Sonia Nevermind

Sonia Nevermind (ソニア・ネヴァーマインド Sonia Nebāmaindo) is one of the characters featured in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

Sonia 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, Sonia and the other survivors managed to escape to the real world and remained stay at Jabberwock Island.

Sonia also appears in a light novel titled Danganronpa: Togami as one of the antagonists and a member of Ultimate Despair.

Sonia returns in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy - Side: Despair as a student in Class 77th enrolled in Hope's Peak Academy with the other Remnants of Despair.

Appearance
Sonia is a tall, young woman with 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. She also has a diamond barrette.

In one of her official artworks, Sonia wears a golden dress and 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, Sonia's 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.

Sonia is a rather calm person during the Killing game. She states that she does not fear death, but she also won't let herself be killed nor kill any of her friends. One of Sonia's behaviors in studying Japan is to act like a normal girl.

In Danganronpa: Togami, as Ultimate Despair, Sonia's personality is twisted and corrupted, as shown by when she kills numerous innocent people, crushing them with her armored car. She is also shown using vulgar language and showing a great obsession for despair. Her way of speaking is reminiscent to that of Junko Enoshima.

Prior to the Tragedy
Before travelling to Japan, Sonia lived a comfortable yet very sheltered life in the kingdom of Novoselic. Sonia states that she didn't have a single friend equal in status to her, making her very lonely. She eventually traveled to Japan to study the culture after developing an interest.

During the Tragedy
During her time at Hope's Peak Academy, Junko convinced Sonia to join Ultimate Despair, who survived The Tragedy, and was later brought to the Neo World Program by the Future Foundation with the other Remnants of Despair.

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy - Side: Despair
Sonia returns in Danganronpa 3 - Side: Despair, where its story focuses on the story of the Remnants of Despair during The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.

Chapter 1 - Byakuya-sama is God
Sonia first appeared after she found Byakuya and Shinobu Togami hiding in a back alley. Using her armored car, she brought her soldiers from the Kingdom of Novoselic to confront Byakuya in Prague, Czech Republic.

Sonia informed Byakuya that one of the Togami Conglomerate's artificial satellites had crashed into an island somewhere in the Mediterranean. Shinobu Togami tried to convince Sonia that the one who spread the World Domination Proclamation was the imposter of the real Byakuya. However, Sonia didn't believe her words due to the imposter's perfect voice-print and due to the fact that she herself was secretly in league with the imposter.

Before Sonia's soldiers could capture Byakuya and Shinobu, Hiroyuki and Yuika Ketouin arrive at the scene, easily defeating Sonia's soldiers and taking Byakuya and Shinobu with them inside their Mercedes-Benz.

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 has been set with a transmitter to track him down.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
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! Panic at the Heart-Throbbing School Trip!?
Sonia was one of the students who did not panic when they were transported to the island. She, along with everyone else, went exploring after Usami dismissed them.

Sonia 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 on the first island, though not everyone seems happy about it. Later on, Monokuma came and changed their normal Field Trip, into a Field Trip of Mutual Killing.

Chapter 1 - Destination Despair
In the beginning, Sonia appears at the restaurant, and questions who made the food, if it wasn't Teruteru. When she's questioned by Hajime, she'll comment on how Monokuma's body shape doesn't seem like it would be suitable for fine movements, and she questions of the food will be okay because of it.

In the first chapter, Sonia was eager to clean the Old Lodge, but Nagito Komaeda was elected to clean it instead of her, as a result of his luck which made her sad because she had never went "cleaning" before.

Chapter 2 - Sea and Punishment, Sin and Coconuts
In the second chapter, Sonia 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 Koizumi, one of the girls who rejected her invitation, being found dead in the beach house.

Sonia recognizes the mask that were left by the culprit near Mahiru's corpse. It's the mask of a serial killer known as Sparkling Justice. This evidence made her believe that the serial killer was responsible for Mahiru's death, not one of the trapped students.

However, near the end of the trial, Sonia reveals that Sparkling Justice was not originally Japanese, and this is proof that Peko Pekoyama 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 - Trapped by the Ocean Scent
In the third chapter, Sonia was one of the students who wasn't affected by the Despair Disease, so she, along with the other non-affected students, moved to the Motel on the third island. Sonia meets with Hiyoko Saionji, who, after bathing for the first time in days, is unable to tie her own obi properly, since Mahiru, who helped her before, was murdered.

