Korekiyo Shinguji

**Korekiyo Shinguji** (真宮寺 是清), also known as **Kiyo**, is the deteuratagonist and a student in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles and a participant of the Killing School Semester. He is the love interest of Asia Bando. and His title is the **Ultimate Anthropologist** (超高校級の「民俗学者」 lit. *Super High School Level Anthropologist*).

## Appearance

Korekiyo is a handsome tall, slim young man with rather pale skin and long ocean green hair. His hair is stated to follow an archaic image of beauty and it "puts his female colleagues to shame". He has narrowed yellow eyes, and his mouth is covered by a sage green mask, covering his mouth and neck, with a zipper where his mouth would be, giving him a sinister and mysterious appearance. He wears the mask wherever he goes, no matter where he goes, and he even owns different masks for eating, showering, and other daily activities. When his mask is removed, it is revealed that he wears lipstick as the appearance of his tulpa that was based on his late sister.

He wears a dark green military-style uniform with knee-high black boots, a zipper lining the front and two straps over it. The uniform consists of a white button-up underneath it, a dark green button-up, a red armband around his left arm from his previous school, *Sunset Hills High School*, a green military regulation cap with his former school's insignia on the top, and a decorative chain with revolver chamber and bullet looking charms dangling from it. In his Free Time events, he states that his sister tailored his uniform for him while she was sick. He wears what appears to be some kind of silver locket around his neck. Both of his hands are completely covered in bandages, although it's likely he's not even injured and that this is actually related to sorcery.

## Personality

Korekiyo is an aloof and somewhat a disturbing person, but he is also very cool-headed and intelligent. He has the experience of having met to a huge variety of human beings for his cultural anthropology research and because of that, he can keep himself composed even under the confinement circumstances and believes in facing things with calm and rational approach rather than an emotional one. He has a vast knowledge of different cultures and ponders different subjects in deep and complex manner, with him occasionally starting lengthy anthropology speeches even though nobody asked. He is greatly interested in topics he does not necessarily agree with as well, as he states he does not believe in any gods, but he finds them interesting from the point of view of studying the human nature and cultures. However, he does believe in ghosts and souls, and has a strong interest in communication with the dead and death in general.

Thanks to all of his knowledge, he has formed a pet theory of "humanity's unlimited beauty" and he has a deep interest in it. He believes all human beings are great, and that even their ugly sides are extremely beautiful and beauty can be created from hardship. During the Killing Game, he observes other students with great interest in seeing what kind of beauty they will display as humans under such circumstances, seemingly not caring about their safety. It has been stated that Korekiyo is so interested in anthropology that it sometimes seems like he is not as interested in the currently living people. His morals are stated to be a bit off and he can say unsettling things rather openly, like randomly mentioning that Gonta could use his immense strength to crush a child's skull easily. In Chapter 1, he openly states he has no problem with killing and wonders why the others do, stating that killing is perceived as wrong only because of laws made by humans and such laws do not exist in the Killing Game. He is aware that his appearance and behavior cause him to come across as a potential murderer, but he does not appear to care what other people think of him. He claims the others should not fear him as a potential murderer, as he merely wishes to observe.

Korekiyo usually speaks in calm and polite manner, but he nevertheless comes across rather off and makes others uncomfortable due to his strange and sometimes morbid thinking. While he is most of the time very collected, with his voice staying the same tone, he occasionally gets very excited about some topics and his voice turns notably more high-pitched. He also tends to stay calmer than the others during bad situations, as for him it's an opportunity to observe, though even his spirit begins to break during the Death Road of Despair and Gonta's Insect Meet and Greet. In Chapter 3, there is also a moment when his tone changes to more a panicky one when Kokichi touches his ancient katana without permission and he fears it might get damaged. He then disturbingly threatens to tear out all of Kokichi's nerves in anger, though his voice still remains creepily calm. In general, he tends to find noisy and vulgar people annoying, often asking them to be quiet. Furthermore, he also has a unique and somewhat creepy laugh, which sounds like "kehehehe". In the original Japanese, "kukuku" is his unique laugh's sound.

