【Essay】The “Deceiver” Archetype and Psychological Manipulation in Danganronpa

【Important Notes】

This is a rambling personal reflection essay, not an official analysis.

Personal views archived here. If the reader disagrees, the reader is free to write their own article.

The author is not a native English speaker.

【Key Note 1】

This text simultaneously involves:

Original Works

Danganronpa 1

Danganronpa V3

Fan Works

Super Danganronpa Another 2

Project: Eden's Garden

——including critical plot points and settings.

Reading constitutes spoilers. Please be aware!

【Key Note 2】

As this article explores the original author's intent and narrative techniques, discussions regarding the audience's perspective are unavoidable.

Given the article's focus on writing perspectives, certain sections will view characters as narrative devices rather than as individual humans.

This article may disrupt audience immersion and cause discomfort. Please read with caution.

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A few casual remarks on the portrayal of characters embodying archetypes like “the deceiver” in Danganronpa (both the original work and fan creations).

The primary characters in the original work, centered on the theme of deception, The most obvious ones are Celestia and Oma.

Purely from a writing perspective, I'm not entirely satisfied with Celestia's characterization and execution. She carries many elements—self-awareness/self-deception/danger/tragedy..., but each feels not heavy enough.

But I like how money serves as the motive in Chapter 3.

Money as a motive represents an upgrade in means, not a downgrade.

Monokuma/Enoshima Junko's goal is to “create despair,” not to “provide emotional theater.” She isn't here to direct a reality show—she's here to spread a cognitive virus.

If the cases involving Kuwata/Maizono and Owada left room for groups and audiences to maneuver, then the explicit, purely materialistic motive of “a large sum of money”—demanding people weigh lives (both others' and their own) against immediate gain—can indeed further break down some individuals' psychological defenses.

As for Oma, his “deception” primarily revolves around cognitive manipulation and emotional manipulation (both within and outside the story), but the main issue is that his later execution became overly reliant on Iruma’s inventions, essentially resorting to deus ex machina.

Moreover, the original works share a common trait: their “psychological manipulation” (whether targeting the audience or the characters) isn’t executed with sufficient thoroughness.

(Note: I am aware that commercial works have their restrictions.)

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Regarding A2.

There's a plot point where the Ultimate Reporter (Yomiuri Nikei) exploits the group's despair after three deaths in Chapter Three (compelled to confront murderers and cases testing humanity's limits), coupled with an information blackout and fractured unity. He proactively reveals himself as one of the masterminds (now down to three) and offers to help the group take down the leader (Sannoji Mikado). By exploiting the group's desperation for a lifeline, their information asymmetry, and the resulting power vacuum, he manipulates them to achieve his own ends.

What I primarily want to emphasize is that this method of manipulation dictates that he cannot expose another Mastermind (Nijiue Iroha).

He relies on monopolizing his position as the group's sole source of information and only hope to manipulate them and maintain his power. No matter how incompetent Iroha may be, she is still one of the Masterminds.

Exposing her identity would weaken his own control—a strategically absurd move.

Moreover, Iroha is so incompetent that it's impossible to predict how she might act foolishly and sabotage the plan. Nikei's plan was already a high-stakes gamble, walking a tightrope. There's no reason to voluntarily introduce even more uncontrollable risks.

Therefore, the assumption that Nikei was protecting Iroha, or that his actions were contradictory (having previously been sarcastic toward her in private meetings and claiming to have severed ties), is, to put it bluntly, a very naive assumption.

But gambling remains gambling.

Iroha could still blow her own cover—something Nikei couldn't control. If Iroha truly chose to blow her own cover, even if Nikei's descriptions and rhetoric made Iroha seem less credible from the group's perspective, it wouldn't prevent Nikei's power from being downgraded.

For example:

Suppose a famine has struck this city, yet only Shop N sells food. No other food sources are currently available within the city, and citizens cannot leave.

In this situation, citizens have no choice but to buy food from Shop N—even if Shop N has been exposed for past misconduct and cannot guarantee the safety of its current food supply. After all, not buying means facing the fear of starvation.

Therefore, Shop N naturally has no reason to voluntarily reveal the existence of Shop I—doing so would create a competitor, undermining its monopoly and power.

Moreover, if someone points out that Shop N might be unreliable, they risk being attacked by the crowd—because at this moment, acknowledging problems with Shop N is seen as admitting that starvation might be the only alternative.

Therefore, when Yuki currently questions Nikei's credibility, he naturally faces sharp opposition from the group.

They aren't defending Nikei as an individual; they're defending the hard-won concept of “I might be able to survive”—even if it's likely just another illusion.

And Nikei has forcibly tied this concept to himself through cognitive manipulation.

