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Danganronpa: One Shot - Prologue & Chapter 1 Analysis

Hello lovelies and loveliers! Since DR:OS’ first chapter has officially closed out, I figured it’d be a good idea to touch base and make a little analysis of all its characters and the things that have happened before moving forward! … Is what I would say, if I’d gotten this out in time. Yeah I took too long and now CH2’s started already (_ _ ///). I’m not sure I’ll do this every chapter, seeing how long it takes me compared to how fast DROS updates, but y’know. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there :v For now, let’s talk about the sillies!

CWs: Daily Life and Deadly Life

The format here will be the same as the one I followed for my DRDT CH2 analysis. That is, start by talking about the general plot and the trial, and then go character by character, in ascending order of relevance for this chapter. Though, obviously, what characters are more relevant than others is subjective, but I'll try :v

However, there's a few extras this time around. For starters, back when all we had of the cast were a couple of drawings and symbols, I made some early predictions about what they would be like. Though I won't go over all the predictions, I will at least make some comments on my talent predictions, so there's that. Additionally, since we know DROS has an in-cast mastermind, I'll rank the characters based on how likely I find them to be the mm, and give a little reasoning for that. I didn't really think I had enough to say on that front for a separate post, so I'm sticking it here! With that said, let's get into it!

Daily Life & Deadly Life

I don't have a whole lot to say about the Daily Life section of CH1, since it's mostly composed of character interactions that will be brought up later. I do love the "talent show for secondary talents” idea, but the prologue deserves a bit more attention since it's the setup for the setting of the killing game.

The characters’ last memories of the outside include the start of the Tragedy (back when it hadn't left Japan yet), so we can't be too far from that even when taking the cast's mass amnesia into account. Fun fact, thanks to the CH1 Bonus Scenes, we can actually place the moment the cast’s memories cut off (assuming it’s all the same time barring Mark) at some point after 4/10/2011, which is the release date of "The Son of Neptune", a book referenced in the Robert & Taylor scene. It may also be before 7/10/2014, which is when The Blood of Olympus, the last book in that particular series of Percy Jackson books, released. I say that based on how Mark and Taylor talk about the Percy Jackson series, but I could be wrong on that. Also yes I’m using non-American notation for dates because the way the US does it, as usual, is stupid.

This killing game is also the sixth held in the resort, which is a pretty noteworthy thing even if we know very little about what its significance is. In terms of timeline, my current assumption is that this is happening after Junko's death in the THH killing game, meaning the thing is maybe being organized by Remnants of Despair, but I have very little reason to believe this beyond the fact that these people are doing a killing game in the first place.

Something that particularly interests me at this point is the place the killing game is happening in. See, at several points, it's been made clear that the organizers of this killing game really want to stick very closely to the Hope's Peak aesthetic. In particular, as Kennedy points out in her introduction, Ellis is not just called the “Ultimate Luckster” or something of the sort, but rather, they're the “Ultimate Lucky Student” even when they aren't a student at all. This is presumably because all Hope's Peak classes have an Ultimate Lucky Student, so when choosing the participants for the killing game, the organizers specifically chose someone to fit that role.

However, if they're that committed to the Hope's Peak aesthetic, why hold the killing game in a resort and casino, instead of a school? Did they not have access to a school, or even a school-like building? Is it simply because the mastermind wanted to be more comfortable through the course of the killing game? Is there another reason I'm missing? Is there even a reason? One could also ask why the organizers grabbed a bunch of adults, instead of high schoolers, but I find the question of the building a bit more pressing. In any case, it's not something that I feel can be properly speculated upon right now. We lack too much critical information. However, I will note it down as an interesting mystery moving forward.

But after peace comes a storm; Deadly Life time! The first case is a hell of a start, with the sheer brutality of a dismemberment setting the bar high for future trials in terms of how complicated the murder plans could get. Though I’m not really the biggest fan of gore only for the sake of shock, I think this case does just enough to instantly hook the reader with the premise of such a brutal method, without dwelling excessively in it and letting other parts of the case carry the mystery. The fact it happened before a formal motive announcement was also its own hook. Basically I like it :D

The mystery itself was fun, too! Nothing too crazy, which is expected of a first case, but things like the motion sensors and the ever present question of why the hell Cass left their room to go to the casino made for a pretty fun enigma to think about.

The trial was also very engaging, especially with how high the mini game to word ratio was. Pretty fun to play along with those things! Although I’m sending up a prayer to the creators’ Docs main page, there’s gonna be so many mini game docs by the time this ends xD The cast of One Shot is… not the fastest, presumably because the authors prefer a high ratio of minigames, but they make for a lot of pretty fun moments in the trial.

Finally, all the more introspective sections we get with Ellis every now and then are great, but that’s mostly because Ellis is awesome so I’ll get into it more in their section :v

Alright, now to get started on the characters!

Monoquin

Cool mascot! Though I hope you’ll forgive I don’t have much to say about him, seeing as so far he’s been more of a Thing facilitating the progress of the killing game than an actual character. Not a bad thing, he is what he is, and a mascot that’s actually pretty professional helps keep the focus on the cast in pretty much all scenes, which is a benefit.

Harper Young

-Original talent guess: Pacifist/Activist/Make-Other-People-Feel-Good-Person -Actual talent: Philanthropist -Talent prediction notes: Well the idea was there xD -Likes: Charities. Dislikes: Vineyards.

I mean, ve really doesn’t do much this chapter. Right now, all we really know about ver is that ve had run into Noah before the killing game doing charity work around his frat, that ve likes to knit, and that ve’s getting kinda restless not being able to so much to help people.

Noah [CH1, Page 41]: Yo, Harper? Harper: Hm? What is it? Noah: You wanna do something, or… something? You seem on edge. Harper: Oh, apologies. I suppose I’m not used to not doing anything. I’ll go grab my quilt.

(Note: All quotes from CH1 are cited with the page they're found in the full chapter doc)

This also gets reiterated a few times during ver Bonus Scene with Noah. In that scene, Noah also implies that Harper's not just rich, but a billionaire.

Noah: [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 8]: Yeah… I definitely didn’t have to struggle or anything, but I’m sure there’s a difference between upper middle class and literal billionaire.

That’s still quite a fair bit for the character who got the least focus in the chapter imo, which is cool.

I can see ver character going a few different ways, either breaking down from restlessness or the inability of helping those who die from the killing game. Ve's been relatively calm so far, but who knows how long that's gonna last.

On another note, what beef does ve have with vineyards. They don't seem like uniquely bad businesses from what I found on a few browser searches. Harper, what did the grapes do? ToT

-Mastermind Ranking: 7/16. Harper's actually on the lower end of the people I suspect a bit. While ve has less outright disqualifying lines (aka things the mm would never say) than those below ver, ve does seems genuinely worried about what's happening outside.

Harper [CH1, 2]: Even if it isn’t something I’m required to do, I have commitments I’m worried about letting down. There are people to help.

Question: What personal belonging from the outside would you bring into the killing game? Harper: “An update on how my foundations are doing would set my mind at ease.”

And while that could all be a lie, the extra detail that ve's restless and not all that happy in the killing game is enough for me to put ver relatively low on the list.

Robert Smith

-Original talent guess: Blank Slate/Regular Person/Guy -Actual talent: Normie -Talent prediction notes: Actually kinda proud of this one! -Likes: Pizza. Dislikes: Mosquitoes.

Robert is a very interesting character to have in a cast so full of weird-ass characters as this one (or any fangan cast really). He didn’t do much in CH1, per se, but his normality contrasted with everyone else’s… deal… certainly helps establish how no one here is all that well adjusted. Robert’s the most shaken up over Cass’ death, just on how gruesome the murder was, for example. And given how he talks about how impressive he believes the others to be based on his CH1 Bonus Scene, this does seem like it’s going to be a recurring thing for his character.

That said, there is also the fact that Robert seems to enjoy literature, what with him reading Percy Jackson and his secondary talent being reading a poem. And this means it’s time to go Literature Girl Insane (it’s funnier the third time! /ref), and see if there’s any symbolism in the literature my guy brings up.

The book referenced in his Bonus Scene, “The Son of Neptune,” doesn’t strike me as incredibly relevant… from a reading of the Wikipedia plot summary- look I’ve never read Percy Jackson you’re gonna have to deal with that.

There’s something to be said about how Percy being an outcast at the camp he arrives at or something could connect to Robert’s feelings about being an outcast in the presence of Ultimates (Taylor’s too), but that’s kinda all I could gather. The plot being about Percy being an amnesiac, if anything, would connect it more to Mark, unless Robert or Taylor have some kind of important memories missing as well. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it and “The Son of Neptune” just got picked because it’s a popular book that a normie would read and fits the time frame of DROS, who knows!

As for the poem he reads in the talent show, “The Road Not Taken”, it’s a little more interesting when applied to Robert. As I said in my First Impressions post for that particular part, the fact the poem itself is a bit open ended in interpretation means that it’s hard to know how to apply it to Robert’s character. However, here’s my current best guess:

The Road Not Taken shows a person in a fork in a road, who takes one of the paths and won’t return to take the other. In the moment, it’s clear both are equally traveled. However, in retrospect, the person claims “with a sigh” that they took the road less traveled and “it made all the difference.” Whether the difference was good or bad is left up to the reader, but the main thing to note is the fact that the person’s hindsight is flawed because neither road was actually traveled more or less than the other.

In his Bonus Scene, Robert says this:

Robert [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 3]: “I have to try so hard to pretend I’m feeling normal and not lose my cool, so that I can fit in with everyone else.”

So, Robert wants to fit in, he basically wants to be “normal” in a sense. Remember how the difference taking the road less traveled makes can be either good or bad depending on the reader? Robert would be afraid that taking the road less traveled, “not fitting in”, would make a negative difference. That means he always wants to take the other road, which is presumably what led him to be the Ultimate Normie.

