Shinku Kutsuki

**Shinku Kutsuki**GallerySprites

* Illustration
* Sprite

**Shinku Kutsuki** is a character featured in the English fangame *Danganronpa: Antebellum* created by **Rippilie**.

He is known as the **Ultimate Writer**.

## Gallery

📷 For more images of Shinku, see: Danganronpa: Antebellum/Image Gallery and Shinku Kutsuki/Sprite Gallery.
## Appearance

Shinku is a 21-year-old man with pale skin, curly blonde hair with a large ahoge and an x-shaped hair clip on the right of his head, and red eyes with noticeable eyebags underneath them. Shinku wears a white collared dress shirt with letters of the alphabet stitched on the bottom, a brown blazer with elbow-length sleeves with golden buttons with another golden button left lapel,and two pockets, one holding a blue pen and a pencil and the other with a diamond-shaped emblem reading 'A, B, C, D' with a pen and a pencil, maroon pants, brown shoes with gold buttons and red laces, and a red plaid necktie with a golden button. Shinku's forearms are heavily freckled.

## Personality

Shinku is a rather socially awkward and shy boy who tries his best to be friendly. He is also an incredibly talented writer who often overworks himself to uphold his talents. He finds it incredibly hard to sleep at night, as he often feels guilty when he is not working. His mind is constantly buzzing with new ideas that he needs to get down on paper before he forgets them. He tries his best to be polite and isn't too easily scared, but he often overthinks every word he speaks and then stays awake worrying about what he could've said differently. That being said, Shinku is rather smart and has clearly worked very hard for his Ultimate title.

## History

### Killing Game

#### Prologue

Shinku ruminates about what it means to possess an ultimate talent before introducing himself as the Ultimate Writer. He is then shown to be in a courtroom during his sentencing for an unknown crime before the screen distorts and fades to black.

He would wake up to see Dracul Tremblay and Ismene Circe hovering over him discussing whether or not he's alive. Dracul accepts him into their guild after rolling a 20-sided die and introduces himself to Shinku. Shinku asks where they are, and Dracul tells him that they don't know. He then admits to being a fan of Shinku's fantasy novels and urges Ismene to introduce herself.

She does, also writing off his accomplishments as a writer as she believes modern literature only plagiarizes old legends. The trio leave the room to try and find other people or clues about their kidnapping. Upon doing so, they find they could be in a laboratory or hospital. Shinku spots Maiko Yuzuki in the distance, and she tuns up to them and introduces herself as both Maiko; her 'civilian form', and Melody Pretty; the main character from a popular magical girl anime. They all hear a ruckus coming from another room, and Shinku, Ismene and Dracul check it out.

In the next room, they find Emilia Carmine harassing Mint Byrne about his love of plants. She stops after Dracul intervenes, and Shinku goes to comfort Mint before they both introduce themselves. After Dracul, Ismene and Shinku split up to cover more ground, Shinku introduces himself to Emilia as she teases him before apologising. She first says she's the Ultimate Arsonist before begrudgingly saying she's actually the Ultimate Pyrotechnician, believing her talent makes her sound like a nerd. Shinku leaves and finds Kotaro Chishiki sleeping in the hallway. After waking him up, he would introduce himself and spark conversation about where they are as he prompts Shinku to ask him trivial questions to test his knowledge. Kotaro then falls asleep again as a MonoPad falls out of his pocket. Shinku finds he has one too, documenting information on the other students he's met and a map of the facility they're in.

Shinku goes to the biodome, finding Takiko Ushina. She bombards him with questions such as his name and favourite colour, addressing him as her "new big bro" as she does so. Shinku humours her questions, to which she properly introduces herself and gives him a flower crown. Shinku goes to the sterilisation centre, finding Taka Takahiro, whom he recognises from television, and Asuga Hino, who introduces herself after jumping from the ceiling and landing with perfect posture. Shinku goes to the kitchen, finding Eiichi Sakaguchi. Eiichi greets him before shyly introducing himself out of shame for his talent, requesting Shinku not to mock him for it. Shinku agrees, and their meeting would be interrupted by an announcement ringing from speakers throughout the laboratory telling them to go to the lecture hall.

