Peko Pekoyama

Peko is a tall, young woman with fair skin and a cool demeanor. She has long silver hair tied up into two braids on each side of her head, secured by white ribbons at the bases and dark red hair ties at the ends. She has side-swept bangs with two shoulder-length locks of hair that curl outwards, left down to frame her face. Her eyes are a vivid red, and she wears thin-framed rectangular glasses.

She wears a long sleeved, turquoise-black seifuku uniform with a dark, gray-teal sailor collar and sleeve cuffs, each striped with two thin white lines at the edges, a red ascot tied at her neck. A red strip of cloth is wrapped around her left upper arm. Below this, she wears a somewhat paler turquoise pleated skirt, striped with an even paler line at the hem. Her legwear consists of turquoise-black tights and cream-colored loafers.

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

Peko admits that her appearance has been mistaken for cosplay before, and strange cameramen have tried to take pictures of her. In the second trial, Peko was seen briefly wearing a Sun Witch ♪ Esper Ito mask while assuming the identity of the Sparkling Justice. The mask shares similar characteristics with Fujiya's Peko-chan, including the protruding tongue.

During her high school years, she wears the standard Hope's Peak Academy uniform, excluding the blazer. She wears long and black hair ribbons, along with her hair ties. She wears translucent black tights and plain white loafers. She also only carries her shinai for kendo club and a few important occasions.

As an Ultimate Despair, she wears strips of cloth wrapped over her chest, a one-button open white suit over it, with long formal pants of the same color with a buckled belt. Her footwear consists of red-heeled shoes. Her hair is styled differently, left down to flow to her waist, with a single ponytail tied at the right of her head. She is also equipped with a standard metal katana rather than her shinai.

Her swimsuit in Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp consists of a two-piece black swimsuit with a bikini top and a skirted bikini bottom with a short, ruffled hem, while she carries her shinai on her back. This is the same swimsuit she wears to Sonia's girls-only beach party during the Killing School Trip.

Peko has a serious demeanor, showing little emotion. Because of this, her stoic and composed nature often comes across as intimidating. Her presence is made more severe by her willingness to use force to maintain order and prevent unnecessary fighting. This is combined with her awareness that her swordsman instincts might cause her to attack reflexively at anything she senses as a threat, and thanks to her talent, even a misaimed attack could turn deadly. While capable of violence, Peko herself states that she prefers to avoid senseless killing, though there are times when swords must be drawn—whether she wants it or not.

Being a woman of few words, Peko often ends up in awkward social situations without realizing it—frequently scaring her conversation partners with her intense stares. In contrast, she easily gets flustered when complimented or when hearing mentions of her own embarrassing moments. However, she is neither impolite nor antisocial. In contrast, she actively makes an effort to interact with the group—likely out of loyalty to Fuyuhiko's order to blend with their classmates. However, it is also shown that, beyond simply following orders, Peko goes out of her way to genuinely care for her classmates, humbly offering help whenever she can. When Hajime, Kazuichi, and Teruteru struggle with coconuts, Peko splits them open without being asked and feels glad to see others enjoying themselves. Whenever a fight or quarrel breaks out, or when Hiyoko makes insulting remarks and harsh judgments, Peko isn't afraid to step in and demand that they stop.

She has no qualms about attending the party hosted by the Ultimate Imposter and volunteers to guard the duralumin case, though she explains that it's because she's not comfortable in situations where a large crowd surrounds her. She feels remorse over the Ultimate Imposter's death and apologizes, believing she could have reset the circuit breaker to prevent it from happening, seeing it as a failure on her part. Despite killing Mahiru, Peko holds no ill will toward her, having acted solely out of duty as her young master's tool. She sincerely apologizes to everyone, begging them not to let her actions lead to further senseless killings. During her school years, Peko actively supported all her classmates, even complying with Nagito's troubling request to fend off Mukuro Ikusaba, simply because he was a classmate.

Due to her harsh exterior, Peko may come off as cold, though that is never her intention. It is her difficulty in smiling naturally that has contributed to her intimidating aura since childhood, which frequently made her childhood friend cry due to her 'scary face'. Even her 'first love' coldly told her the same thing.[67] Even so, she believed that she never really needed to smile, and therefore eventually forgot how to. Hajime speculates that this may have caused by her extreme amount of harsh training, as he finds it abnormal for someone to forget how to smile.

After learning from Mahiru that "smiling can give people power," Peko reflects on how, when she was younger, she wished she could have at least faked a smile to ease her childhood friend's fear, particularly when they got lost in the mountains. Considering the possibility of never escaping the island, she longs to improve her ability to smile so that she can ask out a certain someone among the group on a date and wants to finally show them her smiling face when it happens. She is determined to do whatever it takes—even if it means falling for Hiyoko's prank or asking Hajime to tell jokes to make her laugh, though both attempts ultimately fail. In her Island Mode, Peko expresses excitement about visiting the amusement park, watching comedy movies at the theater, and reading technical books about smiling—all in an effort to improve her ability to smile. In her final Free Time Event, it is revealed that Peko can indeed smile, smiling sincerely as she recalls her childhood friend's handsome smile. She realizes that smiling doesn't need to be forced; when her heart feels warm, it comes naturally. Peko reflects that she had forgotten this, having been "too desperate to protect something," revealing that she is sensitive at heart. However, due to the nature of her work and identity, she often has to push these feelings to the backburner and rarely shows them.