However, keep in mind that both roads in the poem are actually equal. Robert does what he thinks is normal, not what is actually normal. Because “normal” is relative. In the killing game, moving on quickly from a death is “normal”, where as that likely wouldn’t be the case outside of this setting or with different participants. This sets up a possible arc of Robert learning to choose whichever “road” he wants without worrying about fitting in, because the concept of “fitting in” is sorta flawed in a sense. Cue parallels with Taylor (more on that later) and foils with Aidan, who as the Ultimate Contrarian would be representative of always taking the road less traveled, if such a thing exists.

Or maybe I’m reading way too much into this and the poem just got picked because of the irony of the Ultimate Normie reading a poem from the perspective of someone who believes to have gone against the norm. That’s also very possible xD

-Mastermind ranking: 4/16. It might shock you to see him this high, but it really shouldn’t. Robert doesn’t have any lines going directly against the possibility of him being the mm the way some other people do, and Tsumugi from V3 gives precedent to the idea that maybe we shouldn’t trust the “plain” ones. Plus, I could see some point about how during the Tragedy, it would be “normal” for someone to be obsessed with causing despair. The only reason he isn’t higher is his squeamishness at the sight of Cass’ corpse.

Noah Walker

-Original talent guess: Hellenic Scholar -Actual talent: Frat Boy -Talent prediction notes: I did pick up the frat bro vibes, but the Greek letters threw me off. I now know that represents his frat's "name", per say. The US is a very, very strange place. -Likes: Electric Guitar. Dislikes: Fights.

Similar to the last two, not much going on with him yet. He's talked about his dad disliking the idea of Noah failing out of college, and apparently has two sisters:

Noah [CH1, Page 2]: I don’t think my dad would be happy if I failed out of college…

Harper [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 8]: You said you had sisters, right? Noah: Yeah, two of them.

Plays guitar, played basketball in high school, doesn't get hangovers…

Grace [CH1, 58]: I’m surprised you don’t seem to be hungover, Noah? Noah: Oh, that doesn’t happen with me. Pretty cool.

And had met Harper before the killing game in charity events his frat set up. So, yeah :v

Unlike with Harper and Robert, I have few guesses as to where this guy's going character-wise. Genuinely no clue :p

Btw, I did try to research if his frat, Lambda Omega 𝚲𝛀 (I think? The capital Lambda is upside down on his pendant for some reason, but there's no other capital Greek letter that looks like that), and I found out something quite interesting.

I really have no idea how the US works, in the slightest. I couldn't make sense of half the info I was getting :p

Apart from that, while real life 𝚲𝛀 does in fact exist, I didn't see anything immediately related to Noah. So, if it's important, let it be brought up in the story itself xD

Finally, since I overanalyzed Robert’s poem in the talent show, I may as well do the same for the others. Though Noah’s pick of playing “Eye of the Tiger” isn’t too hard to understand. It’s a song all about ambition and passion, which is very popular with Noah’s general demographic. Basically it’s the exact type of song you’d expect a frat boy to play in a talent show :p

-Mastermind Ranking: 6/16. Everything I said about Harper applies to this guy as well. He's only higher because there's less instances of him disliking the killing game environment, aside from disliking the actual murder aspect of course.

Davis Love

-Original talent guess: Romantic. -Actual talent: Bachelor. -Talent prediction notes: Close, yet so far. -Likes: Wildflowers. Dislikes: Pick-up Lines.

Half these people have insane talents, and Davis’ is no exception. Anyone who is attracted to men will apparently be attracted to Davis, be it romantically or sexually or both depending on their sexuality. Certainly an interesting setup for a character, which we've already seen effects of with how uncomfortable he is when people flirt with him. It's worth noting he's pan and has had a girlfriend before:

Question: Most embarrassing experience? Davis: [...] I guess, really shortly before my junior prom, my girlfriend at the time…

So it's not like he's completely opposed to romance, he's presumably just had bad experiences. There's even a line where, after learning of the motion sensor trackers, Davis specifically is the one to bring up the question of why Cass was tracking their movements. While this could just be a coincidence, it's possible he's particularly concerned about the sensors because he's had some kind of experience with a stalker tracking his movements, as his talent would make that relatively likely. Maybe. We'll have to see.

Davis [Page 125]: …Cass was tracking us. Why would they…?

Though, on the topic of his talent, one thing I haven't talked about is the caveat that Ultimate Contrarian is the Ultimate Counter to Ultimate Bachelor. The talent meta goes crazy.

Davis [CH1, 13]: If someone wants some form of a relationship with someone, they want it with me. Aidan: Really? Aidan takes a seat at the table, entering our conversation. Aidan: I don’t think I’ve felt that way. Davis: Are you attracted to men? Aidan: Yeah? Davis: …Trans men? Aidan: Sure? Davis: …??? Ellis: Huh. That’s what happens when “Ultimate Contrarian” and “Ultimate Bachelor” collide, I guess.

(Oh yeah Davis’ trans btw. Cool!)

What's interesting is that, maybe because of this or maybe not, Aidan and Davis seem to be getting set up as some sort of duo? The aforementioned "Contrarian vs Bachelor” scene is not the only time they're seen together. The two of them were apparently just wandering around together before the "Motive TBA” scene, and while they were investigating separately, they were also the only people in the Customer Service Desk during the Cass case investigation.

Narration [Page 62]: As I sit on the couch, I notice Aidan and Davis approaching the Movie Theater. [...] Davis: Oh, hey Ellis. We were just wandering around.

Narration [Page 84]: … I head out, and travel down to the Customer Service Desk. I see Aidan and Davis separately looking around, and am drawn to Davis first.

Davis is also the first person to compliment Aidan's clarinet skills in the secondary talent show.

Narration [Page 23]: Once it ends, people start clapping, and Aidan gets off stage as fast as possible. Davis: That was pretty great, Aidan!

The scene about the motive strikes me as particularly noteworthy, because Aidan is not exactly the most social person around, so seeing him just "wander around” with someone is interesting. Where this particular pair is gonna go is a fantastic question, especially because I'm not even 100% it is a notable pair, but I'm interested in seeing it! Or- not seeing it if I'm hallucinating its existence, I guess!

Finally, for your regularly scheduled song overanalysis! In the talent show, Davis sings ¨Mine¨ by Taylor Swift, which is by all means a pretty standard love song as far as I can tell. Possibly the most interesting part of the song for our purposes, though, is a section where the singer and their lover get into a fight, and while the singer believes they're about to break up, their lover actually tries to mend the relationship. It's possible this hints to the reason why Davis is a Bachelor; for some reason or another, his lovers keep getting into fights with him and always break up after. Thus, Davis singing this song could be expressing his desire for a partner who is more understanding or forgiving.

However, that´s a pretty insane reach even for my standards, and I don't think anything else we’ve seen implies it, so I currently don’t think there’s much of a connection between Davis and the song beyond it being a love song :v

-Mastermind Ranking: 3/16. If you're surprised he's this high, I am too. He's kinda just here because I can't point to any single line that implies he's not the mm, something that I can do for the people below him. I don't really think he's that likely to be the mastermind, though having the mm be the guy who dislikes pick-up lines and whose talent is deeply connected to romance and sexuality could serve as a good foil to the protagonist we got going on, in some way, which is an okay-ish argument assuming the creation process of DROS even allows for the mm to be picked with the protag in mind (I got no clue :v).

Grace Thomas

-Original talent guess: Mechanic. -Actual talent: Clockmaker. -Talent prediction notes: N/A. -Likes: Efficiency. Dislikes: Being late.

We got a fair bit of backstory from Grace this chapter, and frankly not much else. Still cool stuff!

We learnt from the little round of Never Have I Ever that their parents are strict and kinda overbearing, that they graduated high school early (well, got a GDE, don’t yell at me if there’s differences I’m omitting), etc. One thing that gets repeated a lot is how Grace absolutely loathes wasting time, hence them getting a GDE and such. We also know from the Prologue that they have a boyfriend, and from a question we know his name is Justin, he’s very popular, and they met in high school. All very neat stuff!

I… don’t have much else to say here. There’s certainly something to be said about their propensity for going as fast as possible when contrasted with people like Jeff, who seem to take stuff with a lot more chill. Grace’s main fixation right now seems to be escaping as fast as possible, so we’ll see how that develops in the future!

Well, seems to be.

-Mastermind ranking: 2/16. They’ve dropped one spot from my post-prologue predictions, but they’re still a pretty good contender in my mind. Everything I said in my original Predictions Game post in terms of themes and the like stands. Though, to be fair, we haven’t really seen the themes I speculated based on title and prologue lore alone come into play yet, so maybe the point truly is moot.

The only big sticking point some of you might have with them being the mm would be the fact that they seem committed to escaping, but that could easily be faked. It could actually be a decent strategy to discourage others from investigating escape routes themselves, if they think Grace is on it and can’t find anything. All they’d have to do to discourage looking for escape routes is say something like-

Grace [CH1, 8]: Though, I’ll hand it to the runners of this game, they’ve done a good job of eliminating any trace of an exit.

Yeah like that.

But beyond that, there’s also one other, particular reason Grace still stands above the others as an mm candidate in my mind, which they share with #1. I’ll explain when I talk about said #1.

Paris Hall

-Original talent guess: Tea Maker or Queen/Princess -Actual talent: Gossip -Talent prediction notes: Not even close xD -Likes: Acrylic Nails. Dislikes: Windy Days.

Our first FTE haver! Though in true Gossip fashion, Paris hardly gives out info about herself, and prefers to discuss literally anyone else's business. All we really know about her personally is that she has a big following online, and apparently friends, though as far as I remember she's never mentioned any family.

As for the happenings of the killing game itself, her reveal of Antonia and Cass’ beef could be the first of many instances where Paris’ love for gossip develops conflict amongst the group, which would be very interesting to see. But perhaps more interesting than that is her reaction to Cass’ murder. Or, rather, the lack of one. Paris behaves pretty much the same during the trial than outside of it, giving little indication that she‘s even all that worried about the whole thing. I don’t exactly have any real guess as to why this happens (assuming she’s not the mm), but I’m very curious to find out.