Once arriving there, Shinku finds Yui Aoide humming in front of the doors. He'd ask if she saw Dracul and Ismene, and she replies she'd met them and should be inside. She then formally introduces herself. Once inside the lecture hall, Dracul informs him that two of the others are challenging to communicate with, being Alora Asami and Kiyoshi Ainara. Shinku attempts to speak with Alora, but she cuts him off and bluntly introduces herself before refusing to speak any further as it isn't important to her. He then finds Kiyoshi lost in thought before he snaps out of it and explains he already knew of Shinku before, then introducing himself. Shinku then attempts to speak to Dracul before being interrupted by yelling outside. Lyra Shatel and Rei Higashi walk in, acting out a shouting match between two parents named "Jeremy" and "Stacy". Once the pair break character and split off, Lyra gestures Shinku to lean against the wall with her, introducing herself. She explains she only met Rei earlier that day, but knew Takiko from before the game, acting as her babysitter in the past. Shinku then heads to Rei and introduces himself, finding Rei to be quite unnerving.

Once all the introductions are finished, Mononeko reveals themselves from behind the stage. They explain to the students that all but one of them had previously committed a crime without due punishment, and Mononeko will act as a doctor to "cure them of their sins". Mononeko also explains the students will stay in the laboratory indefinitely, revealing three crimes each week, but they will have a single loophole; they can leave if they kill a fellow student and get away with it. The student would be permitted to leave, while the others get executed.

Everyone besides Shinku, Dracul and Ismene would leave the lecture hall, and Dracul would reassure them he doesn't care about what they'd done, confessing he'd shoplifted from independent businesses that led to many of them shutting down. Shinku says he didn't remember what his crime was, but Ismene states she isn't strong enough to accept responsibility for her actions and runs out. Dracul would run after her, leaving Shinku alone.

As Shinku lies on his bed in his dorm room, a broadcast from Mononeko plays on the monitor in his room. It displays the first three crime reveals, Ismene's, Kotaro's, and Mint's. Distraught by the day's events, Shinku writes his experiences in the laboratory down. A flashback sequence then plays of Shinku telling a story he created about his younger sister, Akari Kutsuki. Once the story concludes, she would ask him if he thinks she's destined to become an ultimate too.

#### Chapter 1

The next morning, Shinku wakes up and reads the rules on his Monopad. Once he's done, Rei and Lyra would knock on his door and escort him to the dining hall for breakfast. Once they get there, they're greeted by Yui, who invites Shinku to try a muffin Mint had made. After Dracul greets him, they discuss the muffins, then the killing game. When Ismene walks in, the students make antagonistic comments about her due to her crime that results in her exiting the dining hall and Dracul running after her. They continue to gossip despite Kotaro's attempt to change the subject, and Shinku runs out, tired of the hostile conversation.

He finds the pair in the hallway, Ismene apprehensive of Shinku's motives of coming out. Dracul urges her to explain her crime, and she does so, saying that she killed her professor because he tried to extort sexual favours from her so as to not give her a bad grade on an essay when she was 16. Dracul and Shinku then hug her, Dracul nicknaming him "Shin". That night, Shinku has trouble sleeping and tries to check on Ismene, but is stopped by a hallucination of his sister Akari taunting him.

The next day, Shinku is woken up by Taka, Kiyoshi and Mint outside his door. Kiyoshi states all the girls had congregated in the sterilisation room in secret. If Shinku agrees to go with them, they find the girls in a ritualistic circle around Kotaro, using him as a sacrifice for a god to grant their respective wishes. They'd then leave, leaving Kotaro behind with the girls.

Once going back to his dorm, Mononeko turns on the monitors to complain about the lack of killing. The tell the students to check their Monopads for a surprise, being motive videos of their loved ones. Shinku's video is of Akari, with Mononeko taunting him that although Akari is still alive, she is being held captive in a place they can't get to, and that the person who caused her to be held captive in the place she is, is one of the others.

Shocked, Shinku runs out of his dorm, finding Dracul outside. The pair confide in each other about their fear before being interrupted by Asuga. She tells them she didn't watch her video, and Dracul offers to look after her Monopad. She agrees before leaving to check on Taka. After a short conversation, Dracul gives Shinku Asuga's Monopad to return to her.

