Danganronpa: The Students, Ranked | ScreenRant
In December of 2021, Nintendo released Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp. The game revisited old characters from the beloved series, including the original game, and threw players back into the stressful world of life and death, and reminded them of some old school favorites.
Although many in the community prefer the cast of Danganronpa 2 and 3, the first game still has plenty of characters with great designs, personality, and overall usefulness. However, there are also characters that fail in most of those categories. Every Danganronpa character is an ultimate, but some are certainly more "ultimate" than others.
16 Hifumi Yamada
Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator, was able to make it through the first few rounds of murders before being tricked and killed by Celestia Ludenberg.
Yamada suffers from an unfortunately common trope in anime and video games: the perverted high schooler who doesn't get along with anyone. Mineta from My Hero Academia and Teruteru from Danganronpa 2 share the same role, and it ended up being Yamada's undoing as a character as well as the reason for his death.
15 Toko Fukawa
Toko Fukawa was (unfortunately) one of the survivors of the killing game and is the Ultimate Writing Prodigy as well as the infamous serial killer Genocide Jack.
Fukawa's stalker-level crush on one of the main three characters, Byakuya Togami, makes her difficult to root for. Her obsession borders on being her primary character trait throughout most of the games, and her input in most trials is also fairly useless. The twist of her being Genocide Jack is interesting, but even in that persona, she's oddly obsessed with Byakuya.
14 Leon Kuwata
The Ultimate Baseball Star and the very first culprit in the Danganronpa franchise, Leon Kuwata, brutally killed Sayaka after initially being attacked by her.
Leon wasn't necessarily a bad character, but he had one of the least interesting trials in the series both from a confession and execution standpoint. He also never gave a satisfactory answer for killing Sayaka after he had the ability to just leave her locked in the bathroom and tell the other students about her murder attempt.
13 Mukuro Ikusaba
The Ultimate Soldier and ally to Ultimate Despair sister number two herself, Mukuro Ikusaba was an accomplice in her sister Junko's plan.
In a plot twist for the ages, it turned out that Mukuro was the first to die in her sister Junko's stead, so the audience never got to see much of her. The only bit of Mukuro players ever saw that wasn't acting was her talking to her sister (via Monokuma) moments before her death. She was always an interesting character, but it was more her circumstances and plot relevance rather than the character herself that was fascinating.
12 Sayaka Maizono
Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation, was an old friend of Naegi and the first victim that a trial was held for in the series.
Sayaka was never the most dynamic or interesting character, but her attempted murder of Leon added an interesting edge to the character. Her lone final message "11037" not only saved everyone's life but also lived on as a key hint in Danganronpa 2. Sayaka could have been a greater character given more time but ended fairly average.
11 Yasuhiro Hagakure
The Ultimate Clairvoyant is perhaps the least ultimate of the ultimates throughout the entire series, being able to predict future events with a 30% accuracy.
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Hagakure is the blandest of the survivors, and certainly the least intelligent in trials. Attacking Sakura was arguably the most plot-relevant thing he did in the entire story, aside from being framed in two different trials. Ultimately, Hagakure is a regular young adult with vague special abilities stuck with geniuses.
10 Kiyotaka Ishimaru
Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Moral Compass, met his untimely end at the hands of Yamada. Though ultimately, it was Celestia's plan that took out Ishimaru.
Ishimaru began the game as a somewhat unlikeable rigid rule-follower who was quick to berate his fellow students. After a fan-favorite event, his surprise bonding with Mondo, Ishimaru became a much more likable character until his death. Overall, he remains an above-average character with a rough start.
9 Mondo Owada
Mondo Owada, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, was the blackened of the second trail and the murderer of Chihiro Fujisaki.
Part of what makes Mondo interesting is that he was one of the few perpetrators who wasn't premeditated in the series. Mondo killed Chihiro in a blind rage after discovering Chihiro's secret, believing it highlighted his own weakness. His relationship with Ishimaru and his regret at killing Chihiro makes Mondo a solid character.
8 Celestia Ludenberg
Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler, led to the deaths of both Yamada and Ishimaru before her execution.
Celestia was a cunning blackened who presented a huge challenge to Naegi and Kirigiri. Her trial was arguably the most difficult to reach a conclusion for, and she was an interesting minor antagonist with plenty of mystery surrounding her. However, Celestia's motivation, living in a castle with handsome men surrounding her, fell a bit flat.
7 Aoi Asahina
Aoi Asahina, the Ultimate Swimming Pro, was one of the six survivors of the killing game.
Asahina is a kind and supportive friend to the protagonists, and her relationship with Sakura was touching to see. In a dark circumstance, Aoi was one of the characters that brought joy to the group. Like Byakuya, she was one of the survivors that actively sabotaged a trial, but that ended up only giving her character an interesting edge.
6 Chihiro Fujisaki
Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer, initially presented as female before revealing to Mondo that both biologically and in terms of identity, they were male.
Chihiro plays with gender identity in a unique way: bullied for his physical weakness and smaller frame as a young boy, Chihiro found that he wasn't looked down on for his stature when presenting as a girl. Aside from that uniqueness that made the character more interesting, Chihiro was also one of the kindest students at the academy.
5 Sakura Ogami
The Ultimate Martial Artist, Sakurai Ogami, was the final death before the trial with Junko. She met her end by drinking poison to give her friends an easy final trial.
Of all the student deaths, Sakura's was arguably the saddest. She sacrificed herself to make sure her friends were safe, and her best friend Asahina's meddling almost made her sacrifice for naught. Fortunately, Naegi figured out her intent and the six final students moved on to their battle with Monokuma.
4 Junko Enoshima
After a grueling series of trials, the person behind everything is finally revealed: Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Despair.
The final battle with Junko was the highlight of the game and the Bullet Time Battle against her was one of the craziest minigames in the story. She's a perfect mix of menacing and absurd that's befitting of the final boss of a game like Danganronopa. Her execution, a mix of every prior execution in the game, was the cherry on top.
3 Byakuya Togami
The Ultimate Affluent Progeny, Byakuya Togami, was a survivor and one of the three students most active throughout the trials.
Byakuya sabotaging the second trial to reveal Genocide Jack's identity was a sour spot for the character in many fans' eyes, but Byakuya isn't meant to be likable right away. He's an abrasive genius who needs to experience difficulties before he eventually learns to cooperate with Kirigiri and Naegi by the end.
2 Makoto Naegi
Naegi begins with the title of Ultimate Lucky Student, slowly figuring his way through the trails before he eventually overcomes despair and becomes the Ultimate Hope.
Makoto Naegi isn't a traditional JRPG protagonist. He's clever and kind but still relies on Byakuya and (especially) Kirigiri throughout the story. He's a genuine, realistically written protagonist who has his strengths and weaknesses as a person. That's precisely what makes Naegi's growth into the ultimate hope feel so great.
1 Kyoko Kirigiri
Kyoko Kirigiri, The Ultimate ???, was one of the final survivors of the killing game and was eventually revealed to be the Ultimate Detective.
While Naegi carried the last trial almost completely by himself, he likely wouldn't have made it through to the end without Kirigiri. Along with Nagito from 2, Kirigiri is one of the only NPCs who arguably is better in the killing game trials than the protagonist themselves. She's a fan-favorite and a key part of the story.