The Cage of Death

The Cage of Death (猛多亜最苦婁弟酢華恵慈 mōtāsaikuru desu kēji; lit. Motorcycle Death Cage) is an execution in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, with Mondo Owada being executed.

Sequence
Mondo appears tied on a custom designed motorcycle, apparently belonging to the Crazy Diamonds according to the writing on the back of the seat. Monokuma is sitting in front of the steering handles with a blonde wig that appears to imitate Mondo's hairstyle in a mocking fashion. A spherical motorcycle death cage is set up with a red circus tent standing behind it and two large tiger heads bobbing on both sides. Monokuma steers the motorbike straight into the cage, and at the last second jumps out; leaving Mondo to go straight inside.

Once within the death cage, Mondo is spun around continuously, much like real death cage performers do (though uncontrollably) - meanwhile, standing at a safe distance from the contraption, Monokuma (now wearing a party hat) is spinning a hula-hoop. Four electric generators then appear atop the cage and charge up with magnifying volts of electricity which quickly envelope the entire metal cage. Mondo, dizzy from the spins, gets electrocuted. Once the subsequent burst of light fades away, the motorcycle, now without a passenger, rolls to a stop. A nearby machine connected to the cage gives out three beeps and produces a small tub of what appears to be "butter" with a photo of Mondo on its cover labeled "Mondo Butter"; implying that the high speed of the motorcycle combined with the electric shock caused Mondo's body to liquefy.

The picture then switches to a childlike drawing of Monokuma sitting at a table in the outdoors, enjoying two large stacks of pancakes topped with melted butter; leading to believe Monokuma is about to enjoy Mondo Butter for his breakfast meal.

Trivia

 * This execution is a reference to a children's story that is very popular in Japan, "Little Black Sambo" (チビクロサンボ Chibi Kuro Sambo in Japan) by Scottish author Helen Bannerman, first published in 1899. The story tells of a poor boy, who would have defeated two tigers by tricking them into running around a tree so fast that they would have turned into butter - which he and his family would have then used to make pancakes. The tiger design on the motorcycle used in the execution, as well as the two bobbing tiger panels placed on both sides of the death cage, are a clear reference to this story.
 * The Japanese title of Mondo's execution is actually an ateji transliteration of the phrase "Motorcycle Death Cage". Ateji is the usage of kanji characters solely for their "sound", with little to no regard to their actual meaning (for example: the 華 character used in the execution's title for its reading as [ke] actually means "flower"). In some situations ateji is preferred rather than katakana when writing loanwords and foreign terms (e.g. 珈琲 kōhī; "coffee") and native Japanese terms like 寿司 sushi (literally "longevity"+"official"). Ateji writings, especially ones that use complex, uncommon kanji, are also favored by Japanese biker gangs whose names include foreign words (the name of Mondo's gang, "The Crazy Diamonds", is written in ateji on the back of his coat), probably due to aesthetic preferences and the fact that using uncommon kanji (considering that each kanji has more than one possible reading) makes the name very difficult to read and downright illegible for children.
 * At the end of the game's "School Mode", the player can receive a special gift - Mondo's tiger-print boxer underpants - a clear reference to his execution.

Navigation
Клетка Смерти La Cage de la Mort The Cage of Death