despite having a great skill at baseball, Leon often slacks at his training and wanted to change his title into “Ultimate Musician,” claiming that he has that rock star quality. It was shown that he is quite close to Sayaka due to their similar passion for music.
Initially, he reveals that he actually dislikes baseball, but he continues to play it for the attention that he gets from women. His true passion was revealed to be music and that his ultimate dream was to become a vocalist in a successful band. He is also determined to pursue music in order to win a heart of a girl which he meets at a hair salon.
Later, he reveals that he misses playing baseball and has invited Makoto to play baseball with him once they could get out of the academy.
His voice actor is Takahiro Sakurai.
Chihiro Fujisaki
Chihiro was given the title “Ultimate Programmer.”
He is a very shy person but is later revealed to be a very skilled programmer. Initially, he was presumed to be a girl by his classmates at the academy, later, it was revealed that Chihiro is actually a boy who has an insecurity regarding his weak physique. His insecurity led him to cross-dress in order to hide his real gender. Despite this, Chihiro is shown to have a meek personality and is a kind person.
Chihiro has a doll-like appearance, has greenish-brown eyes and has light brown layered hair. He wears a school uniform with a dark green jacket, a brown skirt, has black socks, and wears white shoes.
Growing up, Chihiro has experienced being looked down on by people referring to him as a weak person, which then caused him to cross-dress. However, when Monokuma threatened everyone that he would reveal their embarrassing secrets, Chihiro was one of the students who planned to reveal their secret on his own will.
Instead of falling into despair, Chihiro became determined to overcome his weakness and decided that he would share his secret.
Despite being a shy person, Chihiro loves to talk about things which are related to his work as a programmer. After Kyoko have found a broken laptop in the library, Chihiro fixes it and made an A.I. program named Alter Ego who helps the students in decrypting files which were left on the laptop.
His voice actor is Kouki Miyata.
Mondo Owada
Mondo was given the title “Ultimate Biker Gang Leader.”
He is the second leader of Japan’s fiercest and largest Biker gang, ‘The Crazy Diamonds.’ His elder brother is the first leader.
Mondo is tall, has tanned skin, purple eyes and brown hair styled in a trademark bōsōzoku (a motorcycle subculture in Japan) kind of perm which is a mix of a pompadour and the punch perm.
He wears a black overcoat known as tokkō-fuku, a military issued overcoat with kanji slogans, which he wears open over a white shirt. At the back of Mondo’s coat is the symbol of ‘The Crazy Diamonds’ with Japanese text and dragon designs in orange print. He also wears black baggy pants, a belt with a buckle shaped like a face of a lion-dog, and white loafers.
He behaves just like a stereotypical delinquent, is foul-mouthed and a bit rude. Mondo is also easy to provoke and would not hesitate to resort to violence when he loses his patience.
Mondo also reveals that he gets nervous around girls which he likes, which then causes him to raise his voice and scaring them away. He also revealed that it has happened at least 10 times in the past.
He had an endurance battle with Kiyotaka at the sauna but it ended up with them talking about their life and family, they became close after the incident.
Similar to Chihiro, he has developed a complex about being seen by people as a weak person. He represses this by constantly telling himself that he is a strong person.
His voice actor is Kazuya Nakai.
Kiyotaka Ishimaru
Kiyotaka was given the title “Ultimate Moral Compass.”
He was known as a model student during middle school where he participated in their disciplinary committee.
Kiyotaka has red eyes, spiky black hair, and large eyebrows. He wears a white school uniform and black knee-high boots. He also has an arm band which has the kanji ‘fuki’, which means ‘Public Morals.’
True to his title, Kiyotaka is righteous and values order above anything else. He is also shown to be a hard worker who believes that a person can achieve anything with it. He is also revealed to have earned his title in the same means, he dedicated himself to studying and having proper conduct. However, because of this, he had trouble making friends and could not hold normal conversations with other people.
Kiyotaka is also shown to be intense and expressive in his manner of speaking, but can also be insensitive at times.
After their first day at the academy, Kiyotaka had unofficially assigned himself as the leader of the boys in his class. Every morning, he would wake up the others and convince them to go to the morning meeting held at the academy’s cafeteria. When Monokuma had threatened the students that he would reveal their embarrassing secrets, Kiyotaka suggested that they should reveal their secrets in order to prevent anything from happening.
