Larry Butz

"Phoenix Wright"

- When something smells, it's usually the Butz.

Larry Butz is Phoenix Wright's oldest friend and first client, and a childhood friend of Miles Edgeworth as well. Overemotional and lazy, he has been involved in Wright's and Edgeworth's investigations from time to time, always appearing with a different occupation. Butz also changes girlfriends frequently, with each relationship ending with him being unceremoniously dumped. He has had at least five jobs and nine girlfriends in the space of three years.

Early life
As a child, Butz befriended Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth in elementary school. At one point during a field trip, Butz bought a fake sword and began to shadow fight with himself.

One day, during the fourth grade, he was absent from school. However, he was bored, so he went to school anyway and stole $38 of Edgeworth's lunch money. The next day, Wright was accused and put on a classroom trial for the theft, but Edgeworth and Butz defended Wright from the accusations, asserting that there was no proof that Wright had done the deed.

Butz has described himself as a "bona-fide junior high school graduate", suggesting that he never graduated high school.

On trial

 * Main article: The First Turnabout

Butz's first known girlfriend was Cindy Stone, a model, whom he dated during 2016. She soon dumped him, however, refusing to take his phone calls or see him ever again. Despite this, on July 31, Butz went to her apartment, but since she wasn't home at the time, he soon left. Stone was later found dead and Butz was arrested for her murder.

Wright, in his first trial as a new defense attorney, proved that a man called Frank Sahwit, a petty thief, was the real murderer, and thus, Butz was declared not guilty. However, Butz's opinion of Stone was shattered when it was revealed during the trial that she had quite a few "sugar daddies" to fund her lifestyle. At first, Butz was still sad because Stone was dead, but then said that she had obviously not cared for him. However, Wright showed Butz "The Thinker" clock that Butz himself had made for Stone, and had been the murder weapon. Being a heavy clock, Butz must have meant something to Stone, otherwise she would not have carried it on her international trips. Butz tried to dismiss this, and gave Wright's boss, Mia Fey, another Thinker clock. He then thanked Wright, but never actually paid him for his defense.

Gourd Lake hot dog vendor

 * Main article: Turnabout Goodbyes

By the following Christmas, Butz had taken a new job selling hot dogs by Gourd Lake to pay for yet another model girlfriend, Kiyance, who made a "Samurai Dogs" sign for his stall and bought a Santa Claus outfit for him to use. By the time Wright and his new assistant Maya Fey met up with him, Kiyance had already vanished to Hawaii for a photo shoot. Butz was around the crime scene on the night of Robert Hammond's murder, searching for a giant inflatable Steel Samurai used to advertise his stall, which had shot off into the lake. Butz's testimony proved to be vital to Wright in proving Miles Edgeworth innocent of the crime. After the trial, Butz gave $38 to Edgeworth and confessed that he was the one who had stolen the money in the fourth grade. Edgeworth had already figured this out, but Wright was annoyed for being the only one who had remained oblivious to the truth.

Working at KB Security

 * Main article: The Stolen Turnabout

"Judge"

- Wh-who is this useless-looking young man?

True to form, Butz's relationship with Kiyance did not last long, either. Later on, history repeated itself with another girlfriend, Bennifer, who dumped him after he followed her to Tibet. Although he met yet another woman named Katty Tom while there, she soon dumped him as well to go to Hollywood.

Butz eventually found a job as a part-time security guard at the security company KB Security under the supervision of Wendy Oldbag. However, as soon as Oldbag had gone on vacation, Butz slacked off even more than usual. At 1:00 a.m. on the night that the company's CEO, Kane Bullard, was murdered, he left his guard duties after a confrontation with the boyfriend of Donna, another ex-girlfriend of his. Butz also found Ron DeLite's wallet and sneaked out of work the next day to visit the DeLite household and return the wallet to Ron's wife Desirée, on whom he had a crush. When he arrived, he found Wright already there in the process of asking her questions about her husband, whom he was defending on larceny charges.

