Makoto Naegi, an average student, enrols at the prestigious Kibōgamine Academy for talented students. However, the moment Makoto steps inside the school grounds, he falls unconscious and wakes up in a dorm room littered with security cameras and steel plates. Following a note's instruction to assemble in the gym, Makoto finds 14 other unique students in a similar situation, including a school idol from his old middle school, Sayaka Maizono. It is at this point that the self-proclaimed principal, a stuffed bear named Monokuma, appears, announcing that the students will be staying in the school for the rest of their lives, with only those who kill another student being able to leave. The students spend the next few days searching the school grounds in order to try and find an alternative exit. When Monokuma notices noone has any particular motive to kill anyone, he shows each student a personalised DVD motivating them to escape.