Kyosuke Munakata

Kyosuke Munakata (宗方 京助 Munakata Kyōsuke) is a character featured in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy - Side: Future and a participant in the Final Killing Game.

He is the vice-leader of Future Foundation and leader of the 2nd Division. His responsibility is to oversee overall management, including any and all construction of new facilities. Despite being only vice-leader, Kyosuke is stated to hold the most power.

During his time at Hope's Peak Academy, Kyosuke's title was Ultimate Student Council President (超高校級の「生徒会長」chō kōkō kyū no "seitokaichō.") The successor to his title is Soshun Murasame.

Appearance
Kyosuke is a man in his early-to-mid twenties. He is tall and lean with a pasty white complexion. His appearance is also very colorless; he has silver hair, blue eyes, and a cold expression. He wears a pale suit with a blue dress shirt, and a faded pink necktie. His tie has a mysterious black insignia on it, and the tips of his shoes have three dots pointed in a triangle. He lost his right eye after a confrontation with Kazuo Tengan.

Personality
Kyosuke's posture suggests a commanding disposition, and he is stated to be both cold and authoritative. He holds an incredible amount of anger towards Ultimate Despair and is in favor of killing them. At one point, he was stated to be charismatic, which is demonstrated in Juzo Sakakura and Chisa Yukizome's loyalty to him, showing that he can be influential. His opinions are very radical, as he believes Despair should be eliminated at all cost, even if sacrifices, like his own death, must be made.

Kyosuke states that he does not believe solely in hope or despair, but power. He understands that (in a way similar to Nagito Komaeda) in order for hope to be fully appreciated, you need to go through a greater despair beforehand. He believes that despair breeds hope, and therefore it needs to be embraced. He disagrees with Makoto Naegi because of this, as he only wants to embrace hope.

Kyosuke is decisive and overly logical, and tries to distance himself from emotional reasoning as much as possible. He is aware that he has to make tough decisions, and has resigned himself to the responsibility. Because of this, he seems to view himself as very martyr-like, as he is willing to put himself into unfavorable opinion with others in order to get things done.

Prior to the Tragedy
Kyosuke was most likely heavily involved in his middle school's student council, which allowed him to be noticed by Hope's Peak.

He was scouted to attend Hope's Peak as part of the 74th Class as the Ultimate Student Council President. During this time he met and had a profound influence on two of his classmates, Juzo and Chisa. After attending, he graduated an estimated 3-4 years before the Tragedy. His title was succeeded by Soshun Murasame, a member of the 77th Class.

On the graduation day, Kyosuke was standing with his classmates, Chisa and Juzo. He watched them in silence as the two of them speak and commented what a strange pair they are. He complimented them both on their talents, saying that they could work anywhere if they really wanted to—but is grateful to the both of them after they declared that the three of them need to stick together. Kyosuke opens up about his worries concerning bad rumors surrounding Hope's Peak and makes a decision to change things.

Kyosuke decides that he would open an overseas branch of Hope's Peak Academy and use it to level his influence to that of Jin Kirigiri's, ultimately aiming to seize power. He requests Juzo and Chisa's help, and Kyosuke declared that he would change the world. When Juzo asks if that was his dream, he responds that, as long as the three of them were together, it wasn't just a dream.

After graduating, Kyosuke left Japan to study abroad and, while away, began working with Hope's Peak to begin construction on an overseas location to help expand Hope's Peak. He worked closely with Jin Kirigiri and was able to have a lot of influence, as Jin took his recommendations for Chisa and Juzo to work there into account. He is shown to be very ambitious, with the ultimate goal of usurping the position of Hope's Peaks' headmaster from Jin.

At some point after Seiko Kimura expelled from the Hope's Peak Academy, Kyosuke and his former classmates offered help for her.

Episode 01: Hello Again, Hope's Peak Academy
Kyosuke was brought up by name by Koichi, who asked Jin if it's true that he had recommended Chisa as his replacement for Class 1-B's teacher. He confirmed this, saying that Kyosuke had insisted that Chisa be the one to take his job. Koichi cautioned Jin to be careful, saying that Kyosuke was quickly becoming successful, despite being so young, and to watch out for him.

At the end of the school day Kyosuke, who was overseas working on an off-shore facility for Hope's Peak (later to become one of the various location for Future Foundation's leaders to meet), called Chisa to talk about how her day had gone. He was happy to hear that she was able to handle it, and reassured her that he can handle the construction himself while she is away.

