Makoto Naegiis the main protagonist ofDanganronpa: Trigger Happy Havocand one of the central protagonists of theHope's Peak Academy Saga. He is a participant in theKilling School Lifeand theFinal Killing Game.
Makoto has the title ofUltimateLucky Student, though he appears to have both bad and good luck. Later, his title becameUltimate Hope, due to his unusual optimism and ability to spread hope. He is a student enrolled inClass 78th.
Makoto and the other survivors defeat the Mastermind of the Killing School Life,Junko Enoshimain the final trial and escapedHope's Peak Academy.
Makoto returns inDanganronpa 2: Goodbye DespairandDanganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girlsas a member of theFuture Foundation.
The DVD/BD vol.1 ofDanganronpa: The Animationcame with a 25~ page booklet calledMakoto Naegi Secret File.This short story describes the chain of events that led to Makoto being selected as the Ultimate Lucky Student.
Makoto also appears inDanganronpa/ZeroandDanganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF. Hisillusory version appeared in the thirty-minutes long OVA,Super Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of the World.InDanganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, he appeared as a guest character in the demo gameplay.
Makoto returns inDanganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, attending his trial after he was charged on suspicion of treason forprotectingtheRemnants of Despair.
During the Final Killing Game, Makoto unknowingly triggers the NG Code of his dear friend, a survivor from the Killing School Life, and also his boss in the Future Foundation,Kyoko Kirigiri, putting her into a temporary coma.
During the fifth time limit, Makoto becomes the "attacker" and doesn't kill anyone during the sleeping period, due to intervention byJuzo Sakakura.Alongwith fourothers, Makoto survivethe Final Killing Game after Juzo deactivates the televisions by switching it to emergency power, causing the bangles to lose power.
Several months after the events of the Final Killing Game, Makoto and the Future Foundation decide to rebuild Hope's Peak Academy. Makoto becomes the new Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy, hoping to create a brighter future for him and everyone that he loves.
Personality
According to himself, Makoto is a very ordinary person, to the point that he feels a bit insecure about it. His most distinguishing feature is his unusual optimism.
Makoto is very kind, supportive and forgiving, though sometimes slightly naive. He is friendly, polite and a lot more down-to-earth than the other students. This is possibly the reason why he is capable of approaching and befriending them in Free Time sequences, even the most antisocial such asByakuya TogamiandToko Fukawa.
Junko refers to Makoto as a "herbivore man", which means that he is likely to be the passive one in a relationship; this is reinforced in his conversations with others. He is also a bit jumpy at times and quite easily pushed around by some other characters such as Byakuya. However, even though he is sometimes a bit of a pushover, he is also capable of being a very determined and charismatic speaker.
Makoto is a firm believer in hope, having a positive attitude about the future, no matter the bad situation in the present. He is also a pacifist, as he believes that killing and violence isn't the answer. While he dislikes despair, believing it to be a corrupting and negative emotion which cannot benefit the world, he is very forgiving towards those who fell into despair, such as theRemnants of Despair, believing them to be victims of Junko and not inherently evil.
The only person he genuinely dislikes appears to be Junko, the True Ultimate Despair, and he considers her his enemy. However, even in her case, he felt that she didn't need to die and tried to reason with her when she was about to execute herself.
Makoto is respected by many people as the Ultimate Hope, though he himself is very humble and even a bit embarrassed of the title. InDanganronpa/Zero, it's mentioned that he has incredible strength inside, despite often appearing weaker on the outside. During hard times, he is shown to have the power to give hope for other people and affect their way of thinking. However, this is not always the case, as some people refuse to listen to him or simply do not accept his ideals. While being Ultimate Hope, he is also not immune to the effects of theSuicide Video.
Talents
Ultimate Lucky Student
Makoto got his talent as the Ultimate Lucky Student by winning a lottery out of completely ordinary students, which led to him joining Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Lucky Student. In addition to this, he was caught up in a bizarre series of events on the day of his selection which ended up catching adiamond thiefand burning the selection ticket. Following the fifth trial, just beforeMakoto's executioncan be completed,Alter Egosuddenly appears and is able to prevent Makoto from dying by opening up a door on the floor. He is then rescued by Kyoko, going on to defeat Junko herself and survive the whole ordeal.
Makoto's luck also comes into play during the events of the Final Killing Game, saving him from multiple dangerous situations. While his luck isn't nearly as powerful as hispredecessor'sorIzuru Kamukura's, his luck pattern is different from those two, and is difficult for Junko to analyze and predict. Thus, Junko predicted that he could possibly ruin her perfect layout plan, which ironically also made Junko allow him to live for the Killing School Life.
Ultimate Hope
Makoto discovers his true talent as the Ultimate Hope during the sixth and final trial of the Killing School Life. Interestingly, unlike most other talents, Makoto being the Ultimate Hope isn't recognized by Hope's Peak Academy, but rather earned for defeating Junko, the True Ultimate Despair. UnlikeIzuru Kamukura, who's Ultimate Hope comes from him being the embodiment of talent, Makoto's Ultimate Hope comes from his unusual amount of optimism and determination, which Makoto even comments on.
As the Ultimate Hope, Makoto proves to have an immunity to Junko's tactics, built to make people fall into despair. Combined with his luck being difficult for Junko to analyze, causes her to leave him alive because defying her would be despairful in its own right. Ultimately, Makoto’s talent aided him in defeating her by fillingtheotherfive remainingparticipants with hope, after they fell into despair over finding out aboutthe state of the world they were in. Makoto is also able to convince others to act with hope simply by spreading his hope to them. When the surviving members of the game are filled with hope, they were persuaded to choose to leave the academy and go out and see what the world had in store for them.In addition, inDanganronpa IF, Makoto unwittingly convincedMukuro Ikusaba, one of the Despair Sisters, to think of the world outside of Junko's plans to spread despair all over it.
Makoto has even been encouraged by his own hope multiple times, thanks to his friends. After finding out thatKazuo Tenganhas been murdered byKyosuke Munakata, Makoto begins to break down over the fact that he’s been unable to stop people from killing each other. However, Aoi, along withMiaya Gekkogahara(controlled byMonaca Towa), were able to cheer him up, saying that he has given them hope and that they're willing to shoulder his burden. Later, Kyoko tells Makoto that he shouldn't give up on hope, and that she'll always be there for him if his power doesn’t prove to be enough. After her apparent death, Makoto was able to use his and Kyoko's hope in order to convince Kyosuke to join him and combine their hopes together.
Makoto believes that hope is infectious. True to his words, Makoto's effort in defeating Junko, protecting the Remnants of Despair in the Neo World Program, and his firm ideals and optimism eventually become fruitful as he could overcome all despairs at the end of his adventure in Hope's Peak Academy Saga.
