Celestia Ludenberg is a journalist and author who has written extensively on the LGBTQ+ community. She is also the founder of the non-profit organization, The Rainbow Project, which aims to empower LGBTQ+ youth in America. Celestia has been quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Newsweek. Celestia is also an ordained minister and member of the United Methodist Church. Celestia Ludenberg was born in 1984 in a small town in upstate New York. She was raised by her parents who were both educators. Celestia’s father was also a pastor and she spent much of her childhood attending church services with him. When she was 14 years old, Celestia met her first love, a girl named Sarah. They started dating shortly after they first met and continued to date until Sarah’s death in 2009. Celestia Ludenberg began her journalism career at age 20 when she joined the staff of The Buffalo News as an assistant news editor. After two years on the job, she moved to The Huffington Post where she worked for six years before becoming news director at WNYC-TV in New York City. There, she led a team that won two national awards for excellence in news programming – one for their report on sexual assault against transgender women and another for their report on climate change – both of which were published online by HuffPost Live. In 2013, Celestia Ludenberg left HuffPost Live to become managing editor at BuzzFeed News where she remained until 2018 when she became executive editor at Vox Media Inc., where she remains today. In her time at Vox Media Inc., Celestia has led several groundbreaking projects including Vox Day: A Day To Remember (a project that aimed to chronicle allusions to white supremacy throughout history), All Out: A Gay & Lesbian History Month (an annual event that celebrates diversity within the LGBTQ+ community), and We Are Change: A History Of Transgender Liberation (a series that
Appearance Celestia Ludenberg
At the start of Killing School Life in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Celestia seems to be a teenager from high school, but due to her memory loss she’s more than two years old than was. Celestia wears a white lace-bonnet with white ribbons. She also has black hair in two big twin-drill hair-dos. But, they are clips as that are evident in those girls taking baths in chapter 3 when she is not wearing the clip-ons. She has light skin, eyes that are red, and gold spherical earring that feature a picture of the cross engraved in the earrings with a red gemstone that is placed in the center of each. Additionally, she has long black nails.
Celestia wears a gothic lolita outfit. It consists of a white blouse that has long-point collar and a white ribbon that is tied to her neck, a black jacket that has white ribbons that run through the sleeves. It is tied by a plain white ribbon that runs across her chest, revealing her tie in red (consisting of a butterfly-shaped pattern over a variety of spears and skulls affixed to the tie) and the waistline of the skirt, which is multi-tiered and has white lace.
Celestia wears knee-high stockings that are trimmed in ladder lace. She also wears mary janes in dark red with the thick heel that is held on the bottom by 3 buckles in grey and a headband made of white lace and a silver Gunmetal-plated band (reminiscent of the Gunmetal Armour ring designed by Vivienne Westwood) set in sections that overlap on her index finger.
In her school days she wore dark-colored pants. The tulle lace has an elegant quality that gives off the impression of the queen. A C-rank person is not able to be seen gazing at them most likely because they are considered to be less prestigious style than even her finest clothes.
Personality Celestia Ludenberg
As a seasoned gambler, Celestia is calm, cool and cunning in her the nature of her. She is able to manipulate others to carry out her will and is able to be a total liar as shown in Chapter 3. she manipulates Hifumi to create her famous milk tea and later, she is her accomplice in Chapter 3.
The character is revealed to be quite knowledgeable, and references various elements of the game, such as the Prisoner’s Dilemma, or Zero Sum Game, and her coercion and manipulative skills are demonstrated in Chapter 3.
She is capable of deceiving all of the students, which includes Byakuya throughout the trial. She also shows her ability to think for herself in the past cases where she, along with Kyoko, Byakuya, and Makoto are the ones who highlight crucial issues and are also capable of staying on top of Byakuya and Kyoko’s stream of thought throughout the trial as well.
Celestia is a highly driven person. She has stated that she would go to any lengths to be successful, and is willing to go to the extent of killing someone or manipulating others with cold blood. Celestia is unselfish and puts her own life more than the lives of others. She is not afraid to sacrifice others to save her. She is also full of self-confidence, refusing to let go regardless of how far the mud she’s driven to the extent that the possibility of winning remains.
