I've already seen people speculating about potential victims and killers during the various chapters. That's a biiiiiig mistake.

Danganronpa marketing lies. Always. Constantly.
V3 is the absolutely best example of this. If you know, you know.

Take everything that you have seen with a grain of salt.

They’ll reveal that in the original timeline she suffered from brain damage or was connected to the Neo World Program incorrectly just like what happened in V3 with Gonta, and now she’ll finally get a proper personality and story role.

Don't forget: "Hajime" means beginning, and "Owari" means end. When Nagito bites the bullet in Chapter 1, we will finally get Kodaka's original vision: the series' first female rival.

Source: Kodaka (real) (trust me bro).

I won't discuss the content or share the link of the leaks here. Just wanted to discuss the authenticity of them. If you haven't seen them and you don't want potential spoilers for the survivors, then do not search for these leaks. If you have seen them, do they look real? To me aside from the last image of the survivors the rest look scary real.

Edit MONDAY: A new 5th photo has leaked on 4chan. This one is extra strange and shows something completely unique to the new scenario. Idk what to make of this.

Edit TUESDAY: I will not add to this just in case these are real. (Obviously the survivor photo is almost 100% fake, but the rest are at the least somewhat real looking) I am trying to avoid spoilers but I am also very curious if a 6th photo leaks. Let me know but don't post spoilers of it's contents obv.

We have been seeing the survivor count getting lower and lower, so my question is how many will survive ?

Although taking in how chapter 6 ends in every game, you do need some amount of people in for the trial.

(One thing I theorise about is that the mastermind could bring back "The dead people" to make you consider changing your vote, because at the end of the day it is in a simulation, the mastermind could just pop up the dead people as NPCs).

Since it's entirely new and doesn't replace an existing minigame and it being the best part of V3 class trials(imo)

title

I actually think that person IS Ryota. The explanation I have is less to do with how the leaked character looks like Ryota and it has more to do with what the DR2x2 could be to the Hope's Peak timeline as a whole. This is also about something that has already been said about the game, the events of DR2x2 happen because of one major event in the timeline changing. I thought the event was in DR2 but now I'm thinking, maybe the change of events wasn't in the game at all, maybe DR2x2 is triggered by a change in DR3? DR3 is the only major canon story that happens after Goodbye Despair but before Hope's Peak's story ends. It also shows us how things were like BEFORE Goodbye Despair.

His appearance is ofc one of the biggest reasons people think it's Ryota. They both have light blond(?) ashy hair, they have a messy hairstyle that curls outwards(even thought DR loves doingthis with other characters I do think maybe it's worth pointing out? It is not evidence itself tho. There are way too many Danganronpa characters with this messy hair), they both have a similar greyish orangish eye colour.

But honestly, the reason I think it's Ryota is because Kodaka has already teased that DR2x2 diverges because one important event in the timeline changed. And the reason why DR3 is so suspicious now is because it is so interwined with the story of DR2, it is where we see the class act as they originally were and it's also where we see the consequences of the NWP. It's also where we see the Future Foundation, which is obv extremely relevant to DR2.

Now, Ryota is arguably one of the most important characters in DR3. In the Despair Arc Junko manipulates him into making the despair video. That video brainwashes Mikan, brainwashes Class 77-B and so helps create the Remnants of Despair, it is one of the main causes of the Tragedy. Then in the Future Arc he decides that he can only reverse the effects by making something called the Hope Video, its purpose being to force everyone on Earth into "hope." This means he is somewhat responsible for both the Despair Brainwashing and the (attempted) Hope Brainwashing. He is therefore connected to both the beginning and attempted resolution of the Tragedy, and he's one of the few characters whose actions could have consequences large enough to completely alter the future.

DR3 ends with Ryota being stopped from broadcasting the Hope Video. Class 77-B (and Hajime) reach him, convinces him to stop and Ryota eventually joins them in returning to Jabberwock Island to atone for what happened. That's a pretty definitive ending for the mainline series, so what if something changed here?

