Korekiyo Shinguji

"Yes...and words have the power to grant or rob someone of such confidence. Words are powerful. Truth or lies may both be fired as powerfully as a bullet from a gun."

- Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Korekiyo Shinguji (真宮寺 是清 Shingūji Korekiyo) is a character featured in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony and a participant of the Killing School Semester.

His title is Ultimate Anthropologist (超高校級の「民俗学者」chō kōkō kyū no “minzoku gakusha” lit. Super High School Level Folklorist). He has seen many places and people, and as a result, he has formed his pet theory of "humanity's unlimited beauty".

Early Life

 * Before Joining Danganronpa

Korekiyo Shinguji was a normal talentless high school boy who participated in the 53rd Season of Danganronpa, a famous worldwide reality show made by Team Danganronpa.

Korekiyo and the other fifteen talentless students undergo the fabrication process, where all of their past memories and personalities were heavily fabricated. He is also received the talent and title of Ultimate Anthropologist. All of this was done for the sake of satisfying Danganronpa's audience from all over the world. After the fabrication process was completed, Korekiyo and the others entered the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles as a totally different person, officially commencing the 53rd killing game season known as the Killing School Semester.

Korekiyo attended Sunset Hill High School (夕陽ヶ丘学園). during his high school days. However, it is unclear if this memory of him is a part of the fabrication made by Team Danganronpa or if it was genuine.


 * Fabricated Past

After he successfully participated in the 53rd Killing Game, Korekiyo's memories and past were fabricated by Team Danganronpa as follows:

According to Korekiyo, he had an older sister who meant the world to him and knew him better than anyone else. She always had terrible health, and ever since Korekiyo was young, she constantly had to go in and out of the hospital. Because of this, she was horribly lonely and never had any friends, and it's implied that Korekiyo spent a lot of time with her. When he was younger, he got interested in cultural anthropology while reading a book with his sister. He was surprised to find out that different people around the world have had similar ideas that turned into popular stories. His sister told him that he should research it if he was curious about it, and that motivated him to become an anthropologist.

He used to have a much simpler school uniform, but his sister thought it didn't suit him and personally tailored the unique uniform he wears now for him as a present. This took a long time due to her poor health, but that only made him treasures the outfit more, considering it his alone and truly unique clothing nobody else in the world has.

In the past, according to Korekiyo, he had an incestuous relationship with his older sister. He believed it was true love and he did not care what the society thought of them. However, at some point, his sister died due to an illness. Left alone and frustrated due to his deep obsession with his sister, he begun to develop an idea of "sending admirable friends" to his sister in the afterlife, since she never had any friends while she was alive. Korekiyo began to target girls that met his requirements as his sister's "friends" by killing them, making him a serial killer, with his goal being 100 victims. He eventually got very close to this number, supposedly killing women during his constant traveling. He also states that he once visited a village where people frequently practiced bondage and became very popular with the village's women.

In order to study folklore, Korekiyo visited various areas and met with many people. From that experience, he formed a pet theory of "humanity's unlimited beauty". At one point, while crossing an entire country, Korekiyo was attacked by local natives who "welcomed" him by tying him up and torturing him with a whip to near death. He then hallucinated an image of his deceased sister, which lead to him to develop a type of split personality known as a based on her as a coping mechanism. In times of distress, he talked to himself with his sister's persona in an attempt to calm himself.

It is unclear how much, if any, of Korekiyo's past before participating in the 53rd Killing Game was real, and which parts were fabricated by Team Danganronpa. Furthermore, it should be noted that Korekiyo very likely could be quite delusional and some of his claims may not be accurate.

It's known that he wore a mask even as his former self, but his clothes were neat and in good style. It's also been stated that he may have been very popular.

The Gofer Project
Part of the fake backstories created for Korekiyo and the other fifteen students was The Gofer Project, which supposedly happened before the Killing Game started. It was initiated by Hope's Peak Academy after countless meteorites crashed into Earth, spreading a deadly virus all throughout the atmosphere. To try and preserve the last vestiges of mankind before the Earth’s destruction, Hope's Peak Academy decided to select sixteen talented students that happened to be immune to the virus, put them in a spaceship colony, and have them escape. Korekiyo was among these sixteen individuals.

Despite being chosen to participant however, Korekiyo and the other fifteen participants had no intentions of going along with the plan, not wanting to abandon their loved ones. As a result, Korekiyo chose to forget about her ultimate talent and decided to live as a normal high school student.

Around that time an extremist cult, which was revealed to the be Remnants of Despair thanks to the Flashback Light in Chapter 5, came back into power, causing the Future Foundation's influence to weaken. They believed that the meteorites were a punishment humanity brought upon itself, and having heard of The Gofer Project, they tried to stop it. As a result, the Ultimate Hunt started and spread throughout the world, and the sixteen students selected for the Gofer Project were hunted down.

The government then decided to counter the situation by faking the students' deaths, calming down the Ultimate Hunt while providing protection to the students. The Gofer Project was then put into action while the Earth was being destroyed by meteorites. Korekiyo and the others went to space in the massive ark, the true form of Ultimate Academy of Gifted Juveniles, and were put to a cold sleep for several decades.

Kokichi Oma, one of the participant of the plan, declared himself as a member of Junko Enoshima's Remnants of Despair who masterminded the Killing Game and let Monokuma entered the spaceship, effectively forcing Korekiyo and the others to participate in the Killing Game.

While Korekiyo did remember about the Ultimate Hunt in Chapter 2 and his and everyone else's funeral in Chapter 3 thanks to the Flashback Light's, he ultimately has no complete recollection of the event, as he was executed before he actually received a complete memory about The Gofer Project by the Flashback Light in Chapter 5.

