liesexual (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trialbyliar) wrote2020-11-16 04:18 am
trialbyliar) wrote2020-11-16 04:18 am
app to ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
piper90
APPLICATION
Player Name/Handle: Kelly
Plurk Handle:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
tinybro
Preferred pronouns (optional): she/her
Player Status: Current Player
Other characters: Dave Strider and Rune Saint John
Invited by: N/A
Character Name: Kokichi Ouma
Fandom: Danganronpa v3
Character Journal:trialbyliar
OU, AU, CRAU, Canon OC, or OC? OU
Canon point: Post-death
Age: No canon age given beyond "high schooler" but probably around 16
PB: N/A
SETTING BACKGROUND
The Danganronpa franchise centers around classes of "Ultimates" – high school students that are prodigiously talented in some specific field – being forced to compete in killing games. The students are trapped together and told the only way to escape is by killing someone and getting away with it. Each class struggles through investigations and trials as their numbers dwindle, while trying to solve the greater mystery of how and why they came to be in this situation. In v3, the cast finds themselves trapped in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles by the robot bear Monokuma. During the course of the killing game, they slowly uncover what happened to the rest of the world. It's eventually revealed that all their memories and everything they've learned about the state of the world is fictional, and that they were all participants in a show called Danganronpa.
HISTORY
• Before the killing game, Kokichi was an ordinary person who voluntarily auditioned for the newest season of Danganronpa. He was chosen and all memories of that life and the actual state of the world were overwritten with a fake backstory for the sake of the show.
• Given all his compulsive lying, it's unknown what his "rewritten" backstory before the killing game was like. The only thing that's certain is that he was the leader of a small organization called DICE that was dedicated to petty crime and pranks, and it's implied that he had no family.
• When the killing game begins, Kokichi is immediately suspicious of everyone and quickly picks up on small clues about the truth of their situation way before everyone else. Playing the long game, he presents himself as an antagonistic figure who's having fun with the game.
• On his own, he investigates the school, gathers information, and collects evidence from each murder, trying to piece together what's going on and find a way to end the game. He tries to manipulate the situation to prevent deaths as much as possible while still setting himself up to be believable as the bad guy.
• During the game, he taps the Ultimate Inventor, Miu, to make him various tools for his plans.
• At one point, he gains access to the one exit from the school and becomes the first to discover the truth of the outside world – that the rest of the world outside the school has been destroyed and is uninhabitable, with their class being the lone survivors of the human race (according to the story of this season of Danganronpa, anyway). He remains suspicious of this "truth", deducing from various clues that there must be people somewhere watching the killing game.
• Miu eventually attempts to kill him, but he anticipates the situation and turns it around on her. He uses the truth of the outside world to manipulate another classmate, Gonta, into killing her instead. It seems to tear him up to have to sacrifice Gonta to survive, but he continues to play the villain and lets everything think he callously used and discarded Gonta.
• Kokichi offers the rest of the survivors some of the tools Miu had made so they can make it to the exit he'd found. He lets them learn the truth themselves to prevent any further murders as there's no longer any reason to want to escape. He convinces them that he's the mastermind behind the whole game, using another of Miu's inventions to hijack control some of the real mastermind's robots and capture the Ultimate Astronaut, Kaito.
• After a few days, the real mastermind makes a move to take back control of the game and motivates the rest of the survivors to fight back. On his own, Kaito tried to disable Kokichi, but their fight was interrupted by the Ultimate Assassin, Maki, who'd decided to kill Kokichi herself to save Kaito and end the killing game. Kaito stops her but gets shot with a poisoned crossbow bolt in the process, and when she rushes to get him the single available dose of the antidote, Kokichi steals it and pretends to drink it himself.
• After Maki flees the scene, Kokichi gives Kaito the antidote and recruits him for a last-ditch effort to end the game at the cost of Kokichi's own life. They disable the mastermind's surveillance temporarily and arrange a convoluted murder in the hopes that they can trick Monokuma into declaring the wrong trial result, prove him wrong, and render the entire game unplayable. Kokichi arranges his own murder with Kaito as the culprit, and is crushed to death in a hydraulic press.
• After the trial, the survivors find a will in Kokichi's room that he left just in case his plan failed. In it, he left a clue to help them solve the remaining mysteries of the killing game.
PERSONALITY
Kokichi is a little shit. That's all you need to know.
Okay, for real though:
Kokichi Ouma is a difficult character to pin down, and that's just the way he likes it. Self-identifying as a liar, he personifies the boy who cried wolf; even when he tells the truth, people tend to be doubtful. He lies constantly and oftentimes admits to it immediately. His honest moments are frequently made to sound like more lies. God forbid your life depends on understanding him, because he won't make that shit easy even in the direst of situations, and shit was pretty damn dire in the killing game he's coming from.
