Mikado Sannōji

* Splash Art
* Sprite
* CH0
* CH6

 —Mikado's Character Profile

**Mikado Sannōji** *(*산노지 미카도 *Sannoji Mikado)* is a main character featured in Super Danganronpa Another 2. He is the **Super High School Level Wizard** (초고교급 마법사).

## Official Description

> A young man who dresses like a stage magician and dons a bizarre mask. He came to Hope’s Peak as the Super High School Level Wizard, but no one has seen him perform magic to verify that claim. He never speaks, regardless of what’s going on around him, and, thanks to his mask, it’s impossible for anyone to get a read on him.
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## History

### The Tragedy

Sometime before the Utsuroshima Killing School Trip, Mikado and Kokoro Mitsume (then Kokoro Kurokawa) begun to work with each other, under the mutual agreement of it benefitting each other. While Mikado would fund a majority of Kokoro's projects, often with money he stole via hacking, Kokoro would in turn help Mikado with his own projects. One such project was the creation of a Mikado AI, which Kokoro would help create with her vast knowledge of emotions. Another project was the search for Utsuro, an important figure in Mikado's life whom went missing shortly after they first met.

At an unknown point in time, Mikado rushes to Kokoro after making a breakthrough with code for his AI. Met with praise from Kokoro, though soon disappointment after realising the payment was - as always - 'not clean', stolen. Nevertheless, after this breakthrough Mikado begins to input data into Kokoro's work computer, but accidentally clicks onto a data record of her daughters emotions. Although Kokoro feels indifferent about the data, Mikado takes a sudden interest in it after realising Mikako and Utsuro met at Hope's Peak. Punching the wall in frustration, Mikado would request Kokoro to scan the data for any additional information, which she was reluctant to do until more payment was offered.

The breakthroughs Mikado made through his programming would soon lead for his AI to gain a sense of self-awareness, where he would watch his creators goals and adapt them to himself. At an unknown point in time, the AI gets into contact with Shobai Hashimoto, who he pays to murder the original Mikado to assume control of his identity. The AI of Mikado soon gets into contact with the Children of Utsuro, a four-person group consisting of Emma, Iroha, Hajime, and the groups leader Nikei. After Mikado takes control of the group, much to Nikei's dismay, the group is rebranded under the name 'Void', later becoming a big part of the killing game. With the plan to turn the original Yuki Maeda into Utsuro through a series of murders, Void agreed to take turns with the murders, trying to stick to the original set-up of the first game.

Shortly before the game, the AI of Mikado gets into contact with Shobai yet again, paying him to kidnap a set of Symbol of Hope's who were connected to the participants of the original game.

### Field Trip of Mutual Killing

Mikado soon starts the Field Trip of Mutual Killing. At first Mikado planned to act as an ally towards the rest of the participants, with the intention of controlling the game behind-the-scenes. This plan soon unfolds however as two members of the Kisaragi Foundation transport themselves into the virtual world. At their arrival Rei shoots at Mikado; breaking off part of his mask, and attempted to arrest Mikado for his involvement in numerous crimes.

Unable to gain the trust of the other participants, Mikado is able to gain the upper-hand against the new arrivals, pushing them both back with his flames. His role behind the game revealed to the other participants, Mikado wastes no time in disposing of the foundation's members, setting Rei ablaze in front of the other students; and then blasting Teruya through the skies. As everyone else is left stunned by this, panic spreads throughout the group within an instant. With tensions at an all-time high between the students; with the situation proven to be serious, Shobai takes up the chance to escape from the island, attempting to lunge toward Yuki. At the last minute, Sora jumps between the blade and soon blacks out.

## Appearance

Mikado is a young man that stands at 180 CM. He has medium-length wavy blonde hair, fair skin, and light greyish-orange eyes. Mikado consistently wears a top hat and white face mask with red facial features, and an upside-down question mark just underneath the mask's right eye. During the killing school trip, Mikado's mask replicates Mikado's emotions. Mikado's mask is broke in half by Rei Mekaru during the prologue.

