Nagito Komaeda

Nagito Komaeda (狛枝 凪斗), is a student of Hope's Peak Academy's Class 77-B, and a participant of the Killing School Trip featured in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. His title is the Ultimate Lucky Student (超高校級の「幸運」 lit. Super High School Level Good Luck).

He, along with Class 77-B, return in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School to explore their school life leading up to The Tragedy.

He also makes an appearance in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls as "Servant" (召使い meshitsukai). He returns once again as the protagonist of the OVA Super Danganronpa 2.5: Komaeda Nagito to Sekai no Hakaimono, exploring his ideal world.

Appearance
Nagito is a tall, skinny young man with notably wide shoulders, sickly pale skin and light gray-green eyes with thick eyelashes. His hair is shoulder-length and naturally wavy, of an unnaturally pale pinkish off-white color that fades to white the closer to his scalp, and is described as looking like it "doesn't belong to a living person". In Danganronpa 2, his hair has a slightly warmer, cream tone to it, but in Danganronpa 3 his hair appears silvery-white with grey tones. By the events of Danganronpa Another Episode, which is several years later, his hair is longer, messier, and darker (presumably with dirt).

Nagito wears a thin, knee-length dark green zipper coat with a jagged-cut tail, which he leaves unzipped. It has a red square pattern across the right shoulder, and a large, square-shaped '55' on the back, as well as two red drawstrings, threaded through the hood, hanging down on either side of his chest. Underneath, he wears a white scoop-neck T-shirt with a red design on the front, somewhat resembling two interlocking hooks. He wears plain black jeans, and a wallet chain with a skull charm, and pale brown shoes, each fastened by two zippers.

While attending Hope's Peak Academy, he wears the school's uniform: a brown blazer and matching pants, a red tie and dark brown lace-up shoes. The top few buttons of his shirt he leaves undone, and over it he wears a sleeveless green sweater with a red v-neck collar, a wide, horizontal stripe across the middle of it.

In Danganronpa Another Episode, as the Servant and Ultimate Despair, he wears a cropped black jacket, with three white buttons on the right and one red button on the left. Underneath, he wears a dark-red and olive-green scoop-neck shirt, with long sleeves that are folded over the cuffs of the jacket, and under this is a long beige undershirt. He wears black jeans with black low heeled shoes, tied with red shoelaces. He has a striped mitten on his left hand, to hide Junko's hand with long, red nails, sewn in place of his real hand. He also has a collar around his neck, given to him by the Warriors of Hope, with a chain hanging down the front, all the way down to his knees. The Servant is described to be constantly smiling, no matter what treatment he receives, and he is also said to have "a rather attractive face", and Genocide Jack even calls him "a pretty boy". His skinny build is also mentioned when she calls him "a skinny white-haired guy".

After waking from a coma on Jabberwock Island and having his brainwashing is undone, he replaced his non-functional left hand from Junko's corpse with a robotic forearm and hand. The prosthetic is white on the outer side and black on the underside. The palm is black, the backs of his fingers are white, and his thumb is white as well. The sleeve of his coat has been ripped where the new arm is, most of the jagged material still attached. The arm makes a rather loud mechanical sound whenever he moves it.

First impression
Nagito first comes off as a polite, friendly, and easygoing, yet somewhat insecure boy. Hajime Hinata even mentions that his bright smile is very comforting. He was the only one that stayed with Hajime while he was unconscious, and expressed concern for his well-being, even after Hajime told him to go away. Though friendly with everyone, he is mostly interested in spending time with Hajime and can be quite clingy, and as a result, Hajime considers him a little annoying and not the most reliable, but still thinks he's a kind person.

Nagito attempts to be the team's conflict mediator and a poster boy for optimism, often encouraging others to be hopeful and to cooperate, however, he isn't taken very seriously. Hiyoko Saionji makes fun of him and considers his dramatic pep talks about hope and friendship embarrassing and tiresome. He is generally quite submissive and has a self-deprecating attitude, even agreeing with Hiyoko and the others' snide remarks.

Although he claims to be a pessimist, Nagito often appears unusually carefree; he lacks tact and occasionally says awkward, strange, and unsettling things without realizing it. At times he can also be more forceful; he is quick to scold Hajime when he's being too pessimistic or when he thought he was bullying Mikan Tsumiki. He is also notably annoyed by Teruteru Hanamura's treatment of girls and takes it upon himself to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't harass anyone.

Beliefs
During the first Class Trial, Nagito is revealed to have a twisted obsession with hope. As a result, he often begins to ramble on about hope, sometimes rather abruptly—just talking or hearing someone else talk about hope or speak in a hopeful manner can render him in a state of bliss, causing him to sweat, and hold himself in order to contain his excitement. Furthermore, he sometimes has sudden outbursts in which his eyes darken and start to swirl (Hajime describes the look "a crude mix of hope and despair") while he rambles even more enthusiastically, but he usually snaps out of it fairly quickly and seemingly isn't aware of what happened.

He believes hope is an absolute good, and any deed done in the name of hope is righteous, even murder. He feels no guilt for hurting others in the name of hope, as he believes that hope will always win in the end and justify the means. He believes there are constant clashes between two or more hopes, and that "strong hope" will devour "weak hope" (adoringly, he calls this process "poetry in motion"). To him, ordinary untalented people, despair, and weak hope are just stepladders for creating stronger hope, and he considers these things necessary, while simultaneously having aversion to them. Nagito believes that the Ultimates are chosen at birth, and are capable of strengthening their own hopes by facing and defeating despair, instead of being broken by it like weaker, ordinary people. Like Hope's Peak Academy, Nagito strongly associates hope with talent and talent with worth.

