Sonia Nevermind

Sonia Nevermind (ソニア・ネヴァーマインド Sonia Nevāmaindo) is one of the characters featured in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. She has the title Ultimate Princess (超高校級の「王女」chō kōkō kyū no "ōjo").

She is the princess of Novoselic, which is a small European monarchy. At the end of the game, she and the other survivors managed to escape to the real world.

Appearance
Sonia has knee-length blonde hair with pale skin and light green eyes. During gameplay, she wears a green and white dress with a large red ribbon on the chest and a dark green, almost black, ribbon in her hair. In one of her official artwork, she wears a golden dress and wear a white crown.

Personality
Sonia is a cheerful and polite girl with a great interest for Japanese culture. She is very kind and thoughtful, and she cares deeply for her friends. She is also rather naïve. Sonia is fascinated with serial killers and the occult, and has actually stated that she likes Friday the 13th. While very friendly, her commands are rather assertive and captivates the undivided attention of everyone surrounding her. However in the fifth chapter, Sonia suddenly likes to curse and shout out loud when she is upset or in trouble.

History
[Warning: Several spoilers follow this section!]

Prior to the Tragedy
Before travelling to Japan, Sonia lived a comfortable life in the kingdom of Novoselic. She eventually became interested in Japanese culture, and travelled to the country to study it.

She was a member of Ultimate Despair, who survived The Tragedy, and was much later brought to the New World Program by the Future Foundation with the other Remnants of Despair.

Island Life of Mutual Killing
During the events of the game, Sonia states that she won't let herself be killed nor kill any of her friends. Her words come true, and she is one of the survivors at the end of the game.

Prologue - Welcome to Dangan ★ Island! Big Panic at the Heart-Thumping Field Trip?
She is first seen in the Hotel Restaurant being teased by Teruteru Hanamura. Later, she and the groups take Usami's present and happily play at the beach in the first island, though not everyone seems happy about it. But much later, Monokuma came and changed their normal Field Trip, into a Field Trip of Mutual Killing.

Chapter 1 - Tropical Despair
In the first chapter, Sonia was eager to clean the Old Lodge, but Nagito was elected to clean it instead of her, as a result of his luck.

Chapter 2 - Crime and Coconuts, Punishment and Pina Coladas
In the second chapter, she held a girls-only party at the beach, at which most of the girls on the island attended. Much to Kazuichi's surprise and disappointment, she wears a full-body wetsuit to the event, but it's interrupted by Mahiru being found dead in the beach house.

Near the end of the trial, Sonia reveals that Kirakira-chan was not originally Japanese, and this is proof that Peko could not possibly be the vigilante. This comes after the vote, but since Peko is ultimately considered the culprit, the rest of the class is able to pass the trial.

Chapter 3 - Ocean Breeze Dead End
In the third chapter, Sonia meets with Hiyoko, who, after bathing for the first time in days, is unable to tie her own obi properly, since Mahiru, who helped her before, is dead. Sonia then suggests Hiyoko to use the full-body mirror in the live house, which results in Hiyoko walking in on Mikan while she's in the process of murdering Ibuki, causing Mikan to kill Hiyoko. Sonia is briefly suspected due to not having an alibi at the time of the crime.

Chapter 4 - Do Ultimate Androids Dream of Electric Clocks?
In the fourth chapter, Sonia became excited to ride the Roller Coaster, which is because there are no amusement parks in her kingdom. She also developed a friendship with Gundham Tanaka, hanging around the Surprise House together. However, she refused to believe that Gundham was the culprit behind the murder of Nekomaru.

Gundham is ultimately convicted, and Sonia pleads with Monokuma to spare him, but Gundham scolded her for that, calling her attempt to intercede with someone prepared to meet his fate as “dishonorable” and unbecoming of someone like her. After Gundham's executed, Sonia is the one who tells the others that if they give up on life, Gundham might return from the pits of hell and be angry with them.

