| “ | If I don't have to, I think I won't. | „ |
| ~ Kyoko Kirigiri |
Kyoko Kirigiri (霧切 響子) is a character from the Danganronpa series. Her ultimate title is the Ultimate Detective (previously Ultimate ???).
A light novel based around her past has been released, titled Danganronpa Kirigiri.
Etymology[]
Her forename Kyoko is written as 霧切, which means "fog cutter". This may be a reference to her talent. Her surname Kirigiri is written as 響子 in kanji, which currently has an unknown meaning. 響 is a brand of whiskey in Japan.
Appearance[]
Kyoko is a relatively tall, pretty girl with purple eyes and a pale complexion. She wears her light purple hair down and with a braid on the side, tied with a black ribbon. Her outfit consists of a dark-purple collared jacket over a white blouse and tie, along with a short skirt and knee-high boots. She also always wears her custom-made black gloves to conceal scars on her hands that she received back when she was an amateur.
Ultimate Talent[]
Her talent is the ultimate detective. Her incredible abilities as a detective was because she came from a long line of famous detectives. Even though her father did not want to be a detective and left the family and her mother died when she was young, she was raised by her grandfather who wanted her to be the heir to the detective family name.
In Trigger Happy Havoc, her ultimate talent was initially "???" because Monokuma gave her amnesia, possibly because having an ultimate talent like a detective would put her at an unfair advantage in the killing game. Therefore, she did not remember anything about herself at all, not even her past or her family. However, her detective skills shone through in the game, leading her to realize that she was the ultimate detective and regain her memories.
Brief History[]
An enigmatic girl whose talent was unknown from the beginning, she often helps Makoto Naegi to make a breakthrough during the investigations and trials. Later, it was revealed that she was actually an amnesiac. Her true identity was the daughter of Jin Kirigiri, the previous Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy and a genius detective. She survived the final trial and escaped with the other survivors at the end of the game.
Background[]
The Kirigiri family is a family with famous and talented detectives. However, Kyoko's father, Jin Kirigiri did not want to become a detective at all, so therefore his father disowned him before Kyoko's birth.
After Kyoko was born, she and her parents led a normal life until her grandfather (Jin's father) discovered her existence and reconnected with Jin, with the intention of making Kyoko the heir to the family business. It was around then when Kyoko started training as a detective. Although Jin still heavily disliked his father, he did not hinder Kyoko's learning.
When Kyoko and her grandfather were working abroad when she was 7, her mother fell very ill and was hospitalised. When Jin tried to contact them, Kyoko's grandfather refused to let Kyoko see her mother, and her mother died in hospital without seeing Kyoko. Because of this, Jin left the family and left Kyoko in the care of her grandfather. Kyoko's grandfather then manipulated Kyoko into thinking that Jin left her because of his own selfish intentions.
She was scouted as the Ultimate Ultimate for Hope's Peak High School's 78th class. After spending one year as a student there, The Tragedy took place.
Trigger Happy Havoc[]
As the ultimate despair had destroyed the world, the 78th class and the headmaster of the school Jin Kirigiri decided to seal themselves off from the outside world and stay in the school until the despair had subsided so they could rebuild humanity. However, Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba had hidden among them, and forced everyone to participate in a killing game after wiping everyone's memories to make it seem like they never went to high school before. In particular, all of Kyoko's memories were erased, so she even forgot her own ultimate talent and past. She only knew that she had to find the headmaster of Hope's Peak High School.
Kyoko was initially presented as a mysterious girl to Makoto, the game's protagonist. She did not flinch when Sayaka's body was found, and instead went right to investigating her. It was thanks to her that Makoto learnt how to investigate a murder scene.
When Makoto was accused of Sayaka's murder, she helped Makoto realize that Sayaka had tried to frame him but got herself killed instead. She also aided Makoto in finding out the real murderer. After Leon's execution, she comforted Makoto to make him feel better and kept him going after Sayaka's betrayal and death.
She also helped Makoto with all the other murders, and found a lot of clues to the mastermind throughout the game. During Sakura's murder, she deduced that Sakura had ended her own life to make sure that Monokuma no longer had any hold over the participants anymore.
At Mukuro's murder, everyone heavily suspected Kyoko of murdering her since she was missing for the entire investigation, even though she was just trying to find out who the mastermind is. Makoto has the choice of either accusing Kyoko to be the murderer or admitting to be the murderer. Accusing Kyoko will lead to her being executed, and the rest of the survivors will opt to live in the school for the rest of their lives, which is the bad ending.
If Makoto says he's the murderer, Monokuma will execute him anyways, but because he is the Ultimate Lucky Student, the execution mechanism breaks right before he is murdered, and he falls into the garbage disposal room. Kyoko is eternally grateful for Makoto's sacrifice, and after telling Byakuya that the mastermind was the one who killed Mukuro and Makoto was framed, she goes to save Makoto in the garbage disposal room. She then remembers her past, realizing that she was the Ultimate Detective and that the mastermind of the academy was her own father.