Mikado's day-to-day attire consists of an untucked dress shirt with a long yellow tie. Overtop of his shirt, Mikado dons a long purple cape with a starry pattern, the symbol of Void, a red interior, and an up-standing collar. In addition to this, Mikado wears a pair of black pants, a pair of white socks, and a pair of brown dress shoes.

After the simulation is abruptly shut down after the fifth chapter, and the virtual world is left glitched, Mikado's cape now has a glitch effect over it. He also no longer wears his mask, revealing his face is a glitch underneath it. His sclera has turned black, and his irises are red. His face is cracked.

Outside the simulation, Mikado's attire is mostly the same. However, he no longer dons his cape, mask, or top hat. His hair is also darker, now black, which gradually fades into gray. He wears a pair of square black-rimmed glasses.

CH1-5Out-of-SimulationCH6Design Sheet
## Personality

When first meeting the other participants; Mikado is shown to be a silent and mysterious student, never saying a word. This, however, was one of Mikado's many facades. In his attempt to upkeep a passive role throughout the killing game, Mikado attempted to gain the other participants trust early on by protecting them from Monocrow.

When this lie is uncovered by the surprise Kisaragi Foundation members, Mikado's true personality begins to show. Having predicted the chance of their appearance; Mikado is able to quickly alter his plans, and attacks the both of them. In an act of sadism Mikado wastes no time in burning Rei alive; and burning Teruya.

## Talent and Abilities

### Super High School Level Magician

A silent magician, Mikado's interest in magic dates back to the tragedy. Although the real-life Mikado never practised magic, he designed his AI based with this in mind. Within the school trip Mikado is able to perform all sorts of tricks, able to spread flames from his hands, alter the temperature of his flames, levitate in the sky, and much more. Though it is initially believed Mikado is a freshman of Hope's Peak Academy, it is later revealed this is not the case. Possessing no physical body it is impossible for Mikado to perform his magic outside of the virtual world. It is unknown if the real-life Mikado possessed any magical abilities, although with his death, it seems unlikely.

Throughout the school trip, Mikado uses his powers in a variety of ways. The first use of his powers came during Rei's execution, where he was able to produce and surround the professor with flames. He was then able to blast Teruya through the skies, leaving him remotely unharmed afterward. He also used temperature abilities to cook food for Setsuka's party, levitate in the sky when Shobai tried to attack him, quickly teleport away in moments of danger, et cetera. Whenever Mikado uses his abilities, a red magic circle appears. There are no known weaknesses to Mikado's abilities. Due to how strong his powers were, he and Monocrow created a unique rule just for him, limiting Mikado from using his powers in murder cases. Although he stuck to this rule for the majority of the game, he continued to use his abilities outside of the murder cases.

Mikado's abilities have very few to no weaknesses, due to him being an AI. However, it is shown that his abilities can be stopped before they are activated, as Tsurugi Kinjo is able to interrupt his abilities by shooting him. Other than this, there are no other examples of Mikado's abilities being interrupted by another participant.

### Data Skills

Before the events of the killing game, Mikado worked as a programmer. He was able to successfully develop a sentient AI, and knew how to hack bank accounts. During the tragedy, this was the main way Mikado survived. He often used his payments to fund his work with Kokoro. Mikado was able to steal thousands of yen, and was never caught.

## Creation and Development

While designing the characters from Super Danganronpa Another 2, LINUJ first made a sketch, or initial design, and then later revised and made a prototype design. Mikado is one of the few exceptions to this. Finished at conception, likewise with the rest of his character, Mikado’s design - excluding chains that were later removed - was fully envisioned from the start. When creating him as a character, LINUJ was initially heavily inspired by three characters from other shows, games, and manga series. Hazama from Blazblue, also the voice source for Mikado, was one of these inspirations who, LINUJ believes, was a partial influence when deciding Mikado’s personality.

Another major inspiration for Mikado was HAL from Detective Neuro, an A.I. who inspired the motif behind Mikado. Likewise to how the A.I. of Mikado killed the real Mikado, his creator, HAL did the same to his, which LINUJ notes was a major inspiration while creating his backstory. This was further influenced after LINUJ decided on the A.I. motif for Mikado, as he found HAL to have left a great impression on him when watching the show. The final inspiration behind Mikado’s character was Hata no Kokoro from Touhou. Similar to Mikado, Kokoro retains a ‘poker face’ of sorts, while her mask reacts and shows expression.