Episode 02 - My Impurest Heart to You
Kyosuke, who is still working overseas on the offshore location, calls Chisa and the two discuss the Reserve Course. He realizes that the project he is currently working on is being funded by the Reserve Course because the students there have to pay such ridiculously high tuition fees, and continues to wonder what else they are planning. Both Kyosuke and Chisa agree that the Hope's Peak's board of trustees is hiding something nefarious, and continue to plot how to investigate and restore Hope's Peak to its former glory.

Episode 04 - The Melancholy, Surprise, and Disappearance of Nagito Komaeda
Kyosuke is seen talking with Chisa over the phone. He noticed that Chisa was extremely sad about leaving her class, despite the fact that her being transferred to the Reserve Course would make their investigation of Hope's Peak easier.

Episode 06 - A Despairfully Fateful Encounter
Kyosuke was called by Chisa after she snucked into Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee's bulding and learned some informations regarding the Izuru Kamukura Project. Kyosuke said that if the end product of the project, Izuru Kamukura used by the wrong people, he can turns hope into a great despair and chaos. He said to Chisa not to tell this information to anyone besides him and Juzo and forbid her to say Izuru's name.

Chapter 5 - Firework Lyrics
Kyosuke is seen along with his right-hand man Juzo, while explaining who the latter really is after being disguised as Ted Chikatilo.

Chapter 6 - Possibility of Despair
Kyosuke received information from Juzo and praised him for doing a good job in exposing the Killer Killer's identity. Based on the Killer Killer's intention and the fact that he has no possibility of "despair", he planned to use him for the Future Foundation's benefit.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
During the investigation portion of Chapter 6, Hajime Hinata finds several emails between Makoto Naegi and a Future Foundation executive regarding Ultimate Despair. The executive, though not named, shows distrust and hatred for Ultimate Despair and urges Makoto to hand them over for their immediate extermination, or be prosecuted for betrayal.

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy - Side: Future
At some point in time after getting recruited by Koichi for the Future Foundation, he became the head of the 2nd Division and later became the vice-leader. His responsibility as the 2nd Division leader is to oversee overall management, including any and all construction of new facilities.

Despite being only vice-leader, Kyosuke is stated to hold the most power. Because of this and his hatred of Ultimate Despair, it's implied that he is the main force behind Makoto's arrest.

Episode 01 - Third Time's the Charm
In a flashback narrated by Kyoko Kirigiri, Kyosuke is shown on a bridge with several other Future Foundation members. Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu ordered Peko Pekoyama to attack and Kyosuke engaged her in a sword fight. After fighting, it is assumed that he was able to disarm and restrain her before taking Peko, Fuyuhiko, Nekomaru Nidai, and Akane Owari into custody with the help of Juzo and Sonosuke Izayoi.

At an off-shore location, Kyosuke is the last of the Division leaders to arrive in the boardroom, which caused everyone to divert their attention to him. He climbed onto the table to command everyone's attention and walked across it to address Kazuo directly. He attempted to get Kazuo to reconsider his position, reminding him of his "old self" and a time where Kazuo was less indecisive about Ultimate Despair.

After seating himself, he briefly showed the other leaders images of the Ultimate Despair that Makoto protected and expressed doubt when Kazuo calling him Ultimate Hope. When other leaders theorized that Makoto may have tried to save them because he was also an Ultimate Despair, Kyosuke said that it doesn't matter because, either way, he had gone against protocol and deceived them.

When Makoto entered the boardroom, Kyosuke immediately placed him under arrest and ordered Juzo to handcuff him. When people in the boardroom began to argue, Kyosuke ordered them to calm down and temporarily suspended the board meeting so that Makoto can be treated for his injuries sustained from Juzo.

While waiting for the meeting to be called back, Kyosuke is left alone in a separate room with Chisa, who was cleaning the table. He asked her if she wanted to take a break, and Chisa told him that he didn't have to be so formal when they're alone together. He ordered her to take a break, prompting Chisa to ask if he isn't tired. He stubbornly insisted that he wasn't the one who worked too hard and attempted to tell her something before stopping himself. He told her to go check on Makoto and bid her goodbye.

Kyosuke was in the boardroom as the building is under attack. He ordered Juzo to restrain Makoto, unsure if this is his doing. He asked Chisa to contact HQ for help and ordered everyone to not leave the room until they understand the situation. When the sleeping gas is released into the boardroom, Kyosuke was one of the last people to fall asleep. As he was about to pass out, he reached out to Chisa to ask if she's okay.

