Hajime Hinata

Hajime Hinata is the main protagonist of the Danganronpa 2: Goodbye, Despair game.

Hajime s a student of Hope's Peak Academy's Class 77-B, and a participant of the Killing School Trip. He doesn't remember his talent at the beginning of the Killing Game, so his title is Ultimate ???.

He, along with the Class 77-B, return to explore their school life leading up to The Tragedy.

Appearance
Hajime is a young man in his early twenties, around 22 at youngest. His virtual avatar in the Neo World Program appeared as his 17 year old self.

He has short, spiky brown hair with an ahoge that moves according to his emotions. He wears a simple white shirt with the emblem of his previous high school embroidered on the hem, along with a green tie which also bears the same emblem. He has black jeans and red-and-white sneakers. During his time in Hope's Peak Academy, he wore a black reserve course student uniform, which is the same clothes he wears as Izuru Kamukura.

Hajime's eyes have a straight line running across his pupil, resembling a prohibition symbol. Although his eye color is originally green, his eyes turned red with symbols resembling target radars when he lived as Izuru, and his left eye stays red after the two personalities merge. The design of both his eyes have also adapted Izuru's target radar design.

Inside the simulation, during the ending of the second game, Hajime also gained "Awakened" form, with his hair turning white and his eyes becoming just like those of Izuru. In addition, he was completely enveloped in a lightning-like aura. In Super Danganronpa 2.5, when he is supposedly once again inside the simulation, his eyes have turned red again, but he is otherwise his usual self and wears his black Hope's Peak Academy uniform.

In the official art book, as well as in Chiaki Nanami and Nekomaru Nidai's Free Time Events, it's implied that Hajime has some muscle, as he has done some exercise. However, he's mentioned as the type who looks thinner when dressed.

Though never seen in the games, the official art book shows that he has dark blue trunks with white cherry blossom pattern, which are even described as fashionable. Apparently, he does not show them even to his closest friends and his underwear is normally "a mystery", humorously referencing the bonus modes and free-time events.

Personality
Hajime seems cynical at first glance, but it would be better to describe him as a realist. He is quite skeptical and tends to worry more than the other students, but his worries are usually understandable. He is logical and smart; often annoyed by the idea of not being able to understand someone or something at all. He tends to be quite serious, but he does joke around and often goes along with his classmates' eccentric hobbies anyway, and sometimes smiles awkwardly and sheepishly while his friends engage in some of their usual weird behavior. He is sometimes annoyed by some of his classmates, and can be snarky towards them in his thoughts as well as blunt while speaking to them, though he's more frank than sarcastic or mean-spirited. Though sometimes a bit submissive (especially with bossy girls), he is not afraid to speak his mind, and he can be rude if annoyed enough (for example, after enduring Hiyoko's attitude during her Free Time Events, he finally ends up stating "I don't even care anymore"). He can sometimes be short-tempered and snap at others, especially when he's tired or under pressure. He was also quite paranoid during the start of the game and didn't have much interest in friendship, but he later really wanted to believe in his classmates and felt bad about doubting them during the Class Trials, though he understood it was necessary. He sometimes regretted exposing the murderers, as shown after singling out the murderer in chapter 3.

Hajime's more aggressive personality is well demonstrated in a scene in Danganronpa 3, in which he attempts to punch Juzo Sakakura after he spoke in a very condescending and dehumanizing manner, and slapped Chisa Yukizome's hand away in anger when she tried to help him, which is notably different from the way the other protagonists would have behaved. In the Japanese version, his more blunt personality is also shown in his way of speakingーduring Nonstop Debates, he uses the phrase (sore wa chigau zo; lit. "That's wrong"), while Makoto Naegi says (sore wa chigau yo; lit. "That's wrong"). Using yo in the end of a sentence is much more polite than using zo, which is perceived as impolite and more masculine. Another example of this is how he uses the more masculine and boastful word (ore) to refer himself while Makoto uses the more polite word (boku). Notably, he has also referred to Junko Enoshima as an "insane bitch", which is something Makoto wouldn't do even in the case of his worst enemies. Due to his more irritable personality, both Monokuma and Nagito have more or less jokingly compared Hajime to a tsundere, with Nagito calling him "tsuntsun hair" and Monokuma outright calling him a tsundere.

Despite his flaws, Hajime is generally pleasant and easily exhibits kindness and thoughtfulness to others around him; he genuinely cares about everyone. Although he may have trouble understanding or relating to his classmates, he is tolerant of everyone's eccentric personalities and quirks and is always willing to listen and give advice. The official artbook reinforces this by stating that he spends his time talking with everyone and gets along great with both the girls and the guys. In Free Time Events, he makes even the most antisocial characters feel more relaxed and they often reveal things about themselves they wouldn't tell anyone else. Due to this particular trait, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu thinks that Hajime's talent might be Ultimate Counselor and Nagito calls him Ultimate Serenity.

