Gundham Tanaka

Gundham Tanaka, from Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, is very high on many of the Duckpond members list of favorite characters. His personality throughout the game and his death have made many of the members respect and adore Gundham. He is referenced a similar amount to Chiaki Nanami. 
== History ==
Gundham Tanaka (田中 眼蛇夢), is a student of Hope's Peak Academy's Class 77-B, and a participant of the Killing School Trip featured in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. His title is the Ultimate Breeder.
Gundham has an eccentric and somewhat dark personality, his delusions of self-grandeur likely stemming from an inferiority complex and chuunibyou syndrome. He claims that he was gifted with evil powers of the underworld, the result of "an angel and a devil" joining together. Gundham refers to other people as "pathetic human beings" and states that even the gods fear his abilities. He often rambles about his status as "The Supreme Overlord of Ice" and his interest in the dark arts, alchemy, and astral levels. Preferring to be alone, he prioritizes himself and taking care of the Devas over connecting with his classmates. For instance, in 1-2, he failed to help investigate the murder of his classmate after he lost the Hell Hound Earring and obsessed over recovering it. As a result, he initially comes off as self-centered and aloof.
Despite making a poor first impression, Gundham offers comic relief in what he says to Danganronpa players and other characters. His outlandish responses and dramatic voice acting are reminiscent of a cartoon super villain. He sometimes goes as far as to compliment other characters if they say a "nice line," which teases at breaking the fourth wall. Gundham is notably contradictory—during his introduction, he tells Hajime Hinata to step forward and introduce himself, for Gundham will destroy Hajime once he does. It is heavily implied that though Gundham appears prideful and shuns spending time with mere mortals, he may actually feel lonely. He tends to cover up how he feels alienated from others; for instance, he claimed that he was "searching for solitude" before slowly wandering off.
Gundham's harsh facade conceals a softer, more sensitive side. Sonia's compliments cause him to blush and hide the bottom half of his face in his scarf; he even stammers a little. However, it's hinted that Gundham has serious problems with socializing and physical contact. He has been strict about not wanting to touch nor be touched by others since childhood, going as far as to avoid sports and playing with other children. In his typical manner, Gundham claims that his flesh is "poisoned" to disguise his fear of intimacy. He tells Hajime that he can only be touched by very specific persons with astral levels that match his own. Throughout the game, he improves a little with handling both social and physical contact.
Though he may be awkward around other people, Gundham deeply cares about animals (despite how he refers to them as his evil minions to stay in line with his overlord persona). He claims that anything that can talk "will eventually betray you," suggesting that he has been hurt by others in the past and prefers to trust animals for their loyalty and sincere nature. Gundham demands that animals are treated with respect. He uses his talents to educate people who don't know how to properly take care of animals - during his Free Time Events, Gundham tells Hajime that he maintains an informational website about breeding. He also says that he pities livestock for being raised for the sole purpose of human consumption. This may mean that Gundham is a vegetarian or vegan; on the other hand, his words may imply that he is only against eating animals defiled by human involvement. He takes great offense to people interfering with animals' natural instincts and autonomy. In Island Mode, Gundham reveals that he even hates anthropomorphic cartoons of animals, likely because their human-like behavior insults the dignity of the animals they are based on.
Gundham has great respect for the nature and its laws. He understands that nature is indiscriminate in its harsh cruelty, and he does not fear death. At the same time, he strongly dislikes mankind's malicious ways. Notably, Gundham hates the idea of giving up without a fight, for he believes that all creatures are born to fight tooth and nail to survive. According to him, giving up your life willingly is blasphemous toward nature (and by extension, oneself). When his class is starving and trapped in Strawberry House, Gundham challenges Nekomaru to a duel to revive everyone's will to survive. Gundham ends up killing Nekomaru. When he is exposed as the murderer, Gundham is quicker than past perpetrators to give up his defenses and accept his fate. He justifies his actions by explaining that fighting for survival, sometimes even killing another person, is simply the natural order of things. He also points out that Nekomaru could have run away or called for help, but instead chose to stand his ground and fight. However, when Nagito tries to take over on summarizing the entire case; saying that he pressed Nekomaru's goodnight button without fighting him, Gundham is absolutely furious at his accusation, hinting that Gundham gets very livid at those making assumptions of him doing the very opposite of what he would intentionally do.
While he claims he killed Nekomaru from his innate will to survive, it's implied that Gundham felt conflicted about sacrificing his friends. His parting words suggest he was partially motivated to complete the murder in order to save his class from succumbing to hunger (though he vehemently denies this, as it isn't befitting of a dark overlord). His rousing speech about not giving up on life in the face of despair is a good tell. Regardless, he accepted that he might get away with murder and let everyone die, according to his own ideology about the cycle of life (though this would have likely caused him guilt). Gundham is quick to accept his punishment with dignity, reassuring the others that he was merely a "temporary visitor" in this world. During his Punishment, Gundham sets the Devas aside to save them. Despite talking about going to Hell, his execution closes with winged animals flying him to heaven, confirming that his true nature is good.
Interestingly, there are moments in which Gundham shows he has a deeper understanding of certain situations and isn't lost in his own world. For example, Gundham is the only one who openly acknowledges Nagito's grey morality (despite strongly disliking him). Gundham also states that murder is murder regardless of motive.
Category:Fictional Characters the Duckpond Obsesses Over
Category:Characters