Finally, there’s her relationship with Taylor. Although Paris keeps tabs on everyone, she’s taking a particular interest in Taylor and calling them her “bestie”… for some reason. Allegedly, the bond comes from shared music taste and their talent show performances, which is I suppose a valid reason to start a friendship. But given my use of “allegedly”, you can probably tell that I don’t trust this all that much.

Paris sketches me out, and this isn’t new. That was part of the reason I thought her to be the CH1 killer after the investigation’s end, after all. Probably doesn’t help that Ellis constantly inner monologues about how dangerous she is due to her information gathering skills, and that Antonia clearly believed Paris to be on her wavelength during their Prologue Bonus Scene. And to be clear, Antonia’s wavelength is not somewhere trustworthy people are found. Hence why I’m worried Paris’ intentions with Taylor aren’t fully innocent. Whether she’s trying to get an ally in preparation for a trial where she’s the blackened, or creating an easy target for her to kill, or something else entirely, there are many very dangerous reasons Paris could have to befriend Taylor like that.

Of course, though, it’s also entirely possible that I’m insane and that Paris genuinely just wants to befriend Taylor for the sake of friendship itself. And generally that’s what I’d assume, as I personally like to try and be trusting of fictional characters, but idk. Maybe I just can’t handle a bad bitch making friends, and that one’s on me. Who knows!

Though, on the topic of the talent show, Paris danced to "Toxic". Continuing to overanalyze these picks… this one doesn’t paint a great picture. "Toxic" features the singer speaking to someone whose love is addictive and “toxic”, which I could see being recontextualized to imply something about Paris’ relationship with her fans (be it them being addicted to her or her being addicted to them), but… Well. As of right now, the most straightforward interpretation could be that Paris is a “toxic” friend to Taylor. Just in case we needed more red flags there.

Then again, I could always just be reading into these things too deeply. Maybe venus just likes the song and there’s no further meaning, like that thing that happened with Wizardry 8 during pre-release lol.

-Mastermind ranking: 1/16. Yep. I mean. I don’t trust Paris. This has been established.

Her lack of reaction to murder is one of the biggest red flags here, of course, but her talent would also make it easy to gather info on the contestants for things like the “likes & dislikes” section of their profiles and potential future motives, and her propensity for creating conflict could be useful if DROS is going for the “televised killing game” angle. In the Cass-Kennedy Bonus Scene, Kennedy brings up that since the mm revealed their existence to the cast, they probably want them to speculate of who the mm is, and Paris revealing Cass and Antonia’s cross-suspicion could be helping to do just that.

Kennedy [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 12]: If the mastermind wants it to be known that there’s a mastermind, they probably want it to inspire drama. What better way to do that than making accusations public and starting feuds?

The fact that one of the big narrative themes we’ve been seeing so far is ”secrets” (which I'll discuss mainly in Cass and Antonia's sections) could also give a foundation for the mm to be the Ultimate Gossip.

Finally, and this is the big thing that really puts Paris above the rest in my mind; I don’t see any arc she’s going through that would be invalidated by her being the mm. Robert’s struggles to fit in, Davis’ deal with relationships and the such, Taylor’s self-image issues (we'll to those in their section), all would be kinda moot points if they’re the mm. Like, I’m sure there’s a way to make them work, but it’d be a bit difficult. Meanwhile, the main thing Paris has got going on is her relationship with Taylor, which can easily be spun into part of Taylor’s arc if Paris ends up being the mm.

This is the quality that Paris only really shares with Grace that puts both of them at the top of my list, the one I alluded to in Grace’s mm section. The reason Paris is slightly above them is… honestly just vibes xD I trust Grace more than I trust Paris, that’s the whole reasoning there. They’re actually somewhat equal candidates in my mind.

I could be wrong, of course, but well. They’re predictions for a reason!

Kennedy Rey

-Original talent guess: Conspiracy Theorist. -Actual talent: Conspiracy Theorist. -Talent prediction notes: B) -Likes: Mysteries. Dislikes: Skeptics.

Fellow insane people from Tumblr, meet our spitting image. Kennedy spends the entire chapter doing what she does best: being completely insane and constantly throwing out theories about the mm. He’s insane in a pretty fun way, and it’s always fun to have them on screen!

We learn little about Kennedy’s life outside the killing game, other than the fact that they know a little of self-defense because they’re extremely paranoid. We don’t really know what she even does with her life, frankly. But Kennedy has enough stuff going on in the killing game itself to make up for it!

As of right now, Kennedy has several noteworthy relationships with other characters. First is his working relationship with Vivi, the only person who seems to genuinely hold Kennedy’s opinion in high regard. And of course they do! She also knows what it’s like to be disregarded as insane because her methods are unorthodox, being a Mad Doctor and all. Makes me wonder if there’ll be some foiling between the oh so normal Robert and the “Mad Duo” (which is what I’m calling them now and you can’t stop me).

Cass was also a theorizing buddy to Kennedy in at least one scene, but she always seemed to be more interested in investigating on her own. See: not telling anyone about the trackers or them spying on Antonia. Their Bonus Scene has Kennedy attempting to ascertain whether Cass would be a good theorizing buddy after her whole beef with Antonia, suggesting that Kennedy genuinely enjoys having other people to discuss their theories with. Pretty fun! Shame Cass died :p

And of course, Kennedy’s legendary beef with Aidan. By virtue of being the Ultimate Contrarian who hates assumptions and uncontested opinions, Aidan is basically diametrically opposed to Kennedy, and their mutual dislike is made apparent all across the chapter. Although Aidan ends up usually looking like the one in the right in comparison to Kennedy, I’m very interested in how this rivalry is going to develop in future chapters!

-Mastermind ranking: 12/16. Way too committed to finding the mm for it not to be genuine. Sure, by his own logic from the Bonus Scene this would actually make him suspicious, but come on. There’s a limit to how much a mastermind would try to find the mastermind, surely xD

Taylor Long

-Original talent guess: Actor -Real talent: Impressionist -Talent guess notes: The comedy and tragedy masks fooled me T_T -Likes: Movie theaters. Dislikes: Rock bands. -Notes: Can I ask about the rock bands? Lol

Taylor has self-image issues, and it’s possibly the clearest issue any of these characters have lol.

Taylor [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 2, to Robert]: I try to fit in, but at the end of the day, I’m just me, you know? The only special part about me is when I’m doing an impression of someone else. Other than that, I’m just as regular as you.

Like, I could find other examples, but this one’s probably enough to get the point across, no? Taylor clearly doesn’t have the highest opinion of themselves, so they channel other people’s energy to get the confidence they need to get their opinions out. All throughout the trial, they continuously make impressions of Cass and occasionally Kennedy to bring up their ideas. During their FTE, they constantly try to accommodate for Ellis’ tastes, constantly asking what she wants to do and what her friends are usually like.

Ellis [CH1, 38]: They, uh… they’re wild, and crazy! Always down to party. Super rich and popular, too. Taylor: Oh, I see… They think. Taylor: It really is kinda surprising that you like me, then. I mean, I definitely can do those things, but it takes me a little while to come out of my shell… [...] Taylor: Sorry, I just realized I kind of took over the conversation. Was there something you wanted to talk about? Ellis: Hmm, not particularly. Actions speak louder than words. Taylor: Oh! Then, um, do you want me to do something…? Ellis: Do you want to do something? Taylor: Um… whatever you want is fine with me!

And of course, Taylor somehow thinks that making an impression of Antonia directly after her execution is a great idea to cheer Vanessa up, instead of comforting her with their own words.

Vanessa [CH1, 152]: …Toni… Taylor: Please don’t be upset… um… Taylor goes over to Vanessa and gently places a hand on their upper arm. Taylor: “Don’t be upset, darling–” Vanessa: Stop that!

You know, like a fucking insane person-

Right now, we mostly have setup for some kind of arc about these self-image issues, and I’m very curious to see where exactly they’re going to go with it. This how there could be some parallels with Robert and the like, which we’ve already seen explored to some extent in their bonus scene.

The other main arc Taylor’s got going on is the Paris thing, but I’ve already covered that in the Paris section, so. Yeah.

Finally, for the last of the talent show song pick analysis, Taylor dances to “Born This Way”, making a sort of impression of Lady Gaga as they did. Of course, this further hints at their self-esteem issues, as they don’t seem to believe to have any talent beyond their impressions, which makes the decision to pick a song about self love all the more ironic. And yes, I believe that’s why they lip sync to this song specifically, because their presumed character arc is likely to be about self-love.

-Mastermind ranking: 5/16. They have a few lines in the Prologue that would read slightly weird in the context of Taylor!MM, but nothing outright disqualifying. That, combined with the idea that the killing game could be an “impersonation” of Hope’s Peak and maybe specifically the THH killing game, are the only reasons Taylor is this high. There's not much else here so far :v

Vivian Mitchell

-Original talent guess: Surgeon/Doctor -Actual talent: Mad Doctor -Talent prediction notes: Well. Close enough? -Likes: Experimentation. Dislikes: Supervisors.

Vivi’s great! She’s just a pretty fun character. This chapter, she doesn’t really do much beyond being Kennedy’s sidekick and performing an autopsy, though I decided her involvement in the actual case and investigation warranted being a bit later in the post than those before her (look this format is far from an exact science xD). I’ve already covered said connection with Kennedy, and the autopsy thing is more a trial thing than a character analysis thing- well, other than saying this:

Vivi [CH1, 90]: I mean, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t done a few Vivi-sections before, but on a person…? Robert: …Do you mean dissections…? Vivi: …Yup!

Which… implies she thought Cass got dismembered while they were still alive? Assuming Vivi’s using the usual meaning of vivisection (dissections on things that are still alive) and isn’t just making a confusing pun. But their autopsy should have determined that wasn’t the case, I think, so.

Look, confusing puns aside, the point is that Vivi has probably done some kind of vivisections on animals as party of the experimentation their profile says they like. At least, that’s my current theory on why they said that.

