The Ultimate Swordsman!

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.[56] 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.[10][57][58] 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.[59]

In reality, Peko is a rather socially awkward individual. Many cases involve her scaring her conversation partners due to her intense stares and status as a woman of few words. Other cases exemplify how easy it is to get her flustered through compliments or retellings of her embarrassing moments.[60][61][59] She is neither impolite nor antisocial, however, as she actively makes an effort to interact with the group. She may do so in compliance with Fuyuhiko's order to get along with her classmates, but it is shown that she genuinely cares for them, proven more by her actions than words. She helps cut coconuts for her friends without being asked and already feels satisfied by watching them enjoy her fruit of labor. 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.[62][63] 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.[64] 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.[65] 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.[4] During her school years, Peko actively supported all her classmates,[25] even complying with Nagito's troubling request to fend off Mukuro Ikusaba, simply because he was a classmate.[28]

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.[66] 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.[36] 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 willing to go through anything to achieve such a goal, even if it means falling for Hiyoko's prank or forcing Hajime to tell her jokes, which neither ends up working.[36][15] 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.[58][67][68] 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.[16]

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. She showcases such menacing aura through her deranged smile by running toward Gundham Tanaka, the Ultimate Breeder, after Hajime proposes the idea of asking him to let Peko touch his hamsters.[11] Similarly, when Hajime brings up pandas in conversation, the thought of their fluffy fur makes her face soften a little.[36] 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.[67] She also enjoys watching movies about animals, and it is implied that she cries when watching the ones with sad stories.[68] 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.[69]

Her Island Mode extensively explores her sense of wonder and affinity for self-improvement. She 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.[58][68] 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.[57]

Young master's tool 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.[70] 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." [71] 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.[17]

Peko cares about Fuyuhiko on a personal level beyond their formal hitman-master relationship. Her sentimental side is shown most whenever she reminisces or reflects on her childhood memories with him. One of her biggest motivations for improving her smiling ability is, in fact, to redeem herself for failing to ease Fuyuhiko's fear when they both got lost in the mountains.[15][16] 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.[69][72]

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