As another strange trait, he is quite fixated on keeping his mask on. During his Free Time Events, he claims he has a different mask for different activities, like eating, bathing, sleeping and exercising. However, they all appear exactly the same and do not seem to have any kind of hole in them, yet he is somehow capable of eating and drinking. According to Korekiyo, he takes his mask off only in front of people his sister deems trustworthy. He occasionally speaks on behalf of his sister, for example, by telling someone that his sister is pleased with them or that she doesn't trust them yet. The other students either do not understand what he is talking about or do not notice it. It's later revealed that his older sister is actually deceased and that he is a serial killer whose goal is to kill a hundred women he considers "pure", believing that they will become "admirable friends" for his sister in the afterlife. After suffering from traumatic torture and a near-death experience in the past, he developed a female split personality, or tulpa, based on his sister, which serves as a coping mechanism against feelings of exceptional distress. While normally very calm, stress can cause him to have a panic attack, rendering him hyperventilating and unable to talk properly. The sister persona acts reassuring towards him, but also gives orders which Korekiyo seems to obey without any questions. The persona also seems to dislike other people in passive-aggressive and condescending manner, referring to the other students as "ignorant children" and "such a sorry lot".

Korekiyo is obsessed with his sister and claims to be deeply in love with her, with her appearing to be the only person he truly cares about, and many of his mannerisms like his hair and clothing being inspired by her. He is also noted to wake up two hours before the morning announcement and spends an entire hour getting carefully dressed with no hurry. Because of these traits, he is perceived as very effeminate by the other students, and is occasionally mocked by Kaito. Korekiyo even claims that he and his sister were in an incestuous relationship, and because of this he only kills women, as he jealously refuses to let other men close to her even if he deems them good people. In his Love Suite event, it's implied that he is willing to have physical relationships with other people "out of curiosity", even if it's not consensual, but he states he would never love them as he considers his sister his only true love. Unlike most students in the series, he apparently has lots of experience with sexual relationships, as he has described himself as being very popular with local women in a village which commonly practiced bondage. He is sadomasochistic, enjoying the pain of others because he considers the raw emotions beautiful, and enjoying his own suffering because he believes it makes him closely connected to his deceased sister. However, he is also shown to be very romantic and strongly believes in the "power of love", which can make even the impossible possible. He is very fond of romance and love stories, especially ones centered around forbidden love. Even though he is apparently willing to have strictly physical relationships with other people, during the bonus mode Love Across the Universe he refuses to look at pornography, because he has "already given his heart to someone".

After he is revealed to be the culprit during the third trial, Korekiyo feels no guilt for his terrible actions and he seems to genuinely and unironically consider the other students his *friends*, not seeing any contradictions between this and his own actions. This is yet another trait that indicates that he is unable to truly understand and care about how other people feel, though he is also quite skilled at noticing other people's intentions and emotions due to keenly observing other people for years. He panicked at first, but slightly hesitantly calmed down after his sister ordered him and told him that he should accept his defeat. In the end, he does not even seem to mind his own death that much, as it's a way for him to finally reunite with his sister. Among his last words, he mentions that death is never acceptable for humans and the living must find find a reason to accept it whenever it happens, no matter how forced, explaining why so many cultures have funeral rituals and rumors about resurrecting the dead. He says that he came to the conclusion that the way you come to terms with death also determines how you live, all of this indicating that he is in some ways aware that all he has done is just a coping mechanism against his sister's death. He promises to look over his "friends" as a ghost, and creepily states that he'll be watching how they will face the deaths of their friends. Though at first content with his execution, as he believes he will be with his sister once again, he is lastly seen reacting and screaming with utter horror and disbelief as both his sister and Monokuma banish his spirit to the afterlife.

## Relationships

### Older sister

According to Korekiyo, his sister, a sickly girl, knew him better than anyone else and she meant the world to him. As children, when she was confined to the hospital, he claims to have stayed with and read to her, sparking his initial interest in anthropology as a subject, and he consequently credits her for making him the person he is present. Since she was so lonely and never made any friends due to her state, it's implied that Korekiyo spent lots of time with her.

Korekiyo's current uniform was handmade for him by his sister, who thought his old one was ill-suited to him. Her poor health made this a time-consuming effort, and so he treasures it, considering it truly one-of-a-kind. The mask he constantly wears might also be related to her sickly state.

He became obsessed with his sister and, according to him, their relationship eventually became incestuous. He claims he doesn't care what other people think and believed it was true love. After his sister died, he developed the idea of "sending admirable friends" to her in the afterlife. He began to target and murder girls that met his requirements as his sister's "friends", with his ultimate goal being 100 victims.

