THE PREFACE

This is the story of Prometheus Academy for the Gifted and Talented.

Let us get formalities out of the way then. If you are familiar with Hope's Peak Academy, then you're familiar with Prometheus. The differences are so trite and insignificant that devoting time to them is simply an egregious abuse of our short time together. Prometheus is a prestigious school that only scouts students of exemplary talent – Elite students, if you will. The school was founded on the basis of nurturing the "hope" of tomorrow, but also served as a platform where the scientists who served as faculty members could freely observe and research the nature of "true talent". So, simply put, Prometheus is Hope's Peak under a new name and in a different location – somewhere in New England, United States. Of course, it's a more… complicated case than what you might expect based of superficial observation, but superficial observation is the only thing you need to know at this moment in time.

So, if Prometheus is just a carbon copy of Hope's Peak, then why isn't this story about Hope's Peak? For one, Hope's Peak does not exist in this universe. The circumstances that led to its success simply never occurred. Prometheus is this timeline's version of Hope's Peak, founded by a close associate of Izuru Kamakura with very similar ideals in his home country of U.S.A.

Are you caught up? Great. Glad to know I haven't lost you yet.

Prometheus Academy was a success, and the academy had prospered throughout the generations without even the slightest hint of a scandal or… dare I say…. Despair? This world had never known the chaos generated by the collapse of Hope's Peak, and for the longest time, it seemed that it never will.

Unfortunately, I am a universal constant, and sooner or later, I will have to intervene with their ignorant bliss.

Monokuma sat on a velvet chair reading his lengthy monologue and enjoying a sip of royal milk tea next to a fireplace. He heard from a certain gambler that it was quite exquisite, and he certainly had to agree now. His reading glasses were slipping, but he didn't seem to mind – they were mostly for show anyway.

"Upupupupu," a familiar laugh rang through the room. "Surprised to see me again, are you? Do you think I was actually done for when the book was closed on Hope's Peak? Please, I always come back to see you little bastards. No timeline or alternate reality or whatever is safe from my handsome, monochrome visage!"

The bear snapped his book close and chucked it into the fire behind him. The paper burned up upon touching the flames, leaving only ash behind. "So glad you could join me. I know how much you enjoy these games – teenagers being forced to kill each other and then being executed in charmingly ironic ways… ah, how I miss those days! We should bond over our mutual love for them some day, perhaps over tea? I've heard it's just EXQUISITE, moi~"

Monokuma took a long sip of tea before throwing the empty cup into the fire too. "You must excuse my rudeness, but I'm afraid that day won't be today. I have twenty guests coming over, and I must prepare this place for the special event! Upupupu, you know how it is!"

The bear climbed off his chair and the moment his feet touched the floor, everything started… melting. It was as the entire world was distorting and twisting into a mess of colors and chaos. The world eventually shifted to gates of Prometheus: golden, leading to a paved path through the school grounds and eventually into the building itself, which resembled a palace before it resembled a school.

It was this location where our story takes place. This is not the story of the downfall of Prometheus, nor is it the story of hope's battle against despair. This is a story built upon deception and betrayal, upon distrust and faith, upon friendship and hatred. It's a story built upon a lot of things, believe me… but then again, who are you to trust a narrator?

"Upupupupu, don't worry, we'll be seeing each other very soon~ Have a nice life, while you still can! Monokuma, SIGNING OFF!"

And just like that, the world went dark.

A/N: Hello there, anyone who's actually reading this :3 It's uh.. yeah, yet another SYOC in the Dangan Ronpa fanfiction section. Whoop? A deep apology to those people who are sick of seeing these pop-up but… sorry, I just fell into temptation, what can I say. In any case, I always wanted to try my hand at something like this and now that I have the time, I might as well try now. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do! Although the opening probably didn't give you test best idea about my writing quality (I've certainly been getting better over the years, but compared to other writers it's just… meh), but I promise I'll put everything I have into writing this for you guys. So, of course, I might need a hand from time to time, so if anyone's interested in being a co-writer, I'll be extremely thankful.