One other thing: Vivi seems to be the character who is most often pushing the idea that someone else should be coming to rescue them.

Vivi [CH1, 3]: Okay, yeah, or our families or friends could, like, do something! What, you really think all of your loved ones would straight up accept you were missing and not look into anything themselves…?

Vivi [CH1, 65]: I mean, someone’s gotta be looking. The question is whether or not they can actually rescue us, and if so, how soon.

Combined with some things said in CH2 Part 1 (I really took too long to write this :v), it seems Vivi has a pretty good relationship with her family, which is… something!

Vivi’s definitely have some other stuff going on, though. So far, we only have vague indications on what exactly puts the “Mad” in her Mad Doctor talent, so I could see that being elaborated on later, and her fixation with no one dying around her that we saw in the Prologue is something that could certainly develop into an interesting arc. Overall, pretty curious about them!

-Mastermind ranking: 11/16. The main reason Vivi’s this low is the fact that they resent their Ultimate title.

Vivi [Prologue, 24]: It’s such a judgmental way to put the Ultimate title! I just do what I think is gonna work! And it always works. So, if you or anyone you know is ever in danger of dying or anything, let me know

Were she the mm, she would have no reason not to just call herself the Ultimate Doctor instead. This, combined with their team-up with Kennedy to find the mm, makes it highly unlikely that they’re the mm in my mind.

Aidan Ho

-Original talent guess: N/A -Actual talent: Contrarian. -Talent prediction notes: N/A. -Likes: Pop rocks. Dislikes: Assumptions. -Notes: One of the most random likes here I think lol.

For me, Aidan’s possibly one of the most fascinating characters in a cast full of fascinating characters. You’d think his constant questioning of everything and everyone around him, combined with his generally uncooperative attitude, would make him a relatively unpopular character amongst the cast (beyond possibly Davis as discussed earlier), but he manages to not piss off too many people simply by being a paragon of common sense in the crazy people place. Well, other than Kennedy, as I've mentioned. Aidan also strikes me as one of the smarter characters, and thus has a fair amount of cool moments in the trial.

Aidan [CH1, 134]: …[Cass was] careful with their introduction, huh…? Davis: What do you mean? Aidan: Before Cass gave me her name or her talent, she led into the words “Ultimate Agent” by talking about other people’s work. They were making sure that I was already thinking about fucking commerce by the time they had to say it.

(By the way, I just noticed this now on a re-read, but why "fucking commerce"? Is he that pressed about being manipulated and lied to? Interesting character tidbit)

Aidan [CH1, 141]: Because you’re not backing it up. If belief is the only thing you’ve got, then it makes it seem like belief is the only thing there is.

Robert [CH1, 143]: She’s… making a lot of good points. Maybe we should listen to her…? Aidan: No way. Davis: Huh? Aidan: She’s cornered. Do you really want to let her manipulate you when she’s like this?

(Speaking of his apparent distaste for manipulation)

And his reaction to Antonia’s execution is fun.

Aidan [CH1, 151]: …Glad that’s over. Vivi: How can you be at all glad right now? We just watched someone die! Right in front of us…! Aidan: What, you wish she was still in the process of dying…?

That weird disregard for the horrifying shit he just witnessed is possibly an extension of the views he expressed in his FTE.

Aidan [CH1, 6]: I know other people care, and I can respect that. If they care enough about something to fight for it– even if that thing is as simple as their life– I wouldn’t get in the way of that. Ellis: You think lives are simple…? Aidan: Caring about your life is. Isn’t that, like, basic human instinct or whatever? Ellis: I mean, yeah, I guess. But it’s not so wrong to indulge in your primal instincts, is it? He shrugs. Aidan: If that’s what interests you. Ellis: And what interests you, then? For some reason, I feel like I’ve been hearin’ a whole lot of “no” and not a lot of “yes.” Aidan: Does it really matter…? He scowls. Aidan: I really don’t care what happens with any of this. So, if other people do, good for them. For now, what I know is that I’m here. That’s all. Ellis: Exactly. You’re here! You’ve got the world at your fingertips, what with that weird Customer Service Desk thingy! You gotta figure out how to enjoy yourself! Aidan: I appreciate how unconcerned you are despite everyone else being all moody, but… no way. Either we’ll get out of here, or we won’t. In the meantime… it doesn’t really matter.

I decided to put the full quote there because it really is very strange. Aidan’s another character whose life outside the killing game is still a mystery to us, but perhaps that is because he doesn’t feel he has anything to return to. He just seems fundamentally uninterested in everything, up to and including his own life. Sure, he didn’t say he had no interests, but he may as well have. Not caring about what happens during the killing game is a very unique perspective, to say the least!

The idea Aidan really don’t give a fuck is further reinforced by the Scrum Debate:

Aidan [CH1, 113]: Like any of you want to stay. Anyone could have a motive here. That’s just how the killing game goes.

Any of you, not any of us. See the difference? Aidan probably wouldn’t mind escaping, but he doesn’t seem to mind staying, either.

Obviously this raises a lot of questions as to how Aidan came about this mindset in the first place, and whether or not he’ll grow out of it during the killing game, but right now we lack the tools to figure those things out. What we can discuss is the way this parallels other characters’ perspectives, though.

Be it Grace and Jeff’s desire to escape as fast as possible because everything that interests them is on the outside, or people like Harper and Noah’s desire to get out to return to their prior commitments, or Kennedy’s wholehearted investment in every mystery of the killing game (and yes Aidan and Kennedy’s beef runs really deep), or Ellis’ self-proclaimed (and probably fake) disinterest in the others as anything other than eye candy, or Antonia and Cass’ interest in keeping their secrets throughout the killing game… Turns out everyone has a different perspective in how they feel about the killing game, so a character who doesn't care at all (at least, that’s what they claim) stands out pretty significantly, in a way that helps bring out the others’ different interests and the things they’re focused on.

Basically I really like Aidan and I can’t wait to see how their mindset is explored/developed :D

-Mastermind ranking: 8/16. Aidan’s general disinterest in absolutely everything could be spun into some strange kind of mm who’s just going through the motions, I guess, but it doesn’t strike me as particularly likely. Realistically should be higher, especially given his dual colored hoodie split down the middle as the black and white of the Mono color scheme, but in a sense he strikes me as too confrontational, too early. Sure, he’s not as confrontational as someone like Byakuya, but he still ends up coming off as slightly antagonistic at times just by virtue of always going against the current as the Ultimate Contrarian, and as accirax eloquently put it in her own mm predictions for other fangans (Eden’s Garden & DRDT):

…wow, the mildly antagonistic character was actually a really antagonistic character all along! It just doesn’t seem like enough of a dramatic hook to me, I guess?

Again, Aidan isn’t the most antagonistic character ever, but I still think the phrase applies. Not to say that it couldn’t work at all, just that it’d be harder to pull Aidan!MM as opposed to the other options higher than him.

“Mark" Nolastnamegiven

-Original talent guess: ??? -Real talent: ??? -Talent guess notes: Yeah this one was easy. -Likes: Soft fabric. Dislikes: Physical confrontation.

Taylor [CH1, 137]: Are either of you worried about the fact that that leaves you as the only two suspects? Like, at all…? Antonia: Hm? Not particularly. Mark: Obviously I’ll have to prove my innocence, but from my perspective, it’s nice to know who the killer is.

Members of the jury, these two are awesome.

If there’s any character who truly stole the spotlight during the majority of the Deadly Life section, beyond those actually involved in the murder (and Ellis), then that character is Mark. While they didn’t really do anything in Daily Life beyond repeat a few times that they don’t remember shit from before the killing game, their notable “locking in” during the investigation and subsequent trial is quite an interesting development for them. Evidently, whatever their talent was, it seems it gives them some form of edge when it comes to investigating. That obviously brings Kyoko to memory, though Mark doesn’t seem to be quite her level of Detective, which is cool. I like that the few brain cells we have are a bit more spread out in this cast.

We also got a couple of really cool character moments from Mark’s “partial awakening”; I’m particularly obsessed with the calm with which they handled the Third Party Analysis, as already quoted, and the reintroduction with Ellis at the end of the chapter.

Ellis [CH1, 154]: Yeah. You seem much more aware than when we first met. Or when we second met. You need a third meeting? I extend my hand. Ellis: Hello there, beautiful stranger. It is I, Ellis Ortiz– Ultimate Lucky Student, any pronouns. They laugh and scratch their cheek gently, a bit embarrassed. Mark: I’m Mark. Still don’t know my real name, talent, or previously preferred pronouns, but… glad to be here with you.

Really brings forth themes of renewal and the like. I really wonder if the fact that Mark is essentially getting a second chance to discover their abilities, after doing it once and forgetting through the killing game amnesia, will somehow play into the idea of “One Shot” as “one opportunity.” We’ll have to see ig.

Finally, because obviously I can’t talk about Mark without bringing this up, what is their talent, anyways? It’s most likely somewhat connected to their detective skills, but you might think there’s no way to narrow it down further than that. However, there may be a few hints we can use, alongside with the principle… of “The Funniest Possible Answer,” which states that a theory can be compelling just by being funny, if nothing else.

Take a look at this post, specifically the Mark answer.

Question: If DROS characters had the talents of the cast of Project: Eden's Garden, which one would each character have? Mark: Ultimate Pro Gamer.

Now, there’s nothing inherently interesting about this. Matching talents across fangans is always gonna be difficult, and not all of them are gonna fit very well (see: Fencer Vivi or Ship Captain Kennedy). However, there’s another post which makes me a bit more curious about this particular answer:

Question: What's your favorite animal and why? Mark: “I don’t remember, sorry…” [If allowed to, Mark would pick a Pokémon, and therefore Bulbasaur. If asked for a real animal, the answer would be a penguin.]

