Toranosuke Ishimaru

Toranosuke Ishimaru is a minor character mentioned in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.

He was the grandfather of Kiyotaka Ishimaru and the father of Takaaki Ishimaru. He was a genius and the former Prime Minister of Japan. He also used to attend Hope's Peak Academy with the title Ultimate Manager.

Prior to the Tragedy
Toranosuke was very smart and despite only graduating from Hope's Peak Academy, he climbed the ranks to be the Prime Minister of Japan due to being a genius.

Everything he did, he did without any actual effort, and he never knew failure. Because of this, he became more self-centered and arrogant over his talent, which lead to a corruption scandal. After only a few months in office, the public opinion of Toranosuke changed from high praise to widespread criticism and he was forced to step down. After that, Toranosuke's business collapsed and the Ishimaru family was left mistrusted and in huge debts. His family name shamed, Toranosuke allegedly spent the last years of his life in shamed silence.

Toranosuke died a few years before his grandson enrolled in Hope's Peak Academy and only his family members came to his funeral.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru
Toranosuke's grandson, Kiyotaka, considers his grandfather someone he both hates and respects. He is bitter at his grandfather, but also seems to feel sorry for him and feels that his grandfather's tragedy taught him an important lesson. One of Kiyotaka's main goals in life is to surpass his grandfather and reach greater accomplishments than anything he ever did, with pure effort.

Because of Toranosuke, Kiyotaka considers genius' fate a tragedy and he believes that effort is most important. He also hates the word "genius" and dislikes geniuses, considering them his enemies.

Toranosuke and his grandson both have the same favorite underwear brand. Considering that the underwear often symbolize close relationships in Danganronpa, this may imply that they were very close despite their conflicted relationship.

Trivia

 * The official Reload Artbook reveals that like his grandson, Toranosuke attended Hope's Peak Academy with the title Ultimate Manager.