I don't want to ruin the surprise but I came up with a few interesting twists on the usual killing game formula. While I'm not sure if these particular ideas have been done before, I'm interested to try them out and they're partly the reason why I started this SYOC in the first place. You'll see what I mean soon.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. Just… I really wanted to do something like this and not have it crash and burn in two chapters (maybe even less). So let's get started!

And now, for those interested in sending in a character, a few guidelines!

1- At most, you can submit two characters per person. There are marginally more characters in this killing game than there are in standard killing games, and that's because of… no particular reason. I might change the limit under certain circumstances, but for now… two is the limit, okay?

2- On a related topic, like most SYOCs this is not first-come first-served. I value quality, and I will take my time in deciding who should be in the game and who shouldn't. So please put some effort into designing your character.

3- No Mary-Sues, Gary-Stus, Daryl-Dews, etc. Note that this just doesn't apply to the "archetypical" Mary Sue's: pure, perfect, uber-talented, beloved by everyone, bleh. I'm also referring to "Angst-Sues", who are made so over-the-top angsty in a ham-fisted attempt to get the audience's sympathy that they just come off as… annoying? And then there's the Jerk Sues, who can be the biggest assholes in the planet and still be forgiven for it by… pretty much anyone that matters. Just make you characters interesting and three-dimensional, please I beg of you!

4- The protagonist and mastermind will be chosen by me :) I'll take serious consideration into it, but I can assure you that the protagonist is not going to be a generic expy of Makoto or Hajime, so please don't try to make characters like that.

With that out of the way… here's the actual form.

Name: This is an American school, so Japanese names are obviously not necessary. Of course, given US diversity compared to Japan, your character can be of any ethnicity or race or origin.

Gender: I'm a very open person, so I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of a transgender or agender student.

Sexuality: Again, see above. I'm a very open person, and I don't want the entire cast to be hetero. Throw in some gays, bis, aces, and what have you in there too. No need to be shy.

Race & Ethnicity:

Birth Date: No need to include the year.

Elite Talent: Canon talents are technically allowed, but I encourage you to think of new, original talents. No Elite Lucks, Hope, or Despair, no "personality trait" talents (Elite Optimist), and no "inappropriate" talents (Elite Prostitute… seriously, a high school prostitute. Think about it).

Height: In feet and inches please.

Appearance: You can separate this into clothing and physical appearance, I don't mind. Please be creative and take your time here – Dangan Ronpa characters have unique designs that give you an idea about their talent or personality and helps them stand out against the other students. Make your character's appearance highlight who they are and how their talent is.

Personality: Be creative here too. Not every character can be a down-to-earth nice guy/girl who's also a good leader and the straight man. Think out of the box, make your character unique and three-dimensional and not just another generic "protagonist" shoe-in! Try mixing together character traits and see what you can come up with (for example, combining Hiyoko's abusiveness with Teruteru's perversion to make a perverted bully, or mixing Monomi's care for the students and Peko's stoic-ness to create a seemingly unemotional character who's actually a team mom).

Backstory: A character's backstory should explain why they are the person they are today. So there's no reason to load it up with unnecessary and frankly unrealistic angst. Make the audience interested in the character's story, not force them to feel sorry for them.

Likes:

Dislikes:

Quirks: What is unique about the way they act? Do they tend to chew pencils? Do they use a certain a word a lot? Do they often go to bathroom?

Investigation and Trial Role: How helpful are they? Not everyone could be a "MASTER INVESTIGATOR" a.k.a Kirigiri 2.0, but everyone could contribute their own part. For trials: How do they act during trials – are they cracking jokes and generally taking the edge off the seriousness of the event, or are they stubbornly defending their accusations?

Reaction to Murder: How would they react if it were a stranger? How about if it was a close friend or partner?

Free Time: What type of area can they be found in, and what do they like to during their time off?

Mastermind?: Would they be their mastermind, and if they were, what could be a possible motive?

Other things you'd like to share?: Any suggestions on how I should your character? What their fate should be, how their character development should go, etc.