Byakuya Togami

Byakuya Togami (十神 白夜 Togami Byakuya) is one of the characters featured in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and a participant in the Killing School Life.

Byakuya's title is Ultimate Affluent Progeny (超高校級の「御曹司」chō kōkō kyū no “onzōshi.”) He is the heir to the financial giant called Togami Corporation.

Byakuya survives the final trial and escapes Hope's Peak Academy with the other survivors.

Byakuya also appears in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls as a member of Future Foundation, along with Makoto Naegi and Kyoko Kirigiri.

Byakuya is also the main protagonist of the light novel Danganronpa: Togami.

Byakuya returned in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy - Side: Future and is the vice-leader of the 14th Branch.

Appearance
Byakuya has a tall, slim figure, and usually dons a black suit. He wears a white shirt underneath and a green criss-cross tie. In promotional material, he is often seen wearing a vest and necktie. He has short blond hair, and he wears white framed glasses. Byakuya is usually seen with his arms crossed, which is a personal quirk in line with his arrogance. When he joins the Future Foundation, the only noticeable change to his appearance is that he wears a necktie.

Personality
Byakuya is an arrogant young adult who originally saw himself to be more superior then the others because of him being the heir to an extremely successful family business. He is extremely reluctant to admit to any mistakes he might have committed. He is often cold, blunt, and reserved, but he has a deviously manipulative tendency. Byakuya often expressed irritation from Toko Fukawa and Genocide Jack's obsessive behavior toward him, but he also often used it to his benefit by ordering them around.

Throughout the story, Byakuya frequently antagonized the others and often said he would be the one to emerge unscathed. Despite his prudish demeanor, he was actually one of the group's most sensible students and had proven to be a competent investigator. As the story progressed, Byakuya began to genuinely care about his classmates, to the point of even announcing that he would no longer take part in the killings.

Byakuya displays a high level of intellect, showing himself to be one of the most competent and insightful investigators in the group, although he prefers to work alone due to a lack of trust among the others. He is also seen reading often in the library when the second floor is accessed, even going as far as telling others to stay out and not disturb him.

Byakuya greatly revered his family, often speaking of the vast power of the Togami Corporation. When Junko Enoshima revealed the state - or rather, cessation of existence - of the entire Togami Corporation, he initially didn't take it well; though he would later recover from the shock to announce that they would rebuild the family from the ground up.

Byakuya is quick to zero in on suspects without alibis - or those who seem to be most suspicious - as shown in the fifth school trial when Kyoko Kirigiri did not have credible alibis to support her absence. Yet, in other instances, it became obvious that because of having spent much time within a highly competitive environment he was unable to account for the human factor; this led to committing errors in judgment when attempting to resolve the death of Sakura Ogami.

After escaping Hope's Peak Academy and joining the Future Foundation, Byakuya appears considerably nicer, as he is genuinely protective of others and even ready to risk his life for them. He is also occasionally seen smiling in a genuine, friendly manner. According to his Danganronpa 3 profile, the killing game made him value relationships with people just a bit more. It also should be noted that the Future Foundation returned his memories. Nevertheless, he continues to treat Toko in a harsh manner, since she keeps flirting with him even though he is not interested. Still, he seems to insult her and other people less, although he can still be serious at times and lacks any sense of humor.

Ultimate Affluent Progeny
Due to his title and the fact he came from a high class family Byakuya was expected to have high success.

Prior to The Tragedy
Byakuya is the heir to the financial giant that is the Togami family.

As a tradition, the head of the family did not have a single, dedicated wife, but instead had many, many children with “a number of the highest quality women” all across the world. At some point, all of the potential successors were made to compete against one another, with the victor being named heir of the Togami Corporation.

In Byakuya's generation there were fifteen candidates of various genders. The candidates all fought for the position and in the end, he, the youngest, came out on top. It was the first time in the family's history that the youngest had ever “taken the crown”. The losing siblings were exiled from the family, but Byakuya harshly described them as being “killed” because, according to him, “[to be in] exile is pretty much the same as death”.