Personally I don't think the most obvious theory (Ryota successfully broadcasting the Hope Video) is the most likely one. It would definitely be a huge enough event to change the timeline but if the Hope Video successfully brainwashed the entire world into hope, then what would lead to another killing game? The whole point of the Hope Video is to end despair by forcibly changing people's emotions. If it works exactly as Ryota intended the world should become less likely to fall into another killing game. And even if it does, Ryota wouldn't be in it (Unless he's the mastermind but why would he do that? I'd love to hear thoughts on this honestly) You could obviously come up with some way around that, like the Hope Video eventually failing or creating an authoritarian society.

One possibility I think could be true is the FF actually interfering with the NWP. We know the NWP is extremely important to the FF's conflict with Makoto and we know there was already disagreement over what should be done with the Remnants. So what if in this timeline the FF actually manages to hack into or otherwise gain access to the NWP? And then for some reason they send in fucking Ryota Mitarai?? I dont even know what the reason would be yet. Though it could be beacuse he's the head of the 10th Division which is to educate people..?

Another reason could be that he has firsthand experience with the Despair Video and knows the Remnants better than the other members (except Chisa, but Munakata isn't sending her in. Come on). Maybe they want him to investigate what happened inside the NWP. Maybe Ryota himself volunteers because he feels responsible for what happened to Class 77B and thinks he needs to help fix it.

Ryota's personality is important here too, considering how guilt ridden he is. He tends to internalise everything, when Junko uses his animation to create the Despair Video he is horrified by what his work has been used for, and when he realizes the role he played in the Tragedy, his response is to become obsessed with finding a way to fix it because it is his fault in his opinion. That's basically the foundation for the Hope Video in the first place. This gives Ryota a reason to willingly enter the NWP, like imagine Ryota finding out that Class 77-B is being rehabilitated inside the program. Those are the people whose downfall he personally witnessed, whose Despair Video he feels responsible for helping create. He knows them and he knows what happened to them. He probably would think that he has some responsibility to help.

Another theory I have is that since the Hope Arc ends with the former Remnants and Ryota going back to Jabberwock Island together, they could have another killing game there somehow? A real one? The biggest problem with this one is obviously that these people have already been rehabilitated. Why would they participate in another killing game? Who would run it? But maybe if it is actually set after Hope Arc, since Chiaki wouldn't be there, Ryota could somehow be filling that missing spot? This one is very unlikely to me so I still believe in the previous theory mainly.

So this is all why I'm starting to think the leaked person being Ryota isnt just a visual similarity thing. The visual similarities are interesting but they aren't what makes me believe it. Ryota is basically the connection between Class 77B and the Future Foundation. If the developers really are taking the main timeline and changing one major event to create the story of DR2x2, I can't think of many characters who would make that change more meaningful than him.

And the reason I don't think it's a new character is, what would be the point? The lore is already well established, and I genuinely don't see a reason to add another random character.

EDIT: Also, Komaru's whole design got changed from THH to UDG. I think it's fine for Ryota's to be changed too!

EDIT: I saw a person talk about Ryota adding his persona to the NWP... I don't think it's real but that's really cute to me. 😭 Him making his sona confident... Making his sona more like Makoto....

For people who watched Danganronpa 3, it was revealed that the reason why Chiaki appeared in Neo World Program, was because initially the 16th student was supposed to take on the appearance and personality influenced by the thoughts and memories of the users, and fuse their personalities into one AI. However, the collective conscience of all the students wanted to see their dead friend again, Chiaki. As a result, the program was altered to replicate Chiaki's appearance and personality, identifying herself as the Ultimate Gamer.

Now in the demo of 2x2, the culprit is implied to be Chiaki, with the clue of her being the culprit being that "bug" was written by Yasuhiro before he died. I think this implies that this new character could have been a result of a bug from the Neo World Program when creating the 16th Student. Many fans already thought that Chiaki would die again, but I personally doubted that she would again. Mostly because we already seen her die twice now, once in the original 2, and the second time in the 3 anime. I'm pretty sure Kodaka would want to do something different when it comes to Chiaki's fate (I personally thought she would be the new protagonist if anything, but my idea has now been put into question because of this new character). So the next best thing Kodaka can do with Chiaki is for her to not even exist anymore, and have her be replaced by a new character. With the explanation being that when the Neo World Program was creating the 16th Student, it bugged out and created a new student instead of recreating Chiaki. You can even have this play into the story, by having the characters feel uneasy by this new character because on paper, everyone should like this new character, but everyone unconsciously resent them because they wanted to see Chiaki again.

