Top 10 Least Favorite Danganronpa Characters [Main Trilogy]

Three posts in a row! I'm on a roll!

In the past 2 weeks, I've done 2 Danganronpa rankings, which will be linked here:
My 15 Favorite Danganronpa Characters (Main Trilogy)
My Favorite Danganronpa Character Designs (Main Trilogy)

If you have absolutely no clue what Danganronpa is, check out the video embedded below, or just click off the post because I will be discussing spoilers from all 3 Main Trilogy games!

So, now that I've done two rankings of some of my favorite things within Danganronpa, I think it's finally time to rank my least favorite things. Namely, my least favorite characters.

Since this is a ranking of my least favorite characters, remember: this is just my opinion. I think most, if not all, characters within the Danganronpa universe are really interesting, unique, and well-crafted. However, that doesn't mean I have to like all of them, and I definitely don't like all of them. For some, I have a detailed, complex reason for disliking them, but for many, they simply got on my nerves and pissed me off while I was playing the game, and that's as deep as it goes. If we disagree, cool. Differing opinions are fine. I respect yours, so please respect mine in return.

Lastly, for the other rankings, I've done 15, but for this list, I'm sticking with the standard 10 because I really don't have strong enough opinions on the characters that would place 11-15th to warrant discussion on this list.

Honorable (er... Dis-Honorable) Mentions

Tenko Chabashira- Her "degenerate males" schtick would be funny if it didn't feel a little like it was trying to make fun of feminists & if it wasn't so smotheringly overbearing. Certain characters feel like they have only a single personality trait because of how much the game beats you over the head with it, and she's one of them. However, she's grown on me a bit over time and does have a factor of likability that keeps her out of my personal top 10. 

Hiyoko Saionji- Again, her negative traits are obvious. She's a brat, and she's really mean for seemingly absolutely no reason. She dishes it, but she can't take it. Literally the only redeeming quality? At least she's entertaining. And she cares about Mahiru. 

Alright, now on to the actual list!

10- Monokubs (minus Monodam...probably)

I considered putting one of the students here, but I couldn't make this post without talking about the Monokubs. TBH, my biggest problem with them really isn't even their personalities. I actually (mostly) like Monodam, and the others each have a few funny moments here and there. My main issue with them is how much screen time they take away from Monokuma, who's one of my favorite characters. They've always been in varied tiers among my least favorite characters, but it wasn't until I watched a Let's Play that I realized that this is the biggest reason they're so frustrating.

Because... they're fine. But their fine-ness deprives us of the iconic, incomparable Monokuma. Throughout the game, we don't even really see him much outside of class trials. Meanwhile, we're being subjected to some weird incest plotline between Monotaro & Monophanie, and MonoKid screaming about his Rock Hard Rager. The entirety of their humor was already done better by Monokuma in previous games, so messing with perfection left a lot to be desired.

9- Yasuhiro Hagakure

Ultimate Con Artist 30% Success Rate Clairvoyant

I think that across the board, it's widely accepted that Hiro is, at the very least, one of the fandom's least favorite characters. If not the definitive least favorite. But I actually found myself debating whether or not to include him. Because at the end of the day, I still somewhat like him although he has practically no redeeming qualities.

The majority of my favorite characters tend to be the most logical, rational characters-- the ones who are helpful in class trials. AKA the absolute antithesis of Hiro, who forced us to argue about whether or not Kyoko was a ghost. UM. SIR. COULD YOU NOT. On top of this, his ultimate talent is basically absolute bs (70% of the time!) and he somehow manages to survive the killing game, taking a survivor spot that I really wish could have been Sakura's. I mean honestly... what. was. his. point. in the game? Why was he there? Did he do anything useful ever?

The one redeeming quality-- the reason he's lower on this list than he should be... is the so-bad-it's-good factor. He's idiotic and useless to the point that it's funny. Perhaps not in the moment, but in hindsight, it's a little endearing. But only a little lol.

