Makoto Naegi

## Character Backstory

**Warning:** The following contains spoilers for Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.

Makoto Naegi is the player character of the first game in the Danganronpa series, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. At first, he was recognized by Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Lucky Student, as he had no other talent and was selected to join the school purely by luck. Later in the game, it was discovered that Makoto possessed the ability to convince others to hold on to hope and keep moving forward, even when things looked their bleakest. This granted him the *new* title of Ultimate Hope.

## Character Card Abilities

### Primary Passive: **Hope Bullet**

* Gain a (stackable) charge of Hope Bullet whenever each blackened is chosen or a hope turncoat murders.
* During prenight, you may use a charge to unblacken a target.
* During a puppet master trial/prenight, you may use a charge to detect if a player is the puppet master.

### Secondary Passive: **Ultimate Lucky Hope**

* All attempts of the puppet master to blacken you are redirected away, but if your number is rolled, you remain blackened.
* The first direct/indirect elimination on you has a 50% chance to redirect and cause your neighbor to die instead.

## Character Card Notes

### Primary Notes:

* Targets of Hope Bullet can't be blackened by the puppet master until the end of the next trial.
* The puppet master immediately chooses a different blackened. (This does not refund the Hope Bullet charge.)
* Blackened players that are unblackened in this way will become the next available hope victory puppet master hint.
* Cannot reduce the possible puppet master players below 2. (Max 1 puppet master hope bullet from Makoto/Founder.)
* Makoto is not informed if Hope Bullets fail.
* Makoto cannot target himself with Hope Bullet.
* Makoto shooting characters that cannot be the puppet master/puppet master hint during a blackened kill period will cause the next puppet master hint to fail regardless.
* If the puppet master is hit by Hope Bullet the night before the puppet master trial, the puppet master is informed.
* Makoto cannot be the founder.

### Secondary Notes:

* Makoto is not informed if Ultimate Lucky Hope triggers.
* Eliminations are redirected to the closest "living" neighbors to Makoto.
* In the case of two equidistant redirection targets, which neighbor is eliminated is randomized.
* Makoto does not change who the murderer is or the type of elimination. He only passively redirects the murder to a neighbor.
* Protections on Makoto, or to the redirected neighbor, prevent the elimination from going through.

## Strategy

Makoto's ability is powerful outside of speed games in that he can discover information about the potential identities of the puppet master, who likely will be assisting the blackened during the course of the game and normally decides who the blackened is. It's unlikely that Makoto himself will become the blackened, making it easier for other characters on the side of hope to trust him. Makoto may use his limited Hope Bullet charges to either narrow down who the blackened of the next trial could potentially be or narrow down suspects for the ultimate role of puppet master before the final trial (if it happens). Makoto's Ultimate Lucky Hope makes him less likely to die, but it can also make trials slightly more confusing if the victim happens to be a neighbor to Makoto.

There is no hiding the information potential of Makoto, but he can still choose to hide information he gains from using his abilities. Any information he reveals to the rest of the characters in his game could certainly be used by the blackened to craft a better alibi. He *could* choose to hide what he knows until the trial, but on the rare chance that Makoto is murdered before then, the people who survived for the trial could be left with nothing. Makoto should consider his options carefully before deciding who to disclose results of Hope Bullet to.