Sonia suggests Hiyoko to use the full-body mirror in the live house, which results in Hiyoko walking in on Mikan Tsumiki while she's in the process of murdering Ibuki Mioda, 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 Robots Dream of Electric Clocks?
In the fourth chapter, Sonia became excited to ride the Roller Coaster because there are no amusement parks in her kingdom.

During a conversation while the entire remaining cast were debating whether or not to ride the roller coaster, Gundham Tanaka tells a quick story of how he went to a demon-filled amusement park in Hell. Sonia asks to accompany him the next time he goes, in which he replies that he must offer the blood of a virgin as the entrance fee and that he'd use Sonia's. She promptly says that her blood would not be suitable to meet those demands, alluding to her no longer being a virgin. Kazuichi was very displeased about that comment.

Sonia also developed a friendship with Gundham, hanging around the Surprise House with him. However, she refused to believe that Gundham was the culprit behind the murder of Nekomaru Nidai.

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 - Smile at Hope in the Name of Despair
In the fifth chapter, Sonia is extremely upset by Nagito making light of Byakuya Togami 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 tested to see if it would explode in front of the abandoned Hope's Peak Academy building.

During the trial, as Hajime Hinata realizes and when the traitor confesses, they can deduce that Chiaki Nanami 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 that Chiaki would ever betray the group, and still considers her a friend.

Chapter 6 - This is the End Goodbye Academy of Despair
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 Enoshima's pawn for her sadistic project, which was previously thwarted by Makoto Naegi and the Future Foundation. 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 use Forced Shutdown, Sonia told AI Junko (despite AI Junko saying that they'll forget their friends and 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 and efforts not going in vain, she won't back down and chooses to activate the Forced Shutdown.

Epilogue - The Day Before the Future
After the defeat of AI Junko and the virtual version of Chiaki was finally gone, Sonia is one of the few that survives. Sonia and former Ultimate Despair members opted to stay on the Jabberwock Island, possibly in hopes that they could do something to help their comatose friends.

Episode 01 - Third Time's the Charm
As a member of Ultimate Despair, Sonia lead a brainwashed army with Monokuma helmets on in the beginning of the episode along with Mahiru beside her who was taking photographs to spread her despair-inducing photographs to the world.

Execution
Princess Sonia - Sonia is made into a Snow White puppet by Monokuma. Monokuma acts out the story, and as it continues, Sonia eats the apple. However, unlike with Snow White, Sonia does not wake up again. The story ends with Monokuma, as Snow White’s stepmother, living happily ever after. This execution is only shown in the Official Fanbook.

Gundham Tanaka
Though they were already shown to speak to one another before, Sonia and Gundham's friendship truly blooms during Chapter 4 after they finished the Roller Coaster ride and Sonia asked to accompany Gundham on a trip to an amusement park in hell. They became very close due to their complimenting interests (such as Sonia's interest in the occult with his odd behavior, or her liking of his "cute hamsters"). Sonia showed interest in Gundham's hamsters multiple times, which successfully flustered Gundham and made him blush.

She constantly sides with Gundham, even going off with him to explore the Fun House before Kazuichi noticed. In the main story, Sonia is also the only one who has made Gundham blush. It's implied that they have a romantic interest in each other, much to Kazuichi's annoyance.

Sonia is also the only one that Gundham does not refer to as kisama (a way of saying 'you' that suggests contempt, or alternatively an archaic polite form of 'you') or by their last name, instead calling her "she-cat" at one point or "the Dark Queen", which is mentioned to be his fantasized version of Sonia. He claims that the Dark Queen has great power, which has not been awakened yet.

When Gundham is deemed the culprit of Chapter 4, Sonia refuses to believe it, urging him to object against Hajime's accusations. Gundham did defend himself but was unusually silent, and Sonia begged him to say something many times. She also pleaded with Monokuma to save Gundham from his execution, but finally let Gundham go after she was convinced by Gundham himself. He told her actions were "unbecoming of someone of your status".

Gundham's Four Dark Devas of Destruction are entrusted into Sonia's care after his "death". After Gundham's execution, Sonia has a new resolve to make it out alive without anymore killings because of his last words about not giving up.

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 makes it very clear that she is far from interested and when talking to Hajime she refers to him as her stalker. She also is much more hostile towards Kazuichi than she is towards any other student.

Chiaki Nanami
Sonia and Chiaki seem to be on good terms with each other. In chapter 2, Sonia invited Chiaki to her beach party, which was canceled because of Mahiru's murder. In chapter 5, Sonia furiously defends Chiaki when she is accused of being the traitor, even going as far as to try to push suspicion onto herself. When Chiaki is voted as the culprit, Sonia tearfully tells her that she doesn't think Chiaki could ever betray them, and says that no matter what, they'll always be friends, which Chiaki agrees to.

