For the alternate versions of Junko Enoshima, see: Ryōko Otonashi or Alter Ego Junko.

Junko Enoshima Gallery Sprites

This article is a despair-inducing stub! As such, it is considered to be incomplete regarding the information available.





“ Hope is harmony. A just heart, moving toward the light. That is all. Despair is hope's polar opposite. It is messy and confusing. It swallows up love, hatred, and everything else. Because not knowing where you will end up is despair. Despair is even what you cannot predict. Only despair's unpredictability can save you from a boring future.

— Danganronpa 3: Despair Arc ”



Junko Enoshima (江ノ島 盾子), is a student in Hope's Peak Academy's Class 78th, and a participant of the Killing School Life featured in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. Her title is the Ultimate Fashionista (超高校級の「ギャル」 lit. Super High School Level Gyaru).

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Appearance

At the end of the Killing School Life in, Junko appears to be a young high school-aged teenager, but due to her causing her classmate's memory loss she is two years older than they all believed her and themselves to be. She has a tall hourglass figure, light blue eyes, and long, thick, bleached strawberry blonde hair tied in two twin pigtails. Due to her talent, she wears heavy make-up along with (possibly fake) long red nails.

Despite not being identical twins, Junko and her older twin sister Mukuro Ikusaba share several physical characteristics. However, Junko has a considerably larger chest than Mukuro and weighs two pounds more than her. Junko's eyes are more round and larger and are blue with her contacts or naturally red compared to Mukuro's light purple eyes. Junko also lacks freckles.

Junko's usual outfit includes a black cardigan over a white dress shirt, with both left open to the third button to expose the top of her black-and-red bra, a red pleated miniskirt, and mid-sized black boots with platform heels and red laces. Her cardigan is accented with white symbols of her Former High School. She accessories with a long tie that hangs loosely around her neck with a design alternates between pure white (Danganronpa 3) and as half black and white with a prohibition sign on it (Danganronpa 1) that hangs loosely around her neck, a thin black choker, a red bow above her left breast, and two buttons on her right side.

Her most notable accessory is her signature twin bear hair clips that are based on Monokuma's two sides. The right clip is a completely white bear with dot eyes and a neutral expression, while the left is a black bear with a white muzzle, jagged red eyes, and a wicked smile. During her time at Hope's Peak Academy, she instead wore a set of hair slips of a cute bunny and a large red and white bow. This is the outfit her sister Mukuro wore when masquerading during the Killing School Life.

Due to her constantly-shifting personalities, Junko's appearance shifts slightly with her mood. Her "royal" personality dons a small gold and red crown with encrusted jewels, her "intellectual" personality wears glasses and styles her hair in a ponytail, her "depressed" personality sports a few multicolored mushrooms on top of her head, and her "cute" personality simplifies her entire appearance to appear more cartoonish, including smoother pigtails, large, bright eyes, and a small smile.

In Danganronpa Zero, it is stated that she looks much more average without her make-up. It is also shown that her natural hair and eye color is red, considering her she doesn't remember being "Junko Enoshima" while assuming her alternative identity: Ryōko Otonashi.

In (chronologically) earlier installments of the series, such as Danganronpa Zero and Monaca Towa's flashbacks in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, Junko is seen in the third variation of her Hope's Peak Academy outfit. Her cardigan has been removed, and her dress shirt is buttoned up to hide her bra. Her red bow tie is pinned on the left side of her dress shirt, and her right pigtail is held by a black bunny clip with red eyes. She also wears a black miniskirt and a new tie that lacks the circled X and has a different balance of white and black; the collar and knot are white, while the rest is black. Junko's nails are still painted red, but they are much shorter than in her other outfits.

Personality

As a young fashionista, Junko is described as simply "not fake", charismatic and eager to try new things. During her first appearances, she comes across slightly air-headed and hot-tempered. In the official artbook, she is described as a person who "drips with dissatisfaction the moment she opens her mouth" and tends to be in trouble with her classmates. She is also mentioned to be a bit too talkative with an overly carefree attitude.

However, Junko's real personality, revealed at the conclusion of the Killing School Life, is notably different: very apathetic and easily bored to an unhealthy and abnormal degree. Because of this, her behavior and mannerisms tended to be extremely erratic and unstable by her own autonomous design; keeping up one "appearance" for too long bores her, which causes her to often switch between different personas. However, she is capable of maintaining one persona for extended periods of time when necessary, such as when she was overseeing the students through Monokuma. Junko's "moods" included (but were not limited to) her Monokuma persona, sickening cuteness, severe depression, clinical sophistication, boisterous vulgarity, eerie stoicism, and haughty superiority. She switched between "moods" regularly, often imitating other students' expressions, which made for a highly unsettling conversation with the survivors. While entering the Hope's Peak Academy as one of Class 78's students, she often talked as if narrating a story, writing down her thoughts in a notebook.

Above all, Junko was deeply obsessed with despair, having found despair to be the most (and possibly the only) enjoyable emotion for her, whether it be inflicting despair unto others, or suffering from despair wholeheartedly. This made her extremely dangerous, as she wished to make the whole world feel absolute despair. However, this also often proved to be her biggest weakness, as she gave her opponents a "fair" chance to defeat her in order to make their despair all the greater if they fail, and happily welcomed her own despair if her plans failed.

Both Junko herself and the game's creators have confirmed that she truly has no reason to do the things she does other than despair itself, which makes her all the more dangerous and unable to be reasoned with. In Danganronpa Zero, it's revealed that her love for despair developed at quite a young age due to an unknown reason and that her true talent is her near-supernatural analytical skills. It's also shown that under her amnesiac state, Junko doesn't show a thirst for despair or particularly strong hatred of boredom, implying that her constant case of forgetfulness had spared her from embracing despair again. However, the return of her memories reverted her to her former ways. In Danganronpa 3, it's finally revealed that her talent is the reason why she is easily bored with the world (similar to Izuru Kamukura); her obsession with despair stems from her belief that it is completely unpredictable and thus exciting.