Nagito desires to help to create the absolute hope that can overcome any despair, and he believes that the Ultimates can become embodiments of hope. However, he doesn't consider his luck to be a true talent and thus doesn't consider himself an Ultimate (despite this, he has also mentioned that his luck is the only good thing about him, and he sometimes finds it very useful). Instead, he desires to be a "stepladder", and sacrifice himself so the other Ultimates can shine. Considering himself a lower being, he often feels shame just for being in their presence. He confuses his obsession with the Ultimates' hope with pure, platonic love for his classmates and he genuinely believes he's doing good for everyone's sake. He has a strong desire to be useful and he is very self-sacrificing, but his ways of helping are often very wrong, harmful and potentially very dangerous, as he is willing to cause temporary despair in order to have hope born from it. He has little regard for his own well-being and doesn't care for his own life, and encourages the other students to kill him to achieve their own hope. He believes that dying for the sake of hope is an honor and the only way for "someone like [him]" to be useful to the world. In his Island Mode ending, Nagito reveals that he wishes to die so he can finally be free from the suffering caused by his luck. However, he is strongly against dying a meaningless death or dying for the sake of despair.

After discovering that he and his classmates were the Remnants of Despair, Nagito began to act arrogant, impatient, and disrespectful towards his former idols. He had particularly little patience for the slow-witted ones, including Kazuichi Soda and Akane Owari. Nagito realized that by killing his classmates and therefore destroying the Ultimate Despair, he could himself become the Ultimate Hope. Though he claimed it was for the sake of the world's hope, it's also implied he wanted to become Ultimate Hope so he could finally be appreciated, even if only after his death.

Nagito believes his views on hope are logical and extremely obvious and has trouble relating to others when they disagree. Though he is very stubborn, he has changed his ways of thinking during the series. He is sometimes conflicted between his extreme beliefs and his own feelings. He calls himself "worthless trash" that doesn't deserve any kindness from others, but at the same time, he desires to be appreciated, loved and understood. In his fifth free-time event, Nagito revealed that his true, biggest wish is to be loved by someone at least once in his life, and to not die alone. Furthermore, even though he greatly admires and claims to love all of the Ultimates for their talents and capability to embody hope, he doesn't really care about them as individuals. He isn't truly saddened by their deaths, and even appears to dislike some of them as people. Similarly, he may not have anything personal against the talentless—in fact, the only student Nagito genuinely cared for is Hajime, a talentless reserve course student.

In Super Danganronpa 2.5, based on what the World Destroyer said about his illusionary world reflecting his desires, Nagito may actually have a hidden hatred towards talent and wishes for a world without talent because he believes the world and its people would be better if talents were taken away so everyone can become equal and free. For example, Kazuichi's illusion form reflects his insecurities about not being good enough for some people's company. In Danganronpa 2, Nagito is seen showing interest in Hajime because he doesn't feel like an Ultimate to him and thus they're more similar and equal in his eyes. His wish to live an ordinary life with someone is also mentioned in Zansakura -zanka-, which is a song about his inner feelings. In the OVA, Nagito was both shocked and embarrassed to realize that he may actually have such emotions and thoughts, as he usually claims that only those with great talent can bring great hope. Naturally, he was relieved that nobody else saw this side of him during his comatose state. Despite learning about this hidden side of himself, he refuses to accept it and instead continue with his desire for hope. In the end, he is shown taking Hajime's hand and deciding to move towards hope, implying that being with Hajime is his hope.

It also should be noted that Nagito genuinely respects ideals such as love and friendship, and often emphasizes the importance of team-work and helping each other. This became more noticeable after he came out of the NEO World Program with his past memories restored.

General behavior
Nagito has a laid-back and quite calm demeanor, and he is often smiling or laughing. However, his cheerfulness may not be entirely genuine, as his calmness is more akin to apathy and he tends to feel strong self-hatred. He remains cheerful even during his self-loathing rambling, and acts disturbingly optimistically toward horrible things such as death, as long as it's for the sake of hope.

Nagito likely suppresses any real feelings of sorrow or fear as a coping mechanism, because he experiences tragedy often due to his luck. He has also seen very unlikely and strange things due to his luck, which is why he is not easily surprised. As a result of everything he's been through, he has become more emotionally numb and he is rarely openly angry or scared. He often lacks appropriate emotions in situations where most people would be afraid, like threats of violence. Even so, he once mentioned that he feels fear every day of his life, most likely because of his luck. Furthermore, he can be very angered by despair and other things he considers insulting toward hope. When he does express anger, he becomes notably more serious. When displeased, he is very passive-aggressive.

Nagito is capable of feeling some guilt and care for others, and he does not truly enjoy the suffering of others, but the hope born from it. Still, he is typically very emotionally cold and doesn't seem to feel much remorse or grief neither. He's shown to be fine with tricking, manipulation, and stealing, though it should be noted that he does these for the sake of a bigger goal rather than his own ends. He has been described as a very honest person, though he will lie if he finds it necessary. While he prefers to do things on his own, he is very lonely and often tries to join the other Ultimates in their activities and becomes really happy if he's given attention, even if just a little bit. It's also implied that he intentionally keeps his distance from others because he wants to protect them from the disasters caused by his bad luck.

Nagito is also one of the most intelligent characters of the second game, being very cunning and smart. He often solves a case long before the others, but he doesn't want credit for this. Instead, he often acts ignorant during the trials, manipulates the conversation by giving (often unnoticed) hints and then praises the others as if they're the ones who figured it all out. He does this because he considers himself too unimportant to take a more openly active role, wants to see the other Ultimates figure things out by themselves, and he wishes to remain neutral until he can determine which side has the stronger hope.

