DR Theories

**Spoilers ahead.**
## Cast similarities

Key:

$$$ - certain

$$ - need to test out more theories to confirm

$ - had no idea where to put them

**Aoi = Sonia - ($$$)** both survive and sacrifice their closest ally (Sakura for Hina and Gundham for Sonia). They both have bubbly personalities and try to make light of situations in the face of danger.

**Byakuya = Gundham - ($$)** both are somewhat aloof (and prefer solitude), have a girl pining after them (though Gundham seemed to enjoy it more), contribute when necessary and have distinct speech patterns.

**Celestia = Peko - ($$)** both have red eyes, either are royalty or cater to royalty, capable of murder, calm exterior but malicious intentions. The also both have hidden identities--Celes is Celestia Ludenburg and Peko is Sparkling Justice.

**Chihiro = Mahiru - ($$$)** both die fairly early on and play a role as a sweet contestant who is not very noticeable. Both contribute in the first case they're in and form bonds with peers (Chihiro with their killer and Mahiru with Hiyoko).

**Hifumi = Akane- ($)**  I had to put her somewhere. Still not sure where she fits.

**Junko = Hiyoko??? - ($)** I don't think any character really fits the qualities of Junko.
They are both confident, cute and have a dark side, though it's obvious who the REAL ultimate despair is.

**Kiyotaka = Nekomaru - ($$)** both have anger management issues and are a satellite of another character. Each presents a sad backstory, particularly Nekomaru, and endure hardships (though that is more apparent in Kiyotaka's case).

**Kyoko = Chiaki - ($$$)** both act as the detective on each case, are the best friend of the protagonist, disappear for long periods of time and have deeper networks (Kyoko with her father and Chiaki with the Future Foundation).

**Leon = Teruteru - ($$$)** Maybe it's just because of their placements in-game, but they also had their futures ahead of them. While Teruteru wanted to keep working at his parent's diner, and maybe be head chef, Leon wanted to ~~go to the big leagues~~ become a musician and use his graduation to start his career.

**Makoto = Hajime - ($$)** both are the main protagonists of their plotlines, though they play very different roles in each. While they get their hands held by the detectives, Hajime is not an ultimate student and struggles to be viewed as an equal of his peers and not the traitor.

**Mondo = Fuyuhiko - ($$$)** Each of them has a sad backstory, lose someone important to them (Peko for Fuyuhiko and his brother for Mondo) and want to restore respect for their clan. They can be screen hogs at time, vulgar, brash, have difficulty controlling their anger.

**Mukuro = Byakuya - ($)** they are both last-minute additions to the game?

**Sakura = Nagito - ($$$)** As much as it pains me to say this, I think these two match up. While Nagito's death wasn't *exactly* a suicide, they are both spies for Monokuma, contribute in trials, have characters who are afraid of them (and become outcasts, though Sakura has Hina), and make it far in the game.

**Sayaka = Ibuki - ($$)** they both sing. My main concern is whether Sayaka's counterpart should be a close friend of the protagonist, yet Hajime really only has Chiaki. They are both early victims and get montages of them performing on-stage.

**Toko = Mikan - ($$$)** Toko's writer side matches fairly well with Mikan's constant apologies and acts awkward around others. They both have a beloved, though Toko pines more than Mikan, go insane (Toko for five chapters instead of one), are capable of murder (at least Genocider Jill is) and contribute to trials.

**Yashuhiro = Soda - ($$$)** literally does nothing and serves as the obvious floater in the finale. May have funny lines here and there, but fade into the background and do not contribute much at the trial, unless their realizations are accidental discoveries.

## DR2 Survivors

One of the commonalities among the five survivors is that they had some sort of sacrifice, with the exception of Soda. For Hajime, he had to sacrifice his close friend Chiaki, securing his spot on the list. For Fuyuhiko, he lost his childhood friend Peko in, arguably, the saddest execution of the series. For Akane, she sacrificed coach Nekomaru, her only constant companion on the island. After his death, she carried a "minimaru", or a doll that Soda created to look like him. For Sonia, she sacrificed her love interest Gundham. Now, this murder could arguably be to save the cast, specifically Sonia (as they were seen sneaking off together) to save everyone from starvation. Although Sonia was shocked and grieved after his loss, she carried his four Dark Devas of Destruction as a token.

Lastly, I suspect that Hiyoko was meant to be a survivor as well. After the loss of Mahiru, she caged herself in her room trying to avoid suspicion and stay away from the murderer. However, after Sonia coaxed her out of her room towards the crime scene, the killer had no choice but murder her and cover their tracks. Since Hiyoko experienced a loss early on, at the same time as Fuyuhiko, she likely would have been the replacement for Soda and survived until the end of the game. But, mirroring the events of Trigger Havoc, Chapter 3 has a pattern of double murders.

## DR2 Mastermind

I realize that Junko was the mastermind of both games, but I can't be the only one who thought it was forced. After NO presence in the game, she just shows up at the end and has another two hour speel about despair, how everything is just a game, yada yada. I was somewhat unsatisfied with Junko in the first game (explained here), but even more so with no involvement in the game. We saw her get executed in the first game. She wanted to feel the despair of death and she got it. I sincerely hope that DR3 is more original, otherwise she'll start to feel like a writer's pet (which takes the fun out of the final episodes).

