Dark Psychology: The Secret to Dark Manipulation Explained

Introduction

In classroom of the elite, the main protagonist, Ayanokiji always appeared to be shy, average kind of person. When in reality, he is the mastermind behind all class D successes. He manages this through a series of manipulative techniques. According to Lizard Geek, here are the Manipulation Techniques Ayanokiji uses in the series.

Ayanokiji is very smart. But he doesn't reveal that. He hides it. He acts normal. His intentionally barely passes his exams. He does not speak up. He doesn't take charge. As a result, his entire class viewed him as an ordinary person. Nothing bad but nothing good either. This makes him practically invisible. This allows him to control the class behind the scenes easily while other classes lower their guard. This is Hidden Control

Throughout the series, Ayanokiji is responsible for most of the classroom successes. However, he doesn't reveal that. Instead, he gives credit to the classroom president, Horikita through giving suggestions and making her think that she came up with the plan herself. This is know as Narrative Management
Ayanokiji did this for two reasons. First is to avoid getting himself exposed. Secondly, its to make Horikita is to build confidence and loyalty. In return, while Horikita feels comfortable managing the entire class, she feels loyal to Ayanokiji, because she subconsciously knew Ayanokiji is the one who's responsible for making what she is today.

Loyalty Engineering is about creating a situation where the target is scared and saving the target from that situation. Take bullying for example. You stage a bullying scene on the target by allowing the target to get bullied. Then you come to the rescue.
Loyalty Engineering allows you to more credible and dependent, allowing you to manipulate others easier.

If you control what people know, you can control what choices they make

Information Control is about controlling which information gets sent to which people. You don't control the people themselves. You control the information that is given to them. By doing this, you are leading them to do what you want them to do. Most of all, those in control thought that they are acting on their own will.

Psychological Leverage is about finding other people's weaknesses and use it as leverage. You slowly implant fear into another person based on their past experiences, trauma, and their personalities. By doing this, you are able to control others but not in a really good way.

Structural Sabotage is about feeding truths but misleading information. This is directly linked to Information control. Except instead of feeding it to a person, you aimed at a group to create chaos. The information has to be credible enough to make them believe it.

Lizard Geek (February, 7th, 2026), Every Ayanokoji Manipulation Technique Explained (Classroom of the Elite), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CosgSpYi7t8