Nagito Komaeda

Nagito Komaeda is one of the main characters from the Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair game.

Nagito is a student of Hope's Peak Academy's Class 77-B, and a participant of the Killing School Trip. His title is Ultimate Lucky Student.

In the Heroes Coalition fics, Nagito is spared from canon fate. Nagito is a member of the Heroes Coalition as a staff member.

Appearance
Nagito is a young man in his early twenties, around 22 at youngest. In Danganronpa Another Episode, he is around 20 years old, while his virtual avatar in the Neo World Program appeared as around 17 years old.

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 awaking 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, and the backs of his fingers are white, his thumb white as well. The sleeve of his coat has been ripped where the new arm is, most of the jagged material still attatched. The arm makes a rather loud mechanical sound whenever he moves it.

Personality
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.

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 emphasises 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.

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.

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.

Abilities
Nagito got his title as the Ultimate Lucky Student by winning a lottery out of completely ordinary students, which led to him joining Hope's Peak Academy. He at first declined, saying that he didn't deserve it, but they insisted that he should attend. Nagito possesses a cycle of consistent good and bad luck. Whenever something extremely lucky happens to him, something extremely unlucky is bound to happen soon after. While the talent seems to protect him from death, it can cause him great suffering and has killed many people around him. The only person whose luck matches his own is Izuru Kamukura, and later Hajime.

Nagito's birthday (the 28th day of the fourth month) heavily references his talent, with his birth month representing bad luck and death while his birth day represents a double amount of wealth and fortune according to old Japanese and Chinese beliefs. Considering some of the supernatural elements seen in the series, it's possible that his unusual birthday might have an impact on his unusual luck.

While his emotional skills are lacking, Nagito is one of the most intelligent characters of the second game. He can create very complex plans and figure things out quickly even without the help of his luck, which actually has a tendency to backfire on him.

In Danganronpa 2, he is one of the best investigators in the group and he's also very skilled at planning as well as problem solving. Throughout the class trials, Nagito manipulates conversations and mentions points no one else thought about. Monokuma once described him as "annoying" for noticing a detail others missed. A part of the reason Hajime found out who the culprits were in the trials was because of the constant hints and clues Nagito gave him. Often, he seems to be able to tell what Hajime is thinking and sometimes he can even correctly guess when and what Hajime is about to figure out.

In Danganronpa Another Episode, he created real-life "game balance" by ordering the Monokuma Kids to directly or indirectly give Komaru useful items and transform her surroundings to make her go towards the right direction, all of it in order for her to develop both mentally and physically.

In Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc, he somehow gained lots of information about Junko and found her secret room. He accurately warned his classmates about Junko, but decided to not go against their hopefulness and quickly lost consciousness afterwards. Had he been awake, he probably could have helped his classmates to successfully avoid Junko's trap, by noticing Mikan's strange behavior and other warning signs. Right after he wakes up and when it's already too late, he tries to warn his classmates by telling them it's a trap.

Strangely, Nagito also seems to have a good eye for noticing talent, hope and despair in other people. For example, Hajime never felt like an Ultimate to him and he turned out to be talentless. In chapter 3 of the second game, Nagito only had quick blurry glances at Mikan's face, but he could tell that her expression was full of despair and he even called her Ultimate Despair, despite being currently unfamiliar with the term. In Danganronpa Another Episode, he could sense the potential in Komaru. In Danganronpa 3, he is also almost immediately attracted to Izuru, supposedly because he can sense his aura. Had he been awake to talk with Mikan, he probably would have noticed that she is infected by despair.

This is sometimes played for laughs in the non-canon manga, as he can suddenly show up because he sensed something despairful or hopeful would happen.

Despite not seemingly having a background of cleaning experience, Nagito is quite skilled when it comes to cleaning. When the Class 77-B decided who should clean the old building for their party, Nagito is picked to do the work but states being 'pretty good' at cleaning anyway. The dining hall was filled with dust and cobwebs which Nagito painstakingly cleaned for the whole day to Hajime's surprise, stating there is no way he'd be able to last the whole day doing such a task. Nagito's dedication to the job is considered commendable by Hajime and Mahiru, who felt bad for Nagito seeing as the place was so run-down. Nagito's excellent cleaning job compared to what others in the class would have achieved shows his skills as a cleaner being above the rest. This is also mentioned in Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc, as he states that cleaning is the one thing he's good at, contrasting the way he usually belittles himself and his abilities.