If there is one thing that has Peko in a chokehold and never fails to draw out her soft side, it's animals—especially the fluffy ones. Unfortunately, most animals can sense her menacing presence and run away every time she tries to touch them. When Hajime suggests that she ask Gundham Tanaka, the Ultimate Breeder, for help in touching his hamsters, Peko becomes visibly excited and hurries off to do so. Similarly, when Hajime brings up pandas in conversation, the thought of their fluffy fur makes her face soften a little.

Her love for animals is explored further in her Island Mode. She reveals that she enjoys reading animal-related books, such as encyclopedias and children's books. Her ultimate favorite, however, is photo books filled with pictures of "fluffiness." She loves imagining the texture against her fingers and typically saves these books for last. She also enjoys watching movies about animals, and it is implied that she cries when watching the ones with sad stories. Her love for fluffy animals seems to extend to inanimate objects, as she hesitates to climb a statue of animals in Jabberwock Park, and thinking it'd be better if they were a union of fluffy creatures instead.

Another soft side of Peko is her sense of wonder and willingness to experience new things, especially if these experiences can improve her skills. In her Island Mode, Peko wants to try dropping coconuts by slashing her sword upward to create wind pressure and resisting the urge to sleep while watching boring movies in theaters, seeing both as self-training methods. She also gets excited at the prospect of climbing the castle in the amusement park and eating popcorn, something she hasn't done in ages. She even wants to learn how to fish after hearing the rumor that it can "spawn friendship," and expresses interest in making sandcastles, inspired by children whom she believes must have the skill and knowledge to design them.

Raised by the Kuzuryu Clan when she was just a child and given only one goal—to become the hitman of Fuyuhiko, the heir to the clan—Peko grew up to hold a strongly internalized conviction that she is not a person but rather a tool whose only purpose is to protect her young master, thus lacking any sense of independent agency or intrinsic value outside of her function. She insists she has no will, no emotions, and no identity beyond acting as Fuyuhiko's shield or sword. However, some of her actions contradict this belief. A prime example is her decision to kill Mahiru, which is motivated by her own initiative rather than a direct instruction from Fuyuhiko—an act she does to keep him from soiling his own hands and to facilitate his escape by taking the fall herself. Peko killing Mahiru on her own was never part of the plan, revealing she acted without Fuyuhiko's knowledge or consent. Even when he begs her to abort the plan, Peko refuses to listen and goes through with it to achieve her own personal desire of keeping her young master safe—or, as Nagito calls her out, her personal hope, a will of her own—one that contradicts the very idea of being a mere "tool." Even Monokuma disapproves her "tool" identity, noting that no mere instrument would meddle with a murder plan so much of its own accord. In the end, Fuyuhiko never considers her a mere tool and only wanted her to be herself, refusing to sacrifice everyone just to escape alone—something that Peko knows he would say, knowing he hates relying on his family's power. She concludes that he hates her for being the personification of that reliance, and that despite being a yakuza, his kind heart ironically only strengthens her loyalty to become his tool.

Peko cares about Fuyuhiko on a personal level beyond their formal hitman-master relationship. Her fondness for him draws out her sentimental side, often reminiscing and reflecting on childhood memories. These memories, such as recalling her inability to ease his fear when he got lost in the mountains and remembering his handsome smile, are among the main reasons Peko desires to improve her own ability to smile. In her Island Mode, she also gets nostalgic about the times she would climb trees and explore, not because she particularly enjoyed it, but because she had the urge to protect her reckless young master, who often got himself in trouble, such as climbing to the very top and being unable to get down.

Being trained by the Kuzuryu clan since she was a newborn, Peko is skilled with a blade and is said to be so strong that most adult men couldn't stand a chance against her. She excels at swordsmanship to such a degree that, unlike any kendo practitioner, she does not follow the typical ranking system of dojo trainees, which corresponds to their years of training. Peko is entrusted with the safety of the clans' successor Fuyuhiko, proving her skills were greatly trusted by Fuyuhiko's family. During her time as an Ultimate Despair, it is implied that she used her swordsman skills to kill countless people.

Peko's skills rivaled that of Mukuro Ikusaba, the Ultimate Soldier. She was able to block all of her attacks in quick succession with her shinai. Despite her skills with her katana, Peko could also use her shinai as a non offensive weapon and even knew how to use the handle as a stepping stool to reach high places. Peko also states that she has a wide knowledge of using targeted strikes both in a lethal and non lethal way. She ensured Mahiru an instant death with a single strike with a metal bat. She can also use a replica sword to cut coconuts with relative ease.

Peko also demonstrates a keen sense for strategy during her fight with the Super High School Level Discus Thrower. She takes a defensive approach, luring him into destroying a water tower she hides behind. Then, using the geyser of water as cover, she emerges and swiftly strikes him down non-lethally before he has a chance to react.