A Bulbasaur, of all things. Everyone else picked real animals as a first choice, but not Mark. Mark picked a video game creature. Combined with the previous answer, it almost makes it seem like Mark had a very profound interest in video games before losing their memories. Perhaps… enough interest to be an Ultimate of the video game variety?

To be clear, I doubt they’re straight up the Ultimate Gamer, because based on their behavior during the trial, there’s still presumably some form of connection with mysteries. Which gets me to a secondary point, which is: are Mark’s clothes really what they were wearing before the start of the killing game? No one has commented on having had their clothes changed, so I presume they’re wearing the last thing they remember wearing. But Mark has no way of knowing. I bring this up because Mark has an accessory with a question mark in their design, which makes sense with them being the Ultimate ???, but not outside the killing game. Unless, of course, their actual talent already had a connection with mysteries.

Hence, we reach my current guess for Mark’s talent: Ultimate Mystery Video Game Player. Or something like that. Could also be something like “Video Game Puzzlemaster” or something, especially because I wouldn’t exactly classify Pokemon as a mystery game, but getting the exact wording right on these things is always almost impossible, so.

Although, while we’re here, I may as well bring up the possibility that Mark may have a role similar to the Ultimate Survivor from V3, and they’re the sole survivor of the killing game directly preceding DROS. I bring this up because of Rule #7 from the E-Handbook:

Rule #7: The blackened may only kill a maximum of two people during any single killing game.

This rule’s wording about “any single killing game” accounts for the possibility of someone having competed in a previous killing game, implying we could be looking at such a situation. Of course, we have no indication of who that would be (everyone has missing memories, not just Mark, after all), but I’m bringing it up with Mark because there’s canon DR precedent for this happening with the Ultimate ??? in Rantaro. Doubt it’s the case, since I’m not sure venus would want to repeat such a plot twist, but you know.

-Mastermind ranking: 9/16. Mark marks (heh) the start of the more plausible guesses in the list, as there’s less things going directly against the idea that they could be the mm. The spots directly below Mark, such as Harper and Noah, may have one or two lines that would read weird if they’re the mm, but I still find them more plausible than Mark simply because Mark being the mm feels… odd, y’know?

There’s many ways the mm could disguise themselves that draw way less suspicion than calling themselves the Ultimate ??? and pretending not to remember anything before the killing game. That also includes the possibility that they’re the mm but still genuinely erased their memories, because that plan would be kinda insane without something like Divine Luck from that fangan that I don't want to name so as not to spoil anyone. Neither idea is impossible, hence why Mark is still higher than many of the others, but it requires a few more explanations than those who rank even higher.

Vanessa Bravo

-Original talent guess: Singer. -Actual talent: Announcer. -Talent prediction notes: I tried :p -Likes: Crowded areas. Dislikes: Minimalistic designs. -Notes: Who likes crowded areas???

As the reason that the talent show even happened at all, Vanessa is to be thanked for giving us some of the sillier moments before shit hit the fan. Quite a lovely person overall, though we know little of her life outside the killing game for now. We do know she has a sister, though!

Question: What object would you bring from the outside into the killing game? Vanessa: “I want my sister…”

Speaking of sisters, Vanessa got hit with one of the most severe cases of Danganronpa Syndrome (where characters get attached to each other extremely quickly to make the death of one of them more impactful to the storyline) I’ve ever seen. Less than a week in, she’d already adopted Antonia as her surrogate big sister. This is consistent with Ness’ constant push to make the killing game as comfortable as possible, setting up the talent show for example.

Vanessa [CH1, 8]: …Aw, are you guys seriously on the whole escape thing again already?! Grace: What else would we be doing? Vanessa: I dunno, having fun? This place is pretty cool, if you actually take a look around! Why do you wanna leave so fast?

And if Ness’ goal is to make the killing game as comfortable as possible for herself and others, and Antonia and her remind each other of their respective sisters, well, it’s as Antonia says:

Antonia [CH1, 43]: It’s only natural to take comfort in the things that remind you of home, isn’t it?

I do wonder how this attitude of trying to find comfort and fun inside the killing game will develop now that things have gone horribly, horribly wrong. Certainly something to look out for.

Another character trait I enjoy is Ness’ very proactive personality. She’s the one who gave Mark their temporary name, she’s the one who proposed the talent show, that kinda thing. I particularly want to highlight this scene, though:

Vanessa [CH1, 141]: Why do you keep disagreeing with her?! Doesn’t Mark being the killer make way more sense here? Who knows what they’re thinking at any given time? Toni is… she’s her! Someone we can trust… Aidan: It doesn’t help anyone to blindly defend someone because you like them. This is where our logic’s taking us. If you want to defend her with actual logic, be my guest, but if you’re just yelling, all you’re gonna do is turn people against her. Vanessa: Why would that turn people against her…? Aidan: Because you’re not backing it up. If belief is the only thing you’ve got, then it makes it seem like belief is the only thing there is. Vanessa: Well, you’re wrong! Antonia: Vanessa, if you’ll allow me to handle this– Vanessa: No one should be accusing you like this! I’ll… convince them they’re wrong! Yeah, that’s it! Antonia: Vanessa– Vanessa: Don’t worry, I’ve got you!

Let’s quickly appreciate Aidan’s cold ass “if belief is the only thing you’ve got, then it makes it seem like belief is the only thing there is” line.

Wow… :O /gen

Alright it’s been appreciated. Now we can focus on Vanessa again. Beyond her vehement trust in Antonia, the main thing I wanted to point out is how Ness continued to defend Antonia even after Toni repeatedly told her to back down. After all, Ness’ Freestyle Feud starts directly after this. I really like this piece of characterization because I’m a sucker for this type of “white knight/savior complex” character. I just like it that’s all :>

Overall, Vanessa beats the CH1 victim allegations with flying colors, and I can’t wait to see where her character goes from here!

-Mastermind ranking: 13/16. Apart from how genuinely upset at Antonia’s death she is, Vanessa’s distaste for the way Monoquin presents everything would suggest that she is not the one responsible for creating the guy.

Vanessa [Prologue, 18]: …the way [Monoquin] reveals information is so boring. I could do a way better job. Like, “oh, by the way, you’re Ultimates, like Hope’s Peak.” Where’s the drama? Where’s the delivery?

I didn’t mention it in the analysis, but I do enjoy how passionate Ness is over this. I can’t possibly think she’s the mm if she hates Monoquin’s announcing this much!

Jeff Breeze

-Original talent guess: (Resort/Hotel) Manager/Tour Guide/Vacationer -Actual talent: Absentee -Talent prediction notes: Vacationer’s kinda close, right? What's with the umbrella, anyways? Unguessable xD -Likes: Blue hawaiians. Dislikes: Conflict.

My guy has exactly one goal at any time, and that is to get the hell outta dodge. We hear in their FTE that they occasionally get a certain feeling that things are gonna turn out bad, and they always leave the moment they get said feeling. Other than that, and the fact he was forced to play football (er, soccer) briefly when he was younger, and that they got dragged to an amusement park at some point, we don’t know too much about Jeff. Which means there’s room for speculation!

My current guess of what theme Jeff’s character will play into is the whole idea that “you miss all the shots you don’t take” or something. You know, the thing the fangan seems to be named after, and Ellis mentions early into the Prologue. Because Jeff always ditches before the going gets tough, they usually don’t “take any shots”, which is something which could be explored in the future. Even if it isn’t, Jeff’s avoidant behavior could be contrasted (and already is paralleling) with things like Vanessa’s more proactive attitude to the killing game, or Robert and Taylor’s desire to fit in instead of distancing themselves from others, you get the idea.

Finally, and the reason Jeff’s so high up in the “relevance list”, his involvement in the trial. Jeff just so happens to be outside when the murder’s going down, which makes sense with their “bad vibes radar” thing. When shit’s about to go down, their spider sense tingles and they get restless, so they go out to burn off their energy, and find themselves being important in the trial. I wonder if him getting dragged into situations they really don’t want to be in is going to be a recurring thing. We’ll see!

-Mastermind ranking: 14/16. I said Jeff has exactly one goal, and I meant it. He wants to leave. This conflicts with the mm’s desire to… not. Do that. So. Unless they’re lying about literally everything, this one doesn’t look very likely.

Ellis Ortiz

-Original talent guess: Lucky Student -Actual talent: Lucky Student -Talent guess notes: ;) -Likes: Designer brands. Dislikes: Closing hours.

And we finally reach our protagonist! And what a protagonist he is. Not only are their flirtatious antics pretty funny, her attitude towards the killing game is quite the unique one.

As is common with Lucky Students, a lot of it comes from her luck. From what we understand, that luck is generally strictly positive and Ellis mainly applies it to money-making, though he seems to have a sort of conflicted opinion on it. On the one hand, Ellis trusts her luck enough to somewhat firmly believe in their title, as expressed in all the inner monologues where Ellis assures themselves they will survive the killing game no matter what. On the other, Ellis doesn’t like to attribute all her achievements to luck alone, disliking that her title doesn’t acknowledge the actual skill she believes to have in things such as stock trading and gambling. Of course, right now the audience has no idea how much of that perceived skill actually exists and how much of it is just Ellis trying to convince himself he deserves his winnings for reasons other than pure chance. Something to see in the future.

This conflict about her luck carries into Ellis’ general killing game strategy. Or at least, the strategy she’s trying to implement. He first swears to himself that he won’t get attached to the other characters and will treat them only as eye candy, which immediately fails as we see him crying after the class trial. Not to mention, they’re seemingly getting attached to Mark, at least, given their little triple introduction thing. And they're even considering switching strategy to defeating the mastermind after the first trial, as they've noticed that, if it comes down to them or the mm, they may be cooked.

In general, Ellis is pretty bad when it comes to fulfilling promises she makes to herself. There are, for example, many times in the chapter where Ellis promises not to think about things such as the mastermind, followed just a scene or two later by an internal monologue about the mastermind paranoid enough to rival Kennedy’s craziest theories. The persona of confidence and nonchalance that Ellis projects is so far removed from her inner doubts and insecurities, that she keeps switching between paranoid overthinking and complete laidback-ness with enough speed to cause whiplash.

