Peko Pekoyama

Appearance
Peko is a tall, young woman, who wears a black/dark turquoise schoolgirl uniform with a red tie or ascot. Her skirt is somewhat short and she wears dark tights underneath it with brown loafers. She has long, silver hair that she ties up into two braids on either side of her head with white ribbons securing each braid at the top, and two red ties to hold each braid together at the bottom. Her eyes are also bright red. Peko also wears thin framed rectangular glasses.

She is constantly seen carrying her shinai (bamboo sword) around with her in a dark turquoise sheath/wrap with a silver/white design on the back. The shinai has a metal katana blade hidden at the center of its bamboo wrappings.

Personality
Peko initially appears to have a rather serious demeanor, expressing very little emotion. Due to this perceived aura, she often comes off as intimidating. Despite this, she is neither impolite nor an antisocial person. She had no qualms about attending the party in chapter one, and furthermore apologizes for what she felt was a failing on her part due to her believing the power went out because she was in the bathroom from food poisoning so she was not guarding the room it was in. She comes off as cold but this isn’t because she means to. Rather than being emotionless, she simply doesn’t express much of her emotions. As she revealed in her Free Time Events, she believed that she didn’t need to smile and therefore eventually forgot how to. She thought it was unnecessary at the time, although in her free time event she wanted to learn how to make her childhood friend (who is highly implied to be Fuyuhiko) happy. While she attempts to learn how to do so, she’s shown to be oblivious in the situation where Hiyoko Saionji makes up her own somewhat evil version on how to smile.

Peko has a kind heart, and cares deeply about Fuyuhiko but also cares about her fellow classmates. She wishes nothing but good towards them, begging them to “not cause a senseless killing like this ever again.” Due to her belief that a tool has no will or opinions of her own, she usually doesn’t express her emotions much. Yet, she is still a very caring and selfless person. Beyond believing she is his tool, Peko’s deep desire to protect Fuyuhiko also comes from how much she cares about him. This soft side of her is shown in, for example, her love for animals, especially pandas. However, they usually don’t share this feeling in return. Most animals are scared of her, and run away. She also sometimes loses track of time while doing martial arts, as in the first episode of the Danganronpa 3 Despair Arc.

Backstory
As a newborn, Peko was abandoned by her own parents and taken in by the Kuzuryu Family, a known yakuza group. From the childhood, she was raised alongside the family's eldest child and eventual heir, Fuyuhiko, and trained to be his personal hitman and bodyguard. She became extremely loyal to him, eventually coming to see herself as a tool meant only to follow her young master's orders, which made her question her own humanity and gave her trouble expressing her emotions.

Fuyuhiko's parents almost always fought, which had nearly cost him his own life in the aftermath at times. However, Peko was always by his side if it came to that point.

At some point in their childhood, Fuyuhiko was kidnapped along with Peko, but they both succeeded in fleeing, and ended up getting lost in a mountain. Peko desperately tried to cheer up Fuyuhiko, but she ended making him cry because he could sense Peko's fear and anxiety. However, they were finally saved because of Peko's ability as a swordswoman.

Peko and Fuyuhiko also went to the zoo at one point when they were children. At that time, Fuyuhiko challenged the king of the monkeys to a fight. Peko had no choice but to join in the fray to protect him. She thought that Fuyuhiko had a handsome smile at that time.

Peko appeared to develop romantic feelings for Fuyuhiko, knowing that he had a kind heart despite the way he was raised. Their relationship was obviously complicated as she was supposed to be just "a tool" for him and Peko never confessed her feelings. However, in reality, Fuyuhiko liked Peko as well and wished she could be herself and was angry to be her "young master".

Peko is an extremely talented swordswoman, able to beat grown men in kendo, and because of this she was enrolled into Hope's Peak Academy's Class 77th as the Ultimate Swordswoman (her former high school was Shiranui High School). She did not engage with her classmates, but appeared reliable. Even when there was no club practice, she always carried her shinai sword with her.