04 | Mikan Tsumiki

Ultimate Nurse Ultimate Despair (Former) Gender Female Height 165 cm Birth Date ♉ May 12 Chest Size 89 cm Blood Type A Likes Bathroom smells Alcohol Dislikes Oversized things Appearance: Mikan has fair skin and long, choppy, dark plum-purple hair that is cut unevenly as a result of bullying. The longest point of her hair appears to be just past her fingertips, whereas the shortest point is slightly above her neck. Her bangs flow straight down, but are also cut at visibly differing levels. She has pale gray-mauve eyes that almost constantly convey anxiety or tearfulness. There is a beauty mark under her left eye's corner. She wears a nurse uniform which consists of a pale pink short-sleeved shirt with a white collar and puffed sleeves trimmed with white. A short, pale blue, slightly wrinkled pleated skirt is visible underneath. Mikan wears a white apron over this which is tied behind her neck with a ribbon. It is marked with two red lines on the left side of the apron, one going down to her middle and another short red line perpendicular to the vertical one in a simple design. As well as this, she has bandages wrapped around her left forearm and hand, excluding the fingers, and around her right leg from her mid-thigh to above her ankle. Additionally, she has a square gauze band-aid on her left kneecap and wears pale pink crew-length socks and white loafers. Personality: Mikan is an extremely meek, paranoid and fragile individual who suffers from hazardously low self-esteem as a result of severe abuse and bullying. This has resulted in many behavioral symptoms such as being easily intimidated, breaking down and crying with little provocation, profusely apologizing and nervously stuttering while speaking. She constantly worries about annoying, boring or offending others, going so far as asking Hajime Hinata if it would be alright for her to remember his name when introducing herself.

This delicate persona makes her a natural target for Hiyoko Saionji's predatory and cruel personality. However, as the Ultimate Nurse, Mikan tends to act much more confident while doing her job, and she is knowledgeable and intelligent. Her medical knowledge proves to be useful in murders, as she provides autopsy reports, including information on the corpse's state, details on injuries, cause of death, and time of death. Furthermore, she sometimes gives (often unwanted) health advice to others concerning things like eating and sleeping, and may occasionally start to describe things like bodily functions in way too much detail in her wish to give the other students' information on the subject at hand. students' information on the subject at hand. Unlike most students, Mikan has even mentioned that she likes being on Jabberwock Island, because her classmates acknowledge her and her talent makes her useful. Perhaps because of her high understanding of human physiology, Mikan is shown to be very skilled at reading people's faces, but she tends to over-analyze them and is quick to assume that she is disliked by those around her. She generally wants to be liked by and help other people, but her utter lack of confidence and wish to not be a bother causes her to rarely assert herself or state her feelings openly; if she feels the need, she will more than likely ask for permission from her peers to do so. This is exacerbated considerably during Class Trials, where despite her talent being incredibly useful for solving a murder, she will rarely ever speak up by her own accord. Since her social intuition is generally poor, if there is an awkward pause in a conversation, she will immediately begin to panic and apologize, believing it to be her fault. However, despite lacking many basic social skills, Mikan does actively attempt to gel with her surroundings by altering aspects of her conduct to suit what she projects as the thoughts of her peers.

Notably, she appears exaggeratedly clumsy and often ends up in embarrassing and revealing poses, leading her to apologize profusely, though it's been heavily implied and even pointed out by Hiyoko that Mikan does these poses on purpose in order to gain attention and pity. Because of her insistently klutzy and cloying personality, even for all the pity and leeway she generally receives from her kinder classmates, many of them do still see her as somewhat off-putting, incompetent or irritating, causing them to distance themselves from her rather than outright mistreat her. Because of the severe abuse she has incurred in the past, Mikan is very awkward and has a warped perception of both positive and negative social interaction. When treated with any sort of individual respect or sympathy, her first response is most often outright confusion, and sometimes assuming she has done something wrong. When first becoming friends with Hajime, she offers him to beat, strip, draw on or do other bad things to her, and states that she has done so multiple times with previous schoolmates so that they won't hate her and will continue to associate with her. She relates this to a belief that being ignored is even worse than being abused, thinking that the people who don't bully her don't care about her existence at all, a prospect that scares her much more. If someone treats her well and is outwardly kind to her in the long-term, she tends to become obsessive and cling to them, similar to the behavior of a stalker, which is interpreted as being extremely creepy (by Hajime at least), showing that she is unable to compartmentalize and reciprocate those positive feelings in a normal, healthy way. This was taken full advantage of by her supposed beloved, who turned that affection into a pathological, slave-like subservience.

