Junko Enoshima

"Hope is harmony. A just heart, moving toward the light. That is all. Despair is hope's polar opposite. It is messy and confusing. It swallows up love, hatred, and everything else. Because not knowing where you will end up is despair. Despair is even what you cannot predict. Only despair's unpredictability can save you from a boring future." — Danganronpa 3: Despair Arc

Junko Enoshima (江ノ島盾子 Enoshima Junko) is the main antagonist of the Danganronpa series' Hope's Peak Academy Saga.

She is the younger twin sister of Mukuro Ikusaba and the founder of Ultimate Despair, also known as the True Ultimate Despair.

Junko was scouted by Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Fashionista (超高校級の「ギャル」chō kōkō kyū no “gyaru”, lit. Super High School Level Fashion Girl) for Class 78th, which allowed her to attend the school. However, multiple installments in the series have revealed that this is only a superficial talent, derived from her "true", inherent talent of being the Ultimate Analyst, which borders on superhuman.

In Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy Junko appeared as the person responsible for the corruption of the Remnants of Despair. Sometimes during Side: Despair, Junko created her alternate identity known as Ryoko Otonashi in Danganronpa/Zero. During those events, she murders her beloved childhood friend and lover Yasuke Matsuda in a fit of despair. She is also the one who plotted the event known as Giboura Massacre in Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer.

During the Killing School Life, Junko executed her older sister, Mukuro, who was masquerading as her, using Monokuma.

Junko executed herself along with Monokuma after her despair was defeated by the survivors' hope and was voted guilty in the last trial of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.

Junko returns in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair as an Artificial Intelligence and a virus. AI Junko also appears in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, in the form of Shirokuma and Kurokuma.

Despite inflicting untold damage to the world through her machinations, Junko's plans are ultimately defeated by the end of Danganronpa 3; her Remnants of Despair were cured of their brainwashing, The Tragedy was finally brought to an end, and Makoto Naegi rebuilt Hope's Peak Academy with the help of the Future Foundation. As she died at the end of the Killing School Life, Junko could only watch these events unfold in the afterlife; at the same time, she was already satisfied with what she accomplished in her life, as well as considering a world without despair to be a form of despair itself.

Legends of the Multi-Universe: Weirdmageddon[]

Chronicles of GNE[]

Relationships[]

Mukuro Ikusaba[]

Mukuro is Junko's older twin sister. While Mukuro cared deeply for her younger sister, Junko had absolutely no love for her sister and sees her as a tool to do her bidding, while at the same time behaved towards Mukuro in a derogatory manner.

She seemingly displayed no concern for Mukuro and was willing to kill her (while Mukuro was disguised as her) to set an example to the remaining students, and because she was 'a poor actor'. It's revealed that before attending Hope's Peak Academy, Junko had already tried to kill Mukuro. One example of this is when Junko tried to murder her sister with an ice pick and a grenade while in a limo. Mukuro, however, did not allow her to do this, blocked Junko's attacks, and threw the grenade out the window.

However, paradoxically, it was also indicated that she did truly love her sister and that her betrayal was meant to send them both into despair (for Junko, the despair of killing her sister, and for Mukuro, the despair of being betrayed and killed by her sister). However, Junko never knew, or tried to understand, that Mukuro's definition of despair had always differed from hers.

Yasuke Matsuda[]

Yasuke and Junko were childhood friends and met on amicable terms during when Yasuke's unnamed mother was struck with a disease implied to be Alzheimer's, causing her to lose recognition of her son which also resulted in Yasuke being neglected and abused as a child, which later made him become majorly depressed and introverted before he met Junko while still in elementary school. One particular moment between the two when they were children was when Junko spent many days building a sand castle. One day, the sand castle was found destroyed. Yasuke went around angrily looking for the perpetrator until finally, Junko approached him that it was actually her that destroyed her own sand castle.

In the years following the death of Yasuke's mother, Junko became the person that Yasuke felt he could always lean on, in fact he didn't have any other close ones. She promised to always be there for him, which helped develop his stronger feelings towards her. She said she'll never forget Yasuke even if she forgets everything else, and that they'll always be together. For the first time in his life, Yasuke cried in front of another person, after making her promise she won't make fun of him, won't tell anyone and won't try to console him. He became dependent of her and ready to do anything for her and they eventually became lovers.