According to the rumors, Byakuya had already held several management positions at a company and had managed to acquire a considerable amount of fortune on his own. Furthermore, all of the schools he enrolled into were exclusive ones, his former high school being Green Hills High School.

The closest person to him was his butler, named Aloysius Pennyworth, who referred to him as "Young Master".

Byakuya attended Hope's Peak Academy's 78th class as the Ultimate Affluent Progeny, making him exceptional even among the Ultimates.

Chapter 1 - Byakuya-sama is a God
Byakuya, along with one of his older sisters, Shinobu Togami were on a week-long vacation to Prague, Czech Republic, when all of a sudden the Church of Bones, the location where the duo were, was attacked. Byakuya was knocked unconscious, leaving Shinobu to carry him into a back alley. When he awakes he doesn't question how he became naked, accepting the towel given to him by the locals. When he questions Shinobu on who attacked, he is quite shocked, at first, when she reveals someone taking his place, but he quickly brushes it off, taking it as a challenge.

After the World Domination Proclamation was declared by his imposter, Sonia Nevermind, as a member of Ultimate Despair, came with her army to capture Byakuya and Shinobu. They both managed to escape after Hiroyuki and Yuika Ketouin arrived to saved them. In turn, Hiroyuki wanted the information and Secret to Togami Family's Prosperity after they arrived at Hiroyuki's hideout. Byakuya first despised him, but eventually agreed as they faced more obstacles later on ahead.

Byakuya and the others soon encountered Sakura who was sent by Hope's Peak Academy to find Byakuya, whom they mistook as the person who broadcasted the World Domination Proclamation. After almost being crushed by Sakura, they managed to escape at the last second as Hiroyuki activated his Mercedes' jet engine and they eventually escaped the powerful Sakura and soon arrived at the center of Prague where the people demonstrated, protested the World Domination Proclamation that could disturbed the peace.

Byakuya and the others arrive at the demonstration location. One of Hiroyuki's friends, Taeko Kanai reported back to him after she chased Sonia's crew. Due to Taeko's abruptness, the demonstration spotted them and begin to surround them, giving no escape route. Later, Sonia reappeared with her armored car in a pincher attack along with Kazuichi Soda's flying machine gun to destroy Byakuya, who was inside Hiroyuki's Mercedes. Byakuya eventually escaped after he learned and threw his old glasses that had been set with a transmitter to track him down.

Byakuya and the others eventually escaped the murderous events in the center of Prague and arrived in Škoda Auto factory that belonged to Ketouin Conglomerate. When his older sister and him tried to contacted Hope's Peak Academy, Junko Enoshima, the Mastermind behind The Tragedy, is the one who answered to their call.

During The Tragedy
One year later, the Tragedy occurred. During the Tragedy, Jin Kirigiri, the Headmaster of the Academy, planned to seal the school building and let the students live forever inside the Academy in order to protect them from the destruction. His plan was agreed to by the class, and they sealed the building together and lived peacefully inside it for a year without knowing that the Ultimate Despair members were already in their midst.

The true Ultimate Despair took away the 78th Class' school memories so they could participate in the school life of mutual killing.

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
As the events progressed, Byakuya emerged as one of the prime investigators of murders, alongside Makoto and Kyoko, and tended to make swift logical conclusions based on facts they learned through investigations, instead of thinking about abstract theories like Kyoko did. In Class Trials, Byakuya was usually the first to spot weaknesses and apparent logical fallacies within others' statements.

Later on, Byakuya became more and more arrogant and began considering himself and his opinions to be superior over everyone else. Sakura's death prompted him to announce that he would abandon the "game" and focus his efforts on finding the mastermind, although it did little else to defeat his confidence; it was only during the farcical trial to Mukuro Ikusaba's death that he would finally realize his own limits.

Prologue - Welcome to Despair
Byakuya and the others find themselves locked in the Hope's Peak Academy, with no memory of what happened.

