4. Chiaki Nanami
Like Hajime and Nagito, Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer, is a pillar of the story of Danganronpa 2. Her death, which happens because Nagito’s hairbrained scheme to unmask a “traitor” among them reveals her status as a double agent thanks to his impossible luck, is nearly the breaking point for the group in the penultimate chapter, and that role as a stabilizing force would only be more solidified by her surprise appearance in Danganronpa 3’s prequel episodes. Chiaki has died twice in this series, both in the real world and the simulated one Danganronpa 2 takes place in, and while both of those deaths are incredibly important to the story the original trilogy tells, if there was ever a time to explore what a living Chiaki could do for a Danganronpa story, a “what if” scenario is the place to do it.