His title is the Ultimate Supreme Leader, and though even the other Ultimate students regard that with skepticism, it's actually legitimate and he has the skills to prove it. He's good at reading people and manipulating them to his own ends. Insanely smart, Kokichi is constantly ten steps ahead of even the Ultimate Detective in solving all the mysteries of the killing game. He thinks long term and always plans for the worst to a frankly insane degree – preparing hundreds of childish drawings so he can disguise the plans for the tools he designs among them, or writing a whole book's worth of a script for a classmate to use to impersonate him during a trial. However, he doesn't trust easily and he's more likely to use that big brain to fuck with everyone than he is to make anyone's life easier. He'll play the role of the villain if it accomplishes his goals, and if it means everyone hates him then so be it.
The thing is, he isn't a bad guy. His methods are definitely questionable, and he's an asshole even in his best moments, but ultimately he doesn't actually want to hurt anyone. He talks a big game about being soooo evil, but the organization he commands is a harmless group of literal clowns causing mischief for shits and giggles and specifically only engaging in petty, nonviolent crime. He loves his gang like family and he does seem to genuinely like most of his classmates even if he gives them all a hard time endlessly. He offers his support in strange, indirect ways, like subtly guiding others to the right answer during trials or expressing affection that he knows will be interpreted as more lies. It's hard to say for sure what his true feelings on any subject are – and that seems very intentional, as he uses his constant lying as a sort of safeguard to hide his real feelings and intentions – but he claims at one point to actually be a pacifist and that he prefers peace and solving conflict with games.
In less dire circumstances, he's mischievous and likes playing the villain in a more cartoonishly harmless sense. He still lies constantly and teases everyone and creates chaos, but he isn't malicious. His jokes and teasing can be pretty mean-spirited, especially when he's genuinely annoyed with someone, but they're just as often harmless or tailored to the individual – for instance, he's especially harsh and vulgar to Miu, but she's brash and vulgar herself and seems to enjoy the abuse anyway. Overall, he just likes to cause trouble. He's dramatic and expressive and childish and to some degree seems genuine about it, loving games and thinking it's good to be a little immature. He seems to genuinely enjoy being difficult to understand and he's delighted when someone tries anyway. Everything is a game of cat and mouse to him and he loves being chased, whether literally or figuratively.
On the negative end of things, he's kind of an asshat. He's callous about sensitive subjects and only some of that can be blamed on him intentionally playing the villain. He's attention-hungry and loves to cause scenes, and gets annoyed if ignored or people don't react like he wants them to. His trust issues combined with his arrogance result in him frequently working solo, unable to believe in anyone else and easily frustrated by people who can't keep up with him. He's logical when it's needed but often brutally so, blunt and shameless and willing to say the things everyone else is afraid to voice. Worst of all, he's a hypocrite. He's vicious in tearing apart other people's lies and gets extremely irritated when someone he trusts lies or when people who've voiced complaints about his own lying do it themselves. When annoyed, he gets petty and spiteful, and if he's unhappy then it's everyone's problem.
Overall, Kokichi is an experience. Handy if he's on your side, but a nightmare if he's working against you. Godspeed.
CANON POWERS
N/A
POWER SELECTION
Noospheric Powers: Illusion
As a (frequently) self-declared liar, Kokichi has to power to alter others' perception of reality on varying scales. The smaller the illusion, the longer it can last, with large scenes lasting less than a minute while the illusion of a small object could be maintained for an hour or more. Larger scale illusions are entirely intangible, but the smaller ones can be tangible at the cost of much of the time they could normally be maintained – a hundred dollar bill might seem like a real physical object but disappear after only five minutes. He has to be able to fully conceive of all the details of an object to make it tangible and functional, so he can't physically manifest things like working electronic devices or guns that can actually fire or keys that fit specific keyholes.
ABILITIES
• Ultimate Supreme Leader. Though he's mostly seen using his talent in subtle and often nefarious ways, Kokichi has legitimate leadership skills. He's good at making plans and taking charge of a situation, and he excels at playing people against each other, getting them to work together, and guiding others to act as he needs them to. He's also good at reading people and can recognize a lie with ease.
• Petty crime. Kokichi is talented at lockpicking, sneaking into off-limits areas undetected, thievery and sleight of hand, etc.
• Games. Kokichi loves games of all sorts, and he's good at cheating. We see him at one point rig the results of a card game, and at another he intentionally ties at rock-paper-scissors a hundred times in a row.
SETTING/SUITABILITY
➤ How do you expect your character to respond to the setting? Even if they plan to rebel in the long term, will they be able to at least obey enough to not get shocked to death?
Kokichi is an asshole and will definitely be scheming against Jorgmund, but he knows how to toe the line just enough to survive. Anticipate lots of dramatics about being forced to obey, though.
➤ What do you hope to do with your character long-term?
I think it'd be interesting to have a chaotic uncooperative element among the New Hires. Suspicious as he is, he'll take his time investigating the situation on his own and deciding who might be trustworthy. It's not that he thinks everyone is dangerous – really, he'll believe they're generally good people and want to get everyone out of this mess safely – but he has some very understandable paranoia and can't just fully trust and believe in the whole group when there could be double agents among them. He'll also try to sow those seeds of doubt in the group as a whole for their own good, which will likely not endear him to many people but fuck it, he's used to being the bad guy for the greater good.
