Danganronpa: Dawn of Despair

***Danganronpa: Dawn of Despair*** is the fourth installment of the series, and serves as a prequel to the first 3 seasons. It focuses on the beginning of Connor's goals and of the killing games as a whole. In terms of new features, this season was the first to implement a system of report cards which could be exchanged during the game. For this season, players from the first three seasons were allowed to apply if the character they were playing as had died in their appearance.

## Synopsis

While attending Hope's Peak Academy as a part of the 74th Class, Connor Moon begins to have visions of a girl with pink hair in his head. The girl begins to fill his head with thoughts of pure despair. As a result of these visions, while the teacher and head students of his class (Kyosuke Munakata, Chisa Yukizome, and Juzo Sakakura) are out of town, he kidnaps the rest of his class along with their assigned chaperone into what would become the first ever killing game.

## Gameplay

This seasons movement did not change from the previous two, and was done through the Mee6 commands, using !goto-#, with # being the room number that they would move towards using a map provided.

Investigating certain items would also be done the same as the previous season, Danganronpa: Creation of Despair. This could be done by first specifying the room and item like so: !#-item. Grabbing items was still done manually through the host.

To interact with other players, the same would occur as previously, and any actions towards another player would be followed with a message in the room they are currently in asking them to react within a certain time frame to do something about said action if they would like to.

This game did introduce a new mechanic, known as Report Cards. This would be the first season to utilize them and has appeared in other seasons since. With Report Cards, every player would have a report card which held information about them such as exact appearance, likes, dislikes, ultimate talent, and name. These could be given to other players at the owner of the report cards discretion.

## Game Events

*(Within the lore, this game runs from January 4th, 1997 to January 17th, 1997)*

### Chapter 1

When the game begun, 16 students from class 75-A of Hopes Peak Academy woke up in various parts of a warehouse, along with their assigned chaperone to their class. None of them remember that at first, but later in the day Connor Moon told them all that they were all in the same class previously, along with himself. He also let them know that 3 other members of their class have locked themselves in the library that they were meant to have access to and had been unable to get them out. When he was threatened, robots came to his aide, but they seemed much more robotic than normal Monokuma robots as he had not made the design of the Monokuma robot yet. He then explained the rules of the game (as he was told in his visions) and set everyone off.

The same day of the announcement, Sokua Hekigan killed Biri Teramoto in their own bedroom, and then hit themselves over the head with the leg of a chair to drive suspicion away from themselves. Due to their lies fitting well during the investigation phase, Sokua was able to garner a lot of suspicion onto Tapoa Snaka before the trial begun. But before the trial does start, Tapoa committed suicide because of the suspicion being thrown onto them.

At the trial, the group eventually realized that the story makes the most sense in the case that Sokua was lying, and in the end they voted correctly. Sokua was taken away but not executed in an execution, with Connor simply saying they will be punished.

### Chapter 2

When the announcement for the next area began, Connor Moon showed up while holding Sokua Hekigan, the convicted blackened at the previous trial. Connor quickly shot Sokua in the head in front of the alive students, and then allowed them to enter the new area, which included a pool, an art room, a writing studio, and a weight room. There was no motive given for this round of the game.

Not very long after this announcement, Forma Duris begun with their murder plan in the middle of the night, and stabbed both Chie Chinami and Suzuki Kazuma before dropping the bodies into the pool. They would be found much later in the day.

During the investigation phase, the group had a talk with the people who Connor claims have locked themselves in the library, finding their names to be 'Remote', 'Creeper', and 'Jeff'. They told the group that they woke up too early and their memories were not entirely erased, only having lost the memory of the true name of 'Creeper'. They said they want to help the people locked outside but had no way of doing so.

