Mikan Tsumiki

Mikan Tsumiki (罪木 蜜柑 Tsumiki Mikan) is one of the characters featured in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

She has the title of Ultimate Nurse (超高校級の「保健委員」chō kōkō kyū no “hoken iin”; lit. Super High School Level Health Committee Member).

After catching Despair Disease in Chapter 3 and regaining her memory, she set up a plan to murder Ibuki Mioda, who also contracted Despair Disease, but ended up murdering both Ibuki and Hiyoko Saionji after the latter witnessed her attempt to murder Ibuki. She had murdered for “the sake of her beloved”.

Appearance
Mikan has long, choppy, dark purple hair and lighter, greyish-purple eyes. There is a beauty mark under her left eye's corner. She wears a nurse uniform which consists of a pale pink, collared short-sleeved shirt with puffed sleeves.

She wears a white apron over this which is tied behind her neck with a ribbon. There are two red lines on the left side of the apron, one going down to her middle and another, short red line perpendicular to the vertical one. A short pale blue pleated skirt is visible under her apron. Mikan has bandages wrapped around most of her left leg and right arm. Additionally, she has a band-aid on her left knee cap and wears white socks and shoes.

Personality
Mikan is easily intimidated to the point of tears. She is nervous and constantly worries about bothering, boring, or offending others, even going as far to ask Hajime Hinata whether it would be alright to remember his name during her introduction.

She is quick to conclude that she is disliked by those around her, and her fragile personality makes her an easy target for Hiyoko's cruelty. Mikan frequently offers to allow others to beat or strip her so that they won't hate her. When nervous or startled, she stutters over words. She is also clumsy and often ends up in extremely embarrassing poses, all of which she apologizes repeatedly for.

However, as the Ultimate Nurse, her medical knowledge proves to be useful in murders: providing autopsy reports and information on the corpse's state, details on injuries, cause of death, and time of death. She has a liking for syringes and shots, and offers them to Hajime when she gains access to the Pharmacy, and even chases him around with a syringe in one of her Free-Time Events.

After the main events of Chapter 3, despair disease, and the memory of school life that comes with it, alters her personality dramatically. During the Class Trial, Mikan's emotional state breaks down. Her personality endlessly switches from crying for forgiveness, to sinisterly denying her charges, to angrily pulling her hair and demanding to know why her classmates are suspecting her of the murders.

Mikan's intellectual processes also change dramatically as a result of the despair disease. Before the disease, Mikan would offer herself in whatever humiliating act she figured others wanted her in, and she offered little more self-defense than tears to Hiyoko's cruelty. After the disease, however, Mikan is aware of her maltreatment.

She calls the others out on it- even those who defended her, asking why everyone is bullying her. However, her words cannot be taken at face value- she, at least to some degree, has manipulated her personality at will throughout most of the trial in hopes of tricking others. Also, among her final statements are attestations that she doesn't care about any of her relationships at Hope's Peak Academy, any of her classmates, or anything that's happened outside of the one she loves. Instead, she has constructed her emotions to manipulate her classmates.

Mikan, throughout the game, always displayed quick adaptation to her environment through altering aspects of her personality to suit what she had projected as their thoughts. However, before the disease, Mikan was primarily self-effacing for the benefit of others and to reduce conflict; after the disease, she is cunning and deceptive in order to preserve herself at the potential cost of the others' lives.

History
[Warning: Several spoilers follow this section!]

Prior to the Tragedy
Like all students in Danganronpa 2, she was a former member of Hope's Peak who had their memories of their school life erased. Much of Mikan's past is revealed in her Free-Time Events. Apparently she was raised in a home, and in general a place, where people would harm her, and no one ever tried to take care of her.

Because of that, she learned to take care of herself from a very young age. She told Hajime that she realized that she could help the people that were weaker than her, and, at the same time, those who needed her help would pay attention to her and listen to what she had to say; both of which were things that she enjoyed.

It seems that she was physically and emotionally abused by people in her family and in other places, like school. Among other things, she mentioned getting splashed with water, smeared with mud, and getting burned with cigarettes.

