Kazuo Tengan

Kazuo Tengan (天願 和夫) is a character featured in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School. He is the Former Director of Hope's Peak, being succeeded by Jin Kirigiri.

He is the founder and chairman of the Future Foundation and is the Branch Office 1 Director. His responsibility as the director is leadership and deciding the conensus of opinion in the Future Foundation. He, along with the other Future Foundation Directors, is forced to participate in the Final Killing Game.

Early Life
Not much is known about Kazuo's early life, but at some point he became the headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy, then later was succeeded by Jin Kirigiri at another unknown part in his life. After that, he took on the role as the advisor to the school and was aware of some of the darker parts The Steering Committee were involved in prior to The Tragedy.

As Hope's Peak's Advisor
During his time as the advisor to the school, he was present for the events of Chisa Yukizome's recruitment as the new homeroom teacher of Class 77-B (Despair Arc - Episode 01), the threats and bombing incident that resulted in the explosion of three students, Seiko Kimura, Ruruka Ando, and Sonosuke Izayoi, who ironically would later go on to be involved in the Future Foundation alongside himself (Despair Arc - Episode 04), and the cover-up of the murders of Natsumi Kuzuryu and Sato later known as the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case. (Despair Arc - Episode 04)

He also became aware, but strongly disapproved of the Izuru Kamukura Project, and even discouraged Hajime Hinata from participating as he should "not fear normalcy". Despite his advisement, he was disappointed to later learn Hajime agreed to do so. (Despair Arc - Episode 02 & Despair Arc - Episode 03)

When Kazuo had become aware of the incident, he strongly advised Jin to cover up The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy to avoid the end of Hope's Peak entirely, though he still left the decision up to Jin, and as advised, Jin covered it up. (Despair Arc - Episode 07)

Much later, and during the starting events of The Tragedy, Kazuo and Koichi sat in a room while watching the outside turn to chaos via a live new feed on Koichi's phone. They discussed with Jin on what to do next, and Jin said the other men should go while he stays behind and turns the old school building into a shelter for Class 78th. Kazuo muses on the situation, finding it ironic that the true purpose of Hope's Peak is finally being met by saving the last generation of hope.

Koichi and Kazuo agree to take action outside, though upon existing before the building is sealed up, they are horrified at the suicide of the Reserve Course students in front of them. (Despair Arc - Episode 11)

The Future Foundation
After The Tragedy occurred, Kazuo founded the Future Foundation, an organization focused on destroying the harm caused by despair and rebuilding the world for the survivors of the fallout. He has the title of Chairman of the Future Foundation as well as becoming the Branch Office 1 Director. His responsibility as the director specifically is leadership and deciding the consensus of opinion in the Future Foundation. During an unknown period of time, he recruited several other alumni of Hope's Peak, including Great Gozu, whom would later serve as his personal bodyguard, the survivors of the Killing School Life after they escaped.

It's implied by Kyosuke Munakata he engaged far more directly with the Remnants of Despair, even at one point becoming severely injured protecting Kyosuke (Future Arc - Episode 05) but had slowly stopped doing so and left the physical combat to the other members of the Future Foundation. (Future Arc - Episode 01)

It is unknown what order Kazuo recruited the Directors, but he was highly recommended to recruit Ryota Mitarai by Chisa Yukizome herself due to his talent and techniques. Unbeknownst to Kazuo; however, Chisa was under the influence of the Despair Video and shared with him the same video on one of two flash drives, the other containing the Suicide Video. This led to his own fall into despair after being brainwashed by the effects of the Despair Video. (Future Arc - Episode 11)

As Ultimate Despair
As he was under the influence of despair, he began to plot and build his own eventual killing game, later called the Final Killing Game, where his original plan was to have Ryota witness the killing game and use his Hope Video in order to brainwash the remaining populace into "hope" using the same techniques as in the Despair Video. The building he used to house the killing game was originally the unfinished overseas branch of Hope's Peak that was originally abandoned, he finished the construction and modified the lower floors to be exact copies of the upper floors with the addition of television screens with knives in them with recordings of the Suicide Video.

He also prepared recordings of Monokuma for the participants s and special Monokuma-themed bangles that injected poison when an NG Code was violated. He also prepared video recordings of himself in advanced should he die during the events of the killing game for Ryota taking full credit for the killing game and explaining his reasoning behind it. (Future Arc - Episode 01, Future Arc - Episode 11 & Future Arc - Episode 12)

It is unknown if he was aware Monaca Towa murdered Miaya Gekkogahara and placed herself in the killing game prior to its start, or if Monaca had any involvement during the preparation. (Future Arc - Episode 05 & Future Arc - Episode 06)

At another point prior or during this preparation, he was involved in the Killer Killer case. He stopped Kyosuke from attempting to apprehend Takumi Hijirihara and Misaki Asano, and told him that they should trust the pair before letting them leave. However, before doing so, he slipped a bomb denator into Misaki's pocket, which only Kyosuke noticed. After they left, he mused if "Killer Killer" was truly worthy of the Future Foundation's trust, and when confronted by Kyosuke about the denator he claimed that even though he trusted the future to them and will wait until the time limit of the bombs that have been set by Shūji Fujigawa to pass, sometimes in order to grasp hope, extreme circumstances are necessary, likely a decision he made due to being under the influence of despair. (Killer Killer - Chapter 12)

Final Killing Game
Kazuo, alongside with the other Directors, attended the trial of Makoto Naegi; however, this was only a cover for Kazuo himself to set up and execute the Final Killing Game. Before the trial began, he fruitlessly tried to stop the arguments of the other Directors, only for Kyosuke to stop and step in by confronting him after standing on the table.