As the mastermind and leader of Ultimate Despair, Junko was shown to be highly intelligent, cunning, somewhat impulsive, extremely manipulative, and violent and cruel without remorse. She was a highly toxic individual, being both physically and mentally abusive to everyone around her. She manipulated people into falling madly in love with her and used their weaknesses, their despair, against them. Things like hope, peace, and happiness disgusted her, but she sometimes gave hope to others, only to turn it into greater despair later. She often manipulated people into doing bad things instead of directly doing them herself and then had a habit of blaming these manipulated people and claiming it wasn't her fault, as a part of proving her point that despair exists in everyone and that hope will naturally lose to that despair. While she is very skilled, Junko can also lie and cheat to further her own goals, even if it's hypocritical and goes against her beliefs. It should be noted that even though she claims despair is the great unknown, in the end, the road of despair went exactly the way she had planned.

Due to her urge to inflict despair, Junko has no qualms killing and sacrificing basically anybody to achieve her goals, including anyone she presumably actually cares or loves about. This includes her twin sister Mukuro Ikusaba or her love interest Yasuke Matsuda, and due to her extraordinary charisma, many of them such as the aforementioned Mukuro turn out to be willing sacrifices for her. Those who oppose her or the ones that she seeks to remove for her goals receive much worse fates and are more often than not killed or manipulated into joining her instantly as soon as they were found out.

While she is very abusive and cruel even towards her loved ones, Junko is, in fact, capable of affection; however, this only fuels her depravity. Because hurting people close to her will cause her greater despair, she tends to deal with them in more personal ways; for instance, she personally killed her sister Mukuro and her love interest Yasuke, making them both believe she did not care about them at all during their last moments, and later treating their bodies in very disrespectful manners. In the Otomedia Winter issue 2016, Kazutaka Kodaka revealed that Junko genuinely loved all her classmates from Class 78th, which is why she deliberately made them survive The Tragedy and become targets for the killing game. The more she loves someone, the more she wants to treasure and revel in their despair, which is why she set up her classmates to experience despair by her own hand. She is also shown to have quite an unusual relationship with Izuru. The opposite of this is seen in the genuinely condescending way she acts towards her Remnants of Despair, feeling nothing for the Class 77th and only viewing them as her pawns, resulting in her brainwashing them all at once and having no interest to get to know them personally. Junko repeatedly refers to the Class 77th students as "chumps", even once through Kurokuma while talking about Nagito in Danganronpa Another Episode, showing how she really doesn't take them seriously.

Following the reveal of her analytical talent, it can be inferred (but not proven) that Junko's obsessions are ironically fueled by her great ability to read, predict, and empathize with people around her. She most likely understands the consequences of her actions and the exact level of suffering her plans will inflict, but this only encourages her by filling her with despair over her own monstrous acts. As a result of this, Junko actually manages to escape classification as a true sociopath, since they are defined by a complete inability to form emotional connections with others.

According to Kodaka and Junko's voice actress, her personality in Despair Arc is a more natural version of her, closer to her true self and more neutral, before she started changing her personalities regularly. This seems to imply that her behavior in the first game is a result of decreasing mental health and deeper sinking into despair, explaining her more jaded and apathetic personality. This also implies that even the Tragedy was beginning to bore her, as the seemingly chaotic event went just like she planned.

Talents & Abilities

Ultimate Fashionista

Junko's initial talent and the one she is famous for. She is very popular among people and students in Hope's Peak Academy; even the Steering Committee guaranteed her talent. She often appeared in magazines as the cover model. She uses her Super High School Level Analytical Prowess talent to her advantage, as she can predict trends.

Super High School Level Gyaru

In the original Japanese, Junko's title is Super High School Level Gyaru (超高校級の「ギャル」). The term gyaru refers to a Japanese street fashion subculture. Gyaru fashion is typically characterized by having heavily bleached or dyed hair (mostly shades from dark brown to blonde), highly decorated nails, and dramatic makeup. Since Junko is still a high school student, she is technically a コギャル "kogyaru" (an abbreviation of 高校生ギャル kōkōsei gyaru or "high school gyaru"). Kogyaru are known for altering their school uniforms (e.g. by shortening the skirt) and their fondness of platform boots - two visible features of Junko's attire. Decorating one's cell phone extensively (as well as constantly handling it) is a signature gyaru habit, which explains Alter Ego Junko's choice of an over-adorned cell phone as her courtroom avatar for the final trial of Danganronpa 2. Gyaru, in general, are also fond of bleaching their hair and wearing colored contact lenses - making it highly probable that Junko has neither naturally strawberry blond hair nor naturally blue eyes. Bearing this fact in mind, it is very much possible that Junko's natural hair and eye colors are those of her temporary identity, Ryōko Otonashi.

Super High School Level Analytical Prowess

Junko's true talent allows her to quickly analyze her surroundings with near superhuman speed, detailed thinking and memorization. This ability also allows her to learn and understand new skills and talents by just seeing/studying it once, seeing as how she was able to learn all the necessary techniques of how to create a brainwashing video from observing Ryota Mitarai, learn how to create her own A.I from studying Chihiro Fujisaki's work, and later figured out and perfected a method to erase someones memory perfectly after stealing Yasuke Matsuda's research and possibly obtaining other talents/skills during her time studying in Hope's Peak.

This talent gives her an excellent ability to make very detailed plans in a short amount of time. She is also excellent at reading and thus manipulating others. She can often predict what a person is going to do before they do it - an ability she can use to defeat opponents much stronger than her. It is also this ability that threw her into boredom since she was able to accurately guess how events would play out; this fueled her love of despair as an "unknown".

Ultimate Despair

Junko has the ability to cause nearly anyone to fall into despair, and she revels in the despair felt by herself and others. Using her talent as the Super High School Level Analytical Prowess, she could detect everyone's weaknesses and use this information to manipulate or even exploit people around her to do her bidding.

This was demonstrated by how she could prevent the Warriors of Hope from committing suicide and persuaded them to join her in spreading despair by killing adults. It's also been shown that she has severely abused her sister and made her very dependent of her. However, it should be noted that she usually takes the more personal approach only with people she is genuinely interested in. She tends to literally brainwash masses, using videos created with Ryota Mitarai's animation brainwashing technique and her own talent of despair.

The only person she could never get to was Makoto, who could be considered the true Ultimate Hope in the same way Junko is considered the true Ultimate Despair. In the case of Izuru, the original Ultimate Hope, he was never truly loyal to her and his despair was caused solely by his own boredom.

