Haiji Towa

Haiji Towa (塔和 灰慈) is a character featured in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. He is the leader of the adult-formed group, the Resistance.

Appearance
Haiji has long, disheveled black hair and lavender eyes. He wears a buttoned-up shirt adorned with a detailed red rose pattern, a heavy black and red hooded jacket with beige fur trimming, and ripped black jeans. Haiji's right forearm and palm are completely covered with an orthopedic cast, presumably from injuries suffered during the battle against the Monokuma army.

Personality
Haiji is deliberate and calculating, although others might call him cowardly. He is very paranoid about the Resistance's hideout, not allowing anyone to leave the place. He claims he isn't hiding, but simply waiting for the right opportunity, although he later admits that he was just being a coward and states that he probably isn't a very good leader.

He is rather serious, the one time he tries to joke around being an awkward and tone-deaf joke about Nagisa's trauma a moment after the child's supposed death. It's also implied that he was an abusive older brother towards his half-sister. Due to his strong hatred of children, he does not care for their safety, believing that they will just cause more destruction if left alive.

While he has a strong hatred of children, he is also a self-proclaimed lolicon who prefers young, quiet girls to loud, older girls. He mentions that he prefers girls to be as young as possible and in the art book it's implied that he would find Kotoko Utsugi sexually attractive if her personality was better. He seems to try to use this fact to prove to Komaru and Toko that he wouldn't do anything to them, as they're a bit too old for him.

He has a strong grudge against the Warriors of Hope, particularly their leader, Monaca Towa, for causing the chaos in the city. He also strongly dislikes the Future Foundation and anything associated with it. He does appear to be somewhat regretful of the Towa Group's unethical actions in the wake of the Tragedy, but mostly because of the problems they caused to himself and his father. Both he and his father seem to mostly blame Monaca and Junko instead of taking responsibility for their actions.

As the story progresses, Haiji becomes increasingly fanatical and obsessed with defeating the Warriors of Hope, no matter the cost. He puts all of his faith in the Big Bang Monokuma, hoping that he can turn the tide of the war in his favor. He turns increasingly aggressive and even violent, wishing to kill the children even if they were brainwashed. He also physically attacks Toko and is willing to hurt her more, though he gets stopped.

In the end, he seems to break mentally and becomes apathetic, emotionlessly stating that he does not care about hope nor despair anymore.

Prior to the Tragedy
Haiji was the first born child of Tokuichi Towa and his mother. He was the next in line to run Towa City.

Monaca, Haiji's younger half-sister, was born an unwanted child. Monaca's mother abandoned the child soon after her birth. Tokuichi thought of giving her to an orphanage, but instead took her into his family.

However, Monaca was always unwanted and everyone else felt uncomfortable around her. Every time Monaca smiled or joked, the others looked at her coldly, as if she didn't deserve to laugh. Every time she spoke, the others turned silent. Haiji thought of her only as an alien and his father's mistake, not part of the family. Everything Monaca did made Haiji feel sick, and he hated when Monaca called him her big brother. He had a bad feeling about her and he was quite sure that Monaca would end up destroying his family.

It's implied that Monaca was physically abused by her family, and one time she pretended to be badly wounded as a result. She started to pretend to be paraplegic, because she was finally treated with some kindness and could have more control over people. Believing that they caused it, her father and brother felt pity for her.

Nevertheless, Monaca became a chief executive of Towa Group robotics branch thanks to her genius intelligence, surpassing Haiji. Haiji was most likely very bitter about it.

Monaca was later influenced by and helped Junko Enoshima to mass-produce Monokuma units by using her position as a representative of the Towa Group. She lied to her father, brother and the other adults in order to produce the Monokumas, telling them that she wanted to create futuristic robots that could be domestic helpers and emergency aid workers. Due to her separation from the family and her genius, her family decided to give her space to do what she wanted as long as she brought profit to the company, and didn't delve too deeply into her plans.