Both of them later enrolled in Hope's Peak Academy and after the school's tragedy Yasuke reluctantly assisted Junko in her plans, creating her alternative identity Ryoko Otonashi. He wanted to prevent her from ever remembering, in order to protect her from herself and to protect other people. However, Junko had already planned ahead and had murders occur in the school. Despite not enjoying despair and killing, Yasuke was willing to do unethical things for the sake of protecting Junko, even if it caused him to feel horrible guilt.

Finally, Yasuke understands and admits to himself that Junko has only been using him. He is frustrated by her love for despair and he's angered when he assumes that she never cared about him. He states that he both loves and hates her, and eventually he decides to kill her when she is still Ryoko. However, he ends up getting killed by Junko in a fit of despair, as he is one of the few people she cares about the most. He was stabbed in the side by Junko and afterwards, she kicked his body until it was a bloody unrecognizable mess. He died believing that Junko did not care about him at all, but in truth this was not the case. Junko did not view him as a mere servant or even an ally and truly did love him as he did her as killing him resulted in her sadness and grief for his death and let him die in despair for the sake of increasing her own despair, proving this with the words “... you were the most important person to me of all...” after his death.

Soshun Murasame[]

Due to her making his friends and classmates kill one another, Soshun greatly despises and fears Junko. Whenever he hears her name, he breaks down and starts to go insane. During these breakdowns he would say he would kill Junko.

Makoto Naegi[]

From the moment she first saw Makoto, she knew he would cause problems for her, due to him and his luck are unpredictable and for the same motive, Junko leaves Makoto alive because he's the only one who can defy her. Out of all of the students in Class 78th, she finds him the most annoying and odd person in her class. During the mutual killing life game Makoto foils Junko's attempt to execute Kyoko then Junko attempted to convince the other survivors to execute Makoto but they instead they vote to execute her. Makoto states that she doesn't need to die, but Junko executes herself even after his request.

Kyoko Kirigiri[]

Due to how close she was to discovering the truth about the killing game and her stealing her skeleton key, Junko recognized Kyoko as a threat and attempted to frame her for the murder of Mukuro, who was dead at the time, but this plan is ruined by Makoto.

Ryota Mitarai[]

An underclassman and member of the Class 77-B of Hope's Peak Academy. Her talent allowed her to see a certain "something" in Ryota during their first encounter, and immediately tried to find out his talent. Ryota was embarrassed at first. He was also angered by Junko's disinterest in anime, but quickly warmed up to her when she began to show interest in his animation. Although often bewildered by Junko's violent actions, he was grateful to her for giving him an entirely new environment for him to work on his anime.

However, Ryota starts to grow suspicious of Junko when she talks about despair and Mikan stops acting normally. After Ryota finds a video of the student council's mutual killing game, Junko tried to make him despair by traumatizing him. Ryota was fearful of her from then on and after he escapes, Junko doesn't kill him as she thought that running away from the situation was Ryota's despair.

Mikan Tsumiki[]

Mikan was the first person in Class 77-B Junko brainwashed. Junko didn't actually care for her, wishing only to throw her into despair (or test her brainwashing video on Mikan); however, the effects of her brainwashing caused Mikan to worship her, doing anything Junko asked. Much like her sister, Junko physically and verbally abused Mikan, kicking her and calling her disgusting. She also seems to treat her like a servant, as Mikan is seen massaging her legs. Mikan refers to Junko as the only person who truly loved and paid attention to her, but Junko never viewed Mikan as anything more than a tool and never felt any love towards her.

Nagito Komaeda[]

As one of the students that she brainwashed, Junko only thinks of Nagito as a tool, much like the other Ultimate Despairs, and does not care for him at all. It's later revealed that Nagito attempted to kill Junko on their first encounter, when Nagito found Junko in an underground tunnel by chance. Junko remained calm during these events, and was amused by how much Nagito believed in hope. Nagito ultimately failed to kill her, thanks to Izuru, but Junko later brainwashed Nagito and the rest of his class.

Chiaki Nanami[]

Junko was actually the one who killed the beloved class rep of Class 77-B. Upon meeting Chiaki in an underground room, Junko takes an interest in her, claiming she'd been wanting to become friends with her, although this is obviously a lie. Junko wanted Chiaki to watch the brainwashing video, but after capturing and brainwashing Chisa, Junko changed her mind. Realizing how important Chiaki was to her class, Junko executes Chiaki to throw Class 77-B into despair. Junko was amused by how much hope Chiaki had, and taunted her for that during Chiaki's execution.