➤ Does your character currently have skills that would allow them to adapt, survive, and do the heroic things being asked of them? If your character doesn't, do you think they'd have the capacity to learn quickly?
He's not a fighter-type, but Kokichi definitely has what it takes to survive at any cost. His skills lean more towards sneaking and scheming, but he's smart and resourceful enough to manage even in dangerous situations regardless. No shame in running away or getting others to fight your battles for you!
➤ If they're not used to cooperating with others, what makes you think they'll be able to adapt to cooperating with the group?
For all his talk, he's actually pretty good at working with others. Just...y'know, indirectly. Sometimes he'll play nice, sometimes he'll make a big deal of not playing nice, but regardless of what others think he'll ultimately be trying to keep things running as smoothly as possible. He doesn't actually want anyone to get hurt if it can be avoided, and he'll do what he has to to help the group.
➤ Will your character have long-term plans to rebel against Jorgmund? If so, how? Will they betray the other PCs and cooperate with Jorgmund? If so, how do you plan to handle the negative CR that might arise?
Kokichi wouldn't actually betray the group to Jorgmund, because he'll definitely hate Jorgmund more. But because he's an antagonistic little fucker, he's probably going to let others think he might. It's good for them to be a bit more suspicious, after all! Bring on the negative CR, he deserves it.
SAMPLES
Network Sample
[An interview, huh? This really isn't how Kokichi anticipated his day going – or his afterlife in general, really – but he keeps a lid on all the confusion and unease as the interviewer settles in across from him. He just leans back in his seat, picking at his nails as if bored. It's not like he's going to get any answers out of this loser. Just gotta get through this shit.
The interviewer, looking equally bored, scans through their list of question and picks one seemingly at random. "Do you think a leader should be feared or liked?"
Ominously, Kokichi smirks and giggles – an obnoxious sound almost reminiscent of a horse. Get used to it, Mr. Interviewer, you're gonna be hearing a lot of that shit.]
Oh, you're coming to the expert for advice, are you? I guess I can't blame you! I am the Ultimate Supreme Leader, after all. I'd probably have people pestering me for these things all the time if I wasn't so hard to find! You're so lucky to have this amazing opportunity! I really shouldn't give away all my secrets, buuuut I guess I can give you something. Loyal minions are super important, y'know, and nothing inspires loyalty like frequent tea breaks and a solid benefits package!
[Jesus christ, he sure can talk. It's all got a childishly playful manner to it, but it's theatrical at the same time. He gestures grandly as he speaks, lounging in his shitty metal chair like it's a goddamn throne.]
But that's a lie. Actually, I rule with an iron fist. Everyone in my organization knows better than to cross me! If they wanna live, anywa–
[He's interrupted as the polygraph dings, and a shock jolts through him. He yelps and grits his teeth against the pain of it, for a moment gripping at the edge of the table.
Ow. Well then.
So that's how they're going to play this, is it? Okay, fine. He'll just have to get a bit more creative. Immediately, Kokichi turns on the waterworks, bursting into dramatic, childish tears.]
Wh-what was that for? You'll really hurt a little kid like me?? [With his small frame and baby face, he probably passes for younger than he actually is, and the crocodile tears definitely help.] You're so mean! B-but I really am the Supreme Leader of an evil organization...
[There's a pregnant pause while he blubbers theatrically, but the lie detector doesn't go off this time. The interviewer frowns, prodding the polygraph as if expecting another response from it, and immediately Kokichi's tears stop. He grins and leans forward against the table.]
See, see? Maybe your dumb machine is busted, huh? [He's careful to avoid anything that could be construed as a lie, but that doesn't mean he's entirely crippled here. Suggestions and questions can't technically be lies, after all.] Orrrr maybe I was lying! But I guess that would mean that thing's still super unreliable anyway, wouldn't it? Jeez, what a piece of junk!
[The interviewer's lips purse, already annoyed and a little confused, but he just scans through the list undeterred. "Moving on..." he says, "What was a time when you had to work as part of a team?" Kokichi scoffs and rolls his eyes.]
Supreme leaders like me don't really need to do teamwork, y'know? Why would I have to cooperate with anyone? I have minions that follow my every order!
[He says it in that smarmy, over-the-top manner that definitely makes it sound like he's making shit up, but the polygraph remains quiet. Frustratingly so, really. Most people would live to see this little shit get zapped.]
But I guess you could count the time I had one of my henchman help me commit murder and get rid of the body. He actually had some pretty good ideas! A good, humble leader like me knows when to listen to others, y'know.
[The interviewer casts him a skeptical look despite the silence of the lie detector, and Kokichi gives an exaggerated pout in return. He's clearly so offended by the disbelief.]
Whaaat? Don't look at me like that, she tried to kill me first! But it's okay, someone else took me out a little while after that. It was totally gruesome. I should know, I planned the whole thing! That counts as teamwork too, riiight? Oh, don't bother feeling bad for me. I had it coming anyway, being super evil and all. But here I am anyway, back from the dead! Wow, you must have done something really terrible to get haunted by someone like me!
