At the start of the Killing School Life in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Celestia appears to be a high school-aged teenager, though due to memory loss she is actually two years older than she believes. She is of average height with a very slender figure, pale skin, striking red eyes, and long black hair styled into elaborate twin-drill pigtails. In the anime adaptation, these pigtails appear more defined and curved, though it is revealed in Chapter 3 that they are clip-ons, as she is seen without them during the girls’ bath scene. Notably, her pigtails tend to frizz when she becomes visibly angry.

Celestia’s fashion sense is one of her most distinguishing traits, as she dresses in an elegant gothic lolita style. Her outfit consists of a white blouse with a long-pointed collar beneath a black jacket, its sleeves laced with white fabric and fastened by white ribbons near her elbows. She wears a distinctive red tie adorned with a butterfly motif layered over crossed spears topped with skulls. Her black, multi-tiered skirt is lined with intricate white lace along the hem of each layer, further emphasizing her aristocratic look. Completing her outfit is a white lace bonnet-like headband with long ribbons draping from either side.

She accessorizes with knee-high stockings decorated with ladder lace and offset black ribbons, dark red Mary Jane shoes with chunky heels and three gray buckles each, and a silver, gunmetal-plated armor-style ring reminiscent of a Vivienne Westwood design. Celestia also wears gold spherical earrings engraved with a cross and centered with a red gemstone. Her long, black-painted nails add to her sophisticated and aristocratic appearance.

Even her undergarments reflect her aristocratic tastes, described as being of such refined, regal lace that she considers them a level of elegance unworthy of being viewed by those she deems beneath her.

As the Ultimate Gambler, Celestia is outwardly calm, cunning, and calculating. She is a master manipulator, able to lie without hesitation and bend others to her will, as shown when she persuaded Hifumi Yamada to serve her and later convinced him to become her accomplice in Chapter 3. Highly intelligent, she frequently references concepts from game theory such as the Prisoner’s Dilemma and Zero-Sum Games, and her analytical skills allow her to keep pace with figures like Kyoko Kirigiri and Byakuya Togami during Class Trials. Celestia regularly contributed key insights during investigations, masking her lies behind an air of rationality and composure.

Ambition defines Celestia’s personality. She is willing to go to any length to secure her own survival, even if it means manipulating, sacrificing, or killing others. She values her life above all else and views others as expendable, showing no hesitation in declaring that she would sacrifice them if necessary. While pride prevents her from admitting defeat easily, she ultimately prefers to surrender gracefully when backed into an unavoidable loss rather than prolonging the inevitable.

Celestia claims that adaptability is the true key to survival, a belief she reinforced by helping implement rules such as the voluntary nighttime curfew. She often reminded others to obey the curfew and scolded those, like Byakuya, who ignored it. However, her insistence on adaptability was itself a carefully constructed façade; deep down, she longed to escape the school more than anyone else, demonstrating her ability to mask her true emotions.

Materialism is another defining trait. Celestia’s lifelong dream is to live in luxury in a grand European-style castle, surrounded by servants and decadence. This dream ultimately drove her to commit murder when Monokuma’s motive of “dream fulfillment” was revealed. Her materialism also influenced her inability to view Alter Ego as a person, seeing it instead as a mere tool.

Her mannerisms are strict, refined, and aristocratic, reflecting her desire to embody the poise of European nobility. She often ranks people from Rank A to Rank F, openly despising those she deems beneath her. Disliking her ordinary upbringing, she completely rejects her true self, even using the overly polite Japanese pronoun watakushi (わたくし) and adopting a fabricated European persona to maintain her mask. Normally, she speaks softly with impeccable etiquette, but her temper emerges when things do not go as planned, such as when Hifumi failed to prepare her tea correctly. During the third Class Trial, when accused of being the blackened, she quickly lost her composure, resorting to denial, rudeness, and even vulgarity. In the English dub, her forced European accent begins to slip, symbolizing the breakdown of her façade.

Celestia often claimed that she could deceive even her own emotions, yet this was not entirely true. She appeared to lack empathy, insisting that she felt no guilt for her actions in the gambling underworld. However, during her execution, even as she smiled defiantly, Makoto Naegi perceived her hidden fear. Her ability to mask her feelings and maintain composure, even in the face of death, solidified her reputation as a consummate liar until the very end.

Celestia Ludenberg’s true name is Taeko Yasuhiro (安広多恵子), and she was born into an ordinary Japanese family. From a young age, she found her daily life unremarkable and longed for something grander and more refined. Dissatisfied with the plainness of her origins, she reinvented herself with an elaborate persona, adopting the name “Celestia Ludenberg” and cultivating the image of a gothic European aristocrat.

As a gambler, Taeko displayed an extraordinary talent for deception, composure, and manipulation. She became infamous in underground gambling circles for her undefeated record, gaining the nickname “Queen of Liars.” Celestia specialized in high-stakes games, often exploiting her opponents’ emotions and weaknesses to secure victory. Her ability to remain calm under pressure and weave convincing lies became her defining traits, making her feared and respected in equal measure.