During his fieldwork, he was attacked and tortured by locals to near death, causing him to hallucinate seeing his sister. This led to him to develop a split personality or a tulpa based on her as a coping mechanism. In times of distress, he talked to himself in his sister's persona in an attempt to calm himself. The sister persona acted reassuring towards him, calling him "dear Korekiyo", but also appeared quite passive aggressive and Korekiyo obeyed any of her orders without questions. This might imply that she may have been manipulative and possibly abusive towards Korekiyo, as he was the only one who spent time with her and she could rely on when she was alive. It's also noteworthy that she apparently decided the kind of clothing he would wear, as she didn't want him to wear clothes that didn't suit him.

Even though he claims they were very close, his sister's spirit turned against him during his execution and worked together with Monokuma to banish his spirit with salt. According to Kodaka, it's ambiguous whether she was the real deal or controlled by Monokuma. Assuming she was real, the exorcism was her way of expressing her anger for her brother who killed people for her sake and claimed things about her feelings. Regardless of whether she was real or not, summoning the person most dear to Korekiyo was Monokuma's pestering.

### Shuichi Saihara

Korekiyo considers Shuichi a good guy but doesn't want him nor any other male to become friends with his sister. During the events of Korekiyo's Free Time Events, he would teach Shuichi any kind of knowledge and questions that he is curious about passionately such as differences among anthropology, history, and archaeology. The mysterious upbringing of Korekiyo intrigued Shuichi's curiosity as well, as he observed eagerly whether Korekiyo will take his mask off when he is eating and even asking him a myth that resonates with him. In Korekiyo's last Free Time Event, Shuichi who fully trusted him happily agreed with him to join on a field trip with him after they escaped the Killing Game as his first disciple.

As the Killing Game continues, Shuichi continues to find Korekiyo a bit creepy, but has more trust in him. In Chapter 3, Korekiyo offered his help to let Shuichi communicate with Kaede's spirit, but he politely turned him down as he said that the only thing he wanted to say for the fallen victims is that he and the others finally manage to survive. He was also shown to be very creeped out about the way Korekiyo was talking about the rituals and the dead, and wanted to exit the conversation quickly. After Korekiyo was executed by Monokuma for his wrongdoing for killing Angie and Tenko, Shuichi has conflicted feelings about him. He still trusted him as a friend, yet he doubted Korekiyo would stop killing more victims for his sister even after they survive.

During his Love Suite fantasy, Korekiyo has accepted to spend a night with Shuichi, though he makes it clear that there would never be love between them. In Korekiyo's fantasy, his partner requested to try BDSM with him, but Shuichi is unaware of this and he feels uncomfortable around Korekiyo, thinking that he is a bit scared of him, but is nevertheless curious about his fantasy. Korekiyo asks if Shuichi is afraid and gives him a permission to run. He claims it will be scary only for the first time and pulls out rope from under the bed, which immediately causes Shuichi to attempt escaping. However, Korekiyo catches his hand and pushes him on the bed, stating that he never said he wouldn't stop Shuichi if he ran. Korekiyo expresses interest in the beauty Shuichi will show, saying he will teach him thoroughly and make him feel the kind of pleasure he has never felt before. Shuichi is afraid of the potentially dangerous situation and can only gulp as he's unable to escape, but then his mind begins to turn blank and he starts to relax, and it's heavily implied that Korekiyo got what he wanted in the end. When Shuichi wakes up in his own bed the next morning, he wonders if it was just a dream, though he still feels quite sore.

During Korekiyo's graduation, Korekiyo says that he wants to travel with Shuichi and then introduce him to his sister because he is such a good friend, even though he was originally against the idea and doesn't normally allow any males close to her. Shuichi is confused with him talking about his "lover" and "sister", but he now has an unwavering trust in Korekiyo, unaware of the danger the other possesses.

### Rantaro Amami

Rantaro is Korekiyo's best friend, Rantaro had a good impression of Korekiyo and considers him interesting, appearing to be the only one who has a positive view on Korekiyo.

During his first Free Time Event with Kaede, Rantaro tells her that Korekiyo has a strong personality, but if she takes the time to speak with him she'll understand him. In addition, he emphasizes that Korekiyo is a calm person who seems to be a clever type.

They share a great interest in traveling and they both have a close relationship with their sister, seemingly seeing each other briefly whenever they're both in the school area and tell each other where they've been lately. However, it's also implied that Korekiyo has taken interest in meeting Rantaro's sisters in order to make them his sister's "friends", meaning murdering them.