At first, Byakuya showed his dislike towards everyone by stating that he will never cooperate with them. He considered the Mutual Killing to be a "game" of sorts, and kept to his own devices.

Chapter 1 - To Survive
When Sayaka Maizono asks about rule 6, about the part where it says "unless they are discovered", Byakuya explains that it means you have to kill someone without anyone else discovering. When the students prepare to explore, Byakuya says he is going alone, stating that someone might be thinking about murder and berated the others for not considering it to be a possibly. Mondo Owada said that he wasn't going to let him go around doing whatever he wants. Byakuya called him a plankton, stating that he was insignificant and when Mondo threatened to hurt him, Makoto attempted to calm him down, resulting in Mondo knocking him out in a fit of rage.

The next day, Byakuya arrives later than the others and when asked if he had seen Sayaka, who was the only other person not to arrive. This made Makoto nervous, so he went to go check his room, and noticed that Sayaka was murdered.

After Monokuma woke up, Byakuya told Makoto that Sayaka was dead and berated him for trying to run, stating that no matter how many times he checked, Sayaka would be dead. He then asked Monokuma, if the murderer would leave, to which Monokuma explained the graduation rule and the Class Trial. He then witnessed the death of Junko Enoshima, and agreed to participate in the investigation.

During the Class Trial, he initially suspected Makoto, due to him and Sayaka trading rooms, it was later revealed that Leon Kuwata was the killer after Sayaka tried to kill him, he was shocked when Leon was executed.

Chapter 2 - Boy's Life of Despair
Whilst exploring the new floor, Kyoko came upon a dusty letter, which she concluded was from a while ago due to the dust, stating that Hope's Peak Academy was forced to shut down. Byakuya stated that it may be a fake, but believed that if it was real, then the mastermind may have placed them in a different school, citing that the mastermind was powerful enough to build a trial ground and a place for execution.

The next day, Byakuya didn't appear for the morning meeting, leading the others to become worried about him and they then began looking for him. They find him in the Library, reading. He mentioned performing something original for his plot, should he become the villain in the game. Mondo was disgusted at him calling it a game, but Byakuya stated that this was a game, a game of life or death with only one winner, to which Celestia Ludenberg called a zero-sum game, where one persons loss is another ones gain and that the game was based of people gaining the limited resource of "blackened" to which Byakuya coldly called fun. Celeste says that the concept of losing has never come to Byakuya, to which he agreed, and he told Aoi Asahina that he wouldn't die.

Mondo gets angry at him again, to which Byakuya expresses his amazement at him remaining alive for this long. Mondo threatens to kill him with Byakuya replying that he can't die. Chihiro Fujisaki says that "she" doesn't like the concept of killing and stated that friends shouldn't fight, something which Byakuya criticized, stating that they weren't friends causing "her" to become quiet and afraid. Mondo threatened to kill him for picking on those who couldn't fight back, but Byakuya said he wouldn't cooperate with anyone anymore.

Byakuya remained in the Library, refusing to talk to anyone. Later when Toko and Makoto went to see Byakuya, he told them to get out and told Toko to take a bath, commenting on her smell. This caused Toko to misinterpret it as him caring about her and she quickly developed feelings for him.

Before Monokuma's second motive, Toko told him her secret, that she was Genocide Jack. Later he appeared for Monokuma's second motive, and berated Hina for waiting for help, since none had arrived. Monokuma explained the second motive which was everyone's dark secrets and threatened to disclose them in 24 hours if there wasn't another murder.

Whilst at the library, before going back to his room, he noticed Mondo leaving the girl's changing room, Byakuya had a look inside, and noticed the dead body of Chihiro Fujisaki. In order to reveal Genocide Jack and advance his own motives, he crucified the body using an extension cord, intentionally so someone could lead it back to him, and wrote "Blood Lust" on the wall.

