Licorne

Licorne (リコーン), mostly referred to by the nickname Lico (リコ) is a character featured in Danganronpa Kirigiri Volume 3. Licorne is a triple-zero detective of the Detective Library.

Volume 3
Early Life

Licorne joined the Detective Library and received his detective ID when he was only 8 years old. He was able to rise through the ranks, in approximately 4 years according to his age, and became a detective legend among the 65,000 registered detectives worldwide. By becoming a 000 detective, Licorne had the liberty to handle any general case rather than a specific crime. Licorne was unaware of his actual age and so has no known birth date, meaning his childhood at present remains a mystery. Licorne disclosed that his parents died when he was young, which is why he doesn't remember his real name. He also mentioned having an aspiration to go to college to study space, though this may have been a lie.

During his time with the Detective Library, Licorne gained a passion for solving mysteries and enjoyed the work he performed. However he refused to join the Victims Catharsis Committee, an organization responsible for staging crimes by setting criminals against other criminals to exact their revenge. The Committee creates a murder plan and provides the criminal with the necessary funding if needed and a detective is then assigned to solve the case, as a form of training. Licorne referred to this as setting up investigations “like exam questions” and felt it was artificial in nature.

Famous Cases

Licorne participated in a case which involved capturing the Zodiac Killer. He was successful and received public attention from the American media, performing an interview while shielding his identity using a one-way mirror and a voice changer. He gained large amounts of recognition and due to having no official identity, was given the aliases Rei Mikagami as well as the Ghost in the Mirror by the media. He is registered under these aliases in the Detective Library.

The Three Hit Men

Three hit men were hired to dispose of Rei which Licorne suspected Gekka had hired to confirm his suspicions that Rei was in fact Licorne in disguise. Licorne was able to defeat one of the three hit men the Night Flyer very easily. His last opponent, Tsurugi Hitomoshi, who graduated from Hope's Peak Academy now as the Former Super High School Level Rock Climber, attacked both Yui and Kyoko via choking and almost succeeded in murdering Kyoko. Licorne however is able to rescue her by throwing his jacket at Tsurigi before beckoning him to choke him instead, switching his attention away from Kyoko Licorne is able to use a poison-coated wire inside his tie to gash Tsurigi's arm which makes him fall unconscious.

The Twelve Duel Noir Challenge

Gekka challenged Yui to solve the mystery of the Duel Noir, if she completed this task he would leave the Committee willingly and she would thus defeat the Committee altogether. The conditions placed on her meant she could recruit any detective she chose and would receive police cooperation should she need it to solve the twelve Duel Noir cases. After choosing the detectives she wanted to work with, each is assigned to one case each. Gekka assigns Licorne to help Yui with the twelve Duel Noir Challenge and Licorne accepts without objection.

Kyoko and Yui returned to Yui's room and discovered five challenge cards darted to the wall by Licorne proclaiming that he had solved the five Duel Noir cases that were assigned to him. Yui later called him, Licorne answering that he had solved all his cases before the crimes were even committed and that he stopped by to let them know. On the back of each challenge card he had written the case details so Yui could prove they had been solved if she needed to. Licorne next told her that he was taking his time with his final assigned case, the sixth Duel Noir, enjoying himself betting while on a cruise ship.

Volume 4
Helicopter Rescue

After supposedly capturing the sixth Duel Noir, Licorne appeared piloting a helicopter to rescue Salvador Fukurou Yadorigi, Tooru Uchida, Gorou Anbo, Erii Wan and Kousuke Kanzashiichi from freezing to death at Kareobana Academy. Those saved were members of the Ouu Daitouitsu University Mystery Research Club apart from Fukurou who was simply investigating the Academy in order to get closer to the head of the Committee.

At first Fukurou is suspicious of Licorne and demanded to know who he was, Licorne gave his name and stated he was Yui's 'errand boy'. Fukurou then asked Licorne a specific question about Yui's appearance to catch him off guard however Licorne was able to answer correctly. Despite thinking that Licorne had an ulterior motive, Fukurou accepted his help.

Licorne, while piloting the helicopter, announced that Tooru was the culprit who had killed Rei Naruko, another member of their club and stated that the rest were permitted to leave upon landing other than him. The blame for Rei's death was originally placed on the leader of the Black Magic Club, Fushie Saki who had supposedly created an underhand cult and was presumed to go as far as killing the Mystery Club members as a way to gain back their old club room that was stolen. After much deliberation, it is assumed that the one who killed Rei in the gym was in fact a member of the Mystery Club as there was no signs of life in and around the school during the time when the club members arrived.