Butz relayed his woman troubles to Wright and claimed that he didn't trust women anymore. Seeing Maya, he told her that she had grown a lot since he had last seen her and that she was different from the other women who dumped him. He was also reminded of Maya's late sister Mia, who he thought was beautiful. This desperation reached an uncomfortable level when he mentioned that he wouldn't have a problem with dating Maya's 9-year-old cousin Pearl, either. He eventually did manage to provide Wright with some important evidence, namely Ron's wallet and key card. After Butz left, Desirée said that he was using lame pick-up lines and obvious flirting, contradicting his earlier statement about women.

Wright later met Butz in the security room in which he worked, in order to ask him about the night of the murder. Wright soon broke the two Psyche-Locks that Butz put up to have the latter admit to leaving his guard duties that night. With no security guards in the building, this had provided the killer with ample time to murder Bullard. When Wright confronted him about this, it led to yet another of Butz's emotional outbursts of self-blame, although he still did not want to take responsibility for his actions. It also transpired that he was unaware of the CEO's panic buzzer, and so did not know that it had gone off at the time of the murder. Even when Maya pressed the buzzer by mistake that day while she and Wright were investigating the CEO's office, Butz was too lazy to go and check it out. He later, after being directly asked by Maya, gave Wright the buzzer data and declared that he would help them.

"Laurice Deauxnim"

 * Main article: Bridge to the Turnabout

"Phoenix Wright"

- Liar! You're Larry! Your clothes may change, but you're still the Butz.

Five months after the Mask☆DeMasque case, Butz appeared before Wright and Maya in front of Dusky Bridge, introducing himself as "Laurice Deauxnim". He claimed that he was the apprentice of the famous children's author and illustrator Elise Deauxnim, and had become a new person after reading her picture book The Magic Bottle. He also said that he didn't like the person he was before; being unhelpful and unreliable, always causing everyone trouble, and living as a failure. As usual, he claimed that he didn't trust women anymore and immediately contradicted himself by falling for for one of the Hazakura Temple nuns, Iris, whom he again insisted was "different". Later that night, Butz dined at the nearby Hazakura Temple with Wright, Maya, Deauxnim, and the temple nuns. Butz later wrote Iris an anonymous "blackmail" letter telling Iris to meet him at Heavenly Hall or risk having the "secret" about their "love" revealed. This scared Iris (for she really did have a secret, albeit completely unrelated), causing her to stay at the main temple that night.

That night, at around 11 p.m., Butz was waiting at Heavenly Hall, when a sudden flash of lightning woke him up. Looking up, he saw that Dusky Bridge had been struck by lightning and was now ablaze. He also saw a hooded figure, which he assumed was Iris, flying over the bridge. Butz drew the "incredible" sight he had just seen and then ran up towards the bridge.

Ten minutes later, Wright arrived at the bridge and told Butz to phone the police while he crossed the bridge to ensure the safety of Maya, who was training in the Inner Temple on the other side, despite the state of the bridge. Wright refused to listen to Butz's warning about his safety and pushed him away before attempting to cross the bridge, which almost immediately collapsed, sending Wright falling down into the Eagle River below before Butz could stop him. Panicking, Butz called the police and Edgeworth, telling the latter to show up at the detention center, as Deauxnim had been murdered and Iris was now accused of the crime. Butz managed to convince Edgeworth to temporarily take Wright's place as Iris's defense attorney (despite him being a prosecutor) until Wright recovered from his fall.

While Edgeworth was investigating, he asked Butz about what he was doing on the night of the murder, but the latter refused to tell him, causing Edgeworth to see three Psyche-Locks on his heart and leading the prosecutor to investigate further. Later on, Edgeworth cornered Butz at Heavenly Hall. He soon found out about the "blackmail" letter, but Butz refused to talk about the "incredible" sight he had seen and five more locks appeared.

At the trial the next day, Edgeworth called Butz as a witness, who was whipped continuously by Franziska von Karma (or "Franzy", as he called her) due to Butz's repeated asking of whether she would model for a drawing. During the trial, Butz said that he would not lose to Wright and Edgeworth anymore, and that he was sick of being pushed about and losing to them. He also added that he would show them evidence and defeat Edgeworth in court. His evidence turned out to be the picture he had drawn, causing the entire court to question his sanity. He also showed them a jewel he found near the bridge, which was from the victim's staff. It was later proven that his picture was actually drawn upside-down, since Butz was lying on his back when the event occurred, and that the "flying" figure he had seen had really been swung under the bridge.