During the Tragedy
The Monokumas were used as killing machines during the Tragedy.

Later, Tokuichi was blackmailed by Monaca into mass-producing the Monokumas. In the end, the Towa Group ended up working for both sides - they secretly build the Monokumas and sold weapons against them. Haiji's father became corrupt and enthusiastically supported Junko Enoshima, Ultimate Despair and the Tragedy due to the money, honor and protection he gained as a result.

Haiji appeared to be unaware of his father's change and felt that the Towa Group didn't have any other choice but to obey. He feared that his family line would be shunned and go extinct if the truth was revealed. He feared that Towa Group would end up becoming enemies with both Ultimate Despair and Future Foundation.

After the death of Junko, Tokuichi ended his alliance with Ultimate Despair and was beaten to death by a group of Monokumas under Monacas command. This happened right before Haiji's eyes and he barely managed to escape. Traumatized and angered, he decided to destroy all the Monokumas.

After the children's revolution started, Haiji lost his arm to a Monokuma and became the leader of the adults' Resistance, which hid underground in the sewers from the Warriors of Hope. He had lost everything, including Towa Group and even Towa City because of the kids. He claimed that he was waiting for an opportunity to fight, but in truth he was simply giving up and had no hope for their survival. He became increasingly paranoid and made sure that no one would leave the base. He had respect for Shirokuma, an all-white Monokuma, who rescued and brought adults to him.

Chapter 2 - Legend of the Revolution
Haiji met with Komaru Naegi and Toko Fukawa inside the Conference Room in the Adults' secret base, claiming that he didn't really know about Towa City's current situation.

Komaru grew upset when she suddenly remembered her missing parents, and asked Haiji if he knew how to escape the city. Haiji told her that all of the roads to outside are completely blocked and Komaru's wristband would explode if she ever tried to leave the city. Komaru desperately asked if she could somehow get rid of the wristband, but not even Haiji and Shirokuma knew how to do it. Haiji advised that staying put and keeping quiet is the best move.

Toko questioned why the Resistance didn't try to fight the kids, but Haiji insisted that it would be suicide if they tried. Toko then called him a coward, but he claimed that he was only waiting for the opportunity to strike back. When Komaru felt that Toko's harshness was going too far, Toko confessed that she was also speaking to Komaru and started criticizing her for only making excuses instead of fighting back.

Later, Toko guessed that maybe Future Foundation's technology could get rid of the wristband. When Toko was revealed to be a member of Future Foundation, Haiji suddenly got angry and ordered Komaru and Toko to get out from the secret base because he refused to cooperate with the organization. Haiji then left the girls and Shirokuma.

Although he's hostile at first, he had gained some hope after meeting Komaru and Toko.

Chapter 3 - Cute Girl's Battlefield
Haiji appeared again in chapter 3, where he and the other adults were at a meeting held inside the Conference Room of the Resistance secret base. Shirokuma brought Komaru and Toko who had returned from Towa Tower after communicating with Future Foundation.

Haiji was surprised and became irritated by the appearance of Komaru and Toko, but Shirokuma told him that they have to work together in times like these. Shirokuma said that he brought up a plan to reason with the kids, which is immediately refused by the adults. Komaru tried to support Shirokuma but Toko reminded him that the children didn't have mercy, even towards their own family as they learned from their fight against Masaru. Haiji insisted that they wait for a good opportunity to strike. Toko, who once again was against his ideal of being a leader argued with him. Komaru also agreed with Haiji, saying that Toko didn't understand the feeling, claiming herself as being a weak person.

Before things heated up, an adult broke into the conference room and announced that Monokuma units had already begun attacking the secret base and murdering the adults. When Toko and Komaru followed Haiji and others to escape, Shirokuma begged them to protected everyone.

Komaru and Toko agreed to take action and succeeded in destroying the Monokuma units. Haiji approached them afterwards, blaming them as the cause of this massacre. He then commanded the adults to apprehend Komaru and Toko and put them in two separate cells.