By defaulting to a state of unnaturally intense submissiveness and self-deprecation as a defense mechanism, Mikan is somewhat prone to bizarre outbursts, where the repressed elements of her personality rapidly surface for brief moments before burying themselves again, usually followed by an apology for her erratic behavior. These traits include deep-seated resentment for her abusers, general frustration over how she is treated, various sadistic or otherwise disturbing obsessions, an intense yearning for control, attention and sympathy, as well as her sexual urges. During Chapter 2, she has a fleeting moment of lashing out angrily and shouting "you are done for" and "you're not gonna get away now that I've caught you" at no one in particular and seemingly completely out of nowhere, and then tries to write it off by claiming that she says nonsensical things when she's nervous. During one of the Class Trials, she also mentions that she finds a sudden urge to kill quite understandable (implying she has had such fantasies of enacting revenge on her abusers), and in Island Mode she mentions that she enjoys horror movies because of all the blood and helpless victims, especially appearing to enjoy bully characters getting what's coming for them. She also has a disturbing liking for syringes and shots, repeatedly offering them to Hajime when she gains access to the Pharmacy, and she even chases him around attempting to inject him with one during a Free-Time Event. She is also mentioned to creepily stare at Hajime after their free time together and he sometimes had a feeling that she is forever watching him from somewhere, indicating that she may have stalked Hajime. In spite of her often tightly pent-up demeanor, Mikan also shows by far the most sexual desire among all of Class 77-B's female students, particularly for Hajime.

When either extremely tired or inflicted with the Despair Disease, respectively, she ends up cradling his head and falling asleep on top of him on two occasions, as well as unsubtly implying she would like to have sex with him through some brief, coy remarks. Out of the whole class, the blatancy of her sexual innuendos is only rivaled by Teruteru Hanamura.

The dichotomy of Mikan's two-faced psyche is best represented by her mixed motivations for becoming the Ultimate Nurse. Directly contrasting her abusers, Mikan sincerely wants to help those who have endured physical harm, and generally wants to assist and participate in the group. However, she has also admitted that she occasionally relishes the power she holds over the sickly, helpless people who have no choice but to rely on her and listen to her to survive. While acting as a nurse allows her to feel useful, something she doesn't normally feel, it also indulges her selfish urge to assert absolute dominance over something, a sensation she essentially never feels otherwise given her general docility. In her Island Mode ending, she openly contemplates rendering Hajime an invalid so he can stay with her forever, but he convinces her that he'll stay regardless, and thus doing so would be unnecessary. This shows Hajime's deft understanding of how Mikan manically depends on having other people around despite seeing herself as undesirable company, as well as his empathy toward her. Due to a specific strand of the Despair Disease known as the Remembrance Disease, Mikan recovers her lost memories during Chapter 3, reverting her back to a Remnant of Despair, accompanied by a drastic personality shift which gradually reveals itself as she begins to be suspected as the blackened during the Class Trial. All of her repressed, negative and selfish traits take dominance within her, causing her to become angry, manipulative and dangerous, and in a private moment with Hajime, somewhat seductive. She is highly embittered and clearly aware of her maltreatment, and in distinct opposition to before, boldly calls the others out on it, even those who defended her in the trial but otherwise ignored her day-to-day.

She angrily questions why everyone hates and bullies her, and blames her classmates exclusively for her evil deeds and transition into Despair, taking advantage of their pity in an attempt to escape her accusations all the while. Before her remembrance, Mikan was primarily self-effacing and would adapt to her environment for the benefit of others and to reduce conflict; but once the Despair Disease sets in, she is cunning and deceptive purely to preserve herself, even at the cost of the others' lives. As she turns increasingly violent and unstable, her apologizing habit still persists, repeatedly asking to be forgiven in a way that seems to be reflexive or like a mantra, but while also staunchly denying her charges to the point of angrily pulling her hair when accused. When finally backed into a corner and revealed as the culprit, Mikan ultimately finds solace in her beloved, and says that her motive for murder was simply her affection for them. She claims to no longer care about anything except that person, believing they were the only one who ever loved and accepted her. In Danganronpa 3, Mikan's brainwashed Ultimate Despair form has a resemblance to a sadistic horror nurse, and it's indicated that she tortures her victims with her medical equipment and knowledge, as well as sexually harasses them. After awakening from her coma, Mikan reverts to her original temperament, and Junko Enoshima's brainwashing is undone. She is shown to feel guilty for her actions as an Ultimate Despair and decides to atone along with her other classmates. Notably, she is seen capable of fighting, as she rescued Hiyoko wielding a massive syringe. She also independently took care of Kyoko and saved her life. While obviously still very insecure, she now appears happier and closer with her classmates, and even has a friendlier relationship with Hiyoko.