Killing School Semester
Korekiyo was among the first fourteen people gathered in the gymnasium before Kaede Akamatsu and Shuichi Saihara arrived. Just like everyone else, Korekiyo was confused about their current predicament. Once the Monokuma Kubs arrived in their Exisals and gave the sixteen participants their Ultimate wardrobe, and their first memory via the Flashback Light, Korekiyo was turned into a completely different person for the Killing Game.

Korekiyo was later found in the main hall after the iron bars barricading the front entrance had lifted by Kaede and Shuichi, the [Ultimate Detective]]. He introduced himself to the duo as the Ultimate Anthropologist, explaining to them just what Anthropology was. Kaede still didn't quite understand it, but did say that it sounded like a lot of fun. He then went on to explain his theory that human beings are creatures that possess infinite beauty and that he finds even the ugly aspects of humanity to be beautiful. Korekiyo was intrigued by their current situation wondered just what sort of "beauty" he would be able to witness here, stating that people are wonderful, creeping Kaede out. She then asked him if they could go outside through the front doors, but Korekiyo said that she should find the answers to her questions on her own, eerily stating that when their hopes are shattered might be "beautiful" too though Kaede had no idea what he meant by that.

Korekiyo would later gather with everyone else in the gymnasium after the Monokuma Kubs made their announcement. While some of the students were worried, Korekiyo was able to keep calm and composed. Afterwards, the Monokuma Kubs and Monokuma, the Monokuma Kubs' father and the self-appointed headmaster of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, arrived and announced that they would be participating in a Killing Game, much to almost everyone's shock and horror. Korekiyo however, stated that he could sense the despair and malice-like aura around Monokuma. With that, the Killing School Semester had officially begun.

Attempting the Death Road of Despair
After Monokuma officially started the Killing Game, Korekiyo read the rules on his Monopad. A majority of the group wasn't sure what to do after reading these rules and began to panic and argue. Thanks to Kaede's motivational argument however, the panic died down and everyone seemed to become united. Afterwards, Gonta Gokuhara, the Ultimate Entomologist, then remembered that he found a manhole inside the boiler room behind the school building. Korekiyo along with everyone else immediately followed Gonta's lead, with hope of finding a way out.

Descending the manhole, Korekiyo and the others found a tunnel leading outside of the academy. Though everyone thought that the tunnel probably ended up being a trap, they still had to test every single possibility in order to escape. However, Korekiyo and the others exhausted themselves both physically and mentally as they found that escaping through Death Road of Despair is next to impossible. Due to this, Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Ruler, revolted, saying that Kaede's repeated motivational speech is the source of the group's agony, added by some of her friends giving up on escaping the tunnel, Korekiyo included, the group's harmony came to a swift end. The tunnel ended up being a trap set by Monokuma and the Monokuma Kubs, much to everyone's dismay. Korekiyo headed to his assigned dorm room along with the others to get some rest, seeming fairly neutral on the issue, not taking any one side in particular.

The First and Additional Motive
After the first motive and additional motives are presented, the First Blood Perk and the time limit, Korekiyo continued to remain calm and not worry unlike a majority of the group. It is also highly likely that during these days he evaluated all the girls trapped within the academy to see if they would make suitable "friends" for his deceased sister, still keeping his ulterior motives hidden from the rest of the group. Out of all the girls there were, Korekiyo concluded that all of them barring Maki Harukawa, the Ultimate Child Caregiver, and Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, met his standards.

On The Clock
On the morning of the final day of the time limit, Korekiyo, who was in the cafeteria, witnessed Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate ??? and Ryoma Hoshi's, the Ultimate Tennis Pro's, quarrel. Kaede and Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist, eventually came in order to try and calm the situation. Korekiyo listened to Ryoma's proposal, that he was willing to be killed for the sake of the others because he was the only one among the group who has no reason to continue to live. Ryoma was convinced by Rantaro to not go through with this idea, stating that he would end the killing game himself. Korekiyo wondered just how he would go about doing something such as that, but Rantaro reassured them not to worry and to not do anything unnecessary before leaving the dining hall.

That same evening, as the time limit was nearing its end, Korekiyo stayed in the dining hall with Miu, Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid, and Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer. He was eating what he thought would be his "last supper", which happened to be a type of pasta that the menu named oddly. After the body discovery announcement was made, Korekiyo was among the last group of students to enter the library and discover Rantaro's corpse. Even then he was able to keep a level head, simply stating "So this ended up happening after all..." as the investigation began.

During the investigation, Korekiyo inspected the classroom next to the stairs to the basement on the first floor along with K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot. When Shuichi and Kaede asked him for his alibi, he told him that he was in the dining hall and that Miu, Kirumi, and Tsumugi could back up his claim. He did tell the duo that Tsumugi did leave briefly to use the restroom, intriguing Kaede and making sure to ask her later. Other than that, Korekiyo didn't do anything else significant during the investigation.

The First Class Trial
As the Class Trial began, Korekiyo suggested that the culprit knew about the hidden cameras Shuichi and Kaede had set up beforehand in order to commit a "perfect crime", disturbing many people within the group, wondering if this was really an solvable mystery. A little later, when Miu was suspected of having killed Rantaro by Kokichi, Korekiyo's account was able to prove her innocence. He would also bring up that Tsumugi did have an opportunity to be alone when she went to use the restroom, though her supposed alibi was quickly proven by Kaede. As luck would have it however, Korekiyo was secretly right to be suspicious of her. Tsumugi was the mastermind of the killing game and Rantaro's true killer. She made use of the hidden cameras and their intervals to kill him and frame Kaede for the crime. Nevertheless, this truth would be hidden from the entire group for a very long time.

Later on during the trial, when everyone was split on whether or not to vote Shuichi as the culprit due to his silence about the camera intervals, Korekiyo was on the side that accused him, being the first one to find his excuse of "I forgot" pitiful when Shuichi confessed that he didn't mention the camera intervals to Kaede because he thought they wouldn't interfere with his and Kaede's plan. He found that he could relate to Kaede lying in order to protect Shuichi, asking everyone if they wouldn't do anything for the one they loved, hinting at his romantic relationship with his sister. Though this slight speech only helped in making him come off as more creepy to the other students.

After Shuichi was cleared of blame by Kaede and he accused her of being the culprit, wanting to carry on her wish, Korekiyo was for once quite surprised seeing how serious Shuichi was. Kaede was eventually proven to be the "culprit" and executed by Monokuma. After Monokuma stated that he understands the value of human life because ending it wouldn't be nearly as much fun if it wasn't, Korekiyo stated that he had passed "insane" by an incredibly large margin. Later, when Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astronaut, slugged Shuichi for not saying anything to Monokuma after Kaede had entrusted him with her wish, Korekiyo stated that it was necessary to be a tad insensitive at times to avoid suicidal thoughts. In the end, Korekiyo was one of the few students who did not seem overly upset about Kaede's death and headed back to his dorm rooms with everyone bar Shuichi and Kaito, who spent a bit of time talking.

Exploring the Rest of the Academy
The morning of the next day, Korekiyo along with everyone else would gather in the dining hall once again and have a normal, but forced conversation to try and make themselves not think about the horrible events that transpired yesterday. Afterwards, the Monokuma Kubs showed up and handed out four random items that the students could use to unlock more areas in the academy.

One of the areas that would become unlocked was the remaining second floor of the academy, which housed the Ultimate Maid's Research Lab. Although the lab was not for him, he could not help but admire the Victorian design. The Gothic style reminded him of a tale he heard once about a gentleman pledging his loyalty to the queen and a modest, but beautiful maid during the 19th century of England. He described it as a "love that bloomed between the light and darkness of social classes". Though Shuichi said that that tale sounded more like a plot of a manga for girls. Korekiyo was curious at this remark and asked him if he is reflected as some love-struck girl in Shuchi's eyes, but the Ultimate Detective had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist, eventually told everyone to meet in the gymnasium, seemingly failing in discovering anything about the conspicuous flashlight that she and Shuichi had discovered earlier. After everyone had gathered in the gymnasium, Monokuma appeared and told everyone that it was a Flashback Light and that it had the ability to restore lost memories before leaving and letting the students decide what to do with it. Although everyone was skeptical at first, they eventually gave in and used it, allowing everyone, Korekiyo included, to remember that they had been on the run from the "Ultimate Hunt". Though they could not remember the exact details and circumstances behind it, just that they had been on the run.

In a bonus scene in Chapter 2, Korekiyo, Miu, Shuichi, Kokichi, and Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro, gathered in the casino in hopes of playing a secret game with the medal that Shuichi had received from the Monomono Machine. However, Monokuma shows up and denies this, never stating such a thing in the first place and that the medal Shuichi had was just some knickknack he made for the Monokuma Kubs. Afterwards, Kaito showed up as well, and everyone got roped into a gambling competition. Korekiyo watched as Kaito lost over and over again to Ryoma. When Kaito said that there's no such think as luck, Korekiyo warned him not to relate luck to mere superstition, and explained various aspects of how certain words related to good and bad luck, such as "jinx", and how it is deeply connected to the Japanese concept of "Kotodama", the power of words. He explained that having feelings of fortune or misfortune may affect one's ability to concentrate, saying that words have the power to give or rob one of confidence. When Ryoma began to win once again, Korekiyo commented on how luck alone could not possibly produce results as consistent as these.

The Motive Videos
During that same night, the Monokuma Kubs prepared the second motive, distributing various motive videos at random while the students slept. The next morning, Korekiyo joined everyone in the dining hall in order to discuss what to do with the motive videos. Despite Ryoma suggesting that they exchange them, wanting to see who could be the most important person in his life, everyone rejected the idea, afraid that it would cause another murder to happen, much to his annoyance. Korekiyo seemingly went along with everyone's decision, not caring if they exchanged their videos or not.

Gonta's Insect Meet and Greet
The same day, unbeknownst to Korekiyo, Gonta Gokuhara, the Ultimate Entomologist, believed that everyone hated bugs thanks to Kokichi's lies and began kidnapping various students into his Research Lab in order to get them to like bugs. In reality, Kokichi simply wanted to get everyone to watch their motive videos in order make the Killing Game "more interesting". Korekiyo would be among the first students that Gonta detained. Not long after, Shuichi, Angie, and Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Magician, were also brought into Gonta's Research Lab, and the Insect Meet and Greet began. Everyone panicked as insects began to buzz about and wreck havoc. In order to finally end this absurdity, K1-B0 used his recording function in order to convince Gonta that Kokichi had tricked him, much to the former's anger. With that, Korekiyo and everyone else barring Gonta and Kokichi took back their motive videos before immediately leaving Gonta's lab, then heading to bed.

The Amazing Himiko's Magic Show
The very next morning, Korekiyo attended Angie and Himiko's magic show along with everyone else from Gonta's Insect Meet and Great, bar Kokichi. Angie explained the details of Himiko's trick before the Ultimate Magician jumped into the tank, having only a single minute to escape the water tank before the tank would fill with piranha's. Angie closed the curtains, but everyone grew increasingly worried as the timer continued to count down and Himiko had yet to come out. Gonta couldn't take it anymore and stormed the stage, wanting to save Himiko before the piranha's would fill the tank, much to Angie's disappointment. Once the timer ran out, the piranha's dropped into the tank along with some other large object, though Himiko had yet to come out of the tank. Korekiyo merely observed, but Tenko Chabashira, the Ultimate Aikido Master, begged Angie to open the curtains, a plea that she promptly responded to by revealing the tank, however, no one was prepared for what they were about to see. Ryoma's lifeless, handcuffed body drifted within the tank, only having a couple seconds before the piranha's stripped the flesh from his bone, leaving nothing more than a skeleton, the handcuff's, and his belongings behind. With that, the second investigation had begun.

After the body discovery announcement played, and the tank was broken thanks to Gonta, Tenko, and K1-B0, the investigation began with Korekiyo remaining in the gym. When Shuichi and Kaito investigated behind the stage, Korekiyo joined them and they found some rope. The Ultimate Anthropologist was able to tell the exact length of the rope just by looking at it, telling a story of how he once visited a village well known for "using rope" and that upon leaving the village's woman did not want to leave.

The Second Class Trial
As the Class Trial began, Himiko remained committed to her "magic" act, much to almost everyone else's annoyance, including Korekiyo's. Later, when Kirumi said that she had spent five minutes in the gym to prepare the magic show alone, incriminating herself, Korekiyo proudly exclaimed that her spirit of self-sacrifice was just "too beautiful'.

Later, when everyone was wondering just when Ryoma could have been killed after hearing Maki's testimony, Korekiyo was on the side saying that he was killed in the morning, asking Angie and Himiko if they simply missed the culprit. Himiko replied by saying that they were right in front of the gym and as a result, could not have missed the culprit. As the trial progressed, Shuichi was able to pin Kirumi as the culprit of Ryoma's murder. Once she pleaded with everyone not to vote for her, and everyone speculated on whether or not she really was the culprit, Korekiyo suspected that she might have merely wanted to gain their trust in order to make it easier for her murder.

After all the evidence was pinned on Kirumi and she admitted to her crime. The Monokuma Kubs showed everyone her motive video, revealing that she was the de facto prime minister of all Japan and that her most important person was every citizen of the country. Kirumi refused to give up on life and made a mad, undignified run for it, but was executed nonetheless. Seeing just how far Kirumi was driven just by watching her own motive video, Korekiyo stated that the videos were far more dangerous than they had originally believed them to be. Hearing this, everyone seemed convinced not to watch them.

Korekiyo's Research Lab
The next morning, at Kokichi's request after unveiling Maki's true talent the night prior, Korekiyo along with everyone else barring Maki paid a visit to the "Ultimate Child Caregiver's Research Lab" only to discover various weapons all throughout the lab, proving that Maki was in fact the Ultimate Assassin, not a child caregiver. Korekiyo calmly stated that the talent of a killer was a threat to the survival of everyone else here, frightening everyone, but Kaito calmed everyone down and said that he would take care of Maki. After the Monokuma Kubs showed up, usurped their father as headmaster, and passed out more items for the students to unlock new areas within the academy.

One of the places that became unlocked was the eerie fourth floor, which just so happened to contain Korekiyo's Research Lab. He was very interested in what his lab had to offer, more specifically, the dog statue, the golden leaf katana, and the seance book containing a legendary folklore story about the destroyed witch village named Kagonoko that specialized in various curses and dark arts. He stated that not even universities were this well stocked with artifacts and folklore. When Kokichi entered his lab and touched the katana without his permission, Korekiyo grew irritated and threatened to tear out his nerves, though Kokichi was able to confirm that the katana was genuine. Later, when Shuichi asked him about the seance book, Korekiyo asked him if he was interested in communicating with the deceased. Shuichi refused, but Korekiyo pressed further, making the Ultimate Detective think of one person whom he wouldn't mind speaking to one more time. Shuichi still refused however, thinking that the only thing he wanted to say to her is that he escaped from the school and that he was alive with everyone else. Korekiyo respected his decision, saying that the dead should only ever be called upon when the time was right.

Later on, Korekiyo would gather with everyone else in the dining hall in order to inspect the new Flashback Light that Shuichi found. Upon using it, everyone remembered what seemed to be their own funeral, much to the student's confusion. Kaito reassured everyone that there's no way the funeral could be real considering they were all still here and alive. His small speech seemed to work, as everyone perked back up, enjoyed a small meal, then headed back to their dorms.

Angie's Student Council
Korekiyo gathered with everyone in the gymnasium the very next morning at the Monokuma Kubs request. The participants were presented with the third motive, the Necronomicon, and were told that they would be able to bring back someone who had died already as a transfer student. While this motive baffled the students, Korekiyo didn't seem to be that shocked by it, stating that this "ressurection ceremony" stems from funeral ceremonies the world over. Despite this however, he confidently stated that the dead cannot be ressurected, believing that souls exist, but cannot be brought back to life.

However, Angie seemed to embrace the motive, saying the "corpses" so far may have just been very accurate imitations to make the real people seem dead. Some of the students argued that there's no way that's possible, but Gonta said that more letters were added to the rock in the courtyard, deducing that perhaps the four people who had died are actually alive and wrote that message. Angie praised Gonta and, like Himiko before him, pulled him into a hug. She instilled hers and Atua's authority into him by reassuring him that he's not alone and that Atua is like a gentle grandmother that always keeps him safe, effectively playing off of Gonta's desire for a motherly figure.

Angie then said that Gonta should join the student council, wanting to make Gonta feel needed. Tsumugi, and Himiko both requited this feeling. As a result, the Ultimate Entomologist did not hesitate for even a second if it meant he could be useful to everyone and joined Angie's group. Shuichi however, was confused as to what Angie meant by "student council", but K1-B0 replied by saying that Angie summoned himself, Himiko, Tenko, and Tsumugi last night in order to discuss how to eradicate the Killing Game. As a result, this group of students ended up forming the "Ultimate Academy Student Council" with Angie as their president. The "brainwashed" members listen to Angie completely and without question, stating that her will is Atua's will and as a result, she cannot be wrong. Korekiyo did not seem that surprised by the student council, stating that their curren situation possessed all the criteria in order for a cult to form. In reality however, Angie was simply trying to take control of everybody and make them dependent on Atua. Angie took the Necronomicon and told everyone else to "leave it to the student council". Korekiyo would be one of the students that ended up opposing Angie's student council.

Korekiyo's Plan
Despite their extreme methods however, Angie's student council had no malicious intent for the group as a whole, only wishing to stop another murder from happening by whatever means necessary. Despite this however, it was obvious that Angie was going too far the very next morning, when the two split parties came into conflict yet again after finding out that the student council had blocked off the manhole in the boiler room with a large rock. Angie even goes as far as to destroy a Flashback Light from the Monokuma Kubs, wanting to quell any desire to leave no matter the cost. Korekiyo stated that it was blatantly unfair that the student council members were exempt from their own rules, but failed to come to an agreement.

Later on during that same night, Korekiyo finally began to execute his murder plan, hoping to kill one random girl that met his requirement as his big sister's "friend" in the afterlife. He headed to all three vacant rooms on the fourth floor and began to saw off the crosspieces underneath one of the loos floorboards, coming up with an elaborate plan to murder someone during a seance by making use of a seesaw effect. While he was preparing his murder, Korekiyo was taken by surprise by Angie who stumbled upon him preparing a murder. All she wanted was a candle so that she could burn the Necronomicon and end the ritual, but the very fact that she saw him preparing his seesaw trick sealed her fate.

Afraid that Angie might tell everyone else about his plan later, he had no choice but to hit Angie in the back of the head using a wooden floorboard he had removed from the floor, knocking her unconcsious. He taped her head wound shut to ensure no blood would leak while he carried her from the empty room to her Research Lab. He grabbed the golden katana from his lab in order to finish the job, plunging the blade into the back of Angie's neck, finally killing her.

Korekiyo then noticed the wax effigies of his deceased classmates that Angie had created and decided to make an ominous scene by hanging all four wax effigies from the ceiling around Angie's corpse. To finally finished the job and give himself an alibi, he made the murder look like a locked-room murder. Korekiyo stabbed the golden sword into Kaede's wax doll (the nearest doll to the back entrance), twisting the rope by turning the doll and left the room as fast as possible. With that, the doll of Kaede turned in the opposite direction and effectively locked the back entrance with the katana stabbed into it, all according to Korekiyo's plan. However, in his haste, he neglected to pick up the piece of duct tape that he had used earlier to stop Angie's blood from leaking and, with the room now completely locked, had no way to retrieve it. He also failed to take the bloodstain on the floorboard that he had used to knock out Angie, which would dry out and link him to Tenko's murder the next day during the trial.

The Seance
Korekiyo along with everyone else gathers in Angie's research lab following the body discovery announcement. All the the student council members mourn her passing, wondering just how and why she was killed. Korekiyo suggests that they perform a seance to commune with Angie's spirit, a suggestion that Tenko, Himiko, Kokichi, and K1-B0 agreed to, completely unaware that the Ultimate Anthropologist had sinister ulterior motives. Despite already committing one murder, he considered it a waste to not use the seesaw trick he had devised and as a result, planned for a second murder.

Shuichi would later replace K1-B0 for the seance due to the others wondering if a robot would really work for it, much to the Ultimate Robot's dismay. Korekiyo then says that they would need a spirit medium and that it would work best with a girl. Himiko offered to do it before Tenko offered instead, giving Himiko some words of encouragment before-hand, putting them on good terms once again. Korekiyo was secretely pleased with this, viewing Tenko as a perfect candidate to send to his sister thanks to her earnest and pure heart.

Korekiyo instructs Tenko to lie in a position similar to in the center of a circle of salt inscribed with magical symbols. A cage, cloth, and statue are placed on top of her to complete the ritual. Unbeknownst to Tenko, Korekiyo hid a, a traditional Japanese weapon similar to a sickle, under the cloth covering the cage that would later be responsible for her death. The students then turn off the lights in the room and sing together as Tenko prays and attempts to commune with Angie's spirit. However, Korekiyo makes use of the magic circle to find his way to the loose floorboard he had prepared the night prior and stomps on it during the ritual, triggering the seesaw effect and sending Tenko flying off the ground. Her neck is pierced by the kama above the cage, killing her right before everyone's eyes while they were unaware of it. Korekiyo then grabs the murder weapon, makes his way back to his corner, and drops the kama under the floorboard, acting as if nothing had happened. After finishing the song, he continued to play along, asking if the "caged child" was Angie Yonaga. When no answer was given, everyone turned the lights back on in confusion. Korekiyo took away the cage, cloth, and statue, seeing Tenko lying in a pool of her own blood. He acted surprised, but was more than likely relieved his plan worked out. Himiko, completely shocked, ran over to her and threw the cage off of her, screaming Tenko's name, but it was too late as she had already been killed. Himiko is far too shocked to say anything and everyone else aside from Korekiyo is dumbfounded as the second body discovery announcement plays. During the investigation, Korekiyo continued to play dumb, constantly wondering how the seance could have failed because he stated it was "perfect".

