#77th class

Rambly analysis incoming:

The setting is of course, the Neo-World Program, which takes the form of an island paradise named Jabberwock Island, which is a real place within the universe of Danganronpa outside of the NWP, but has a different function there, being a base of sorts for some Future Foundation members.

In the Neo-World Program, Jabberwock Island is designed to be uninhabited by anyone except Usami, the people put into the program, and the occasional creature here and there. This is very purposeful. When the three creators (Fujisaki, Matsuda, and Gekkogahara) of the Neo-World Program were designing it, they, being students of the ultra-pressurised and toxic environment of Hope's Peak Academy would have likely known that some of their fellow students could have used this kind of intense, all consuming therapy to help them overcome their trauma.

Enter the 77th Class, aka the Ultimate/Super High School Level Despair. What do these guys all have in common? Trauma. From various things that are incompatible with an intense school life and an imploding social environment. Stuff like bullying, struggling to fit in, lack of self confidence, terminal illness, bereavement, social awkwardness, abuse, and even more. Not only were these folks traumatised upon entering the Academy, but these traumas and weaknesses were exploited and used to manipulate them into being part of Junko Enoshima's despair-fulled, mindless, murderous cult, because they felt they had simply nowhere else to turn.

So what does the NWP and it's version of Jabberwock island have to do with this? Well, they are two things that traumatised teenagers and young people use to escape reality and soothe themselves rolled into one: a holiday paradise with plenty of wide open space and things to do, and a simulation/game world where even more things are possible. And to keep things in order, there's also the two programmed observers: Usami, the designated "teacher" who guides and instructs the group in gathering the hope fragments by working through things together and bonding with each other, and Nanami, another student, the gamer and game character within a game, who's presence is intended to gently encourage and support the others. This is all temporary by design, as they must then take these lessons learned and confidence gained into the outside world, whereby having their memories newly replaced, they'll no longer be Ultimate Despair and instead be the humans they were meant to be.

So in short: it's giving flawed and traumatised teenagers a chance to play and be themselves where the outside world wouldn't help them, in order to heal and rehabilitate them so that when they get out, they are better people and prepared to face life's challenges.

However, as we all know, Izuru Kamukura managed to implant an AI of Enoshima into the NWP, messing things up and forcing the students into a killing game instead. Worse yet, it is revealed during the 6th trial that the rest of Ultimate Despair willingly put themselves into the program, almost definitely knowing that the Enoshima AI would be present and things would get violent. Why did they do this? Well it could mainly be due to the desire to inflict more despair upon themselves, and/or to see Enoshima again. But also, due to the repeat function in the core of the program, they could abuse that function to repeat the killing school trip over and over again, refusing to leave this place behind and defeating the purpose of the NWP being a temporary program.

A metaphor for how traumatised people can get stuck in toxic patterns or escapism or both, and how these dangerous habits can loop over and over and over again.

The 77th and 78th class switch their Ultimate Lucks.

[non-despair/pre-despair]

[☆] as class rep, chiaki hosts fun fridays where the class spends the day playing games, eating yummy foods, and hanging out

[☆] kazuichi and ibuki are the class clowns

[☆] in the corner of their classroom, they have beanbag chairs that they can sit and study at! they like to gather around there and study in small groups at times

[☆] they hangout A LOT and even invite hajime to go out with them when they do! they enjoy going to the movies and amusement parks on weekends the class is really inseparable

[☆] sonia loves to give nagito book recommendations and they will often visit the library together

[☆] they’re the loudest class on their floor other classes on the floor can usually hear the chaos from their class (nekomaru and akane sparring, ibuki’s loud music, etc.) they get a lot of noise complaints

[☆] chisa considers the kids as her own and they see her like a mother/second mother

[☆] sonia makes her notes extremely fancy with colorful markers, hiyoko took notice and started to do her notes just like her

[☆] kazuichi is the “where’s my hug at” guy

[☆] mikan hates doing class presentations because she’s afraid she makes a fool out of herself but chiaki, sonia, and mahiru are really good at encouraging her

[☆] most of them eat lunch outside to hangout with the other classes but there are a few who prefer to go to quieter places like the library or stay in the class for lunch