Social Impairment
Overall, Nagito appears to be somewhat out of touch with his own feelings. He tries to be polite, but he can be overly harsh and insensitive, often without realizing it. He has a lack of social awareness and insight into his own behavior. Because of this, he has problems understanding how his own behavior can affect other people and he may not understand or pick up on social hints. He struggles with expressing himself in a socially appropriate manner and this often leads to people misunderstanding what he's trying to say, and vice versa. During Chapter 1's additional dialogue, Nagito explains that he says dubious things without meaning to and that he realizes this, but can't stop it from happening. However, he also adds that he always sincerely means what he says.

In Chapter 4 of Danganronpa 2, he accidentally offended both Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu—in Fuyuhiko's case, he understood that he said something wrong and quickly apologized, but remained quite confused, and misunderstood what he said wrong. For Kazuichi, he was completely oblivious and only noticed that Kazuichi seemed angry for some reason. Other examples of this type of behavior include his odd and awkward sense of humor, often making jokes at inappropriate times, like soon after someone's death. He usually backs off if the others explain to him that his behavior is rude or he tells them he wasn't being serious. Similarly, when he tries to compliment someone, it can come across as an insult. His gauge of sarcasm is quite poor, too, as he sometimes mistakes mean comments for compliments. He also doesn't understand why the others are paranoid, angry and afraid of him. He's often confused by the others' behavior, thinking that they're strange for acting so suspicious of him, to the point that he sometimes worries about their mental health. He thinks that the others hate him because he's a lower human being.

In his final free-time event, Nagito claims to have Frontotemporal Dementia, a neurodegenerative disease that affects their personality and social cognition and thus may account for some of his strange behavior. He claims he was lying immediately afterward and it is unknown whether this was a lie or not. Nevertheless, it is clear that he has some type of psychological disorder.

It should be noted that Nagito's strange luck affects his condition as well, seemingly allowing him to live much longer than he should have, and likely giving him unusual symptoms.

Island Mode
In Island Mode, Nagito is calmer without a Killing School Trip to set him off. Though he looks forward to such a situation, he doesn't do anything dangerous. Instead, he genuinely wants to entertain Hajime and spend time with him. He is often quite nervous due to his inexperience in many social situations, for example, sitting and talking in the park with someone. He's afraid he will bore or say something weird to Hajime, and worries that might cause Hajime to hate him, which is something he really doesn't want to happen. He is also constantly paranoid and has a habit of listing bad things that might happen (in a disturbingly personal manner), as he fears that his bad luck might harm or even kill Hajime. However, despite all this, he also mentions that he feels much more peaceful and relaxed on the island. In the end, he still appears depressed, but his way of thinking began to change after spending time with Hajime and realizing that he's been clinging to false hope and that the true hope has been within him from the very beginning.

 Ultimate Despair/The Servant
In Danganronpa Another Episode, as the Servant and Ultimate Despair, Nagito is even harder to read and rarely lets his true intentions and emotions show. The official limited art book describes him as "quiet, soft-spoken and effeminate".

Despite being Ultimate Despair, he doesn't seem directly dangerous and appears non-violent, rather he manipulates and works behind the scenes. He is also mentioned to be in rather high spirits despite being essentially a slave, smiling most of the time and having a carefree, sometimes disturbing laugh. He receives the mistreatment from the Warriors of Hope with a smile and sometimes even seems to enjoy it (his official profile states that he might be a masochist). In general, he appears unusually calm to the point of being apathetic and is rather unfazed by the disturbing things happening around him (however, he does appear to feel uncomfortable when Monaca Towa forcibly kisses Nagisa Shingetsu.) He is generally polite and collected, but he may appear insensitive at times or lose his composure when talking about hope. He has a habit of forgetting how he is supposed to act as a servant and he seems to misunderstand orders quite a lot, though these may be passive-aggressive acts done on purpose. All the food he makes is inedible with very nonsensical ingredients (for example, in 2014's Christmas tweet, he is asked to make Bûche de Noël, but instead, he makes some sort of cake out of nothing but whipped cream and pinecones).

The Servant calls the story's situation a game several times, such as calling Komaru a "generic game protagonist" and mentioning game-balancing and defeating of the final boss. This may seem like breaking the fourth wall, but it actually refers to the Demon Hunting, which according to the Servant is also a game to incite Komaru's growth. Unlike his past self, the Servant believes in the potential of the talentless, because such "weak" people succeeding and rising up from despair would create even more hope. It's possible that his opinion changed after Makoto, a "mere" Ultimate Lucky Student, defeated the true Ultimate Despair and became Ultimate Hope.

The Servant's main goal is to help to create a happy, hopeful world, but one born from absolute despair, going so far as to assist his own enemy and start a war for the sake of this goal. As a result of brainwashing, he has a twisted disturbing obsession with Junko Enoshima. However, it seems the brainwashing affected him differently than everyone else, as he also retains his hatred for Junko and his love for hope. He also seems to be more aware of what he is doing while being brainwashed, which ironically seems to make him the sanest out of the class. Though, it should be noted that while he is still doing everything for the sake of hope, his plans are even more dangerous than before. However, after his brainwashing was undone, he appears to have abandoned his harmful ways and is shown to be in peace with his classmates.

Relationships

 * Class 77-B:

Hajime Hinata
In Danganronpa 2, Hajime was the only person Nagito was genuinely interested in and cared for in any meaningful way.

From the start, Nagito was particularly interested in Hajime and was the only one to stay with him after he lost consciousness at the beginning of the game. He also escorted Hajime while he introduced himself to the others. Nagito noticed that he and Hajime were similar somehow as if they were both bystanders in something that didn't concern them. Hajime also didn't feel like an Ultimate to Nagito and they were both fans of Hope's Peak Academy. Nagito suggested that Hajime's talent could be Ultimate Serenity because even Hajime's mere presence brought him serenity. Though sometimes annoyed by Nagito, Hajime also felt more relaxed around him. Prior to the chapter 1 trial, Hajime was the closest thing Nagito had to a friend.