[All he gets in return in a heavy sigh and the rustling of papers as the interviewer searches for a final question. "What's your biggest personal flaw?" he asks, with an exasperated tone that seems to suggest he can think of quite a few options already. Kokichi's expression only brightens, as if he was just dying to be asked that exact question, and he sits up straight.]
You can't tell? I'm a liar. I practically breathe lies! And your stupid machine isn't zapping me, so obviously I'm telling the truth.
[True to his word – and paradoxically – the polygraph detects no lies. The interviewer casts a perplexed look at the machine and then back at Kokichi, who grins widely and carries right on.]
Or maybe I've just been completely honest this whole time? But then I'd be getting zapped for calling myself a liar, riiiight? Mannn, you should really just throw that thing out. It doesn't seem all that helpful right now, does it? I've met walking roombas more useful than that garbage!
[Still no polygraph dings, somehow. Poor Mr. Interviewer sighs and rubs at his temples, clearly thoroughly done with this interview. Ever sympathetic, Kokichi just laughs in his face.]
Prose Sample
["Demonstrate your skills". What a load of crap. Kokichi has to wonder what exactly he did that the universe keeps making a dancing monkey of him for the entertainment of strangers.
Even more annoying, the executives seated at the side of the gym don't even seem to care much. None of them even look up from their phones and idle conversations as he enters, and that simply won't do.]
Heeeeeey! Hey, hey! Yoohoo!!
[The executives don't seem particularly interested, but Kokichi can be very annoying. He keeps this up, pestering the group of them for a scrap of attention until one finally looks over, annoyed. Kokichi smiles brightly as if not even noticing their total disinterest, and gestures excitedly to wave the man over.]
C'mooon, I wanna make this fun for you guys! How about an interactive show, huh?
[He lifts the item he'd requested – a deck of cards – and fans them with a smooth motion. The executive that had looked his way sighs and gets up to reluctantly approach. Kokichi grins up at him.]
It's your lucky day! I was trained by the Ultimate Magician herself, y'know, so you can expect something pretty special!
[That's a lie. She'd never teach anyone her tricks, especially not him. But one doesn't have to be a trained magician to know some card tricks. Cards are one of his specialties, anyway.
With a flourish, he presents the spread cards face down and offers them to the executive.]
Pick a card, any card!
[With an eye roll, the executive draws a card at random and gives it a quick look. Kokichi closes the deck again and gestures for the card to be returned to it. Once the card is back in, he quickly shuffles the deck with deft motions, chattering away to keep attention away from any sleight of hand he's pulling.]
Sheesh, how bad was every contestant before me that you guys don't even care anymore? Must have been a pretty lame show. But you deserve something a bit more exciting, don't you? After all, you're the bigwigs around here–
[Cards shuffled, he fans them out again and extends them back towards the executive, his other hand waving across them theatrically like he's about to pick one of them. But then that hand shoots out instead to the executive, lured within arm's reach, and he suddenly grabs the man's tie and yanks him down to Kokichi's level. His voice drops ominously.]
–And I'm the Ultimate Supreme Leader. Don't forget that.
[It's a hollow threat. Even if he wasn't such a scrawny shrimp, the other executives gasp and the shock collar is quickly activated. It's a brutal zap, one that shoots a spasm through his whole body and leaves his hand seizing up around the executive's tie. He grits his teeth through the pain, and as it subsides he affects a shaky grin and laughs.]
W-wow, none of you guys can take a joke!
[He releases the tie. As the executive huffs and begins to straighten up. Kokichi quickly hops up, risking another shock as he appears to grab something from under a starched collar.]
Aha, this is what I was looking for!
[He backs away again with an unsteady grin before his movements can be interpreted as threatening, revealing with a flick of his wrist a card that he shows off to his "audience".
It is, in fact, the card that was picked. And perhaps surprising no one, it's a Joker.]
ADDITIONAL INFO
He keeps a set of lockpicks hidden up his sleeve, and will try to keep those and sneak them into the new uniform even while getting stripped of everything else. I'll leave whether or not he succeeds up to y'all!
FINAL QUESTIONS
➤ Will your character suspect some kind of guiding intelligence has brought them to the game? Or will they think it was random or done by Jorgmund?
Given the nature of the situation he's coming from, Kokichi will definitely have suspicions about who or what is responsible for bringing him here. Not Jorgmund, probably, but someone has to be behind everything and it's hard to believe this shit and the killing game are completely unrelated when both definitely have someone pulling the strings.
➤ If they think it was something other than Jorgmund, like God or some other force of fate, what character traits do they think of that intelligence as having? Is it cruel or kind? Capriciously punishing them or doing it for good reason?
He definitely doesn't trust in the goodness of some mysterious force jerking him from one awful situation to another, and even when things are relatively peaceful he'll be waiting for the other shoe to drop. He'll likely think it might be the same force responsible for the killing game, at least until he finds evidence to the contrary, so he'll absolutely assume the worst of it.
