Zacharias Barnham

"Zacharias Barnham"

- ...What say you in your defense, witness? I highly recommend you give us nothing but the truth.

Zacharias Barnham was the head of Labyrinthia's Order of Knights, as well as an inquisitor in the town's witch trials. He was the inquisitor for Espella Cantabella's first witch trial, as well as the witch trial of Maya Fey.

Background
Nothing is known of Barnham’s past life before he signed the contract with Labrelum Inc. He was then given two important roles: inquisitor and leader of the Order of the Knights. Supposedly, he was a student of Primstone, but this may or may not have happened.

First Parade

 * Main article: Mysterious Labyrinthia

Barnham first appeared in his full armor, leading the parade of the Storyteller on horseback as Darklaw and the knights passed out the new story for the townspeople.

Inquisitor

 * Main article: The Fire Witch

Later that night, Barnham arrived a little late to Espella Cantabella’s first trial at the witches' court, taking off his face and helmet and revealing his face. Finding that the defender, Phoenix Wright, was a mere “baker”, he declared that the trial will end swiftly, causing the crowd to cheer for him. He called forth four witnesses: Wordsmith, Mary, Kira, and Knightle. At the start of the trial, Barnham easily got the upper hand and was close to getting a guilty verdict, but Professor Hershel Layton intervened, aiding Wright with the Grand Grimoire. After the defence introduced the concept of logic to prove that Espella could not have held the Talea Magica, Barnham used logic himself to turn the trial back to his favor. He did so by pointing out that Espella could have chanted the Ignaize spell before she dropped her lantern.

At the half-point of the trial, when a not guilty verdict was about to be handed down, Emeer Punchenbaug appeared as the fifth witness. This caught Barnham by surprise as the drunkard did not show up when he called for witnesses. Later, Wright and Layton were able to prove that Kira was the real witch. When she was placed in the cage, Barnham asked her about why she was trying to frame Espella for being a witch. When Kira claimed that Espella was the Great Witch Bezella and started begging for her life, Barnham stopped her and claimed that the knights must protect Labyrinthia from witches life her. Even after Espella offered herself to be executed for being Bezella, the inquisitor and the judge did not listen and Kira was sent to the flames.

After the trial, Barnham had Espella arrested on charges for being Bezella.

Personality
A serious and dedicated man, Barnham is viewed as something of a celebrity in Labyrinthia due to his passion in defending the town from witches. In court, he cut an imposing figure owing to his wearing of a suit of armor and his frequent use of metaphors revolving around swords when speaking (e.g., noting that Wright has "finally grown skilled with his blade, however, it has dulled"). Barnham also appears to enjoy giving his rivals nicknames, referring to Phoenix Wright as "Sir Blue Knight" and Hershel Layton as "Sir Dark Hat".

Like many of the citizens of Labyrinthia, Barnham had no understanding of logic prior to the arrival of Wright, and based his accusations strictly on the words of witnesses and available evidence. Because of this, he would become irritated when a witness was shown to be lying or withholding evidence from the court. He would also become annoyed with Layton and Wright when the two presented theories without the ability to back them up. Partway into Espella Cantabella's first witch trial, Barnham was introduced to the concept of 'logic' by Wright. After this, he was seen to be considerably more skillful and began to present logical counter-arguments. Layton noted that, despite having no prior comprehension of the concept beforehand, Barnham was able to quickly learn how logic worked and use it against Wright in court.

Name

 * His English and Dutch surnames likely plays on "burn them", which could be a reference to the penalty for witchcraft in Labyrinthia.


 * His English name "Zacharias" is the Greek form of the name "Zechariah", and means "Yahweh has remembered". This could be in reference to the fact that the "creator" of Labyrinthia, the Storyteller, is the only person in the town who remembers what truly happened during the Legendary Fire.


 * "William", his given name in the French version, means "determined protector".


 * His French surname "Garnet" comes from the mineral of the same name. Garnet was once thought to ward off evil, which Barnham believes he is doing in his job. The gemstone also lends its name to a shade of red, the color of Barnham's hair.


 * His German given name "Aloysius" is a variant of "Louis", which means "famous warrior".


 * "Flamberg", his German surname, is the name of a type of sword.


 * Both "Alexandre" (Spanish version) and "Alistair" (Italian and Dutch versions) are variations of the given name "Alexander", which comes from the Ancient Greek for "defender of man". This fits with his role as an inquisitor protecting Labyrinthia from witches.

Development

 * Barnham's use of sword metaphors and habit of giving others nicknames is reminiscent of Simon Blackquill, the prosecutor from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies.