Celestia Ludenberg

Celestia “Celeste” Ludenberg (セレスティア・ルーデンベルク Seresutia Rūdenberuku), real name Taeko Yasuhiro (安広 多恵子 Yasuhiro Taeko), is one of the characters featured in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.

Celeste has the title Ultimate Gambler (超高校級の「ギャンブラー」chō kōkō kyū no “gyanburā.”) She was renowned for managing to rob any who challenged her of all their money. Due to her nature, she was given the title “Queen of Liars”.

In Chapter 3, Celeste was revealed to be the culprit of the third murder case, as part of which she has manipulated Hifumi Yamada into killing Kiyotaka Ishimaru and then murdered him herself, and was thereupon executed by Monokuma.

Appearance
Celeste has a slim figure and pale skin. She has black hair (in the video game it is shown as dark, deep blue) in two large twin-drill pigtails (which are actually just clip-ons as mentioned in the art book), red eyes, gold earrings, and black nail polish.

Celeste wears a Gothic Lolita-style outfit, consisting of a white blouse with a Peter-Pan collar, a black jacket that includes white ribbon lacing down the sleeves, fastened by a simple ribbon across her chest to show her red tie with a butterfly pattern on it and the waist of her skirt, which is many-tiered and features white lace.

Celeste wears knee-high stockings trimmed in ladder lace, red mary janes with a thick heel, a white lace headpiece and a silver, almost weapon-like ring (reminiscent of a certain ring by Vivienne Westwood) on her index finger.

Personality
An experienced gambler, Celeste appears collected, cold and cunning by nature. She possesses the ability to manipulate others into her bidding and can lie with a straight face. She is shown to be fairly intelligent, referencing several aspects of game theory such as Prisoner's Dilemma or Zero Sum Game and her manipulative and coercion skills are shown in Chapter 3, being able to deceive the majority of the students, including Byakuya up until the Trial. Her intelligence is also shown in previous cases in which she, alongside Kyoko, Byakuya and Makoto are the ones to bring up crucial points and is also capable of keeping up with Byakuya and Kyoko's train of thoughts during the trials as well.

Celeste is a very ambitious person, as she declared that she will do anything it takes to win, and is ready to go as far as murdering someone or manipulating others in cold blood. She is extremely selfish and values her life over the lives of others, stating she has no problem sacrificing others in order to save herself. She also has a lot of pride, refusing to surrender no matter how far into the corner she's pushed, as long as the chance for victory remains. However, if it's known that she's about to lose with no way out, she accepts it calmly.

Celeste believes in adaptability to be the key to survival, rather than strength or intellect, and she acts upon this by setting up measures such as the voluntarily imposed night-time curfew to protect the other students, as well as herself, from potential killers during the Killing School Life. She often reminds others to obey the curfew and is often annoyed when people such as Byakuya Togami, violate the curfew. After the death of Chihiro Fujisaki, she coldly remarks that people who disobey the rules pay the price. She also tells the other students to endure the Killing School Life in order to survive, such as complementing unlocked rooms after the students survive the Class Trial stating that they will enrich life. In reality she was lying and after being voted guilty, she openly stated she couldn't stand living in the school.

Celeste speaks softly and smiles often, but in a way that tends to creep out everyone around her. She usually uses polite language whenever she talks to the others, but her short-temperedness surfaces when something fails to go as well as she expects it to, such as when Hifumi fails to make her royal milk tea as she likes it. Another example is during the third Class Trial when she pinned as the blackened, Celeste quickly lost her composure after being accused of murder. She shouted and denied accusations towards her with unusually rude mannerism, often using vulgar language.

She aspires to be like European royalty, such as wearing lolita clothing, using an accent and making her fake name sound like European royalty. Her other mannerisms and strict, spoiled nature emphasizes this. She also seems to have quite a lot of made-up stories about her life as Celestia Ludenberg. Her goal in life is to live in a big fancy European castle with handsome man servants dressed as vampires. The reason for all of this is a bit unclear, but she appears to hate her real self, as she dislikes ordinary and common things and considers her real identity and name ones of "a loser".

As the Queen of Liars, Celeste claimed that she can even fool her own emotions, but this doesn't seem to be entirely the case. She appears to lack empathy and claims that she feels no guilt for bad things she's done, though considering her status as a consummate liar, it's possible that she felt at least something.

History
[Warning: Several spoilers follow this section!]

Prior to the Tragedy
Celeste's real identity is Taeko Yasuhiro. Little is known about her past, but it's implied that she was a completely ordinary and un-special person (at least in her own opinion) and she created the fabricated persona of 'Celestia Ludenberg' as a result.

Celeste's fake backstory explains how her father is of French nobility and that her mother is a musician from Germany. She also states she was born in the Tochigi prefecture.

At young age, she became a gambler and won countless games, even ones at the stake of her own life, but was able to win regardless. She states during a game of King of Liars, she spilt tea on her favorite dress and she had to end the game quickly to take it to the cleaners. She once even managed to accumulate over ten million dollars. Though her poker-face helped, she claims that the secret to her success is the luck she was born with. She was renowned for managing to rob any who challenged her of all their money and she gained the title "Queen of Liars". She kept earning money for her main goal in life - to live out the rest of her days in luxury in a big fancy European castle with handsome man servants dressed as vampires.

The most important thing for her, along with her dream, was her spoiled cat Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg. This implies that she didn't care for any people, including possible blood relatives.

Celeste also used to visit a cafe (with an owner that somewhat resembled Hifumi), where she would enjoy her preferred royal milk tea.

Celeste attended Hope's Peak Academy's 78th class as the Ultimate Gambler.

Episode 05 - The Beginning of the End
Celeste's picture can be briefly seen on the pile of student registration forms that Jin Kirigiri placed on his desk, along with Kyoko Kirigiri, Kiyotaka Ishimaru and Aoi Asahina.

During the Tragedy
One year later, the Tragedy occurred. During the Tragedy, Jin, the Headmaster of the Academy, planned to seal the school building and let the students live forever inside the Academy in order to protect them from the destruction. His plan was agreed by the class, and they sealed the building together and lived peacefully inside it for a year without knowing that the Ultimate Despair members were already in their midst.

The true Ultimate Despair took away the 78th Class' school memories so they could participate in the school life of mutual killing.

Prologue - Welcome to Despair
Much like the other students, Celeste awakens to find herself trapped inside the school grounds, to her annoyance. She appears to adapt quickly to the new conditions, claiming that it is the only way to survive, and suggests the others do the same. She was also the person who suggest the students to not went out from their room at Night Time, to prevent a murder.

Chapter 1 - To Survive
When Monokuma introduces the first “motive” to each of the students through individualized footage on CDs, Celeste is horrified at what her CD shows (but refuses to say what exactly she saw, which is never revealed). She later appears in the gym after Sayaka Maizono's corpse found by Makoto Naegi who falls unconscious. After witnessing the death of Mukuro Ikusaba (disguised as Junko Enoshima), she looks at the Monokuma File and notices Sayaka's murder was in Makoto's room, creating near unanimous suspicion on him.

During the class trial, Celeste initially believed it was Makoto, and when Kyoko Kirigiri reveals that Sayaka sent a note to the killer to meet up in her room, she initially didn't believe it since going to Sayaka's room would be where Makoto was, however Makoto explained this with the nameplate swap, as it meant that the killer went to the Makoto's room which had the Sayaka nameplate on it, where Sayaka was.

When it is discovered that Sayaka tried to kill the culprit, Celeste realizes that Sayaka was using Makoto and explained that it took care of the nameplate issue, as it was used as a part of Sayaka's plan to kill the culprit in Makoto's room to frame him.

Later it is found out that Leon Kuwata killed Sayaka after she tried to attack him, though he claims self-defense, Celeste disagrees, stating that since he got his tools from his own room, he had plenty of chances to end it there.

Chapter 2 - Boy's Life of Despair
Makoto first encountered Celeste and everyone in the cafeteria; using her poker face, she was able to manipulate Hifumi to make a cup of Royal milk tea, only for her to lose her temper and shout at Hifumi when he failed at first.

Celeste plays a key part in Chapter 2, having encountered Chihiro in the storage room prior the latter's death. During this encounter, Celeste notices Chihiro's blue jersey partially hanging out from his bag, which he then stuffs back inside before going off in a hurry. This later proves to be a major factor in figuring out Mondo Owada, as the culprit.

Chapter 3 - A Next Generation Legend!
After Mondo's execution, Celeste is among the students who witness Monokuma present a ton of cash (10 million dollars) for whoever “graduates” from the academy. Succumbed to her own greed, Celeste plans to commit a murder herself so she can get the cash to escape the nightmare while ignoring her own comrade's survival.

To initiate her plan, Celeste takes Alter Ego, the AI developed by Chihiro before his death, and hides it to cause confusion and upset both Hifumi and Taka. Using their conflict for Alter Ego as her first step of her plan, Celeste enlists Hifumi as her accomplice (and tells him that she will act as his) by lying. She tells him that Taka made her steal Alter Ego by forcing his way into her room, threatening her, abusing her and taking photos to blackmail her with. She then furthers her own lie by telling him that Taka plans to kill Hifumi so he can have alter ego all to himself.

Hifumi believes Celeste and the two begin to conspire. They frame Yasuhiro Hagakure by knocking him out and stuffing him into a robot suit. Celeste organizes Hifumi's “death” after Taka is killed, managing to trick the others into looking for the suspicious person wearing a robot suit. After Hifumi relocates himself and Taka's body to the Art Room, Celeste turns against him and kills him, as she planned to do from the beginning.

During the class trial, Celeste urges the students to declare Hiro (Hifumi's last clue before his real death) as the culprit to both murder since the robot costume matched his height. However, Byakuya, Makoto, and Kyoko see past her lies and manage to prove Hiro's innocence.

Even with evidence having her cornered, Celeste refuses to admit (changes her polite personality into her unusual rude mannerism), and would repeatedly deny Makoto's question over her real name and kept claiming that Hiro is the culprit of the third trial, since she never revealed her real name since their first encounter.

In the end however, Celeste's last stand is proven futile as Makoto mentions her e-Handbook (real name displayed in every student's handbook) and would let her guard down and that evidence alone would lead to her downfall.

As she finally went to the gallows and Monokuma reveals her real name as Taeko Yasuhiro, Celeste finally told them and admits to her crimes before facing her execution, stating that she wants to go out “gracefully”. Aoi Asahina and Hiro who still don't know why Celeste would commit such a murder even though she was the one who tell the groups to 'adapt' with their environment.

Celeste then declares she is the one who most wanted to get out from the Academy. She told to everyone that she had a dream to live in an European castle and surrounded by handsome butlers for the rest of her life, but her dream will be ruined if she is forced to stay at the Academy forever. She also believed that after her death she will reincarnate as Marie Antoinette, Hiro mentions that she would just be executed again.

Celeste gives Kyoko the key to the locker Alter Ego is stashed in, bidding her classmates farewell and having Monokuma drag her off to her execution afterwards.

Execution

 * Main Article: The Burning of the Versailles Witch

Hifumi Yamada
Hifumi and Celeste's relationship consists primarily of her bossing him around. A prime example of this is when Hifumi makes Celeste tea, only for her to dash the cup to the ground, claiming that she only drinks a certain milk tea. This is later taken to greater extents as Celeste manipulates him into murdering Taka with the premise of escaping the academy alongside her, using a photograph of Alter Ego in Taka's room to provoke his anger; however, she subsequently backstabs him by murdering him in a similar fashion, then framing Hiro.

Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg
Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg is Celeste's pet cat. She enjoyed his company and pampered him, and most likely she was planning on having him with her in her dream mansion.

Grand Bois Chéri was also Celeste's Captive and closer to her than anyone else. This implies that she didn't care for any people, including possible blood relatives.

Presents
Obtained from the MonoMono Machine.
 * Rose-Hip Tea
 * Love Affair Ring
 * Crane and Tortoise Diamond
 * Rose Whip
 * Antique Doll

Choices
During free time conversations, the player will occasionally be given a choice on how to respond to something that is said. These are the 'right' choices.
 * Utsunomiya

Skills
These will aid you, usually during Class Trials.
 * Raise - Triples the number of Monokuma Medals in school, increases by 10% during Class Trials.
 * Menacing Focus - Increases the Focus Gauge by 5. Effective during the Class Trial. Costs 4 SP.

Quotes

 * “Delighted to meet you. My name is Celestia Ludenberg.”
 * “Heh heh... I’m afraid I can't give you that. Celestia Ludenberg is the name I go by.”
 * “Would you like to play a game of chance with me? I would be happy to empty your wallet and show it to you.”
 * “Whatever the game, you must have a mind for strategy. This will allow you to increase your odds of winning. However, the exciting part about gambling is that there is a power which can overwhelm any strategy. That power is... luck.”
 * “You see, I was programmed to have good luck when it comes to gambling. This is why I have never lost.”
 * “It's a little… troubling for us. Spending the rest of our lives in this school…”
 * “Goodness me... A professional liar? It was hardly anything extraordinary, I assure you.”
 * “My lies must never be too extravagant...”
 * “Your heart really is made out of stone, I hope your body at least gets some good minerals out of it.” (to Byakuya Togami)
 * “Ehehe. I'm quite proud to say I'm among the most talented liars in existence.”
 * “I'm rather proud of my ability to tell lies. I can trick not only others, but even my own heart.”
 * “Oh, Hifumi... such an easy mark... Ehehe, it's like he was born to be deceived.” (thinking about Hifumi Yamada)
 * “The power of love, however twisted that love may be, is a corrupting force.”
 * “I value human life less than a shard of a broken poker chip. I was simply doing whatever it took to win.”
 * “Lying through my fucking teeth! Every waking moment, it was all I could do to endure this! More than every. Last. One of you!! I wanted nothing more than to get out of this hellhole! You know why?! Do you?! Because I have a dream... and to live my whole life in this place was to throw away that dream. There's no way... I could do something like that... My participation in underworld gambling tournaments... betting my life for enormous sums of money... It was all... because of my dream... To live in a European Castle. And to surround myself with the most gorgeous men in the world... dress them as vampires and make them into my own personal secret service-- doubling as butlers.... Thus transforming my world into a world of perfect aesthetic decadence... My dream-- and my objective-- was to live out my life in that world... My life's work!”
 * “Regrettably... My dream has been shattered like a falling teacup. But I have no regrets. This is simply the result of me fighting for my dream until the very end.”
 * “Are you saying I should feel guilty? You're wasting your breath... I neither think anything of nor feel anything about sacrificing others for my own sake. That is simply... how I was made.”
 * “Ehehe... Isn't it amazing how differences in morals can make a conversation so awkward?”
 * “No, I am not afraid. So, please, kill me as many times as you'd like. However, should I ever be reborn... surely, I will reborn as... Marie Antoinette.”
 * “Does that... truly bring hope? I was never able to believe it would. And that's why... No... It needn't be said... Have a wonderful life, everyone. And may we meet again in our next...”
 * “You, on the other hand, were perfect. Your stupidity far exceeded my expectations and was of great help. Though I feel very sorry for your parents.” (to Yasuhiro Hagakure)

Machine Talk Battle/Bullet Talk Battle Statements

 * “You have it wrong!”
 * “I cannot agree!”
 * “You are a fool...”
 * “So pathetic...”
 * “Lies will get you nowhere!”
 * “Do your worst!”
 * “Away with you!”
 * “You miserable wretch!”
 * “Are you absolutely positive the dolly was in the equipment room when we found Taka's body?” (Final Argument)

Creation and development
Celestia is a goth-loli character and has been consistently goth-loli since the planning stages.

The character designer, Rui Komatsuzaki, has a personal interest in goth-loli fashion, so the design advanced to its final stage without much deviation. However, Celeste was a bother to draw due to the goth-loli style's many ornaments and embellishments, as well as her clip-on twin tails.

Celeste was made to look more doll-like than the other characters, so her skin's saturation lowered considerably. She is noted to be relatively tall because she's of average height but wears high heels.

Trivia

 * The name “Celestia”, or in its slightly shorter version “Celeste”, is a given name of Latin origin which means “heavenly”.
 * Celeste's self-styled last name, “Ludenberg”, is most probably a combination of the Latin verb “ludere”, meaning “to play”, with the common suffix for last names of German or Dutch origin “-berg”, meaning “mountain” - thus making the last name Celeste came up with for herself consistent with both her title and her false claim that she is of German ancestry.
 * It might also be that Celeste's last name is a combination of Erich Ludendorff and Paul Von Hindenburg's last names.
 * Celeste's actual given name, “Taeko” (多恵子), roughly means “child blessed with countless blessings” - making it somewhat fitting for Celeste, who considers her luck extraordinary and even admits at one point that her great success as a gambler is partially due to sheer luck.
 * Celeste's actual last name, “Yasuhiro” (安広), literally means “peaceful and spacious”. It could also hint at an unfortunate background, as another meaning for the character 安 is “cheap” or “low” - making it quite clear why Celeste, who strives to appear as a cultured person and even claims to be the daughter of a European aristocrat (clearly a lie), is embarrassed of her last name and avoids revealing it.
 * Celeste's chest size is 31 in.
 * Despite wanting to be a cultured person, Celeste admits that she likes gyoza.
 * Celeste's execution is meant to be less 'interesting than the others'. Leon being stoned to death by baseballs in unheard of in modern media, and Monda being melted into butter is one-of-a-kind. Celeste's death, however, which was being hit by a firetruck, is one of the most common deaths. This is because Celeste prided herself on being unique, and Monokuma wanted to kill her in a common way to make her feel despair right before her life ended.
 * Out of all the executed in the first game (Leon, Mondo, and herself), Celeste is the only one who premeditated and planned out a murder, resulting in the deaths of Taka and Hifumi. Leon killed Sayaka after she attacked him, and Mondo killed Chihiro in the heat of the moment.
 * In some Free-Time Events, Celeste makes references to a few gambling-themed manga series:
 * She states that she played mahjong against a “crazy rich old man” and a “silver-haired boy”, referencing the manga series Akagi.
 * She won a tournament of shogi against an “unusual maid”, referencing the manga series 81diver.
 * She claims the most dangerous situation she ever found herself in was in a game of "The Liar King", in which she played against an unusual pair consisting of a “foolishly-honest girl” and a “master con artist”, referencing the manga series Liar Game.
 * In fitting with her Western masquerade, Celeste's Japanese title is written using the Japanese transliteration of the English "gambler", instead of the Japanese term "shōbushi" (勝負師).
 * Her name in the Japanese release, "セレスティア・ルーデンベルク" is romanized as "Seresutia Rūdenberuku", making the original anglicized version Celestia Ludenberck. It is unknown why it was changed in development.
 * In Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy - Side: Despair, Celeste was briefly mentioned by the Hope's Peak Academy Scout, Koichi Kizakura.