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Mukuro Ikusaba (戦刃 むくろ), is a student in Hope's Peak Academy's Class 78th, and a participant of the Killing School Life featured in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. Her title is the Ultimate Soldier (超高校級の「軍人」 lit. Super High School Level Soldier).

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 characters including Mukuro Ikusaba 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 Mukuro's story within the Danganronpa series was real, or a fictional story written by Team Danganronpa and performed by an actor.

Creation and Development
Unlike the majority of all the characters designed for the franchise, Mukuro lacks any publicly revealed concept art, even in the original incarnation of Danganronpa DISTRUST or other developmental assets. This is likely due to, as explained by Kazutaka Kodaka in the Danganronpa 1.2 artbook'', Mukuro was conceptualized as a plot device much later in development in order to make the twist of Junko swapping places work.

In the original Japanese, Mukuro's full name is written as 戦刃躯. 躯, the kanji for her given name, is the kanji for "corpse" and "dead body". Her family name Ikusaba is written as 戦刃, comprising of the kanji for "war" and "battlefield" (戦) and "knife" and "edge of a blade" (刃). The kanji of both her given and family name is very likely a reference to her Ultimate Talent.

The kanji in Mukuro's family name that means "edge of a blade" (刃) matches with part of the kanji for Junko's given name that means "shield" (盾). Addtioninally, parts their given names came from Japanese work "Muju" (矛盾) which means "contradiction" and "paradox".

However, it is unknown why she doesn't share a family name with her twin sister Junko, as Junko herself in the final trial of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc described the truth as "lame" and to "make up an answer" when questioned by their surviving classmates, refusing to elaborate any further.

Free Time Events & Bonus Mode Guides
The links below are full transcripts and indepth guides for Mukuro Ikusaba's relationship routes in Free Time Events, School Mode, and Ultimate Talent Development Plan including her MonoMono Machine Present preferences and most effective dialogue options.

School Mode and Ultimate Talent Development Plan exist in two separate alternate universes where Mukuro still attends Hope's Peak Academy, but no students are in peril. As they are alternate universes, these events are non-canonical, but because Mukuro's personality in unchanged, backstory information shared by her in these events is considered questionably or dubiously canonical rather than fully non-canonical.

Free Time Events are also considered somewhat questionably canonical due to the nature of how Free Time Events are accessed (in that some characters' Free Time Events cannot be fully completed during the course of the canon game storyline due to limitations on the number of interactions you can have with them during one playthrough, and thus can only be accessed after they have canonically died either through a second playthrough or via School Mode). However, due to Free Time Events being largely experienced during the canon game storyline, Free Time Events are more grounded in canon than School Mode and Ultimate Talent Development Plan and are largely considered canon by the majority of players.

Other Alternate Fates
The Danganronpa 3 box set included a feature detailing an alternate ending of Danganronpa called Danganronpa Another End which ultimately never made it out of the development phase. In this ending, all of the students escape, at the cost of giving up their talent forever. In Mukuro's ending, she decides to stop pursuing Junko's dream and become a hairstylist.

Danganronpa IF, is a what-if scenario light novel in which Mukuro doesn't die. Instead she is the protagonist of the story, and after Makoto Naegi is nearly killed trying to save her, opts to put a stop to Junko's plans to both save her classmates and bring her sister despair. Mukuro ultimately escapes Hope's Peak alive with the rest of her classmates before the Mutual Killing Game properly begins; however, her fate after this point, given her key role in The Tragedy, is unknown.

As the demo version of the main game begins at the investigation and subsequent Class Trial where instead of Sayaka Maizono being the first murder victim it is Yasuhiro Hagakure, Mukuro (disguised as Junko) is able to participate alongside Sayaka.

In Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the World Vanquisher, a non-real Mukuro appeared in Nagito's idealized dream world where she is seen spying on some of her classmates.

Appearance
At the beginning of the Killing School Life in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Mukuro appears to be a high school-aged teenager, though, like the rest of her classmates, she is two years older than they believed.

Mukuro is (169 cm) 5'7", making her one of the taller female in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and weighs around (44 kg) 97 lbs with a lean build, which is often described as "concerningly thin" by fellow students. She has fair skin with freckles across the bridge of her nose, purple-grey eyes, and wears her short black hair in a bob. She has no scars or marks whatsoever on her body other than a stylized black wolf tattoo on the top of her right hand she recieved during her time in the Fenrir mercenary group.

She typically wears a basic Hope's Peak Academy uniform consisting of a brown tie, white button down blouse, brown pleated skirt, black stockings, and black shoes. Other minor alternations include tan fingerless gloves, a brown jacket, and a red tie instead of her brown one.