Presents
Obtained from the MonoMono Machine.
 * Falkor's Muffler
 * Gugelphupf Cake
 * Brightly Colored Jeans
 * Another Battle
 * Century Potpourri

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.
 * Novoselic Kingdom
 * Makango
 * Friendly geese that won't steal your bagel

Skills
These will aid you, usually during Class Trials.
 * Envious Influence - Greatly increases Influence Gauge. Effective during the class trial. Cannot be combined with Attentive Influence.

Quotes

 * “My name is Sonia Nevermind.”
 * “It is a pleasure to make your esteemed acquaintance! May we endeavor to maintain a lasting friendship!”
 * “I am truly happy that someone has casually walked up to me to talk... This must be what it means to have classmates! I am very touched!”
 * “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!”
 * “However, what happens next depends on us. As long as we do not kill anyone, this will all be fine.”
 * “I do not intend to kill anyone...and I do not intend to be killed easily either!”
 * “Raise your head. There is no need to worry!”
 * "BOW DOWN!”
 * “I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR THAT!”
 * “I can read and write 30 languages. It's a necessity for the royal family.”
 * “Guiding my people along the right path is the duty of a ruler!”
 * “I was surprised...so that is what Japanese harakiri looks like. He actually cut his own stomach by himself... The life of a yakuza must be truly difficult.” (talking about Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu)
 * “Shush! Lower your voice!” (to Hajime Hinata)
 * “You are hopeless... Since I have already sailed this far, I shall sink you into the ocean.” (to Hajime)
 * “However...expanding my knowledge like this is the duty of every member of the royal family.”
 * “Do you not agree that dismissing a different set of values due to ignorance is foolish?”
 * “Although I cannot allow killing under any circumstances, the lives of humans are shaped by destiny...”
 * “Just because we make an effort to prevent danger, it does not mean we can defy destiny.”
 * “Besides...my life belongs to my country and its people.”
 * “If I were to die, it would be for no other reason than the sake of my country and my people.”
 * “If I die here...it would be meaningful to my country and my people. So...I do not fear death.”
 * “If I showed my fear, it would fill my people with despair...”
 * “But in the end, no matter where I go...I am nothing but a princess.”
 * “I...I want to go home! Right now! I want to go back to my homeland where my family and people are waiting for me...!”
 * “Who did you have your heart set on initially, and who do you intend to switch to later?”
 * “Remember, Even at a green light, if you all stop together, you need not to be afraid!”
 * “Gundham, who tames the Four Dark Devas as he pleases, is so much cooler than any ultimate weapon!” (to Gundham Tanaka)
 * “Capturing Nagito... Is that...really the right thing to do...? If everyone agrees to it, I do not intend to object. However...will that solve anything?” (talking about Nagito Komaeda)
 * “And then... I finally found it. Hajime, you... Look just like the legendary hero from my country.” (to Hajime)
 * “You wear a white shirt just like the legend says, and your hair looks like an antenna! And your face...is completely unremarkable!” (to Hajime)
 * “After all this time, Hajime... So...you were my destined one...” (to Hajime)
 * “Only a coward threatens women.”
 * “You are wrong... You are not a tool, Peko. Because...if you are a tool... Then what was all that time...we spent together!?” (to Peko Pekoyama)
 * “Ibuki, Hiyoko...Mikan. Can you hear us? If you are unhappy, I apologize... However...please forgive me for right now... I...want to warmly welcome Nekomaru when he returns to us!”
 * “Just as I thought, it *was* the wind pressure! A dust devil blown here from glorious Japan!” (talking about a setup that causing the fire in the doll factory warehouse)
 * “If you got penetrated by something big and thick, you would die instantly!”
 * “To think that one of us could kill someone with such cruelty... I could never believe that.”
 * “It seems we are stuck... Shall we have tea time?”
 * “After all, we have been working together all this time... We have been helping each other all this time... Chiaki...being a traitor... Being a member of that horrifying Future Foundation... That is obviously a lie!” (talking about Chiaki Nanami)
 * “There must be some mistake! I mean...if Chiaki is the traitor... What was all that time we spent with her!? Was that all a lie too!?” (talking about Chiaki)
 * “I do not want this anymore... I am so very tired... of doubting people...”
 * “Are you telling us to believe in you...and sacrifice you? That is just too cruel...” (to Chiaki)
 * “E-Even if you were a traitor... You...never betrayed us. Chiaki...you will always be our friend. Even now... We don't blame you for this! That's why you don't need to apologize!” (to Chiaki)
 * “As long as we work together, we will not lose to Monokuma or anyone else!”
 * “Do not joke about the world ending!”
 * “This is nothing to LOL about!” (to Junko Enoshima)
 * “When my body felt so heavy that I could not move, when I felt as though I was sinking into a deep, black sea... It was at that moment, I somehow heard Hajime's voice... And thought it was just a flash, I saw it.”
 * “Like a lighthouse beacon shining across an ocean of darkness... A warm, yet resolute, light... The one who shined that light...it was probably... You saw it too, right Hajime?”
 * “The future we are going to create from this moment on, it is also the future that everyone has created, right? Then...there is no way we can stop now!”
 * “Even if we awaken in the real world and forget about what transpired here... it will still have meaning, right?”
 * “Even if I forget...I will use all my might and remember!"
 * "Jesus! Shit! You son of a bitch!"
 * "God damn it! You mother fucker!"