She mentioned that since she didn't want people to hate her, she used to do whatever people asked her to. This includes things like eating bugs, making interpretations of certain animals, letting people draw on her, and even implied stripping. She said that she did it because then people would not hate her, but rather laugh about it. Hajime believes that she feared being alone/having a lack of attention more than being physically or emotionally abused because of this.

At the end of the Third Trial, she states that she was able to remember about her school life. Mikan mentions that there was somebody she loved dearly back then, and that this person also truly loved her back. It is heavily implied that this person was Junko Enoshima.

Prologue - Welcome to Dangan Island! Panic at the Heart-Throbbing School Trip!?
When Mikan met Hajime for the first time, she became so nervous and confused about how to start the conversation with him that she ended up crying, revealing that she even prepared 5000 different ways to start the conversation only for her to fail.

Chapter 1 - Destination Despair
In Chapter 1, Mikan accidentally tripped when the students were gathering in the Restaurant, amusing Teruteru Hanamura and Ibuki verily. Later, she also tripped during the blackout in Byakuya Togami's party.

After the discovery of Byakuya's corpse, Mikan was initially terrified. However, she managed to gather up the courage and made use of her talent as the Ultimate Nurse by examining the body.

She played a key role in the first trial by pointing out that Byakuya was stabbed by a sharp implement about five millimeters in diameter, ruling out the possibility of the glow-in-the-dark knife being the murder weapon, and therefore saving the students from voting for the wrong person as the culprit in the first trial.

When Teruteru was determined to be the culprit behind Byakuya's death, Hajime used the accident where Mikan accidentally tripped during the party as decisive evidence to prove Teruteru's guilt.

Chapter 2 - Sea and Punishment, Sin and Coconuts
In Chapter 2, Mikan agreed to attend Sonia Nevermind's girls only party along with the other girls, excluding Mahiru Koizumi and Hiyoko. She and Ibuki arrive at the diner, the original meeting point of the party, and there they meet with Kazuichi Soda and Hajime who later join the party as well. While she waits for the others at the diner, Akane Owari arrives, injured from her practice session with Nekomaru. Mikan immediately takes her into the bathroom to treat her.

Mikan played another major role by examining the body of Mahiru and verifying that her death by blunt force trauma was instantaneous, proving that her body was moved by somebody else to block the Beach House door. It was also revealed that she was the playable character, in fact, Girl A of the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, implying that she was close friends with Hiyoko, Ibuki, Mahiru, and possibly Girl E during her time at Hope's Peak.

The culprit turned out as Peko Pekoyama, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu's hitwoman. After Peko's execution, Mikan tried to save Fuyuhiko, who was interfered the execution and injured during the process, but Monokuma ended up having to save him by taking him to the Hospital on the third island after being forced by Monomi.

Chapter 3 - Trapped by the Ocean Scent
In the next day during the groups investigation in the third island, Mikan found Fuyuhiko who was treated well and resting in the Hospital. Later, she joined Ibuki's Fuyuhiko welcome back party.

During the events of Chapter 3's Despair Disease, she treated Nagito Komaeda fervently to make sure he was alright, staying awake for days on end to keep watch over him. During her stay at the hospital while treating the sick, she contracted said disease and killed Ibuki by strangulation, to which Hiyoko accidentally became a witness of.

As a result, Mikan was forced to kill her as well by slitting Hiyoko's throat. During the third trial, Mikan's ability as a Ultimate Nurse backfires when Nagito reveals that Ibuki was not killed by hanging herself, but rather by being strangled according to the marks left on the rope. This reveals that Mikan lied when she did Ibuki's autopsy, as she told everyone that Ibuki died by hanging.

Hajime begrudgingly singles her out as the murderer, to which many disagreed at first. Oddly, Nagito states that the culprit this time was someone he could not forgive, and the reason is later revealed to be because unlike the others, the culprit did not kill for hope of escape, but for despair.

Once she is voted guilty, Mikan stops struggling and accepts her fate. Before that, though, Mikan tells Nagito that she did not murder for despair, but rather for the sake of the person she loves because they were the only one who accepted her for who she was.