After waking up, Kyosuke listened to Monokuma's announcement and, slightly panicked, realized that Chisa is missing. He and Makoto notice Chisa's corpse at the exact same time, and were both horrified. As her body falls from the ceiling, he grit his teeth and remembered the words that he wanted to ask her from before: "I am not wrong, am I?"

Episode 02 - Hang the Witch
Monokuma's broadcast ends and Kyosuke watches as panic began to break out in the room. Makoto protests, saying that fighting with each other is exactly what Monokuma would want. Kyosuke agreed, saying that something like this can't possibly deter the Future Foundation from overcoming despair, but is very cold towards him.

After the situation resulting in Daisaku Bandai's death, Kyosuke commanded the room's attention and declared that they need to decide with a majority vote who the traitor is. He asked the room to point at who they believed to be the traitor and the majority pointed at Makoto. In response, Kyosuke coldly gave Makoto a chance for him to come together with him and cooperate and told him to kill himself if he really desires a world without despair as a way to test his loyalty. Chaos broke out again when Juzo then Great Gozu joined in the situation and Kyosuke readied his sword to fight. Kyoko created a diversion by filling the room with fumes from the fire extinguisher and both Makoto and Hina escaped into the hallway. When he went to pursue them, he is confronted by Great Gozu and the two fight.

Kyosuke was able to push Great Gozu back into the hall and continues to fight until becoming distracted by Hina throwing a fire extinguisher and is knocked backward by Gozu. He dodged the debris from Great Gozu's explosion and chased after them, stopping just outside a closed door.

Juzo, after waking up from being stunned by Miaya Gekkogahara, met up with Kyosuke and they discussed their next move. Kyosuke is still determined to wipe out the remaining Despairs, as well as avenge Chisa.

Episode 03 - Cruel Violence and Hollow Words
Kyosuke and Juzo reawaken after the second time limit. Kyosuke admits that he thought he had a 50/50 chance of survival, Juzo scoffs and tells him not to show off. Kyosuke retorts that it was just a logical hypothesis, saying that, if he were the attacker, he would kill himself first. Juzo agrees that, if the attacker wanted to wipe out Future Foundation, killing Kyosuke first was their best bet. Kyosuke says that he hopes that is their true goal, because there would be worst outcomes than their deaths.

The two of them remain in that room until Makoto gives his speech over the facility's intercom system. Kyosuke is moved by the speech's sentiment, but thinks Makoto's words don't hold any power, as he speaks of hope but does not know true despair. Kyosuke stops Juzo from leaving, then goes off to find Makoto in the monitor room. He breaks a window in order to get inside.

Kyosuke ignores Makoto's pleas of friendship, saying that platitudes like that can't help you in a situation like this. He praises Makoto, admitting that he admired him a great deal after seeing him of the broadcast of the Killing School Life. But he quickly realized that Makoto was only able to defeat Junko Enoshima because it was a game. The Killing Game was set up with rules that Makoto and the 78 Class could follow, meanwhile the real world had no such rules. Kyosuke expresses to Makoto the feeling of incredible despair that he and the other Future Foundation members had to go through just to survive the Tragedy. Kyosuke holds on to that feeling of despair so he can have a greater appreciation of hope, and never lose sight of his goal.

Because Makoto elects to ignore and forget his own despair, Kyosuke sees his hope as blind and naive. He sees that his words can spur people to act, but he thinks that action will lead them towards more despair. Kyosuke tells him that, instead of solely hope or solely despair, he believes in power. He believes that the despair of sacrifices can spur people to action towards hope. He believes Makoto's words are hollow and, because of that, gives him an opportunity to change his mind one last time before he chooses to kill him.

Episode 04 - Who is a Liar
While unclear how, Kyosuke managed to incapacitate Makoto without harming him, and tied him up to be dealt with later. He speaks over the intercom system, announcing that he had captured Makoto and was about to execute him—hoping that it would lure out Makoto's companions.

After he had woken up, Kyosuke revealed to Makoto his true intentions for wanting to kill him; from the beginning, Kyosuke didn't believe that Makoto was the one responsible, but knew that there was a danger in keeping him alive. Because of how influential Makoto is, Kyosuke was able to come to the conclusion that the traitor was using this Game as an avenue to get to him, as well as eliminate anyone who would get in their way. He knows that the traitor can end the Game at any time they want, which would make it difficult to know who the traitor is for certain. Kyosuke tells Makoto that the absolute worse outcome would be if the traitor used Makoto to further their plan, by spreading despair in the guise of hope. He realizes that it would spread across the entire world and bring rise to an unstoppable Tragedy. For that reason, he wanted to lure out the traitor to kill both them and Makoto simultaneously.

