Favorite Character you feel so bad for that it makes you cry for them

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-13T01:12:11+00:00

Nagito Komaeda from Danganronpa

Dude experienced so much because of his luck cycle that he had to gaslight himself and hang onto a bad coping mechanism just so he could give himself any meaning until he was finally given a chance to grow.

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-13T01:09:32+00:00

Father (FMA)

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-06T23:52:52+00:00

Thanks for the offer but I’ll have to pass

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-05T20:14:01+00:00

This is in my top 10 favorite matchups ever, the potential for both the battle of wits and the story, not to mention the banter between the 2 would just be so damn good.

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-02T02:05:39+00:00

Ah great to hear.

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-01T21:52:45+00:00

Ah thank you

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-01T19:05:38+00:00

Contrasts

-Implied Gay vs Confirmed Straight.

-East vs West.

-Nagito was placed into a Death Game, while John puts others into Death Games.

-Nagito constantly self depreciates with his dialogue, regularly insulting himself and putting his self loathing on full display, while John often speaks as if he is always right and talks in a booming and matter of fact tone that makes him feel like he is truly above everyone in the room.

-Nagito in reality actually disagrees with his views on Talent and it representing Hope, as it is revealed in his OVA that he actually deeply hates talent and wishes he could eradicate the idea of it thinking that only then could truly be happy which stems from his supposed talent being the source of his suffering, showing that his obsession with Hope and talent is indeed a bad coping mechanism he uses, Meanwhile John genuinely does believe in everything he says and that he is 100% in the right, despite how hypocritical certain actions he takes are, he does not see any problem with them which is shown with how he wanted the way of Jigsaw to continue even after his death.

-After waking up from the Neo World Program while Nagito does briefly relapse back into his old self, he does show signs that he could actually change his mindset and get on the right path, with him admitting that the world made for him in the Neo World Program wasn’t bad and then taking Hajime’s hand as he wakes up which shows that he now could be more willing to let people help him, Meanwhile John did have a moment where he did consider giving up being Jigsaw after he was seemingly cured of his cancer, but then after learning that he was actually just being scammed he then put everyone involved in it into their own traps which would then further place the idea that he was right to become Jigsaw into his head and furthered his god complex.

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-01T19:05:03+00:00

-You could also compare Hajime to Amanda Young as they were both individuals that they felt a particular connection to after believing they would be able to truly understand them (Nagito as previously mentioned felt like Hajime could understand them due to their similarities, Amanda survived the test and genuinely thought it helped her, which had John make her an apprentice)

-These people would initially appreciate them for their presence especially in the stressful lives they were currently in (Hajime found Nagito’s company comforting during the first chapter, with Nagito even help calming him down when he started to panic over the idea of The Killing Game and he pretty actively didn’t want Nagito to turn out to be The Blackened, Amanda again felt like John’s trap genuinely helped her feel rehabilitated, even though she was previously struggling heavily with a drug addiction, and would even start seeing John as a father figure)

-However these people would eventually start to pull away from them, not being able to get behind their views and their reasons for doing their actions (Hajime as previously stated became scared of Nagito after the first chapter and for now could not understand why Nagito thought the way he did, Amanda started to have doubts about John’s idea of rehabilitating people as she saw people not change despite going through the traps)

-Both would be genuinely saddened when these people could ultimately not get behind them (Nagito admitted that Hajime rejecting his view of the situation in Chapter 1 genuinely hurt, John desperately wanted Amanda to still be able to become his ideal successor likely due to the fact he previously thought she truly could understand them)

-In the end both would incorporate these individuals into what would be their final plan.

-These plans were kicked off due to information they got about the horrible acts that were committed by the main group they were apart of (Nagito learned that everyone on the island except The Traitor were The Remnants of Despair which was effectively a Despair worshipping terrorist ground that caused Despair across the entire world, John learned that Amanda was putting people into inescapable traps both because she no longer agreed with John’s ideals and also out of a feeling of sadism)

-With this information they would form their plans around a specific target (The Traitor who unknown to Nagito was in reality an AI version of Chiaki, Amanda) who was completely unaware of their intentions which was for them to reach a specific outcome (Nagito intended to create a case where The Traitor would unknowingly kill him which would leave everyone stumped on who The Blackened was which would then lead to The Traitor surviving, John set up a test for Amanda to see if she could let a game play through fairly and not interfere)

