Danganronpa - Speculations and Theories (First time anime viewers only)

[Kirito]

All right! It's been awhile since I was here, but after watched this weeks episode and the soon to be upcoming final fight between the students and the Puppetmaster, things I hope will get a lot more interesting. Anyways...

Ahem:

After finishing episode 11 and seeing the aftermath of the trial and the build up to the final battle, something is still bothering about what I've learned this episode. It's safe to say that it's official that the Headmaster (Kirigiri's father) isn't the Puppetmaster, but it leaves us with this question: If it's not the school principle than whom? I think the answer lies in the hint that Monokuma left

"There are a total of 16 students who've entered the school. No more, no less".

I don't know if I worded it properly like he did, but it's pretty close regardless. Anyway, If that's the case then it leaves us with these options of who the Puppetmaster could be or the events that took place behind the scenes.

A. Monokuma could be lying and there a possibility of an extra student that we don't know about...yet.

B. Like Yamada during the events of chapter 3, someone whom we think is dead could very much still be alive. Which is weird because 10 people are dead, hence the possible 17th student theory.

C. Mukuro's death could've been something a little more "hidden", or obvious, but there wasn't much detail to go on since the method and cause of death is questionable considering that Kirigiri and Makoto are innocent and did not murder her. The Puppetmaster had his hands in her death, but how and when is the question.

I hope that there's still mysteries regarding Mukuro and her role, and back story in all of this. We know that she's a murder victim and the 16th student, but what else is there to go on. If the Puppetmaster did murder her, than why destroy her body? Also those nails on her corpse look oddly familiar... probably seeing things, but seems out of the ordinary if you ask me.

[AC-Phoenix]

Since I already posted it in the EP 11 thread, have the monokuma file for Case 5 (Aka ep 10 and 11)

Spoiler for Monokuma file:

As a result of severe damage caused by an explosion which occured post mortem, the identity of the deceased is unknown.

the deceased suffered a single knife wound to the abdomen, extending to the back of the body.

There are signs of trauma visible on the back of the deceased's head, which appear to have been caused by a cylindrical object approximately the same diameter as an iron pipe.

Additionally there are numerous wounds visible in multible locations all over the deceased's body. however these wounds were not incurred in the last few days, but at some earlier time.

translation credits go to the fan patch

[Sute443]

Originally Posted by Clarami

After finishing episode 11 and seeing the aftermath of the trial and the build up to the final battle, something is still bothering about what I've learned this episode. It's safe to say that it's official that the Headmaster (Kirigiri's father) isn't the Puppetmaster, but it leaves us with this question: If it's not the school principle than whom? I think the answer lies in the hint that Monokuma left

"There are a total of 16 students who've entered the school. No more, no less".

I don't know if I worded it properly like he did, but it's pretty close regardless. Anyway, If that's the case then it leaves us with these options of who the Puppetmaster could be or the events that took place behind the scenes.

I think that it would be closer to say that he was verifying that "The only living people to set foot in Hope's Peak are 16 students," which is a considerably narrower statement. It precludes Kirigiri's father from being in the school (which is odd, considering what Alter-Ego said) and confirms that if the mastermind is in the school, the mastermind is a student. Then again, that's my own rough translation of the line in the anime, so who knows how faithful it is to the game.

Originally Posted by Clarami

A. Monokuma could be lying and there a possibility of an extra student that we don't know about...yet.

Some of the gamers have been pretty insistent in reminding us that Monokuma doesn't lie, so that seems unlikely. Then again, Monokuma has been acting strangely; if he has a new controller, all bets could be off.

Originally Posted by Clarami

B. Like Yamada during the events of chapter 3, someone whom we think is dead could very much still be alive. Which is weird because 10 people are dead, hence the possible 17th student theory.

I think we can discount most of the murder victims, so that would leave Kuwata, Oowada, Celes, and Mukuro (since we never got a positive ID on the body). I doubt Kuwata would have risked that kind of pummeling if he was the mastermind, and it would have been pretty hard to pull off a switch in Oowada's case, so they're probably out. Celes' body was never seen, and "Mukuro" was too damaged to be sure, so it could be either of them.