Mikan was affected by despair disease, which led her to regain all of her memories and remember everything, her personality changes not due of despair disease, but just despair itself. She's also explained that the real name of 'World Ender' is 'Future Foundation' (although it wasn't). Besides it, she also know who's the traitor that hides among the groups, but she refuses to tell and believed that the others would know eventually when the countdown end.

Just before her execution begins she asks that person to forgive her for dying with hope of meeting them again.

Execution

 * Main Article: Bye-Bye Ouchies

Hajime Hinata
Mikan seems to have formed a liking for Hajime as he is the first person (on the Island) to have gone up to her and spoke to her, not wishing to bully her but only to have a casual conversation. Though nervous and stuttering at first, she gradually lightens up, even asking him to come back and talk to her again.

He is also the first person she admits to that she is glad that there is nobody to stomp on her and abuse her on Dangan Island. Mikan also chases Hajime around with a syringe a few times, wanting to give him an injection, and was found sleeping on him several times in Chapter 3. In the third trial, she uses him to give herself an alibi in the morning when they first discover the corpse.

Hiyoko Saionji
Throughout the game, Mikan becomes a constant target for Hiyoko's bullying. Despite Hiyoko being over thirty centimeters shorter than Mikan, she is constantly pushed around and made into the butt of Hiyoko's jokes.

She often refers to Mikan as a 'filthy pig' or 'ugly bitch', to which Mikan apologizes constantly for or asks why the other is so mean to her. It is revealed in Chapter 2's motive, Twilight Syndrome Murder Case that Mikan and Hiyoko, being Girl A and Girl B respectively, were in the same group of friends and knew each other very well during their time in Hope's Peak.

Even back then, Hiyoko was just as mean to Mikan, calling her a 'ugly filthy pig' and telling her to shut up. In the end, Hiyoko ended up being murdered by Mikan, due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Junko Enoshima
While under the influence of the despair disease in Chapter 3, Mikan recovered her memories of school life. At the end of the trial that unveiled her identity as the culprit, she revealed that she did it for the sake of the 'person of her beloved', claiming that they forgave and accepted her for who she was, in stark contrast to the maltreatment she had been exposed to her entire life, and that they would appreciate her actions if they were alive.

She proceeds to ramble feverishly about how their love transcends the cruelty of her misdeeds, and how this person was a major factor in her drastic personality change. Due to her wording and the circumstances of her past, it is heavily implied that this person is Junko.

Presents
Obtained from the MonoMono Machine.
 * Gag Ball
 * Kokeshi Dynamo
 * Queen's Straitjacket
 * Mr. Stapler
 * Bandage Wrap

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.
 * Favorite bandage type
 * I don't know

Skills
These will aid you, usually during Class Trials.
 * Silent Massage - The Focus Gauge recovers at a faster rate. Effective during the Nonstop Debate, the Hangman's Gambit, and the Panic Talk Action.