Ability to sense Talent, Hope, and Despair

Similar to Nagito Komaeda, Junko seems to have a strange ability to sense hope and despair in other people, which doesn't seem to be related to her analytical skill. This is seen in Danganronpa Zero, when she can sense the incredible strength hidden inside Makoto even while currently having the amnesiac persona of Ryōko. This is also seen in Danganronpa 3, when she similarly senses Makoto's potential.

In other languages

Junko's talent as it appears in official translations of Danganronpa material.

Language Talent Translation 日本語 Japanese 超高校級の「ギャル」 Super High School Level Gyaru ‪中文(台灣)‬ Chinese (Trad) 超高校級的“太妹” Super High School Level Playgirl * 中文 Chinese (Simp) 超高校级的“太妹” Super High School Level Playgirl * Français French La Fashion Victim Ultime Ultimate Fashion Victim * Deutsch German Super-Fashion-Diva Super Fashion Diva * Italiano Italian Super Gal Liceale Super High School Level Model * Español Spanish Super Estudiante de Instituto Nivel: Modelo Super High School Student Level: Model * Polski Polish Super Fashionistka Super Fashionista *

Language Talent Translation 日本語 Japanese 超高校級の「絶望」 Super High School Level Despair ‪中文(台灣)‬ Chinese (Trad) 超高校級的“絕望” Super High School Level Despair * 超高中級的絕望 Super High School Level Despair * 中文 Chinese (Simp) 超高校级的“绝望” Super High School Level Despair * 한국어 Korean 초 고교 급 의 절망 Super High School Class Despair * Français French La Lycéenne Ultime du Désespoir Schoolgirl Ultimate Despair * Deutsch German Super-Verzweiflung Super Despair * Italiano Italian Super Disperazione Liceale Super High School Level Despair * Español Spanish Super Estudiante de Instituto Nivel: Desesperación Super High School Student Level: Despair * Polski Polish Super Rozpacz Super Despair *

Language Talent Translation 日本語 Japanese 超高校級の「分析力」 Super High School Level Analytical Prowess

History

As children, Junko and her twin sister Mukuro had lived in abject conditions and they were even homeless at some point. As she puts it, she regretted the moment of her own birth, feeling that her birth into the world was a mistake. Due to her analytical skills allowing her to predict the outcome of events, she became bored with the world. Because of that, she took an interest in despair, which she believes is unpredictable and exciting, at a very young age.

As a child, she was close with Yasuke Matsuda, as they didn't have any other friends. One particular moment between the two when they were elementary school students was when Junko spent a month building a sand sculpture modeled after the Sagrada Familia church at the public park, and she even used very advanced techniques for her age. The sculpture got closer to completion and many people from around the neighborhood came over just to watch her work.

One day, the sandcastle was found destroyed just before it was completed. Junko cried continuously for almost an entire day and Yasuke went around angrily looking for the perpetrator. Not being able to find out anything useful discouraged Yasuke. While he was sitting on a bench in front of the remains of the sand sculpture, Junko ran up to him with a large smile and whispered in his ear that she was the culprit who destroyed the sculpture all along, asking him to keep it a secret. When asked for a reason, she replied that she did so by accident. Truthfully, she had done this to get Yasuke out of his house, upset that his mother's condition had led him to become more withdrawn than usual.

In the years following the death of Yasuke's mother, Junko became the person that Yasuke felt he could always lean on. She promised to always be there for him, which helped develop his stronger feelings towards her. She said she'll never forget Yasuke even if she forgets everything else, and they'll always be together. For the first time in his life, Yasuke cried in front of another person, after making her promise she won't make fun of him, won't tell anyone and won't try to console him. Junko had romantic feelings for Yasuke, referring to them as "lovers", though Yasuke denied this.

Junko had a strong desire to "paint the world in despair" and planned to start The Tragedy, the worst, most despair-inducing incident in the history of mankind. She called herself and her sister the Despair Sisters AKA the Ultimate Despair.

As a teen, Junko began a modeling career and quickly became an idol amongst the Japanese population with her extravagant tastes. One reason for her popularity was the fact that, ironically, she didn't seem fake. Her career created a lot of unwanted attention as well; she claimed that the only men who were interested in her were "creeps who did not actually care about her."

Junko used to attend Gunma Prefectural Shibutani High School. She was scouted into Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Fashionista along with her twin sister Mukuro, the Ultimate Soldier, into Class 78th. Unlike other students, her admission is a special case by the recommendation of the Steering Committee; her talent is guaranteed by the Committee, with explicit dis-involvement of Jin Kirigiri and Koichi Kizakura. The responsibility of her as a student was placed upon the headmaster after her admission, with the Committee removing their responsibility on her development.

Junko first appeared walking out of a taxi at the airport, leaving a wallet rigged to explode in the car as a "tip" for the driver. She then walked into the airport and waited for her sister Mukuro, while narrating her plan to the viewer and her sister.

The two are later seen in a limo. Junko asked Mukuro if she has more freckles than when they last saw each other while picking up an ice pick, trying to repeatedly stab her with it, which Mukuro managed to easily block. Mukuro, in her head, mentioned how her sister was trying to taste the despair of killing her own sister; thinking about how her Mukuro would surely fall into despair if she succeeds.

Junko then took out a grenade and, after jumping to the other side of the limo, threw it at Mukuro. Mukuro, however, simply picked up the grenade with her champagne glass and threw it outside the limo, detonating underneath another car and blowing it up. Following that, Junko went back to Mukuro and told her that she stinks, blaming it on her body odor, as she insisted that she had been bathing. Mukuro then asked Junko why she contacted her. Junko explained that the two of them had been scouted by Hope's Peak Academy and that they would be attending school there.

The two are later seen at the school ceremony, right behind Makoto, who was about to walk into the school as Junko narrated the story. Mukuro asked Junko if narrating was her current obsession. Junko replied that it was, but that she already got bored of it, as she drew a picture of Monokuma.

Sometime after the entrance ceremony, Junko kidnapped one of the Hope's Peak Academy trustees and tortured him (presumably to death) by scooping his eye out with a spoon covered with curry. She explained to her victim that torturing someone with something familiar and seemingly harmless was more effective than conventional methods of inflicting pain.

With her sister assisting her, Junko managed to reach the room where Izuru Kamukura was being held. As Mukuro killed the guards, Junko, while eating takoyaki, told her to clean the mess she had made as they finally arrived in front of the room. When Mukuro noted that the door had a retinal scanner, Junko stated that she had "borrowed" what they needed and picked the trustee's eyeball from her takoyaki, granting the sisters access to the room.