8- Tsumugi Shirogane

Ultimate Plain Mastermind Cosplayer

Every time I re-experience Danganronpa V3, at some point, the same thought crosses my mind. "Y'know... Tsumugi's not so bad." And that thought stays in the back of my mind throughout most of the game. And then I re-experience the 6th class trial and am reminded why she's one of my least favorite characters. It's not necessarily the plot twist/reveal/etc itself, but rather the plot twist is just the last straw. Because at her best, even if she wasn't the villain, Tsumugi on her own is rather... wait for it... plain. Boring, unassuming, not extremely interesting. Also, she was one of the "devotees" to the Student Council, which is my least favorite thing from V3 (Given that she was the "mastermind," she was definitely faking, but still). More on that later. And then the 6th class trial comes and reminds me that there's really nothing at all to like about her. She's literally at her best when she was just plain Tsumugi. If you're at your best when you're boring... you're not a very interesting Danganronpa character. Add to that the fact that it's pretty certain many of her statements in that trial were lies, and I'm just done. Girlbye. No one wants you.

7- Sayaka Maizono

Ultimate Fake Best Girl Pop Sensation

Honestly, I was kinda glad she was the first victim. I was annoyed by her role in the game, I was annoyed by her personality, and I really just wanted her off my back.

I mentioned in a previous post that I was quickly sketched out by Sayaka, and I think that's the largest reason why she was so grating to me. I hated the way that she was so immediately... submissive?... to Makoto. Like, yes pls let me be your assistant, and also spend your first free time with me, and also let me follow you around everywhere. I mean, I get it-- a lot of that was fake just to get close to Makoto & pin a crime on him. But in order to create the plot that they wanted to for the game, they made Sayaka such an irritating, clingy, grating character. Never mind that I wanted to get to know Kyoko or "Junko." Nah, gotta hang out with Sayaka more!

The game makes it clear, both in Sayaka's reaction to her DVD and in the conclusion to the first class trial, that Sayaka had a darker side to her, willing to do really terrible things to get ahead. And I think if we'd gotten more of that first-hand rather than second-hand (her mentioning it, unraveling the case, etc), I would've enjoyed her character more. Instead, we just got sprites of her freaking out and not much more.

6- Nekomaru Nidai

Ultimate Scat Humor Team Manager

On my favorite characters list, I mentioned that I was initially not a fan of both him and Sakura because I really disliked their character designs, but unfortunately, he didn't end up growing too much in my estimation. I'd be remiss to ignore the fact that Gundham is one of my favorite characters while Nekomaru is one of my least favorites, even though they both essentially sacrificed themselves for the betterment of the group. I'm fully aware of that, and that's the main thing keeping him from being any higher on this list.

With Nekomaru, it's not that deep... I just don't really like him. Like with Tenko, his "I need to poop" schtick was alright the first couple of times, but eventually, it just felt like it overtook most of his personality. He felt pretty one-note throughout the game when he was just himself, and then he became Mechomaru and just....? IDK, I didn't dig it. I don't have some elaborate reasoning for him, I just really didn't enjoy him as a character, found him kinda annoying, and didn't really miss him much once he was gone.

5- "Byakuya Togami"

Ultimate Fake Byakuya Imposter

I feel like this shouldn't be a surprise, since Byakuya is one of my favorite characters, and the Ultimate Imposter essentially changed his personality entirely, reduced him to a walking, talking, fat joke, and did it all under the guise that this was definitely still Byakuya Togami. I hated every second of it. In this case, I can somewhat SOMEWHAT understand that they wanted to emphasize that Byakuya had gained weight, so this guy's personalization of him was mostly about food. But I really don't like when bigger characters are reduced to a joke about how much they eat, and I dislike it even more when you do that to a character with a pre-established personality that I already liked.

Even more than that, another thing that I really dislike in Danganronpa is when someone tries to overbearingly and overtly control or lead everyone. Not in the way that Kaito tried to inspire & lead everyone, or Kokichi made people do what he wanted through more subtle manipulation, but rather the overt-- "I'm the leader, everyone is going to listen to what I have to say." Yeah, that's annoying. Which we'll see even more in a bit. Real Byakuya just wants to tell you to stop being an idiot and be left alone to his books.