^ chiaki likes to eat with hajime, chihiro, and kiibo (im all here for this friend group), peko and fuyuhiko eat with maki, sakura, hina, and tenko, etc.. (i can make a whole other post about who would be friends with who tbh)

[☆] chiaki made sonia co-class representative for when she’s not there

[☆] ibuki and kazuichi are actually really close friends one day kazuichi came into class bleeding because ibuki tried to give him a piercing

[☆] if one of his classmates didn’t bring lunch or forgot to, teruteru will make something for them so that they don’t go the day without eating

[☆] chiaki and ryota begged chihiro from the 78th class to help them create a game all together

Does a funeral also count as a class reunion? When the Remnants of Despair plans Junko's funeral, a tale of mediocrity and a despair brimming with depravity and humor unravels.

Because there’s very little I enjoy more than crossovers when it comes to fanfiction, here’s one of the many headcanons I spend way too much time thinking about when bored at the gym.

And hey, no one will ever see this so I don’t feel too self-conscious sharing it!

Komaeda is a child of Tyche, the most powerful one in recorded history—but his incredible abilities come with a price, in the form of his unpredictable (and devastating) endless cycle of miraculously good and catastrophically bad luck. He was born a danger to himself and all those around him, and so unsurprisingly was never welcome at Camp Half-Blood. After his parents died and he was turned away from Camp, he simply grew up wandering about alone all over the country, living off the considerable inheritance from his late parents and his own strokes of financial luck. This wasn’t particularly dangerous for him, as, unlike most demigod children, he didn’t even need to lift a finger to survive monster encounters, more often than not: his luck would take care of the beasts for him. However, while his luck always protected his body, his heart was left undefended: he soon came to see his inborn power as more of a curse than a blessing, as it always resulted in damage to himself during monster attacks being redirected towards innocent mortals. Komaeda leaves his resentment towards his godly mother carefully unspoken, but he has no love for Olympus; to him, the true God, the true absolute good, is the abstract concept of hope, as it’s hope that his life will one day get better that gets him through the day far more than the luck that protects him from monsters. (Thus, by extension, he’s Hestia’s most devoted follower, as she was entrusted with Pandora’s pithos near the end of the second Titanomachy. Hestia is very grateful to be worshipped again after so long, especially by such a kind, albeit…unusual demigod. But she worries deeply for this incredibly messed up child who adores her so unconditionally, almost seeing him as a son.) Due to his sickly body and the fact that he was banned from Camp and thus couldn’t receive combat training, he was unable to ever learn to defend himself in such a way that his luck wouldn’t need to protect him by causing harm to others in his place. This destroyed his self-esteem at an early age, and resulted in Komaeda forcing himself to develop a mentality of complete disdain towards mortals, so that their deaths in monster attacks aimed at him would no longer tear at his conscience. He greatly admires all demigods who possess powers he sees as more useful and remarkable than his, and will go out of his way to help them in their quests if he happens to come across them in his travels. As a child of Tyche, he’s able to control his luck to an extent, at least long enough to ensure that his temporary companions will only experience excellent luck while by his side; he reaps all the damage from his resulting bad luck afterwards, once they’ve left safely. Unsurprisingly, rumours of a “pretty but almost creepily helpful Tyche kid with incredible power, who’ll lend a hand on quests for free” spread around both Camps quickly.

Hinata is a clear-sighted mortal. Born and raised in New York, a city full of demigod and monster traffic due to its proximity to both Mount Olympus and Camp Half-Blood, he grew up watching heroes flit in and out of his life battling monsters, living fantastical, exciting lives so unlike the mundane humdrum of school, homework and more school that was his own—and came to envy them. He runs into Nanami by chance one day, and after befriending her, eventually finds himself dragged along on one of her quests, at the end of which he’s brought back to Camp and made the newest host to the Oracle of Delphi. He then soon comes to understand the true meaning of the adage “be careful what you wish for”, bitterly regretting his inability to be satisfied with not being special. The Oracle, having settled into his mind as a separate entity that calls itself Izuru, is cold and unfeeling and so very, painfully bored of a world that holds no secrets to one with the power of foresight. His apathy constantly bleeds through into Hinata’s heart, leaving him struggling with depression; Hinata is also tormented with traumatically bloody dreams every night, and feelings of guilt whenever he delivers prophecies that foretell a young hero’s death, knowing that his words won’t be enough to change their sealed fates. So it’s unsurprising, of course, that both Hinata and Izuru would be thrilled to meet Komaeda and become fascinated with this singularity who will never be killed by anything but old age or his own hand, who is so chaotically beautiful in his blessed, wild unpredictability.