Junko excitedly showered Izuru with flattery before she starting to manipulate him by threatening to kill him with a knife. However, Izuru easily blocked Junko's attack and pinned her to the floor while he effortlessly slammed Mukuro into the wall. Junko then shared with Izuru her interest in despair, which Izuru said was illogical, to which Junko responded that logic was irrelevant to her. Izuru then deduced that she had super analytical abilities and asked Junko why she would place herself in a situation where she would obviously lose.

Junko revealed that the reason why she loved despair so much was because of that super analytical ability—she had gotten bored with the world and she believed that only despair could save her from that boredom. She also recognized Izuru's own analytical abilities and persuaded him to join her side. As Junko began to visibly enjoy her situation, the alarms activated and Izuru was prompted to knock her out.

Junko regained her consciousness inside the school's hospital, where Mukuro told her that she managed to make excuses for her injuries, claiming that she tripped and fell down a flight of stairs. Mukuro then told her that after Izuru knocked her out, he informed her that he would be "waiting" for the two of them. Junko excitedly jumped out of the bed and resolved to meet with him despite her injuries. As the sisters were leaving the hospital, they passed by Ryota Mitarai. Junko showed an immediate interest in him, claiming that their meeting was yet another fateful encounter.

Outside of the Hope's Peak hospital, Junko asked Ryota about his talent and he replied that he was the Ultimate Animator. Junko eagerly asked to see his anime and Ryota invited the two sisters to his dorm to show them. After watching Ryota's anime, Junko and Mukuro were so moved that they had been reduced to sobbing messes. Junko was intrigued as Ryota explained the techniques he used, equating it to brainwashing. He justified the moral discrepancies by saying it could be used in a beneficial way, as Junko began to see it as something she could use to her advantage.

Junko set Ryota up in the office of the missing Steering Committee member while Mukuro brought Mikan, whom she had abducted, to Ryota's dorm. Junko decided to make Mikan watch the anime. She then left Mikan for Ryota to find while she and Mukuro went to get Izuru. Junko wanted to show Izuru the Student Council Killing Game she had planned and so invited him to watch the despair-inducing event.

The Despair Sisters assembled the Student Council, intending for them to kill each other. The council refused even after Junko unveiled tapes that have their parents' scandals on them. Before the Killing Game started, Junko gave Mukuro a piece of sheet music and ordered her to sing while the frightening event occurred.

As the chaos unfolded, Junko made her way into the control room with Mukuro. As she observed the massacre taking place on the security cameras, Junko talked about how she believed that despair could make life more interesting. In the end, only Asukasei Hino appeared to have survived the massacre before being killed in a confrontation with Izuru. Before his death, Izuru seemed shocked as the dying council member set off a shot that managed to graze his cheek. In truth, Sōshun Murasame had also survived the killing game, albeit with a severe head injury.

Junko sent a mass e-mail to all of the Reserve Course students, exposing the Student Council massacre and Izuru's existence. She used security footage to frame Izuru as the sole murderer and revealed that the Reserve Course had been implemented to acquire the money for human experimentation. This caused the Reserve Course to riot, ultimately leading to the Parade of the Reserve Course.

In a secret room she gained access to by killing a trustee, Junko was solving a jigsaw puzzle and looking at Class 77-B's wonderful photos filled with so much hope while the brainwashed Mikan told her that the class rep Chiaki Nanami and the homeroom teacher Chisa Yukizome had worked so hard for her class. This information developed Junko's interest in making Class 77-B turned from the class full of hope into Ultimate Despair.

Junko advised Ryota to return to his class. When he replied by questioning why Junko was wasting her time solving a jigsaw puzzle, Junko simply flipped the already-solved puzzle and answered that when the order she spent a long time building was ultimately swallowed by chaos, it would cause great despair.

Junko later appeared in Ryota's dorm by kicking Mikan, who was trying to seduce Ryota into despair. When Ryota asked Junko if she was the one who drove Mikan into despair, she answered by pulling out (seemingly from nowhere) her project presentation, during which she explained how planned to use Ryota's brainwashing anime technique by combining it with the tape recording of The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, resulting in a brainwashing video dubbed the Despair Video to knock the world into despair. Junko blackmailed Ryota by choosing his classmates as the participants of the next Mutual Killing Game if he wouldn't cooperate with her.

Due to Mikan's disappearance, her classmates went out to search for her. As they searched, Nagito Komaeda, with Chiaki, discovered Junko's secret hideout, claiming he found it due to his luck. Junko was impressed with Nagito after he stopped Mukuro from intervening with him and asked how he could track so much information regarding her movement. As Nagito rambled about hope, Junko showed her disgust by calling that his love for hope insane to a despairful degree. When Nagito pointed a gun at Junko, she didn't move, as she already predicted that Izuru would come to save her by jamming Nagito's gun and shooting him with it. She praised Izuru for this, once again to no reaction.

Junko interrupted the conversation between Izuru and Chiaki, who had been desperately asking about his previous identity as Hajime Hinata. She introduced herself as the mastermind of the entire Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy to Chiaki. As she already been interested in Chiaki before their first encounter, Junko had planned to make her watch the Despair Video. However, Chisa arrived and created a diversion by throwing a fire extinguisher, allowing Chiaki and the collapsed Nagito (whom she carried) to escape from Junko's grasp.

After the two students left, Junko told Chisa that she had let Chiaki and Nagito escape because she had come up with a better plan. After she introduced herself and Izuru to Chisa, she explained that the students of Class 77-B would be filled with despair that day via brainwashing using the Despair Video. To show the results of the brainwashing, Junko called in an already-brainwashed Reserve Course student and ordered him to commit suicide. As he slowly killed himself by cutting his own neck, Junko excitedly told Chisa that she too would fall into despair, just like him. Junko and Mukuro bound Chisa to a chair and forced her to watch the brainwashing video. When Chisa displayed resistance to its effects, Junko, having matters to attend to elsewhere, ordered Mukuro lobotomize her.

