#ˢʰᵘᶦᶜʰᶦ ˢᵃᶦʰᵃʳᵃ { ᵛᵉʳˢᵉ } ᵃᵛᶦᵃⁿ

[dreamtofbluebirds]

SHUICHI SAIHARA

While timid and particularly unobtrusive, Shuichi is a person of integrity. Years spent with a detective uncle had carved a formidable foundation for law-abiding behavior.

{ POST-GAME. }

In his primary verse, he was thrown into Danganronpa unwillingly and upon waking up from the Virtual Reality, was missing quite a bit of his original memories. Between physical and mental therapy, he’d find that his past would always be elusive but a few things remain solid. His friendships, his family situation, and his nature remained consistent. What became a hurdle was the fact that Danganronpa had not known prior to kidnapping him that he was a trans male, and thus did not alter his in-game avatar. Upon his release, he would find renewed difficulty in the dysphoria but a clearer understanding of himself.

As a note, if I write with anyone WITHIN the game’s timeline, I will change the mishap over his avatar in the VR to accurately reflect his born sex instead. This is because I am fond of this concept, and I’d like to keep that aspect of him consistent as I write.

{ HOPE’S PEAK. }

Standard verse, taking place during his years at Hope’s Peak. He lives on-campus at a dorm and is often gone over any significant breaks, doing cases or visiting his Uncle and Aunt. He’s more often than not away on any and all days off, going to the city to explore, experience events and festivals, or otherwise, work off his physical energy so he can focus on his studies later that night.

{ P4. }

Split into two halves. One centers around Hope’s Peak –> P4′s plot, without DR.

In his secondary verse, Danganronpa existed within the world of Persona, spurred on by severe influences within the Metaverse. Himself and others were dragged in but through the trials they faced, they awakened to their potential, and Chapter Six was a boss battle as the Metaverse seeped into their Virtual Reality simulation. Upon waking, they retained their personas and made a vow to seek the truth, no matter the cost. He is of the Death Arcana, capable of summoning AUGUSTE DUPIN, same as the legendary fictional detective.

Accompanying these two verses, it’s available for Shuichi and Naoto to be brothers. They lived separately and don’t know much about each other–even down to opening up about their gender identity which would only end up being implied, as both would be too awkward to talk about it during family events.

{ P5. }

Split into two halves. One centers around Hope’s Peak –> P5′s plot, without DR.

In his secondary verse, Danganronpa existed within the world of Persona, spurred on by severe influences within the Metaverse. Himself and others were dragged in but through the trials they faced, they awakened to their potential, and Chapter Six was a boss battle as the Metaverse seeped into their Virtual Reality simulation. Upon waking, they retained their personas and made a vow to seek the truth, no matter the cost. He is of the Death Arcana, capable of summoning AUGUSTE DUPIN, same as the legendary fictional detective.

{ POKEMON. }

The third verse is a pokemon verse where he’s a P.I. with two pokemon, a Growlithe and an Umbreon named Lee and Bree. After the show ended, he returned to his Uncle’s work as a part-timer and on low-risk cases, and was given an Eevee at the time. Growlithe has been with him since before the show, so both pokemon work together to ensure he keeps a calm head.

{ APOCALYPSE. }

This is an apocalypse AU in which the undead arose while he underwent high school life at Hope’s Peak. He’s great for tactical approaches and working hard, but the loss of Kaito and many others weigh on him. His only comfort is that Kaede remains by his side.

{ VAMPIRE. }

This verse is split into two groups; one remains post-game, and the other is Hope’s Peak. Each of these will be tagged with both tags.

The post-game verse is a vampire verse in which he was bitten before the game. It’s my only non-VR AU with the killing game included, but the game doesn’t have to go as it did in canon because I’d love to interact with certain characters regardless. He’s young and without a sire, but I’ll be taking a bit of lore from Vampire: The Masquerade and say that his humanity is extremely high. This grants him the ability to hide what he is extremely well, among other things. He has the power of suggestion, but he’s very untrained with it and would hate to use it unless he morally had to.

The alternate verse is in which he’s at Hope’s Peak and handles the results of being bitten on a case during a break, uprooting his entire lifestyle.

{ AVIAN. }

Sixth verse is one in which he’s winged, mirroring the pattern of a blue raven with their mostly black, glossy-blue wings and his bright eyes. They’re too big to hide and he can fly, but he’s timid about it and prefers to stay grounded out of safety.

{ REMNANT. }

A verse where DR2′s plot was V3′s, and the ‘older classmates’ that helped were DR2′s cast. The verse is spliced into three parts. Shuichi acting as an active Remnant of Despair is the first segment, him inside Future Foundation’s custody is the second, and post-NWP is the third. He’s ruthless and hellbent on punishing criminals, turning his personality to mirror a sadism that he’s sickened by. He kidnaps Kaito during the active remnant days as well as attempts to kidnap and punish other classmates/remnants in the name of justice.

