The Culprit - Smash Moveset

[Tougon]

WARNING: This moveset contains spoilers for Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, and Danganronpa V3. Only open spoiler boxes if you've already completed the chapter(s) listed.

(This moveset is too large to fit in one post I'm in tears)

Overview

The Culprit (also known as “The Cuer” in Danganronpa's gallery mode, “The Blackened” by frequent liar Monokuma, and occasionally “The Killer” or “The Suspect”) is a recurring “character” throughout the Danganronpa series. This shadowy figure acts as a stand-in to obscure perpetrators and preserve the mystery in various CGs and minigames. Most notably, The Culprit appears in the Closing Argument comic minigame in nearly every case. As this character appears in every game, possesses a vast amount of moveset potential, and doesn't explicitly spoil anything unless one already knows what their moves reference, they are unquestionably the best choice to represent the series.

In Smash Bros., The Culprit fights with the various improvised murder weapons used throughout the series. They also come equipped with some of the dastardly tricks various perpetrators have used to try disguising their crimes. As one would expect of attacks that caused instant or near instant death in the source material, The Culprit boasts extreme power in their Smash Attacks and select other moves as well. Uniquely, if these moves connect at high enough damage, the target is instantly KO'd instead of launched. As in the games, The Culprit aims to mess with their opponents by forcing them into situations where they have the upper hand and can deliver lethal blows.


Attributes

• Walk Speed: 0.895 (Between Sephiroth and Lucas)
• Initial Dash: 1.73 (Tied with Simon and Richter)
• Run Speed: 1.55 (Tied with Min Min and Kazuya)
• Traction: 0.115 (Tied with Kazuya and Fox)
• Short Hop Height: 14 (Tied with Byleth)
• Jump Height: 29.9 (Tied with Ike)
• Double Jump Height: 32.5 (Tied with Cloud, Villager, and Isabelle)
• Fall Speed: 1.76 (Tied with Incineroar and Banjo)
• Fast Fall Speed: 2.84 (Between Ridley and Bowser)
• Gravity: 0.093 (Between Hero and Ike)
• Air Speed: 1.014 (Between Squirtle and Corrin)
• Weight: 96 (Tied with Pit, Wii Fit Trainer, and Ivysaur)

Fighter Ability: Graduation - Some of The Culprit’s moves are Lethal. If these moves connect and the opponent is damaged enough for the red KO spark to appear, these attacks will instantly KO instead of dealing knockback, induce special zoom, and will produce a pink ink splatter-like effect instead of the standard KO spark. (Realistically, this would probably never be okayed, but shush.)

The Culprit can crawl.

Spoiler: Danganronpa 2 Chapter 1

This is based on DR2 Chapter 1, where The Culprit briefly stands in for Nagito crawling under the table in a CG.

Ground Attacks

Jab:

Spoiler: Danganronpa 2 Chapter 5

The Culprit throws a punch with their left hand. Low range, but solid damage for a jab. Based on how The Culprit breaks down a door in DR2 Chapter 5’s Closing Argument.

Forward Tilt:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 1

The Culprit swings a sheathed replica sword overhead in front of them. Resembles Link's forward tilt, but The Culprit does not swing all the way to the floor. Has a unique gold hitspark and is one of The Culprit's fastest moves, but does low damage. If struck while holding an item, the opponent will automatically drop said item and they'll be stunned before being launched, giving The Culprit extra hit advantage. Based on how The Culprit disarms Sayaka Maizono in DR1 Chapter 1, further referenced with the move’s added plus frames if the target is carrying an item.

Up Tilt:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 3

The Culprit swings a plank of wood overhead in a fanning motion, striking in front of them. This resembles Cloud’s forward aerial, just done on the ground, starting earlier and not striking as low. Based on the strangely recurring use of wood planks to knock out victims in DRV3, though with the height this move ends at, is more specifically referencing DRV3 Chapter 3, where The Culprit uses a floorboard to knock out Angie Yonaga.

Down Tilt:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 1

The Culprit pulls out a lint roller and quickly rolls it in front of them. If the roller overlaps a small item, The Culprit will automatically pick it up. Based on DR1 Chapter 1, where The Culprit uses a lint roller to clean up hair from the crime scene. The picking up function derives from the roller “picking up” evidence, but was also implemented to synergize with forward tilt in a humorous way.