Originally Posted by Clarami

C. Mukuro's death could've been something a little more "hidden", or obvious, but there wasn't much detail to go on since the method and cause of death is questionable considering that Kirigiri and Makoto are innocent and did not murder her. The Puppetmaster had his hands in her death, but how and when is the question.

How do we know that Kirigiri didn't kill her? She showed up in Naegi's room after Mukuro stood over Naegi with the knife, the apparent murder weapon came from the archery room, and there was evidence in Kirigiri's room that she'd gone to the archery room.

There's also the fact that Monokuma said (and I'm not sure if it was in the episode or something one of the game players said) that the murder was performed in accordance with the rules of the school, meaning that neither Monokuma nor the mastermind are responsible for the dead body. Unless...

Originally Posted by Clarami

I hope that there's still mysteries regarding Mukuro and her role, and back story in all of this. We know that she's a murder victim and the 16th student, but what else is there to go on. If the Puppetmaster did murder her, than why destroy her body? Also those nails on her corpse look oddly familiar... probably seeing things, but seems out of the ordinary if you ask me.

... it turns out that "Mukuro's" body was actually Junko's, as suggested by the nails and the last part of the Monokuma File, and the whole killed-in-accordance-with-the-rules thing is a reference to her punishment for attacking Monokuma.

[Calca]

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix

Since I already posted it in the EP 11 thread, have the monokuma file for Case 5 (Aka ep 10 and 11)

Spoiler for Monokuma file:

As a result of severe damage caused by an explosion which occured post mortem, the identity of the deceased is unknown.

the deceased suffered a single knife wound to the abdomen, extending to the back of the body.

There are signs of trauma visible on the back of the deceased's head, which appear to have been caused by a cylindrical object approximately the same diameter as an iron pipe.

Additionally there are numerous wounds visible in multible locations all over the deceased's body. however these wounds were not incurred in the last few days, but at some earlier time.

translation credits go to the fan patch

Thats kind of a big spoiler given that this file will probably be used for episode 12.

[Dengar]

I don't usually defend people "just because they use spoiler tags", but in this case, it clearly says on the label that it's a monokuma file, so it's up to you whether you want to read it or not.

[Solitaired]

Originally Posted by Sute443

Who was the person killed in the first execution at the very start of the series?
Why is this game in which despair and hope do battle being held, and why is it being televised?
How is the mastermind able to get away with televising the game?
How does the mastermind have access to all the resources necessary to set up the game, including the classified material in the library?
Why were these particular students chosen to participate? Some, such as Fukawa, are understandable, but if a detective is going to mess up the game why not just not include her rather than wipe her memory?
What was with the pictures of the students being buddy-buddy?
What was the Biggest and Baddest Despair Event in Human History?
What was it about the event that threatened Hope's Peak with closure?
Why did the principle think it would be a good idea to confine students within the school?
Is the principle still inside the school? If so, where?
What did Monokuma do to their bodies?
What happened inside the blood-splattered room on the fifth floor?
Was it actually Mukuro's body that was found, and did Kirigiri kill her?
Why is Monokuma acting strangely?
What did Monokuma mean when he said that he was different from two years ago?

Anything come to mind that I'm missing?

Half of the questions can already be answered with the hints shown so far. A few of them are linked by the same answer.

To add on to your questions,
Why does Yamada know Celes's real name?
What is that weird dream Naegi had in episode 10?
What of the video footages Monokuma gave them in the first case?
How does Monokuma know about their dark and embarrassing secrets?
If all of these are telecasted live, why isn't there any help coming for them?
Some of the rooms are out of the ordinary. Like the physics lab, bio lab, biological gardens etc.

Do note that there is a direct sequel to this game, which fully answers all unanswered questions in this game. So yes, there will also be unanswered questions in this current series.

[AC-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Calca

Thats kind of a big spoiler given that this file will probably be used for episode 12.

The Monokumafile was supposed to appear in Episode 10 and 11, and Yasahiro even referred to it; so its not really a spoiler, but rather missing content.

[Jan-Poo]

Monokuma's last statement at the end of the anime gave me a lot to think.

What he said wasn't simply that there are only 16 students, he said that　the only living humans that set foot inside the academy are 16 students.