After revealing the part he played in the first case, Hajime felt betrayed and terrified by Nagito, whom he had previously trusted and thought to be a good friend. Nagito was genuinely hurt and surprised when Hajime started to dislike him, but he still kept trying to talk to Hajime and helped him with most investigations, as well as being very happy every time Hajime noticed him. During the Class Trials, he mostly observed Hajime, both challenging and aiding him. In Chapter 3, he specifically made sure that Hajime can prove his innocence and thus doesn't become a suspect. He remained fixated on Hajime even after he was revealed to be a talentless reserve course student and part of Ultimate Despair. While he liked Hajime for their similarities, he then appears to project some of the traits he hates about himself onto Hajime. Even though he acted harsh and bitter towards him, in the dialogue directly preceding the Chapter 4 trial he states that he still cares about Hajime, though he doesn't understand why. If Hajime tries to spend time with Nagito during Chapter 5 when Nagito is, unbeknownst to him, planning his own murder, Nagito suddenly doesn't appear to be hostile at the moment and with a smile he tells Hajime that he's happy he's asking someone like him, but he is busy at the moment. Somewhat wistfully, he tells Hajime not to worry about him and have fun spending time with the others. After his death, he mentions in his recording that he shouldn't have been so hard on Hajime. While denying it, Hajime in turn strongly wishes to understand Nagito. In Chapter 5, Hajime's understanding of Nagito is what thwarted his plan.

It is revealed that Nagito's feelings for Hajime are romantic in nature. Several times throughout the story, it's shown that Nagito feels a genuine closeness to Hajime, such as when he claimed he doesn't like being around him and to hurry up and leave when under the influence of the despair disease which forced him to lie. He indicates that the reason he feels this way is because despite knowing what kind of person he is, Hajime still tried to understand him and spent time with him while no one else never did. This is confirmed in the official drama CD, in which Nagito tells Hajime: "I'll continue to do anything in my power to assist you. Because... I like you. I love you, for being willing to talk to me like this, even after knowing what a hopelessly incompetent person I am...".

In his fifth Free Time Event, Nagito reveals a lot of personal things to Hajime, telling him about his terminal diseases and his biggest wish being to be loved for once before he dies. He falsely dismisses what he just said as lies, probably for the sake of Hajime's safety, since Hajime was about to forgive Nagito and he would've been in danger if they got too close due to the effects of Nagito's bad luck. The way that Japanese sentence structure works, of Nagito's last line in particular - starts off as the beginning of a confession, that he decides to rephrase at the last second into him being in love with Hajime's hope instead. Furthermore, his choice of word being “aishiteru” is notable, as it's an incredibly strong way of saying "love" that in real life Japan, even some married couples are hesitant to use.

In Island Mode, Nagito really wants to entertain Hajime during their trips but is paranoid over his safety. He is also often quite nervous due to being inexperienced in many social situations, and supposedly because of his feelings towards Hajime (for example, he enjoys the quiet library with him, only to get very nervous after realizing that the two of them are alone). During his Shot Through The Heart sequence, he is terrified of the idea that Hajime might hate him. After a particularly good outing with Hajime, he refers to the hotel as their "love nest". He also states that he doesn't mind getting naked in case Hajime wants to see that. In the final event, he reveals that his way of thinking has slowly started to change thanks to the time he spent with Hajime. He seems to try confessing his feelings again but chooses to ask Hajime to be his friend instead, which the latter agrees to.

In Nagito's character song, Poison -gekiyaku-, he mentions that he loves and wants to understand an ambiguous "him" more than anyone else.

In Super Danganronpa 2.5, it's shown that Nagito's mind created an illusion world as a coping mechanism and he did not wake up from his coma. However, the world lacks counterparts for Hajime and Chiaki, most likely because his emotions concerning them were too powerful. Hajime sent the World Destroyer to erase his mental blocks and right after hearing the alter ego's voice, which is exactly like Hajime's, Nagito had flashbacks and remembered Hajime and his smile (along with Jabberwock Island and his death in the program). After waking up in the real world, Nagito rejoined Hajime in friendly terms. At first, he assumed he was Izuru, but then corrected himself by saying he must be Hajime. Hajime helped him up in the way that resembles their first meeting inside the program. Nagito says he believed in Hajime to wake him up and later he takes Hajime's hand as the class moves aboard, planning to go towards hope—this references Side: Hope and also seems to imply that he considers being with Hajime his hope.

At the end of Danganronpa 3, after helping Makoto and others, Nagito and his classmates decide to go back and live in Jabberwock island. While everyone on the boat is eating, Nagito calls out to Hajime that the food is almost gone and to hurry up. Hajime smiles brightly and runs over to him, and the two of them eat side by side. Even though Hajime earlier explained that he is now both Hajime and Izuru, Nagito continues to call him Hajime.

In an Otomedia poster, which was released after the anime, Nagito is seen giving Hajime a small bag of fortune cookies as a gift while they are on the ship, presumably after the anime's story. The pink hearts and the text mentioning eating cookies full of hope with "him" (using the Japanese word "kare" [彼] which means "him" or "boyfriend" depending on context), implies that it might be a romantic gesture. In the magazine's interview, Nagito is asked what autumn food reminds him of Hajime. He answers a "chestnut in its burr", comparing it to Hajime's hair, but after being told it's too normal of an answer, he goes on to explain that to properly eat one you have to go through a lot of work. He states that "Not being straightforward… it’s like Hinata-kun, right?". In turn, Hajime answers that Nagito reminds him of "the rice of a new crop" (referring to rice freshly harvested during the fall season) because of Nagito's hair's color. He also mentions that due to Nagito's "poor grip on reality", it's difficult to appoint him to a food with a distinct taste.