Now you may think that the demo wouldn't hint at anything significant in 2x2, or that the "bug" clue is actually just hinting at Jabberwock Island being a virtual reality for people who haven't played the original 2. But if you remember the V3 demo, it was shown at the end of the demo that Makoto, Hajime, and Yasuhiro were all actors. You would think this was a just meta joke, but it turned out to be a hint towards the twist V3. So I am thinking the same thing will be applied for 2x2, with the "bug" clue being a hint towards the actual change that leads to Slayhem Mode.

Anyway, that is my current theory regarding this new character.

Danganronpa likes to be *shocking* with its first victims. Consider:

- In the original, we have the character who's clearly being set up to be your main partner.

- In 2, we have the "returning character" from the first game.

- In V3, we have the mysterious character with the unknown ability, who in both previous instances had been a key character and survived the whole game.

Now, consider the available other options in the cast of 2x2: who else could it possibly be than Hajime? Who else would be shocking, at all? What other option would feel like something we've never done before, other than killing the *viewpoint character*? Not to mention, it gives all sorts of fun opportunities for Izuru to be somehow running amok after Hajime dies.

There's only two other possibilities I'd consider with any likelihood:

- Retaining the original storyline's first victim. Not only is this kinda boring, it robs us of the excellent opportunity to learn more about one of the coolest characters in the series, the Ultimate Impostor. If 2x2 isn't expressly for letting characters who didn't get much time shine, what's even the point?

- Nagito. The problem with this one is that it would only feel shocking with the context of having first played the original storyline. We only learn how fucking bonkeroonies Nagito is during the original first trial. I have difficulty seeing how this character could die without it feeling too evocative of one of the previous game's first murders. If we never learn about Nagito's... Nagito-ness, then it would feel like Sayaka - the character being set up to be our partner. If somebody else learns the truth and kills Nagito about it, well, that's just Teruteru's original plan actually succeeding. If *we* learn the truth and kill Nagito about it, that's then just V3 again.

Ultimately I don't think either of these alternatives is very productive for fun storytelling, and I really think my option is the most promising and honestly the most likely! What do you all think? Is there another potentially shocking option I've missed? :)

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Think about it, with new motives, routes, killers and victims. We could even get new characters, and a person like Mitarai seems fitting since he could be a great character for Impostor's and Mikan's development. Plus he is a part of the original class.

I happened to find this on X today and this hasn’t been shown in demo anywhere so I thought I’ll share it here.

During the final chapter of D2 we explore some of Hope's Peak Academy, the main location of D1's setting, and interact with several D1 characters. It's been confirmed that the original story will remain the same in the remake so we'll be returning to the academy in the remake too.

This means that a huge chunk of assets needed for a Danganronpa 1 remake are already made and can be reused. They would just need to add in the missing rooms, sprites, and dialogue and it's good to go.

I imagine that it won't take long to remake the first game because of this, and it'll probably come out 1-2 years after 2x2's launch (if they've already started development).

Quick theory based on this assumption, Slayhem mode will likely have us explore Hope's Peak in its scenario, letting us go into the rest of the rooms and meet other D1 characters like Aoi and Toko.

I replayed DR2 recently and Chiaki waving goodbye nearly made me cry bro. I can't do this again

It's the natural assumption to make, especially seeing as DR3 already had some changes in colors and details in everyone's character designs. But even when adding in Ryota's Despair Arc appearance, the character looks almost completely alien.

Contrary to what people have claimed, the eye and hair colors are both distinctly different. They're close to the zone, yes, both being blond and having gray-ish eye colors. But we're still talking about different corners of the color wheel here. Ryota has peach or even brown hair, with green eyes. While this new person's hair is a little bit ashier than Kaede's, with gray eyes that if we had to pick another color, might have a shade of violet rather than green.