This implies that the headmaster isn't there or if he is he was already dead when the game started, but also that if the puppetmaster himself is inside the school then he is a student like everyone else.

Considering that the ending is nearing and that we haven't really seen many other persons outside the main cast I think I'm fairly confident that the real culprit must be one of those 16 students.

Moreover if the last trial has any chance of being fair at all the culprit must be one of the students, and it must have been the puppetmaster himself who committed it.


Now I've been trying to figure out who the culprit among the persons that we know could be, and the more I thought about it the more I convinced myself that it's not likely that it's one of those who are still "alive".

There's the fact that everyone has an alibi for the crime except Kirigiri and Naegi, Monokuma knew that well, but those two are extremely unlikely to be the real culprits at this point. And there's also a very significant fact to consider, and that's the fact that while the crime was committed Monokuma stopped functioning which means the puppetmaster wasn't controlling it, and that's because the puppet master was busy killing his own accomplice and setting up the corpse.

We know that there's likely only one person controlling Monokuma and monitoring the students because that's how Kirigiri managed to elude his surveillance and enter inside the principal's room.

But then who could do that when we have seen all the students gathered in one place and Monokuma being controlled? Well the obvious answer is that it was the student that was apparently missing since the beginning: Ikusaba Mukuro.

Following this reasoning the corpse that was found then would be no other than Junko Enoshima which is hinted by several clues.
This would also make sense because obviously the culprit took care to make sure nobody would see the corpse's face.


This line of reasoning sounds solid enough, but I'm not really convinced, something isn't right. There's something more that need some explanation here. Junko is supposed to be a "Gyaru" a "fashionista"or "model" if you like. And yet the corpse has a strange tattoo on her hand which was likely concealed for some reasons. Moreover the nails while they are totally like the one seen on Junko they are likely fake as some of them went missing. What kind of Gyaru would have such tattoo and have short nails?

No, the more I think about it the more I think that the corpse is actually Ikusaba Mukuro which was somehow disguised to look like Junko. And this leads me to a crazy idea, and suddenly everything falls into piece.

Because if the corpse was Mukuro then why a disguise would be needed in the first place? And why would hiding her face make sense? They must have seen her before and here is the crazy idea: they did!

Ikusaba Mukuro wasn't disguised as Junko by the culprit, she disguised herself! The person that everyone believed to be Junko has always been Mukuro since the beginning!

Now the funny thing is that according to the rules of mystery novels disguises should be hinted in order to have a fair game, in other words something in an earlier part of the story should have given us a hint that Junko Enhoshima was actually someone else disguised... well there is!

Back in episode two Sakura commented that Junko Enoshima didn't look like the one she saw on the cover of the magazines! In other words everyone looking at her and at the pictures of the real Junko Enoshima would be able to tell that they are not the same person!

The story of the photoshop was likely just some lie to dismiss the suspicions, and after all why would such an otherwise inane chit chat be included considering how many things were cut in this anime adaption?

So in conclusion the corpse is both Ikusaba Mukuro and the "Junko Enoshima" that we have seen so far.
And that means that the culprit is no other than: the real Junko Enoshima.

[HatsuHaruCow]

This implies that the headmaster isn't there or if he is he was already dead when the game started, but also that if the puppetmaster himself is inside the school then he is a student like everyone else.

I'm fairly certain we saw what happened to the principal at the beginning of the first ep. The person looks more like a man than a student and the building he's shot from looks like the school.

[Solitaired]

@Jan-Poo

Point to consider: Enoshina Junko's corpse at the beginnings was pronounced dead by Naegi. Though according to your theory it's meaningless if they already have switched places.

But in Chihiro/Mondo's case, Enoshima Junko's ElectroID was shown in the anime with her name shown. According to Monokuma, the ElectoIDs of deceased students are kept together and they display their personal details (like "Celes" won't be written there)

Also, I would love to see your theories on what hints point out that the corpse in the garden is Enoshima Junko. The true culprit might disguise the corpse as her as one might usually be suspicious of those who died early.

[White Manju Bun]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Ikusaba Mukuro wasn't disguised as Junko by the culprit, she disguised herself! The person that everyone believed to be Junko has always been Mukuro since the beginning!