This all comes from Ellis’ complete inability to be honest to himself about his feelings, naturally. Becoming more honest with said feelings is likely going to be a large part of Ellis’ character arc, which could parallel/contrast nicely with people like Taylor (who feels they have to act as someone else to express themselves), or Paris (who doesn’t speak too much about herself and prefers gossiping about others). Plus, the general idea of dishonesty, with oneself or others, can be connected to Antonia’s and Cass’ shared theme of secrets (again, more on that in a moment). However, other parts of his character could play off nicely with a lot of the cast. Ellis’ flirtatious attitude could connect to Davis’ Deal, their bouts of paranoia could play off the Mad Duo, their devil-may-care style of living contrasts Grace’s more reserved lifestyle, their optimism and trying to make the best of the situation is similar to Vanessa’s CH1 attitude and contrary to Jeff’s perspective, you get the idea. Fun character!

I haven’t mentioned it too much, but we also have a lot of info on Ellis’ backstory. He has two younger step-siblings who are “alright”, got started with his exploits by inheritance from his grandpa, he refers to something called the “Ellis Ortiz brand” at some points so he might be relatively well known (assuming he’s not exaggerating his relevance)*, and probably more I’m forgetting (or just skipping due to them being minor details) just because we have a lot more time to learn about Ellis’ backstory than other characters. She is the PoV character after all! In any case, it’s fun stuff.

*Yeah so I fell for the old trick of he unreliable narrator lol. She has (or would have) 5.1k Twitter followers, which is less than fucking Vivi. No one knows who Ellis is, the brand thing's exaggeration xD

-Mastermind ranking: 10/16. Although an mm protag isn’t out of the question (check tags of that post), Ellis doesn’t particularly strike me as one. See, she would need to be an amnesiac mm, the kind that doesn’t even know they’re the mm before the end of the story. And while there’s never a good way to completely rule that out, I haven’t seen any reason to believe that’s the case either.

Let’s put it like this; if you consider Ellis a potential mm candidate, you also have to consider everyone below her a candidate as well, as anyone could potentially be the type of mm she’d have to be. The only reason she’s higher than them, then, is that this particular type of mm works best with protags. The main reason to create an mm like this would be to prevent internal dialogue from spoiling the mm, which is obviously only a problem for Ellis.

Necessary amnesia aside, Ellis’ stated goals of “get rich, get bitches, have fun” (simplified) don’t really align with the things creating a killing game would accomplish. And while it’s possible Ellis changed in the period of lost memories, we have no evidence of that, so. Yeah, not very likely :v

Cassidy Torres

-Original talent guess: Writer. -Actual talent: Agent. -Talent prediction notes: I mean. I had a pen to work with. I wasn’t getting that xD -Likes: Getting info. Dislikes: Stubborn people.

Victim coming through! And what a victim Cass is. You know, it’s always hard to make the audience care about the CH1 victim, given they’re definitionally the character who’s alive for the shortest amount of time, but having a major twist about them happen during the trial is a hell of a way to do that! The reveal of Cass’ true talent is the kind of thing that makes you do the character analysis backwards, starting at the end with the reveal and piecing it together (heh) from there.

Aidan [CH1, 134]: …[Cass was] careful with their introduction, huh…? Davis: What do you mean? Aidan: Before Cass gave me her name or her talent, she led into the words “Ultimate Agent” by talking about other people’s work. They were making sure that I was already thinking about fucking commerce by the time they had to say it. Grace: Now that you mention it, I believe they quickly pivoted to discussing sales with me as well.

Well, we saw two Cass introductions, so why not confirm?

[Cass] [Prologue, 37]: Lucky Student, huh? That’s an all-around useful talent. Still though, it’s weird… Why is no one here talented at making things, or having something to sell…? Ellis: Hey, who says I’m not talented at “making” something? [Cass]: I should clarify, I’m referring to making something physical. Something that one might, say, need someone to critique and/or help them market to higher ups. They extend their hand to me. [Cass]: I’m Cassidy Torres, or Cass for short, she/they. And, here, I guess I’m the Ultimate Agent.

Cass [Prologue Bonus Scenes, 9]: It’s great to meet you, Grace. My name is Cassidy Torres– Cass for short– and I use she/they. I’m the Ultimate Agent. After we shake hands, Cass looks at me approvingly. Cass: It’s about time I met an Ultimate who actually creates something. My talent is pretty useless without anything to market, so I was hoping I’d be able to help at least one of you with my services. As it turns out, the last person I met was the one who best fit the description.

Yep, pretty much exactly what the others said. Cass was quick to mention sales and creating products so as to now get found out, even though funnily enough Ellis almost got it.

Ellis [Prologue, 38]: Agent, huh? So, I shouldn’t be surprised when you pull out some spy-like leather suit? Cass: Oh, it’s nothing like that. Though I’ve definitely worn my fair share of suits…

Cass is quick with it :O

Although I think Cass’ Agent skills shine most when you can see the full extent of their internal monologue.

Kennedy [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 10]: Found you! Kennedy has, apparently, tracked me down to the Show Room, which I had assumed no one would really want to spend time in. This doesn’t contradict that data point, though; if Kennedy was looking for me specifically, as evidenced by their words, then it’s my presence rather than any qualities of the Show Room itself that led them here. Probably best to play dumb, though.

Bro. Even if Kennedy hadn’t said “found you”, you could’ve just asked them what they were doing in the Show Room without that analysis. Which you do.

Cass [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 10]: Were you looking for me?

You’re putting my overthinking to shame, you gotta relax! (Kidding, I really enjoy the overkill analysis there xD).

Cass’ skill is actually very fun to really think about. They had to come up with the cover story of being a salesperson on the spot when they got their talent, which is kinda crazy. And she still managed to come up with stuff like specific phrases and words that would always get a reaction of her cover character! What!

Kennedy [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 12]: Isn’t this a good opportunity for you? “Opportunity” acts like a trigger phrase. Right. I need to be charading as the Ultimate non-secret Agent. I make a show of sighing. Cass: I suppose passing up on a good opportunity is typically a bad thing. But, an opportunity for what?

I have no way of knowing how accurate of a depiction of secret agents this is, but I can say it's a pretty cool description to read about.

This does mean that a lot of Cass’ dialogue ends up being nothing but part of an act, a problem for character analysis. But there’s still plenty to work with, especially because her talent deeply relates to the main theme connecting her and Antonia: secrets, the things people will do to uncover them, and the extent people are willing to go to keep them.

Antonia [CH1, 52]: From what I’ve determined, you may be the one hiding the biggest secret here, Cassidy. Cass: I’m sorry? Antonia: I know a liar when I see one~ A liar? But, what would Cass have to lie about…? Unless…? Cass: What are you accusing me of, exactly? Antonia: I’m not sure what. You could be the mastermind, or the possessor of the poison, or any number of things. All I can tell is that you’re guarded. There are things you don’t want us to learn. Isn’t that right?

Cass [To Antonia, CH1, 52]: …Fine. If you won’t tell your secrets, I won’t tell mine.

Antonia [CH1, 148]: We weren’t dealing with only the mastermind, darling. We were dealing with “secrets.”

I’ll get to Antonia’s secrets in her section, but Cass obviously had a pretty big one of their own, not to mention that her entire talent is based around uncovering hidden truths. The secrets these two keep are what ultimately creates the conflict which will end with Cass’ death and Antonia’s execution. After all, Antonia’s general suspicion regarding the fact they were keeping a secret at all is really the reason why Cass ended up suspecting Antonia so much. Because while they originally held Antonia in the same regard as Ellis or Mark in terms of mm possibility, they still end up antagonizing Antonia specifically, possibly because they feel threatened by Antonia’s immaculate liar detector. Now, make no mistake, Cass made up an in-persona reason to be a secret-keeper, so it’s not like Antonia’s lie detector is immediately damning to them, but it’s still a pretty large threat.

Cass [CH1, 52]: …I can’t reveal everything so easily. My clients have sensitive information, and my trust with them is more important than getting to know any of you. If I feel distant, that’s all it is. Ellis: Wouldn’t you want your clients to have a friendly relationship with you, though…? Cass: Of course. But, at least as of now, none of you are my clients, so those who I represent are of greater concern to me.

Of course, though, there’s also the possibility that Cass just clocked Antonia as a liar the same way Antonia clocked them, even if it’s never explicitly stated, and that’s the entire reason for their suspicion.

Cass [CH1, 59]: I will figure out your secrets. Antonia: Of course you will, darling.

Actually, the idea that Cass felt threatened in some way by Antonia’s ability to spot liars could play into something interesting with these two’s profiles. Cass dislikes “stubborn people”, while Antonia dislikes “bad losers.” You could make the argument that Antonia is stubborn in the sense that she’s good at standing her ground against Cass’ prodding for secrets, and that Cass may be a bad loser in the sense that she may feel she “lost” to Antonia when the Dealer noticed she was hiding something, and clearly isn’t happy about it.

[Cass’ inner monologue] [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 10]: It’s hard to say I’m anything but annoyed as I leave the Buffet. Antonia is still playing at the same games as always…

Not sure if this interpretation works perfectly, but close enough, and it's pretty cool. Eternal beef, these two.

In any case, regardless of what exactly led Cass to focus so much on Antonia, the end result is the same. Antonia figures out she’s being spied on, and chooses to deal with that issue before it could grow into anything bigger. Hence, Cass’ death.

Although, here’s an interesting point related to the murder. Isn’t Cass a hypocrite?

Cass [CH1, 35]: Everyone, calm down! The group settles down and turns to Cass. Cass: [Someone asking for poison from the CSD] is obviously a threat, and we should take caution knowing that someone here may be plotting a murder already. However, blatantly throwing around distrust and creating an air of paranoia will only make tensions higher. Mark: Then… what should we do? Cass: The same things you’ve been doing. All you need to do is keep an eye out for any suspicious activity and engage in safe behavior. Stay in groups or well-lit areas. Don’t go out at night. Those sorts of things should keep you safe enough while we figure out the mysteries of this place.