Player Name/Handle: Kelly
Plurk Handle:
Preferred pronouns (optional): she/her
Player Status: Current Player
Other characters: Dave Strider and Rune Saint John
Invited by: N/A
Character Name: Kokichi Ouma
Fandom: Danganronpa v3
Character Journal:
trialbyliarOU, AU, CRAU, Canon OC, or OC? OU
Canon point: Post-death
Age: No canon age given beyond "high schooler" but probably around 16
PB: N/A
SETTING BACKGROUND
The Danganronpa franchise centers around classes of "Ultimates" – high school students that are prodigiously talented in some specific field – being forced to compete in killing games. The students are trapped together and told the only way to escape is by killing someone and getting away with it. Each class struggles through investigations and trials as their numbers dwindle, while trying to solve the greater mystery of how and why they came to be in this situation. In v3, the cast finds themselves trapped in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles by the robot bear Monokuma. During the course of the killing game, they slowly uncover what happened to the rest of the world. It's eventually revealed that all their memories and everything they've learned about the state of the world is fictional, and that they were all participants in a show called Danganronpa.
HISTORY
• Before the killing game, Kokichi was an ordinary person who voluntarily auditioned for the newest season of Danganronpa. He was chosen and all memories of that life and the actual state of the world were overwritten with a fake backstory for the sake of the show.
• Given all his compulsive lying, it's unknown what his "rewritten" backstory before the killing game was like. The only thing that's certain is that he was the leader of a small organization called DICE that was dedicated to petty crime and pranks, and it's implied that he had no family.
• When the killing game begins, Kokichi is immediately suspicious of everyone and quickly picks up on small clues about the truth of their situation way before everyone else. Playing the long game, he presents himself as an antagonistic figure who's having fun with the game.
• On his own, he investigates the school, gathers information, and collects evidence from each murder, trying to piece together what's going on and find a way to end the game. He tries to manipulate the situation to prevent deaths as much as possible while still setting himself up to be believable as the bad guy.
• During the game, he taps the Ultimate Inventor, Miu, to make him various tools for his plans.
• At one point, he gains access to the one exit from the school and becomes the first to discover the truth of the outside world – that the rest of the world outside the school has been destroyed and is uninhabitable, with their class being the lone survivors of the human race (according to the story of this season of Danganronpa, anyway). He remains suspicious of this "truth", deducing from various clues that there must be people somewhere watching the killing game.
• Miu eventually attempts to kill him, but he anticipates the situation and turns it around on her. He uses the truth of the outside world to manipulate another classmate, Gonta, into killing her instead. It seems to tear him up to have to sacrifice Gonta to survive, but he continues to play the villain and lets everything think he callously used and discarded Gonta.
• Kokichi offers the rest of the survivors some of the tools Miu had made so they can make it to the exit he'd found. He lets them learn the truth themselves to prevent any further murders as there's no longer any reason to want to escape. He convinces them that he's the mastermind behind the whole game, using another of Miu's inventions to hijack control some of the real mastermind's robots and capture the Ultimate Astronaut, Kaito.
• After a few days, the real mastermind makes a move to take back control of the game and motivates the rest of the survivors to fight back. On his own, Kaito tried to disable Kokichi, but their fight was interrupted by the Ultimate Assassin, Maki, who'd decided to kill Kokichi herself to save Kaito and end the killing game. Kaito stops her but gets shot with a poisoned crossbow bolt in the process, and when she rushes to get him the single available dose of the antidote, Kokichi steals it and pretends to drink it himself.
• After Maki flees the scene, Kokichi gives Kaito the antidote and recruits him for a last-ditch effort to end the game at the cost of Kokichi's own life. They disable the mastermind's surveillance temporarily and arrange a convoluted murder in the hopes that they can trick Monokuma into declaring the wrong trial result, prove him wrong, and render the entire game unplayable. Kokichi arranges his own murder with Kaito as the culprit, and is crushed to death in a hydraulic press.
• After the trial, the survivors find a will in Kokichi's room that he left just in case his plan failed. In it, he left a clue to help them solve the remaining mysteries of the killing game.
PERSONALITY
Kokichi is a little shit. That's all you need to know.
Okay, for real though:
Kokichi Ouma is a difficult character to pin down, and that's just the way he likes it. Self-identifying as a liar, he personifies the boy who cried wolf; even when he tells the truth, people tend to be doubtful. He lies constantly and oftentimes admits to it immediately. His honest moments are frequently made to sound like more lies. God forbid your life depends on understanding him, because he won't make that shit easy even in the direst of situations, and shit was pretty damn dire in the killing game he's coming from.