The next morning, the others had learned that someone had been murdered, so Byakuya led Makoto into the girl's changing room, which had been unlocked by Monokuma. After Kiyotaka Ishimaru appeared and saw Chihiro's corpse, Byakuya told him to get the others. During the investigation he agreed to co-operate with Makoto for a while. Makoto asked about the card readers, Monokuma explaining how they worked and that it was forbidden to loan out their e-Handbooks to others. Byakuya realizes the loophole between lending and borrowing, since you can borrow your e-Handbook from a dead person. They then went to the main hall and discovered three e-Handbooks from those who had previously died (excluding Chihiro). Junko's and Sayaka's worked, but Leon's didn't, which they believed was due to his execution destroying it.However, Monokuma stated that it wouldn't break from force, but it did have one weakness.

Afterwards Hina appears, telling them that an emergency has happened, as Toko blocked herself in her room. After Makoto convinced Byakuya to try and talk to her, she apologized for not keeping her promise to Byakuya. After leaving Toko, they headed to the library, where Byakuya showed Makoto the Genocide Jack case file, to which Byakuya explained. Byakuya let Makoto have a look at the files where he learned that Genocide Jack having a case of Dissociative Identity Disorder. He told him that all Genocide Jack killings had "Blood Lust" written besides them and top-secret information from police records stated that all victims were crucified. He then split up from Makoto.

During the Class Trial, he quickly exposed Toko as Genocide Jack, shocking the others. He then explained that he knew since Toko told him, afterwards Toko fainted and turned into her Genocide Jack personality. After suspicion, it was revealed that Genocide Jack didn't kill Chihiro since all of Genocide Jack's victims were male, everyone assumed that Chihiro was female at this point, and that a dumbbell rather than her Genoscissors were used in the crucifixion, something which Genocide Jack always used.

The blame quickly shifted onto Byakuya himself, since he had access to the police files and the extension cord was used, something which Byakuya had used before. However Byakuya seemed unmoved and encouraged Makoto, there it was also revealed that Chihiro was killed in the boy's changing room and that Chihiro was actually male, both facts surprising Byakuya and from this it was determined that Byakuya wasn't the killer, which he admitted to only modifying the crime scene. When asked about his motives, he called them irrelevant, but said they should look for the real killer. Later Mondo was found as the killer and was executed.

When Kyoko asked why Byakuya covered for Mondo, he responds saying that it made things more interesting. When Yasuhiro Hagakure states that Byakuya would have been executed as well, he said that he would have spoken up should that have happened, and he was annoyed at Makoto for figuring out he was involved, revealing that he was also looking for who to watch out for, claiming for he would use this information when it was his turn to be the villain.

Chapter 6 - Ultimate Pain, Ultimate Suffering, Ultimate Despair, Ultimate Execution, Ultimate Death
As the retrial progressed, Junko was eventually revealed as the true perpetrator of the Mutual Killing incident. Byakuya was shocked when Junko illustrated his family's current situation - or, lack of a situation, given that his family had apparently been completely wiped out - and was rendered completely speechless for the first time since the start of the murders.

As Byakuya obtained motivation through Makoto's speech of hope to grasp past the shock caused by Junko, he defiantly reminded Junko that his sole reason to support Makoto was to destroy the culprit that had been responsible for the deaths of his former classmates (a vow taken at the conclusion of Sakura's Class Trial), and that he did not plan to fall into despair any time soon. Byakuya further added that, as long as he were alive, the Togami Family would never truly die; Byakuya Togami is still alive, and he vowed to rebuild his family no matter what opposed him once he entered the outside world.

Supporting Makoto, Byakuya and the remaining students voted for Hope - causing Junko to fall into one last episode of despair shortly before she executed herself in The Ultimate Punishment.

Epilogue - Goodbye Despair High School
Their torments were finally over, Byakuya remained arrogant to his peers, but also finally admitted that, without anyone's help, he wouldn't have survived through this gruesome journey. Byakuya repeated his vow to rebuild his family with his own hands, and declared that it would be far greater than before.