Dash Attack:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 5

The Culprit leaps forward, attempting to grab, tackling opponents on the way. This move functions as a hit grab during its early frames, and if the grab connects, The Culprit will force their opponent to the ground. Based on DRV3 Chapter 5’s Closing Argument, where The Culprit briefly fights Kokichi Oma.

Forward Smash:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 3 & Danganronpa 2 Chapter 2

The Culprit pulls out a blunt object, lifts it overhead, and slams it in front of them. Much like Peach's forward smash, the object used is chosen depending on how the move is angled: aiming up uses a large hammer, no direction uses a metal baseball bat, and aiming downward uses a dumbbell. The hammer has the greatest range and deals high damage at the head but lower damage on the handle. The baseball bat is the most consistent but has a lower potential damage output than the other two options. The dumbbell does the greatest damage and knockback, KOing well under 60% in most cases, but has very poor range, about the same as jab. All variants of this move are Lethal. Based on the various blunt object kills throughout the series, specifically referencing Hifumi's death in DR1 Chapter 3, Mahiru's death in DR2 Chapter 2, and Chihiro's death in DR1 Chapter 2, respectively.

Up Smash:

Spoiler: Danganronpa 2 Chapter 5

The Culprit pulls out an iron skewer and stabs upward multiple times in quick succession. Similar to the up smashes of Hero or Simon, this is incredibly powerful, especially at the tip and if all hits connect, but can be tricky to land due to its vertical hitbox providing very narrow horizontal coverage. This move also resembles Shredder's strong up attack in NASB. This attack’s final hit is Lethal. Based on the Impostor’s death in DR2 Chapter 1.

Down Smash:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 1

The Culprit stabs downward in front of them with a kitchen knife, aiming for the opponent's stomach if they were seated (assuming they're of normal human build). This low angle makes this move only effective on grounded targets, but it can easily hit shorter characters due to the angle. Though the quickest of The Culprit’s smash attacks, it has low range and KOs the latest in most cases. However, should this attack hit a downed opponent, it will do increased damage and knockback. This attack is Lethal. Based on Sayaka Maizono's death in DR1 Chapter 1.

Air Attacks

Neutral Aerial:

Spoiler: Danganronpa 2 Chapter 4

The Culprit kicks their left leg out while leaning back slightly. Standard kicking nair, but angled slightly upward. Based on a pose The Culprit does during DR2 Chapter 4’s Closing Argument.

Forward Aerial:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 6

The Culprit swings a shot put ball in front of them. Very strong, but has low range and is a bit sluggish. Launches vertically similar to Dr. Mario’s forward air. This move is Lethal, and is The Culprit’s only Lethal aerial. Based on Rantaro Amami’s true cause of death as depicted in DRV3 Chapter 6’s Closing Argument.

Back Aerial:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 5

The Culprit pulls out a crossbow, turns around, and shoots behind them. This move is a projectile, similar in function to Villager’s slingshot, but it is noticeably stronger at the cost of being slower to fire. Based on DRV3 Chapter 5, where The Culprit assembles a crossbow and fires it to wound Kokichi Oma.

Up Aerial:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 2

The Culprit swings a plank of wood overhead, fanning in front of them. Somewhat resembles Cloud’s up tilt but done in the air. Has a wide reach, but isn’t very strong. As with up tilt, this is based on the recurring use of wood planks to knock out victims in DRV3, though this more closely resembles how The Culprit knocks out Ryoma Hoshi in DRV3 Chapter 2.

Down Aerial:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 3

The Culprit stomps downward with both feet. Functions similar to Captain Falcon’s down air in that the sourspot sends horizontally, while the sweetspot spikes. Based on DRV3 Chapter 3, where The Culprit stomps on a rigged floorboard to kill their trapped victim.

 

[Tougon]

Throws

Grab:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 3 & Danganronpa 2 Chapter 2

The Culprit reaches out, attempting to sedate their opponent with a chloroform rag. This grab puts targets into the same animation as Snake's grab. Based on the recurring use of chloroform by The Culprit to frame a third party for the crime, such as in DR1 Chapter 3 and DR2 Chapter 2.