Chisa Yukizome[]

Junko had a somewhat complicated relationship with the homeroom teacher of Class 77-B. When Chisa learned that Junko was responsible for the recent events at Hope's Peak, she tried to protect her students from her, ultimately failing when Junko subdued and brainwashed her with the help of Mukuro. Even after being brainwashed, Chisa didn't harbor the same feelings that most of the Ultimate Despair held for Junko. She didn't love or admire her, and instead of bringing despair to the world, she brought it only to Kyosuke and the Future Foundation. Junko's feelings towards Chisa are unknown, but she seems to view Chisa as more than a tool to do her bidding; Junko is seen personally talking to Chisa in the afterlife, laughing at how much Chisa had accomplished as an Ultimate Despair. However, Chisa actually seems quite annoyed with Junko, frowning while she continues to talk about despair.

Kyosuke Munakata[]

Kyosuke always hated Junko ever since he learned of her role in the Tragedy, and vowed to kill her. However, Junko didn't view him as a big obstacle or acknowledge his strength, both of which Kyosuke thought of her. Junko, however, mangaged to turn Kyosuke's closest friends against him; Chisa and Juzo. By brainwashing Chisa and blackmailing Juzo, she effortlessly convinced them to vouch for her and cover up her guilt. Later, Junko is seen laughing about how Chisa turned against Kyosuke in the afterlife, showing that she was amused by the way things had turned out.

Juzo Sakakura[]

Juzo holds a deep grudge against Junko for both causing him to betray Kyosuke and starting the Tragedy. When Juzo confronted Junko on Kyosuke's behalf, Junko managed to overpower him in a physical fight (with some brainwashed Reserve Course students). She continued by blackmailing him, threatening to show Kyosuke photos of Juzo showing love for him in private. Junko found the whole situation hilarious, and called Juzo weak, saying she had no more time to waste on someone like him.

Ultimate Despair Members[]

Junko seems to have close relationships with some of the Ultimate Despair members, though she likely built those relationships to increase their loyalty to her and bring them deeper into despair. In general, they're described to be madly in love with her and shared her love for despair as a result of Junko's brainwashing. A few examples of this are Mikan Tsumiki and Nagito Komaeda, although Izuru seems to be the exception.

Besides that, Junko doesn't care about any of them - except to Mukuro and Izuru - considering them pawns to achieve her goals.

Izuru Kamukura[]

Junko at first seemed to have an underlying obsession with Izuru, possible because he is the Ultimate Hope, and attempted to kill him because of his title.

After realizing both her and Mukuro couldn't defeat him, she instead tried to convert Izuru into a member of the Ultimate Despair. She brings Izuru along with her when she triggers the first Hope's Peak killing game and she frames Izuru to show him what despair was, and eventually convinced him that a world of hope was boring. Izuru once protected Junko from Nagito after he attempts to kill her with a gun, showing that he was on Junko's side.

In the Danganronpa 3 relationship chart, Junko states that Izuru is a fateful encounter. She believed that she and him were destined for each other and a perfect match for spreading despair together, occasionally acting like an overly enthusiastic fan and flirting with him in a joking manner, though he is completely unresponsive and uninterested to this. Unusually, she also seemed to treat Izuru as an ally instead of her servant, and she was irritated when Izuru walked away without saying a proper goodbye.

In the end, neither of the two truly cared about each other and were only using each other—Izuru was just affiliated with her to see how unpredictable despair is, while Junko saw him as a tool in her hand, stating that she'll always find a use for him.

In Chapter 0 of Danganronpa 2, Izuru acknowledges that Junko used him in the past and seems to desire for revenge, as he wants to use her like she used him. Danganronpa 3 reveals that Izuru was actually manipulating events after The Tragedy to strengthen both sides of the conflict, setting up a scenario where Junko's despair could clash with the Future Foundation's hope in order to determine which truly was stronger.

Monaca Towa[]

Monaca sees Junko as her savior and idol after she stopped the Warriors of Hope before they committed suicide together. Junko planned to use the Warriors of Hope as one of her pawn to spread despair to the world.

Junko appears to be the only person Monaca genuinely cared about. She was the only Warrior of Hope who knew that Junko was just using them, but she didn't care, as she was so grateful for Junko for "shining light into her boring world".

Monaca also has many pictures of Junko in her secret room. One main photo depicts her with a younger looking Junko holding onto her wheelchair. Despite their closeness, even Junko didn't seem to know that she was only faking her disability.

Not wanting Junko's legacy to end, Monaca's main goal was to create a second-generation Junko Enoshima. She planned to become her successor herself based on the Servant's advice, but ended up giving up on this goal after she realized that she didn't want to become like him, completely obsessed with hope and despair.