Nagito has also more or less jokingly compared Hajime to a tsundere character more than once due to his occasionally annoyed mood in his company. In Danganronpa 2, during his Free Time Events, he suggests Hajime's unknown talent could be "tsuntsun hair", referring to both his aloof personality and spiky hair. This was translated as "Ultimate Spiky Hair" in the localization, and while it's not incorrect, it loses the additional joke regarding Hajime's personality. Nagito laughs and clearly finds his joke very funny, but Hajime annoyedly answers that it isn't even a talent. Nagito later called him "tsuntsun hair" again in the Danganronpa 3 related magazine interview.

In the non-canonical Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony 's bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan/Nagito Komaeda, Nagito seemingly dislikes Hajime at first and acted harsh and occasionally condescending towards him due to him being a reserve course student. He assumed that Hajime spent time with the Ultimates only to suck up to them and feel better about himself. However, Nagito claimed he doesn't actually dislike Hajime, and appeared reluctantly interested in spending time with him. The two had a slight argument after Hajime came to play basketball with the Ultimates, which left Nagito silent in thought and he then decided to cheer for all the players even though he had ”complicated feelings” about it. Nagito's attitude slowly changes when he realizes that Hajime genuinely wants to spend time with him, though he cannot comprehend why anyone would want that. In three years, they become friends and Nagito tells Hajime about his luck and how it has affected his life. During their last Christmas in school, Nagito and Hajime talk alone while the other students are celebrating. Hajime reminds the other boy that the class will definitely keep in touch and see each other again, though Nagito thinks nobody would invite him. Hajime tells him that Chiaki would and he just has to accept her invitation. Nagito asks why Hajime cares about him and still hasn't lost interest in someone like him. Hajime explains that he still doesn't understand Nagito and he refuses to leave it like that. He formally asks Nagito to be his friend and the two shake hands, though Nagito seems to want to hold his hand longer. Nagito wonders if it's going to change anything, but Hajime tells him that maybe like this they could really change something and understand each other some day.

Nagito soon after confesses his feelings to Hajime, they soon after start dating.

Chisa Yukizome
Chisa was Nagito's homeroom teacher in Hope's Peak Academy. He appears to like Chisa quite a bit, as he was surprised when she bothered to look for a "nobody" like him and cheerfully laughed while complimenting how wonderful teacher she is. He also kept laughing when Chisa called him "rotten orange", completely oblivious to the fact that it wasn't a compliment.

Chisa truly cared for Nagito just as much as her other students, but completely disagreed with his way of thinking. Chisa hated how Nagito called himself trash and tried to change that, but Nagito firmly held onto his own personal beliefs. Nagito is surprised when Chisa shows genuine concern towards him, as people usually do not care about him.

Even after Nagito causes a bombing that gets her into trouble, Chisa protects him by placing the blame on herself, which was why she was transferred to the Reserve Course and Nagito wasn't expelled. When the other students clearly don't like nor miss Nagito, Chisa tries to tell them that he's their classmate and that he did what he did for them.

Real-Life Version
Chiaki was Nagito's classmate prior to the Tragedy. She was also his class's representative, and Nagito respected her, thinking she was their class's hope. Chiaki seemed to genuinely care about him, although she did not agree with his way of looking at things. Chiaki is the only one out of her classmates who greeted Nagito warmly when he comes back after being suspended for about a year.

Later, Nagito inadvertently puts Chiaki's life in danger when he shows her a secret entrance to a room underground, where Junko, Izuru, and Ryota Mitarai were hiding. Chiaki tries to stop Nagito from killing Junko, Nagito ignores her but is ultimately shot by Izuru first. Chiaki holds him in a protective manner while he is unconscious.

When forced to watch Chiaki be executed by Junko, Nagito had quite a rare reaction as he cried over her death and thought it was horrible. However, he then began to laugh madly while simultaneously crying, viewing her as a stepping stone for their hope upon her death.

Interestingly, in Danganronpa 2.5, neither Chiaki nor Hajime have counterparts in Nagito's imaginary world. Since Chiaki's death was a major reason behind the class' despair, it is possible that his emotions concerning her were too powerful and the program blocked the memory of her.

In the Ultimate Talent Development Plan, Chiaki is described as a person who would always invite Nagito to the group activities, with even Nagito understanding this despite his constant self-deprecation. When the graduation gets closer, Chiaki shows consideration towards him as she sees him alone in the corner and goes to ask him if he's having fun. Nagito claims that of course, he's having fun and then talks about everyone's hopes, with Chiaki saying that's fine, though her face appears a bit sad and disappointed seemingly because of him still talking like that. Chiaki admits that she still doesn't really understand him after all the years together, but she says that she knows hope is really important to him. Nagito explains to her that everyone wants hope, not just him, but he just thinks about it more than others. Nagito admits that he's a bit disappointed that nothing big happened to make hope stronger, but Chiaki thinks it's a good thing and that everyone can spend time together happily in the future.

AI Version
Nagito does not seem to notice Chiaki that much at first, noting that she's a quiet girl who mostly plays video games and stares into space. However, he later appears to have genuine respect for her deduction skills. In the Funhouse, he asks her to investigate with him and is worried when she leaves the group without anyone noticing.

Though Nagito is unaware of it, Chiaki cared about him and she was also the traitor he tried to save in the end, though this failed.

Ultimate Imposter
Nagito respected Ultimate Imposter and their leadership skills when they were impersonating Byakuya Togami. However, because of this, he involved him in his plan. The plan was originally meant to lead to Nagito's own death, but Ultimate Imposter died instead, saving Nagito's life. While Nagito did not feel remorse for what happened, he was genuinely impressed and said he even began to have a small will to live after the Imposter's actions.