His title is the Ultimate Supreme Leader, and though even the other Ultimate students regard that with skepticism, it's actually legitimate and he has the skills to prove it. He's good at reading people and manipulating them to his own ends. Insanely smart, Kokichi is constantly ten steps ahead of even the Ultimate Detective in solving all the mysteries of the killing game. He thinks long term and always plans for the worst to a frankly insane degree – preparing hundreds of childish drawings so he can disguise the plans for the tools he designs among them, or writing a whole book's worth of a script for a classmate to use to impersonate him during a trial. However, he doesn't trust easily and he's more likely to use that big brain to fuck with everyone than he is to make anyone's life easier. He'll play the role of the villain if it accomplishes his goals, and if it means everyone hates him then so be it.
The thing is, he isn't a bad guy. His methods are definitely questionable, and he's an asshole even in his best moments, but ultimately he doesn't actually want to hurt anyone. He talks a big game about being soooo evil, but the organization he commands is a harmless group of literal clowns causing mischief for shits and giggles and specifically only engaging in petty, nonviolent crime. He loves his gang like family and he does seem to genuinely like most of his classmates even if he gives them all a hard time endlessly. He offers his support in strange, indirect ways, like subtly guiding others to the right answer during trials or expressing affection that he knows will be interpreted as more lies. It's hard to say for sure what his true feelings on any subject are – and that seems very intentional, as he uses his constant lying as a sort of safeguard to hide his real feelings and intentions – but he claims at one point to actually be a pacifist and that he prefers peace and solving conflict with games.
In less dire circumstances, he's mischievous and likes playing the villain in a more cartoonishly harmless sense. He still lies constantly and teases everyone and creates chaos, but he isn't malicious. His jokes and teasing can be pretty mean-spirited, especially when he's genuinely annoyed with someone, but they're just as often harmless or tailored to the individual – for instance, he's especially harsh and vulgar to Miu, but she's brash and vulgar herself and seems to enjoy the abuse anyway. Overall, he just likes to cause trouble. He's dramatic and expressive and childish and to some degree seems genuine about it, loving games and thinking it's good to be a little immature. He seems to genuinely enjoy being difficult to understand and he's delighted when someone tries anyway. Everything is a game of cat and mouse to him and he loves being chased, whether literally or figuratively.
On the negative end of things, he's kind of an asshat. He's callous about sensitive subjects and only some of that can be blamed on him intentionally playing the villain. He's attention-hungry and loves to cause scenes, and gets annoyed if ignored or people don't react like he wants them to. His trust issues combined with his arrogance result in him frequently working solo, unable to believe in anyone else and easily frustrated by people who can't keep up with him. He's logical when it's needed but often brutally so, blunt and shameless and willing to say the things everyone else is afraid to voice. Worst of all, he's a hypocrite. He's vicious in tearing apart other people's lies and gets extremely irritated when someone he trusts lies or when people who've voiced complaints about his own lying do it themselves. When annoyed, he gets petty and spiteful, and if he's unhappy then it's everyone's problem.
Overall, Kokichi is an experience. Handy if he's on your side, but a nightmare if he's working against you. Godspeed.
CANON POWERS
N/A
POWER SELECTION
Noospheric Powers: Illusion
As a (frequently) self-declared liar, Kokichi has to power to alter others' perception of reality on varying scales. The smaller the illusion, the longer it can last, with large scenes lasting less than a minute while the illusion of a small object could be maintained for an hour or more. Larger scale illusions are entirely intangible, but the smaller ones can be tangible at the cost of much of the time they could normally be maintained – a hundred dollar bill might seem like a real physical object but disappear after only five minutes. He has to be able to fully conceive of all the details of an object to make it tangible and functional, so he can't physically manifest things like working electronic devices or guns that can actually fire or keys that fit specific keyholes.
ABILITIES
• Ultimate Supreme Leader. Though he's mostly seen using his talent in subtle and often nefarious ways, Kokichi has legitimate leadership skills. He's good at making plans and taking charge of a situation, and he excels at playing people against each other, getting them to work together, and guiding others to act as he needs them to. He's also good at reading people and can recognize a lie with ease.
• Petty crime. Kokichi is talented at lockpicking, sneaking into off-limits areas undetected, thievery and sleight of hand, etc.
• Games. Kokichi loves games of all sorts, and he's good at cheating. We see him at one point rig the results of a card game, and at another he intentionally ties at rock-paper-scissors a hundred times in a row.
SETTING/SUITABILITY
➤ How do you expect your character to respond to the setting? Even if they plan to rebel in the long term, will they be able to at least obey enough to not get shocked to death?
Kokichi is an asshole and will definitely be scheming against Jorgmund, but he knows how to toe the line just enough to survive. Anticipate lots of dramatics about being forced to obey, though.
➤ What do you hope to do with your character long-term?
I think it'd be interesting to have a chaotic uncooperative element among the New Hires. Suspicious as he is, he'll take his time investigating the situation on his own and deciding who might be trustworthy. It's not that he thinks everyone is dangerous – really, he'll believe they're generally good people and want to get everyone out of this mess safely – but he has some very understandable paranoia and can't just fully trust and believe in the whole group when there could be double agents among them. He'll also try to sow those seeds of doubt in the group as a whole for their own good, which will likely not endear him to many people but fuck it, he's used to being the bad guy for the greater good.