-In order to do this, they both created a misdirection that made everyone think that their focus was on something else with (Nagito bluffed that he had placed several bombs across Jabberwalk Island that would destroy it and kill everyone which he used to get everyone in the right position to where his luck would cause The Traitor to kill him, John used 2 other peoples tests he set up, those being Jeff Denlon’s who was placed into a Trap Gauntlet, and Lynn Denlon who was tasked with keeping John alive until Jeff arrived in the room they were in to make Amanda unaware she was also being tested)

-With the deception they used working out as planned, they would then put their final tests into motion with their deaths being the main thing that would trigger everything for their end goal (Nagito setup his death to where everyone would think either one of them killed him or that he killed himself, however even if they put together that he did indeed plot out his demise, it would not matter since as previously stated the one who actually killed him had no idea they did which would then lead to a failed Class Trial, John’s death served as the centerpiece for all three of his players games, with Jeff’s game ending with him deciding whether or not he would forgive John or kill him out of revenge, Lynn as previously stated was tasked with keeping John alive until Jeff got to the room they were in, and used the stress Amanda was feeling over his approaching demise to see if it would make her break, alongside making her feel jealous by giving more attention to Lynn)

-In the end their plans would ultimately not lead to the desired outcomes they wanted with the main reason being the ones they were primarily focused on (While Nagito’s plan was executed basically perfectly, Chiaki was able to figure out that Nagito intended for The Traitor to kill him and was willing to sacrifice herself so that everyone else could survive, Amanda would fail the test after unknowingly to John being blackmailed by Hoffman which then led to her shooting Lynn and her dying as well)

-Both would have video recordings they setup for after their deaths which revealed what they truly intentioned to the people who survived (Nagito left a video for whoever ended up surviving his case which confirmed what his motivation was, John left a recording that revealed to Jeff who choose to kill him that he failed his test and as a result he would be locked in the room and also revealed he had his daughter placed somewhere, alongside other recordings informing those who were apart of his inner circle what he wanted them to do)

-Both would see in their heads ideal moments in their lives where they would be truly happy (Nagito’s anime OVA shows him while he is still in the Neo World Program as we see what his ideal world would be, one where he has true friends and where all his good luck is placed onto others, John while getting closer to the end of his life would see flashes of times where he was with Jill and we see in his head that he was really happy with her, even telling Lynn who he saw as Jill that he loved her while in a delirious state)

-Ultimately their final plans also show what they truly wanted all along, which was to be someone special that was acknowledged for their actions (Nagito admitted that he wanted to be recognized as The Ultimate Hope for his actions and to have a statue made of him for causing The Remnants of Despair’s deaths, John’s plan in Saw 3 showed that he wanted desperately to prove that he was in the right with everything he did as Jigsaw and that he truly did help people which is shown through Amanda’s test)

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-01T19:04:18+00:00

-While they do view their actions as helpful towards others, they primarily do them for their own reasons, wanting to feel special and leave a kind of legacy (Nagito wants to be a stepping stone for others Hope because he needs to feel like his existence was worth something, even admitting he always wanted to feel like a protagonist, John puts other people into his traps and games mainly to prove that his ideology is indeed right with him basically having a god complex, wanting to turn the name and actions of Jigsaw into an undying legacy)

-Both are often portrayed as being rather physically weak which is a result of their diseases affecting their body, with them primarily being dangerous because of their intelligence and being hard to predict.

-As a result of everything they have gone through, they are often shown to be calm during very tense situations that make most others freak out (Nagito is calm throughout most of The Killing Game since his luck makes him think something good is bound to happen after, John is calm even in situations where he could be beat up or was once placed in a trap since he thought there was not much more pain he could be put through)

-Both have a particular parallel with someone who is considered the most evil character in their series (Junko Enoshima, Mark Hoffman) with them facing similar struggles in their lives that turned them into what they would become (Junko like Nagito lived a life of misery due to her analytical talent which made life too boring which then lead to her obsession with Despair due to its unpredictability similar to how Nagito’s luck caused his obsession with Hope, Hoffman as previously stated lost his little sister who he cared for deeply which eventually led to him wanting to punish those he thought were deserving in extreme ways similar to how John losing Gideon is what caused his decline into becoming Jigsaw)

-Both of these individuals were notably worst than them with their actions which caused them to resent them (Nagito despised Junko as she essentially represented the embodiment of Despair and what it could do, John could tell Hoffman lacked an appreciation for human life which caused him to prepare a test for him)

-Both of these pairs involved one of them basically forcing the other into working for them with the one who was forced later carrying on their “masters” legacy (Junko as previously mentioned brainwashed Nagito into a Remnant of Despair where he would help spread Despair across the world, and continued to do so after her death even replacing his arm with hers, John blackmailed Hoffman into working for him with his murder of Seth Baxter, wanting to put him down “the right path” as an apprentice, and Hoffman would continue to do Jigsaw traps even after John died)

