Great Gozu

Great Gozu (グレート ゴズ Great Gozu) is a character featured in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy - Side: Future.

He is a member of Future Foundation and the leader of the 12th Division. His responsibility is to help oversee and assist in construction of infrastructures such as roadways, communications, and other public facilities. He is also Kazuo Tengan's bodyguard.

During his time at Hope's Peak Academy, his title was Ultimate Wrestler (超高校級の「レスラー」 chō kōkō kyū no "resurā.")

After it's revealed that Aoi Asahina's death was faked, Great Gozu is shown to be the third victim of the Final Killing Game in Episode 03.

Appearance
Great Gozu is a tall, muscular man in his late twenties. His build gives off a very intimidating vibe and, as part of his persona as a wrestler, he wears the mask of a cow's head, with piercing red eyes and a scowling appearance. Underneath, he appears to have brown hair and a goatee. He wears a blue tie and a black suit, with the Future Foundation ID pinned to its lapel.

Personality
Despite his intimidating appearance, Gozu is gentle in nature and he has a very quiet, polite way of speaking. When in arguments, he is very patient and rarely raises his voice. Gozu has high moral standards and sees things like persecution without a fair trial as dishonorable. He also dislikes needless violence, and readily stops Juzo Sakakura from assaulting Makoto Naegi; he attempts to resolve things quickly, without having to use intimidation tactics, but can resort to that if needed, and threatened Juzo with a fight. He is shown to be very frightening when angry.

Great Gozu respected his comrades greatly and states that he will never doubt his comrades as long as he lives.

Prior to the Tragedy
Great Gozu was scouted to attend Hope's Peak as part of the 69th Class as the Ultimate Wrestler. After attending, he graduated 8-9 years before the Tragedy. During that time he worked as a professional wrestler.

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy - Side: Future
At some point after getting recruited by Koichi Kizakura for the Future Foundation, he became the head of the 12th Division. His responsibility as 12th Division leader is to help oversee and assist in construction of infrastructures such as roadways, communications, and other public facilities. He is also appointed as Kazuo Tengan's bodyguard.

Episode 01 - Third Time's the Charm
In the opening flashback, Great Gozu is shown on the bridge in a face-off against several members of Ultimate Despair. While Kyosuke Munakata, Juzo, and Sonosuke Izayoi square off against Peko Pekoyama, Akane Owari, and Nekomaru Nidai, Great Gozu stands in a protective position in front of Kazuo.

Great Gozu, along with the other leaders of Future Foundation gather in the boardroom of the hidden off-shore facility to privately discuss what to do about Makoto. The discussion opens and, in response to Ruruka Ando's concern, comments how the Remnants of Despair have really quieted down as of late. Juzo fires back at him, mockingly asking if 40 terrorist attacks in a single month is 'quieting down.' The two continue back and forth, ending with Great Gozu saying that the solution was not as simple as Juzo seemed to think it was. Great Gozu turns his attention to the group as Daisaku Bandai, Seiko Kimura, and Ruruka Ando veer away from the original topic, attempting to get them to quiet down. Kyosuke Munakata entered the room soon after and, after watching him step onto the table to look down on Kazuo, commanded him to show respect.

After Makoto, Aoi Asahina, and Kyoko Kirigiri entered the room, at Kyosuke's request Juzo apprehended Makoto. Great Gozu is angered seeing the abusive way that Juzo is treating Makoto, and politely asks him to stop. He reasons that punishment without a fair trial was dishonorable and goes on say that, if he didn't stop, Great Gozu would challenge him to a fight.

During the boardroom's attack, Great Gozu attempts to reassure everyone. He tries to rationalize that, with all of the Future Foundation leaders here, there was nothing they couldn't handle, but is quickly overcome with the sleeping gas hits the boardroom.

Episode 02 - Hang the Witch
Gozu is one of the first to speak after Monokuma's broadcast ends, wondering aloud who is doing this to them. Together, Juzo and Great Gozu go to inspect Chisa Yukizome's body and, out of respect, Great Gozu takes off his jacket and lays it over the corpse. After Juzo's actions indirectly kill Daisaku, Great Gozu asks in exasperation what he had done.

When Kyosuke orders everyone in the room to point at the person they believe is the traitor, Great Gozu refuses to raise his hand. He blocks Juzo's knife with his fist and breaks the blade in half, attempting to calm the situation. He doesn't believe Makoto's death will solve anything, and create nothing but more despair. Kyosuke readies his sword and is aiming to challenge him when the room is filled with fumes. In the confusion, he allows Hina and Makoto to escape by shoving Juzo back and then facing off against Kyosuke.

Kyosuke pushes Great Gozu back out into the halls and Great Gozu, using a sledgehammer, tries to break through his defense. He swings the hammer wildly and shouts that the death of a comrade will only cause more despair. He swears that he will never kill his allies, even if it cost him his own life, and continues to try and push Kyosuke back. Hina throws a broken fire extinguisher, distracting Kyosuke and allowing Great Gozu to blow him back while his guard is down. Great Gozu drops the hammer and leaps up, elbow dropping the floor and creating a distraction of dust and debris. He slings Makoto over his shoulder and they outrun Kyosuke into the next room.

Together with Miaya Gekkogahara, Hina and Makoto, they decide to get into a separate room and barricade themselves so they will be protected once they are put to sleep. Great Gozu places a broken locker against the door of the room and listens to Makoto's uplifting speech to Hina. He laughs, and compliments him on his ability to stay optimistic. He reveals that Kazuo was happy when Makoto first joined Future Foundation, saying that things were most certainly going to change, and passionately encourages him to cheer up. As the time approaches 00:00, Great Gozu puts a hand over his heart in prayer.

Episode 03 - Cruel Violence and Hollow Words
At the beginning of the episode when Makoto, Hina and Miaya look around after waking up, they were shocked to find Gozu hanging on the top of the wall dead with a knife stabbed into his heart. After his body is taken down, Hina puts her jacket on Gozu's dead body in respect.

Later in the intercom room, Makoto announced that the third victim of the Final Killing Game was Great Gozu.

Kazuo Tengan
Acting as his bodyguard, Great Gozu seems to respect Kazuo's authority over Kyosuke's, and would prefer to take orders from him.

Makoto Naegi
Great Gozu admires Makoto for his optimism in the face of adversity, and has thought that way ever since seeing him broadcasted in the School Life of Mutual Killings for the first time. He sees Makoto as the type of hope that Future Foundation needs, and fiercely protected Makoto from Kyosuke for that reason.

Quotes

 * “I can’t imagine a comrade’s death creating hope!”
 * “How the hell do you get hope from killing your allies?!” (to Kyosuke Munakata)
 * “Even in the School Life of Mutual Killing, you kept believing, and you changed the hearts of many. We need that power for the future.” (to Makoto Naegi)

Trivia

 * Given the timeline of events, he is thought to be between 26-29.
 * Gozu's persona could be based on Gozu ("Cow Head"), a Japanese urban legend about a horror story. Supposedly the story is so horrifying that anyone exposed is overcome with fear, causing violent trembling, memory loss, or death. The story has different variations which all includes a creature with the "body of a man and the head of a cow."
 * One version of the story states that a village was cursed after killing and eating a man with a cow's head, mistakenly thinking he'd be made out of beef