So in conclusion the corpse is both Ikusaba Mukuro and the "Junko Enoshima" that we have seen so far.
And that means that the culprit is no other than: the real Junko Enoshima.

I have one issue with the Junko being Mukuro, Mukuro is suppose to be a deadly mercenary. I think if this were true she would have reacted faster before PsychoBear impaled her in epi 2 thus not dying at his hands. Also Junko didnt have the tattoo on her hand and Solitaired has already brought up that the IDs give their real names. Unless that was forged somehow...

[Sute443]

@Jan-Poo

Seeing it laid out like that, the idea that Junko is the mastermind seems pretty compelling, but I think there are a few weak spots in your reasoning besides what Solitaired said about the ElectroIDs.

First of all, the fake nails could be explained as Junko simply using them because they were more convenient than having her real nails be long.

Secondly, the tattoo could be a red herring. It wasn't visible before they poured water on the body which could suggest that it was concealed by make-up, but that could also have just been an animation error. If it not being initially visible was just an animation error, then it's conceivable that it was added after the time of death to make the body look more genuinely like Mukuro's. Without seeing how it was presented in the game, we can't say for sure.

Thirdly, if the corpse was Mukuro-disguised-as-Junko and real!Junko was the one who set it up, why didn't real!Junko remove the remaining pieces of the disguise prior to setting up the body?

There's also the question of how a model would have gotten the resources for everything, but that's not too important right now since that would apply to anyone but Togami (who Monokuma pretty much said was innocent when Monokuma called him an 'extra').

@HatsuHaruCow

He looked like he was dressed like a student and didn't really share a family resemblance to Kirigiri, so I doubt that.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by HatsuHaruCow

I'm fairly certain we saw what happened to the principal at the beginning of the first ep. The person looks more like a man than a student and the building he's shot from looks like the school.

Ah, nice catch, that's quite possible.

Originally Posted by Solitaired

But in Chihiro/Mondo's case, Enoshima Junko's ElectroID was shown in the anime with her name shown. According to Monokuma, the ElectoIDs of deceased students are kept together and they display their personal details (like "Celes" won't be written there)

Not a problem if the electro ID has always been the one of the true Junko Enoshima. The rule that forbade lending IDs wasn't enacted if not after Ikusaba's death. besides, it's not like Monokuma strictly adheres to his rules as we have recently seen.

Originally Posted by Solitaired

Also, I would love to see your theories on what hints point out that the corpse in the garden is Enoshima Junko. The true culprit might disguise the corpse as her as one might usually be suspicious of those who died early.

What would the culprit gain by trying to disguise an unrelated corpse as Enoshima Junko?

Originally Posted by White Manju Bun

I have one issue with the Junko being Mukuro, Mukuro is suppose to be a deadly mercenary. I think if this were true she would have reacted faster before PsychoBear impaled her in epi 2 thus not dying at his hands.

Well, I don't know, it seems to me that Monokuma's punishments defy logic. Even Leon was supposed to be a very athletic person, but he couldn't do a thing to survive. Moreover if Ikusaba Mukuro disguises as Junko and Junko is the culprit, the Ikusaba Mukuro was an accomplice and therefore she probably didn't think that she would be killed.
Now that you made me think about this, I just rewatched her death scene and she does seem surprised.

"What? This is strange... why me?"

Originally Posted by Sute443

First of all, the fake nails could be explained as Junko simply using them because they were more convenient than having her real nails be long.

Maybe but I still think that it would be strange. At any rate it's hard to think that they would show us a hand with only a few red fingernails without a proper reason.

Originally Posted by Sute443

Secondly, the tattoo could be a red herring. It wasn't visible before they poured water on the body which could suggest that it was concealed by make-up, but that could also have just been an animation error. If it not being initially visible was just an animation error, then it's conceivable that it was added after the time of death to make the body look more genuinely like Mukuro's. Without seeing how it was presented in the game, we can't say for sure.

Unlikely, if the culprit really went as far as to paint a fake tattoo on the corpse's hand, you'd think he'd also take the time to remove all the fake fingernails or put them all in place if that's what he wanted.