Kyosuke moves to place his sword on Makoto's neck when Kazuo, Hina, and Miaya arrive and Kazuo deflects the sword out of Kyosuke's hand. Kyosuke moves to dodge a flurry of senbon, distancing himself from Makoto and allowing Hina the opportunity to pick him up and carry Makoto to the door. Kyosuke retrieves his sword and tries to push forward to go after Makoto, but Kazuo orders Miaya and Hina to get as far away to safety.

Kyosuke and Kazuo's fight brings them out of the monitoring room and into a connecting hallway. Without taking his attention off of Kazuo, he hears Hina, Miaya, and Makoto rushing down another hallway. Juzo, who is chasing after Makoto, stops in order to help Kyosuke fight, but Kyosuke orders him to continue to chase Makoto, leaving him and Kazuo alone to face-off.

Kazuo continued to berate Kyosuke, calling him a hypocrite for criticizing Makoto's ideals, as he was young and naive himself. Kyosuke continued to argue that sacrifices were necessary for the foundation of a brighter future. Kazuo coldly responds by asking if Chisa's death was a necessary sacrifice, causing Kyosuke to become enraged and go for an overhead strike. Kazuo sacrifices his hand in order to stop the sword, and tosses the two of them against the glass railing, and both Kyosuke and Kazuo fall to the bottom floor.

While Kyosuke escapes with severe bruising and cuts, Kazuo is impaled by a piece of rebar. Kazuo laughs at how unlucky he is, and Kyosuke opens up. He tells Kazuo that he thought that he had become weak, but he realized now that Kazuo still had a lot of fighting spirit in him that he could respect. Kyosuke admits his own fault and opens up the conversation, wanting to know what Kazuo truly thinks.

Episode 05 - Dreams of Distant Days
Kyosuke mocked Kazuo, saying that he used to be stronger. This triggered a flashback to The Tragedy. In the scene, Kazuo saved Kyosuke from a surprise attack from one of the Despairs army. Kazuo took a sword to the shoulder but managed to knock the assailant away. After the confrontation, Kazuo collapsed and Kyosuke carried him back to safety. Kazuo made a quick recovery, appearing to give a speech to the members of the Future Foundation.

Kyosuke ended the flashback by calling Kazuo a coward and asking why he became one. Kazuo claimed that he learned that the way the Future Foundation has been operating will not eliminate despair. Kazuo told Kyosuke that killing all of the Despairs will not bring hope and that he is naive for thinking so.

Kyosuke asked for clarification; Kazuo explained that killing the Despairs will not create hope. He stated that the purpose of the Izuru Kamukura Project was to create hope. Kazuo declared that he won't let that project go to waste. At this, Kyosuke accused Kazuo of being the attacker and one of the Remnants of Despair, likely because of his insistence on keeping Izuru Kamukura alive.

Kyosuke claimed that since Kazuo was one of a few people aware of the existence of the base and was capable of trapping everyone, then that proves that Kazuo is the attacker. However, there is something he doesn't understand: why Kazuo joined the Remnants of Despair.

To this, Kazuo explained that he was not one of the Remnants. However, Kazuo claimed to know the true identity of the attacker stating that the logic behind it was "too simple" for Kyosuke. Kazuo told Kyosuke the identity of the accused attacker and Kyosuke recoiled in shock. Kazuo revealed that his NG Code is to "Answer a Question With a Lie" to confirm his story since the poison has not taken effect.

Kyosuke laughed and claimed that Kazuo is just making things up to cause him to waver. He then charged at Kazuo with his sword. Kazuo pulled the piece of rebar out from his stomach and impales it in Kyosuke's right eye before having his throat slashed by Kyosuke's sword.

Sometimes after the time limit hit, Kyosuke injected Seiko's medicine and somewhat his left eye turned black.

Episode 06 - No Man is an Island
After bandaging his eye and injecting himself with one of Seiko's vials of medicine, Kyosuke returns to the meeting room where Chisa was killed. He removes Great Gozu's jacket, which had been covering her body out of respect, and gets lost in thought.

He remembered the morning of their Hope's Peak graduation ceremony, declaring his vision to take power of Hope's Peak Academy with helps from Juzo and Chisa. After reliving that memory, Kyosuke takes the spare sword that he had brought and stabs Chisa's corpse through the heart. Before leaving, he turns and calls her 'Chisa' for the first time.