Souda is a son of Hephaestus, obviously. He insists despite all evidence to the contrary that Sonia is obviously a child of Aphrodite and thus is meant to be with him. Despite acting more like a child of Hecate or Hades, Tanaka has an inborn connection with animals thanks to his father, Pan. He can tame any beast, no matter how wild, though he’s soft-hearted enough that he hates making them fight for him. Nanami is a daughter of Athena, gifted like no other at the war table. Despite her undeniable talent, some of her siblings are annoyed by her spacey personality and her tendency to treat all strategy meetings as preludes to games. She’s also uncommonly sweet and friendly for a child of the somewhat stuck-up cabin. Sonia is a spiritually begotten daughter of Hera (not conceived the usual horizontal tango-induced way because hey, goddess of marriage). She inherited all of her godly parent’s commanding presence and motherly kindness, and none of her overbearing possessiveness and bitterness. Kuzuryuu is a son of Zeus, but dislikes the pressure this puts on his shoulders to always take on leadership roles. He also hates being teased about being “pretty tiny, for a child of the King of the gods”. Unfortunately for those naysayers, he certainly inherited his father’s temper, if not his imposing size. Pekoyama is the quietest, coolest daughter of Ares you will ever meet, but make no mistake, she’s deadlier by far than all of her uncouth and bloodthirsty siblings. She’s also Kuzuryuu’s terrifying self-appointed bodyguard. Koizumi is a daughter of Clio, and loves immortalising little bits of history through her craft as a photographer. She has no inborn special ability for battle, but, being scarily protective of her loved ones, made up for it by training hard and is a master of knife fighting. Saionji is a daughter of Terpsichore, and thus a fantastic dancer. She wields tessen just as sharp as her tongue and adores Koizumi, firm in her belief that daughters of under-appreciated muses should stick together. Tsumiki is a daughter of Apollo with the strongest ability for healing seen in millennia, but can be surprisingly sadistic towards those she sees as enemies. She’s very self-conscious when chanting hymns, as her mousy voice isn’t much to write home about despite her parentage. Her half-sister Mioda, by contrast, has a voice like an angel and can make any instrument sing for her like a lover. Shame she’s a fan of screaming, growling death metal. Ah well, at least it does well in making attacking monsters’ eardrums and brains explode. They just “can’t handle how hard [she shreds]”. Owari is a daughter of Hercules, bronzed and beautiful, ditzy and fight-crazy. Instead of being satisfied with her inborn super-strength, she trained hard to surpass her limits since early childhood, and is all the more terrifying for it. Nidai is a son of Chiron, able to switch at will between human and centaur forms. It’s in his nature to push heroes to be the best they can be, and he’s always vocally thrilled to work alongside his exasperated but loving father in training demigods. His bulging muscles aren’t just for show, but he’s surprisingly pants at archery. Hanamura is a son of Demeter, and can work magic in the kitchen with just a handful of grain and a few veggies. He deeply respects life and is a bit of a wimp when it comes to blood, but is deadly with a meat cleaver. The Impostor is a child of Aphrodite who defies common standards of beauty by being noticeably overweight. They have the strongest talent for shapeshifting ever seen in a demigod, and is a surprisingly excellent leader. Yukizome, the ultimate homemaker, is a spiritually begotten daughter of Hestia (because hey, maiden goddess). Sakakura is a son of Hercules and Munakata, a son of Athena.

My Brain: Hey, I wonder if the 77th Class ever tried to murder each other to feel despair like how Junko would try to kill Mukuro? And if so, how often?

Maizono betrayed Naegi for her friends’ sake. Yet after doing so, she realized the fault in her own actions and tried to save Naegi by leaving code, 11037.

Future Foundation captured 77th class (and maybe was planning to harm them) and Naegi was one of FF members. He later realized that it’s not right to end things like this. So just like how Maizono left code for him despite being a betrayer, he left the code for 77th class.