Ryūnosuke Naruhodō


 * This article is about the character, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō. You may be looking for the game Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken.

"Ryūnosuke Naruhodō"

- I'll become an attorney... I swear it!

Ryūnosuke Naruhodō was an ancestor of Phoenix Wright who lived in Japan during the Meiji period.

While he was a second year student at Teito Yuumei University, Naruhodō was put on trial for a murder he did not commit. After his acquittal, he traveled to London where he became acquainted with Sherlock Holmes. Naruhodō went on to defend clients in the English courtroom.

Accused of murder

 * Main article: The Adventure of the Great Departure

On November 19, 1899, Naruhodō met and talked with his friend Kazuma Asōgi at the “La Quantos” restaurant. After his friend left, he saw John H. Watson sitting nearby, recognizing him as a British professor at his university. Naruhodō walked up and greeted Watson, talking with him for a bit. Afterwards, he was preparing to leave when he noticed a handgun on the floor. When he picked up the weapon, Naruhodō heard a nearby gunshot and found Watson dead. Because he was holding onto the gun, the witnesses nearby believed that he was the murderer and he was promptly arrested by Detective Satoru Hosonaga.

Three days later, Naruhodō was put on trial with Asōgi as his defense attorney. However, when he learned from Yūjin Mikotoba that his friend’s chance to study abroad in England was in jeopardy, he decided to represent himself and Asōgi stood as his assistant. Despite being heavily nervous at the beginning of the trial because of his lack of experience with the law, Naruhodō was able to stand firm against Prosecutor Taketsuchi Auchi. He figured out that the witnesses, Sanmon Sonohigurashi and Taizou Uzukumaru, were concealing the important fact that Watson was with a British exchange student, Jezail Brett, at the time of his death, so he suspected that she was connected to the murder. When she appeared in the courtroom, Brett repeatedly denied killing Watson, but Naruhodō was able to hold his ground against her. At one time when the witness had the upper hand, he and Asōgi were assisted by Mikotoba’s daughter, Susato, who gave them Watson’s research documents on curare. Naruhodō prevailed against all odds and proved that Brett poisoned the professor with curare and framed him by shooting the corpse with her hidden handgun. Thus, he was able to prove his innocence, and he and Asōgi won the trial.

Naruhodō was congratulated for his victory and acquittal, but soon learned from Yūjin Mikotoba and Detective Hosonaga that Brett would be heading for Shanghai and not be put on trial in Japan due to the invocation of the “trial consul’s authority.” Naruhodō was given a compliment by Asōgi on how he had the making of an attorney. His friend then stated that he had a request for him.

Losing a friend

 * Main article: The Adventure of the Unbreakable Speckled Band

Asōgi’s request was for Naruhodō to join him on his journey to London and study law alongside him. His friend not only wanted the two of them to revolutionize the law in Japan, but also let Naruhodō realize his true potential as an attorney. So Asōgi smuggled him onto the steamship, and Naruhodō hid in the closet to avoid the sailors. But a month after they left Japan, Asōgi was found dead in his cabin, and Ryūnosuke was found and charged for murdering his friend. Wanting to clear his name, he asked Susato if they could try to figure out the truth together about Asōgi’s death, to which she allowed under her supervision. It was during their investigation that they met Sherlock Holmes, the great detective of London, who was also looking into the murder case.

With Susato and Holmes’ help, Naruhodō figured out that Asōgi’s murderer was Nikomina Borschevic, a Russian ballet dancer who was seeking asylum and snuck onto the ship. With his friend dead, Naruhodō was informed by Hosonaga that they had to return home since there was now no attorney. But he declared that he would take Asōgi’s place as an attorney and study law on the ship, even though they had forty days left until they reached London.

First trial in London

 * Main article: The Adventure of the Runaway Room

Arriving in London, Naruhodō and Susato met with the Chief Justice, Hart Vortex. In order to prove to the chairman that he was worthy of taking Asōgi's place, Ryūnosuke was immediately assigned to take on a case and win a "Not Guilty" verdict. At the Old Bailey, he and Susato meet their first client: Cosney Megundal. Although he was a well-liked businessman, nobody took his case because the prosecutor was the "Death God of the Old Bailey," Barok van Zieks. It was during this trial that Naruhodō learned about the jurist system, and how he could make a case to continue the trial should all six jurors decide on a "Guilty" verdict.

As the trial progressed, Naruhodō was making progress until van Zieks pointed out that someone had tampered with the carriage and had created fake evidence. He indicated that the ones responsible were Megundal and Gina Lestrade, a pickpocket who caused a smoke explosion earlier. It was here that Naruhodō began to question Megundal's innocence, but the trial could not continue because Megundal pointed out that the prosecution lacked decisive evidence that the crime scene was tampered. Thus, Naruhodō won the "Not Guilty" verdict, albeit conflicted on the truth of the case. Soon after the trial ended, Megundal said he was being summoned back to help the investigation on the carriage, but the carriage caught fire and Megundal's burnt body was found within.

Defending a fellow Japanese

 * Main article: The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro and The Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro

The next day, Naruhodō and Susato met with Vortex, who congratulated the former on his victory and acknowledged him as an attorney. Naruhodō admitted that he wasn’t satisfied with the trial, but was immediately informed by Vortex about Megundal’s death. The pair was further shocked when they learned that Scotland Yard did not arrange for him to inspect the carriage. Shortly afterwards, Vortex assigned the pair to a new case, with the trial being tomorrow. After meeting with Detective Tobias Gregson, they learned that Naruhodō was to defend Natsume Sōseki, a fellow Japanese exchange student who was accused of stabbing Viridian Green in the back.