Pummel:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 3 & Danganronpa 2 Chapter 2

The Culprit pushes the rag over their target’s face.

Forward Throw:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 2 & Danganronpa V3 Chapter 2

The Culprit hefts the unconscious opponent over their right shoulder and carries them. Functions similar to DK's cargo throw and can be mashed out, except the Culprit cannot jump and moves slowly as if they were carrying a heavy object. Pressing the attack button will have The Culprit weakly toss their opponent in front of them. Based on how The Culprit is depicted carrying Chihiro Fujisaki's body in DR1 Chapter 2. The toss references how The Culprit disposes of Ryoma Hoshi’s body in DRV3 Chapter 2.

Back Throw:

Spoiler: Danganronpa 2 Chapter 2

The opponent falls unconscious and The Culprit drags them behind a short distance before dropping them behind and turning around. Puts the target into the down state a short distance away. Based on how The Culprit moves Mahiru Koizumi's body in DR2 Chapter 2.

Up Throw:

Spoiler: Danganronpa 2 Chapter 4

The Culprit's opponent gets lifted into the air by the leg, then gets dropped on the floor. As the target gets dragged into the air, The Culprit is free to move, giving this throw extra utility, though until the drop occurs, the throw can be mashed out of. To compensate for this unreliability, this is a very powerful kill throw and cannot be teched. Based on Mechamaru's death in DR2 Chapter 4, though with the victim moving up instead of having the floor drop down for technical reasons.

Down Throw:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 2 & Danganronpa 2 Chapter 2

The opponent drifts into unconsciousness and The Culprit drops them on the floor. Similar to Snake's down throw. While specifically based on DR2 Chapter 2 where The Culprit hides Hiyoko Saionji in the closet to frame her, it can also be taken as a general reference to any instance where The Culprit places a victim on the ground.

 

[Tougon]

Special Moves:
NOTE: All move names are derived from their related Hangman segments, hence the capital letters. This was mainly done to provide a more generic name for the down special.

Neutral Special:

Spoiler: Danganronpa 2 Chapter 5

FIRE GRENADE - The Culprit throws a fire extinguishing grenade in front of them. The grenade explodes on impact, including against most other projectiles. When the grenade explodes, it produces a highly damaging purple fog that slowly travels downward. This makes it start off as an airborne circular area denial tool similar to Piranha Plant's poison cloud, before thinning vertically while expanding horizontally into a more condensed anti-ground tool. The Culprit can be damaged by their own poison. If FIRE GRENADE is used while a poison cloud is in play, the impact instead produces a harmless aerosol mist (though the grenade itself still deals damage). Based on the events of DR2 Chapter 5, where Nagito Komaeda replaces the contents of a fire grenade with a deadly liquid poison that evaporates when heated. This spiked grenade is later unknowingly thrown by the true Culprit.

Side Special:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 6

VENT - The Culprit quickly rolls a shot put ball into an air vent. The vent appears in front of The Culprit and disappears after the shot enters. Being hit by the shot as it rolls during this phase deals low damage and knockback, though it cannot be reflected or pocketed. After 10 seconds, an exit vent materializes and the shot will fall to the ground, dealing heavy damage and knockback to anyone in its path. The shot can also be manually released by pressing side special a second time. When it falls, it is like any other physical projectile and can be reflected or pocketed. By default, the exit vent is positioned above and slightly in front of The Culprit’s head, with the vertical distance being about the distance from Battlefield’s main platform to its top platform. However, as the shot is being rolled, The Culprit can use directional inputs to move the position of the exit vent. If the exit vent touches the ground, the shot will roll across the ground instead of falling. The shot is affected by gravity when rolling, meaning it cannot roll up slopes, will increase in speed when rolling down a slope, and will fall down at a high velocity when rolling off a ledge. When the shot loses momentum, it disappears. Only one shot can remain active at a time. If The Culprit is KO’d, the move is reset, though any active shots will remain active. A falling shot is Lethal, a rolling shot is not. Based on the events of DRV3 Chapter 1, where Rantaro Amari is seemingly struck and killed by a shot rolled through an air vent by The Culprit. Though the ability to control the exit vent is not directly based on anything as the vents were not moved. It was implemented both to retain the Rube Goldberg feeling of the original trap and also to make the move’s exit point hard to guess by the opponent. The starting position of the exit vent subtly alludes to this trap’s failure.