Celestia believes that adaptability can be the most important factor to survive more than intelligence or strength, and she demonstrates this by implementing procedures like the voluntary set night-time curfew that she has imposed to safeguard other students and herself from potential attackers throughout this Killing School Life. She frequently reminds students to adhere to the curfew.
She is frequently annoyed when students, like Byakuya Togami, break the curfew, displaying her power and authority. Following the death of Chihiro She scoldly remark that those who do not abide by the rules will be punished. In real life her lie was about needing to change and that more than any other person wanted to quit school and show the ease for her to conceal her feelings.
Her manner of conduct is strict and elegant and her extravagant nature is evident due to her aspirations to be European royalty. She also has the habit of placing males between Rank A and rank F, in order to determine whether they are worthy of being her service members. Celestia is apathetic about her own self because she is not a fan of mundane and ordinary things, and thinks that her true identity and even her name as “a lost soul”. Celestia is soft and smiling often to mimic Victorian behavior and manners as a woman.
The majority of the time, she uses polite words whenever she interacts with others, but her temper manifests when things do not be as smooth as she would like it to, like when Hifumi is unable to prepare her tea in the way that she would like it. Another instance is the 3rd Class Trial when she accused of being blackened. Celestia rapidly lost her cool when she was accusing of killing. She was adamant and denied the accusations at her with a sexy manners, frequently using vulgar words. When she is in her English Dub version of the film, her usual Europeon accent begins to fade as well.
In order to further enhance her Western appearance, Celestia often does things like using the Japanese translation to”giyanbura” in English “gambler” (giyanbura) in place of the Japanese word “shobushi” (Sheng Fu Shi ) and asserting that her parents have European heritage.
The Queen of Liars, Celestia claimed that she is able to fool her own feelings, however this isn’t all the time. Celestia seems to lack compassion and claims that she doesn’t feel any guilt for the sinister acts she committed in the world of gambling but like all things about her, the truth behind this claim is a matter of debate. Despite being an untruthful liar, prior to when her execution, she wore an empathetic smile, but Makoto was able to discern her terror within. Celestia has a way of fooling herself into believing that she is in the right mood, and, even when she is defeated, never loses her poise.
Creation and Development
Celestia’s original design didn’t undergo any drastic changes from DISTRUST as well as Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc The majority of the work in development of Celestia show her typical look of gothic lolita, which has been generally goth-lolita since the design stages. Designer of the character, Rui Komatsuzaki is a character designer with an individual interest in goth-lolita styles, and so the concept evolved to the final stage with little departure.
The problem was that Celestia proved to be a bit difficult to design because of the numerous ornaments and embellishments, along with the twin tails that she clip-on. The outfit she chose to wear is the identical as her black and white jacket, and the Long-point collar, and the white hair ribbons. Different hairstyles were compared with her twin-drill pigtails that were large. Hairstyles that were shorter with hair with no clip-ons, and her hair containing the pigtails, however much more curly and straight pigtails.
Her uniform was mostly the same but the changes between DISTRUST and Danganronpa Trigger The Happy Havoc consist of red ribbons on her hair instead of white, with the red ribbon that was pinned to her blouse , which was later changed to white ribbons with the red tie beneath.
Her original style was to wear earrings that resembled the cross, which was a reference to her love for gothic music but they were changed to simple gold earrings that were spherical. The knee-highs of her socks were originally white with black stripes, however the final version made the socks completely black, with white frills around the top.
The body was initially created to have slimmer proportions with a more softer face, resembling the appearance of a doll. Celestia was designed to appear more like a doll than other characters, which is why her skin’s saturation decreased significantly. It is said that she is taller than average height and is a high heeled wearer. The design also featured an emerald crown that symbolizes her desire to have the castle royal, and a different image that shows her holding a rabbit doll. The doll is also a symbol of her love of the gothic.
Name
Celestia’s name in the Japanese release, “seresuteiarudenberuku” is romanized as “Seresutia Rudenberuku”, making the original anglicized version Celestia Ludenberck.
“Celestia,” as the name implies, is “Celestia” can be described as a common name with Latin origin, meaning “heavenly” Unsurprisingly, Celestia has chosen the name for herself to signify her fine delicacy. Celestia’s self-described name for her”Ludenberg” as her last name “Ludenberg” has been suggested as likely to be a blend of the Latin word “ludere” which means “to play” and the popular suffix for names of German as well as Dutch Origin “-berg” which translates to “mountain” and thus makes the name Celestia has come up with for herself a good fit with both her name and her deceitful assertion that she has German origins.