Fukurou was able to confirm the way Rei's murder was carried out but was unsure who committed the crime despite having his suspicions over Tooru. Once the club members were asleep on the helicopter, Fukurou demanded to know how Licorne knew of his whereabouts, what was happening and who the culprit was so quickly. Rather than giving him a direct answer, Licorne told Fukurou to check Tooru's pocket and in doing so he revealed a student card with Tooru's birth date written on it, May 5th. This showed that Tooru had the zodiac sign Taurus and was thus another Duel Noir as each case represented a different zodiac sign. Fukurou later requested whether Licorne would be able to take him somewhere he wished to go.

Name
リコーン (Licorne), uses the katakana リコーン, which in French translates to "unicorn", referencing his feminine appearance; however it could also refer to his illusive nature which leaves his identity unknown. As unicorns are legendary, it could also be a reference to his legendary status as a 000 detective.

Appearance
Licorne has an androgynous appearance, showing male and female characteristics. He has light blue eyes and long eyelashes and his skin is, on perception, translucent. His hair is dark blue and of medium length which reaches just below his shoulders. He is slightly shorter than Kyoko and has a slender frame. Licorne often changes his appearance as he can disguise himself in many different ways however he is illustrated wearing a white shirt, orange necktie, covered by a grey V-Neck Jumper. He wears black shorts which are held up by a white belt as well as black knee-high socks and black shoes. He holds a black coat with different colored sleeve buttons and the edges of the coat are trailed with red cross-stitching which can also be found on the lower rim of his shorts.

Personality
Licorne often acts mysteriously and mischievously when around others, having a dry humor while constantly upholding a polite demeanor. When in combat he stays calm and cheerful, having a limited feeling of fear over most dangers. Licorne acts childishly at times however has a great level of maturity depending on the situation.

Combat Skills
Licorne is very skilled in all combat areas, as a triple zero detective, he is able to handle any case given to him which thus requires him to have necessary combat techniques. An example of Licorne's strength in battle is shown when he defeats two of three hit men who are hired to kill him, he is even able to defeat the Former Super High School Level Rock Climber.

Superior Intelligence
Licorne is shown to have superior intellect compared to many others in the detective library such as being able to understand an unknown language spoken by one of the hit men hired to kill him, Copycat who Kyoko and Yui both couldn't understand. He is also able to pilot a helicopter which shows his ability to learn quickly given the fact he is only twelve. Becoming a triple zero detective at such a young age, with only multiple other adults being able to reach this status shows he is very mature for his age, in his speech and actions.

Relationships

 * Associates:

Kyoko Kirigiri
While Kyoko and Licorne have little interaction, Kyoko stated that she does dislike Licorne and cannot trust him due to his unorthodox behavior. Licorne does save Kyoko from being attacked which shows he may care about her wellbeing.

Yui Samidare
Licorne and Yui appear to have a friendly relationship despite their differences. They occasionally work on investigations together and thus have disagreements but at the same time Licorne is comfortable enough to joke with Yui about kissing him in order to gain his help with her investigation, which she was willing to commit to before he withdrew. Yui has also stated to have a fondness for Licorne despite being easily frustrated by him also, the two tend to interact and joke between each other often.

Gekka Ryuzōji
Licorne holds a great amount of respect for Gekka despite him being affiliated with the Committee, something which Licorne greatly dislikes. It is clear they have trust for each other as Gekka doesn't hesitate to assign Licorne to help Yui with her investigation and Licorne in turn accepts without objection. However despite showing respect for Gekka, unlike other detectives, Licrone does not hold him in such lofty acclaim.

Trivia

 * During the Twelve Duel Noir Challenge, Licorne states that his sixth Duel Noir case would consist of a death game on a cruise ship. This could be a possible reference to the visual novel adventure game , the plot entailing participants in a life-or-death situation, to escape from a sinking cruise liner similar to Licorne's next assignment.


 * Licorne's appearance, personality and career could be a reference to the Edogawa Ranpo character Yoshio Kobayashi due to him being a member of the Boys’ Detective Club, a master of disguise as well as convincingly being able to disguise himself as young women.
 * Yoshio’s fictional mentor, Kogoro Akechi, may be the inspiration for Mikado Shinsen who could have possibly been Licorne in disguise.