The next day, Butz was seen with Pearl Fey at Heavenly Hall, or the "Loser's Shack" as Butz called it. The two were sharing stories of their failures, with Pearl saying that Butz's drawing skills were great.

After Iris was acquitted, Butz said that even when he changed his name and his job, he was still useless after all. Wright, Edgeworth, and even von Karma tried to cheer him up by saying that without the evidence he had brought to the trial Wright would have lost. They praised his drawings and told him he was improving a lot, which made Butz regain his self confidence. He joined detective Dick Gumshoe and the others for a celebratory meal in Trés Bien, and drew a portrait of the gang. Butz claimed that he would continue his art career but, barely a month later, he was seen pursuing an entirely different one.

The Steel Samurai

 * Main article: Turnabout Ablaze

"Miles Edgeworth"

- I will never accept you as the Steel Samurai!



Trying to impress another girl, specifically an actress named Mindy, Butz got a job portraying the Steel Samurai at a stage show at the Cohdopian Embassy's Theatrum Neutralis that was being held to celebrate peace talks between the nations of Allebahst and Babahl. Sometime before the performance, Butz managed to ruin his spear prop while playing around with it, forcing the director to change the ending of the play. Afterwards, Butz signed a Steel Samurai autograph for Miles Edgeworth on his way to the ambassador's office (an event that would cause Edgeworth, a fan of the franchise, much grief when he realized the Samurai's true identity). Unaware that Mindy was out and Wendy Oldbag had to stand in for her as the Pink Princess, Butz took to the roof of the embassy during his break, trying to sneak into the room of the Pink Princess actress room via the chimney. His suspicious behavior, compounded with him leaving a sword prop in the same room that a murder took place, led to him once again being accused of murder. However, Butz's name was quickly cleared when the true nature of his actions came to light and that the real murder weapon was found to have been the Primidux Statue that was in the room. Later, Butz and Oldbag came to Edgeworth's assistance when the latter was trying to prove the guilt of Quercus Alba, even though Edgeworth has hardly pleased to see either of them. Despite his friend's attitude however, Butz was actually of some use, helping Edgeworth to discover how the body of the victim Manny Coachen had been moved.

Mindy left for Japan after the events at the embassy, but Butz almost immediately met another girl named Miharu who convinced him to travel to Paris to sell "blue dogs" (literally blue hot dogs).

Back at Gourd Lake

 * Main article: Turnabout Target

Not long after the incident at the embassy, Zheng Fa president Teikun Ō arrived at Gourd Lake to deliver a speech. While preparing the stage upon which the speech would take place, one of the red balloons used as a decoration burst, so the bodyguards hastily borrowed a Steel Samurai balloon from a "poser" running a stand nearby, and used it to replace the burst balloon. The president was not made aware of this, and during his speech, the wind caused a nearby flag to flutter and block the balloon from his view.

Manosuke Naitō, one of the president's bodyguards, made an agreement with Ō to help stage an assassination attempt during the speech. To set this publicity stunt in motion, he fired a shot with his gun hidden behind his bulletproof attaché case, with the bullet hitting the flag and the Steel Samurai balloon, deflating it. Edgeworth was called up to deal with the situation, and when he eventually got wind of the story about the "poser", he commented that it sounded familiar, referring to Butz's antics at Gourd Lake two years prior. The fact that the flag had blocked the president's view of the balloon allowed Edgeworth to deduce the trajectory of the bullet that had hit the balloon, in turn exposing the assassination attempt as a con.