After forcing Monokuma to reopen the trial of Mukuro's murder, many more truths came to light. She found that her father was dead a long time ago, and that he still treasured her, making her feel emotional. In the trial, they found out that Junko Enoshima was the mastermind of the game and the Ultimate Despair, and they make her confess and execute herself. She then escapes the school with the rest of the survivors.
After Trigger Happy Havoc[]
After finding out that Junko's words were true and that humanity was pretty much destroyed, she and the rest of the survivors decided to join the Future Foundation to try and rebuild humanity. She became the leader of the 14th division.
Kyoko appears in Goodbye Despair, working with Makoto and Byakuya to save Hope's Peak students trapped in a rehabilitation simulation for ultimate despairs gone horribly wrong.
After leaving the ultimate despairs isolated and not killing them, Makoto faced a trial for treason, but as the Future Foundation members and Makoto gathered to hold a trial, they were all forced into another killing game. She managed to evade being murdered by the other Future Foundation members and escaped with the other survivors of the final killing game; Temporary peace was restored as the road to humanity seemed more hopeful.
Personality[]
Kyoko is a stoic and mysterious girl who had amnesia. She has a calm demeanor and tends to be completely unfazed by most of the events that occur, even when a body is found. She is also one of very few students that sees things objectively and doesn’t jump to conclusions in the trial, making Makoto see her as a valuable ally and trust her. She is very sensitive regarding the subject about the Hope Peak’s Academy Headmaster (who later is revealed to be her own father), going so far as to even lose her cool when Alter Ego mentioned the possibility of him being the mastermind. She also doesn't like it when people keep secrets from her.
Ever since the first murder, she becomes close with Makoto, evident from her later interactions with him hinting some sort of mutual attraction. When Makoto allows himself to be found guilty Mukuro's murder (although he's saved at the last minute by Alter Ego), Kyoko realizes that she's been putting her own desires ahead of his safety. When they discover that Makoto ends up at the garbage disposal room, she risks her life to save him, resulting in the iconic cup noodle sprites.
She can also be seen as being able to find the good in people's motives, for example , after the first trial (Sayaka Maizono's death), she tells Makoto that she thinks that in the end, Sayaka actually wanted to make sure he didn't get the blame for her death, which is why she wrote Leon's name on the wall. Another example is in the second murder, where she points out the broken ID card is actually Chihiro Fujisaki's; Kirigiri says that Mondo Owada broke it to protect Chihiro's secret.
Behind her stone cold personality, Kyoko seems to get upset easily, which is masked by her strong will. Even under calm situations, she sometimes lets her emotions get the best of her as shown when Alter Ego mentions her father, the former headmaster, as the person who might be the real mastermind, and when Makoto refuses to tell her about Sakura Ogami's suspicious rivalry with Monokuma.
Relationships[]
Makoto Naegi[]
Kyoko had developed a small crush towards Makoto in Trigger Happy Havoc, as Junko mentioned that she was Mukuro's rival in love because of Mukuro's crush on Makoto as well. Although Makoto started with a crush on Sayaka, he eventually liked Kyoko back, but they never had any direct confrontations about their feelings.
Their feelings for each other were more evident after Trigger Happy Havoc, and even the others noticed their relationship. Kyoko helped Makoto in all their cases and stuck by him throughout The end of Hope's Peak School, even when he was accused of treason. They rebuilt the Future Foundation together after the events of the anime.
Byakuya Togami[]
Kyoko, Makoto and Byakuya as Future Foundation members in Goodbye Despair.
In Trigger Happy Havoc, Kyoko despises Byakuya and the feeling is mutual. Because Kyoko did not know her ultimate talent, Byakuya heavily distrusted her and suspected her to be the mastermind. He never believed anything that she said, and because she was very good at solving the murder cases, he found her weird and unsettling. Kyoko also aided Makoto in realizing that Byakuya had framed Genocide Jack, so he carried that grudge with him for a while through the game. However, they united in the end to defeat Junko.
After they joined the Future Foundation together, they seem to be able to work together, although they are not usually seen to be very close. They appear together on Goodbye Despair, and they seem to be working together in perfect harmony.
Jin Kirigiri[]
Jin is Kyoko's father, who left the Kirigiri family with her at a young age, as he wanted to have nothing to do with his career-driven father. However, Kyoko eventually reconciliated with her grandfather, and he made up lies about Jin to make Kyoko hate him for leaving her to chase his own dreams. However, it is hinted that she felt guilty from her father's death after she found his remains, as she never looked at his remains at all.
Junko Enoshima and Monokuma[]
Kyoko despises Junko in the killing game, as she killed her father and erased all her memories. She also finds Monokuma very annoying and always tries to outsmart him. She rarely loses her cool around her, other than during her execution and when she discovers her father's remains.
Trivia[]
- Her voice actress, Yōko Hikasa, is famously known for voicing Mio from K-On.
| Danganronpa | ||
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General Trigger Happy Havoc Goodbye Despair Killing Harmoney Ultra Despair Girls | ||