They were all interrupted by the arrival of Makoto with Kyoko Kirigiri and Aoi Asahina, and the confutation between the trio of them and Juzo Sakakura, which turned aggressive, prompting Makoto to be taken out to recover.

Kazuo remains in the conference room after Makoto and Chisa Yukizome return; however, before any further discussion is had he, along with everyone else in the room, is rendered unconscious after a canister of sleeping gas was thrown inside after an attack on the building.

When he woke up, Kazuo and the others found a Monokuma bracelet was attached to their wrists. Via a pre-recording on the large monitor set up by Kazuo himself, Monokuma delivered the rules of the Final Killing Game. Kazuo was also witness to Chisa's bloody corpse fall from the ceiling fixture onto the boardroom table. (Future Arc - Episode 01)

After being put to a vote, many of the other Directors believe, or pretend to believe, that Makoto is the attacker, including Kazuo himself, though he knew otherwise. With help from Great Gozu, Makoto escapes, and Kazuo convinces Kyoko to hide with him and Ryota to avoid putting her in danger, with a promise from himself that he would not hurt her. After the timer passes, the three of them passed out due to the sleeping drug. (Future Arc - Episode 02)

Once they woke up, they began to discuss Kyosuke's motivations behind wanting to kill Makoto, Kazuo responded that while he is a great man, he had a strong ideal on how to deal with despair. He, along with the others, hear Makoto on the intercom informing everyone of Great Gozu's death and Makoto's own NG code. Kazuo states to a confused Ryota that Makoto trusts everyone, and, only to be interrupted by Juzo throwing a chair at the three of them. (Future Arc - Episode 03)

Last Stand
Kazuo was able to quickly subdue Juzo with only a single punch, after he quickly went to join the others. The three of them tie up the unconscious Juzo and cross paths with Aoi and hear Kyosuke's announcement to perform an immediate execution of the captured Makoto. Kazuo then offered himself to negotiate with Kyosuke while Kyoko, escorted by Ryota, returned to the boardroom.

Upon arriving at the intercom room, Kazuo fired his "chuusen", an old weapon hidden under his right sleeve, at Kyosuke's sword, which was on Makoto's neck. He ordered Aoi and Miaya to take Makoto and run while he faced Kyosuke. During their fight, Kazuo claimed to dislike Kyosuke's ideal of eradicating all despair that exists in the world. He taunted him with Chisa's death, if it also was one of those sacrifices, angering Kyosuke. Kazuo lets Kyosuke slice directly into his bare right hand, splitting it in two with a spray of blood, in order to distract him and make them both fall.

While Kyosuke only sustained minor damage from the fall, Kazuo landed on a large piece of rebar that pierced his abdomen that left him suspended. Kazuo quips that he was "unlucky" with the fall. (Future Arc - Episode 04)

Kazuo's Fate
While dying, Kazuo and Kyosuke briefly discuss their ideals on how to rid the world of despair. Upon being (correctly) accused of being the attacker and a member of the Remnants, Kazuo denied this, and informed Kyosuke that the "attacker" was "everyone", as they were all tainted by despair. He then revealed to Kyosuke that his NG code was "Answering a Question With a Lie".

Kazuo defends himself after Kyosuke tries to attack him with his katakana by pulling the piece of rebar out from his stomach and impaling Kyosuke in his right eye, though he failed to prevent his own throat from being slashed. While bleeding out, Kazuo asked Kyosuke where he thinks he will find his hope before Kyosuke left him to die. (Future Arc - Episode 05) He wrote one final message in his own blood for Ryota reading "I entrust the world's hope to you", before succumbing to his wounds. (Future Arc - Episode 06)

Legacy
His corpse is discovered for the first time by Makoto, Aoi, and Miaya when Miaya is able to plug herself and her avatar Monomi into the security camera feed. While Makoto misunderstood the final message was for him, it was intended for Ryota to use his Hope Video. (Future Arc - Episode 06)

After investigation, Kyoko (correctly) suspected that Kazuo was the one behind the killing game as he was one of the few with the knowledge of how the building was upon several discovers. (Future Arc - Episode 11) This is proven true to the remaining participants as Ryota is sent a posthumous video message by Kazuo taking responsibility for being The Mastermind of the Final Killing Game and why he did so.