Up Special:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 2

ROPEWAY - The Culprit jumps up into an inner tube, which begins to travel forward while losing height, traveling across a rope. The full ropeway is invisible, except for the area around The Culprit’s hand. As the tube travels, it builds up speed. The faster the tube travels, the more damage and knockback it deals, though hitting an enemy or wall will immediately dismount The Culprit from the tube. ROPEWAY can only be used once per air time. The Culprit can hold the special move button to slow down the tube, though this can only be held for a limited time. At any point, The Culprit can jump from the tube to get additional height, ending the move and dropping the tube to the ground. Uniquely, The Culprit can use ROPEWAY while carrying a heavy object or during forward throw, and can even throw the object or opponent while traveling. The Culprit can also use VENT or REPLACED if the moves are already active during travel. This move offers incredible horizontal distance, though it has poor vertical distance and a notable blindspot, making The Culprit easy to edgeguard if careless. Based on the events of DRV3 Chapter 2, where The Culprit uses an elaborate ropeway set up between the second and third floors of the school building to move the body from the crime scene. The ability to carry heavy objects during travel further references this scene when combined with The Culprit’s forward throw and down special.

Down Special:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 6

REPLACED - The Culprit drops a body on the floor. The body can be picked up and thrown like a heavy item while in play by any player. If the input is held instead of tapped, The Culprit will begin carrying the body instantly instead of placing it on the floor. By pressing down special again, the body can be remotely detonated, even if it's currently being held by an opponent. However, the damage and knockback will be significantly reduced if it's being carried. Much like Snake, The Culprit can use this move for vertical recovery by detonating it mid fall. As it is an item, the body can be pocketed. This move is Lethal, but due to the power reduction if picked up, makes it harder to use if the body is picked up. Based on a major plot point at the end of DR1, where the corpse of Mukuro Ikusaba is blown up by the true Culprit to deceive the remaining students. The reduced knockback while carrying the corpse is both for balancing and a reference to how Toko Fukawa appears to be little more than dazed by the explosion despite touching Mukuro's body at the time it explodes. Although the explosion was used to misdirect instead of harm, the explosion “counts” as the body discovery for the purpose of the killing game, hence the lethal properties.

 

[Tougon]

Final Smash

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 1

BTB - A cut-in of a randomized Danganronpa protagonist appears on screen, yelling “here’s my answer!”, freezing the action. The player is then given 5 seconds to select a target.

The target selection controls like it does in the original games, meaning left and right inputs only, selecting in player number order. The cursor always starts on The Culprit. If The Culprit is selected, the protagonist yells in shock, and The Culprit loses a stock. The Culprit will be chosen by default if time runs out. During this phase, the music is overwritten with To Survive. When selecting a target (other than The Culprit), the protagonist yells “the killer is…you!”

Once a target is chosen, the protagonist accuses the target and the camera zooms in to a medium shot of the opponent, recreating the BTB minigame, often used as the “finishing blow” in the first game. At this point, the music is overwritten with BTB and the actual attack begins.

The attack is the BTB minigame itself. The protagonist's actions are not controlled by the player - every hit will be on beat. Each simulated button press deals damage to the target. However, the player can optionally press the attack button in time with the music to increase the damage of each hit. The opponent must press the attack button on the beat to counter, reducing the damage of each hit. The player has a much more lenient window for a successful button press. Each time the opponent successfully counters, they will say one of their voice clips at random and a text bubble containing said line (or some approximation thereof for mute characters) will appear on screen. (Multiple bubbles can appear but a voice clip will only play when the current one is finished). When time runs out a bullet is fired from the screen at the opponent to launch them, though they remain in hitstun until the camera returns to normal. Once this happens, normal gameplay resumes.