Being fraternal twins, Mukuro and her younger sister Junko Enoshima resemble each other closely, but have noticeable differences such as Mukuro's bust size being smaller and her eye color being purple-grey as opposed to Junko's natural red eye color.

While in her Junko disguise, her outfit is identical to her sister's, only instead of matching Monokuma hairties, they are a set of cute rabbit and a large red and white bow. Her tie is also different, being dot-patterned instead of bear-patterned. She also does not have the red bow on the black shirt's chest, as well as the patches shown near the bottom.

Personality
Mukuro is a reserved person.

Despite her dedication to her sister, Mukuro expressed some hesitancy towards her end goal. In her final Free Time Event with Makoto, she vaguely alluded to concerns of maintaining the "same dream" her entire life since childhood. She wondered out loud to Makoto about changing her dream or finding one of her own. Ultimately however, this doesn't stop her from moving forward with Junko's plans and her execution.

Ultimate Solider
At a young age prior to being a teenager, Mukuro left her family while they were in Europe to be recruited and trained in the elite mercenary group based out of the Middle East named Fenrir Mercenary Group, who engaged in direct combat. During her time spent in the group, she never received a single injury on the battlefield.

Due to her training she is highly proficient in both a variety of firearms, knives, explosives such as grenades, and hand-to-hand combat to the degree she is able to hold her own, or even defeat equally as trained individuals such as the Ultimate Swordswoman Peko Pekoyama, several of the Madarai brothers, and even security personnel from Hope's Peak. However, she was quickly outmatched by Izuru Kamukura due to his talent of the Ultimate Hope. Using her training, she was able to easily mercilessly slaughtered an entire middle school on Junko's orders.

She is also able to deflect (most) attempts on her life by her sister Junko while carrying on a normal conversation with her, such as blocking an icepick and kicking a grenade out of a car window, which is exceptional due to Junko's analytical talent.

Quotes
DR1=

Extra=

DRIF=

DR3=

List of Appearances
Games=
 * Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
 * Danganronpa: Unlimited Battle
 * -|Anime=
 * Danganronpa: The Animation
 * Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Despair Arc
 * -|Light Novels=
 * Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF
 * Danganronpa 1 ・2 Beautiful Days
 * -|Manga=
 * Danganronpa: The Demo (Manga)
 * Danganronpa: The Manga
 * Danganronpa: Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei 4koma KINGS
 * Danganronpa: The Animation (manga)
 * Small Danganronpa 1・2 Light
 * Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen Comic Anthology
 * Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen Dengenki Comic Anthology
 * -|Stage Plays=
 * Danganronpa: Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei THE STAGE (2014)
 * Danganronpa: Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei THE STAGE 2016
 * Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen THE STAGE 2018

Trivia

 * The final section of Chiaki Nanami's execution from Danganronpa 3 is a direct reference to Mukuro's execution, though within the timeline Mukuro's execution had not been carried out yet.
 * Mukuro has been shown to have a capable singing voice. She is pushed to perform Tsubasa o Kudasai during The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy by Junko.
 * Her profile in the non-canon Danganronpa IF novel states that since her childhood she has always had an interest in mystery stories.
 * Mukuro and her twin sister Junko are both voiced by Megumi Toyoguchi in the Japanese version and Amanda Céline Miller (who also voices Toko Fukawa, Shirokuma, and the child version of Seiko Kimura) in the English version.
 * Mukuro Ikusaba Sound Gallery Sprite.png the Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Sound Gallery, Mukuro's sprite is her out of her Junko disguise, marking one of the very few times she's seen without it in the games.
 * In the post-game bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan from Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony unlocking and using Mukuro's U-Rarity card will enable an alternate set of pixels and assets without her Junko disguise; instead using her Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc design, though this does not carry over with her sprites.
 * However, while the pixel set is also found in the files of the sequel Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp, they are not available to be used during gameplay. There is also a pixel set using Mukuro's Danganronpa 3 design, but these also go unused.

Navigation
Мукуро Икусаба Mukuro Ikusaba Mukuro Ikusaba Mukuro Ikusaba Mukuro Ikusaba Mukuro Ikusaba

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Personality
Being the Ultimate Soldier, Mukuro is ruthless and can kill and harm others with no remorse. She seems completely indifferent towards other people unless it's her sister Junko. Unlike her sister, she doesn't take any sadistic pleasure in hurting or killing people, but at the same time, she shows little concern for other people's suffering.