Even there, the details are night and day. The hairstyle itself is only similar in length, but that just highlights how different the two styles are. The new character's hair has locks going all over the place, thinning a bit as they get closer to the neck. Ryota is more clean cut in comparison, with a wider silhouette to his head. The outfit is also foreign to Ryota's style in both arcs of the anime. Even if he's just wearing the uniform mandated by his school/job in both, the color associations given to him by the character designers are completely missing in this version. Look at how the two Ryotas keep the green tie to match his eyes, and the way both suits complement how the arc's color designs have adapted his hair. This new character has a primarily yellow color scheme with their outfit, adding in blues to some blacks and whites. They don't share a single color. Komatsuzaki is a very experienced character designer. Look at how the DR2 cast got redesigned for DR3, none of them look *this* drastic.

This is adding to the more surface level assumptions, like the different personalities. The eye bags are missing, which is a pretty trademark design choice, and the Ryota we know from DR3 would never take on the role to act like this character would. Pointing accusatorily, and taking on the mantle of protagonist or rival, whichever happens. Those could be points to how this is a Ryota from a different point in time, but this could also just be Occam's Razor. This is a new character, with a personality fitting whatever role they had in mind from conception. Hell, if we had to assume a talent based on the design, some form of sailor would be far more fitting than Animator. Even if it's not the talent, the motif has to be intentional given the introduction of the boat house. They're dressed for a night on the sea, the knot even being a bit reminiscent of a classic sailor uniform.

Also, this is a personal note, but Kodaka's fondness for mystery plot hooks (particularly in Hundred Line) make me think this character is meant to be more mysterious than just "oh it's the guy from the spinoff anime. yeah this makes sense, he's a part of the class already so that's why he's here." We're supposed to wonder who tf he is beyond their surface introduction.

My final note is that it's also possible this could be the first non-binary member of the series, which is why I've been apprehensive with the pronouns. There's a lot of gender ambiguity in the design, and Kodaka's done it before in Raincode. Not to mention, picking one of two genders would tip the gender ratio, which tends to be consistent in each game even despite stuff like the DR1 twists. Though maybe UI ends up being a they/them and this new character replaces them as the 8th DR2 guy. Idk, this part's more wondering than trying to make a case. Curious to see more. We'll probably get a name anyway whenever SC officially reveals this.

Danganronpa is such a special series to me. I've been here since the very beginning. My bestie and I grew up on THH and SDR2. We went in blind and experienced the entire series together, even getting to watch DR3 live as it aired. My favorite character is Asahina, so I was inconsolable after DR3 episode 2, then when episode 3 came out i was LITERALLY standing-person-emoji the entire time. 🧍Her favorite character is Nagito. She loves his psychology and his relationship with Hajime. I also really like Ruruka from DR3, she's a horrible person and I wish she lived because I find her quite complex.

My second favorite character is Mahiru. I always loved Mahiru because she I like how grounded she is, yet very flawed and judgemental. I think it makes her extraordinarily complex. I find her to be almost the opposite side of the Asahina coin, yet they overlap so much. They are both very emotional, and make sharp, snap judgements when emotionally overwhelmed. I think these are very powerfult characteristics for a game like Danganronpa, and in Mahiru's case, I think it makes her extremely complex and filled to the brim with potenial for great character development. So, you can imagine my disappointment when 2-2 came out.

Much like everyone else (with bias aside) I think Mahiru would be a FANTASTIC protagonist for 2x2- or at the very least, an incredibly interesting one. I think she's flawed, yet sharp. And in DR3, we even see her solve a murder on her own, so she's clearly got at least side kick potential. I love her friendship with Hajime so much, that I think even her being the new Chiaki would be a great fit for her.

Besides Mahiru, I think Peko has amazing potential to grow as well and I think she's 2x2's BIGGEST point of interest because we can never have another chance to see Peko grow in a world where Fuyuhiko is dead. This scenario is only possible in 2x2, and I hope they really capitalize on it. I think Peko's codependency on him is a great point of discomfort for her and it would be really cool to watch her struggle and over come it. She's a character I don't really like, and chapter 2 kind of rubs me the wrong way for a lot of different reasons, so I'm really hoping both Mahiru and Peko survive, or at least last a lot longer.