The Third Class Trial
During the Class Trial, Korekiyo took control of the conversations more-so than before, wanting to steer everyone away from the truth. The group had to put Angie's murder to the side for a bit of time in order to discuss Tenko's murder at Himiko's request. Eventually, Shuichi was able to pin Korekiyo as Tenko's killer due to variables such as the loose floorboard and the magic circle having to be defined beforehand. After some arguing, Korkeiyo acknowledge the claim, saying that Tenko's death ultimately didn't matter because the true culprit that they needed to search for was the culprit behind Angie's murder, much to Himiko's annoyance. However, Korekiyo was unaware that the clues left behind in Angie's murder, the piece of bloody duct tape and the dried blood on the loose floorboard in the seance room would be key pieces of evidence linking both murders together and as a result, pining him as the culprit of both murders, not just Tenko's. As a result, Korekiyo became increasingly more erratic than usual, causing his other personality, his older sister, to appear, which he would use to calm himself down. Regardless of Korekiyo's crazed, constant rebuttals however, he finally admits to his crime.

Following the trial conclusion, Korekiyo revealed himself that he murder for his beloved sister. He revealed himself as a serial killer whose goal was to grant his deceased sister one-hundred female friends in the afterlife and that he was very close to that number. He claimed that every girl in the school barring Miu, and Maki had the potential to become "friends" for his sister. Korekiyo stated that Tenko's earnest and pure heart made her the perfect candidate to send to his sister and wondered how Himiko couldn't have liked her. Himiko however, could not accept this explanation, angrily asking why Tenko and Angie had to die for something so unfair. Korekiyo replied that there is no such thing as a death that can be accepted and wondered how they all would live a life that faced death before being dragged to his execution.



Name
His first kanji name 是清 korekiyo translated as "just and pure". Korekiyo's name is ironic because the meaning is contrary to his true self. His last name kanji is composed of the characters 真 - meaning "true", 宮 - meaning "palace" and 寺 - meaning "temple".

Interestingly, the word 宮 miya, aside from its literal meaning, is also used to refer to (usually larger and/or more significant) Shinto shrines, while the word 寺 tera is reserved for Buddhist temples. Considering how Shintoism and Buddhism are practiced side by side in Japan, and how Japanese folk culture draws heavily from both faiths, Korekiyo's last name could be said to imply at his field of expertise.

Appearance
Korekiyo is a tall, slim student with rather pale skin and long blackish blue hair. He has rather narrow golden eyes, and his mouth is covered by a black mask with a zipper on it, giving him an outlandish appearance. He wears a mask wherever he goes, and he even owns different masks for eating, showering, and other daily activities.

He wears a dark green military-style uniform with matching knee-high black boots. The uniform consists of a white shirt underneath it, a dark green button-up, a red band around his left arm, a dark green cap, and a decorative chain dangling from it. In his Free Time events, he states that his sister tailored the suit for him while she was sick. He wears what appears to be some kind of locket around his neck. Both of his hands are notably completely covered in bandages.

In the prologue, he wears the uniform of his original high school. He has the up-to-date adolescent attire composing of a jacket coordinated and adjusted on the knitted vest, totally different from the uniform he wears during the Killing Game. His neat face and the positive parts of his style stand out, and he might be very popular. He still wears a mask.

Personality
Korekiyo is an aloof and somewhat creepy person, but he is also very cool-headed and intelligent. He has the experience of having met to a huge variety of human beings for his cultural anthropology research and because of that, he can keep himself composed even under the confinement circumstances and believes in facing things with calm and rational approach rather than an emotional one. He has a vast knowledge of different cultures and ponders different subjects in deep and complex manner, with him occasionally starting lengthy anthropology speeches even though nobody asked. He is greatly interested in topics he does not necessarily agree with as well, as he states he does not believe in any gods, but he finds them interesting from the point of view of studying the human nature and cultures.

Thanks to all of his knowledge, he has formed a pet theory of "humanity's unlimited beauty" and he has a deep interest in it. He believes all human beings are great, and that even their ugly sides are extremely beautiful and beauty can be created from hardship. During the killing game, he observes other students with great interest in seeing what kind of beauty they will display as humans under such circumstances, seemingly not caring about their safety. His morals are stated to be a bit off and he can say unsettling things rather openly, like randomly mentioning that Gonta could use his immense strength to crush a child's skull easily. In Chapter 1, he openly states he has no problem with killing and wonders why the others do, stating that killing is perceived as wrong only because of laws made by humans and such laws do not exist in the killing game. He is aware that his appearance and behavior cause him to come across as a potential murderer, but he does not appear to care what other people think of him. He claims the others should not fear him as a potential murderer, as he merely wishes to observe.

Korekiyo usually speaks in calm and polite manner, but he nevertheless comes across rather off and makes others uncomfortable due to his strange and sometimes morbid thinking. While he is most of the time very collected, with his voice staying the same tone, he occasionally gets very excited about some topics and his voice turns notably more high-pitched. He also tends to stay calmer than the others during bad situations, as for him it's an opportunity to observe, though even his spirit begins to break during the Death Road of Despair and Gonta's Insect Meet and Greet. In Chapter 3, there is also a moment when his tone changes to more a panicky one when Kokichi touches his ancient katana without permission and he fears it might get damaged. He then disturbingly threatens to tear out all of Kokichi's nerves in anger, though his voice still remains creepily calm. In general, he tends to find noisy and vulgar people annoying, often asking them to be quiet. Furthermore, he also has an unique and somewhat creepy laugh, which sounds like "kehehehe". In the original Japanese, "kukuku" is his unique laugh's sound.

As another strange trait, he is quite fixated on keeping his mask on. During his free time events, he claims he has a different mask for different activities, like eating, bathing, sleeping and exercising. However, they all appear exactly the same and do not seem to have any kind of hole in them, yet he is somehow capable of eating and drinking. According to Korekiyo, he takes his mask off only in front of people his sister deems trustworthy.