Shinku finds her in her dorm room comforting Taka with Maiko's help. Shinku leaves her Monopad on a table upon her request, and Maiko tells him Yui wished to see him to organise a special event. The next day, Yui explains to him she wished to throw a party in the biodome to take everyone's minds off the motive. He agrees to help, assisting her in announcing it to everyone in the lecture hall. Everyone besides Kiyoshi, Alora and Ismene wish to attend. Yui then appoints Shinku to help her retrieve chairs and tables from the library.

When in the library, Shinku notices a strangely clean and empty box, unlike everything else in that room. In the hallway on the way to the kitchen, Yui forces Shinku to carry her on his shoulders as she wished to check out the creepy dolls scattered about the lab. As she's about to grab it, Shinku falls, prompting Alora to come over and tell them the dolls are likely cameras to spy on them. Yui leads him to the biodome, and the pair set up the tables and chairs. She brings up conversation of their hostages, telling him hers is her father before beginning to cry. He comforts her, and she tells him he may leave until the party is ready.

Shinku goes to his dorm, finding Takiko trying to cram his party costume under his door. He takes it and puts it on, admiring himself in the mirror before a hallucination of Akari reappears, taunting him. He's brought back to his senses by the clock chiming, signalling the beginning of the party. Shinku goes to the biodome and finds everyone there, making conversation with Yui and Dracul before everyone hears screaming, identified as Ismene's voice. Shinku would offer to go with Dracul to investigate the scream, but Dracul would refuse, leaving the party alone. The rest of the students begin to eat the food Kotaro and Eiichi had prepared, soon falling unconscious.

Shinku wakes up an unknown amount of time later to see Dracul's dead body on the giant cake, his intestines and eyes removed and used as cake decorations. Mononeko sounds the Body Discovery Announcement. Shinku panics and blames Yui for her incompetence before apologising. He panics again, regretting letting Dracul go off alone when Ismene, Kiyoshi and Alora run in, having heard the announcement.

When investigating Dracul's body, Shinku notices rope marks on his gloves and boots. He speaks to Mint, who gives his condolences and notices some of the flowers from the toxic aconitum bush were taken, just enough to knock one person out. He finds Alora in the trash room, who identifies a baseball bat as the murder weapon due to the thickness of the blood. He also finds a smashed machine and the discarded party outfits. When Shinku investigates the food court, he runs into Eiichi, who notices a scalepl in a pool of blood on the ground. Shinku also notices the vanilla flavouring used in the party food and sniffs it, but becomes sleepy upon doing so, leading him to believe it was tampered with. Shinku then goes to Ismene's room, finding Kiyoshi also there and the room in a mess with wine stains and a broken wine bottle under the bed. Mononeko then calls them to the ladder to head to the trial grounds.

With the revelation Ismene's scream during the trial was recorded, Maiko is deemed the killer, along with Maiko being one of the people to fetch the ingredients for the food, being the only one at the party not to eat the tampered food, and that she overheard Dracul tell Ismene and Shinku his crime. Just before her execution, Mononeko announces the next trio of crimes, being Taka's, Kiyoshi's, and Maiko's resepectively.

After her execution, the despair from everyone fighting over the crimes and losing Dracul causes Shinku to pass out.

## Talent

### Writer

Shinku is the Ultimate Writer, discovering he had a passion for writing from the time he wrote his first sentence and is responsible for writing books, pamphlets, poems, and plays with high demand. In the prologue, Dracul Tremblay remarks that Shinku is the author of a fantasy series which he is a fan of.

Shinku overworks himself to keep his skills as a writer sharp and suffers from chronic insomnia and complications with his health as a result.

## Creation and Development

Shinku was the last of the characters to be conceptualized and designed, lacking any previous beta designs, though Rippilie has stated that originally Shinku was meant to be a lot darker and have a more 'anti-social' design. However, Rippilie scrapped the idea of that and made him more open; his current design was somewhat inspired by a beta design of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony's Shuichi Saihara, and that his beta name was 'Arthur'.

## References

1. ↑ **@danganronpa\_antebellum on Instagram**: Starting our pride icons for this year! (June 1, 2022)