It's also heavily implied that Hajime is romantically inexperienced, appearing somewhat shy and even naive about the topic. He once mentioned that he hadn't really thought about it and has never asked a girl on a date. However, during Free Time Events and especially during Island Mode, several characters appear to have romantic interest in Hajime and he sometimes responds by flirting, dating or even forming actual (non-canon) relationships with them. He is sometimes shown to be a bit gullible when other characters show interest in him, with he himself admitting that he is "kind of dense" during Hiyoko Saionji's Shot Through The Heart event. Ironically, he incorrectly assumes Peko Pekoyama has romantic feelings for him during her Free Time Events, while actually she is one of the few characters who is confirmed to not have any feelings towards him.

Though he tries to hide it, Hajime is very insecure about his lack of talent and it bothers him deeply. This caused him to admire Hope's Peak Academy more than anything, as he believed that attending the school would fix his problem. He wished to be part of something bigger than himself, to become more confident and someone he can be proud of. He felt bitter about being just a reserve course student. Chiaki was the one who guided Hajime to see the reality that whether or not he had a talent was irrelevant. It was largely due to her support and encouragement that he was finally able to overcome despair and gain true confidence.

After Hajime awakens from the Neo World Program, he preserves his memories and identifies as Hajime Hinata, accepting that the future includes countless possibilities which can sometimes end in failure. As of Hope, it is revealed that Hajime and Izuru's personalities are mixed. Though he identifies as Hajime and acts mostly like him, having the capability to feel, he still becomes bored easily at times and sometimes his demeanor resembles more Izuru than Hajime. He is also capable of using Izuru's talents, which makes him the strongest person in the world, if he has reason to be. However, Kazutaka Kodaka has stated that he still has humanity and emotions, which could make him surprisingly weak. "If you've got Kazuichi talking smack about you, you're not all that great", Kazutaka said laughing, referring to Kazuichi's "This guy's from the Reserve Course" comment in Hope Arc.

Ultimate Hope
After fusing with Izuru's identity and becoming a new person carrying Hajime's name, he gained Izuru's ability to use all the known Ultimate talents that have been researched at Hope's Peak Academy. He has only been seen using a few. As the Ultimate Hope, Hajime possesses many talents such as the Ultimate Analyst, the Ultimate Soldier, etc.

Unlike other people seen with the Ultimate Analyst talent, Hajime is much more capable of feeling emotions and lacks constant boredom. However, he still feels bored at times, most likely because of his heightened analyzing skills.

Hajime has heightened physical strength, reflexes, and speed, to the point of being superhuman. He is capable of defeating several armed and skilled people in a few minutes. He is also seen easily bending metal and ripping a human-sized hole in sturdy wall.

Similar to Izuru, Hajime seems to be capable of being more cold-blooded when needed, as he badly wounded and likely killed people who were threatening his friends.

Hajime utilized an incredible talent which could bring back the comatose students alive from the Neo World Program. It could be talent related to Therapist, Neurologist, or Programming as these talents were held by the creators of the Neo World Program. Though, considering the fact he was imbued with every talent known to Hope's Peak Academy, it could easily be a combination of the three.

Counseling Skills
Though he did not naturally possess an Ultimate talent, other characters have noted that Hajime may have potential for many things, the most notable trait being his ability to make other people feel more relaxed and talk about their issues. Because of this, Fuyuhiko says he could be Ultimate Counselor while Nagito calls him Ultimate Serenity. However, though he's glad to help, Hajime feels that such a talent would be stressful. Hajime also displays this trait as he manages to calm down Ryota Mitarai during the ending of Danganronpa 3.

Trivia

 * While the pronunciation of Hajime's first name often means "beginning", the kanji it is written with, primarily means "injury" or "flaw". "Hinata" means “a sunny place” or “to face the sun”. His full name can altogether translate as either “to face a new day” or "to face an imperfect day".
 * The names "Hajime" and "Hinata" are very common names in Japan, with either having many written forms. Hinata itself is both a surname and a given name. This 'common' quality of his names is parallel to how Hajime was a common student with no extraordinary talent.
 * Matching the meaning of his given name, Hajime's birthday is January 1, the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
 * Hajime's alternate identity is foreshadowed during one of Gundham's Free Time Events, where Gundham asks Hajime to reveal his “true name”.
 * During the final trial, in his temporary "Awakened Form", Hajime bears a striking resemblance to Kiyotaka Ishimaru's "Kiyondo" form; both have their dark hair turn pure white and their eyes bright red (Kiyotaka's were already red, however).
 * They both also changed into their respective forms because of memories of their deceased friends; Kiyotaka became Kiyondo due to his love for his friend Mondo, and Hajime entered his "Awakened" form due to the memory of Chiaki helping him overcome his despair.
 * Technically being the same person as Izuru Kamukura, Hajime is the first character in the Danganronpa series that has participated in two Mutual Killing Games and survived. The others are Makoto, Aoi Asahina, and technically Kyoko Kirigiri.
 * According to the text seen on the computer screen in the episode 6 of Despair Arc, both Hajime and his parents gave their consent for the Izuru Kamukura Project and agreed that the school would not be held liable for the said actions, although it's unclear if they were fully aware of the consequences considering the school's tendency to lie and hide information.
 * Hajime's former high school before he enrolled in Hope's Peak Academy, Kodaka High School (kodaka kōkō) is named after the creator of Danganronpa, Kazutaka Kodaka.
 * Hajime, possibly Izuru with shorter hair, is seen in the promotional art for and the collaboration of Danganronpa 3 and Guns Girl Z.