Quotes

 * “M-My name is Mikan Tsumiki. Um... From the bottom of my heart, I hope we can get along.”
 * “It's too much for me... If I'm alone...I'll go crazy...”
 * “U-Um... Other than dying, I can pretty much do anything! Please order me around whenever you want!”
 * “Wh-What should I do? Um...would it make you happier if I took my clothes off?”
 * “Today is such a beautiful day! ...”
 * “If it's not too much trouble for you, I would like to...talk to you again.” (to Hajime Hinata)
 * “Uuu... why must we investigate a friend's death? Th-this is horrible... B-but! I'm the only one here who's a medical worker! S-so... I have to do somethin..! S-Something..”
 * “Uhhhh...my mind is drawing a blank...from nervousness...”
 * “The future.. do we even have one..?”
 * “Uyu...I just get so very very happy when people start talking to me... Until now... everyone always either thought I was gross or simply hated me...”
 * “Hee hee... when you are not feeling well, come to me, okay? I'll give you lots of shots... Lots and lots and loooooots of shots!”
 * “Drugstores are amazing... Just looking around gets me excited...!”
 * “If it makes everyone not hate me and smile at me, then it's much better...”
 * “Doodling is very fun. Please draw on me wherever you like!”
 * “U-Um... Also...I'm good at pretending to be a pig.”
 * “Just please don't look at me like that...!”
 * “Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You didn't do anything wrong. It was my fault. That's definitely it...!”
 * “I loved them with all my heart and they returned it in full. This is...my 'reciprocation'”
 * “And...I went through all the trouble of preparing 5000 different topics to discuss after introductions!” (to Hajime Hinata)
 * “Try to avoid consuming any stimulants before you sleep, take deep breaths, and do some light stretching. Little things like that should help with the quality of your sleep.”
 * “If you don't get enough sleep, it can weaken your immune system and lead to various illnesses.”
 * “Ah... I-I forgot to get ahold of myself again... I-I'm terribly sorry! I'm terribily sorry...!”
 * “Sick people and injured people...are weaker than me.”
 * “They'll need me. They'll depend on me completely! That's why...I can't leave the sick and the injured alone. Because...they always listen to what I say...”
 * “This...is my first time feeling things like “fun”... I felt that for the first time after I met you all.”
 * “We're all working together and focusing on the same goal... For the first time, I learn that that...is very fun.”
 * “Hajime, I...I'm glad I came to this island. Because we're in this situation, everyone is finally acknowledging me... And I finally feel useful.”
 * “Hajime... This is the first time I've ever talked about my feelings like this with someone, so... Please don’t hate me...”
 * “Friend...? Me...and everyone else...? ... I-Is that... even possible?”
 * “I... want to believe in you. Because you...are the person who has forgiven me.” (to Hajime Hinata)
 * “Wh-Why am I in a video game? Th-That's an infringement of my right to privacy!”
 * “She probably...made her unconscious by accident... A-And from there, she couldn't go back... I-I...I somewhat understand that feeling.” (talking about Girl E, the killer of Boy F's little sister in Twilight Syndrome Murder Case)
 * “Awww... What unimaginable speed for a slowpoke like me...!” (Mikan, foreshadowing her murder actions)
 * “A clumsy, slowpoke like me killing someone...? Th-That's completely out of the question!”
 * “In a tournament for social punching bags, I'd easily win first place with my soft reputation...”
 * “Hehe...I'm such a clumsy mess and I got sooooo careless...!”
 * “Ah, so in the end...you're all just a bunch of bullies, huh?”
 * “Justifying your actions with fancy words... M-Making excuses for why it's not really your fault... E-Everyone treats me like that... Always...”
 * “"It's all her fault..." "Sh-She's the one with the problem..." I...I'm done with that! You hear me!? I'm doooooooooone!”
 * “It's not fair...It's not fair not fair notfair notfair notfair notfairnotfairnotfairnotfairnotfair...”
 * “Why won't you forgive me!? If you did something wrong...you'd forgive yourself right away...!”
 * “What did I do!? Why won't anybody forgive me!?”
 * “Why does everybody always hate me!? Please, just forgive me already!”
 * “Huh? Huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh?”
 * “Then you're gonna forgive me? I won't stop until you forgive me!”
 * “Will you forgive me? You'll forgive me, right? Isn't that right? You're obviously gonna forgive me, right?”
 * “Why does everybody always hate me!? You should just forgive me already!”
 * “...Heh...heh...heh... Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...!”
 * “Haaa...it's been suuuuuuuch a long time... This feeling...I know it well... Like the floor is collapsing...Like the sky is falling down upon you... This feeling of despair!”
 * “What I did...was for the sake of my beloved.”
 * “My beloved...was the only one... That's right, the only one who... never hated me. They forgave my existence. They forgave me and accepted me. They gave me value. They loved me. I loved them with all my heart and they returned it in full. This is...my reciprocation.”
 * “I understand that I've done something unforgivable. But you know, but you know! To transcend all that is truly... what love is all about!”
 * “Love is a wonderful thing!”
 * “Ahhh, this feeling of freedom where you no longer care about anything!”
 * “My beloved and I are the only ones within that thin veil, and I’m just looking out through it... That's why...as long as I'm on the inside, no matter how much they tease me, splash me with water, kick me... It's like nothing matters! I could just die, that's how little it matters!”
 * “Who cares about hope or despair! It's love, only love!”
 * “You don't understand? Is it because you don't have anyone to love? Is it because you're also someone who isn't accepted by anyone?...What a pity. I feel sorry for you.” (to Nagito Komaeda)
 * “The reason I became like this wasn't my fault. It was all your fault, you know?”
 * “I'm the person I am today because of many human relationships.”
 * “I'm drowning in so much love... From the bottom of my heart, I just don't care about anyone or anything.”
 * “You guys accepted my past self, but not my present self...”
 * “Memories of people...memories of events... Whatever memory it is, losing memories are... like losing your personal identity.”
 * “Memory is the most important component in building a person... Don't you think?”
 * “Losing our memories...makes us shadows of the past. Don't you think?”
 * “So it's over... It's really... Now I can go to my beloved who always forgives me...! I can finally see them.”
 * “Please forgive me, the one who’s going to die with the hope of finally seeing you!”
 * “haha@?@@”haha!”:hahahahahaforgivemeloveme forgivemeloveforgivemeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” (Mikan's cottage post-fifth trial)
 * “I-I'm starting to feel nauseous from the thrills, the chills, the kills...”