➤ Does your character currently have skills that would allow them to adapt, survive, and do the heroic things being asked of them? If your character doesn't, do you think they'd have the capacity to learn quickly?
He's not a fighter-type, but Kokichi definitely has what it takes to survive at any cost. His skills lean more towards sneaking and scheming, but he's smart and resourceful enough to manage even in dangerous situations regardless. No shame in running away or getting others to fight your battles for you!
➤ If they're not used to cooperating with others, what makes you think they'll be able to adapt to cooperating with the group?
For all his talk, he's actually pretty good at working with others. Just...y'know, indirectly. Sometimes he'll play nice, sometimes he'll make a big deal of not playing nice, but regardless of what others think he'll ultimately be trying to keep things running as smoothly as possible. He doesn't actually want anyone to get hurt if it can be avoided, and he'll do what he has to to help the group.
➤ Will your character have long-term plans to rebel against Jorgmund? If so, how? Will they betray the other PCs and cooperate with Jorgmund? If so, how do you plan to handle the negative CR that might arise?
Kokichi wouldn't actually betray the group to Jorgmund, because he'll definitely hate Jorgmund more. But because he's an antagonistic little fucker, he's probably going to let others think he might. It's good for them to be a bit more suspicious, after all! Bring on the negative CR, he deserves it.
SAMPLES
Network Sample
[An interview, huh? This really isn't how Kokichi anticipated his day going – or his afterlife in general, really – but he keeps a lid on all the confusion and unease as the interviewer settles in across from him. He just leans back in his seat, picking at his nails as if bored. It's not like he's going to get any answers out of this loser. Just gotta get through this shit.
The interviewer, looking equally bored, scans through their list of question and picks one seemingly at random. "Do you think a leader should be feared or liked?"
Ominously, Kokichi smirks and giggles – an obnoxious sound almost reminiscent of a horse. Get used to it, Mr. Interviewer, you're gonna be hearing a lot of that shit.]
Oh, you're coming to the expert for advice, are you? I guess I can't blame you! I am the Ultimate Supreme Leader, after all. I'd probably have people pestering me for these things all the time if I wasn't so hard to find! You're so lucky to have this amazing opportunity! I really shouldn't give away all my secrets, buuuut I guess I can give you something. Loyal minions are super important, y'know, and nothing inspires loyalty like frequent tea breaks and a solid benefits package!
[Jesus christ, he sure can talk. It's all got a childishly playful manner to it, but it's theatrical at the same time. He gestures grandly as he speaks, lounging in his shitty metal chair like it's a goddamn throne.]
But that's a lie. Actually, I rule with an iron fist. Everyone in my organization knows better than to cross me! If they wanna live, anywa–
[He's interrupted as the polygraph dings, and a shock jolts through him. He yelps and grits his teeth against the pain of it, for a moment gripping at the edge of the table.
Ow. Well then.
So that's how they're going to play this, is it? Okay, fine. He'll just have to get a bit more creative. Immediately, Kokichi turns on the waterworks, bursting into dramatic, childish tears.]
Wh-what was that for? You'll really hurt a little kid like me?? [With his small frame and baby face, he probably passes for younger than he actually is, and the crocodile tears definitely help.] You're so mean! B-but I really am the Supreme Leader of an evil organization...
[There's a pregnant pause while he blubbers theatrically, but the lie detector doesn't go off this time. The interviewer frowns, prodding the polygraph as if expecting another response from it, and immediately Kokichi's tears stop. He grins and leans forward against the table.]
See, see? Maybe your dumb machine is busted, huh? [He's careful to avoid anything that could be construed as a lie, but that doesn't mean he's entirely crippled here. Suggestions and questions can't technically be lies, after all.] Orrrr maybe I was lying! But I guess that would mean that thing's still super unreliable anyway, wouldn't it? Jeez, what a piece of junk!
[The interviewer's lips purse, already annoyed and a little confused, but he just scans through the list undeterred. "Moving on..." he says, "What was a time when you had to work as part of a team?" Kokichi scoffs and rolls his eyes.]
Supreme leaders like me don't really need to do teamwork, y'know? Why would I have to cooperate with anyone? I have minions that follow my every order!
[He says it in that smarmy, over-the-top manner that definitely makes it sound like he's making shit up, but the polygraph remains quiet. Frustratingly so, really. Most people would live to see this little shit get zapped.]
But I guess you could count the time I had one of my henchman help me commit murder and get rid of the body. He actually had some pretty good ideas! A good, humble leader like me knows when to listen to others, y'know.
[The interviewer casts him a skeptical look despite the silence of the lie detector, and Kokichi gives an exaggerated pout in return. He's clearly so offended by the disbelief.]
Whaaat? Don't look at me like that, she tried to kill me first! But it's okay, someone else took me out a little while after that. It was totally gruesome. I should know, I planned the whole thing! That counts as teamwork too, riiight? Oh, don't bother feeling bad for me. I had it coming anyway, being super evil and all. But here I am anyway, back from the dead! Wow, you must have done something really terrible to get haunted by someone like me!