Junko gathered with a crowd of Reserve Course students on a bridge as they accompanied her in bidding her farewell to Ryota, who had escaped from her hideout. She thanked him for making his part in completing the Despair Video, as because of his "hard work", she was going to brainwash Ryota's classmates and plunge the world into despair. Junko pretended to soothe the panicked Ryota by assuring him that the creation of Despair Video was not his fault at all and told him to run, knowing that running away from the problem would be Ryota's despair.

When Juzo Sakakura confronted Junko, the onslaught of Reserve Course students overwhelmed him, causing him to lay at Junko's feet in disbelief. She expressed disappointment that she was unable to defeat him by exploiting his supposed weakness instead. She then revealed this weakness, showing a picture to Juzo on her phone of him gazing lovingly at a picture of Kyosuke Munakata. She threatened to show it to Kyosuke and expose Juzo's feelings for him. Juzo begged her not to, and Junko agreed under the condition that he attests to her innocence and erode suspicion from the higher-ups of her connection to the recent chain of events. When he agreed to this half-heartedly, she aggressively pressed her stiletto onto his head and demanded he begs her, effectively having Juzo under her complete control. He agreed to fulfill his end of the agreement and she released her hold. She then left the school grounds, the Reserve Course students trailing behind her, shielding herself from the rain with an umbrella. She stated that Juzo was only the 'appetizer' in her plan and that she had no further use for him.

When Chiaki was forced down a lift by Chisa, she found herself in an underground corridor, with Junko addressing her from a monitor. She explained that she brainwashed Chisa by making her watch the despair video, which was possible through Ryota's animation techniques. Junko continued by saying that she had been watching Chiaki and knew she was the final piece in her plan to make her entire class fall into despair.

Junko announced to Class 77-B through several monitors that Chiaki's "punishment" was now officially going to begin after trapping them in a room that would come to resemble those used in the Class Trials. A door opened and Chiaki was forced into a harrowing gauntlet full of dangerous traps. Junko monitored her progress, treating Chiaki's punishment as a virtual game, and commentated on her movements. Despite taking multiple injuries, she refused to give up, prompting Junko to reward her with a ten-second head start before the next wave of torture. Junko began counting down as Chiaki desperately tried to limp to safety, only to be speared in her right knee when Junko reached the six-second mark—a cruel fake-out that Junko mockingly attributed to "a despairingly bad memory".

Chiaki defiantly told Junko that she wouldn't let her win over her and her friends as she finally made it to a door marked "GOAL"—on the other side, she saw what appeared to be Chisa and her classmates. Chiaki eagerly moved toward them, only to be impaled by a spear as the illusion broke. Falling backward, she was caught in a bed of spears that shot out of the ground, impaling her entire body before she dropped lifelessly. The death of Chiaki forced the Class 77-B into despair and Junko's plan was now complete.

Mukuro, Junko, and Izuru stood atop a tall building near the school, with a clear view of Class 77-B's room. Junko watched the class through her binoculars before proclaiming that they would infect the world with despair. Mukuro asked her what she meant by "infect", but was promptly silenced as Junko scolded her for not knowing her plan. Junko immediately slapped her, causing Mukuro to fall to the ground. Prodding Mukuro with her stiletto heel, Junko explained that an 'ominous' and 'fun' atmosphere had caused a hopeful world to fall into despair.

Once the Reserve Students had finished their march on Hope's Peak, leaving it in ruin, Junko thanked them over her mobile phone, prompting them to adhere to her wishes by committing suicide. Mukuro inquired as to why she didn't keep them around to help but was rebuffed by Junko, who explained that although they thought like her, they were nowhere near the same level of ability and so were useless to her. Mukuro agreed while staring at her in admiration, her loyalty undimmed even when Junko pointed out that Mukuro may not be safe from her either should she let her guard down.

Later, Junko and Mukuro were with Class 78th helping them to convert the academy into a bunker to protect the surviving students from the chaos outside. As the students worked, Junko threw a wrench at Makoto Naegi, only for it to fly over his head as he conveniently tripped. Junko explained to Mukuro that Makoto was the only person who she could not predict; nonetheless, she shot down her sister's suggestion that they kill him, believing that it would be more despair-inducing if someone like Makoto was able to beat her in the end.

After the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, Junko spread rumors about it, claiming that Izuru Kamukura was the culprit. Yasuke was asked by the school to interrogate her, but in reality, he was Junko's ally. In preparation for the Mutual Killing of 78th Class, Junko tested procedures for memory-erasing with the reluctant assistance of Yasuke. Having succeeded in erasing her own memories with Yasuke's memory-erasing technology, she assumed the fake identity of Ryōko Otonashi and hid from suspicion.

As she no longer remembered who she was, she only had false information in a notebook and the continual deception by both Yasuke and Mukuro (who pretended to be Junko) to go off on. Around the same time, the school board members were killed one by one by Mukuro.

Eventually, she managed to recover all of her lost memories and she killed Yasuke in a fit of despair. Afterwards, Junko returned to her school life and continued preparations for the 78th Class' Mutual Killing along with Mukuro.

Around the time when The Tragedy was beginning, five abused kids from Hope's Peak Elementary School called Monaca Towa, Nagisa Shingetsu, Kotoko Utsugi, Masaru Daimon, and Jataro Kemuri were about to commit suicide. However, Junko stopped them and took them under her wing, convincing them that the adults who abused them were wrong.

Junko manipulated and brainwashed the children, giving them their first true hope and acting loving towards them. She made them think that they're her property. However, in truth, she was only interested in Monaca, who as a member of the Towa Group mass-produced extremely dangerous Monokuma robots for Junko.

Furthermore, Junko decided to use the children to cause more despair and taught them that all the adults are Demons who need to be killed. The children started to call themselves the Warriors of Hope. The kids seemingly were loving towards Junko as well, but as later revealed in Danganronpa: Another Episode, Monaca was the only one who was ultimately loving towards her, often referring to her as "Big Sis Junko".

During the Tragedy

At Junko's bequest, all the Reserve Students committed mass suicide, furthering the message of despair. The riots spread outside the school, both online and off, and slowly became more violent and destructive as more and more people succumbed to despair. Wars started and soon the whole world fell into despair. The whole incident was known as The Tragedy.

The Ultimate Despair members worshiped Junko and spread all over the world to cause terrible things for the sake of despair. They even killed their friends and families. The Warriors of Hope started to kill adults, even their parents, in order to create a paradise for children.