Mikan Tsumiki
At first, Nagito worries about Mikan, as he scolds Hajime after thinking he bullied her and asks if she's okay after having one of her many exaggerated falls. He is also very humbled during the first trial when he mistakenly assumed that Mikan complimented his appearance when she pointed out that there wasn't any blood on him.

After Nagito caught the Despair Disease, Mikan took care of him along with the others. However, she also caught the disease, and despite his terrible condition, he noticed that she had fallen into despair. Because of this, and the murders she committed for the sake of despair, Nagito lost all respect for her and considered her an enemy, worthy of the name "Ultimate Despair". Unlike the others, he wasn't fooled by her actions during the trial and he bitterly refused to forgive her.

However, Mikan told Nagito that he's wrong and claimed that she had killed for "her beloved". Somewhat mockingly, she said that Nagito doesn't understand because he doesn't have anyone to love and isn't accepted by anyone, leaving him at a loss for words.

Later though, after Nagito and Mikan awaken from their comatose state, he doesn't seem to hold any more hatred towards her. This probably means that Nagito's original relationship with Mikan, which was mostly him not paying attention to her, although thinking her talent is amazing, has returned.

Kazuichi Soda
After trial one, Kazuichi finds Nagito to be a nutcase and is afraid of him. He and Nekomaru are the ones who tie up Nagito and Kazuichi is the one who punches him unconscious. When this happens, and everyone asks where Nagito is, Kazuichi seems extremely suspicious and he's almost immediately blamed for the murder. Later, after Kazuichi loses his trust in Hajime, he is even willing to go with Nagito to investigate instead of him.

After the events leading to Nagito's knowledge of the classes' true identity as Ultimate Despair, Nagito appears to be annoyed by Kazuichi's slow-wittedness and shows this openly after losing respect for the other students.

In Danganronpa 3, during their school years, Kazuichi claims that bad things happen to him whenever Nagito is around. For example, he loses a video game and gets hit by a truck. Kazuichi dislikes Nagito because of this, though the other boy is seemingly oblivious about it. Considering how Nagito's luck cycle works, this could imply that he wishes to be friends with Kazuichi.

In Super Danganronpa 2.5, Nagito indeed imagines Kazuichi as one of his closest friends while being inside his imaginary world, along with Fuyuhiko. The two seem to be on better terms with each other even after Nagito awakens from his coma into the real world, as Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko wait for him to greet him before boarding the boat and overall appear friendlier with him, with Kazuichi teasing him by asking him if he was dreaming about pretty girls. Though, Nagito then hugs the two, making them uncomfortable.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu
During the killing school trip, Fuyuhiko disliked Nagito due to his potentially dangerous behavior and strange way of speaking, and would often cooperate in plans to see Nagito restrained, such as when Nagito had threatened to blow up Jabberwock Island.

However, Fuyuhiko was also shown to be very worried of Nagito when he almost died from the Despair Disease. At one point, when he was still being a loner, Fuyuhiko even defended Nagito after he was tied up and wasn't present, accusing the other students of being messed up sheeps who turn against their "buddies" immediately if they don't like them (seemingly because this behavior reminded Fuyuhiko of the way people treat him).

In Super Danganronpa 2.5, Nagito imagines Fuyuhiko as one of his closest friends while being inside his imaginary world, who understands that him being an occasional "creep" is just the way he is. The two seem to be on better terms with each other even after Nagito awakens from his coma into the real world, as Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi wait for him to greet him before boarding the boat and overall appear friendlier with him. Though, Nagito then hugs the two, making them uncomfortable.

Teruteru Hanamura
While Nagito tries to be respectful towards the Ultimates, it's quite clear that he dislikes Teruteru. In the beginning of the school trip, he protects the girls from him and tells him to stop when he is acting perverted, appearing annoyed and uncomfortable. He also mentions that he'll keep an eye on Teruteru because of this.

In the first chapter, Nagito used his time in the Hotel's Old Building to set up a murder scenario for Teruteru. During the resulting first trial, Nagito helped Teruteru, briefly believing that he might have the strongest hope between the two sides. However, after this turned out to be false, he abandoned Teruteru and told him to give up.

In Danganronpa 3, during their time at Hope's Peak, Teruteru is shown to be very grateful when Nagito gave him a magazine with Sayaka Maizono on the cover. Despite this, it's later shown that Teruteru does not miss him when he is gone, just like the other students. Later, when Nagito is unconscious, Teruteru offers to carry him, stating that he's still within his strike zone (supposedly referring to the fact that he finds him attractive looking while his personality isn't that attractive).

During the ending credits, when the class is on the beach, Teruteru is covered in octopuses and tries to offer one to Nagito, who appears to politely decline.

Sonia Nevermind
During the beginning of the Killing School Trip, Nagito was always the one who protected Sonia from Teruteru's sexual harassment. He was flattered when she drew a picture of him for his door while they were in the Funhouse.

Gundham Tanaka
Gundham appears strange even for Nagito, as even he is confused by the other's eccentric behavior. During the Despair Disease, Gundham states that he would not mind if Nagito died, but it should be noted that he also appears to be one of the few characters who understands that Nagito has grey morale instead of black and white.


 * Class 76th:

Seiko Kimura
Nagito learns about Seiko from Teruteru and asks a laxative from her, to use in his secret plan to stop the practical exams. He is shown to be polite and friendly with her, and she is extremely happy after learning that she was useful for him.

Unintentionally, Nagito causes Seiko to be expelled from Hope's Peak Academy. In a magazine interview, he states that because of this her talent must not have been so great after all.