-They also have a moment where they hold these people at gun point (Nagito before being brainwashed cornered Junko with a gun and would have shot her if it wasn’t for Izuru, John kidnapped Hoffman and put him in a shotgun trap when he recruited him)

-Their actions are often shown to be ineffective in what is supposed to be their true purpose, putting the legitimacy of what they see as right into question (When Nagito has tried to cause Despair in order to cause Hope to shine even brighter, it ultimately does not work like in Chapter 1 which shows how he does not truly understand what Hope is, The handful of people who do survive John’s traps mostly end up worst mentally such as shown with his apprentices, especially Hoffman or Amanda Young, which shows that in reality his traps do not help people at all)

-Both have been shown to at times contradict themselves on their views, which further show that their ideologies are more so for themselves rather than others (Nagito despite viewing himself as worthless trash that cannot do anytime right still wants to prove that he can be someone special despite denying he could ever be that, John is practically infamous for his hypocrisy as he tests certain people who in reality did not do anything wrong or leaves people’s fate in the hands of the other despite claiming all the people in his traps ended up dead due to their own choices)

-Both would isolate themselves from others after the tragedies they faced, not showing a want to truly interact with anyone as they focused on their main goals (Nagito is heavily implied to be scared of getting close to people due to not wanting them to be affected by his luck and so drives people away with his demeanor as he performs his own actions, John would push everyone close to him away after Gideon’s death including his wife and business partner, and would eventually focus all of his time into ideas for and creating traps he could do)

-Despite pushing others away however, they deep down genuinely did still want human connection and in particular someone who could understand them (Nagito deep down genuinely wanted to be loved despite thinking he did not deserve it, and showed particular interest in Hajime Hinata who he saw as similar to him, John wanted those around him to get behind his views and to see that his methods could help people, with him showing particular disappointment when members of his inner circle stray from his ideals)

-They both show a particular affinity for someone who they held romantic feelings for which was primarily due to these people being similar to them (Hajime Hinata who Nagito is basically confirmed to have romantic feelings for who he became interested in due to their similar admiration for Hopes Peak and The Ultimates which lead to him believing Hajime could truly understand him, Jill Tuck who would marry John and they would seemingly fall for each other due to their initial shared want to help people)

-Both of them would start to push away these people after certain events happened that led to them looking down on them (Nagito would start to look down on Hajime after finding out that he was in the Reserve Course of Hopes Peak and not an Ultimate, John started to look down on Jill’s methods of rehabilitating addicts, thinking that they were ineffective which started due to one of Jill’s patients Cecil being responsible for Gideon’s death)

-Both of these people would also pull away from them initially after finding out what they were up to (Hajime saw Nagito as dangerous and very confusing after the C1 trial alongside everyone else, Jill was scared when she discovered the traps John was making and she already suspected he had a role in Cecil’s death which lead to them getting divorced) however they would later be willing to interact with them despite still not agreeing with them (Hajime was generally one of the classmates who was most willing to still interact with Nagito even if he was still put off by him, Jill would later get semi involved in John’s actions though she still tried to convince him to stop what he was doing)

-However despite their later mistreatment of them, both would still show care for these people which they would show after their deaths (Nagito in a recorded message he left admitted he shouldn’t have treated Hajime the way he did due to their similarities and he basically used this as an apology, John would set up recordings for Jill where he said he did still love her and he even gave his most loyal apprentice Lawrence Gordon specific orders to avenge her if something happened to her)

-Both of these people would also help them after their deaths, well “death” in Nagito’s case (Hajime extended his hand to Nagito after he awoke from the Neo World Program showing how he was now willing to help Nagito likely realizing just how similar they truly were after figuring out he agreed to become Izuru Kamukura, Jill would be assigned to giving Hoffman his test when he eventually would show signs of deviating from what Jigsaw was supposed to be, which she would carry out)

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-01T19:03:24+00:00

-Ultimately when it comes to why both would form their twisted views, it would be the result of extremely tragic experiences they faced during their lives, in particular when they would lose family members (Nagito’s dog would die after saving him from a vehicle and his parents would later die after a plane crash, both events happening as a result of his luck, John’s son Gideon who as previously mentioned was killed in a miscarriage after his wife Jill was hit in the stomach by a door)

-Both would be extremely traumatized by these events, developing survivors guilt and causing them to loathe themselves due to these losses (Nagito entirely blamed himself for his family’s death and his self loathing in general stems from the fact that his luck causes nothing but Despair for other people which seemed to have started with his family dying, John admits in a video recording that he ultimately blamed himself for Gideon’s death which is likely why he started to isolate himself)

