Hope's Peak Academy

Hope's Peak Academy (希望ヶ峰学園 Kibōgamine Gakuen), also known as Hope's Peak High School, was a school located in the center of a large city. The school was the location of the Killing School Life killing game as well as a primary location throughout the entire Hope's Peak Academy saga.

About
Hope's Peak Academy was a government-sanctioned private city-center high school with boarding facilities founded several hundred years before the events of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. The school was founded by Izuru Kamukura in order to develop and research the talents of exceptional high school age children known as Ultimates (Super High School Level in Japanese). Unlike a typical high school, the students did not have to participate in entrance exams, but instead were scouted by the school itself as Ultimate experts in their field, with the exception of the Ultimate Lucky Student whose talent was determined by winning a lottery draw.

Prior to being scouted, the students had to have already been attending another high school by requirement, meaning they were at minimum 16 years old. Rather than typical school studies, students of Hope's Peak Academy were encouraged to develop their talents, with a practical exam in September halfway through each school year, where they would be required to demonstrate their ability. These practical exams were judged by dignitaries and experts and widely reported by the media in order to give Hope in the future to the nation, and failure could mean expulsion. Ultimate students who successfully graduated Hope's Peak Academy had the reputation of being guaranteed success in life, with many Hope's Peak graduates holding high positions in every field of the professional world.

Originally exclusive to those with Ultimate abilities, the school later developed a preparatory school style second facility upon the school grounds known as the Reserve Course in order to fund the school's research. Reserve Course students were not scouted, and instead took an entrance exam in order to attend. Successful applicants had to pay a high tuition fee, which would in turn fund the education of the Ultimates. Although the Reserve Course technically functioned as a normal - if exclusive - high school, the opportunity to attend was highly competitive due to the brand recognition of the school and the Main Course's reputation for producing future pioneers. It was said that an exceptional student from the Reserve Course may one day be transferred to the Main Course, although no Reserve Course student ever achieved this feat.

History
After building a several hundred years long reputation of producing exemplary Ultimate graduates who go on to be experts in their profession throughout the professional world, the school built a second school building upon its campus and opened it to non-Ultimate Reserve Course students who paid a fee to attend. The tuition fees from these non-Ultimate students then funded the continued education and research of the Ultimate students.

During Class 77th's first year the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case occurred, and The Kamukura Project proceeded. Soon after Class 78th was admitted, the Main Course was moved to the new school building on the main campus. An additional Overseas Campus also began construction during this year being managed by alumni and Former Student Council President Kyosuke Munakata.

The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, also known as the First Mutual Killing game, took place between the members of the Student Council. All of the members were killed, except for the Student Council President, Sōshun Murasame. Despite attempts at a cover up by The Steering Committee, a video of the debacle prepared by Junko Enoshima was sent to the students of the Reserve Course. This caused demonstrations and protests for several months by Reserve Course Students called "The Parade" by the Steering Committee instead of riots to avoid controversy.

Due to further meddling from the brainwashing videos given to the Reserve Course Students by Junko Enoshima, the Reserve Course Students eventually stormed the school building, destroying much of it, and killed all of the remaining Main Course students except for Class 78th (and unbeknownst to anyone else Class 77-B who faked their deaths with an explosion). Soon after, Junko Enoshima sent all of the protesting students a brainwashing video, causing them to all commit suicide simultaneously. This then lead to The Tragedy, the shutdown of Hope's Peak, and the cancellation of the Overseas Campus project - the Overseas Campus eventually became the defacto secret headquarters of the Future Foundation. Headmaster Jin Kirigiri and Class 78th converted the old school building into a shelter, and lived there peacefully for a year until Junko forced Class 78th to participate in the Killing School Life killing game. This led to the death of all but 6 of Class 78th and the execution of Junko.

Several months after the Final Killing Game, Hope's Peak Academy was rebuilt and reopened with former Class 78 student Makoto Naegi as the new headmaster.