Chapter 4 - The Way We Live
In order to release the Future Foundation's hostage Byakuya Togami, Komaru and Toko who previously escaped from their cells, planned to return to the adults secret base to persuade Shirokuma, Haiji and the adults to support them in stopping the riot caused by the Warriors of Hope.

Haiji approached Komaru and Toko once they regained their consciousness after seeing Shirokuma's sacrifice by exploding himself to block Monokumas's path to the secret base. Haiji acknowledged that Komaru and Toko's efforts proved that they were not spies. The adults reported to Haiji that they were on verge of death due to Monokumas who were going to massacre them from the front entrance. Komaru, with a new spirit after witnessing Shirokuma's sacrifice, steps up on to the radio truck and made her *brave heart* speech to rally the adults.

Some of the adults were inspired by Komaru's speech and one of them brought Shirokuma's remaining head, who was surprisingly congratulating Komaru and Toko. He explained that his AI chip is inside his head so he would live. Haiji, who had already prepared everything, told Komaru and Toko to get out of the Resistance secret base and to go to a certain place where his "trump card" was hidden. Haiji ordered Komaru to prepare herself because they're going to ride a motorcycle to the place where Haiji's trump card is hidden.

The three of them took an elaborate elevator down to the hidden place which is Towa Group's secret factory where entrance was restricted to top executives only. Haiji had hesitated to come to this place at first because they using Monokumas to guard the secret factory. The control office couldn't be contacted since the Tragedy and Haiji thought that the Monokumas inside had their control functions broken so that they would attack him. The trump card was hidden deep inside the secret factory and the three of them needed to take the elevator to the bottom floor.

Upon arriving at the third base floor, the three found that the elevator couldn't be approached due to the constant lasers. Komaru, Toko and Haiji moved to the management room to insert the password and turn off the lasers, but inside the room, the worker who knew the password had been killed by a Guard Monokuma. After cracking the password, the three finally arrived at the bottom floor.

The trump card was revealed as a Big Bang Monokuma, who was an oversized Monokuma, the secret weapon built by Towa Group to defend the city. Toko freaked out, asking why Towa Group were producing Monokumas in their secret factory. Haiji explained that Monokumas were actually first introduced as a Maid Robot.

During their conversation, Nagisa Shingetsu's robot suddenly broke in to destroy the Big Bang Monokuma. Eventually, Komaru and Toko were able heavily damage the robot, making its parts bend one by one until the left arm fell and crushed Nagisa.

Haiji was finally able to activate Big Bang Monokuma, and began his counterattack on the kids.

Chapter 5 - Absolute Despair Girl
At the climax of the conflict, he personally piloted the Big Bang Monokuma as the spearhead of the Resistance's strike against the Warriors of Hope. Once they reached Towa Tower, however, Haiji abandoned the machine and began roaming the tower in search of his little sister. Along the way, he encountered Komaru and Toko, and told them that they needed to use his dead father to pass the biometric lock barring their path.

After Monaca was defeated in battle with the heroines, Haiji arrived and encouraged Komaru to destroy the Monokuma controller, which would disable all of the remaining Monokuma units. He quickly became agitated when Komaru repeatedly hesitated, violently forcing Monaca to reveal her role in setting off the Tragedy and aiding Ultimate Despair by producing armies of Monokuma Units. When Komaru remained uncertain, Haiji switched tactics and pleaded with her, calling her the spark that had motivated the Resistance to take a stand against their enemies. Unfortunately, this only furthered Komaru's doubts, as she had reservations about the increasingly brutal lengths the adults were willing to go to in their fight for Towa City. He initially dismissed Monaca's claim that destroying the controller would kill the Monokuma Kids by detonating their helmets, insisting that the leader of the Warriors of Hope was just trying to preserve her forces, but eventually admitted that he no longer cared if the children died if it meant that the war would end.