### Angie Yonaga

Korekiyo was among the students who understood that Angie's Student Council was based on brainwashing, and had no interest in joining them regardless as he stated he does not believe in gods. Nevertheless, Korekiyo considered Angie an admirable friend for his sister and murdered her after she witnessed his other murder plans. During the trial, when he was suspected and begun to panic, he appeared annoyed and asked how long they're going to bring that up after Himiko once again mentioned Atua.

Angie had a very unusual reaction after Korekiyo stated that he is interested in Atua solely from critical and anthropological point of view. Angie then told him that Atua's business hours are closed for the day, clearly not wishing to have a follower who isn't actually religious. However, Angie then returned to her usual passive aggressive cheerfulness and reminded Korekiyo that he should pray in order to not face judgement.

### Tenko Chabashira

Tenko refers to Korekiyo as a weird creep and doesn't like it whenever he tries to speak in a creepy way because of her hatred towards males.

Even though she hates males so much, Korekiyo thought that Tenko is fit to become his older sister's "friend" in the afterlife. He was touched by her willingness to protect Himiko by joining Angie's Student Council and later offering to be part of the ritual in Himiko's place.

It's also possible that with her wariness towards men, Korekiyo believed she would keep other men away from his sister.

### Kaede Akamatsu

Korekiyo tells Kaede about his sister, to the point that she more or less jokingly asks him if he is into incest. He seems to get slightly angered by this and simple answers that incest is regrettable. Kaede apologizes and tells him she didn't mean it in a bad way, which quickly calms him down.

Korekiyo likes Kaede and her optimistic nature very much and asks her to be his sister's friend. She agrees, and Korekiyo leaves to plan a good "method" for them to meet. He had stated to the others how he had planned to kill Kaede from the beginning but soon canceled since Kaede was executed in Chapter 1.

Kaede thinks Korekiyo is a bit creepy but assumes he is a nice person who cares about his sister. However, she is a bit unsure about it, as she doesn't know him well. She also assumes that Korekiyo is "so girly" because of his sister's influence.

### Maki Harukawa

Maki is one of the few female students who does not meet Korekiyo's criteria as his sister's "admirable friend" and thus she is not a potential murder victim for him. Due to her being an assassin and generally very unsocial, Korekiyo thinks she doesn't believe in "the power of love".

### Miu Iruma

Miu is one of the few female students who does not meet Korekiyo's criteria as his sister's "admirable friend" and thus she is not a potential murder victim for him.

### Kokichi Ouma

Kokichi gets on Korekiyo's nerves with his behavior. When he attempts to touch Korekiyo's katana without his permission while they're inside his Research Lab, Korekiyo disturbingly threatens to tear out all of his nerves, which seems to frighten Kokichi.

## Trivia

Korekiyo is stated to strongly dislike Cleansing Air Freshener and gets furious whenever someone uses it, because it apparently repels ghosts and paranormal entities due to the holy water mixed in. This seems to explain his dislike for air conditioning.

His favorite myth is the *Medusa*, knowing her original status as a mother goddess who was later depicted as a hideous monster, and believing that this is because developed human society begun to think about overcoming nature instead of being dependent of nature goddesses. He also likes the story because it shows that people can't run away from death no matter how much they overcome the nature.

Korekiyo has romantic feelings exclusively for his sister and claims they were in a relationship, but this is not confirmed and could be a delusion caused by his mental state.

Korekiyo is the second character in the series to have a split personality, the first being Toko Fukawa. Unlike her however, his split personality is more like a tulpa than a dissociative identity disorder. He also only kills women, which is somewhat similar to Genocide Jack, who only kills men.

* Korekiyo and Genocide Jack's similarities are acknowledged during a one scene in the non-canon bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan, with neither being the other's "type", and both appearing to be vaguely aware of what the other does to the people they are interested in.

Korekiyo has shown some similarities to Norman Bates from *Psycho*, including being in love with a female family member and having a split personality based on said female family member.

It's implied that he can have sexual feelings for a person regardless of gender

He appears to be sadomasochistic and has a strong liking of BDSM, explaining why he likes straw rope. Even his mask resembles a bondage hood, or a Gimp mask.

Korekiyo's Japanese voice actor, Kenichi Suzumura, is married to Asia Bando's Japanese voice actress Maaya Sakamoto.

Korekiyo shares his English voice actor, Todd Haberkorn, with Teruteru Hanamura.