Later, Byakuya Togami reveals that Kyosuke had already sent forces to destroy the Remnants of Despair on Jabberwock Island, meaning he was planning to kill the Ultimate Despair regardless of the meeting's outcome.

At the end of the episode, it was heavily implied that Kyosuke went back to Kazuo's corpse and took his chuusen weapon, beginning to arm himself for a final fight.

Episode 07 - Ultra Despair Girls
Kyosuke is shown at the end of the episode, walking through the halls ominously with the katana from the library.

Chisa Yukizome
Despite his coldness, Kyosuke has a strong relationship with Chisa. Kyosuke grew close to her during their time as classmates at Hope's Peak, and they maintained a strong relationship even after they graduated. He noticeably cares about her well-being, and doesn't want Chisa to push herself. He often values her opinions and discusses things that concern him with her. Chisa is the one person Kyosuke trusts the most, aside from Juzo.

While Chisa has romantic feelings for him, Kyosuke acts more distant and never showed any obvious signs of being in love with Chisa. However, when Chisa is killed, Kazuo claims Kyosuke's love for her had driven him mad. She is also the person he cares about most.

Despite his closeness with her, Kyosuke stays formal and often refuses to call Chisa by her first name, even when she asks him to. However, when Chisa is murdered, Kyosuke says his goodbyes to her by sticking his sword through her heart and says "Bye, Chisa", finally giving in to his deceased partner's request.

Juzo Sakakura
Kyosuke and Juzo have been close friends since high school. The two of them share similar ideals, and both have respect for and are loyal to one another. Juzo acts as Kyosuke's right hand man, and Kyosuke depends on Juzo to do things for him, although he tends to push most of the dirty work off him. Juzo does anything Kyosuke asks, and is very serious about things concerning him.

Kazuo Tengan
Despite being the leader of Future Foundation, Kyosuke undermines Kazuo's authority, attempting to push his own agenda instead. It was not always like this, though; Kyosuke once respected Kazuo a great deal, and saw him as strong with views similar to his own. Kazuo also shielded Kyosuke from a surprise attack by a Remnant of Despair, and Kyosuke defended Kazuo from Peko when she attempted to attack him. Kazuo himself describes Kyosuke as "an old friend." This changes, however, when Kazuo realizes that the way that Kyosuke thinks is flawed and naive, choosing to harbor beliefs similar to Makoto's.

Following these events, Kyosuke begins to think of him as nothing but a senile old man and a coward, deciding to push him aside and shoulder the burden of Future Foundation on his own. Even with his change of viewpoint, Kazuo still had a very keen understanding of Kyosuke as well as his insecurities, resulting in them having a confrontation. After a long fight, Kyosuke once again felt respect for Kazuo, admitting his own misjudgment and allowing Kazuo to speak freely. However, Kazuo's attempts to reform Kyosuke's way of thinking fail, as Kyosuke mistakes Kazuo for the attacker and brings an end to his life.

Makoto Naegi
Kyosuke's most persistent obstacles in his desire to eliminate Ultimate Despair. Because of Kyosuke's position as vice-leader, he was successfully able to charge Makoto with treason against Future Foundation and continues to antagonize him. Rather than just punishing him, Kyosuke is in favor of executing Makoto alongside the Remnants of Despair.

Contrary to what his actions might say, Kyosuke admits to Makoto that he thinks he is impressive, and respects him. He was impressed with him during the broadcast of the School Life of Mutual Killings, and Makoto implies that they had once been friends. Despite this, Kyosuke is consistently at odds with Makoto because their viewpoints are so different.

Makoto believes solely in hope, while Kyosuke believes in power. Because of this, Kyosuke thinks that Makoto's words are hollow and meaningless, as he does not appreciate despair in the same way that he appreciates hope. Kyosuke fears how influential Makoto is, as he doesn't want him convincing people that they can win against despair without fighting, and calls his words "nonsense."

Quotes

 * “So, this is humanity's last hope? Even as we speak, the Remnants of Despair are causing more damage, and more people are falling victim. Is this the time to squabble?"
 * “A world without despair... That is the future that she and I imagined!” (talking about Chisa Yukizome)

Trivia

 * Given the timeline of events, he is thought to be between 22-24.
 * His given name, Kyosuke (京助), means "capital helper/capital head." His surname, Munakata (宗方), means "important figure."
 * Kyosuke's tie design has been changed multiple times.