Trivia

 * The name "Sonia" is a Slavic variant of the name "Sophia", which means "wisdom". It is very widespread nowadays, especially in eastern Europe and Scandinavia.
 * "Sonia" is also a feminine given name in Hindi, derived from the word सोना sonāa, which means "golden" - matching Sonia's hair color.
 * 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.
 * If you remove the "H" and the "S" from the "INUTEROHS" crest on her dress, it spells "In Utero", the name of Nirvana's final studio album.
 * Sonia's report card states that:
 * She likes the occult/Japanese culture, but dislikes sour plums.
 * Her blood type is A.
 * Her chest is 33 inches.
 * In Island Mode, Sonia states that she loves Japanese dramas.
 * In Island Mode, Sonia make a reference to Mafuba, a technique designed to seal demons away in a famous manga, Dragon Ball.
 * 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 actors requested by the creators to portray a specific character in the game, the other being Kotono Mitsuishi, voice actress of Peko.
 * In Chapter 2, Sonia tells Hajime that she can read and write in 30 languages.
 * In Chapter 4, Sonia indirectly declares to Gundham that she isn't a virgin, but that is most likely just a verbal mistake because she misunderstood due to being a foreigner as Gundham in japanese used the word Shojo (処女) for virgin which sounds when spoken identical to Shōjo (少女) meaning little/young girl implying Sonia meant she isn't a little girl. It's a joke misunderstanding that got lost in translation.
 * However, the term 'virgin' also refers to someone who hasn't used their blood for a satanic ritual, and due to her obsession with the occult, it could also mean that she has partaken in such a rite in the past.
 * In an interview with Yoshinori Terasawa, he states that Sonia probably adopted the Four Dark Devas of Destruction after Gundham's execution.
 * She can be regarded as a red herring for the culprit of Chapter 2. In the debate of what happened to the blood on the culprit, Ibuki pointed out per agree point that the culprit could have worn a wetsuit to take care of the bloodstains. Sonia wore a wetsuit when the girls decided to go to the beach and met up at the diner. The wetsuits are shown to be in the same closet at the beach house where Hiyoko was lying unconscious and the killer was hiding. Sonia also pointed out that she arrived late to the meeting, being noted by Kazuichi to have been after 4:00 pm, so after Mahiru was murdered, because she had trouble putting on the swimsuit, which also was a surprise that she decided to wear one. It's also noted by Kazuichi to Hajime in the supermarket that the entire idea with the beach and meeting at the diner came from Sonia which was also supposed to be girls only.
 * Sonia has by far the most agree points in the entire game at 6.
 * One of her sprites is a reference to Rosie the Riveter.
 * In Danganronpa: Togami Sonia states many reference, such as:
 * Sonia referencing to Harenchi Gakuen, a classic erotic manga when she commented on Byakuya who only wears towel at that time.
 * Sonia referencing to Ken Takakura, an older Japanese actor who starred in many yakuza films. She also quoting a line from a yakuza film, Ryuji.
 * Sonia referencing to Lupin III when she asks to Byakuya which jacket color (green or red) that his imposter wear.
 * Sonia referencing to Byakuya's voice actor Akira Ishida when she wonder about the perfect voiceprint of Byakuya's imposter.
 * Sonia referencing to Ace Attorney after Byakuya asks her why she didn't attend the Council of Global Controllers.
 * During the Trial on the 6th Chapter, Sonia reveals she has been doing "indecent" things in front of the surveillance cameras. It's only implied what she means, but Byakuya agrees with this.