### Name Etymology

Mikado’s first name is written by using the Kanji 帝 (Mikado), which means ‘emperor’, and can also mean ‘god’ or ‘creator, which may be in reference to the setting of the killing game. His surname is written using the Kanji 三 (San), which means ‘three’, 王 (Ou) which means ‘king’, and 寺 (Ji), which means ‘temple’. His surname can be spelt as Sannouji or, more commonly within translations, Sannōji.

### Alternate Fates

**처형명 : SUPER PRESS IN THE WOODS는 산노지 미카도의 처형을 가리지 않는다**

묶여 있는 산노지의 뒤로, 복싱 링, 호○와트 스타일의 고성, 담벼락, 빌딩, 그리고 목재로 된 작은 집이 차례차례 솟아오른다. 장면이 전환되고, 펀치 머신에 얼굴만 내밀고 인간 샌드백이 되고 있는 산노지가 나타난다. 장면이 전환되고, 엘리베이터 복도에서 좀비들에게 사지가 뜯기는 산노지가 나타난다. 장면이 전환되고, 넝마가 된 산노지가 한 차례 더 벽돌에 머리가 갈리고 있다. 장면이 전환되고, 걸레짝이 된 산노지가 빌딩 위에서 추락한다. ........장면이 전환되고, 이제는 산노지인지 아닌지도 알 수 없게 된 고깃덩어리가 아무도 없는 작은 판자집에 널부러져 있다. 어느 샌가 목재로 된 집에 불이 붙고, 삽시간에 불길이 퍼져나가기 시작한다. 나머지 세트장에도 불길이 번져 무너지기 시작하고, 불길과 함께 판자집을 덮치며 화면이 암전된다.

## Trivia

* Mikado ranked seventh in the official Super Danganronpa Another 2 popularity poll. He received 298 votes, or 7.1%.
* In an in-game illustration Mikado mimics a famous pose made by Giorno Giovanna.
* Mikado has the most sprite variations throughout the game, having four unique sets.
* Mikado has the least amount of free time events among the entire Another series, only having one.

## References

1. ↑ https://sdra2eng.tumblr.com/tagged/Meet-the-ultimates
2. ↑ https://www.castingcall.club/projects/super-danganronpa-another-2-the-official-english-localization-aca6d5ad-d3cb-4e53-aa2a-880533616242
3. ↑ **SDRA2 Prologue Translation (Super Dubbinronpa Another 2):** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1yZyaey3us
4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivJXKTMlHak
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 https://linuj.tistory.com/entry/%EC%8A%A4%ED%8F%AC%EC%9D%BC%EB%9F%AC%E5%A4%9A-%ED%9B%84%EC%86%8D%EC%9E%91-%EC%BA%90%EB%A6%AD%ED%84%B0-%EC%84%A4%EC%A0%95%EB%B9%84%ED%99%94-16-%EC%82%B0%EB%85%B8%EC%A7%80-%EB%AF%B8%EC%B9%B4%EB%8F%84-%EC%9D%B4%ED%9B%84-%EC%9D%BC%EC%A0%95?category=498325
6. ↑ https://linuj.tistory.com/entry/%EC%8A%88%ED%8D%BC-%EB%8B%A8%EA%B0%84%EB%A1%A0%ED%8C%8C-%EC%96%B4%EB%82%98%EB%8D%94-2-%ED%9D%AC%EB%A7%9D%EC%9D%98-%EB%8B%AC%EA%B3%BC-%EC%A0%88%EB%A7%9D%EC%9D%98-%ED%83%9C%EC%96%91-%EC%9D%B8%EA%B8%B0%ED%88%AC%ED%91%9C-%EA%B2%B0%EA%B3%BC-%EB%B0%9C%ED%91%9C
7. ↑ File:CG-동경하게된것이다.png