Junko's classmates, the Class 78th, sealed Hope's Peak Academy and lived peacefully inside it for a year without knowing that the Ultimate Despair members were already in their midst. Junko incapacitated them somehow, executed the headmaster Jin Kirigiri, and erased her classmates' memories.

Junko starts the Mutual Killing Game of Class 78th and speaks to her classmates through a smaller version of Monokuma, hiding her true identity.

She worked behind the scenes and controlled Monokuma in order to cause anxiety and paranoia among the students to make them kill each other. She also began to broadcast everything as a TV program for the public to enjoy and fall into despair.

Chapter 1 - To Survive

Mukuro posed among the students as Junko herself and the original plan was to have her trapped in the dungeon in order to "set an example" for the students not to directly rebel against Monokuma. However, on a whim, Junko decided to kill her sister for real and she was brutally impaled by Monokuma with numerous spears, dubbed "Spears of Gungnir". The reason Junko killed Mukuro was to bring her and her sister despair since beyond all appearances she truly did love Mukuro. Despite this, the survivors of the Killing School Life took it as plain murder.

All of the students then believed that Junko had died, not knowing that the Junko they knew was an impostor because at the time the students were not privy to the fact that there were actually sixteen students.

Chapter 3 - A Next Generation Legend!

After the class trial, Kyoko told Makoto that she had found a hidden room containing secret documents about Hope's Peak Academy, accessed through the supply closet of the second-floor men's restroom. After Makoto entered this room, a masked Junko knocked him out from behind. When he woke up, all of the files were gone.

Chapter 5 - 100 Mile Dash; Pain of a Junk Food Junkie

During the course of events, Junko was able to ensure the deaths of several of the students, before realizing that Kyoko Kirigiri had somehow managed to break into the headmaster's office and steal the master key and part of Mukuro's profiled information. She then decided to break her own rules and stage a murder by using Mukuro's body.

Junko almost succeeded in her attempt to kill Makoto and frame Kyoko, but was ultimately fruitless when Kyoko saved Makoto just as she was about to stab him, and then by Makoto not calling out Kyoko's lie during the Class Trial when Kyoko announced that she would not have been able to access her own room.

With Kyoko's lie not called out, a frustrated Junko had no choice but to call guilt on Makoto, who remained under unconvincing suspicion throughout the trial. Junko's plans to execute Makoto were thwarted by Alter Ego, however, who had stopped the execution in time for Makoto to evade death. She taunted the students, still, despite the setback, and proclaimed that even if Makoto survived the execution he would eventually rot inside the school garbage dump, making his punishment worse than usual, despite her preferences on executions.

Chapter 6 - Ultimate Pain, Ultimate Suffering, Ultimate Despair, Ultimate Execution, Ultimate Death

Junko had not counted on Kyoko jumping into the rubbish chute to save him and was properly thwarted when both Kyoko and Makoto showed up at the gymnasium to issue an ultimatum. She was forced to accept that a retrial is necessary, but then Junko —then still in Monokuma form— decided to gradually reveal the whole truth to the students, confident that even if she was exposed, they would not be able to handle the shock of the outside world they longed to go back to having already “ended” due to The Tragedy.

During the final Class Trial, Makoto and Kyoko deduce that Junko was the one pulling the strings the entire time and she was revealed to be the mastermind behind everything at the Academy. She then confirmed the suspicion - one that emerged from the intense Class Trial debates - that she erased everyone's memories of the last two years so she could implement her plan to make the world suffer in despair.

Junko then put a vote together to have students vote for the abstract ideas of “hope” versus “despair”, where all but Makoto would live their lives out within the confines of the Academy if any one of the students chose “Despair”, and Makoto alone will take a huge punishment - meaning he would have been subjected to The Ultimate Punishment if anyone would vote for despair.

However, Makoto reassured the surviving students of a future ahead despite the difficulties and thus was able to convince all the students to vote for “Hope”, condemning Junko to a final defeat in the climax of a Machinegun Talk Battle of “Hope” versus “Despair”.

Though seemingly livid over the results shortly after the vote was settled, Junko instead became perversely delighted as she tasted her own despair for once. She delightfully accepted her execution and death, but not before giving the remaining students the means to escape the Academy. It was also noted she was feeling the tiniest bit down because she had wanted to spread the despair she was feeling to the entire world.

Aftermath

After Junko was executed, most members of Ultimate Despair committed suicide. The surviving members hacked her body into pieces and attached those parts to themselves; one notable example was Nagito, who took her left hand and treated it as his own, despite it being non-functional, and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, who removed his own right eye and implanted it with Junko's.

As a back-up plan, Junko had created an AI version of herself, with the knowledge she stole from Chihiro Fujisaki. It's even implied that her death was planned right from the start.

Alter Ego Junko manipulates both the Warriors of Hope and the adults of the Towa City in the form of Shirokuma and Kurokuma. In the end, both robots are destroyed by Izuru to salvage their hard-drives for their AI.

After she failed to make Makoto's little sister, Komaru Naegi as the Successor of Junko Enoshima, Monaca decides to become Junko's Successor herself.

Junko appears alongside Mukuro after the events of the Giboura Massacre, congratulating her for a job well done. She feared her sister's killing abilities may have become rusty since she had just returned to Japan, but it seemed that such was not the case. She then says that she has a job for her that will be much more fun for Mukuro in store, as she bears her signature devilish grin.

Main article: Alter Ego Junko





Junko makes a brief cameo in the opening sequence of Future Arc. When the knife used in the Sleeping Period killings appears onscreen, Junko's eyes are reflected in the blade.

Junko appeared in a flashback when Juzo Sakakura mused that he won't fail Kyosuke Munakata again, referring to how she blackmailed him into lying about her role in the fall of Hope's Peak Academy.

Junko appeared in the afterlife, talking with Chisa while watching the events of the Final Killing Game. She recapped the events that led to the outcome of the Final Killing Game, laughing at how Chisa effectively destroyed the Future Foundation by turning Kazuo and Kyosuke against each other. Chisa continued her narration, rebutting Junko's claim that the world is done for, stating that this story will end in hope; although visibly annoyed for a moment, Junko insisted that it didn't matter anymore because both of them are already dead.