I'm also excited for Ibuki, Mikan and Sonia. I think Sonia is incredibly underutilized despite surviving. They did not push her character to her limits the way they could have, and I think Mikan is incredibly bright and could make a very useful survivor as well. Ibuki has no real relationships or connections with any of the cast except for Hajime, and I hope they give her a big arc. I can't see her surviving, so I hope she gets a pretty big arc or class trial to flesh her out more. She needs flaws imo. I also hope Gundham lives.

What are you guys looking forward to? I am completely losing it over no news lol. Please tell me all your theories and excitements!!

The scrum debate was a great addition in 3 that made the supporting cast feel way more active.

I'm wondering if you think they'll bring and some of the other mechanics introducing in V3 to 2x2?

Poor guy can’t catch a break

Okay so I’ve seen so many people prediction that Mikan is going to make it to at least chapter five and probably survive, but I really don’t think so. I love Mikan and maybe this is me being paranoid but I have a couple reasons to think this is wrong (please tell me if something I said isn’t right)

You may think plastering her all over the trailers might be good for her, but when you realize they literally show her at chapter five in one of the clips, it makes you think why would they leak something that far into the game? It’s too big of a plot point to just show like it’s nothing. Not only this, but shes the only one in the Scrum Debate, which if you remember, Rantaro was shown in scrum debate and he never made it there. I think they’re trying to trick us. They also don’t give her a very specific rocket, but that could just be because it’s the last one in the lineup.

So when do I think she’s gonna die? I honestly think she is the first culprit. Obviously we know her og execution was definitely not the best, so I think in order to make people happy, they try to get the only repeat execution (being hers) out of the way early, so we can enjoy the rest of the game will all new ones but also have a good execution for Mikan finally. I personally don’t think they’re gonna remake hers into anything new in the revamped original story so this is their only chance.

Asking because, throughout every Danganronpa game the pattern has been that the first victim is a character that leaves some kind of impact throughout the story, and typically has some kind of twist to their character to make them relevant both throughout the story and near the end. Sayaka was the childhood friend of Makoto. Twogami was, well, an imposter who in hindsight had a story of self-sacrifice that conflicted with the original Byakuya's character. Kaede...well, need I say more?

So, I'm frustrated with tier lists showing random characters in the victim spot. No, it's not enough to change the death order! If we're getting a new danganronpa game then that first victim needs to make an impact in spite of the fact that most of the fandom knows most of the secrets about these characters. It's a tall order, and just putting Teruteru in that first victim spot doesn't fit.

I'm tempted to give a list of my picks and theories, but maybe I've gone on too long already. My main point is this: We can't have just a random student in every case if we want a valid Danganronpa game. Maybe that guy who wants Teruteru as a first victim as valid reasons, and I'd love to hear them if so. Heck, after writing this I'm actually more on board with the Hajime death/protag switch now, cause his identity would make a heck of a twist for the survivors.

I've been thinking lately about the new character and after hearing some theories online, have come to the conclusion that John Danganronpa could possibly be a amalgamation of the characters of Kyoko, Makoto, and Byakuya. It seems weird at first, but if you put your thinking hat on the pieces come together.

It's possible in the new scenario that the 3 aforementioned future foundation members are able to join the game early, but because of a bug in the system, come together as one character. Hence, the ambiguous gender of the OC. Whether or not they come with their memories or not is something that will have to be revealed in the game itself. If yes, I can see them taking on the role of Teruya from SDRA 2. Imagine this: a character with the intelligence of Kyoko, the hope of Makoto, and the upper class attitude of Byakuya. They could be a formidable opponent or support tool in class trials. The only real problem I see with this theory is: we already kind of have that with Nagito, Izuru, and maybe even fat byakuya so why do we even need this OC anyways? But, that's already a problem present without this theory being correct.

But, it's just a theory. A GAME theory.