Despite being an incredible soldier, Mukuro is very out-of-touch with her own emotions. She has a notable lack of social skills, acting emotionless and indifferent towards most people. She tends to have a cold, serious expression and a reserved personality. Despite this, she appears to portray her sister's very different personality rather well. She herself admits that she lacks skill in negotiating with others and planning tactics in advance, despite her renown as an excellent soldier. While she is completely fearless as a soldier, she is afraid of certain emotional situations.

She only knows how to take orders from Junko and obeys her even if she doesn't agree with her. Mukuro craves her sister's praise and acceptance and will do nearly anything to get it. Because of this, Mukuro allows herself to be constantly abused by Junko and takes her insults to heart. Mukuro believes she is the only one who truly understands her sister and she wants to make her happy, so she stays by Junko's side even when she insults her. She also finds pleasure in Junko's attempts to harm or even kill her, knowing that her sister will experience tremendous despair if she succeeds. She is sometimes portrayed even disturbingly obsessed with her sister, with her blushing and in a state of ecstasy.

In Danganronpa IF, thanks to her classmates, Mukuro begins to have more interest in the world around her. While she is protective of Makoto and cares about him, she still doesn't show that much interest in other students. She decides to protect her classmates and betrays Junko, though she is still motivated by the idea of causing her sister to feel despair. In the end, she doesn't know how to feel or what kind of future she would have.

Prior to the Tragedy
Mukuro showed a huge interest in the military since childhood. In elementary school, she won survival game tournaments and began writing for military magazines.

Just before entering middle school, Mukuro disappeared while she and her family were on vacation in Europe. People thought she had been kidnapped, but she was never found. In truth, she had decided to join an elite mercenary group based out of the Middle East known as Fenrir, a fierce group of soldiers who engaged in direct combat. Although small for her age, she received military training and became highly proficient in both a variety of firearms and hand-to-hand combat. As a member of Fenrir, she passed through many battlefields but was never wounded.

Three years later, Mukuro returned to Japan to be with her sister. Junko had a strong desire to "paint the world in despair" and planned to start the Tragedy, the worst, most despair-inducing incident in the history of mankind. She called herself and her sister the Despair Sisters AKA the Ultimate Despair.

Mukuro was enrolled in Hope's Peak Academy's Class 78th as the Ultimate Soldier, while her sister was the Ultimate Fashionista.

Episode 05 - The Beginning of the End
Mukuro met Junko at the airport. She found Junko, sitting on a pile of luggage, writing in her notebook, and narrating out loud. They rode together in a limousine and Junko asked Mukuro if she had more freckles. Before receiving a response, Junko attacked Mukuro with an ice pick, but she effortlessly blocked it, all while answering Junko's question about her freckles. Junko then threw a grenade and Mukuro used her foot to flip it into her champagne glass, and threw it out of the limousine window, causing it to explode on another car. Mukuro happily thought and found desirable the despair of Junko trying to kill her own sister. Junko told Mukuro she had a bad odor, but Mukuro stated that she had bathed. However, she was still embarrassed by Junko's remarks. Mukuro asked Junko why she wanted to meet with the other members of the class, and Junko stated they were scouted and had been selected to attend Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Fashionista and Ultimate Soldier.

The two arrived at Hope's Peak Academy, just behind Makoto. Junko continued narrating, and Mukuro asked if narrating was her new obsession. Junko stated it was but she was already bored with it.

Episode 06 - A Despairfully Fateful Encounter
At night, Mukuro and Junko sneak into a secure area of Hope's Peak. Mukuro uses her skills with weaponry to slaughter the security guards while Junko eats curry. Junko orders Mukuro to clean up the mess by herself. Mukuro guides Junko down the hall until they reach the door where Izuru Kamukura is. Mukuro notices it is secured by a retina scanner. Junko takes the eyeball she took from one of the trustees, and holds it up to the retina scanner, giving them access.

Junko is happy to see Izuru, but Mukuro worries he could be dangerous. Junko calls Mukuro names, distracting her as she despairingly realizes Junko included all of the nasty ones. Junko tried to attack Izuru with a knife, but he knocked her to the ground and stepped on her. Mukuro tried to help, but Izuru backhanded her into a wall. After Junko explained the allure of despair to those with super intelligence, Izuru knocked her out but told Mukuro to tell Junko that he will be waiting for her. Mukuro gets Junko to the infirmary after saying she hit her head. Junko is excited when Mukuro relays Izuru's message to her. As she and Mukuro rush out of the hospital, Junko bumps into Ryota Mitarai.