Trivia

 * “Nagito” as a name means “Calm Below the Dipper”, as in the big dipper constellation, while “Komaeda” translates as “Lion-Dog Tree Branches”. Lion-Dogs are statues that protect and guard shrines in Shintoism. The kanji used are rather old and classical, which may allude to an old family line or an upper class background (of which Nagito does have).
 * Nagito is born in the 28th day of the fourth month. In Japan, 4 is considered very unlucky because one of its pronunciations (shi) is similar to how you would pronounce "death." In China, 8 is a very lucky number because it is pronounced similarly to the word "fortune" (ba or fa). The word is also phonetically similar to the word for a "hundred" (bai), alluding to greater wealth, and the laid down 8 is a symbol of infinity. 28 equates to "double luck", meaning that his birth month represents bad luck while his birth day represents the double luck which cancels the aforementioned misfortune.
 * Nagito's Free-Time Events reveal that he was diagnosed with stage 3 malignant lymphoma and frontotemporal lobe dementia. While it is left ambiguous in the game, his illnesses and backstory are confirmed in the side materials as well as in his school profile in Danganronpa 3.
 * He appears to suffer from behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), which symptoms may include changes in social and personal behavior, loss of insight into the behaviors of oneself and others, inappropriate social behavior, poor impulse control and judgement, apathy, loss of empathy, mental rigidity, repetitive compulsive behavior, a decline in self-care and personal hygiene, changes in food preferences, delusions, euphoria and lack of awareness of any thinking or behavior changes. Needless to say, this explains a good deal of Nagito's unethical behavior and emotional instability.
 * Other indications of his sickly state include his complexion, hair color and breathy voice. In Island Mode, it's mentioned that he has poor stamina, very sensitive skin and he seems to dislike running. His character profiling describes his "pallid skin of the diseased" as well as his hair color, which "doesn't look like it belongs on a living person".
 * The Despair Disease had a much worse effect on Nagito than anyone else and almost killed him, presumably because he was already very ill.
 * Izuru Kamukura mentions that Nagito has a scent of someone who is "already finished", referring to the fact that he should already be dead, but his luck is keeping him alive.
 * 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".
 * In Nagito's character song from Danganronpa Another Episode, Poison (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 (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."
 * One of Nagito's hobbies is reading. This is implied in the main story, as Nagito likes to spend his free time in the library and later Hajime and Chiaki find several, different kinds of books inside his cottage. In Island Mode, he mentions that he could stay in a library for hours. He explains that reading is possibly the most peaceful way for him to spend time, because he isn't affected by his luck cycle that much while doing it. He'd enjoy reading outdoors at evening, if it weren't for the fact that whenever he feels like doing that meteor showers will occur and distract him with their twinkling.
 * Nagito enjoys unrealistic horror movies (like ones with ghosts and zombies), but he dislikes realistic horror movies with serial killers and certain action movies because they remind him of his past experiences.
 * He prefers salty things to sweet ones.
 * He really likes go stones, because the black (dark) and white (light) stones remind him of the battle between hope and despair. In Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc's Episode 4, two go stone jars can be seen inside his bag, along with the bomb switch and Dr Hopper cans.
 * Nagito is very good at cleaning, but he's also implied to be a terrible cook.
 * Interestingly, the events of self-harming leading up to Nagito's suicide in Chapter 5 mirrors certain details of the deaths in the first game; Sayaka Maizono was stabbed, Chihiro Fujisaki was tied up, Sakura Ogami was poisoned in a locked room setting, and Mukuro Ikusaba was speared.
 * In Island Mode, Nagito expresses intense fear towards fighter jets and it's strongly implied that he may suffer from the fear of flying because of his past trauma. While he is generally paranoid about many things, he appears to be extremely paranoid and afraid of plane crashes as just thinking or talking about it makes him very anxious. The idea of people being trapped inside, with no way to escape and just waiting to crash, terrifies him a lot.
 * Despite this, he was seen on an airplane which crashed in Danganronpa 3 - Desiar Arc. It's possible that he feels more comfortable while traveling alone, as he doesn't put other people's lives at risk. Considering his wealth, it's likely that he can afford to travel all by himself.
 * His favorite ride is the carousel, because it's relaxing and feels safe (though he does acknowledge the possibility that it might explode somehow). He shows similar interest in the Funhouse's playground equipment such as slides and swings, but he doesn't play with them because he thinks everyone would scold him if they saw him.


 * In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony 's non-canon bonus mode, Ultimate Talent Development Plan, Celestia Ludenberg challenged Nagito and Makoto to Mahjong to test their luck. She then suggests they add the headmaster, Jin Kirigiri, to even things out. This is likely a reference to an official art from Danganronpa 1.2 Reload where the same event happened.
 * The Servant appears as a guest character in Chain Chronicle: Brave New Continent. His Max ATK and Max HP are 7300. His weapon is an army knife and its ability is doubled attack power. His deathblow is called "Sacrifice for Hope". The death blow attack gives maximum damage to any enemies on range, but also takes the half of Servant's own health.
 * Nagito is included in the collaboration of Danganronpa 3 x Hōkai Gakuen.
 * Edmond Dantes from the Fate/GrandOrder series has often been compared to Nagito, due to their similar appearances and their status as servants. Edmond is also drawn by Danganronpa 's character designer, Rui Komatsuzaki.
 * Nagito's Japanese voice actress, Megumi Ogata, has sung three songs to the point where she sung in-character as Nagito who has his own mini album due to his popularity.
 * He has his own character song called Poison -gekiyaku-.
 * Zettai Kibō Birthday, one of the two songs on the album, is also the ending theme of Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc.
 * The other song on the album is titled Zansakura -zanka-.