With that, Byakuya emerged from Hope's Peak Academy as one of the survivors at the end of the game.

Joining the Future Foundation
Byakuya and the others survived together in the apocalyptic world until they were found by Koichi Kizakura, a member of Future Foundation. They decided to join Future Foundation to fight against despair and Future Foundation helped them recover their school memories. Byakuya became a very respected member of the 14th Branch.

Chapter 3 - Bessatsu Shounen Zetsubou Magazine
Byakuya was seen in the explanation of the Tragedy, along with the other survivors of the Killing School Life as one of the people integral in stopping the Tragedy's mastermind, Junko Enoshima.

Prologue - The Warriors of Hope
Byakuya, as a Future Foundation agent, made his first appearance by saving Komaru Naegi after she was almost killed by a Monokuma unit. He had a conversation with Komaru, during which he figured out that he and his group were lured to Komaru's captive location on purpose. However, the two of them were interrupted by a large number of Monokuma units coming to dispatch them. Byakuya quickly gave her a Megaphone Hacking Gun to defend herself and told her to escape the building, leaving him to deal with the Monokumas. He was then captured and taken as a hostage.

Chapter 5 - Absolute Despair Girl
After the Big Bang Monokuma was defeated, Toko said that before they left they needed to save Byakuya. He was later revealed to be fine, and he was shown eavesdropping on Toko and Komaru's conversation about staying in Towa City. Toko said it didn't matter how far away she and Byakuya were and that their relationship would never change. Byakuya agreed: no matter how far away they were, he would never have feelings for her.

Byakuya was last seen talking with Makoto about a woman who had good information. He showed Makoto the video message left by his sister, then ended the call with a genuine smile, saying that he owed Komaru and Toko.

Chapter 6 - This is the End Goodbye Academy of Despair
Byakuya, Makoto and Kyoko arrived into the Neo World Program to save the remaining Remnants of Despair by activating the Forced Shutdown.

Epilogue - The Day Before the Future
After defeating AI Junko and exiting the Neo World, Byakuya leaves Jabberwock Island with Makoto and Kyoko while Hajime Hinata watches from the island.

Episode 06 - No Man is an island
Makoto and Hina make contact with Byakuya, who is surprised after he learned that there was another killing game has occurred. Byakuya said he hasn't received any broadcast. He informed Makoto that one of his men has reported that Kyosuke Munakata has sent some of his troops to Jabberwock Island to deal with the Remnants of Despair. Byakuya said he has sent his forces to the island and he will come to them. Makoto thanked Byakuya, who gave him a back handed compliment to make him feel hopeful before he ended the transmission.

Byakuya mobilized his troops to go with him to the Future Foundation's headquarters. One of Byakuya's men asks why he didn't tell them that they discovered Miaya Gekkogahara's body, which means the Miaya Gekkogahara that was with Makoto was a fake. Byakuya said if they had told Makota and Hina the truth, then the fake could've have done something to them. Byakuya suspects Monaca Towa is behind the killing game, and contacts Toko and Komaru, who are still in Towa City, to go after her.

Episode 07 - Ultra Despair Girls
Byakuya winced as he "sensed" that a pervert is fantasizing about him. The men report that all the divisions have reported no activity of the Remnants of Despair. Byakuya looked at Monaca's file as he told his men to hurry to the location. He said that as long as he is alive, he won't allow the Future Foundation to fall. Later, Byakuya contacted by Toko who informed him that one of their former classmates is fated to die because of Makoto.

Episode 08 - Who Killed Cock Robin
Byakuya arrived at the Future Foundation's headquarters in time to save Hiro from being shot by another helicopter. After he landed, Byakuya had Hiro and his men planted explosives to blow open the sealed entrance. After the entrance is unblocked, Hiro went to rush in, but Byakuya grabbed him and told him to stay outside. As Byakuya and his men investigated the lobby, one of his men approached an unconscious woman. Byakuya warned him to be careful of what he touches, but the woman who turned out to be a robot eyes spring open and triggered the alarm which sounds throughout the building, and making it destroyed after a big explosion occured.