While Ryota using his Hope Video was stopped by his classmates from Class 77-B and reversed, Kazuo did succeed in destroying the "last hope of humanity" with the Future Foundation becoming defunct after most of its members were killed or left. (Future Arc - Episode 12)

Nagito's Illusory World
Kazuo appeared as an illusion in Nagito Komaeda's imaginary world following his death in the Neo World Program. He is seen welcoming students into Hope's Peak alongside Koichi Kizakura.

Real Fiction
In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, it is alleged by the mastermind Tsumugi Shirogane that the entire Danganronpa franchise is fictional in-universe; a series of games, anime, and later live-action dramas performed actors. In particular, Tsumugi, who is the Ultimate Cosplayer, claims she is only able to cosplay fictional characters (breaking out into a bright pink rash whenever she tries to cosplay a real person), and the fact she is able to cosplay as the whole cast of Danganronpa game characters is used as evidence to support her claim that all of the cast are fictional. However, due to a number of holes in Tsumugi's story which make her an unreliable narrator, whether or not she was telling the truth is deliberately left up to the player's interpretation; as a result, it is up to the player whether they believe Kazuo's story within the Danganronpa series was real, or a fictional story written by Team Danganronpa and performed by an actor.

Name
In the original Japanese, Kazuo's full name is written as 和夫 天願. His given name Kazuo is written as 天願, compromising of the kanji for "sky" or "heaven" or "god" (天) and "desire" or "hope​" or "request" (願), with the kanji combined it can mean "hope in heaven" or "request in god". His family name Tengan is written as 和夫, consisting of the kanji "harmony" or "peace" (和) and "husband" or "man" (夫), with the kanji combined it can mean "peace man". His name in full is likely in reference to being leader of the Future Foundation, considered to be humanity's last hope.

Alternate Fates
Kazuo appears as a cameo in Ultimate Talent Development Plan, which exists in a separate alternate universes where the casts of the games still attend Hope's Peak Academy, but no students are in peril.

Appearance
Kazuo is an elderly adult man who is 140 cm tall and weighs 45 kg, usually portrayed with a hunched back. He has slightly greyed wrinkled skin, amber eyes with rectangle-shaped glasses, and cropped short gray hair with an up swept style. He has a maintained mustache and beard, the same color has his hair. While he has no canon age stated, given his appearance, he is likely one of the oldest character in the Danganronpa franchise.

He wears a short dull green peacock coat with a Future Foundation logo pin on its lapel, a white button down dress shirt, a red tie tucked under a black vest, black pants, white socks, and brown oxford shoes. While normally unseen, he keeps a metal weapon cuff on his wrist hidden under his sleeve that fire small metal projectiles called a "chuusen".

During his time as Hope's Peak advisor, Kazuo wore a nearly identical outfit as he did later in life, though the colors were different. His peacock coat was a brighter olive green, his tie was a light purple, and his vest was a darker purple.

Personality
At his core, Kazuo is a peaceful man that chooses to avoid conflict and violence whenever possible. He is wise and often gives advice to his younger coworkers of the Future Foundation and even to the students of Hope's Peak Academy in his younger years, such as encouraging Reserve Course student Hajime Hinata from going through with the Izuru Kamukura Project. He even goes as far as to admonish Kyosuke Munakata that despair cannot be fully eradicated through war alone.

Despite his passive nature, he is not against fighting when need be if he is defending himself or defending others, even willing to fight to the death for what he believed in.

However, once he was corrupted by the brainwashing effects of the Despair Video, he took on a far more sadistic and extreme persona compared to his actual one. He set up and executed the Final Killing Game in order to get Ryota Mitarai to use his Hope Video to brainwash the surviving members of humanity into feeling nothing but a twisted form of hope. To achieve these ends, he was even willing to sacrifice his fellow Future Foundation members and even himself.

Abilities
While Kazuo has no named talent or title, he is still an exceptionally capable fighter and able to hold his own against Kyosuke's swordsmanship skills and the Ultimate Boxer Juzo Sakakura. He showcased extreme efficient with his weapon of choice: a "chuusen"—a small, submachine gun like weapon hidden inside his arm that he fired from his sleeve. The weapon seemingly held an infinite number of tiny metal darts that he could fire at will.

Despite his advanced age, he was able to knock out Juzo with a single strike from his elbow, and deflect a chair thrown at him with just his hand alone. He is able to maintain combat with Kyosuke, only forcibly being stopped when he was impaled on a large metal rod in a failed attempt to kill Kyosuke during their fight.

Quotes
DR3=

List of Appearances
Games=
 * Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Ultimate Talent Development Plan only; Cameo)

Anime=
 * Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Despair Arc
 * Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Future Arc
 * Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the World Vanquisher (Cameo)
 * Monokuma Gekijō (Yūgengaisha Mirai Kikan)

Manga=
 * Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer - Chapter 10
 * Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen Comic Anthology
 * Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen Dengenki Comic Anthology

Stage Plays=
 * Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen THE STAGE 2018

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