Mahiru Koizumi

## Character Backstory

**Warning:** The following contains spoilers for Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

Long before the events of the Killing School Trip, Mahiru Koizumi's childhood friend Sato murdered the sister of one of their classmates, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu. She did so to protect Mahiru but wouldn't admit to what she did until Mahiru presented photographic evidence implicating her. They agreed to keep the murder a secret, but, despite that, Sato was murdered by Fuyuhiko anyways in revenge. All of this would be revealed after both her and Fuyuhiko's memories had been wiped of the occasion, resurfacing through an arcade game Monokuma had made depicting the events. This led to a confrontation between Fuyuhiko and Mahiru, which led to Peko Pekoyama killing her on behalf of Fuyuhiko.

## Character Card Abilities

### Primary Active: **Say Cheese!, Tripod**

* Use Say Cheese! to learn what actions your target performed during the night.
* As a free action, use Tripod to learn what free uses a target performed and to make Say Cheese! a free action the next night.
* Say Cheese!/Tripod cannot both be used the same night.

### Secondary Passive: **Busted!**

* If Say Cheese! is used the night before a trial, any players who target Mahiru are automatically announced by the game master.

## Character Card Notes

### Primary Notes:

* Tripod does not cause Busted! to trigger.
* Say Cheese!/Tripod count as the same active ability for Izuru Kamukura's Surpass ability.

### Secondary Notes:

* Busted! is announced even if Mahiru was eliminated.
* Busted! is announced/confirmed even if no actions/free actions target Mahiru.
* The Busted! announcement is prevented by Chip. (The game master does not reveal that Mahiru was Chipped, only that there is no announcement.)
* Busted! does not detect Mahiru's self visits.
* Busted! is announced during protection trials as well.

## Strategy

As an active ability, Mahiru can perform one action or the other but not both. If Mahiru performs Say Cheese!, she learns which actions her target performed that night but not the free uses her target performed. This gives her a chance to catch the blackened in the act of using a weapon or the eliminate action, yet it may not provide the full picture. If she uses Say Cheese!, whether or not she learned anything, the people who targeted her that night are announced during the trial if it happens the following morning. If she performs Tripod, she learns which free uses her target used but not which actions her target performed. As this is a free action, she may perform any other action (other than Say Cheese!) on the same night. Using Tripod also gives her the opportunity to perform Say Cheese! as a free action the following night, which keeps her other action slot free for whatever else she would want to do that night (other than the Tripod ability).

Ideally, Mahiru should perform Say Cheese! on the night of the murder to get the most information possible. As Tripod can allow Mahiru to perform this action for free the next night, it may be a good idea to perform Tripod on the second night the blackened has to kill and, if the blackened hasn't attempted to murder by then, perform Say Cheese! on the final night the blackened has to kill. It's unwise for a blackened to attempt to kill Mahiru while she's performing Say Cheese, as there's a chance the blackened would be the *only* person to target Mahiru and would very likely be revealed as the killer that way. For that reason, Mahiru should avoid announcing when she's performing Tripod or otherwise not performing Say Cheese! to give the blackened no hints as to when it's safe to kill her. As the blackened, Mahiru could potentially get away with suicide by performing Tripod on one night, performing Say Cheese! and eliminating herself on the following night, and anticipating the class suspecting any person who targeted Mahiru on the night she died. This plan easily goes wrong if Mahiru is roleblocked on the night she attempts to do this, if nobody targets Mahiru on the night that she dies, or if all of the people who *did* target Mahiru on the night that she died can prove their alibis.