Panic Talk Action Remarks

 * “You still haven't forgiven me!?”
 * “Can you forgive me already!?”
 * “Forgive me! Forgive me!”
 * “Please draw on me!”
 * “Shall I let you punch me!?”
 * “You're done for!”
 * “Do you understand...?”
 * “Why only me!?”
 * “I'll do anything you want!”
 * “There's only one bag! It's impossible to use it in two places at the same time!” (Final Argument)

Trivia

 * Her first name (蜜柑) means “mandarin”, as in the type of orange, while her last name (罪木) means "sin tree".
 * Her last name could reference how she killed out of the despair Junko had planted inside her.
 * It is also somewhat possible that her last name is meant to reflect her similarity to the biblical Eve, who has committed a sin (the "original") related to a tree (the Tree of Knowledge) due to an innate "human" desire to try and do what is forbidden. Similarly, Mikan has committed double murder due to a desire - her presumably romantic attraction to Junko and wish to please her. She is also similar to Eve through the concept of "not being forgiven" for her actions.
 * While her title in the official English translation is “Ultimate Nurse”, Mikan's original title is “Ultimate Health Committee Member”. The “health committee” or “health and hygiene committee” (since 保健 hoken means both “health preservation” and “hygiene”), is a common student committee in Japanese high schools with the duty of preparing and administering first aid during school events, monitoring the school's state of sanitation and promoting health-preserving behavior.
 * One of Mikan's Free-Time Events implies that she is qualified to administer vaccines (like a nurse and unlike a health committee member) - meaning that her circumstances as a health committee member are special.
 * Mikan's role as a health committee member could explain (?) her odd fondness of toilets.
 * Mikan's report card states she likes Bathroom smells and the smell of isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) and dislikes oversized things.
 * Upon comparing the two, one would see that Mikan's hairstyle looks like a badly-cut, unkempt version of Kyoko Kirigiri's hairstyle. The reason for this resemblance is unclear.
 * One thing Mikan and Kyoko do have in common is their different circumstances in regard to memory erasure compared to the other characters of their respective debut games. Kyoko had more of her memory erased compared to the rest of the students in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc so that she would not remember her father and his relation to Hope's Peak Academy. Similarly, Mikan had, unlike the rest of the students, regained her memory fully during Chapter 3 of the second game.
 * It is revealed in the official concept art that her hair was cut in chunks by bullies.
 * Her Bloodtype is A.
 * Mikan's Birthday (May 12th) coincides with International Nurses' Day.
 * Mikan makes a cameo appearance in Zettai Zetsubou Shoujo - Danganronpa Another Episode on a poster.
 * Her death poster in the trial room is crossed out with a nurse's cross, in reference to her Ultimate talent.