I recognize this attack is much too complicated to ever be feasible, but The Culprit deserves it (and is also never happening). There is also nothing more evil than forcing someone to play a bad Danganronpa minigame. A more realizable version would cut the minigame and just be the finishing hit. The selection and minigame portions override the background music with their respective songs from the original games. Naturally, this move is based on the rhythm minigame from DR1. Similar minigames exist in future entries, 1's was used for simplicity. This minigame isn't always directed at The Culprit, but it's much more natural as an attack than the Closing Argument.

 

[Tougon]

Miscellaneous

Intro Animation:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 1

A bathroom door appears on screen. The doorknob is busted out and the door is suddenly kicked open, revealing The Culprit grimacing. Based on how The Culprit breaks open Sayaka's door in DR1 Chapter 1.

Rolls:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 4

The Culprit’s roll animations are based on a frame from DR1 Chapter 4’s Closing Argument. In context, this is used to represent Aoi Asahina sneaking into the room during the commotion of the body discovery, but given the “teleports behind you” energy the frame gives off, I can’t resist.

Item Throw:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 1

When The Culprit throws away small items, they wind up as if throwing a baseball. This is a reference to the way The Culprit activates the incinerator in DR1 Chapter 1.

Up Taunt:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 4 & Danganronpa 2 Chapter 2

The Culprit pulls out a bottle of protein drink and a bottle of poison. They toss both bottles straight into the air, catch them with the opposite hand the bottles started in, pose briefly, and put them away. This is a reference to The Culprit’s intentional manipulation of evidence in DR1 Chapter 4, with the ending pose being derived from a frame in DR2 Chapter 2’s Closing Argument.

Side Taunt:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 4

The Culprit pulls out a roll of toilet paper and tosses it behind them. This is a reference to DRV3 Chapter 4, where The Culprit throws away a roll of toilet paper to hide evidence.

Down Taunt:

Spoiler: Danganronpa 2 Chapter 3

A video camera appears on the ground near The Culprit, which they promptly step on, destroying the camera. References DR2 Chapter 3, where The Culprit destroys a camera to mislead everyone about the location of the crime scene.

Alternate Costumes:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 6

• Color 1: Based on The Culprit’s most common appearance throughout DR1.
• Color 2: Resembles The Perpetrator, The Culprit’s replacement following his arrest in DRV3.
• Color 3: Resembles The Culprit’s most common appearance throughout DR2.
• Color 4: Resembles The Mastermind, a variant of The Perpetrator used in DRV3 Chapter 6.
• Color 5: Based on a Closing Argument panel in DR2 Chapter 4.
• Color 6: Resembles The Perpetrator when they stand in for Kaede Akamatsu.
• Color 7: Resembles The Culprit’s appearance in an early version of DR1 Chapter 1’s Closing Argument.
• Color 8: Resembles The Perpetrator when they stand in for Tsumugi Shirogane.

Victory Theme:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 1

Despair Pollution Noise Music

Win:

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 1

The final KO'd opponent is shown in their down pose on a grayed out version of the results screen. The camera pans, pulses, shakes, and zooms in for a bit, before zooming out to a static shot of the body, timed with the usual results flash. If more than one opponent is KO'd at the same time, the defeated opponent is randomized. Based on the body discovery sequences throughout the series. To enhance this effect, like Joker, The Culprit has their own results screen transition, and announcer is absent. Instead of the various glass shatter, cross, or paint splatter effects used by default, the screen fades to black as the announcer says "GAME" then hard cuts to the results screen with no transition.

Win (Team Battle):

Spoiler: Danganronpa Chapter 1

As with Joker, The Culprit uses an alternate win animation for team battles. The Culprit appears with their head down, then they look up and give a smirk while saying "heh." Based on the ending panels for the Closing Argument in DR1 Chapter 1.

Lose:

Spoiler: Danganronpa V3 Chapter 1

The Culprit stands, turned at a 3/4ths angle, hunched over with their hands cuffed, glaring at the camera. Based on a CG in DRV3 Chapter 1, depicting Shuichi apprehending a wanted criminal.

 

[Bolderousness]

Realizing forums is the best way you can handle this moveset post because you can organize the spoilers like so. That's so good

 

[Fly]

This is seriously such a good moveset and I'm so happy to see it neatly laid out like this.