He is shown to be closest to Mondo after their endurance battle at the sauna bath where they ended up talking about their life and family.
His voice actor is Kosuke Toriumi.
Hifumi Yamada
Hifumi was given the title “Ultimate Fanfic Creator.”
He is an otaku and a famous doujin author who sold ten thousand copies of his work during a culture festival at his school. Hifumi also proclaims that his interests are solely in the 2D World and that he likes 2D girls more than 3D girls.
Hifumi has black hair with a pointed ahoge. He wears black glasses, a white shirt, an orange tie which has a blue arrow pointing upwards, and a grey unbuttoned cardigan. He also wears black trousers and white shoes. Moreover, he carries an orange backpack with him.
He dislikes people who do not understand the true meaning of doujin (fan-made manga, anime, etc.), even claiming that they are ruining everything. His dream is to make a doujin which can ‘save’ other people and will then inspire people to create their own. He often attempts to educate Makoto about doujinshi.
He feels misunderstood by his peers and resents them for it. Often, he also comes across as creepy and a bit perverted by the others, possibly because of his tendency to make an innuendo about things that the other students would say, this trait of Hifumi creeps Leon out. He also has a habit of using anime references whenever he talks about something.
Hifumi also develops feelings for Alter Ego since he would listen to everything that he says, including his hobbies and interests. He also sees Alter Ego as a female, despite that he was modeled after his creator, Chihiro.
His voice actor is Keppei Yamaguchi.
Celestia Ludenberck
Celestia was given the title “Ultimate Gambler.”
She is a famous gambler and known as the ‘Queen of Liars.’ Later, it is revealed that her real name is Taeko Yasuhiro.
Celestia has pale skin, red eyes and a slim figure. She has black long hair in two large twin-drill pigtails. She wears a Gothic Lolita style of outfit with a black jacket and a black skirt that has white laces on the sleeves and on the edge of the skirt, a white dress shirt with white frills under her jacket, and a red tie with a butterfly pattern across her chest. She also wears black knee-high stockings with white lace, red Mary Jane shoes and a white lace as her headpiece. In addition, she has black painted nails, gold earrings and a white ring on her index finger.
As a gambler, Celestia is shown to be collected and cunning by nature. True to her nickname as the ‘Queen of Liars,’ she also has the ability to manipulate others and can lie whilst having a straight face. However, she is also very polite and uses proper language whenever she talks to the other students.
She is also shown to be intelligent and has a short-temper, which surfaces when something does not go according to her plan.
Celestia was able to adapt quickly into the new conditions when they entered the academy. She claims that is the only way to survive and advises the others that they should also do the same. She also suggested that the students should not get out of their room at night in order to prevent murder.
Her voice actor is Hekiru Shiina.
Sakura Ogami
Sakura was given the title “Ultimate Martial Artist.”
She is an expert in martial arts and a wrestler who has become a champion in international competitions in America. Her 400-winning streak has yet to be broken. She is also nicknamed ‘The Ogre’ by Yasuhiro.
Due to her deep voice, muscular build, and fierce appearance, Sakura has often been mistaken for a man. She has long white hair, tanned skin and has a scar on her face. She also wears a white sailor uniform that has ripened sleeves and has bandages on her legs and arms. In addition, she has a red tie and wears a blue skirt which barely covers her muscular thighs.
Contrary to Sakura’s appearance, she is actually a quiet and levelheaded person. She is also an heir of a family dojo (physical training facility) which has a three hundred year history. This possibly contributes to Sakura’s habit of talking in a formal and old manner. When she was young, she would always train at her family’s dojo with her father until she defeated him.
Moreover, she rarely loses her temper and sees things carefully in any situation. She also has inherited a sense of loyalty from her clan as Sakura has greatly revered and respected her friendship with the other students, and would get upset whenever someone tries to harm her friends, most especially Aoi.
Sakura is shown to be close with Aoi because of their mutual enthusiasm in athletic activities.
Her voice actor is Kujira.
Junko Enoshima
Junko was given the title “Ultimate Fashionista.”
She is a young and charismatic fashion model who has become popular with her extravagant tastes in fashion. Junko has modeled for many famous magazines.
Junko has always wanted to become a model ever since she was young, but was also eager to try new things.