At the trial, Connor told the group that in the event of two murders, everyone will cast two votes" one for the Chie's killer and one for Suzuki's. The group very quickly determines they had to have been killed by the same person, and a plan was made to split the votes between their top two suspects since they could not deliberate between the two further. However Xiao Rosewood would purposely vote against this plan and cause the majority to be in favor of Kimora Tegakari. Also, Seibei Yokouchi did not vote and was executed on the spot with a gun by Connor.

Since the group was incorrect and Connor had never specified what would happen had the group been wrong since he did not expect the result, Forma was allowed to leave the warehouse as promised while the rest continued the game. However, Connor said that, in order to motivate them to be correct more, if another killer was to get away with their murder, then everyone else would be executed in their place.

### Chapter 3

With the third chapter's announcement, the upper floor to the area acquired in the previous announcement was opened, which gave the group access to a batting cage, a work shop, and a greenhouse. For the motive, Connor Moon gave everyone a secret about themselves. and said that if no one died within the 3 day timeframe, he would kill everyone.

During this announcement, the library was also opened. Connor claimed during the announcement that his robots had gassed the inside of the room and disposed of the three ('Remote', 'Jeff', and 'Creeper') who were inside whilst the trial had gone on.

One of these secrets, specifically given to Era Yuzamei, broke the person whom it was given to. The secret said that Era helped design the robots which were enforcing everyone to be kept inside of this facility. Out of guilt, Era committed suicide by falling off of the balcony.

At the trial, while many did not understand at first, a consensus was reached agreeing upon the fact that Era committed suicide. She left a note letting them all know about what her secret was and why she had to do what she did.

### Chapter 4

Before the new announcement rang, a box appeared in the meeting room that they had access to since the beginning of the game. Many had questions about it at the announcement - those questions were met with an immediate explanation. Connor Moon told them that inside of the box was a fully completed report by himself about why the killing game was taking place. As soon as the body discovery went off, the person who was the murderer would receive the key to the box, allowing everyone access to it.

A new area also opened along with this, including a balcony to the first commons area they had found, along with a theater, and, importantly, a lounge. There was also an empty room, in which the students were able to find a piece of paper with a code written on it. When decoded, it was a message from those who were inside of the library saying they were still alive.

Despite the motive, no one killed after a day, and so a time limit motive was added on. After hearing this additional motive, Eiji Ikeru began planning a murder on the person who was the most problematic in the group and who had costed them a previous trial: Xiao Rosewood. When the Body Discovery Announcement went off, he hid the key on his person to give away when he was inevitably found out at the trial.

Eiji made his fellow students fight as hard as they could at the trial to make sure that they were capable to finding the way out that they have all been searching for together. Once he was condemned, Eiji faced the first ever large scale execution in history.

### Chapter 5

Opening the box when they were released from the trial, they learned about the visions that Connor Moon has had within his own head, and they were told why they had been condemned to such a fate of a killing game.

The final areas of the building were opened in the announcement, including a shooting range, a saferoom, and an observatory. For a motive, Connor told the students that if no one dies within 72 hours, the dead bodies of the students who have died so far will be put onto display around the facility, along with a hint that the secrets may also be revealed after this time limit.

During the time in the killing game, Hotondo Kanemoto had been using his hypnosis abilities to keep himself from displaying his psychotic tendencies. But around this time, he was unable to hold them back any longer and forgot to hypnotize himself into hiding them away. And so, he positioned himself inside of the safe room so that as soon as someone entered the room he would be stabbed with a knife, making whoever entered the room become the murderer. Doing their routine walk around the academy, Niko Kutarashi was the one who would unfortunately enter and kill Hotondo.

At the trial, everyone believed that they did not do the crime due to the way that Hotondo had set up the crime scene. There would be a tied vote which would be between Niko and Kimora Tegakari. As per the rules of the game, this was a correct result, and Niko was sentenced to an execution.

### Chapter 6

When the trial ended, Connor Moon called for a meeting between the 5 students who still remained within the facility and told them that a trial would begin in a day's time, but he would not say what for, simply saying they should look around and prepare to make a large decision.