Execution

Main Article: The Ultimate Punishment

Relationships

Family:

Mukuro is Junko's older twin sister. While Mukuro cared deeply for her younger sister, Junko appeared to have no love for her sister, seeing her as a tool to do her bidding, while at the same time behaved towards Mukuro in a derogatory manner. Whenever Mukuro talked fondly of Junko, she yelled at her and told her she's being gross. She frequently called her a dumb muscle who is only good for killing and mocked Mukuro whenever she showed interest in anything else (especially if it was something good and nice like wishing to have friends). Furthermore, she frequently insulted Mukuro's looks and intelligence, considering herself superior in every way.

Junko seemingly displayed no concern for Mukuro and was willing to kill her (while Mukuro was disguised as her) to set an example to the remaining students, and because she was 'a poor actor'. It's revealed that before attending Hope's Peak Academy, Junko had already tried to kill Mukuro. One example of this is when Junko tried to murder her sister with an ice pick and a grenade while in a limo. Mukuro, however, did not allow her to do this, blocked Junko's attacks, and threw the grenade out the window. In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony's non-canon bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan, Junko throws knives at Mukuro when they meet, indicating that this is some sort of twisted habit between the two that they do whenever they see each other after a while. Junko is also seen being physically abusive towards Mukuro on several occasions, often hitting and kicking her, though Mukuro sometimes seems to enjoy this. In Danganronpa Zero and Danganronpa 3, it's indicated that Mukuro may have incestuous feelings towards her sister, but Junko does not appear to be aware of this or just doesn't care.

However, paradoxically, it was also indicated that Junko did truly love her sister and that all of her horrible treatment of her was to make her feel despair, which Junko considered to be a loving act. The betrayal and murder of her was meant to send them both into despair (for Junko, the despair of killing her sister, and for Mukuro, the despair of being betrayed and killed by her sister). However, Junko never knew or tried to understand, that Mukuro's definition of despair had always differed from hers.

Love Interest:

Yasuke and Junko were childhood friends and met on amicable terms during when Yasuke's unnamed mother was struck with a disease implied to be Alzheimer's, causing her to lose recognition of her son which also resulted in Yasuke being neglected and abused as a child, which later made him become majorly depressed and introverted before he met Junko while still in elementary school. One particular moment between the two when they were children was when Junko spent many days building a sandcastle. One day, the sandcastle was found destroyed. Yasuke went around angrily looking for the perpetrator until finally, Junko approached him that it was actually her that destroyed her own sandcastle.

In the years following the death of Yasuke's mother, Junko became the person that Yasuke felt he could always lean on, in fact, he didn't have any other close ones. She promised to always be there for him, which helped develop his stronger feelings towards her. She said she'll never forget Yasuke even if she forgets everything else, and that they'll always be together. For the first time in his life, Yasuke cried in front of another person, after making her promise she won't make fun of him, won't tell anyone, and won't try to console him. He became dependent on her and ready to do anything for her because she told him she'll be what's important to him for now and prevented him from being all alone when he needed it the most. Junko also had a tendency to call them "lovers" and had romantic feelings for Yasuke, but he denied this with annoyance and called her a "stalker", treating her very similarly like he does Ryōko later in life. Yasuke has described Junko as "not family, a lover, or even a friend ... but someone just as important to him as any of those".

Both of them later enrolled in Hope's Peak Academy and after the school's tragedy, Yasuke reluctantly assisted Junko in her plans, creating her alternative identity Ryōko Otonashi. He wanted to prevent her from ever remembering, in order to protect her from herself and to protect other people. However, Junko had already planned ahead and had murders occur in the school. Despite not enjoying despair and killing, Yasuke was willing to do unethical things for the sake of protecting Junko, even if it caused him to feel horrible guilt.

Finally, Yasuke understands and admits to himself that Junko has only been using him. He is frustrated by her love for despair and he's angered when he assumes that she never cared about him. He states that he both loves and hates her, and eventually he decides to kill her when she is still Ryōko. However, he ends up getting killed by Junko in a fit of despair, as he is one of the few people she cares about the most. He was stabbed in the side by Junko and afterward, she kicked his body until it was a bloody unrecognizable mess. He died believing that Junko did not care about him at all, but in truth, this was not the case. Junko did not view him as a mere servant or even an ally and truly did love him as he did her as killing him resulted in her sadness and grief for his death and let him die in despair for the sake of increasing her own despair, proving this with the words “... you were the most important person to me of all...” after his death.

From the moment she first saw Makoto, she knew he would cause problems for her, due to him and his luck being unpredictable and for the same motive, Junko leaves Makoto alive because he's the only one who can defy her. Out of all of the students in Class 78th, she finds him the most annoying and odd person in her class. During the Killing School Life, Makoto foils Junko's attempt to execute Kyoko then Junko attempted to convince the other survivors to execute Makoto but instead they vote to execute her. Makoto states that she doesn't need to die, but Junko executes herself even after his request.

Due to how close she was to discovering the truth about the killing game and her stealing her skeleton key, Junko recognized Kyoko as a threat and attempted to frame her for the murder of Mukuro, who was dead at the time, but this plan is ruined by Makoto.

An underclassman and member of the Class 77-B of Hope's Peak Academy. Her talent allowed her to see a certain "something" in Ryota during their first encounter, and immediately tried to find out his talent. Ryota was embarrassed at first. He was also angered by Junko's disinterest in anime, but quickly warmed up to her when she began to show interest in his animation. Although often bewildered by Junko's violent actions, he was grateful to her for giving him an entirely new environment for him to work on his anime.

However, Ryota starts to grow suspicious of Junko when she talks about despair and Mikan stops acting normally. After Ryota finds a video of the student council's mutual killing game, Junko tried to make him despair by traumatizing him. Ryota was fearful of her from then on and after he escapes, Junko doesn't kill him as she thought that running away from the situation was Ryota's despair.

Mikan was the first person in Class 77-B Junko brainwashed. Junko didn't actually care for her, wishing only to throw her into despair (or test her brainwashing video on Mikan); however, the effects of her brainwashing caused Mikan to worship her, doing anything Junko asked. Much like her sister, Junko physically and verbally abused Mikan, kicking her and calling her disgusting. She also seems to treat her like a servant, as Mikan is seen massaging her legs. Mikan refers to Junko as the only person who truly loved and paid attention to her, but Junko never viewed Mikan as anything more than a tool and never felt any love towards her.