Episode 07 - The Biggest, Most Atrocious Incident in Hope's Peak Academy's History
While Junko explains her plan to Ryota, Mukuro is seen handing her a remote.

Episode 08 - The Worst Reunion by Chance
Mukuro spotted Peko stalking her, who explained that a certain man asked her to keep an eye on Mukuro. Commenting on how close Peko's class is, Mukuro angrily stated that she hates being followed and attacked Peko with a combat knife, who retaliated with her bamboo sword. As the fight escalated, Mukuro brought out a second knife, which she used to cut Peko's shinai apart - however, this only revealed the metal blade at its core. Both women then speculated that each other already had experience in killing, to which they both agree.

Episode 09 - Chisa Yukizome Doesn't Smile
Mukuro defeats Peko off-screen and returns to Junko's lair just in time to hold Chisa Yukizome captive and force her to watch the Reserve Course student committing suicide. Later, after strapping Chisa down and crock for her to watch the first killing game, Mukuro is left in charge while Junko goes off to fulfill other parts of her plan. As Chisa seems to be resisting the brainwashing from the video, Mukuro gives Chisa a lobotomy and lowers her resistance to the effects of the brainwashing video, ultimately turning Chisa into an Ultimate Despair.

Episode 11 - Goodbye, Hope's Peak Academy
Mukuro, Junko, and Izuru stand atop a tall building, near to the school, with a view of Class 77-B. Junko stared at the class through her binoculars before proclaiming that they will infect the world with despair. Mukuro, not understanding what Junko meant by infect, is promptly silenced, Junko scolding her for not knowing her plan immediately slaps her, causing Mukuro to fall to the ground. Junko then used her stiletto, prodding Mukuro with it while she explained 'ominous' and 'fun' atmosphere causes the world of hope to fall into despair.

Once the Reserve Students had finished their march on Hope's Peak, leaving it in ruin, Junko thanked them over her mobile phone, prompting them to commit suicide after adhering to her wishes. Mukuro inquired as to why she didn't keep them around to help but is immediately rebuffed by Junko who explained that they may think like her but are nowhere near the same level so have become useless to her, Mukuro staring at her in admiration, agrees to this. Junko also pointed out that Mukuro may not be safe either if she lets her guard down, Mukuro happily accepted this.

Junko and Mukuro then meet with the Class 78th, helping them to shelter the school and protect them from danger. When Junko explained that Makoto is the only person who she could not predict, Mukuro inquired whether they should kill him but Junko believed it would be more despairful if he was able to beat her in the end.

Danganronpa Zero
Mukuro spent a good amount of time masquerading as Junko, while the real Junko's memories were missing due to her testing Yasuke Matsuda's memory-erasing technology as a preparation for the Mutual Killing of Class 78th.

Mukuro also saved Makoto from Misshiki Madarai and murdered two of the Steering Committee members. She also easily beats up and kills all of the Madarai brothers.

Prologue - Welcome to Despair
Mukuro melded into the memory-wiped students of Class 78th as Junko but had to immediately fend off remarks from Makoto that she did not look like the supermodel he had known.

Chapter 1 - To Survive
Shortly after the first murder, Mukuro was supposed to follow a plan she had agreed on with her sister; Monokuma would trap her in the dungeon in order to "set an example" for the students not to directly rebel against him. However, on a whim, Junko decided to kill her sister for real and Mukuro was brutally impaled by Monokuma with numerous spears, dubbed "Heavenly Spear, Gungnir".

Mukuro, having memorized the scenario and had expected to set up a different outcome, was completely caught off guard, never expecting that her sister would kill her at this moment, as the game had barely begun. This incident misled the other students into thinking that “Junko” was killed. The reason Junko killed Mukuro was to bring her and her sister despair since beyond all appearances, she truly did love Mukuro.

Chapter 5 - 100 Mile Dash; Pain of a Junk Food Junkie
Later, Mukuro's dead body was planted in the Greenhouse on the fifth floor of the school by Junko - at the time still known only as “the mastermind” - to lead the other students into thinking that the unknown sixteenth student, whom they were told was “Mukuro Ikusaba”, had died as a result of murder. However, before they could take a closer look at the body, it exploded due to a Monokuma bomb, leaving little else other than the Fenrir mark on her hand and her numerous injury marks.

However, the contradiction of the admission reports for Mukuro (which stated that she did not carry any scars of injuries), the fact that she was explicitly named Mukuro Ikusaba, and the wealth of information that her dead body carried, finally led the students to figure out that they had, in fact, met Mukuro in disguise, not Junko.