Execution
Human★Disqualification - If executed, Byakuya would have been dropped in a garbage can which would fall into a place that looks like Hell. Monokuma, dressed like an elementary student, would appear and throw stones at him for looking like a dirty hobo. Byakuya would try to escape, but he would come out into a cold and snowy place. He would eventually die from his wounds and hypothermia.

This is just a draft, and was only shown in the official visual fanbook of Dangan Ronpa.

Aloysius Pennyworth
Aloysius is one of the few people that Byakuya is willing to open up to, making him more of an indispensable asset to the Togami family. His capture as a Captive during the events of Danganronpa is the evidence how important he is for Byakuya.

Byakuya also stated in Danganronpa: Togami that if he were the Togami family's enemy, the first person he would target first is Aloysius.

Toko Fukawa/Genocide Jack
Both Toko and her alter, Jack, possess an extreme obsession with Byakuya, who regards their crush as disturbing.

Toko finds Byakuya attractive. She can often be seen blushing when he address her, and misinterprets his disgusted remarks about her “stench” to be concern. She hopes to one day assume an affectionate relationship with them, but is content with him constantly insulting her for now, seeing his genuine dislike of her as mere “lovers' quarrels”. The two are frequently either seen together or noted to be absent from the group, although this is largely due to Toko's tendency to stalk Byakuya.

On the other hand, Jack insulted Byakuya at first, whom was very surprised as a result. However, Jack found Byakuya attractive as well, and declared in a Free Time Event that Byakuya was the only cute "boy" she wouldn't kill.

Like Toko, Jack is usually seen stalking Byakuya and following him everywhere. Byakuya generally harbors animosity toward her in return, but this side to their relationship eventually evens out into simple apathy. Toko and Byakuya even managed to have several conversations that could be classified as normal, despite Jack's existence.

In the second game, Kyoko mentioned that “someone” was waiting for him to go back, possibly meaning Toko is still obsessed with them.

He seems to have a secret sense that tells him when either Toko or Jack is having a perverted fantasy about him.

Makoto Naegi
The first time they meet each other was during the High School Life of Mutual Killing, Byakuya saw Makoto under the impression that he was only an ordinary highschooler unworthy of his time. However, as the story progressed, Byakuya began to admire Makoto's investigative skills, although he would never openly voice it. Makoto often hung out around Byakuya, the two investigating.

In the second game, Makoto, Byakuya, and Kyoko become companions and he supports Makoto's plan to save the remaining students from the will of the Future Foundation's higher-ups.

Kyoko Kirigiri
Byakuya and Kyoko do not have a good relationship. During their killing school life, Byakuya had always been suspicious of Kyoko, and even went as far as to taking her room key because she couldn't tell him what her reason for selection at Hope's Peak Academy was in chapter 5. Kyoko disliked him because of his lack of respect for human emotions, which she said would come back to bite him, with Byakuya shaking the remark off.

Eventually, it seems they learned to work with each other during their time at the Future Foundation, possibly because they both had their memories returned. This can be seen that, despite his background and title, he is willing to be the vice head, working under Kyoko.

Aoi Asahina
Byakuya is shown not to get along with Hina starting Chapter 4. This begins when Byakuya insults Sakura Ogami and Hina defends her best friend. This worsens when Hina threatens to kill Byakuya, and even slaps his face in anger. Even before these events, Hina disliked Byakuya because of his arrogance, and Byakuya believed himself to be superior to the other students.

After the two escape the school with the other survivors, Byakuya and Hina seem to be friends, having put their life of killing behind them.