4- Mikan Tsumiki

Ultimate Fan Service Nurse

I know Mikan has a lot of fans, but clearly I'm not one of them. I'm not sure how exactly to word this, but in many ways, she plays into very old-fashioned, gender-norm stereotypes of what a female "should" be, and I think that's the biggest reason I don't like her. She's meek, subservient, and overly apologetic, to the point of being unable to even speak sometimes. On top of this, she's also the most blatantly "fan-service" character in SDR2 IMO, due to her clumsiness putting her into compromising situations (possibly on purpose & for attention) and the despair disease causing her to get overtly sexual with Hajime. While I understand that her character comes from a history of abuse, that still doesn't change the fact that she was written and created to be this hyper-stereotyped, fan-servicey character that plays into a bunch of tropes that I really dislike. Sure, I feel bad for her, and if she were a real human, I wouldn't have any of these criticisms. But I can't ignore the fact that she was written and created to be this way, which I really dislike. 

3- Hifumi Yamada

Ultimate 2D Fanboy Fanfic Creator

I feel like Hifumi is kinda a stock pick on lists like this, and here he is. I mean, the obvious thing is that he's creepy. The way he talks about women, his kinda incel-y complex, the constant sexual innuendos, just... no one wants that. It's creepy. Also, again, must we make every gross, creepy character also overweight? I see what you're doing here, and I don't like it. TBH I really just don't know what else to say about Hifumi. He's created to be the "pervert" of DR1's cast, and therefore, obviously, I dislike him. I know it's a super obvious choice, but there's a reason for that.

2- Angie Yonaga

Ultimate Cult Leader Brainwasher Con-Artist

Angie is the most frustrating character across the entire trilogy. There, I said it.

Angie drives me nuts. First, I will acknowledge the fact that I believe she had good intentions with the student council. However, that doesn't save it from being literally the most infuriating plot point of the entire trilogy. Idr where I saw it, but I saw someone complaining that Angie & Kokichi are viewed so differently despite "doing the same thing." Sorry, but lolno. While there are some similarities (both have very misguided ways of trying to reach their end goal), there's a clear massive difference for me.

The biggest thing for me is the god complex/brainwashing/cult aspect. People like this IRL annoy me. Cults, hive-minds, they equally fascinate and horrify me. Y'know who Angie reminds me of? HUNBOTS. Y'know, people from MLM companies who send you copy-pasted sales pitches full of emojis, trying to convince you that you're perfect for their business opportunity, even though MLMs are predatory pyramid scams that target vulnerable people. Oof I went off on a rant there, but I hope you see my point. Also, I saw someone point out that she doesn't have any sprites that aren't happy/positive/etc. Like none with true complex emotions. Another thing that I cannot stand? People who are constantly upbeat, positive, never show other emotions. It seems so fake and creepy to me.

On top of this, Atua is absolutely a figment of Angie's imagination. She uses "Atua" to convey messages that she wants to say, and make them seem more important. Just... everything about her screams SCAM! CULT! BRAINWASHED! FAKE! USED CAR SALESMAN! and those are the people IRL that I cannot stand, so clearly that's the type of person who's going to be my absolute least favorite in any game ever.

1- Teruteru Hanamura

Ultimate Sexual Predator Cook

Honestly, after going on that whole rant about Angie, I'm almost conflicted about putting Teruteru in first place. Because IMO he's (again), the most obvious worst character in the trilogy. He's disgusting. He's a perv. He's predatory. He sexually harasses the girls in the cast. He's so gross that even Nagito is offended by him. And that's essentially his only personality trait. So, yeah. Duh. Obviously he's the worst character. Because he absolutely disgusts me. But he's also so obviously terrible that it almost feels like a cop-out to put him at number one. But that's where he belongs, so I guess this is where he goes. TBH, I don't really have anything else to say about him. I mean... what else needs to be said? He's predatory and I don't like him. He wasn't funny, he wasn't entertaining, he added absolutely nothing good to the game at all. I'm just glad he was the first killer & therefore I didn't have to put up with a whole game of him.



So, there you go! My 10 least favorite characters in Danganronpa. Like I said, these are just my personal opinions, and I think many of them still serve important purposes within the game, on top of giving us people to root against, which makes the cast overall more interesting. These are just the ones I personally dislike, and it's fine if we disagree!

These 3 rankings that I've done so far are the ones that I really wanted to do, but I do have a few extras that I'd also like to do. Next up will probably be something to do with Class Trials. Not sure how I want to do it-- I think it'd be cool to talk about each individual game and then combine everything into either a full ranking or a 5 favorite/least favorite, but that might be a bit much. IDK, we'll see.

Let me know some of your least favorite Danganronpa characters down in the comments!
Thanks for reading!