Originally Posted by Sute443

Thirdly, if the corpse was Mukuro-disguised-as-Junko and real!Junko was the one who set it up, why didn't real!Junko remove the remaining pieces of the disguise prior to setting up the body?

I guess that's the weakest point of my theory. You'd need to think that the culprit made a very poor job and didn't even bother to remove relevant hints about the corpse's identity.
Then again it's possible that Junko Enoshima was more than fine if after an investigation everyone concluded erroneously that the corpse was her own.

[Solitaired]

Assuming your theory is right, what about the whydunnit?

Sute443 made a list of unsolved mysteries. How do you link up the culprit with the other questions?

[HatsuHaruCow]

He looked like he was dressed like a student and didn't really share a family resemblance to Kirigiri, so I doubt that.

But we know there were only 16 students in the school and the guy looks like none of them. Unless it's the 16th student but then they wouldn't kill him at the beginning or what's the point of having the mysterious 16th student. The only one left it could be given only 16 students walked in alive is the Principal or some other person that isn't a student. Given the Principal is the only other one referenced to be in the school my money is on it being him.

I'm not too concerned about family resemblance because having seen a lot of anime there isn't always one or sometimes there is only one with one parent.

[HatsuHaruCow]

Is anyone else curious to see what was on everyone else's DVDs to try and motivate them to kill? I really want to know lol

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Solitaired

Assuming your theory is right, what about the whydunnit?

Sute443 made a list of unsolved mysteries. How do you link up the culprit with the other questions?

Ah the whydunnit, it's always the hardest part to figure out in a mystery. I feel that we don't really have all the clues to find out, and the fact that the anime most likely cut a lot of things doesn't help.

I guess that somehow it has something to do with that worst despair ridden catastrophe or whatever that they often talk about. So to say it plainly I don't have a clue as to why Junko Enoshima or anyone would do all that.

Midway during the story I thought that perhaps Monokuma had some kind of inferiority complex toward all those "super duper" guys, but I don't quite think that's the reason anymore especially now that I believe that the culprit is a "super duper" something himself/herself.

Onto the questions:

Who was the person killed in the first execution at the very start of the series?

HatsuHaruCow pointed out that he might have been the headmaster. Quite possible if Monokuma took over, and the last statement suggests that a headmaster alive doesn't exist in the school so he's probably dead anyway.

Why is this game in which despair and hope do battle being held, and why is it being televised?

No clue. But Kirigiri seems to think that the puppetmaster wants to prove something to the world and that's why he needs, at least in appearance, respect some rules.

How is the mastermind able to get away with televising the game?

That really depends on what is going on outside. There is the post apocalyptic theory. I'm not quite fond of that, I mean how could there even be people leisurely watching shows on TV if that was the case? But there are several things that hint that.

How does the mastermind have access to all the resources necessary to set up the game, including the classified material in the library?

Maybe he/she is super duper rich. I mean I've seen stranger stuff already I don't quite care about that anymore.

Why were these particular students chosen to participate? Some, such as Fukawa, are understandable, but if a detective is going to mess up the game why not just not include her rather than wipe her memory?

It is a pet theory of mine since the beginning that the puppermaster actually wanted a person particularly skilled in finding the culprits to be included. Let's be honest here, the average intelligence isn't very high, if it wasn't for Kirigiri and Naegi the game would have probably ended after the first trial.
I seriously doubt that the puppetmaster created such a costly and complicated set up only to let it finish abruptly and uneventfully. He never wanted for someone to "graduate" and the last episodes only strengthened this idea.

It would have been a lot easier for him to simply declare that they got the wrong culprit and kill everyone as per rules therefore eliminating the threat of Kirigiri, but instead he preferred to go against the rules.

It really seems to me that at the top of the puppetmaster's priorities is to make the game continue without ever letting anyone win.

What was with the pictures of the students being buddy-buddy?

Well at this point we know that the puppetmaster has some kind of implausible way to erase people's memories. That means everyone probably lost their memories of their past when they all lived happily as students of the kibogamine high school.
Actually this is almost a certainty considering what Yamada said before dying.

What was the Biggest and Baddest Despair Event in Human History?

No clue.