After he made this announcement, 'Remote' and 'Creeper' come out of hiding and begun looking around the area with the group. When Connor found out that they had made an appearance, he showed up to meet them and says that it was fine they were alive - they could participate in the trial as well. When he asks where 'Jeff' was, they say he was still hiding so that they could make sure someone will stay alive.

At the trial, Connor gave everyone the option to either stay in the building forever or to leave with him. If they chose to leave with him, he would give them their memories back. Before the trial ended, Connor unveiled to the group his design for a robot that will run these killing games in the future, titled a 'Moonokuma' (changed to Monokuma within the next year).

At the end of the trial, 'Remote', Todo Johnson, Kimora Tegakari and Yoshiaki Isao opted not to go with Connor, and instead stay in the academy, believing they will find a way out eventually. However, Senko Takanori, 'Bob', 'Creeper', and 'Jeff' decided to leave with Connor and get their memories back. As they do, however, it became apparent to the others that the memories they received are not completely real, as they went with Connor (as his followers) to continue the killing games and help him complete his creation of the girl that shows up in his visions (Junko Enoshima). Chair then rose from the ground and trapped the group that decided they would stay.

### Post-Game

After they received their memories, Senko Takanori, 'Bob', 'Creeper', and 'Jeff' head outside with Connor Moon and get onto the truck that Connor had for them. On the way out, 'Bob' saw Forma Duris on the ground, dehydrated and passed out in the barren wasteland that they have been stuck in. 'Bob' decided to take Forma with them, leading her to join the rest of them on becoming one of The Ambassadors of Despair.

Inside of the building, 'Remote' asked Todo Johnson to light a match if he was able to despite the restraints, since if he was able to, he could burn the trial room down and escape once the chairs disengage from the heat. This was done, and the two escaped along with Yoshiaki Isao and Kimora Tegakari, only to find Connor had already left. 'Remote' directed them to a safehouse very shortly north of their current location.

They entered the safehouse to find there is only one accessible room, fitted with 3 mattresses and enough food to last for around a year. They discussed what to do about Connor and the killing games, in which he will no doubt create in order to create Junko. Realizing that it may become dangerous, and feeling guilty that he did not end the killing game sooner, 'Remote' trapped the other three inside of the safehouse telling them he will return once he's capable of keeping them safe.

## Cast

Players
 Yoshiaki Isao | Ultimate Investigative Journalist
 Kimora Tegakari | Ultimate Banker
 Senko Takanori | Ultimate Exterminator
 'Bob' | Ultimate Disguiser
 Forma Duris | Ultimate Gemologist
 Niko Kutarashi | Ultimate Psychologist
 Hotondo Kanemoto | Ultimate Hypnotist
 Eiji Ikeru | Ultimate Medium
 Xiao Rosewood | Ultimate Apothecary
 Era Yuzamei | Ultimate Procrastinator
 Seibei Yokouchi | Ultimate Gentlemen's Thief
 Chie Chinami | Ultimate Bounty Hunter
 Suzuki Kazuma | Ultimate DJ
 Sokua Hekigan | Ultimate Graffiti Artist
 Tapoa Snaka | Ultimate Chess Player
 Biri Teramoto | Ultimate Punk

Others
 Connor Moon | Ultimate Academic
 'Creeper' | Ultimate Con Artist
 'Jeff' | Ultimate Comedian

## Trivia

* Todo Johnson is commonly referred to as the protagonist of the season.
* Players were given the actual option as to whether they would join Connor or stay in the facility, though the choices of 'Remote', 'Jeff', and 'Creeper' were chosen before the season began.
* This is the first season in which an appearance of the character that someone was applying as was required.
* This was also the first season in which all of the players had full names.
* This is the first season that consisted of helpers other than the main host.
* The number of applications that this season had is estimated to be around 30, though this is unverifiable because applications were deleted as the cast selection was being made.