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Why Byakuya Togami Is A Misunderstood Character

In the Danganronpa community the antagonists of each game remain fan favorites and Togami is no exception however the difference in how they are perceived is how much focus is put in their ideology. While people love Komaeda and Kokichi everyone focus on their ideology for example people will praise Komaeda for his belief in absolute hope regardless of the methods  which is a interesting ideology but with Togami people tend to boil him down to being a run of the will arrogant rich kid which I think is a shame because there is depth beneath the surface that gets under explored. Togami is my favorite antagonist in the series and my second favorite character in the series behind Ibuki so in this essay I hope to spread light on why I think he’s a great character.

One reason I love Togami is because he is the only antagonist to get a proper character arc from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. Just because a character has an arc doesn’t make a character inherently better than characters without an arc but I think his was well handled. Some people think of it as an arrogant character learning some humility while still being arrogant but I think was more of a major change to his worldview than that but to understand his change of worldview we have to understand his worldview in the first place.

Togami as a person sees all people as inherently selfish and as much as they would like to think of themselves as selfless there just lying to themselves. As an example there’s this quote from chapter 2 "Did you already forget? This isn't a co-op game. It's every man for himself. What good does it do me to go out of my way to help you?”. Though the gaming comparison seems a bit out of character in retrospect it does offer insight to his ideology. I think it serves as an interesting extreme to the distrust one would feel in a setting like Danganronpa. Speaking of parallels I think he serves as a great foil to Makoto. Makoto is optimistic and trusting to a point of naivete whereas Togami’s relentless cynicism makes it so he doesn't trust anyone. There is also a contrast to Makoto’s humility and Togami’s arrogance. Putting aside Togami’s role as a foil, there is another important component to Togami’s personality: his desire to keep winning. This can be seen in this scene from chapter 2 "Shut up. I would never stoop to the level of a childish criminal like you. Let me just say this... After I have achieved complete victory...you're up next. I'm going to find you and kill you. Understand? In the name of the Togami family, for which victory is a foregone conclusion... I swear, whatever it takes...I will kill you!". What stands out here is the fact that he says that in the name of his family which means that due to him being a member of the Togami family he was raised to value victory so he wishes to win the killing game by any means necessary. Another interesting point is he does legitimately see the killing game as a game with the expectations of the masterminds and arguably Kokichi .Kokichi fans will say he hated the killing game but he definitely seemed to be having fun during the first three trails and to a lesser degree chapter 4 but that’s a can of worms for another day. With Togami it’s far less ambiguous when he specifically states "But it *is* a game. It's a game of life or death, which can have only one winner. That's all there is to it.”

You may be asking okay I understand his ideology but why does he think this way? I’m glad you asked because if you played his free time events you get a clearer picture. I’m going to transcribe most of his fifth free time event because it gives us the most information on his backstory. ”It has to do with the secret to the Togami family's prosperity. Our success comes from our family's rather...peculiar inheritance system. You see, our family head never takes a wife. Rather, he couples with exceptional women the world over, in order to bear as many children as possible. They then make the children compete, and only one can come out on top. And whoever it is...earns the right to become the next head of the family. For my battle, there were fifteen of us in total. When all was said and done, only one was still standing—the youngest brother. Me. In the entire history of the Togami family, the youngest male had never won. So, now do you understand? I won my title in open combat. *That* is how l became the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. I was not born into greatness. I had to earn it. I put my life on the line, and I *earned* the right to be called the chosen.”-Togami “You put your life on the line...? Then...what about your siblings?”-Makoto Dead. I don't mean that literally, of course. They become dead to the family, unfit for the name of Togami. Of course, for them it really is like death. They're forced to become one of the 99%.

That was a lot to take in so let’s break down what all of that actually means and how it affected Togami’s character. First the section where he had to compete with fifteen of his siblings to gain the inheritance. His cutthroat desire to win stems from the fact that he needed to compete with such high stakes from a young age. With the inheritance system he was made to have a survival of the fittest mentality which explains in behavior in game. He described those who didn’t get to inherit the Togami name as dead which shows the absolute value he puts into winning. The fact that he won this competition also is responsible for his superiority complex because he managed to overcome  such adversity he sees himself as better than the 99% of people that live normal lives. Once you put it into perspective Togami was a product of his environment which really humanizes him but I don’t blame people for missing optional content.

Now let’s move on to the turning point for his character chapter four. In the book Creating Character Arcs By K.M Weiland she explains that to create a positive change arc there is a misconception about the world or themselves that they believe and external forces change that idea so they must accept reality. In this case the lie Togami believes is that all people are inherently selfish and the reason he stopped believing that is because of the selfless actions of Sakura and Hina. Sakura’s sucide was because she wished to stop the in-fighting caused by her being revealed by the traitor along with the fact she wanted to save her dojo. Togami despite being intelligent couldn’t figure out that it was a sucide because of the way he views people. In a similar fashion he also couldn’t figure out that Hina wasn't the true killer because he couldn’t see why anyone would be willing to sacrifice their own life for the sake of a friend. These truly selfless acts made him change his worldview which can most clearly be seen with the quote “"This is a life-or-death elimination match. The only way to survive...is to win. There can be no doubt that those are the rules of the game. Which is why...I am bowing out of the game. Sakura and Hina were both willing to sacrifice their own lives to deny the reality of the game. Thanks to them, it would appear the others have cast aside their fear for this game. There's no point in participating in a game which has lost that sense of excitement. Which is why I will no longer be participating in it. Now I have only one thing to look forward to. And that is to heap the harshest possible punishment onto the one who thinks they can control me!” Although the way he phrased it was backhanded, this showed genuine faith in people and will no longer participate in the killing game which is major development for him. It also helps prove while does get him into trouble sometimes like that time he got framed by Sayaka that Makoto’s belief in people is not misplaced.

In conclusion despite him often being dismissed as another arrogant antagonist Byakuya Togami is an interesting character with an interesting way of thinking that helps him serve as a foil to the protagonist ,an often overlooked backstory that humanizes him and give proper explanation for his actions along with a great character that the other Danganronpa antagonist lacked that he stands out as a stellar character in a game series with an already excellent cast. I hope this essay gave you a new found appreciation for the character.

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