Colias Palaeno

"Colias Palaeno"

- All I wish for is the normalization of relationships between our two countries. But there is one person standing in the way of that dream.

Colias Palaeno was the ambassador of Babahl to the United States and a person of interest in the murder that occurred at his embassy. Following the reunion of Allebahst and Babahl into Cohdopia, Palaeno became the Cohdopian ambassador to the United States.

Ambassadorship of Babahl
After Cohdopia split into Allebahst and Babahl, Colias Palaeno took up the mantle of ambassador of Babahl to the United States. The country ran a fierce tourism industry, and Palaeno did his part at his embassy to promote Babahl as much as he could. To this end, he put his secretary Manny Coachen in charge of the underpinnings of his promotional campaigns, such as printing pamphlets, accounting, and handling national treasures. Coachen was very adept at his jobs and seemed a very trustworthy man to Palaeno, so much so that he was the only one Palaeno trusted with the truth of Babahl's Primidux Statue being a fake, and Allebahst's Primidux Statue being real. Coachen told Palaeno that he was not to worry and instead should be ready to become the next ambassador of a reunited Cohdopia.

The goodwill event

 * Main article: Turnabout Ablaze

Coachen organized a goodwill event between the Allebahstian and Babahlese embassies in the United States. A "Country Unification Council" was also set up to negotiate a reunification of the two countries after the event. To settle the matter of which country would have more influence in a possible reunification, the Primidux Statues from each country would be tested to determine which was the genuine statue. Knowing how such a test would end, Palaeno negotiated with his Allebahstian counterpart Quercus Alba to have the test results announced as inconclusive, to ensure a fair reunification.

Palaeno didn't want it to look like Babahl was a poor nation, so he ordered renovations to the Babahlese embassy in preparation. In the morning before the event, he helped Coachen clean out the secretariat's office in preparation for the renovation, but while burning some old files in the office fireplace, he spilled some Babahlese ink onto the fireplace wall. Meanwhile, the event was threatened as word spread that the Great Thief Yatagarasu was going to ambush the joint embassy building to steal its "dirtiest secret", so an Interpol contingent led by Shi-Long Lang was called to bolster the security in the building.

In the afternoon, Palaeno participated in a photo-op with Alba at the Theatrum Neutralis, a neutral area between the embassies. Palaeno then returned to his office while Coachen stayed behind. Soon after that, two fires broke out in the Babahlese embassy, and Palaeno participated in the firefighting effort. To make matters worse, during the second fire, Interpol Agent Shih-na informed Palaeno that she had found Coachen dead in the secretariat's office.

Murder investigation
Saddened at the loss of his most trusted employee, Palaeno was eager to allow Interpol to investigate the crime scene. He gave the investigators whatever information they desired, until it was found that the murder weapon, an ornamental knife, came from the Allebahstian embassy, and that Coachen had been involved in a notorious international smuggling ring, possibly even being the leader. A betrayed Palaeno nonetheless found the strength to move forward with the investigation, and he convinced Alba to grant Interpol permission to investigate his office. Palaeno stayed behind with some of the group to investigate Coachen's crime scene further.

Eventually, Interpol informed Palaeno that the Primidux Statues had been switched during the fiasco, and sent prosecutor Miles Edgeworth back to Babahl. Edgeworth questioned him on his whereabouts to pinpoint when Coachen could have been killed. Edgeworth's investigation soon gave rise to another unsettling fact about Coachen: he had intended to switch the Primidux Statues to ensure that Palaeno became the ambassador of Cohdopia, and Coachen could carry on his misdeeds right under his nose as the leader of the smuggling ring. Edgeworth also found that the fireplace's wall revolved to make a secret passage to the adjacent room. Palaeno then accompanied the prosecutor to the Theatrum Neutralis, and Edgeworth soon exposed Agent Shih-na as the Yatagarasu and the arsonist responsible for the fires.

However, Shih-na was merely an accomplice of the real killer and the true leader of the smuggling ring: Quercus Alba. Edgeworth confronted Alba, but the latter tried to escape back to Allebahst. Palaeno convinced his counterpart to allow one question from the determined prosecutor, giving enough time for others to show up and provide their own help to Edgeworth. Eventually, Allebahst's imperial household was informed of the allegations against Alba and removed him from his position as ambassador. After that, Edgeworth proved Alba's guilt and the many measures that he had taken to move the body to Babahl.

Aftermath
Despite all that had happened, the reunification was a success, and Colias Palaeno was instated as Cohdopia's ambassador to the United States. Palaeno gave Edgeworth food coupons redeemable at Cohdopia in thanks for his effort in taking down the man who stood in the way of the reunification. Edgeworth sent these coupons to detective Dick Gumshoe, seeing no need for them himself. Palaeno saw no more use in the false Primidux Statue and sold it to Zinc Lablanc, however the ambassador left the art dealer oblivious to the fact that it was a fake.

Personality
Palaeno is a very honest and generous man, who is always eager to please others and only wishes to see relations renewed between Allebahst and Babahl. He often tries to promote tourism of his country at every available opportunity, by giving guests souvenirs and coupons. After the events at the embassy were solved, he even used the Yatagarasu's name to help with tourism. Occasionally his facial expression doesn't match his emotions. However, his personality becomes a little more serious when speaking of very serious subjects, such as the murders that took place at his embassy.

Palaeno is not entirely honest. At the resolution of the murders at the embassy, the new Cohdopian ambassador sold the Babahlese statue to Zinc Lablanc, not telling him that it was a fake.

Name

 * Palaeno's Japanese surname, "Hinje", comes from the Japanese word for "butterfly keeper", referencing his country's national symbol.


 * His Japanese given name, "Damian", may be a reference to Damien Thorn, the main character in "The Omen" film series. In the films, said character is the Antichrist and the son of the Devil.  The name may have been chosen in order to act as a red herring and make the player think Palaeno is the murderer in the case.


 * His English name is the species name for the Moorland Clouded Yellow butterfly, which fits in with the national symbol of his country.