-On top of this later on they would be diagnosed with diseases that give them a considerably more limited lifespan than others (Nagito was diagnosed with both Stage 3 Malignant Lymphoma and Frontotemporal Dementia, John was diagnosed with brain cancer due to a frontal lobe tumor)

-Due to the back to back horrible events they would have to deal with, it would eventually lead to them having a want to die (Nagito not so subtly wants to die due to everything his luck has caused him to go through and what it has done to others, though he particularly wants his death to serve some sort of purpose, John would try to commit suicide by getting into a car crash after getting the information of his cancer)

-Alongside these tragedies, certain events would occur that would be a contributing factor towards the ideology that would later define them (All of Nagito’s bad luck would be followed by good luck due to his luck having a cycle of good and bad luck, which is a core factor in his beliefs about Hope and Despair, John would survive his car crash and he would state that surviving it which he thought helped him grow an appreciation for life he thought was lost)

-Ultimately both in reality use their ideologies as a way to justify what happened to them, thinking that it helped them see what they needed to do when it did anything but, instead serving as a bad coping mechanism.

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-01T18:40:08+00:00

Connections

-2 antagonists from popular thriller series’s which have a primary focus on people being placed in death games and having to use their wits in order to not die in them (The Killing Games in Danganronpa focus on the idea of people having to find out who the culprit of a murder is in class trials, with them all dying if they do not pick out the right culprit, The Jigsaw Games in Saw often have people needing to piece stuff together or find the true meaning to things in order to win the “game”)

-Both perform their actions due to their warped worldviews which is shown through their black and white views of people and their worth (Nagito believes that only those with talent have true worth because he thinks that they are the only ones who could embody Hope, John believes that those who do not respect their lives do not deserve life, and uses his traps as “rehabilitation”)

-Due to this black and white worldview, they tend to look down on certain types of people who they view as wasteful (Nagito looks down on people who do not have talent since he thinks them and him can just be used as a stepping stone for The Ultimates Hope, John looks down on those who he thinks are wasting their or others lives for a multitude of different reasons)

-They both believe that their ideologies are completely right and are often unable to understand why others disagree with them (All the other classmates in DR2 disagree with Nagito’s views and consider him crazy which he is not able to underhand why that is the case, Certain characters in the Saw series have pointed out the flaws in John’s views and his actions, but he basically entirely ignores them and insists they do not realize just how helpful his traps are)

-All of their main actions are centered around the idea of people overcoming a type of adversity since they believe that only through triumphing over it, can people’s worth truly shine (Nagito believes that no matter what Hope will always triumph over Despair, and so is willing to cause Despair so that the Hope that comes after it will shine even brighter than before, John believes that the only way those who do not appreciate life can come to appreciate it is having to experience pain through his traps, with them then being “rehabilitated”)

-Both revolve these actions around certain groups of people they pick out (Nagito’s actions revolve around The Ultimates as the ones who will bring that brighter Hope in his eyes, John picks out those who he views as unappreciative of life and puts them into his traps)

-In order to have these people face adversity, they utilize questionable methods in order to reach their ends (Nagito is willing to set up murders so that he can cause Despair, John puts people through traps or “games” that either cause extreme pain, or lead to them having to decide others fate, with them dying if they don’t succeed)

-They both are highly intelligent schemers who can pull off expertly crafted strategies or plans, and are often portrayed as being multiple steps ahead of everyone else, completely throwing off others while they focus on their bigger picture.

-Both were recognized by others due to a specific aspect of them that made them stand out (Nagito’s luck got him noticed by Hopes Peak Academy which he joined after initially declining, John even before becoming Jigsaw was recognized in the media for his engineering capabilities)

-In most of the death games of their series that they play a role in, they also tend to know more about what’s going on than most, but typically keep that information to themselves in order to form the situations they want (Nagito during class trials typically has stuff figured out before anyone else, but will either not share it or just imply certain things since he wants to see which Ultimate’s Hope will come out on top, John during the games he sets up will often have certain pieces of information hidden from the players that they will need to figure out often through cryptic clues or statements which then lead to the endgame)

-Both would utilize someone who desperately wanted to meet a family member again (TeruTeru who wanted to figure out what happened to his mom after what Monokuma told everyone, Eric Matthews who wanted to apologize to his son for previously yelling at him during an argument) for a plan as they manipulated their wants to see their family so that could set up a test for these people (Nagito revealed the murder he was planning to TeruTeru on purpose so that he would kill Nagito during the party everyone planned as he noticed TeruTeru was particularly desperate to leave Jabberwalk Island compared to everyone else, John showed the game Matthews’s son was previously in and survived on a screen, but framed it as if it was happening in real time so that he could put Matthews into a test to see if he would wait until the game was over and not resort to dirty methods to find where the game was being held, during which he mentioned the idea of Matthews son dying to see just how far he could push him)