[All he gets in return in a heavy sigh and the rustling of papers as the interviewer searches for a final question. "What's your biggest personal flaw?" he asks, with an exasperated tone that seems to suggest he can think of quite a few options already. Kokichi's expression only brightens, as if he was just dying to be asked that exact question, and he sits up straight.]
You can't tell? I'm a liar. I practically breathe lies! And your stupid machine isn't zapping me, so obviously I'm telling the truth.
[True to his word – and paradoxically – the polygraph detects no lies. The interviewer casts a perplexed look at the machine and then back at Kokichi, who grins widely and carries right on.]
Or maybe I've just been completely honest this whole time? But then I'd be getting zapped for calling myself a liar, riiiight? Mannn, you should really just throw that thing out. It doesn't seem all that helpful right now, does it? I've met walking roombas more useful than that garbage!
[Still no polygraph dings, somehow. Poor Mr. Interviewer sighs and rubs at his temples, clearly thoroughly done with this interview. Ever sympathetic, Kokichi just laughs in his face.]
Prose Sample
["Demonstrate your skills". What a load of crap. Kokichi has to wonder what exactly he did that the universe keeps making a dancing monkey of him for the entertainment of strangers.
Even more annoying, the executives seated at the side of the gym don't even seem to care much. None of them even look up from their phones and idle conversations as he enters, and that simply won't do.]
Heeeeeey! Hey, hey! Yoohoo!!
[The executives don't seem particularly interested, but Kokichi can be very annoying. He keeps this up, pestering the group of them for a scrap of attention until one finally looks over, annoyed. Kokichi smiles brightly as if not even noticing their total disinterest, and gestures excitedly to wave the man over.]
C'mooon, I wanna make this fun for you guys! How about an interactive show, huh?
[He lifts the item he'd requested – a deck of cards – and fans them with a smooth motion. The executive that had looked his way sighs and gets up to reluctantly approach. Kokichi grins up at him.]
It's your lucky day! I was trained by the Ultimate Magician herself, y'know, so you can expect something pretty special!
[That's a lie. She'd never teach anyone her tricks, especially not him. But one doesn't have to be a trained magician to know some card tricks. Cards are one of his specialties, anyway.
With a flourish, he presents the spread cards face down and offers them to the executive.]
Pick a card, any card!
[With an eye roll, the executive draws a card at random and gives it a quick look. Kokichi closes the deck again and gestures for the card to be returned to it. Once the card is back in, he quickly shuffles the deck with deft motions, chattering away to keep attention away from any sleight of hand he's pulling.]
Sheesh, how bad was every contestant before me that you guys don't even care anymore? Must have been a pretty lame show. But you deserve something a bit more exciting, don't you? After all, you're the bigwigs around here–
[Cards shuffled, he fans them out again and extends them back towards the executive, his other hand waving across them theatrically like he's about to pick one of them. But then that hand shoots out instead to the executive, lured within arm's reach, and he suddenly grabs the man's tie and yanks him down to Kokichi's level. His voice drops ominously.]
–And I'm the Ultimate Supreme Leader. Don't forget that.
[It's a hollow threat. Even if he wasn't such a scrawny shrimp, the other executives gasp and the shock collar is quickly activated. It's a brutal zap, one that shoots a spasm through his whole body and leaves his hand seizing up around the executive's tie. He grits his teeth through the pain, and as it subsides he affects a shaky grin and laughs.]
W-wow, none of you guys can take a joke!
[He releases the tie. As the executive huffs and begins to straighten up. Kokichi quickly hops up, risking another shock as he appears to grab something from under a starched collar.]
Aha, this is what I was looking for!
[He backs away again with an unsteady grin before his movements can be interpreted as threatening, revealing with a flick of his wrist a card that he shows off to his "audience".
It is, in fact, the card that was picked. And perhaps surprising no one, it's a Joker.]
ADDITIONAL INFO
He keeps a set of lockpicks hidden up his sleeve, and will try to keep those and sneak them into the new uniform even while getting stripped of everything else. I'll leave whether or not he succeeds up to y'all!
FINAL QUESTIONS
➤ Will your character suspect some kind of guiding intelligence has brought them to the game? Or will they think it was random or done by Jorgmund?
Given the nature of the situation he's coming from, Kokichi will definitely have suspicions about who or what is responsible for bringing him here. Not Jorgmund, probably, but someone has to be behind everything and it's hard to believe this shit and the killing game are completely unrelated when both definitely have someone pulling the strings.
➤ If they think it was something other than Jorgmund, like God or some other force of fate, what character traits do they think of that intelligence as having? Is it cruel or kind? Capriciously punishing them or doing it for good reason?
He definitely doesn't trust in the goodness of some mysterious force jerking him from one awful situation to another, and even when things are relatively peaceful he'll be waiting for the other shoe to drop. He'll likely think it might be the same force responsible for the killing game, at least until he finds evidence to the contrary, so he'll absolutely assume the worst of it.