However, years later, Nagito changes his mind about her after recognizing her medicine that saved Kyoko Kirigiri's life. He respects Seiko, as she was able to create hope during a killing game, even after she had died.


 * Class 78th:

Junko Enoshima
Prior to the Tragedy and during his suspension, Nagito learned about Junko’s plan to throw the world into despair. Wanting to test her to see if she was worthy of becoming a stepping stone for hope, Nagito devised a plan to kill her before she could spread despair. He is shown to have a sort of one-sided rivalry with Junko, as she has no interest in him and considers him just as unimportant as the rest of his class.

Upon being brainwashed into becoming an Ultimate Despair, Nagito developed strange, conflicting feelings of both love and hatred for Junko and saw her as his sworn enemy. This was most likely a result of both Junko's brainwashing and Nagito's own belief that hope cannot exist without despair. In Danganronpa Another Episode, Nagito describes Junko as someone he really hates, but in the end, he reveals to Monaca Towa that he both loves and hates her, and he implies that he knew her very well, or at least thinks he did. Considering his very bizarre feelings about her, it's possible that he is just fabricating and doesn't know her that well at all.

After Junko was executed, Nagito cut off his left hand and put hers in its' place. He believes he did it because of his hatred towards her and to steal some essence of her power, but it's strongly implied that he, just like the other members, obsessed over her. While talking with Izuru, he became increasingly agitated and conflicted about why he did it. When talking about AI Junko with him, Nagito appeared very excited to see her again so he may finally kill her, since he had both tried and failed to kill the real Junko.

After he awakened from his coma and his brainwashing was removed, he presumably retained his original hatred towards her and cut off her hand.

Makoto Naegi
Nagito idolizes Makoto due to him being the Ultimate Hope, calling him a "hero" and "the symbol of hope" in Another Episode.

It is possible that Makoto defeating Junko has affected Nagito's way of thinking, as in Another Episode he appears to have more belief in talentless people and he also respects Makoto's talent as the Ultimate Lucky Student, despite appearing condescending towards his own talent which is the same.

When the two meet outside the Future Foundation headquarters, Nagito gushes to Makoto about how wonderful he is and even says that Makoto's luck might be greater than his own. He takes Makoto's hand and looks at him intently, but he is quickly carried away by Nekomaru and Akane. He tells Makoto that hopefully, they'll meet again. In the English dub, he marvels how soft Makoto's hands were, especially when compared to his own sticky hands.

In Danganronpa 2.5, it's shown that Nagito apparently imagines Makoto as a cool, smooth guy who is very popular with girls, though this is obviously very different from reality.

As a character, Nagito is a darker parallel to Makoto and was originally supposed to look even more like him.

In the bonus mode, Ultimate Talent Development Plan, Makoto mentions that he feels inferior when compared to him, due to his more powerful luck.

 Toko Fukawa/Genocide Jack
Using Byakuya as a hostage, the Servant orders Toko and Genocide Jack to assist Komaru on her journey. Toko strongly dislikes him, calling him a crazy idiot. She says that his speeches make her skin crawl and the word "hope" sounds disgusting when he says it. He simply states that it's an understandable reaction.

Both Toko and Genocide Jack find the Servant an attractive looking "pretty boy", but really dislike his personality. Since Genocide Jack kills men she is attracted to, she appears a bit confused by him, stating that part of her wants to kill him while part of her doesn't.

The Servant later understands that Toko and Genocide Jack have become friends with Komaru, even though Genocide Jack fiercely denies it at first. He states that he truly thinks their friendship is a splendid thing, though he finds it a bit strange because Genocide Jack is a serial killer. He also appears genuinely happy for the two while silently watching them from the side.

It's stated that the Servant is aware of Toko's personality type and he also knows that sneezing causes her to switch personalities, supposedly because he has watched the footage of Killing School Life.


 * Ultimate Despair:

When Ultimate Despair was formed, Nagito joined because he wanted to witness despair rise and fall to hope. The members were brainwashed and fell madly in love with Junko, but Nagito's case was different. He developed strange, conflicting feelings of both love and hatred for Junko and saw her as his sworn enemy. Ironically, Nagito seems to be the most sane out of the brainwashed ones, as he is more aware of what they're doing and has the aforementioned hatred for Junko.

Monaca Towa
When Nagito was captured by the Warriors of Hope and became their Servant, Monaca seemed to be the only one aware of his true identity. Secretly, they became allies despite their different goals, and the Servant aided Monaca with her own goals. However, Monaca didn't share all of her information with him, as she didn't trust him completely.

Monaca was amused by the Servant's strange behavior and contradicting beliefs and appeared to be somewhat annoyed with him at the times, as she once ordered the other Warriors of Hope to draw on his face. Even she was confused by his motives at times, not being sure which side he is on. She also found his strange, conflicting views on Junko disgusting. However, the two appeared to at least seemingly respect each other in some way, as they treated each other somewhat formally as allies.

The Servant planned on leaving and Monaca let him, believing that they will never see each other again. However, after Monaca was trapped under rubble, he appeared again and rescued her because he was disappointed with the situation's outcome and the neutral ending. He told her to become Junko's successor and that he could raise her to become more like her than even she herself was. Monaca seemed to agree with this goal, but the Servant's constant rambling about hope and despair made Monaca bored and feel embarrassed about the whole thing. She claims he made her an adult in a way, as she grew up in the mental sense and became more cynical and apathetic, not really caring about anything.

In the end, Monaca found Nagito creepy and annoying, but she also appeared to get closer to him during their time together—while originally calling him just "Mister Servant", she later refers to him as "Big Bro" in Danganronpa 3. It's unclear how Nagito felt about her in the end.