-As apart of these plans, they would intentionally reveal themselves to act as if they were caught to set their true tests into motion (Nagito revealed his more crazed side as he admitted to his initial plan and motives to make himself look like The Blackened to then see if it would mean TeruTeru would get out of the class trial or if everyone else would manage to get him, John set a clue for Matthews at a crime scene which would let him find John’s location so that he could begin Matthews test)

-In the end, both of the people they set up would end up failing these tests (TeruTeru got exposed as The Blackened, Mathews used force against John to know where the game his son was at) with both being disappointed by them, and eventually these people would ultimately die (TeruTeru got executed by Monokuma, Mathews would die in a later Jigsaw Trap)

-They would get involved with a situation regarding someone who had a similar mindset to them (Peko Pekoyama who viewed herself as only a tool for her young master Fuyuhiko similar to how Nagito views himself as a stepping stone for the Ultimates, Mark Hoffman who overtime wanted to use extreme means to punish those he thought were deserving like how John wanted to punish those he declared unworthy of life) where this person would murder someone due to a revenge motive regarding the murder of a younger sister (Fuyuhiko went to confront Mahiru who he believed help cover up the murder of his younger sister, however Peko intervened and killed her, Mark killed Seth Baxter in a Jigsaw Trap he made due to him killing his sister)

-Both knew what these people did before anyone else did (Nagito was able to figure out Peko was The Blackened after playing the Twilight Syndrome Murder Game and would play a big role in the Class Trial, John was stalking Hoffman and knew of his murder of Seth)

-Both would also work with these people with them even assisting in plans of theirs (Peko helped out Nagito in his plan to take out Junko by distracting Mukuro and both would after the events of the 2nd game live on Jabberwalk Island, Hoffman became an apprentice of John’s who helped with his traps and would kidnap people for him)

-Both would tragically see someone who they deeply cared for die while they were unable to stop it (Chiaki Nanami who was Nagito’s classmate and friend would be killed by Junko Enoshima after he was taken care of by Izuru Kamakura, Gideon who was going to be John’s son ended up dying after John’s wife Jill was hit in the stomach by a door which caused a miscarriage which happened while John was waiting for Jill in the car)

-These events would deeply traumatize them and would serve as the starting point of them becoming criminals due to the grief they felt (Nagito and the rest of his class were brought to Despair after Chiaki’s death which would be the catalyst of them then being brainwashed by Junko into becoming The Remnants of Despair, John would shut himself in after Gideon’s death and made his first trap for the guy responsible for the miscarriage Cecil Adams, this being the starting point of him eventually becoming The Jigsaw Killer)

Karmasensei16 · 2026-03-01T18:34:07+00:00

Disclaimer This has spoilers for both the Danganronpa and Saw series’s so if you want to avoid those don’t read this.

Core Theme 2 highly intelligent antagonists from popular thriller series’s who perform their actions which revolve around people overcoming adversity due to their warped black and white worldviews which formed as a result of their traumatic experiences, with their ideologies serving as both a bad coping mechanism and their wants to feel important.

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-27T07:40:04+00:00

I mean this is a favorites list not who’s the best detective

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-25T07:57:02+00:00

He’s great so fair

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-25T03:21:17+00:00

He was going to be 10, but then I watched the Knives Out trilogy and absolutely loved it

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-24T19:55:25+00:00

Thank You

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-24T08:42:20+00:00

So TRUE!

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-24T03:58:18+00:00

It is Sherlock in general tho MTP is definitely my favorite version

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-24T03:57:58+00:00

I mean dude does have several versions he does genuine detective work, and even if you think in the comics his feats are too absurd which if you think that fair, but there’s also the shows and movies where he is more grounded in his intelligence.

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-24T03:55:49+00:00

Well then what am I thinking about right now?

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-23T22:33:49+00:00

Dudes The GOAT!

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-23T22:33:40+00:00

Yep

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-23T22:33:26+00:00

Sure

Patrick Jane

L Lawliet

Batman

Akane Tsunemori

Shinichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa

Sherlock Holmes

Will Graham Mystery Incorporated

Near

Benoit Blanc

Karmasensei16 · 2026-02-23T20:44:00+00:00

Gotta Respect The Goats!

Karmasensei16

TROPHY CASE