What was it about the event that threatened Hope's Peak with closure?

I guess it was the aforementioned Biggest and Baddest Despair Event in Human History?
It is also hinted that somehow it started inside Kibogamine itself. Probably in that classroom of horror that Togami found. If that's so then it's only natural if the school had to close.

Why did the principle think it would be a good idea to confine students within the school?

Did he? Where was that part again?

Is the principle still inside the school? If so, where?

See above, as to where. Who cares? If he's alive he's not inside the school anyway.

Also it's spelled "principal".

What did Monokuma do to their bodies?

I think it's just that he erased their memories.

What happened inside the blood-splattered room on the fifth floor?

The start of the Biggest and Baddest Despair-ridden Event in Human History... or something related to that.

Was it actually Mukuro's body that was found, and did Kirigiri kill her?

Yes according to my theory and no to the second.

Why is Monokuma acting strangely?

Huh?

What did Monokuma mean when he said that he was different from two years ago?

Probably because the puppetmaster used to be a student like everyone else and they were all buddy buddy (not anymore apparently)

Perhaps it's all some kind of vengeance for something that they did and that they forgot.

[Sute443]

Originally Posted by HatsuHaruCow

But we know there were only 16 students in the school and the guy looks like none of them. Unless it's the 16th student but then they wouldn't kill him at the beginning or what's the point of having the mysterious 16th student. The only one left it could be given only 16 students walked in alive is the Principal or some other person that isn't a student. Given the Principal is the only other one referenced to be in the school my money is on it being him.

I'm not too concerned about family resemblance because having seen a lot of anime there isn't always one or sometimes there is only one with one parent.

Not necessarily. We know that Hope's Peak was a real school before whatever happened to it, so the statement that only 16 students had set foot in the building obviously didn't mean "ever." It could instead mean "since the start of this game." The execution performed at the beginning of the series could have occurred before the current game started. Maybe what we're watching isn't the first "season" of Monokuma's reality show.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Why did the principle think it would be a good idea to confine students within the school?

Did he? Where was that part again?

Episode 8. Alter-Ego revealed that Hope's Peak Academy came up with a plan to confine students inside the school and have them live together. Depending on how things went, the students may have been forced to live there their entire lives. The principal was in charge of the plan, and Alter-Ego said that there was a good chance that he was still on the school grounds.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Also it's spelled "principal".

Damn, overlooked that. Ah well, I was never bear-y pally with any of my principals.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Why is Monokuma acting strangely?

Huh?

Monokuma used different pronouns to refer to the students than he usually does. He usually uses お前ら (omaera), but lately there were a few times when he's used 君たち (kimi-tachi), such as when Kirigiri and Naegi confronted him in the gym. His speech pattern changed pretty heavily partway through that scene.

[AC-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Solitaired

But in Chihiro/Mondo's case, Enoshima Junko's ElectroID was shown in the anime with her name shown. According to Monokuma, the ElectoIDs of deceased students are kept together and they display their personal details (like "Celes" won't be written there)

To be fair, the point that they only display real names was never given directly in the anime, while the game outright stated that they only display the owner's real name.

[HatsuHaruCow]

Not necessarily. We know that Hope's Peak was a real school before whatever happened to it, so the statement that only 16 students had set foot in the building obviously didn't mean "ever." It could instead mean "since the start of this game." The execution performed at the beginning of the series could have occurred before the current game started. Maybe what we're watching isn't the first "season" of Monokuma's reality show.

True but I'm pretty sure this is the first televisation of this 'show'. I think we can safely assume the 16 students were actual students at the school before and have had their memory altered or something as there's the photos and stuff that show them all as friends in the school. No one can remember that time though. I'd say they were students there, then the 'something' happened in the outside world that they locked themselves in. Then one of the students went nuts or was involved with what was happening outside and killed the Principal, wiped the memories of the students and started this disturbing game.

There's a chance it's not the Principal but given the evidence and the characters we've been introduced to I think it's highly likely.

I also think if the puppeteer is indeed also involved in what happened outside the school and it was say a mafia type thing it would explain why they can televise it, if the 'good' outside people were either dead or under the control of this group- like a Nazi-esque type thing.