It's later revealed that Korekiyo is a serial killer whose goal is to kill a hundred women he takes to his liking, believing that they will become "admirable friends" for his deceased older sister in afterlife. After suffering from traumatic torture and near-death experience in the past, he developed a female split personality, or, based on his sister, which serves as a coping mechanism against feelings of exceptional distress. While normally very calm, stress can cause him to have a panic attack, rendering him hyperventilating and unable to talk properly. The sister persona acts reassuring towards him, but also gives orders which Korekiyo seems to obey without any questions. The persona also seems to dislike other people in passive aggressive and condescending manner, referring to the other students as "such a sorry lot". In the end, Korekiyo does not seem to mind his death that much and seems to enjoy extreme suffering, as he believes that both are ways to be closer to his deceased sister. Notably, he feels no guilt for his terrible actions neither and he seems to genuinely and unironically consider the other students his friends, not seeing any contradictions between this and his own actions.

Korekiyo is obsessed with his sister and appears to be in love with her, with many of his mannerisms like his hair and clothing inspired by her. Because of these traits, he is perceived as very effeminate by the other students. Korekiyo even claims that he and his sister were in an incestuous relationship, and because of this he only kills women, as he refuses to let other men close to her even if he deems them good people. In his Love Suite event, it's implied that he is willing to have physical relationships with other people "out of curiosity", but he states he would never love them as he appears to consider his sister his only love. He is sadomasochistic, enjoying the pain of others because he considers the raw emotions beautiful, and enjoying his own suffering because he believes it makes him closely connected to his deceased sister. However, he is also shown to be very romantic and strongly believes in the "power of love", which can make even the impossible possible. He is very fond of romance and love stories, especially ones centered around forbidden love.

Ultimate Anthropologist
Korekiyo's talent as the Super High School Level Anthropologist is a fabrication made by Team Danganronpa. Due to that fact, it is unclear whether Korekiyo traveled around the world as an anthropologist in the past.

Korekiyo is an anthropologist, to be precise, a cultural anthropologist that researches customs, legends, folklore, poetry, etc. His particular field of study is culture and ethnical customs whose historical origins have yet to be made clear, like or. He tries to inspect and elucidate those kinds of traditional customs from a rational perspective and states that cultural anthropology is like a science that tries to observe humanity itself.

In other languages
Korekiyo's talent as it appears in official translations of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.

Relationships

 * Family:

Older sister
According to Korekiyo, his sister, a sickly girl, knew him better than anyone else and she meant the world to him. As children, when she was confined to the hospital, he claims to have stayed with and read to her, sparking his initial interest in anthropology as a subject, and he consequently credits her for making him the person he is presently. Since she was so lonely and never made any friends due to her state, it's implied that Korekiyo spent lots of time with her.

Korekiyo's current uniform was handmade for him by his sister, who thought his old one was ill-suited to him. Her poor health made this a time-consuming effort, and so he treasures it, considering it truly one-of-a-kind. The mask he constantly wears might also be related to her sickly state.

He became obsessed with his sister and, according to him, their relationship eventually became incestuous. He claims he doesn't care what other people think and believed it was true love. After his sister died, he developed the idea of "sending admirable friends" to her in the afterlife. He began to target and murder girls that met his requirements as his sister's "friends", with his ultimate goal being 100 victims.

During his fieldwork, he was attacked and tortured by locals to near death, causing him to hallucinate seeing his sister. This led to him to develop a split personality or a based on her as a coping mechanism. In times of distress, he talked to himself in his sister's persona in an attempt to calm himself. The sister persona acted reassuring towards him, calling him "dear Korekiyo", but also appeared quite passive aggressive and Korekiyo obeyed any of her orders without questions. This might imply that she may have been manipulative and possibly abusive towards Korekiyo, as he was the only one who spent time with her and she could rely on when she was alive. It's also noteworthy that she apparently decided the kind of clothing he would wear, as she didn't want him to wear clothes that didn't suit him.

Even though he claims they were very close, his sister's spirit turns against him during his execution.


 * Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles:

Rantaro Amami
During Chapter 1, Rantaro had a good impression of Korekiyo.

During his first Free Time Event with Kaede, Rantaro tells her that Korekiyo has a strong personality, but if she takes the time to speak with him she'll understand him. In addition, he emphasizes that Korekiyo is a calm person who seems to be a clever type.

In the bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan, it's shown that Korekiyo and Rantaro are very good friends. They share a great interest in traveling and they both have a close relationship with their sister.

Tenko Chabashira
Tenko refers to Korekiyo as a weird creep and doesn't like it whenever he tries to speak in a creepy way because of her hatred towards males.

Even though she hates males so much, Korekiyo thought that Tenko is fit to become his older sister's "friend" in the afterlife. He was touched by her willingness to protect Himiko by joining Angie's Student Council and later offering to be part of the ritual in Himiko's place.

It's also possible that with her wariness towards men, Korekiyo believed she would keep other men away from his sister.

Kaede Akamatsu
During his free-time events, Korekiyo tells Kaede about his sister, to the point that she more or less jokingly asks him if he is into incest. He seems to get slightly angered by this and simply answers that incest is regrettable. Kaede apologizes and tells him she didn't mean it in a bad way, which quickly calms him down.

Korekiyo likes Kaede and her optimistic nature very much, and asks her to be his sister's friend. She agrees, and Korekiyo leaves to plan a good "method" for them to meet. He had stated to the others how he had planned to kill Kaede from the beginning but soon cancelled since Kaede was executed in Chapter 1.