As they met with Sōseki, Naruhodō and Susato learned that he was arrested by Holmes. They later went to the detective’s lodgings to hear his side of the case, but they instead find the girl they met the other day, who turned out to be Holmes’ assistant and autobiographer, Iris Watson. After deducing that Naruhodō and Susato wanted to see Holmes about the case, Watson helped them by sending a letter to Gregson that convinced him to let them do their investigations. After they were directed to Sōseki’s lodgings, the pair met with the owner of the flat, John Garrideb. With his permission, Naruhodō and Susato searched Sōseki’s room and found Holmes conducting his own investigations. Later, when the detective began to suspect John and his maid, he and Ryūnosuke deduced that the maid was actually John’s wife, Joan, and they had a heated argument during the time of Green’s stabbing.

On the following day, Naruhodō and Susato were shocked that Joan was the fourth juror. Throughout the trial, whatever advantage they found was countered by van Zieks and they were put at a major disadvantage. However, Naruhodō found his turnabout when he figured out that the patrolman, Patrick O'Malley, moved the crime scene from his patrol area so that he could spend time with his wife, Rola. After indicting Joan as the criminal, Naruhodō found that she threw the knife during her fight with her husband, unintentionally causing it to fly out the window and stab Green as the victim was picking up John’s book on the street. Thus, Naruhodō won the case in a fair fight.

Afterwards, Naruhodō and Susato were invited by Holmes to live at his flat, and the three of them and Watson celebrated with Sōseki on his freedom.

Sōseki's freedom was short-lived, however, as he found himself once again being arrested for the attempted murder of William Petenshy.

The truth of three months ago

 * Main article: The Adventure of the Unspeakable Story

Three months later, Ryūnosuke defended Gina Lestrade in a case connected to his first trial in London.

Personality
Ryūnosuke is defined by his loyalty to his friends, faith in his clients, and pursuit of the truth. All three of those drive him to transcend cultural barriers in an environment prejudiced against Japanese. Ryūnosuke has a very sharp detective instinct, and is skilled in both observation and deduction. By using Sherlock Holmes's deductions as a starting point and scaffold, Ryūnosuke finds difficult truths behind otherwise baffling situations.

In trials, Ryūnosuke's lack of experience is countered by his natural charisma. In closing arguments, he is able to bring all sorts of eccentric and even outright racist jurors around to his point of view. Many characters note he is an excellent public speaker, and he succeeds even when placed under odd demands like time or word limits. He shares many of the same movements and sarcastic mental commentary as his descendant Phoenix Wright, although Ryūnosuke is not quite as fond of bluffing.

Ryūnosuke tends to be a bit uptight. He is easily flustered and breaks down often and dramatically. He hates doctors since he had bad experience getting a needle jab at the age of 5. When it comes to females, he tends to be indifferent. Ryūnosuke's nervous habit is to glance around wildly. He brings himself back to his senses by slapping his cheeks. When Ryūnosuke is confident, he maintains eye contact and rests his hand on his sword. Over the course of five cases, he becomes more composed.

Kazuma Asōgi's advice has significant impact on Ryūnosuke's outlook. In times of self-doubt, Ryūnosuke reflects back on Asōgi. Ryūnosuke derives a lot of his inner strength from his friends, first Susato and Asōgi and later Sherlock and Iris.

Ryūnosuke's miscellaneous talents include a proficiency with tongue twisters.

Name

 * Like his descendant Phoenix Wright, Ryūnosuke Naruhodō's Japanese surname, "Naruhodō" (成歩堂), is a reference toward the Japanese expression "naruhodo", which roughly means "I see", "I understand", or "indeed", and is usually used to agree with other people's ideas.
 * His given name "Ryūnosuke" (龍ノ介) is shared with the Japanese writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (芥川龍之介), with the kanji 之 replaced with the katakana ノ.
 * The name literally means "dragon herald" (i.e., someone heralding the arrival of a dragon). This is in reference to his status as ancestor to Phoenix Wright, who has the Japanese given name "Ryūichi" (龍一) that refers to the dragon; as the "dragon herald", Ryūnosuke precedes Ryūichi "the dragon" in the timeline of the Ace Attorney series.
 * The name is a combination of Phoenix Wright's and Apollo Justice's Japanese names, "Ryūichi" and "Housuke" respectively.

Development

 * Ryūnosuke is written similarly to his descendant Ryūichi (Phoenix Wright), with the different setting providing enough to distinguish them while still making the former easy to get used to by series veterans and new players alike.
 * Ryūnosuke was given a student uniform designed to distinguish his look from Phoenix Wright's. Art director Kazuya Nuri had the most trouble with the hairstyle due to the limited selection of plausible hairstyles of the period.
 * Ryūnosuke's sword is "Karuma", the exact same sword owned by Kazuma Asōgi before his apparent death. Ryūnosuke also wrapped Asōgi's headband around it in memory of his friend.
 * Ryūnosuke is the first, and so far the only, protaganist who has multiple animations for the same actions. During his first case, he nervously slams the desk. This animation is kept in later cases, however a more traditional desk slam animation is used to show his growth. Up until the end of the end of his second trial, Ryūnosuke's "document animation" shows him nervously shuffling through documents. This is replaced with him confidentally tapping on a document during the middle of his third trial.
 * Ryūnosuke does not say "Objection!" until partway into the first case. At first, he uses "Hai!" (Sir!) for everything, which is typically said Japanese to mean something akin to "I have an opinion". This is to reflect the fact that he was not supposed to be an attorney and feels out of place.
 * Of the speech bubbles used in the series so far, Ryūnosuke has used 6 of them (Objection!, Hold it!, Take that!, Got it!, Hang on!, and Hai!), which is more than any other character in the series to date, though he shares this distinction with Phoenix Wright, who has also used the same speech bubbles, except for "Hai!", as he uses "Welcome!" instead.