Alternate Versions of Hope's Peak Academy
After Izuru Kamukura inserted a virus into the code of the Neo World Program, a corrupted digital replica of Hope's Peak appeared in the program during the Killing School Trip killing game in which the former Class 77-B participated. This digital replica was destroyed by the avatar of Usami during the Forced Shutdown.

In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, the participants of the Killing School Semester were led to believe they were ex-students of Hope's Peak Academy, and several scenes featuring students and interiors of the building are seen through Flashback Lights, however they are later told by Tsumugi Shirogane that this was a lie created by Team Danganronpa. It is also claimed that the entire history of the Hope's Peak Academy saga were fictional.

Two peaceful, killing game-less alternate universe incarnations of Hope's Peak Academy also appear in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. In Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Makoto and the other students participate in School Mode, in which Makoto can take his fellow students on dates and get to know them better while attempting to build replica Monokumas in order to earn their escape. In the Ultimate Talent Development Plan bonus mode of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, students from all three main Danganronpa titles (Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, and Danganronpa V3 respectively) are attending the school simultaneously and can interact with students from both their own game and the other games throughout their school career. After passing a final exam (defeating enemies in turn-based RPG battles) the students are allowed to graduate. This version of Hope's Peak is run by the Monokuma Kubs.

Architecture
The main campus of Hope's Peak Academy was diamond-shaped and approximately the size of four regular high-schools. It was divided into quarters, with the East side containing the facilities and classrooms for Ultimate students, the North side containing the old school building, and the West side containing the Reserve Course buildings. The South side housed the Main Course's dormitories, as well as their living necessities, such as a convenience store, a bookstore, and other shops. The central plaza acted as a common area.

Old Building
The Old School Building, located in the North Quarter, was the location of both The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy and the Killing School Life killing games. It was essentially a self-contained unit containing all the facilities needed for a high-end live-in school: several classrooms over 5 floors, dormitories, a gymnasium, a large catering kitchen and dining room, a library, swimming pool, several restrooms, a laboratory housing an air purifier, a small school store, a trash room with an incinerator, a greenhouse, and a bathhouse with a sauna. After it was decided that the Old Building would become a shelter for Class 78th, the students and Jin Kirigiri bolted the windows closed with thick metal plating.

Before the Killing School Life began, Junko Enoshima covered the classrooms in gaudy and colorful animal-print wallpapers, vandalized most of the classroom blackboards, and added colored lights. She also added surveillance cameras and monitors all throughout the school, and converted the Data Center into a monitor room in which to view the surveillance footage.

First Floor
The ground floor is separated into two major parts; the dormitory and living quarters - called "Hotel Despair" during the Killing School Life - and the school area.

The living area contained 15 dorm rooms, a trash room and incinerator, restrooms, a substantial storage room, laundry facilities, a communal bath house, swimming pool and sauna, and a large dining room attached to a catering kitchen. During the Killing School Life the living quarters acted as a hub area, with breakfast meetings taking place each morning in the dining area, and secret meetings taking place in the bathhouse which was the only part of the school building which was not monitored by surveillance cameras.

The school area on the ground floor housed two classrooms (1A and 1B), an A/V room, the school store (containing the MonoMono Machine, a nurse's office, restrooms, a data center (containing the Monokuma control room), the entrance to the building (sealed with a large vault door) and the gymnasium. The elevator which led to the class trial courtroom in the basement could be accessed from this floor. The gymnasium on this floor was also a key location in the building, used repeatedly by Monokuma to gather the surviving students and give them their latest motive.

Dorm Rooms
The dorm rooms, which were situated in the living quarters, each had one room that served as both a sitting room and bedroom with simple wooden furniture, and a private ensuite bathroom. During the Killing School Life, as with most rooms in Hope's Peak Academy, they were monitored by security cameras, and had a monitor mounted on the wall from which Monokuma gave wake-up calls, night-time alerts, and other school announcements. The default design of the room featured colour-coded bedding based on the gender of the occupant - pink of girls and blue for boys. Even during the Killing Game the students were able to decorate their dorm rooms however they chose according to their own tastes and personality.