Mikan had a harsh life as a child. She was physically and emotionally abused by people in her family and in other places, like school. Among other things, she mentioned being splashed with water, smeared with mud, and getting burned with cigarettes. The bullies would beat her up, cut her hair, draw on her, use her as a target for dart games, make her responsible for their debts, and tell her to eat bugs and make her imitate animals. She was even told to strip at times. In addition, she didn't have any friends. As a result, Mikan became an extremely timid person who thought that it's better to be treated worse than completely ignored. She feared loneliness and lack of attention more than the abuse and let people do whatever they wanted with her. Because there was no one to take care of her wounds, Mikan learned to take care of herself from a very young age. As she became more and more skilled in this area, she took an interest in nursing, realizing that she could have a feeling of control over sick and injured people ー as the weaker people, they would have to depend on her completely and their lives would be in her hands. She previously attended Lapis Lazuli Girl's High School before enrolling in Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Nurse, in Class 77-B. Her life at least seemed to get better, and she befriended her first friends ー Ibuki, Hiyoko, Mahiru Koizumi, and Sato. During their time together, they discovered a corpse in the music room. This was later revealed to be Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu's sister, Natsumi Kuzuryu, who was murdered by Sato. A few days later, Sato was killed by Fuyuhiko. Hiyoko suggested that Mikan enter the classroom, where Mikan found Sato's corpse. This part of Mikan's life was revealed in "Twilight Syndrome Murder Case".

Mikan arrived late and rushed to her classroom, making her trip in an embarrassing pose. Her new homeroom teacher, Chisa Yukizome comforted her and asked why there were only five students that attended the class. Chisa became furious after Mahiru explained to her that most of the students didn't go to the class because they didn't have to. Mikan became depressed after Chisa referring them as "rotten oranges" (腐ったみかん, kusatta mikan), which was misunderstood by her, thinking that Chisa insulted her personally. Mikan and the others were forced by her teacher to set out to search for her classmates. In a men's bathroom, Mikan screamed Jurrasic Park! when she heard Nekomaru Nidai's heavy voice, referenced to a particular scene in the movie. Throughout the day, Mikan and the others were able to retrieve most of their classmates. Returned to their class, Mikan worried about Hiyoko's condition but in return, Hiyoko insulted her as a rotten orange. Chisa went to retrieve two remaining students, asked her students who have been gathered to clean their classroom. When she took the cleaning equipment, Mikan tripped in another embarrassing pose. After returning to the classroom, Chisa was happy to see that Mikan and the others had waited and that the classroom was clean. When the students once again bring up that they didn't have to go to class, so long as they have their talent, Chisa reminded them that talent isn't everything, and wanted them to build strong relationships and "hope" with each other. Mikan treated her teacher after she fainted due to the stress she faced when Akane Owari and Nekomaru were in their training session. Later after they repaired their classroom, Mikan and the others were playing games that Chiaki brought. When she, Sonia Nevermind, Mahiru, and Chiaki played Bomber Guy games together, Mikan clumsily dropped bombs on the entire area.

During the break, Mikan and her classmates happily ate Teruteru Hanamura and Hiyoko's nikujaga together. However, to their unaware, Hiyoko already poured a bottle of aphrodisiacs within the food, making Mikan and the others lost their body control. Mikan held Peko Pekoyama from reaching Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, begging her to lend her sword's "tip".

After the "aphrodisiacs incident", Mikan treated everyone in the nurse's office. Mikan was impressed by Chiaki's effort earlier, protecting Hiyoko from Teruteru's attack. In the next day, Mikan agreed with Chisa's decision to elect her as the class representative. At the beginning of the episode, Mikan and her classmates walked past Hajime heading toward the Main Course building. She was worried after Kazuichi Soda was bitten by one of Gundham Tanaka's hamsters. Later that day, Mikan and her classmates were shown on the school's park. She and Sonia played with a rabbit there. Several days later, Mikan looked worried at Mahiru who was crying on Hiyoko's chest after she heard the news of her friend's death from Reserve Course, Sato. The two-in-row murder cases of Natsumi Kuzuryu and Sato affected Mikan's class, still showing no spirit when Chisa announced the annual practical exam that will start on the next day. Not only that, she and her classmates must bid their farewell to their beloved teacher Chisa as she transferred to the Reserve Course after the bombing incident involving one of her classmates, Nagito. Mikan is part of Chisa's welcome back party. She was dismayed when Hiyoko told Chisa that now that she had grown, she can bend Mikan's bones in any direction she wanted. The Ultimate Imposter, disguised as Ryota Mitarai, later found Mikan and brought her to care for the real Ryota Mitarai. The Imposter revealed to her that they have no identity of their own and that they and Ryota made a deal that they would assume his identity, and live life while Ryota worked tirelessly on his anime.