He’s very similar to Future Foundation’s leaders at the time but believes them to be corrupt/weak, seeing as Junko still captured him and others.

{ BLIND. }

During a case overseas, Shuichi was a victim of an acid attack. It stole his sight during his final year at Hope’s Peak as a result, bringing him to a long hospital stay and therapy in the coming months to regain some resemblance of autonomy.

{ SUPERHERO. }

Shuichi is one of the top officers in the city not for his experience, but his knack for being in the right place at the right time, and his ability to talk to the villains at least somewhat civilly. He often accompanies Kaito and does his best to do what’s right, regardless of what the police force thinks he should be doing, which puts him in a tough spot.

He does have an ability, which is that all psychological abilities have a significantly decreased effect on him. He essentially has a mental fortitude buff.

{ METAL HEART AU. }

Shuichi suffered a car crash that all but ruined his physical body, save for his mind. His Uncle and Idabashi had been good friends, and right as the roboticist entered stages of humanlike development on his own project, Shoma all but pleaded for a chance to give Shuichi a new body.

Codenamed S4U-1C41, he would end up living with the roboticist as he regained mobility while Kibo, the man’s son, was accepted into the Saihara’s household given his own love of detective work.

Regarded as inhumane, Shuichi understands the importance of his secret and hides his true identity.

{ TWINS. }

Fairly straightforward as an AU and can be in conjunction with almost every other AU he has. His birth name would be Shiho still, but the next part depends on who takes the role of Shuichi–if the other twin does, then the name he’d choose for himself is Shouhei Saihara regardless of what last name he inherited. If he takes the role of Shuichi, then he’d have chosen Shuichi Saihara as his new name.

His dynamic with the sibling depends on the personality of said twin, but his own personality remains fairly responsible–even to the point of taking the blame for his brother and proving incredibly loyal. A large detail that changes him is that loneliness is a persevering trait of his and I like the idea that he and his brother were split up a lot as their parents were not prepared for two, resulting in an on-off stay with Uncle Shoma. This means that while he craves closeness with his sibling, he remains awkward about it and uncertain of what is really acceptable or desired of him.

As a result, he’s extremely sensitive to criticism.

{ PREGAME. }

After much consideration, this verse was added. Shouhei Saihara is a boy with high expectations placed on him. Although his Uncle is less strict than his parents were, he was forced into attending Spring Field Academy and forced into living with his Uncle and Aunt while his parents continued pursuing their careers.

He’s used to being treated differently due to his status and loathes it, often avoiding saying his name, hiding his face, and otherwise being suspicious of those who talk to him. His social skills are terrible due to moving from school to school and lacking the ability to have too much freedom beyond studying. His world-view is pessimistic and his love for Danganronpa stems from hoping most of the characters die, believing them to be terrible people, aside from the rare favorite.

{ GOFER PROJECT. }

Shuichi grew up as the world fell apart, heavy-hearted and devastated by the collapse. From the meteors to the sickness, then the Gofer Project and the rise of the opposing cult, he clung to any minuscule stability he had before going on the run, hiding from friend and foe alike. While he feels unworthy of being in the project he understood the necessity of it at the time and still does.

His natural role as a peace-keeper and helper come out full force in this AU as being alone remains the worst thing he could do to himself. His anxiety over being transmale increases due to the heavy promotion of having children, but he comes to the understanding that their new world needs law and not every one of the students were designed to be on board purely for procreating–Kiibo and Kirumi, for example, whose talents center around enrichment of others and coexistence rather than something so base.

{ ROYALTY. }

Born to the King and Queen of a kingdom, Shuichi was able to escape the confines of sophisticated life to grow up under his Uncle’s care, who was a simple detective within the kingdom. Because so little information about the heir to the throne was ever released, when he was called back, few questioned his identity and the ones that did only assumed he may have been the nephew of the rulers and that the ‘princess’ had died. His head knight is Kaito and the chief of security and intelligence is Maki. Kirumi is both the head maid and cook for him, and he’s tentatively worked out a deal where she lets him help in the kitchen when he can.

The kingdom itself is steeped in arts and literature due to the King’s love of stage play and the Queen’s love of writing for such things. This gives the land an easygoing feel, but it’s ill-equipped to handle threats as a result and Shuichi holds a vastly different view of what should be going on–and he’ll soon be King when they step down to finally abandon their royal duties in favor of the arts. It’s a lot, and he’s pressured to find a spouse before the coronation. Men aren’t excluded from this, though his parents specifically have chosen to avoid mentioning it.