While Junko’s English title is “Ultimate Fashionista,” her original Japanese title is “Ultimate Gyaru.” The term ‘gyaru’ translates as ‘gal’ in English. It refers to fashion and peer conscious young Japanese women who promote the latest fashion trends. It is also a subculture which has a large influence on Japan’s fashion economy. Gyaru fashion is known for having bleached or dyed hair, decorated nails, wearing contact lenses and having dramatic makeup.
Junko has blue eyes and has long and thick blonde hair which is tied into two pigtails.
She has also been shown to have a number of different hair accessories, but a pair of hair clips in which the left is completely black with red eyes while the right clip is completely white with dot eyes, are shown to be her signature hair accessories.
She has a tall, hourglass figure and wears a black cardigan with a black and white tie which loosely dangles around her neck. She also wears a red miniskirt and tall black boots with platform heels and has red laces. In addition, Junko has long red nails and has a red bow tie on the left side of her cardigan.
Her voice actor is Megumi Toyoguchi.
Other Cast:
Alter Ego
Alter Ego is an artificial intelligence program made by Chihiro from the old laptop which was found in the library, by Kyoko, as the students were exploring it. They figured that by using the laptop, they may be able to find some files regarding the academy and the headmaster, including how to escape from the academy.
Chihiro was asked to fix it since it was not working properly and because it is related to his field of work as a computer programmer.
His default appearance is the face of Chihiro and talks with Chihiro’s voice. In addition, he also resembles Chihiro’s personality. However, it is also shown that he could be able to imitate the appearance, personality and voice of the other students. Alter Ego also has a green color scheme with multiple applications on his desktop.
Later on, Hifumi has appeared to have fallen in love with Alter Ego and shared to him his personal interests. To which Alter Ego was interested, given that it was an artificial intelligence program which was designed to learn and grow.
Alter Ego helps the students in decrypting data from the main computer and tells them some truths about the academy. Chihiro had hidden him in a locker on the public bath changing room so that he would not be discovered by Monokuma and would not be destroyed or confiscated by him.
Since Alter Ego is made to have the same appearance, personality and voice of Chihiro, they both have the same voice actors, which is Kouki Miyata.
Monokuma
Monokuma is the main antagonist in the series.
He is a strange and sadistic remote-controlled teddy bear that proclaims to be the principal of Hope’s Peak Academy, which was doubted by the students. He initiates the killings inside the academy by locking the students inside and telling them that the only way they can get out or ‘graduate’ is if they can murder someone without being identified as the murderer. Often, he would also threaten the students in order to instigate murder, such as offering them a bounty, showing them a personalized DVD, threatening their families or any other means.
He is also shown to have various copies of himself in the academy and would punish anyone who tried to attack him or break any of the academy’s rules.
Similar to his name, which is a combination of ‘monochrome’ and ‘bear’, he has a monochrome appearance. Half of him looks like an adorable white bear, while the other half looks like a sadistic black bear with a wide grin and a red slash as his eye. The slash on Monokuma’s eye is meant to resemble the insignia of Hope’s Peak Academy that could be seen in front of the school building. The muzzle and belly area of Monokuma are the only parts which were not split between black and white. In addition, he has a bulging navel that has an X mark on it as well as retractable white claws on his paws.
Monokuma’s personality is split into two, similar to his body, with each side representing good and evil. Depending on Monokuma’s mood, he would turn his body on one side. His ‘white’ personality would resemble a normal teddy bear that acts cute and innocent, while his ‘black’ personality shows an evil teddy bear that would do anything in order to cause despair. When he becomes angry or emotional, his left eye would also glow in red and his teeth would turn into sharp fangs. When he is amused, he would make his signature and sadistic laugh ‘upupupu.’ Often, when he gets upset or when he is bored, he would attack any of the students, but most of the time, Monokuma would hold himself back saying that he could not hurt his ‘beloved students.’
When the students have gathered in the gymnasium on their first day of school, Monokuma appears and tells them about the game, the school’s rules and about the e-handbook which was given to each of the students. The students doubt that he is the real principal of the academy and believe that there is someone else controlling him, thus they investigate in order to find out the real identity of the person controlling Monokuma and on how they can get out of the academy. However, Monokuma then thinks that the students should have a motive in order to kill someone. To this, he shows each student a personalized DVD which would motivate them to try and ‘graduate’ at any cost.
His voice actor is Nobuyo Oyama.