Return of Laurice

 * Main article: The Inherited Turnabout

Not unexpectedly, Miharu soon left Butz, and so he decided to return to his artistic career as "Laurice Deauxnim". He went to the 12 Constellations Art Gallery to paint the Gemini sculpture for yet another girlfriend he had picked up. When he arrived, the entrance was empty, and he went in, not knowing that he was supposed to pay a fee. He went to the door of what he believed was the "Winter Palace", the room that contained the Gemini sculpture, only to find it locked. Suddenly, Yutaka Kazami opened the door and collapsed in front of him, having just triggered a poison gas trap. Edgeworth was also at the scene and questioned the stubborn Butz, managing to learn that he had seen the Gemini sculpture "transform". It turned out that someone had disguised the "Autumn Palace" as the Winter Palace, and the supposed Gemini sculpture was really the Pisces sculpture. Prosecutor Yumihiko Ichiyanagi accused Butz of setting the trap, but Edgeworth soon disproved Ichiyanagi's flimsy logic.

Butz spent the rest of the day drawing the three women involved in the investigation: Tsukasa Oyashiki, Delicy Scone, and Hakari Mikagami. At one point he saw Oyashiki's service cart and tried to pour a cup of tea for Mikagami, but he broke the teapot and switched it with another that he found under the service cart. He then saw Oyashiki entering the "Summer Palace" with the service cart, only to reappear with a lift trolley. The events that Butz witnessed and drew were used to prove that Oyashiki had hidden the long-dead body of Paul Holic in a sculpture, as the tablecloth in the drawing was switched. The drawing failed to impress his current girlfriend and she left him, leaving him to contemplate whether he should do something else with his life, or just pursue his new girlfriend.

Personality
"Miles Edgeworth"

- Your very existence being a contradiction, I'm not sure if you can grasp this or not...

Butz often talks without thinking, which proved to be somewhat of a problem for Wright when the former was accused of Cindy Stone's murder. He is known to have terrible luck, but he has good intentions, although he does switch between girlfriends (unwillingly) and jobs rather quickly. Even in trying circumstances that demand the utmost seriousness, he remains naive and loud-mouthed, much to the chagrin of those around him. This remains true even when in danger of being convicted of murder, or when confronting a suspected killer. Regardless of these quirks, he stands by Wright and Edgeworth when they need help.

Despite typically being seen as, and admitting to being, a very useless young man, he does have an impressive creative side. His stint as an artist produced surprisingly impressive drawings, and he was able to craft two automated clocks in the shape of "The Thinker". However, this talent seems to be rather inconsistent, as shown by his drawing of Dusky Bridge as it was burning. As well as these examples, his performance as the Steel Samurai was described by Edgeworth (a great fan of the franchise) as quite moving (much to his chagrin once he learned who was under the mask), which would imply that he's quite the talented stage actor as well.

Relationships
"Larry Butz"

- She's the one with the hots for me! I just know it! I can feel her sexy beam piercing my heart when she's watching me! Seeeeeexy beam, I tell you!

It seems that Butz's biggest priority in life is to find a girlfriend. Even though he says that he was close to his many girlfriends, he seems oblivious to what they are actually doing. His girlfriends are almost always models and are rarely seen, often being out of town on a photoshoot. The earliest known example was Cindy Stone, who was not only murdered, but had been dating several other "sugar daddies", as prosecutor Winston Payne put it. Ironically, Stone seems to have been the closest thing to a serious girlfriend that Butz has ever had, as her travelling with the heavy clock Butz had made implies that she may have had feelings for him too. The same cannot be said for his later choices.

Months later, Butz briefly mentioned another woman who was also a model, named Kiyance, who moved to Paris and "left him behind". Two years later, he flirted with the married Desirée DeLite while working as a security guard for KB Security, having just been dumped by another model.

Four months later, Butz was shown to have a crush on both Iris and Franziska von Karma, even going as far as thinking about marrying Iris. Neither of these women were interested either, since Iris was still in love with "Feenie" and von Karma viewed him with distaste.

During his time as the Steel Samurai, Butz developed a crush on the Pink Princess actress called Mindy. Unfortunately for Butz, Mindy showed absolutely no interest. His infatuation led him to accidentally send a love letter to Wendy Oldbag, who had taken over Mindy's role due to illness.

It is possible that Butz's failure in relationships is due to his inability to articulate his feelings in a romantic way. He has written at least two love letters, but both were interpreted as blackmail letters. Butz can also come across as a little needy and desperate when it comes to women, often making the moves on multiple women at the same time. However, he has shown to be quite devoted to the woman he is dating at the time, working a variety of menial jobs in order to pay for lavish dates, though this ultimately never works out in his favor.