Ultimately, Haiji's needling helped drive Komaru over the edge, forcing Toko to intervene before she smashed Monaca's controller in a fit of despair. Haiji furiously assaulted Toko, hoping to break the controller himself, only to be attacked in turn by Kotoko Utsugi, who had turned against Monaca after the revelation of her true plan. The scuffle was broken up when the Big Bang Monokuma arrived, having been hijacked by Shirokuma to destroy Towa Tower entirely. Despite his horror and bewilderment as to how his ultimate weapon had been commandeered, Haiji fled with everyone else (excluding Monaca) and took cover while Komaru and Toko battled the machine.

Aftermath
Following the destruction of the Big Bang Monokuma, Haiji was left stunned and despairing. He remained in this state as the war for the city continued, but it is unclear if he retained his position as the leader of the Resistance.

Creation and Development
In the original plotline for Danganronpa Another Episode, Haiji was to assume the role of a secondary protagonist very much like Toko. He was also planned to be able to enter an "offence mode" like how Toko is capable of calling forth Genocide Jack - not by using a taser but by breaking off his cast.

Before Toko was the playable secondary character, Haiji's name was 墓守灰慈 Hakamori Haiji.

Name
His given name, "Haiji "(灰慈) means something along the lines of "mercy of the ashes (i.e. of a deceased's)" - somewhat matching his color scheme. It may also be reflecting his motive in creating The Resistance was to avenge the death of his father.

His family name "Towa" (塔和) means "broad harmony".

Relationships

 * Family:

Monaca Towa
Haiji always hated his half-sister, even when she was still very, very young. He never wanted Monaca to be part of his family, and only viewed her as an "alien" and "mistake". He hated when Monaca called him her big brother and everything she did made him feel sick. From the start, he had a bad feeling about her and he was quite sure that Monaca would end up destroying his family.

It's heavily implied that Haiji used to be physically abusive towards Monaca, but he felt at least some pity for her when he thought he had permanently paralyzed her by accident.


 * Allies:

Shirokuma
Both of them are best friends and the founders of The Resistance. Haiji and Shirokuma have been working together in saving the adults from the Warriors of Hope and travel Towa City. Shirokuma always tries to help Haiji when ever he is stressed or angry and tries to calm him down. Haiji always thanks Shirokuma for everything that he has done to him and for always helping him when ever he needs him.

Shirokuma later betrayed Haiji and took control of Big Bang Monokuma to end him and the rest of the people. However, Haiji wasn't aware of this.


 * Future Foundation's Allies:

Toko Fukawa
Haiji and Toko do not get along. Although Toko found Haiji attractive at first, though she was potentially just manipulating him for information, she soon found out that he's a coward and was openly disrespectful towards him, calling him "a mole man" for hiding underground.

At one point, Haiji mentioned that he doesn't have sexual interest in Toko, as she isn't his type (she is older and "noisy"). After this information was revealed, Toko suspects that Haiji might try to harass Komaru and is protective of her.

The two continue to nag at each other thorough the later game, with Haiji always referring to Toko as "Four Eyes" and often appearing willing to ignore or even leave her behind. He later physically attacks Toko and threatens to hurt her more in order to get the Monokumas' controller.

Komaru Naegi
Komaru has some trust in Haiji, because they have the same goal of defeating the rioting children. She respectfully refers to him as "mister Haiji".

In general, Haiji likes Komaru much more than Toko, because she is slightly younger and nicer in personality. However, he states that he isn't into her "particularly", probably because she is getting a bit too old for his taste. Due to her naivety, Komaru doesn't seem that bothered and thinks it's nice that Haiji is honest about himself, which makes Toko very paranoid of her safety in his company.

After Komaru's grand speech and help with finding the Big Bang Monokuma, Haiji believes she is the adults' hope, causing him to put lots of pressure on her. He turns increasingly more aggressive towards her when she refuses to kill the brainwashed children, at the end even appearing willing to force her.

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