Chapter 8 - Beginning of the Killer Killer
Mukuro shows up in Chapter 8, having been responsible for the mass murder in Takumi Hijirihara's middle school. Shūji Fujigawa hid Takumi in a closet so that he would be safe, since he had an intense fear of blood, similarly to Toko Fukawa. After seeing the incident through the slits of the locker, Takumi became "Killer Killer." At the end of the chapter, it is revealed by Ikue Dogami that Mukuro has "broken out", implying that she may actually be alive.

Chapter 9 - Don't Kill
After receiving an order to do so, Takumi, Misaki Asano, and Shūji arrived at the seemingly abandoned 8th Division Headquarters. Takumi steps inside to find Mukuro and has a scuffle with her. This ends in him choking Mukuro, and nearly stabbing her until he is stopped by Shūji clenching his knife. It is then revealed the actual Mukuro is dead and the person who Takumi faced is a fake, which were all girls who worshipped the Ultimate Soldier presented in the room by Shūji. Takumi killed them all and scored their murders at zero points, saying they lack the passion for the murder that the actual Mukuro had.

Chapter 10 - Killer Killer Killer
Mukuro appears alongside Junko after the events of the Giboura Massacre. Junko praises Mukuro for her murderous abilities, to which Mukuro blushes in delight. Junko then bears her famous, wide-toothed grin, saying she has a much more fun job for Mukuro in store.

Relationships

 * Family:

Junko Enoshima
Junko was Mukuro's younger twin sister. Mukuro viewed Junko as being far superior to her and would do anything to earn her praise, even going so far as to join Ultimate Despair and taking part in the Killing School Life.

Mukuro wanted nothing more than for Junko to be happy and to be loved by her, but was unaware that she did not subscribe to the same notions of despair compared to her sister. She refused to leave her side though, as she believes no one else besides her can truly understand her sister.

Junko was verbally abusive and cruel towards Mukuro. She made it very clear that she believed herself to be superior to her older sister and criticized her on several occasions. Mukuro took her sister's insults to heart and believed Junko was always right. Mukuro's feelings allowed Junko to take advantage of her, but there were certain limits, such as when Junko attempted to kill Mukuro with an ice pick and a grenade but Mukuro blocked all her attacks and chucked it out the car window. Still, Mukuro understood that Junko was trying to taste the despair of killing her own sister, and was actually happy to know Junko would fall into despair by murdering her. Despite this, Junko did truly love Mukuro, even if she failed to express it properly. Due to this, she is also a willing pawn and sacrifice for Junko despite her loyalty towards her as an enforcer and a sister.

In Danganronpa Zero, she turns ecstatic and feverish as she explains Junko's relationship with her and despair, considering her own relationship with Junko special because she truly is the only one who understands her. She claims that is why Junko needs her, though she hasn't realized it yet. Acting giddy, Mukuro thinks that maybe Junko just pretends not to realize it because she is "so shy". Hearing all of this, Ryoko is disturbed and concludes that Mukuro's feelings for her sister are definitely not normal.

In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony bonus mode Ultimate Talent Development Plan, Mukuro dresses up as Junko and attends her classes so that she's free to do as she wants.


 * Class 78th:

Makoto Naegi
While there were no real interactions between the two in the first game, their relationship is explored and elaborated on in the novel Danganronpa IF.

It is revealed that they were friends due to being classmates, though seemingly not very close due to Mukuro's distant personality. In the timeline, Makoto's sincerity and openness has caused her to begin feeling a kind of friendly sincerity.

It was because of Makoto that Mukuro began to think more of the world outside of Junko's plans, and it caused her to have doubts when Junko revealed her plan for the killing game involving their fellow students, Makoto included. However, initially, she was perfectly willing to kill him if for Junko's sake. As shown in Danganronpa 3, Mukuro suggested that she and Junko kill Makoto immediately after her sister deemed him a threat.

In Danganronpa IF's alternative universe, this changed drastically after Makoto became heavily lacerated for saving Mukuro where she became desperate in saving a moribund Makoto. As Junko then gives Mukuro the injunction to kill Makoto, Mukuro responded in refusal. Makoto treated Mukuro very kindly and placed his trust in her, even after it was revealed she was partly responsible for what had happened to Hope's Peak Academy.


 * Future Foundation Members:

Takumi Hijirihara
Mukuro is the one responsible for the mass murder in Takumi's middle school. Despite their opposing statuses due to their respective affiliations, Takumi developed an admiration for her techniques in the murder which later drove him to become the elusive Killer Killer