Name

 * "Yahari" (矢張), his Japanese surname, means "I knew it" or "of course" and "Masashi" (政志), his given name, comes from "Masashiku" which means "with certainty". Characters in the Japanese version will state that "when something happens, you know it's Yahari".
 * "Larry" was likely chosen due to its similarity to "Harry", thus allowing him to be mistakenly referred to as "Harry Butz" by Dick Gumshoe and Mia Fey in the English version (an unsubtle play on "hairy butts"). The choice of first name might also refer to the phrase "happy as Larry", which is used to refer to someone who is extremely happy and carefree. Incidentally, "Larry" is a diminutive of "Laurence/Lawrence", which is believed to be derived from the Latin word for the laurel tree, the leaves of which were often used to symbolize a victor, particularly in Roman and Ancient Greek culture. This could be an ironic reference to how others see him.
 * His English surname was likely chosen so characters can joke "when something smells, it's usually the Butz". It may also be a play on "klutz", a word for a clumsy or stupid person.
 * His full French name "Paul Defès" is a pun on "poil des fesses", which means buttock hair. In the French language version, characters will state "quand Paul Defès arrive, tout part à la dérive" which means "when Paul Defès shows up, everything's going downhill".

References to popular culture

 * When describing his relationship to the victim in The First Turnabout, Butz testifies that they were like Romeo and Juliet, or Cleopatra and Mark Antony, to which Wright thinks, "Didn't they all die?" Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra are both famous tragedies written by the English playwright William Shakespeare in which the titular lovers expire by the end of the play.
 * When questioned by Mia Fey in The First Turnabout about Butz's belief that Stone didn't care about him, he responds by saying "Ex-squeeze me", instead of "excuse me". "Exsqueeze me? Baking powder?" is used as a substitute for "excuse me" and "beg your pardon" by the fictional character Wayne Campbell in the Wayne's World films.
 * In Bridge to the Turnabout, Butz claims that he saw Iris flying like "the dude with red underwear". This is a reference to the iconic costume worn by the fictional DC Comics superhero Superman.
 * Butz's first testimony in Turnabout Ablaze is titled "Up on the Rooftop" and involves him comparing himself to Santa Claus. This is likely a reference to the Christmas song "Up on the Housetop" by Benjamin Hanby. Alternatively, it may be referring to "Up on the Roof" by The Drifters.

Development

 * Larry Butz was originally an ordinary office worker who would only appear in Turnabout Goodbyes, but after being written into The First Turnabout, he underwent many changes to ultimately become the quirky friend of Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth.
 * Butz is left-handed. This was decided after a brush was added to his "thumbs-up" pose for his Laurice Deauxnim persona.
 * While most recurring characters gained new sprite animations throughout the Phoenix Wright trilogy, Butz "lost" one. In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, he would occasionally tilt his head to the side and display a cocky smile. This animation has not appeared in any subsequent game to date. Dick Gumshoe also "lost" an animation, in which he would occasionally scratch the back of his head and look embarrassed. Unlike Butz's animation however, this did eventually make a reappearance in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, albeit done in the style of that game's sprites.
 * The monkey head design on the front of his "Laurice Deauxnim" clothing is likely meant to be "Mr. Monkey", the mascot of Global Studios.
 * In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Wright has a number of alternative costumes he can wear, the color schemes of which are all references to other characters. One of these choices is based on the color scheme of Butz's outfit in The First Turnabout.
 * Butz appears in promotional artwork for the WiiWare release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All, despite not appearing (or even being mentioned) in the game itself.

Cameo in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney?

 * In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, outside the Sunshine Coliseum during Valant Gramarye's stage show, a figure in pink can be seen painting. This could conceivably be Butz as "Laurice Deauxnim", although the figure is too far away to say for certain and it may just be a subtle nod by the developers. Later in the game, another figure in orange and having a picnic with what appears to be a woman can be seen, which may also be Butz (considering his attire and presence with a woman) but, once again, he is too far away to say for certain.