Ted Tonate

"Ted Tonate"

- SPEECH SYNTHESIS VIA TYPING. IT IS THE SAME AS ME TALKING.

Ted Tonate was a witness in the murder of Candice Arme and the explosion of Courtroom No. 4. Tonate was a member of the police bomb disposal squad. Although he normally communicated via his arm-mounted keyboard, he talked directly when unable to use his keyboard or when angered. The synthesized voice Tonate speaks when using the keyboard is a higher-pitched version of the female voice sound.

The bombing of a courtroom

 * Main article: Turnabout Countdown

For an unspecified amount of time, Tonate used his job to steal the bombs he had disarmed and sell them on the black market by replacing the stolen bombs with homemade models he had made himself.

Tonate transported the disarmed and deactivated HH-3000 bomb to Courtroom No.4 as evidence in the Cosmos Space Center bombing, along with Detective Arme. Before the trial, Tonate tried to take the bomb out of the Phony Phanty doll, but he was soon caught by Arme.

Flustered, Tonate struck her with the bomb, but with her last moments, Arme was able to leave Tonate's ID number in her own blood. Meanwhile, he also noticed an unknown person's hand taking the remote switch for the bomb, but he was too distracted by Arme's death to deal with the unknown thief. Not having enough time to wipe it away, Tonate instead used his bomb transport case to cover the bloody writing and took a picture of the bomb displayed with the Phony Phanty doll. He then placed Arme's body inside the case, knowing that no one would dare to go near the case under the supposition it was extremely dangerous to go near a bomb, deactivated or not.

During the trial that followed, the bomb was reactivated by the unknown thief but Tonate managed to hear the sound of the bomb being activated and hastily warned the court. After the explosion destroyed the courtroom, Tonate was the first one to be assigned on the scene, and he used the explosion to cover up Arme's murder by making it appear that the explosion caused her death. Taking her body from the bomb transport case, he placed her at the other side of the courtroom.

In the trial that followed, where Juniper Woods was tried for the bombing, Tonate, who brought along a model of the bomb, was summoned by prosecutor Gaspen Payne to testify about details of the HH-3000 and the reactivation of the bomb. Although one discrepancy was found in his testimony as he mistakenly stated that he saw the bomb's timer count off to zero, his testimony was otherwise seemingly flawless and before Tonate left, he challenged the defense attorney Phoenix Wright to try to find the truth behind the case.

While the trial was being conducted, Apollo Justice, who was injured in the bombing, went to the ruined courtroom to look for evidence while Woods was resting in the lobby. Fearing that Justice would try to look in the bomb transport case, Tonate walked in on him examining the case and used some rubble to knock him unconscious. He then used the bloody message that Arme left, changing "L10015" into "WOODS" with Justice's blood, to make it seem as though the message was pointing to the defendant as the attacker. Although Tonate's attack did not kill Justice, it left his memory of him being attacked hazy.

During the second half of the trial, Wright discovered Tonate's scheme and accused him of killing Arme. Even though Tonate tried to counter Wright's argument, most of his testimony was found to be false. At this point, Tonate claimed that the model bomb he carried around with him was the actual bomb and that he had switched it with a fake before the trial regarding the space center bombing. Everybody in the courtroom fled in terror except the judge, Wright and Athena Cykes. Tonate tried to walk away, warning that he would not hesitate to activate the bomb if he sensed he was being followed by the authorities, but Wright managed to prove the bomb he held was not the HH-3000 bomb as the photo of the bomb showed that the display of the bomb's timer was slightly shattered while Tonate's "bomb" was in perfect condition. Despite Tonate's denial and protests, Wright managed to prove his guilt conclusively by opening the bomb transport case, revealing Arme's blood in it. Tonate then broke down and proceeded to confess to all the allegations against him.

Around two days later, Tonate decided to reveal the whole truth regarding what he saw at the moment he killed Arme and alerted detective Bobby Fulbright. He was questioned by Wright and Fulbright regarding the courtroom bombing and revealed that he was not the one responsible of the courtroom bombing and informed them of the unknown thief. Wright determined that Tonate was telling the truth as no Psyche-Locks appeared. Fulbright then showed a picture of the remaining components of the bomb, causing Tonate to look at the picture with delight. Afterwards, Tonate was taken into questioning by Simon Blackquill.

In the unofficial trial of Athena Cykes, the person Tonate saw steal the remote switch was revealed to be the Phantom, who went under the guise of the deceased Bobby Fulbright.

Personality
Tonate was shown to have an obsessive passion for his work, to the point that he marveled over the power and "beauty" of the explosives he handled. It was this obsession that drove him to pilfer explosives from evidence of the years, leading him to murder Arme in a panic. Tonate also seemed to be rather antisocial towards humans, deeming talking as an inefficient means of communication, though he would revert to normal speech if sufficiently agitated or upset.

In addition, Tonate demonstrated considerable aptitude for delicate machinery, not just with regards to explosives; he modified the special goggles given to him by the police for work. He also possessed keen eyesight and hearing, being able to identify when the HH-3000 had been remotely reactivated and warn the court. Tonate was extremely proud and smug about his skill, though in the end, he appeared to be his own undoing as he failed to disarm his own training bomb during his Breakdown.

Name

 * His full Japanese name is a play on "barashi/barasu" (ばらし/ばらす) and "mashingo" (マシン語), which means "dispose" and "machine language", respectively. This is likely a reference to his job and method of communicating.


 * His full English name is a play on the word "detonate", referring to his occupation as a member of the bomb disposal squad. His given name, "Ted", is also "det" spelled backwards.
 * Ted is a shortened form of Edward (which comes from the old English words ead, meaning wealth fortune or prosperous) and weard, meaning guardian or protector; the latter term is fitting, seeing as Tonate was supposed to be a protector of the people. This is shown after he saves an entire courtroom from a detonation.

Development

 * He seemed to have a strong dislike of defense attorneys in an early trailer.


 * Ted Tonate's identification number is L1001 5R. In the Japanese version, however, his identification number is 511103 UR. This is due to localization, as Tonate converts the number into the suspect's name.