Despite the dark and often dangerous world of gambling, Celestia thrived in it, building a reputation that eventually earned her the title of Ultimate Gambler and a place at Hope’s Peak Academy. Unlike some students whose talents stemmed from natural skill or intensive training, Celestia’s was forged through ambition, relentless adaptability, and her refusal to accept the mediocrity she associated with her true identity.

Her dream of living a decadent life in a European-style castle surrounded by servants became the core of her fabricated persona. This ambition influenced not only her lifestyle and mannerisms, but also her choices during the Killing School Life, where her desire for luxury and escape ultimately led her to murder.

Ultimate Gambler
Celestia’s title as the Ultimate Gambler reflects her undefeated record in countless games of chance, including those where her own life was at stake. She gained notoriety in underground gambling circuits for her composure, strategic deception, and ability to psychologically outmaneuver her opponents. Despite claiming that her success stems largely from the “luck she was born with,” her quick wits and ability to read people played just as significant a role. Celestia even managed to secure victory in games she had little to no experience with, such as winning a Shogi tournament despite not knowing the rules. Among her greatest accomplishments was accumulating more than ten million dollars and triumphing in the infamous “King of Liars” tournament, cementing her reputation as one of the most formidable gamblers in the underground world.

Expert Liar
A core part of Celestia’s talent lies in her unmatched ability to lie convincingly. She has fabricated nearly every part of her identity, from her Western-sounding name to her supposed German and French ancestry, with her elaborate persona convincing even skeptical individuals for long stretches of time. Celestia also used lies to manipulate others into serving her purposes, most notably Hifumi Yamada, whom she deceived into becoming her accomplice during the Killing School Life by fabricating stories of mistreatment. Her poker face and calm tone made it nearly impossible for others to tell when she was deceiving them, a skill that elevated her from a skilled gambler to a master manipulator.

Keen IntellectBeyond her luck and lies, Celestia demonstrates keen intellect and adaptability. She frequently referenced concepts such as game theory, including the Prisoner’s Dilemma and Zero-Sum Game, showcasing her analytical way of thinking. Her intricate murder plan during Chapter 3 of the Killing School Life, framing Yasuhiro Hagakure with the creation of the Robo Justice costume while orchestrating Hifumi’s betrayal and Kiyotaka’s death exemplified her ability to weave together elaborate deceptions under pressure. Even outside life-or-death stakes, she admitted to defeating opponents in games she did not understand purely through improvisation and psychological manipulation, underscoring her ability to think quickly and remain calm no matter the circumstances.

Celestia’s combined mastery of gambling, deception, and strategy made her one of the most dangerous participants in the Killing School Life, capable of manipulating both events and people with remarkable precision.

Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg
Celestia’s most cherished companion was her pet cat, Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg. She pampered and adored him, often mentioning him when describing her dream of living in a grand European-style castle attended by handsome servants. Within the Captives scenario of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, Grand Bois Chéri is portrayed as being closer to Celestia than any person, suggesting that she held little regard for human connections, including her own family, and found true comfort only in her pet.

Hifumi Yamada
Celestia’s relationship with Hifumi was defined by manipulation. At first, it was mostly light exploitation such as ordering him to serve her tea, which she would disdainfully reject if it wasn’t up to her standard of “royal milk tea.” However, this dynamic escalated in the Killing School Life, where she deceived Hifumi into becoming her accomplice in the murder of Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Exploiting his emotional attachment to Alter Ego, Celestia staged a scenario to provoke him into violence, promising him escape and partnership. Ultimately, she betrayed Hifumi by killing him to cover her tracks, framing Yasuhiro Hagakure in the process. Their bond was entirely one-sided, with Hifumi’s devotion meeting only Celestia’s calculated self-interest.

Makoto Naegi
Makoto was one of the few students who saw through Celestia’s facade, suspecting from the start that her name and ancestry were fabricated. While Celestia often dismissed or insulted him, she seemed intrigued by his role as the Ultimate Lucky Student, curious about how his brand of luck compared to her own. In her personal ranking system, she initially labeled Makoto as “D-rank,” the same as most of her classmates. Yet, over the course of their Free Time Events, she became somewhat friendlier toward him, even revealing small truths about herself such as her Japanese heritage and love for gyoza. During the third trial, when Makoto pleaded with her to tell the truth, she momentarily hesitated, showing a rare crack in her composure. Though she never admitted it openly, Celestia may have valued Makoto more than she allowed herself to express.

Yasuhiro Hagakure
Celestia regarded Yasuhiro with outright disdain, often mocking him for what she perceived as his foolishness. She pitied his parents for having “such a stupid son” and admitted to disliking his first name, as it reminded her of her own true surname, a name she considered shameful. Seeing him as the weakest link among the students, she chose to frame him for her crime, fully intending to let him take the fall without remorse. Despite this, their final interaction was oddly humanizing: when she declared her wish to be reincarnated as Marie Antoinette, Yasuhiro jokingly quipped that she would only end up executed again. Celestia laughed at his remark, making it her final words before her execution. Though she likely continued to view him as beneath her, this moment suggested that, had circumstances been different, she might have acknowledged him as more than an insignificant fool.