Although Celestia is her real name, she does not want to be called “Celes” when playing game. In the Japanese edition of the game. However, in the localization, the characters refer to her as “Celeste.” The reason for this could also be the case that Celestia’s name is a mixture of the Erich Ludendorff or Paul Von Hindenburg last names and both of them have German origin, which Celestia herself was aspired to. Celestia’s invented surname is the name of a city located in Dusseldorf and further substantiates her false claims to German heritage. It is evident that the name Ludenberg is of significant German origin.
The Chinese version to her full name can be spelled Sai Lei Si Di Ya Lu Dan Bei Luo Ke (Saileisidiya Ludanbeiluoke). Certain characters that appear in the transliteration hold intriguing meanings in relation to the appearance of Celestia and her talent. Sai (sai) is “competition or contest” and is a reference to her ability to gamble and the way it’s an actual contest. Dan (dan) refers to “red” and could refer to Celestia’s eye color. Bei (bei) refers to “seashell” In modern Chinese However, in traditional Chinese bei was a term which was a reference to “money or currency” because shells were utilized as currency in early China. This definition of money is linked with gambling which involves engaging in games of chance to earn financial profit.
Celestia’s real name, “Taeko” (Duo Hui Zi ) roughly translates to “many miracles ” which is appropriate for Celestia who believes that her luck as extraordinary. She even acknowledges that her success in the field of gambling is partly due to sheer luck. Celestia’s real name “Yasuhiro” (An Guang ) literally signifies “peaceful and expansive”. It may also suggest an unlucky background, since another meaning for the name An”An” is “cheap” as well as “low” and it is evident why Celestia is determined to portray herself as a sophisticated woman, claims that she was the daughter of an European Aristocrat (clearly an untruth) since she’s dismayed by her last name and how it reflects her personality.
In DISTRUST the name of her character is S. Rudenburg. It is not known exactly what S means however, it’s likely Selestia or Serestia which is a result of that romanization from “Ludenberg” into “Rudenberg”.
Talents & Skills Celestia Ludenberg
Ultimate Gambler
When she was a teenager she began to gamble and was a winner of numerous games, including ones that were with the risk for her personal life but she won regardless. In an match of the game King of Liars that she accidentally spilled tea on her favourite dress and was forced to stop the game swiftly so that she could take it to cleaning service. She has even managed to earn more than 10 million dollars. She also took home the Shogi tournament, despite not having any idea of how you can play.
Although her poker face helped her win, she believes that the reason for her success lies in the luck that she was born with. She was famous for her ability to defraud anyone who challenged her of their entire wealth and earned her the title “Queen of Liars”. She continued to earn money to fund her ultimate goal to live all of the remainder of her life in the luxuries of a extravagant European castle, surrounded by handsome male servants from all over the globe dressed as vampires.
Queen of Liars
She was famous for being able to strip anyone who questioned her of their entire money, while also taking part in dangerous gambling underworld tournaments and being able to lie in tough matches. Celestia can be a liar with ease about her persona and convince those who surround her that her true identity was “Celestia Ludenberg” as she references various manga stories in relation to her gambling activities.
It is also possible to conceal her line of descent, even though she appears to be originated from Japan she claims to have a German and French origin and also lied on her parents’ with her ancestry. Although Makoto knew that she had been lying, the woman proved highly convincing when manipulating Hifumi to drink her milk tea royal and then killing Kiyotaka in the process, by claiming Kiyotaka had been abused and threatened her to take her Alter Ego.
Keen-Intellect
Celestia can manipulate events to her advantage making use of Robo Justice as an object to convince everyone of Yasuhiro’s alleged fraud. It’s only after the course trial that students start to realize the true nature of Celestia’s plan , which was successful due to numerous intricate plots.
Celestia told Makoto in Makoto’s Free Time Events that she participated in a casino game without knowing how to play but she was able to beat her opponent by demonstrating her quick-thinking and brains under stress.
Relationships Celestia Ludenberg
Family:
Grand Bois Cheri Ludenberg
Grand Bois Cheri Ludenberg is Celestia’s cat. She was a fan of his company and indulged him and probably was planning to have him as part of her dream home.