Mikan assumed that the Imposter wouldn't let her leave alive now that she knew their secret, and thought that they wanted to rape her. However, the Imposter gently told her that they trusted her. Mikan started crying and thanked them, saying no one has ever been so nice to her. The Imposter advised her to toughen up since they will be upperclassmen starting tomorrow.

Mikan is seen packing with the rest of her class as they prepare to move to a new school building. She comments on Fuyuhiko and Peko talking with each other, saying that she thinks it's wonderful. Mikan has a private conversation about Ryota with the Ultimate Imposter in a room, where they explained that Ryota has disappeared and left a note. Mikan timidly offered to check if Ryota came back for his belongings and goes to his apartment. There she met with Mukuro Ikusaba who gave her a cold stare. Mikan found herself tied, gagged, and blindfolded by Mukuro who took her to Ryota. Ryota freed Mikan's gag and revealed that he's been working on his animations in a private room, courtesy of Junko, a blonde haired girl who introduced herself to Mikan. Junko showed Ryota's anime to Mikan, who is moved to tears after watching it. Junko and Mukuro left the two in the room, where Mikan decides to stay with Ryota to watch after him and gave the Ultimate Imposter a note assuring them that she is fine and is helping Ryota. Junko made Mikan watch a brainwashing video containing the recording of the first Mutual Killing game using Ryota's abilities to influence people's minds, thus turning her into an Ultimate Despair. At the beginning of the episode, Mikan is seen massaging Junko's legs. Mikan said to Junko that her classmates are wonderful, especially her homeroom teacher, Chisa, and her class's representative, Chiaki Nanami. Later, she tries to seduce Ryota, only to be kicked away by Junko. Upon Nagito's return to the 78th class, he explains that he saw Mikan heading for the western district on the school grounds. Upon Chiaki and Nagito's arrival to Junko's hidden lair beneath the Izuru statue, Mikan is nowhere to be found.

Mikan meets up with the class carrying a tired and potentially injured Peko, she appears to seem quite normal, wanting to help her classmates in saving Chisa. However, once they arrive at Junko's lair beneath Izuru Kamukura's statue, she stalls Chiaki midway down the stairway as the rest of the class continue on, Mikan then pushes a confused Chiaki through a secret hatch leading to an unknown corridor.

Mikan catches up with the class who have continued on ahead through the corridor, Fuyuhiko inquires as to where Chiaki is, Mikan explaining she twisted her ankle and is waiting in one of the nearby rooms to recover. Mahiru and Hiyoko are both pleased Mikan was able to help Chiaki. Nekomaru and Gundham eventually appear from a dark room to the class' surprise. Gundham thanking Mikan, Nekomaru explains that if it wasn't for Mikan messaging them, they would have never been able to find the rest of the class. Mikan, now leading the group, approaches a large red door at the end of the corridor, pressing a button which opens the door, the class follows her inside. As Chiaki Nanami's Punishment is being broadcast to them inside the room on multiple monitors, the class begins to fall into despair, while most of them try to resist, Mikan becomes excited that the video is uniting them all. As the broadcast ends, Mikan and the class fell silent, now Ultimate despair, their eyes have become a patterned spiraling swirl. Mikan and the rest of the class have returned to the classroom, receiving their final lesson before graduation. Chisa stated that she has been honored to be their teacher and started reading a letter she prepared. Mikan and the rest of the class clap with gratitude. After the speech, red lights turn on, and Chisa started to cry. The patterned swirled return in their eyes as they all make a declaration of what they will do upon graduation. Mikan expressed that she can 'send wonderful medicines to the world's hospitals'. After bidding her class a final farewell, Chisa activates a bomb that fakes the death of Class 77-B. Mikan and her class stand outside the school grounds as they watch Hope's Peak Academy's destruction. Chisa's narration later revealed Mikan helped to infect the world with despair.