As one of the students that she brainwashed, Junko only thinks of Nagito as a tool, much like the other Ultimate Despairs, and does not care for him at all. Nagito has a sort of one-sided rivalry with her, considering her his sworn enemy.

It's later revealed that Nagito attempted to kill Junko on their first encounter when Nagito found Junko in an underground tunnel by chance. Junko remained calm during these events and was amused by how much Nagito believed in hope. Nagito ultimately failed to kill her, thanks to Izuru, but Junko later brainwashed Nagito and the rest of his class.

Junko was actually the one who killed the beloved class rep of Class 77-B. Upon meeting Chiaki in an underground room, Junko takes an interest in her, claiming she'd been wanting to become friends with her, although this is obviously a lie. Junko wanted Chiaki to watch the brainwashing video, but after capturing and brainwashing Chisa, Junko changed her mind. Realizing how important Chiaki was to her class, Junko executes Chiaki to throw Class 77-B into despair. Junko was amused by how much hope Chiaki had and taunted her for that during Chiaki's execution.

Junko had a somewhat complicated relationship with the homeroom teacher of Class 77-B. When Chisa learned that Junko was responsible for the recent events at Hope's Peak, she tried to protect her students from her, ultimately failing when Junko subdued and brainwashed her with the help of Mukuro. Even after being brainwashed, Chisa didn't harbor the same feelings that most of the Ultimate Despair held for Junko. She didn't love or admire her, and instead of bringing despair to the world, she brought it only to Kyosuke and the Future Foundation. Junko's feelings towards Chisa are unknown, but she seems to view Chisa as more than a tool to do her bidding; Junko is seen personally talking to Chisa in the afterlife, laughing at how much Chisa had accomplished as an Ultimate Despair. However, Chisa actually seems quite annoyed with Junko, frowning while she continues to talk about despair.

Kyosuke always hated Junko ever since he learned of her role in the Tragedy, and vowed to kill her. However, Junko didn't view him as a big obstacle or acknowledge his strength, both of which Kyosuke thought of her. Junko, however, managed to turn Kyosuke's closest friends against him; Chisa and Juzo. By brainwashing Chisa and blackmailing Juzo, she effortlessly convinced them to vouch for her and cover up her guilt. Later, Junko is seen laughing about how Chisa turned against Kyosuke in the afterlife, showing that she was amused by the way things had turned out.

Juzo holds a deep grudge against Junko for both causing him to betray Kyosuke and starting the Tragedy. When Juzo confronted Junko on Kyosuke's behalf, Junko managed to overpower him in a physical fight (with some brainwashed Reserve Course students). She continued by blackmailing him, threatening to show Kyosuke photos of Juzo showing love for him in private. Junko found the whole situation hilarious, and called Juzo weak, saying she had no more time to waste on someone like him.

Junko seems to have close relationships with some of the Ultimate Despair members, though she likely fabricated those relationships to increase their loyalty to her and bring them deeper into despair. In general, they're described to be madly in love with her and shared her love for despair as a result of Junko's brainwashing. A few examples of this are Mikan Tsumiki and Nagito Komaeda, although Izuru seems to be the exception.

Besides that, Junko doesn't care about any of them - except to Mukuro and Izuru - considering them pawns to achieve her goals.

Junko at first seemed to have an underlying obsession with Izuru, possible because he is the Ultimate Hope, and attempted to kill him because of his title.

After realizing both her and Mukuro couldn't defeat him, she instead tried to convert Izuru into a member of the Ultimate Despair. She brings Izuru along with her when she triggers the first Hope's Peak killing game and she frames Izuru to show him what despair was and eventually convinced him that a world of hope was boring. Izuru once protected Junko from Nagito after he attempts to kill her with a gun, showing that he was on Junko's side.

In the Danganronpa 3 relationship chart, Junko states that Izuru is a fateful encounter. She believed that she and him were destined for each other and a perfect match for spreading despair together, occasionally acting like an overly enthusiastic fan and flirting with him in a joking manner, though he is completely unresponsive and uninterested to this. Unusually, she also seemed to treat Izuru as an ally instead of her servant, and she was irritated when Izuru walked away without saying a proper goodbye. She appears to have some genuine attraction towards him, as she is seen blushing and looking at him in an adoring manner after he shot Nagito and thus saved her life.

In the end, neither of the two truly cared about each other and were only using each other—Izuru was just affiliated with her to see how unpredictable despair is, while Junko saw him as a tool in her hand, stating that she'll always find a use for him.

In Chapter 0 of Danganronpa 2, Izuru acknowledges that Junko used him in the past and seems to desire for revenge, as he wants to use her as she used him. He is shown to possess unusual hatred towards her, now considering her an enemy, possibly due to subconscious anger towards her actions. Danganronpa 3 reveals that Izuru was actually manipulating events after The Tragedy to strengthen both sides of the conflict, setting up a scenario where Junko's despair could clash with the Future Foundation's hope in order to determine which truly was stronger.

Monaca sees Junko as her savior and idol after she stopped the Warriors of Hope before they committed suicide together. Junko planned to use the Warriors of Hope as one of her pawns to spread despair to the world.

Junko appears to be the only person Monaca genuinely cared about. She was the only Warrior of Hope who knew that Junko was just using them, but she didn't care, as she was so grateful for Junko for "shining light into her boring world".

Monaca also has many pictures of Junko in her secret room. One main photo depicts her with a younger-looking Junko holding onto her wheelchair. Despite their closeness, even Junko didn't seem to know that she was only faking her disability.

Not wanting Junko's legacy to end, Monaca's main goal was to create a second-generation Junko Enoshima. She planned to become her successor herself based on the Servant's advice but ended up giving up on this goal after she realized that she didn't want to become like him, completely obsessed with hope and despair.

Bonus Mode Guide

The link below leads to a full transcript and in-depth guide for Junko Enoshima's route in Ultimate Talent Development Plan.

Character Design and Creation

Junko's beta design forgave her a predominantly gold-yellow color scheme and a more stereotypical "girly" appearance, with smaller pigtails worn lower on her head, a small necklace instead of a tie, and visible lipstick. As the game came closer to completion,Junko's design was tweaked to be similar to her final appearance, but with a red and black plaid tie and without a white shirt under her cardigan.

In an earlier version of the game, Junko was apparently planned to be one of the murder victims.

Quotes

Trivia

References