“Don’t go out at night”, she says, a few days before going out at night and dying. “Don’t create an air of paranoia”, she says, shortly before beefing with Antonia so obviously that everyone noticed something was going on even before Paris said anything. Not great at following their own advice, evidently.

Although that second point is slightly unfair, actually. Cass doesn’t actually accuse Antonia and gang of being the mm at first, it’s Antonia herself who brings the implicit accusation to light. In the same vein, she refuses to say who she suspects in her discussion with Kennedy and Vivi and Ellis about the mm before that.

Kennedy [CH1, 32]: Cass… If you can say who you don’t think it is, that means there are some people you do suspect. Cass: I have a couple leading theories. Kennedy: Tell me. Cass: I’m not going to go around voicing all of my thoughts. Besides, it’s… not fitting for an agent to talk negatively about people. What if a future client heard of it and was worried about what I’d do with their secrets?

Antonia [CH1, 51]: I assure you, the real dynamics between different establishments are far more complex… Cass: Do you have insight into the dynamics, then? Do you know anyone who might hold a grudge? Antonia: With all due respect, my dear Cassidy, are you trying to determine if one of us is the mastermind?

The point about the night stands, though. And it’s worth noting that Cass likely didn’t have ulterior motives in saying that or anything, as she does seem to be genuinely concerned for the others’ safety.

Davis [CH1, 58]: I take it you all were drinking last night…? Jeff: Yeah? What’s the big deal? Cass: That doesn’t sound like you were being particularly safe, given our environment.

And it makes sense. When they talk about their goals in their Bonus Scene with Grace, they specifically say that their goal can be “approximated” to figuring out the secrets of the Resort and getting out with everyone.

Grace [Prologue Bonus Scenes, 10]: What are your long-term goals, if I might ask? They smile. Cass: I’m not gonna go around talking about that kind of thing immediately, especially not with cameras everywhere. I’ve got big plans once I’m back out in the real world. But, foundations are laid here. She looks around the room, though nothing in particular seems to catch her interest. Cass: If you’re looking for what’s motivating me, for now, you can approximate it to figuring out what’s going on at this Resort and getting everyone out of this situation safely.

More on those goals in a moment, but for now, what matters is that Cass is genuinely invested in the safety of the others and wants to escape with everyone, so her warnings about not going out at night are genuine. That means the only reason they would go against their advice is if they considered themselves capable of avoiding issues, probably because of their talent.

Huh. Overly relying on her talent to keep her safe while she carries out a plan no one else knows anything about? That’d be like a Lucky Student relying on their luck to survive through the killing game, with a plan of outlasting everyone else that they don’t discuss with anyone. Wink.

Anyways, I left this question pending, so let’s get back to it. What the hell are Cass’ long term goals? All we really know is that she’s motivated to figure out the Resort’s secrets and get everyone out of there, but supposedly these are just the “foundations” of her goals. They also say that talking to Grace is related to the goal, but as they say, that’s mostly just because gathering info on those around them is helpful in their eyes.

Cass [Prologue Bonus Scenes, 10]: I’d call [talking to you about marketing] related to my goals, personally. Grace: Your goal of gaining clients? Like I said, that isn’t– Cass: No, in general. Isn’t it helpful to know people better, if you’re trying to work with them? I pause. Grace: I suppose that’s a fair perspective. Cass: Believe me, I understand. I don’t waste time talking to just anyone if I don’t believe it’ll help me achieve my long-term goals. But if I decide it’s worth it, I’m not easily swayed. Right now, I’ve decided I want to talk to you, and that’s the best use of my time.

Now, I can’t for the life of me reach anything resembling a solid answer, for obvious reasons. It’s entirely possible, for one, that these goals aren’t important and will never actually be brought up in the main story, seeing as they’re only really mentioned in a Bonus Scene. In that case, we may never have enough info to come to any definitive conclusion about it.

However, it’s possible that Cass’ name will come up again, because her goals could very well have to do with the very foundations of the killing game and the situation in the outside world. For example, it’s possible that they were investigating the resort itself or some kind of aspect of the Tragedy, and they got close enough that the mm decided to wipe their memories of the bigger secrets and just stick them in a killing game. Depending on how much she remembers, she could very well have had some inkling about what’s really going on, enough to know that there were bigger plans outside that she was a part of, possibly focused on taking down groups doing Tragedy stuff.

Or I’m going completely fucking insane, which I think is the more likely option in this case. Regardless, I don’t really have any more concrete ideas on what the hell she was up to at the moment, so I’ll leave it at that. Dear god what a character.

-Mastermind ranking: 16/16. I mean. They’re dead. And deny they’re the mm in inner monologue. It doesn’t really get less mastermind-y than that.

Kennedy [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 12]: Then, based on my deductions, you would be the most likely mastermind candidate. Cass: Wh–?! What kind of a strategy is that?! Besides, it’s obviously wrong…!

Antonia Cisneros

-Original talent guess: Gambler/Poker Player -Actual talent: Dealer -Talent prediction notes: Wrong side of the table :v -Likes: Nightlife. Dislikes: Bad losers.

Guess who got unreasonably attached to the CH1 killer, again? This guy!

Antonia’s fun, both because of how entertaining I find (er, found) her personality, and how many mindgames my girl actually plays. The insane standoff from her Bonus Scene with Paris in the Prologue, her constant beefing with Cass, the entire trial… that kinda thing. In fact, there’s so many mindgames and potential lies going around, we might have to take this chronologically!

The first big thing we learn about Antonia in CH1 is the existence of her little sister (also mentioned in the Paris Bonus Scene), and how this helps her form a quick bond with Vanessa.

Antonia [CH1, 42]: It’s very charming, how excited Vanessa gets. It reminds me of my younger sister. She was always a ball of energy. Mark: You mentioned her at the talent show, too… Vanessa: Toni’s really sweet and caring when it comes to her sister, from what I’ve heard. And she sorta acts like a big sister to me, too!

However, this starts an interesting trend in how Antonia actually talks about Vanessa and her connection to Antonia’s sister. Take a look at the two other instances where this comes up:

Antonia [CH1, 138]: For instance, Vanessa reminds me of my younger sister. I would be unable to willingly sign her death warrant, even indirectly through the Class Trial.

Noah [CH1, 148]: All that stuff about [Vanessa] being like your sister… Were you lying about that, too? Antonia: Hm? Oh, no. She does, in fact, remind me of my sister. But that isn’t enough to stop me from acting in my own best interests.

Antonia never directly claims to care for Vanessa as she would a sister, all she ever says is that Vanessa reminds her of her actual sister. Antonia just says they share similarities, and doesn’t ever concretely express how that makes her feel. The only time she actually compliments Vanessa directly, she also compliments Ellis at the same time, someone who she doesn’t have the same kind of bond with.

Mark [CH1, 44]: Are we… actually doing this…? Antonia: Well, if it makes these two wonderful people happy, then I don’t see what the harm could be.

Now, I could be wrong about this, but to me it feels like while Antonia enjoyed Vanessa’s presence because of the sister thing, she didn’t do so to the extent that she led the others to believe. She simply allowed Vanessa’s enthusiasm to speak for the both of them, giving the impression of a much closer bond than what she genuinely felt, and she tried to take advantage of that flawed perception during the Third Party Analysis. Whether this lie of omission was originally just to make Ness feel better, or if Antonia was always planning to use this as a “card up her sleeve” (heh) to argue her innocence in a class trial, I genuinely can’t tell because everyone in this fangan (and especially Antonia herself) is a massive tryhard when it comes to killing game tactics.

Then again, I could always be overthinking it.

Antonia [CH1, 43]: No worries, Mark. It’s only natural. Mark: Why do you say it like that…? Antonia: Oh, I’ve just never been fond of using nicknames. But, in your case, I suppose it can’t be helped.

Antonia doesn’t like using nicknames, which is… interesting. Wonder if we’ll ever find out why that’s a thing, if there even is a reason beyond personal preference.

Antonia [CH1, 44]: A party is… something we could consider, though I do wonder where we would hold it. Vanessa: I mean, for open space and lighting, the Casino, right? Antonia: …I would rather not.

This never got explicitly explained, right? Why Antonia didn’t want a party at the casino? It’s not like she was planning to murder Cass specifically already, since Cass hadn’t started accusing her yet. And Cass only died in the casino because Antonia could lure her there since Cass was following her around. This might be a question to ask her once we get access to ouija boards after the fangan’s over. Or maybe not, who knows.

Antonia [CH1, 46]: Aren’t we a little too fixated on what isn’t here? If we all share each other’s company, we should be enjoying ourselves. There’s no point in doing anything otherwise.

This is wild coming from the woman who ordered poison from the CSD the morning of the day this got said. Incidentally, you’ll notice this is pretty close to Vanessa’s perspective on the killing game, although Antonia’s actually referring to Jeff’s absence from that meal and not the outside world. Neat!

Ellis [CH1, 51]: Maybe it’s, like, a rival casino owner trying to incite a scandal. That sounds like something that could happen in a cartoon. Antonia: I assure you, the real dynamics between different establishments are far more complex… Cass: Do you have insight into the dynamics, then? Do you know anyone who might hold a grudge? Antonia: With all due respect, my dear Cassidy, are you trying to determine if one of us is the mastermind?

Finally, we get to the Cass beef! And even from the start, we can start gathering just how important the theme of secrets is for these two, as I already mentioned in the Cass section. By very obviously deflecting the question about casino dynamics before Cass could press further, Antonia tries to keep her secrets by stopping the line of questioning about her life outside the killing game dead on its tracks.