Presents
Obtained from the MonoMono Machine.
 * Luwak Coffee
 * Scarab Brooch
 * Golden Gun
 * Showa Radio
 * Crystal Skull
 * Golden Space Shuttle
 * Prince Shotoku's Globe
 * Millennium Prize Problems

Choices
During free time conversations, the player will occasionally be given a choice on how to respond to something that is said. These are the 'right' choices.
 * Day Trading
 * 55 Million Yen/550,000 dollars

Skills
These will aid you, usually during Class Trials.
 * Cool and Composed - Steadies your aim a little. Effective during the Nonstop Debate and the Hangman's Gambit. Costs 2 SP.
 * Envious Influence - Increases the Influence Gauge by 5. Effective during the Class Trial. Costs 4 SP.

Quotes

 * “I'm Byakuya Togami...”
 * “Hello there. Listen... who are you again? I apologize for my poor memory. But it’s just so hard to remember things I don't care about.”
 * “Rejoice, commoners, for today I show you just how much far above you I am.”
 * “Did you forgot how to walk? Is that why you're late? It's simple - right foot, left foot. Right foot...”
 * “And remember, this girl examines dead bodies as a hobby. Personally, I'm inclined to believe her.” (thinking about Kyoko Kirigiri)
 * “You're a loser. So go ahead and live your loser life, make a bunch of loser friends. Then together, you can lick each other's loser wounds.”
 * “You know how much I hate being annoyed. But if something does come up, you may as well let me know. I can't guarantee I'll actually bother listening, but you know...”
 * “Byakuya Togami, Future Foundation 14th Branch.”
 * “So you don't know what Monokuma is... what a carefree person.” (to Komaru Naegi)
 * “The smallest possibility... You might as well call it a miracle.”
 * “Do not hesitate without my permission.”
 * “Dedicate yourself to your writing, and make it full of emotion, grandiose, and yet without belaboring the point, without licentiousness, without excessive sentimentality, your words cool and collected. I will resolve this incident without fail. Yes... I stake the Togami name on it.” (to Shinobu Togami, regarding his biography creation)
 * “There's no need to proclaim something that you could do whenever you felt the whim.”
 * “A Togami does not hide with his tail between his legs.”

Creation and development
From the very beginning, Byakuya was planned to be a "cool" character. His design was difficult to create for the character designer Rui Komatsuzaki, who said, "Since I am not very good at drawing pretty girls and boys, Byakuya was the character I did the most retakes on."

When Rui read the game's plot and realized Byakuya was a cruel dark hero, he thought of dressing him in the biker fashion he personally likes. However, he was asked to make the character's position as a heir easy to understand, which lead to his current design.

Though originally he was supposed to be a very serious rival character, Byakuya slowly began to become a gag character after Toko was decided to be in love with him. Byakuya was only given glasses later in his design after Genocide Jack appear, in order to make him look more like Toko.

Similarly, he had a gag character role in Danganronpa Another Episode, as well.

Trivia

 * In Danganronpa Another Episode, Byakuya's profile states:
 * He likes coffee and French cuisine, and that he dislikes commoners and instant food.
 * His blood type is B.
 * His chest size is 32 in.
 * In Danganronpa: Togami, Byakuya states that if he were to go after an island it would be England because they serve disgusting cuisine (ie. Jellied eels.)
 * His first name is Japanese for "white night", an occurrence in the Arctic or Antarctic circles, and his last name translates as "Ten Gods".
 * Byakuya claims to have a personal fund of 400 billion yen.
 * He appears to be fluent in French, as he was easily able to read Mukuro's Fenrir Mercenary Corps profile that was written entirely in French.


 * Byakuya's official artwork for Danganronpa features him wearing a necktie, when in the game he wears a cross tie.07-21.jpg
 * Byakuya appears as a guest character in Chain Chronicle: Brave New Continent. His Max ATK is 7080 while his Max HP is 4700. His weapon is the Megaphone Hacking Gun and its ability is doubled attack power. His deathblow is "Envy of an Influential Voice". Shortly after the deathblow is used, the allies' attack power increases, but so does the amount of received damage.
 * Interestingly, he has the least amount of HP and attack power out of all the Danganronpa guest characters.
 * Byakuya's former high school, Green Hills High School, is a reference to Green Hill Zone, a level in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.