Izuru Kamukura
Despite getting shot by him, Nagito is almost immediately attracted to Izuru, supposedly because he can sense his identity as the Ultimate Hope. Kodaka has even described the scene as similar to a beautiful, elegant dance.

The ending song for Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc, performed by Megumi Ogata as Nagito, is about "the birth of absolute hope" and Nagito meeting someone "he was born to meet" in the middle of the night at the school's campus. The song has sexual implications, especially in the Japanese wording, which is confirmed by Ogata.

When they meet again on a boat towards Jabberwock Island, they do not recognize each other, due to Izuru having Junko erase all of the class's memories of him. Nagito is very excited to talk to Izuru and he's happy when he responds, considering him "amazing". However, Izuru treats him coldly and considers him very boring. Nagito thought that they got along quite well and looked forward to meeting Izuru again, despite appearing slightly hurt by his coldness.

Both joined Ultimate Despair for the same reason: to see the ultimate battle between hope and despair.

Interestingly, in Super Danganronpa 2.5, the World Destroyer whose personality appears to be heavily based on Izuru is seen smiling lightly while talking to Nagito about hope.


 * Future Foundation Members:

 Usami/Monomi
Like the other students, Nagito is annoyed by Usami. When Usami gives the students Usami Straps in the beginning of the school trip, Nagito is at first silent and continues smiling despite seeming clearly annoyed by the silly objects.

In the Final Dead Room, he is mostly annoyed by her and asks her not to get in his way, though he will also ask her what's wrong when she cries. Monomi is one of few who cares about Nagito, and believes in his good side. She tries to tell him this, but he ignores her, likely not considering her a person since she is seemingly a slow-witted plush toy.


 * Others:

Komaru Naegi
To further Monaca's goal as well as his own, the Servant assists Komaru in order to make her develop into a hero (with him wanting her to become a symbol of hope, while Monaca wants her to fall into despair). He meets her after she survived a helicopter crash and gives her back the Hacking Gun she lost. However, for the sake of "game balance", he made the weapon considerably weaker so she can upgrade it later. He also saved her by distracting the Warriors of Hope after she accidentally mentioned possessing the gun. Afterwards, he orders the Monokuma Kids to give her items and transform her environment to resemble a real game, so she can slowly develop her weaker character into a stronger one. Using Byakuya as a hostage, he also makes Toko and Genocide Jack guide her towards the right direction.

The Servant can act somewhat condescending towards Komaru due to her being a boring and ordinary girl, though sometimes unintentionally. He tells her there's no need to be depressed about it because the world is filled with people like her and she can empathize with them. He truly believes in Komaru's potential and has high hopes for the Ultimate Hope's sister, believing that someone as weak as her rising up would create a great amount of hope and she could even become the hope for the whole city. Komaru is at first confused by the Servant and later appears a bit afraid of him after realizing how insane he is, not understanding his talk about hope at all.

Later, the Servant is a bit annoyed and disappointed when Komaru is about to leave the city and her friend Toko behind instead of "playing her role". After Komaru refuses to leave Toko and Toko appears unwilling to fight her, the Servant tries to have Genocide Jack take action instead. However, she turns against him and wishes to help Komaru. He quickly concludes that it must be friendship, genuinely considering it a beautiful thing, though finding it strange because Genocide Jack is a serial killer. Komaru protects the Servant from Genocide Jack and decides to stay with her and Toko. While watching the two girls' talking from the side, the Servant smiles and appears genuinely happy for them. He is also very proud of Komaru after hearing her talk in a much more positive and confident way, marveling how much wider her world has grown. Though the girls trust him very little, the Servant tells them he will support them until the very end.

Kurokuma
Kurokuma dislikes the Servant, considering him unimportant in his and Monaca's plans. He also thinks his views on hope are "fucking stupid" and very contradictory. He enjoys when something bad happens to him, like when he's being punished by the Warriors of Hope. He also mocks him by comparing him to the Japanese comedian known as Hard Gay.

While he has a very calm personality, even the Servant seems a bit annoyed by Kurokuma and sometimes chooses to ignore him.

Trivia
Nagito is shown to be attracted to characters of the same gender.


 * In Nagito's fifth Free Time Event in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair with Hajime, he ends his event with the line: "From the bottom of my heart... I am truly in love with the hope that sleeps inside you." In the original Japanese version of this line, Nagito using the unambiguous and very strong romantic word "aishiteiru" (愛している).
 * In Nagito's character song from Danganronpa Another Episode, Poison -劇薬- (lit. Poison -deadly drug-), Nagito sings in English about loving an ambiguous "him": "I love and want to understand him more than anyone else, more, more than anyone else."
 * In the Danganronpa Another Story (Crimson Version) drama CD, in a conversation between Nagito and Hajime, Nagito tells him: "I won't give up. I'll continue to do anything in my power to assist you. Because... I like you. I love you, for being willing to talk to me like this, even after knowing what a hopelessly incompetent person I am." However, the drama CDs are not considered canonical.
 * Although Danganronpa 2s Island Mode is also not considered canonical, Nagito flirts with Hajime in several instances:
 * If Hajime takes Nagito on a successful date, Nagito tells him: "For some reason... it scares me to think that I'm having fun without experiencing any bad luck. I mean, I feel so lucky right now that it wouldn't surprise me if one or two people I knew had died! But I should stop thinking about such dangerous things and get ready to go home to our love nest!" This line is the same in the Japanese version, where he calls it "ボクたちの愛の巣へ" (bokutachi no ai no su e lit. our nest of love)
 * If Hajime selects "let's take off our clothes" on a Beach date, Nagito comments: "Does that mean... you want to go in the ocean with me? I think that's a bad idea. There are lots of ways that could be dangerous. But I don't mind if you just want to see me naked."