Antonia [CH1, 52]: From what I’ve determined, you may be the one hiding the biggest secret here, Cassidy. Cass: I’m sorry? Antonia: I know a liar when I see one~ A liar? But, what would Cass have to lie about…? Unless…? Cass: What are you accusing me of, exactly? Antonia: I’m not sure what. You could be the mastermind, or the possessor of the poison, or any number of things. All I can tell is that you’re guarded. There are things you don’t want us to learn. Isn’t that right? Cass: …I can’t reveal everything so easily. My clients have sensitive information, and my trust with them is more important than getting to know any of you. If I feel distant, that’s all it is.

But this is all stuff we covered with Cass. The question we left pending was what exactly Antonia’s secrets are, since we can be relatively sure she isn’t the mm now that she's dead.

Antonia [CH1, 148]: We weren’t dealing with only the mastermind, darling. We were dealing with “secrets.” And, while I may not want to say them here, I have things in my past I’d rather not share, especially if I were to attempt a murder. Mark: Like how you knew how to cut and sew the body…? Antonia: Something like that.

For this query, we can focus on the fact that, by saying she’d like to keep her secrets “especially if she were to attempt a murder,” Antonia implies the reveal of her secrets would inconvenience her during a class trial. Not to mention her response to Mark’s question, about the possible connection between her secrets and her dismemberment skills. And if that’s the case, then...

Mark [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 18]: I’ve given my theories. We’re about to explore the possibilities in the Class Trial. I thought your insight could be helpful. Antonia: But of course. Antonia twirls her hair around her finger with an absentminded look in her eyes. Antonia: Well, I do believe our killer wouldn’t be a first-time murderer.

Uh.

Antonia [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 18]: Does it really surprise you? The speed at which they killed, the brutality of the method, the skills dismembering the body must take… None of those are things you can simply dream up overnight. Mark: Probably true.

Ehem.

Mark [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 19]: But, based on what you were saying… I doubt this is only their second kill, either. This is someone who knows what they’re doing. Antonia: Is there much of a difference between a second murder and a hundredth? You’re already a murderer either way.

Hey guys Antonia might just be a serial killer.

I mean, isn’t that what this looks like? She’s saying she believes the blackened had killed before the killing game, and Mark says that they probably killed multiple times, and Antonia is the blackened. Certainly sounds like she’s letting the truth slip as a hypothetical. Now, she does give an alternate explanation of why she says the things she does in the Bonus Scene:

Antonia [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 20]: We’re simply speculating as to the killer’s mindset, aren’t we? To better understand how someone willing to take a life– no, multiple lives– might think of the world. Disregard my opinion if you’d like, but I’ve listened to many people talk, criminal and otherwise.

However, that doesn’t account for Mark saying that the killer’s skill could indicate they were, in fact, a serial killer. And besides, the best liars know when to tell the truth, because doing so removes the possibility of you losing credibility if you’re caught through tells or other means.

This is actually a pretty convenient narrative for Antonia to spin. See, if the brutality of the murder is because the blackened was already a serial killer, then it can’t be used to argue against anyone in particular, as any of the participants could realistically be the hidden serial killer. However, if you discount that possibility, then one could argue the brutality is born from a grudge the killer had against Cass. And while Antonia wasn’t the only person Cass suspected of being the mm, she sure was Cass’ number 1 rival. Thus, such an argument could land Antonia in a dangerous position. And without precedent of how this cast would act in the trial, Antonia would have no reason to believe she’d be able to defend against it in a way that would convince the others, at least not without throwing in the “serial killer” angle anyways.

I… hope that made sense.

The point is, this is a convenient thing for Antonia to say regardless of whether or not it’s true. And of course, if this really is her secret, this would be something that she really wouldn’t want to be revealed if she wanted to ever win a class trial, and it is in fact connected with her dismemberment skills, the two aspects of the secret we discussed before.

Seeing as Antonia could very well be telling the truth in the Bonus Scene, the previously mentioned line about her secret being inconvenient for trials and related to the dismemberment thing, and the arguments brought up in said Bonus Scene about the blackened’s skill and chosen method implying a serial killer, I’d say there’s a compelling argument to say that Antonia is, in fact, a serial killer. Which we could probably also infer from the fact that, since the killer asked for the boxes the same day they asked for the poison, Antonia really was ready to dismember someone from Day 3.

Am I 100% confident in saying that? No, obviously. But it is what I find most likely at this point.

Another question to ask would be what reason Antonia would have to murder someone before the killing game. And, since we already established that I don’t think her thoughts in the CH1 Bonus Scene are as hypothetical as she leads Mark to believe, we can try to infer something based on that, too.

Antonia [CH1, 19]: Well, with all of our other pursuits, do you really believe someone would kill just for the thrill of it? If we’ve all achieved great things, it stands to reason that whoever committed such a crime in the past would be doing so for a dedicated goal. Thus, killing would become a sacrifice to further that goal.

Assuming she’s not making this up on the spot, this could imply that her serial killing has to do with her talent… whatever that looks like. It’s worth noting that this “hypothetical” mindset actually does match at least one of Antonia’s own lines post trial, considering murdering people as a means to an end and a “small price to pay”:

Robert [CH1, 149]: You’re still talking about killing someone. You still made that decision… Antonia: If that’s all I have to do to end my imprisonment and guarantee my safety, it’s a rather small price to pay, isn’t it? Vanessa: B-but… what are we supposed to do now…? Antonia: It’s of no concern to me. Continue playing along with your fake peace, or turn on each other. All I know is that, eventually, someone won’t be able to take it anymore, and that person will remember that all they have to do to end it all is kill. It’s not such a large price, when you put it that way.

Obviously I don’t have any way to speculate further without just throwing random shit at the wall (eliminating Dealer competition maybe?), so I’ll leave my official theory at just that. Antonia killed to become the Ultimate Dealer, and has evidently done it quite a bit!

Alright, so what do we do with this? Well, it’s hard to tell when I can’t even be sure this will ever be brought up in the main section of the fangan anyways. But I imagine the ideas of ambition (relating her murders to her talent) and the lengths people will go to keep secrets might come back up later, and it’ll be fun contrasting other people’s actions to Antonia’s with that in mind. Considering some of the other themes we’ve discussed, you could even tie Antonia’s desensitization to murder into the ideas of normality discussed before, where the concept of “normal” is very subjective. After all, Antonia seems to consider what she did to Cass relatively normal for her, right?

And of course, this desensitization to murder somewhat parallels Ellis’ plan of “let everyone die and dip”, since it’s effectively the same plan Antonia had, just without directly murdering anyone. A parallel which is furthered by Antonia’s belief in the “house”:

Antonia [CH1, 148]: Because I didn’t want to play with fire. The establishment wants one winner, and the house always wins in the end. One of these days, one person will win. If fifteen will die, I liked my odds of being the last one standing better when I put myself directly in the position to win, rather than waiting around for others to make mistakes.

The same way that Ellis fully believes in his ability to win the killing game by coasting off his luck, Antonia is entirely confident that the house will get its way in the end. It’s only natural for the Dealer to align herself with the house by playing the game in earnest, while the gambler tries to luck out and get one over on the house by surviving without murdering. But in the end, both of them see it entirely as a game to be won, and not so much a hardship to be overcome. How such a wonderful parallel happened when the characters are written by two different people, I will never know, but it’s genuinely super impressive.

Anyways, let’s cover a few lines here and there that are cool but I couldn’t fit into the main analysis.

Antonia [CH1, 68]: …Apologies for disturbing all your thoughts, but… has anyone seen Cassidy this morning?

I think it’s cool that Antonia is actually the one that first brings up Cass’ absence. She needs to make sure everyone’s looking at the boxes when they open for the BDA disguising trick, after all!

In the interest of getting this post out sometime in 2025, I’m going to skip over a couple of cool moments during the trial itself, but just know that I think Antonia was pretty decent throughout, and you already know how cool I found her calm demeanor directly preceding the Third Party Analysis and her counterarguments after. Though for more specific lines:

Antonia [CH1, 106]: There actually isn’t any way to delete a message from an e-Handbook once sent, on either end. I expect this, in combination with the rule against stealing e-Handbooks, is intended to add extra challenge for the killer.

Do we think Antonia tried deleting the messages between Cass and Jeff when she had Cass’ E-Handbook? I wonder what exactly her plan would have been with that. Maybe framing Jeff by pointing out the messages’ deletion as weird? Shame it didn’t work.

Antonia [CH1, 146]: I suppose you all think this is the answer? That I’ve created an elaborate plan to make myself an undercover killer, and that Cassidy is some eternal force of good?

I really wonder what the “eternal force of good” comment is about, but I have genuinely zero idea what it could refer to :p To me it implies Antonia didn’t think of Cass that way, but I could be overthinking it.

Antonia [CH1, 148]: I suppose… I am slightly sorry, for roping you into all of this.

For all the serial killer talk, I do want it on record that Antonia is not entirely heartless. She did feel sorry, to some extent, for her actions, and it’s pretty clear she cared about her sister outside of the killing game. That’s cool :)

Though it’s worth noting she doesn’t apologize to Cass so much as she apologizes to the others for “roping them in”. I guess it’s an extension of the philosophy that Cass can’t care about anything now that she’s a corpse, so apologies to them are unnecessary.

-Mastermind ranking: 15/16. I’ll let her do the honors of explaining why she’s this low:

Kennedy [CH1, 147]: Was Cass right? Are you the mastermind?! Antonia pauses for a moment, then bursts into a fit of laughter. Antonia: Of course not! If I were, why would I be playing by the rules of this silly game?

-

Final MM Rankings: Cass - Antonia - Jeff - Vanessa - Kennedy - Vivi - Ellis - Mark - Aidan - Harper - Noah - Robert - Taylor - Davis - Grace - Paris

Holy hell how did I avoid problems with color coding here of all places?

-

Woo! Alright, that took longer than I expected, but 16k words later, we got our analysis! My excitement for this fangan grows with every part release, and really digging into the characters for this post has made me appreciate them all the more! Anyways, thanks for reading! If you made it this far, you’ve earned a royal flush! Ask Antonia for whatever money you just made- oh, wait. Uh. You can't... really do that. Anyways, see ya’!

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