#I’ll stop clogging the mondo tag now

[nite-puff]

I feel you so much on the Mondo thing... Where every character falls into some kinda category based on how liked they are (there are the ones everyone likes, ones everyone hates, the underrated characters, etc.), Mondo's sort of floating off in this innocuous void?? Obviously he has a cult following and he has his haters, but most of the fandom just kinda doesn't even care?? It's complete indifference, and the only reason he isn't considered an underrated character is because he's in one of the much more popular ships. Other than some characters from dr3, I kinda consider him to be the MOST underrated character. Because with characters like Hiro and Akane, at least people KNOW they're underrated. People actively look at them and think "there's more to them that we don't get to see", but with Mondo, most of his major lore details are handed to you right in chapter 2. He is made REMARKABLY easy to understand, and I don't consider that to be a writing flaw in the slightest. But I think as a result of this people just look at him, go "alright, I've seen all there is to see", and then move on without much further consideration. Then with Mondo enjoyers themselves, the line between those who like him as an individual versus those who like him as an add-on to Kiyotaka or even Chihiro is clear as day, to the point where you see people get some really surface level characterization wrong (Like I hate to be that guy but people don't make Mondo nearly the level of sopping wet beast roaming around in the middle of the target parking lot all alone as they should). Then the people who actually care about the guy write 90 page essays on him. Like there's no in-between.

YES YES I 100% AGREE!!!

I remember seeing this Instagram post back in 2021 when Danganronpa kinda had that popularity resurgence (aka when I joined the fandom). It was one of those “starter pack”memes and went something like “‘Characters the fandom doesn’t care about unless it’s shipping’ starter pack” and Mondo was part of it. And I no joke thought, “Oh wow, they included Mondo,” like I was completely expecting for him to be overlooked.

It’s rare nowadays to find a character or trial or what-have-you that’s actually underrated when it comes to the mainline DR games. Most that were probably underrated at some point just kept being talked about how underrated they were until they weren’t really considered underrated anymore.

But Mondo is underrated and no one really talks about it because no one cares. At least, outside of his small group of fans.

There’s so much analysis and deep dives you can do with him from masculinity, to negative stigmas, to repressed and untreated mental disorders. Like, he’s one of the few characters who was written to have a mental disorder (ptsd, albeit with some negative stereotypes). He’s a scared kid hiding behind the mask of a fearless leader, and the game does a great job at showing that. But no one talks about it.

And that lack of talk amongst the fandom is what eventually led to the fanon Mondo we have today. No one really wanted to analyze what he brought to the table and so people just started viewing him as the surface level macho bad boy stereotype that he was WRITTEN TO SUBVERT.

I do think that there’s some sort of devolution from that version of him that’s been happening the past couple of years with those fans who would “write 90 page essays of him” coming into the scene, and that’s great. Love that for him. I’m glad that, while he’s not nearly talked about enough, there’s been a slight increase of interest of him as an individual character and not as a ship or foil.

Anyways yeah, “Make Mondo Relevant in the Fandom 2023.” Let’s make it happen.