Chapter 5 - You Smile at Hope They Call Despair
In the fifth chapter, Sonia is extremely upset by Nagito making light of Byakuya and Gundham's deaths. She contributed to the investigation by discovering that the bomb in the Doll factory was a fake, and when she proved that the bomb was a fake one, she test to explode it in front of the abandoned Hope's Peak Academy building. During the trial, as Hajime realizes and with the traitor confess, they can deduce that Chiaki is the traitor from the Future Foundation in the group, Sonia tries to argue against him, by claiming that if Hajime's proof is that Chiaki knew Nagito's bombs were fake, the same could apply to her, but Hajime points out that Monomi saw Sonia testing the bombs, and reported to Chiaki. After the verdict, Sonia, in tears, tells Chiaki that she does not believe Chiaki ever betrayed the group, and still considers her a friend.

Confronting AI Junko Enoshima
After witnessing her friends fall one by one because of this sadistic game, Sonia vows to stay alive. Along with others, Sonia is in disbelief that Hajime is actually Junko's pawn for her sadistic project, which was previously thwarted by Makoto and friends. When she believes that the Forced Shutdown will cause her to lose her memories, Sonia begins to despair, believing that it will render everyone's efforts and the deaths of their friends meaningless. However, when Hajime convinced everyone to used Forced Shutdown, she told told AI Junko (despite AI Junko saying that they'll forget their friends & their deaths) that Hajime's words made her realize that the future they make will be the future their friends made for them; so for their deceased friends' sakes & efforts not going in vain, she'll won't back down and chooses to activate the Forced Shutdown.

After the defeat of Junko and the virtual version of Chiaki was finally gone, Sonia is one of the few that survives.

Gundham Tanaka
Sonia and Gundham's friendship blooms during Chapter 4 after they finished the Roller Coaster ride. Sonia's showed some interest in Gundham's hamsters, calling them cute, which successfully flusters Gundham. Gundham also called her as 'she-cat'.

Kazuichi Soda
Kazuichi has had a liking for Sonia since the Field Trip of Mutual Killing began. Kazuichi always supports Sonia's claims and defends her from any contradictions. Although Kazuichi shows a lot of interest in her, Sonia is more interested in Gundham and finds him 'intriguing'.

Quotes

 * “ It is a pleasure to make your esteemed acquaintance! May we endeavour to maintain a lasting friendship! ”


 * “ In my own country, I had not a single friend my own age who was my equal in status. And so, for everyone to gather and partake in this group activity… It is a feeling most novel! …I applaud you all! ”


 * “ I do not plan on killing anyone... nor have I any interest in meekly being killed! ”


 * “ STEP ASIDE! ”


 * “ I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR IT! ”
 * “I can read and write 30 languages. It's a necessity for the royal family. ”
 * “To guide my people down the right path! That is the duty of a ruler! ”
 * “Although killing each other is absolutely intolerable, the life and death of people depends on destiny... Even if they work hard to prevent dager, destiny is a presence that one cannot defy against. ”
 * “Needless to say... My life is the property of my country and its citizens. If i die, it will only be for my country and its people. If i die here... it means that this would be have some meaning to my country and its citizens. Therefore... I'm not afraid of death. To me who was born into this world as a princess, I will not have a meaningless death. ”
 * “I had also... experienced being kidnapped by the opposition twice so far. If i was seen to be scared then, the citizens will go into despair... So... I could only try my best to bear it, and quietly wait for help to arrive. If i showed fear and cowardice straight away, maybe my current situation would be better. ”


 * “ Remember, Even at a green light, if you all stop together, you need not to be afraid! ”
 * “ Tanaka-san, who tames the Four Heavenly Kings as he pleases, is so much cooler than any ultimate weapon! ”  (to Gundham Tanaka)
 * “And then... I finally found it. Hajime, you... Look just like the legendary hero from my country. ” (to Hajime Hinata)
 * "Who did you have your heart set on initially, and who do you intend to switch to later?"

Trivia

 * Sonia's surname is taken from the title of the band Nirvana's second album, Nevermind. Her home country of Novoselic is named after Nirvana's bassist, Krist Novoselic.
 * Sonia's e-Handbook states that she likes the occult and Japanese culture but dislikes umeboshi.
 * Sonia's voice actor, Miho Arakawa, is known for her role as Himari Takakura from the anime Mawaru Penguindrum, and was one of the two voice actor(s) requested by the creators to portray a specific character in the game, the other being Kotono Mitsuishi, voice actor of Peko Pekoyama.
 * In Chapter 2, Sonia tells Hajime that she can read and write in 30 languages.
 * In Chapter 4, she indirectly declares to Gundham that she isn't a virgin.
 * Her Bloodtype is A.