Welcome to Hope's Peak Academy, where only the best and the brightest are accepted. These "Ultimates" each have a talent they are the best at, and Hope's Peak Academy is geared towards making their students become great.

However, the Ultimate Despair came to Hope's Peak and began a cataclysmic even known only as the Great Despair. The despair became infectious, and ate away at hope for the world. People began stealing, breaking, hurting, killing. With the hope still strong at Hope's Peak, the administrators began a project, to hide away some of their students in various pockets of the world, so once the apocalyptic despair were to end, the human race could continue on.

One group was locked in Hope's Peak Academy, seeming to be protected from the despair. However, it was not. Their memories were erased, despair leaked in, and caused a terrible killing game to be played. These kids began killing each other, with the hope of getting out of this school, not knowing that outside the world was ending. Eventually, they were able to beat out despair and leave the school, but not without losing several members of their group to the killing game.

That was just one of the groups that Hope's Peak sent out. There were several, sent to places like castles and resorts, all with their memories erased until the appointed time when they were released from the prison paradises. Just like with the group held within the Hope's Peak Academy, despair will slowly seep in.