Valant Gramarye

Personality
Valant is a true showman - dramatic, jovial, and always a mystery. He's devoted to his magic and keeping his tricks a secret.

Misc Facts
Yellow is Valant's lucky color.

Valant's doves and rabbits (as shown in his sprites) died off as he got older. Very sad.

Spoiler: 4-4 Valant's 7 years ago self was designed first, and was deliberately given black hair so that it would be obvious he was going gray in his older years Character designer Nuri made a point to show that he had a hard time those 7 years In case 4 Brushel speculates with Phoenix that there may have been a love triangle between Zak, Thalassa, and Valant. Valant doesn't admit it himself, but at the back of the GS4 guidebook there's a character chart that labels Valant's feelings towards Thalassa as "one-sided love."

Name Origin
English "Gramarye" is an old word referring to cult magic, similar to "grimoire", a book a magic. Valant may come from the word "valiant."

Japanese Zakkubaran means "frankly." Arumajiki means "unworthy."

Background
Seven years ago, Valant performed alongside Zak as a magician. Since then he has done his best to continue his career under his own power.

Before that, Zak's wife Thalassa was a part of their team as well. But during a rehearsal of a dangerous trick, Thalassa was shot, and her death covered up by her own father to preserve the reputation of the Troupe. Zak and Valant never learned which of their guns was responsible for the lethal shot, and afterwards, their relationship to each other and their master was never the same.

One evening, Valant received a letter from his master, telling him to come visit him in the hospital and shoot him in the head. But Valant knew him too well, and deduced that the letter was a test for him and Zak. He plotted ahead of time to frame Zak for Magnifi's murder, so that he could continue his own career with Magnifi's tricks. When he arrived at the hospital, Magnifi was asleep. Valant lost his nerve, and started to leave, but then Magnifi awoke and stopped him. He told Valant that he had already passed his tricks on to Zak. Valant had nothing left.

Valant left the room, but as he stood in the hall, he heard a gunshot, and rushed back inside. Magnifi had killed himself. Hurt and bitter, Valant decided to go through with his plan to frame Zak after all.

In court, Valant testified that it was Zak that killed Magnifi, but Phoenix Wright was able to break through his story. Just when it looked like Phoenix had proved that Valant was the one that shot Magnifi, Phoenix presented a piece of evidence that the prosecution was able to prove had been forged. Phoenix lost the case. But when Zak was brought to the stand for his verdict, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, never to be seen again.

Valant thought that with Zak gone he would be free. But since Zak's verdict was never read, and his body never recovered, Valant could not legally inherit Magnifi's magic tricks. And even worse, everyone came to believe that Zak had disappeared to take the blame away from Valant - that Valant really WAS guilty, and Zak was merely protecting him.

Valant was never entirely cleared of suspicion, but he managed to work as a magician for the next seven years, waiting for Zak to be declared legally dead so he could inherit the magic he thought was his due.