Grand Bois Cheri is also the Captive of Celestia, and was more close to her than anyone else. This suggests that she was not a fan of anyone, not even potential blood relatives.
Class 78th:
Hifumi Yamada
Hifumi and Celestia’s relationship is mostly of her squeezing him around and making him her subordinate. An example is the time Hifumi makes her tea and then she hurls the cup into the ground while claiming she drinks only Royal milk tea. The incident is later escalated to a greater extent when Celestia manipulates him into killing Kiyotaka by claiming that she is leaving the academy along with her. She uses a photo from Alter Ego in Kiyotaka’s room to irritate Hifumi but she then is a liar by murdering him similarly and then framed Yasuhiro.
After Celestia died along with Hifumi survivors discovered a photo of the two of them and Sayaka together. In the picture, Celestia seems to be unhappy with Hifumi and it is clear how their relationships were same throughout their time in high school. It appears however to be more amiable and fun character because Hifumi seems to be amused at the Celestia’s reaction , rather than scared, which is different from Hifumi’s responses to her manipulative and bullying during The Killing School Life. It is possible that they have been friends in High School with Hope’s Peak Academy.
In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony’s non-canon bonus When Kokichi Oma lies to Celestia that Hifumi was inflated and appeared to explode like a balloon she doesn’t react and is annoyed because she’s tea-making. She realizes Kokichi is being a liar, and the scenario is likely to show how little she really cares about Hifumi.
Makoto Naegi
Celestia was attracted to Makoto and was interested to test his luck to see if Makoto, the Ultimate Lucky Student could beat her own luck as the ultimate Gambler. When she did her own assessment, she scored Makoto as C-rank, which is more than her peers.
Although Makoto believes that Celestia an acquaintance but is frightened by her luck, and concerned about her behavior when she is hostile. He doesn’t know if to believe that if someone were from F-Rank and Celestia will have them personally killeddue to her aversion to boring people.
Makoto was the one one in the class who’s not convinced that Celestia is lying in not believing her name or her ancestry claim to be authentic. In their Free Time Events together, Celestia admitted a bit about her childhood and said she was from Japan and enjoyed the Japanese Gyoza food, that Makoto was more likely to believe.
It’s possible that Celestia disclosed a tiny bit of her true self since she started to believe in Makoto more a friend . She also, at the conclusion of the Free Time Events, told Makoto that he could become her bodyguard or Makoto’s “knight”. Makoto admitted he was thinking about it. Celestia was furious, possibly seeking to convince him immediately.
Yasuhiro Hagakure
In the Killing School Life, Celestia set out to capture Yasuhiro in order to get him out of the school. The reason is that Yasuhiro had been the least “stupid” student in the eyes of Celestia, who stated that she was envious of Yasuhiro’s parents being forced to bear the same kind of son as he. It’s likely that Yasuhiro was, in Celestia’s eyes was considered to be below D-Rank because she was so eager to put him in prison for murder without regret.
But while clearly judging Yasuhiro as insignificant to her and her personal desires at the time Celestia declared that she would like to return to be “Marie the Antoinette”, Yasuhiro comically remarked that she could never end up dying again, which caused Celestia to laugh at her last words. Although she might have not liked Yasuhiro however, she would have considered his character less significant when she took time acquainted with Yasuhiro better.
Kiyotaka Ishimaru
In the course of Killing School Life, Celestia was planning to trick Hifumi to kill Kiyotaka because she was angry with Kiyotaka as well as Hifumi because of their disagreement about Alter Ego and thought that their bitter feelings towards one another as an opportunity to get out of.
Celestia was a lie to Hifumi about how Kiyotaka took Alter Ego as well made up stories about the ways in which Kiyotaka was abusive and threatened her. These mostly shocking allegations reveal how Celestia and Kiyotaka were not friends because she effortlessly manipulated Hifumi to kill Kiyotaka and did not show any remorse for his demise. Her own goals were over Kiyotaka’s life and proved that he had no impact to her in any way.
When they are in the bonus game she and Kiyotaka often play shogi with Celestia typically winning and making Kiyotaka take her tea from the cafeteria. Kiyotaka then gets driven to win. If Kiyotaka gets her to join him she claims it’s luck but Kiyotaka insists that it’s hard work. Then he brags about his dream life and Celestia isn’t convinced.