Kaede thinks Korekiyo is a bit creepy, but assumes he is a nice person who cares about his sister. However, she is a bit unsure about it, as she doesn't know him well. She also assumes that Korekiyo is "so girly" because of his sister's influence.

Shuichi Saihara
Korekiyo considers Shuichi a good guy, but doesn't want him nor any other male to become friends with his sister. During his free time events, he teaches Shuichi about anthropology and wishes he would study with him.

However, Shuichi is generally creeped out by Korekiyo. During the Love Suite scene with Korekiyo, he is shown to be paranoid and uncomfortable immediately, wishing to leave quickly. This is much stronger negative reaction than he has with anyone else.

During his Love Suite fantasy event, Korekiyo has accepted to spend a night with Shuichi, though he makes it clear that there would never be love between them. In Korekiyo's fantasy, his partner requested to try BDSM with him, but Shuichi is unaware of this and he feels uncomfortable around Korekiyo. Korekiyo asks if he's afraid and gives him a permission to run. He claims it will be scary only for the first time and pulls out rope from under the bed, which immediately causes Shuichi to attempt escaping. However, Korekiyo catches his hand and pushes him on the bed, stating that he never said he wouldn't stop Shuichi if he ran. Korekiyo expresses interest in the beauty Shuichi will show, saying he will teach him thoroughly and make him feel the kind of pleasure he has never felt before. Shuichi can only gulp as he's unable to escape, and it's heavily implied that Korekiyo got what he wanted in the end. When Shuichi wakes up in his own bed the next morning, he wonders if it was just a dream, though he still feels quite sore.

Maki Harukawa
Maki is one of the few female students who does not meet Korekiyo's criteria as his sister's "admirable friend" and thus she is not a potential murder victim for him. Due to her being an assassin and generally very unsocial, Korekiyo thinks she doesn't believe in "the power of love".

Miu Iruma
Miu is one of the few female students who does not meet Korekiyo's criteria as his sister's "admirable friend" and thus she is not a potential murder victim for him.

Tsumugi Shirogane
In chapter 1, Korekiyo was the only one who notices that Tsumugi strangely spent a long time in the women's restroom. Because of this, others do not believe him and think of him as a gross creep. However, much later in the game, her alibi was soon revealed to be an extremely important clue to reveal Tsumugi's identity as the mastermind.

Kokichi Oma
Kokichi gets on Korekiyo's nerves with his behavior. When he attempts to touch Korekiyo's katana without his permission while they're inside his Research Lab, Korekiyo disturbingly threatens to tear out all of his nerves, which seems to frighten Kokichi.

Gonta Gokuhara
Even thought both of them don't interact much in the game, their relationship was revealed in the Anthology manga. Gonta saves Korekiyo's life after accidentally slipped and was about to fall, however, Gonta stepped in quick to save him. Both of them however, ended up being tangled with their hair. Because Korekiyo was because couldn't move much, the students thought this was one way for someone to not kill someone for her sister. Gonta staunchly defended Korekiyo after he explained he would not kill someone to see his sister. Both of them slept together in the Hotel Kumasutra to spend the nighttime there. Gonta apologized to Korekiyo for having to spend the day with him, and asked if Korekiyo liked bugs now. Korekiyo disagreed, but said he was interested in how bugs impacted people's lives, and Korekiyo also thanked Gonta for understanding he wouldn't kill someone to escape the school just to see his sister.

Quotes

 * -|DRV3 Demo=

Danganronpa V3=

List of Appearances

 * -|Games=
 * Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Demo Version)
 * Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
 * -|Manga=
 * New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shin Gakki Comic Anthology
 * New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shin Gakki Comic Anthology Volume 2

Trivia

 * Korekiyo's voice actor, Kenichi Suzumura, is married to Maki Harukawa's voice actress Maaya Sakamoto.
 * In a poll hosted by MyNavi, fans voted Korekiyo the 13th most popular Danganronpa V3 student.
 * Korekiyo's design seems to strongly draw inspiration from a character from Japanese musician 's music video for his song . This was most likely intentional as series creator, Kazutaka Kodaka, is a fan of hide's music.
 * Korekiyo shares his English voice actor, Todd Haberkorn, with Teruteru Hanamura.
 * Korekiyo has romantic feelings exclusively for his sister and claims they were in a relationship, but this is not confirmed and could be a delusion caused by his mental state. It's also possible that all of these memories were created by Team Danganronpa and his real relationship with his sister, if he even has one, could be very different.
 * Korekiyo is the second character in the series to have a split personality, the first being Toko Fukawa. Unlike her however, his split personality is more like a than a multiple personality disorder. He also only kills women, which is somewhat similar to Genocide Jack, who only kills men.
 * Korekiyo has shown some similarities to from , including being in love with a female family member and having a split personality based on said female family member.
 * He appears to be sadomasochistic and has a strong liking of BDSM, explaining why he likes straw rope. Even his mask resembles a bondage hood, or a Gimp mask.
 * Korekiyo is implied to have attraction to people of the same gender. In his Love Suite event, he states that all human beings are "extremely beautiful" and he is willing to have strictly physical relationships with other people regardless of gender. He claims he does this "out of curiosity" and the desire to see what kind of beauty his partners will show.
 * He is the only blackened who's called out by Monokuma for his crimes.
 * He is the first blackened whose ghost is shown in the execution.
 * His favorite myth is the , knowing her original status as a mother goddess who was later depicted as a hideous monster, and believing that this is because developed human society begun to think about overcoming nature instead of being dependent of nature goddesses. He also likes the story because it shows that people can't run away from death no matter how much they overcome the nature.
 * In the bonus mode, Ultimate Talent Development Plan, he mentions that fortune telling is an interest of his as an Anthropology.

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