Bear with me here, but I feel like Chiaki or Monomi (or both, foreshadowing from the title of Goodbye Despair) should've been the mastermind(s) from their affiliation with Future Foundation. Since their investigation at the artifact area, the one with the locked door, Future Foundation felt like the enemy. They held secret information, that presumably only Chiaki and Monomi could access, hiding their identities from the rest of the cast. Plus, unlike Nagito, they were not spies for Monokuma, they were subordinates. Instead of using Junko's method of third-person observation, they were in the game observing at a much deeper level, establishing relationships with the characters. Plus, both of them seemed a little too "perfect", particularly Chiaki, so being the mastermind would add more depth.

My theory of Chiaki as the mastermind seems a bit more flawed. Since Nagito tried to frame the traitor, it seems fitting that she would die in Chapter 5 after all the effort he put in to find them. Ultimately, it's revealed that he wanted the traitor to survive over the other Ultimates, so maybe it could've been an agreement they had together, had Chiaki talked to Nagito in the restaurant. Since the mastermind surfaces in Chapter 6, Chiaki would not live long enough to reveal her role and die in the name of the Future Foundation.

But, if we assume that the traitor is never targeted and she lives to the end of the game, she could still be the mastermind. Maybe, as an AI, she acquired some sort of glitch that Izuru Kamukura installed instead of downloading Junko. While everyone is under the impression that she was a member of the Future Foundation, Izuru corrupted her and she has no intention of restoring hope to the Ultimate Despairs.

If this were true, it could explain why she and Hajime are so close in the game. They seem to become close allies by Chapter 2, mostly after playing Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, and begin to investigate the cases together as the game continues. Perhaps she knows that he was the one who manipulated the programming and wants to keep a close eye on him, or maybe learned to trust Izuru (even though he is Hajime Hinata in the game).

But, going back to the idea of the traitor surviving, maybe this could explain Chapter 0. Both Nagito and Izuru board the cargo together, so maybe there was more conspiring about how the game would play out. Izuru would program Chiaki's glitch and Nagito would lure the traitor out, shutting down the hope restoration program. This would assume that they both understand Future Foundation, which Izuru seems to have SOME outside knowledge, at least about Junko Enoshima, so perhaps he has other insider information to wire the plan.

As for Monomi, I feel like this could've played out quite well. Given the factory that Monokuma has to replicate himself, it might've been possible to replicate her scepter, allowing her to take over the island and the end of the game and control their fate. This could make her come off as a yandere, similar to Mikan, as she's bullied incessantly by Monokuma and acts as the submissive. She also has monitors in her house where she watched all of the Ultimates...and Hajime. This could've been a parallel to Junko's monitors from the first game, but the cast does not piece it together until the final chapter.

The parallels between Junko and Monomi are fairly evident. Both are used as demonstrations of Monokuma's power, as Junko is "murdered" in the gym and Monokuma breaks Monomi's scepter and bullies her to show dominance. The main difference is the lens that both characters have. Monomi played a much more important part of the game as she acts as a motherly figure/teacher to counteract Monokuma. Junko is one of the first "victims" then hides away until the survivors are revealed.

From the opening of the game, I feel like it was foreshadowed that the mastermind would be among them and lead up to the reveal. Monokuma stated in one of his opening acts that games shouldn't throw in a surprise twist at the end, which I interpreted to be Junko as the mastermind in DR1. It was a brief moment, but I hoped it meant the franchise learned from its mistake and would lead us to the traitor.

I honestly feel like Monomi has wasted potential. Her joint death with Chiaki seemed forced. Yes they were both associated with Future Foundation, but I would've preferred it if she waited until Chapter 6 to reveal her association. Plus, Monomi was not the one voted guilty. Chiaki's name flashed on the screen for the slot machine so it seems unfair to throw her into the execution.

One other thing she'd have to to is to ignore the accusations against Chiaki. Rather than speaking out when accused, she should've stayed quiet, as she usually is in trials, and pretended not to be affected. Somehow, she would've needed to hide her role from Monokuma as well, the puppeteer of the franchise. With all of his cameras I doubt it would be possible, since she still has to follow the school rules (she's not the headmaster) and would be unable to disable monitors (or simply lose one of her lives).

Personally, I'd just love to see this sweet little bunny go insane after all the treatment she's gotten. After all the bullying I would love to see her snap and go on her own two hour speel about how their actions only bring despair, etc. and that they haven't become Ultimate Hopes by graduation. Of course, when Kyoko, Byakuya and Makoto come from Future Foundation, she would run into trouble. I'd assume that she went haywire in the game and no longer agreed with spreading hope, as she only wants to see the students full of the despair they gave her. They would try to reason with her, so their mission was to save both the Ultimates, Hajime and Monomi from Ultimate Despair. (~~If this happened I probably wouldn't have fallen asleep for the final episode~~)