Second Floor
The Library and Archives, the swimming pool, and classrooms 2-A and 2-B are located on the second floor. Leading to the pool area are boy and girl changing rooms. Within the men's restroom on this floor is a secret room, containing secret documents and files about Hope's Peak Academy.

Third Floor
The Rec room is directly across from the stairs leading to the second floor. To the left is the Art Room and a storage room. To the right is the Physics Lab, which contains an air purifier and another storage room. Classrooms 3-A and 3-B are also on this floor.

Fourth Floor
This floor contains the Music Room, the Staff Room, the Headmaster's Office, the Chemistry Lab, and Classrooms 4-A and 4-B. The Data Processing Room is also on this floor and is kept locked; it connects to the Monokuma Control Room.

Fifth Floor
The fifth and top floor contains a dojo, along with the Biology Lab, which doubles as a morgue. The Greenhouse is found here, however, when the school was converted into a shelter, the windows were covered and painted sky blue, and artificial sun lamps were installed. Classrooms 5-A and 5-B are next to each other, and classroom 5-C is near the Biology Lab. Classroom 5-C is covered in blood and body chalk lines, likely a result of The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy.

Basement
Before The Tragedy, this basement was used for The Izuru Kamukura Project, and Izuru Kamukura lived there for an amount of time. For the Second Killing Game, it was converted into a grand room for the Class Trials. Separately is a trash dump. Makoto Naegi ends up there after Alter Ego saves him from execution. To exit the dump, there is a long ladder to a hatch that leads to the trash room.

Hope's Peak Academy New School Building
Opened in the 78th year of running the school, the New School Building is a tall tower-like structure with many floors that cascade near the upper levels. Main Course students were transferred from the Old School Building into the newer one after its construction was completed.

Biology Building
Located on the east quarter, the Biology Building is square-shaped, light green, and has multiple stories. It contains Yasuke Matsuda's Neurology laboratory.

Neuroscience Institute
The Neuroscience Institute is located on the third floor of the Science Building. It is outfitted with many scientific instruments and a medical trolley.

Faculty Buildings
Located in the East District of the Academy, the Faculty Buildings are lined up with one another and students are forbidden to access without prior invitation.

Meeting Room No. 13
Located on the top floor of the Faculty Building, Meeting Room No. 13 is the largest meeting room in the entire academy holding a maximum occupancy of around 300 people. Despite its size, the room only holds a long table, rather than being structured as an auditorium type of setting.

Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee Room
Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee Room is where the Steering Committee and current Headmaster meet to discuss the plans of the school's future as well as ongoing projects. The yearly drawing for the Ultimate Lucky Student also takes place in this room.

Other Buildings
In addition to the Biology, Faculty, and Old School Buildings, it has been stated that there are also buildings that go into the subjects of literature, science, physics, art, health, and language.

Courtyard
The Courtyards of Hope's Peak Academy are scattered throughout and are noted to be decorated with fountains and small grounds-keeping sheds.

Overseas Campus
The Overseas Campus began its construction during the 77th Class's first year. When the Tragedy struck, it was transformed into the Future Foundation's secret headquarters, until the Final Killing Game took place.

Trivia

 * Monokuma's "evil" left eye was inspired by one of the symbols on the Hope's Peak Academy school insignia. During Danganronpa 3 - Despair Arc, upon arriving at the school's gates, Junko took a glance at the Hope's Peak insignia and incorporated part of it while designing Monokuma.
 * The architecture of Hope's Peak Academy bears a strong resemblance to the University of Tokyo which is located in Bunkyo, Tokyo.
 * Despite the fact that Hope's Peak was said to have been founded several hundred years before the events of the first game, realistically it would've been founded around 1936. This can be found by subtracting 78 (the most recent class batch's number) from 2014 (the year class 78th started attending Hope's Peak).
 * This could, of course, also be explained by a simple change in the school's class numbering structure, which might have taken place around 1936 instead.
 * The japanese version of Danganronpa states 2010, instead of 2014 (as well as one unchanged CG from the english version), and Danganronpa 3 Despair Arc shows 2016 on a calender, so it is likely the year set is supposed to just reflect “present day”, as they were all the year of release for their respective versions.

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