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This is the real psychological manipulation, or the core element for a “well-crafted lie” to succeed:

It's not about “telling falsehoods” itself. It's not about forcing someone to accept or obey you. It's not coercion, demanding, or begging.

It's about creating a need or recognizing an existing need in the other person.

Then covertly position yourself as “the one who can fulfill that need”—without even needing to actually be able to do so. All that matters is making the target believe, or inevitably come to believe, that you can.

——The underlying logic of the Mastermind's brainwashing tactics in Danganronpa-style stories follows the same principle:

Getting the group to internalize the logic that “Obeying my rules (manipulation) = A chance to survive (meeting needs).”

Then they naturally forget the fact that “The Mastermind can actually kill anyone at any time, anywhere; they have no real constraints or reason to keep anyone alive.”

The key to recognizing this manipulation lies precisely in its opposite:

Ask yourself: “Why am I feeling this need right now? Why must I satisfy it immediately? Who is making me feel this way?”

By the way, on a writing level, Yomiuri Nikei is one of the rare examples where the “ Ultimate Talent (Reporter)” isn’t just a flashy label, but is naturally internalized into the character’s entire behavioral pattern and personality.

The original author doesn't need to constantly emphasize that he's the Ultimate reporter—his actions naturally demonstrate why he is. The strategies he employs are essentially direct variations of classic tactics: manipulating perspectives, steering public opinion, stirring emotions, selectively releasing information, and reconstructing narratives.

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Back to PEG.

Like Eva, Nikei is also a character themed around “the deceiver”.

But Eva's “deception” is entirely inverted, almost entirely focused inward on self-satisfying and self-deception, rather than Nikei's conscious, goal-oriented outward deception.

(Note: This does not imply that a character possesses only one deceptive trait or is limited to it, but rather refers to an overall tendency.)

An “outward lie,” no matter how cleverly crafted or concealed, always carries the risk of being exposed—for its ultimate purpose is to influence the external world.

Therefore, once the variable of the “external world” begins to shift, especially when it moves beyond the liar's control, the lie itself may lose its value and effectiveness as a tool.

Those who employ “outward-facing lies” may have various reasons for doing so, but ultimately, the lie is not their essence. It is merely a means and a tool to achieve their ends.

Example:

If citizens start spontaneously questioning things like “Why is Store N the only place selling food?” or " Are there really no other stores?“ or ”Is Store N truly just trying to provide food for everyone?“—then Store N's monopoly and power base will begin to crumble. It might even lose the necessity to ”stay open" (lying)—because its true purpose was never to supply citizens with food, but to use them as a base resource to strike against the city's rulers (Mikado).

Therefore, if we apply the definition of “excellent lies” (psychological manipulation) from the preceding text, Eva's “inward lie” is not only effective but nearly perfect in its efficacy.

When the creator of the need and the fulfiller of the need are one and the same, when the deceiver and the deceived are one and the same, when the means (self-deception) equate to the end (self-deception)—

This is the perfect closed loop.

The lie will never fail, the lie will never be exposed, the existence of the lie will never lose its meaning—because the lie is the essence itself.

Building a shop on a false foundation, opening it solely for the sake of the act itself, selling goods ultimately needed only by oneself, yet blaming and cursing all other citizens for not patronizing the business, only to collapse along with the foundation that never truly existed—

From a purely design aesthetic perspective, isn't this one of the most perfect kinds of cruelty?

Eva is undoubtedly an exceptionally well-crafted character.

However, truly bringing this to life relies heavily on the actual narrative execution surrounding her and how it aligns with the overarching story—not merely on the static character concept itself.

This is a significant test for the author. If you have an excellent character concept but the execution falls flat, the result will be lackluster.

From a writing perspective, crafting a truly convincing “deceiver” character—one whose abilities and motivations are genuinely believable-is already difficult. Focusing this deception squarely on self-deception makes it even harder. Not only must the self-deception be well-written, but the audience must also accept the character’s self-deception. Achieving this is basically a feat of showboating (in a good way).

This is the freedom afforded by non-profit work.

The author truly can and truly dares to use narrative to psychologically manipulate the audience, and truly can/dares to have characters psychologically manipulate the audience or other characters. This concretizes the concept of words/emotions/cognition as weapons, rather than merely stopping at the “Truth Bullet" mechanic like in the original Danganronpa.

That's why my favorite characters themed around “deception” actually appear in fan works.

（Note: I don't like Eva as a person, doesn't mean I don't like Eva as a character.)

Actually, there's much more I could write if I really wanted to, for example, other archetype-variant characters, but continuing would be endless, and then I'd genuinely have no idea where to partition it, so I'll stop here for now.

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