Aristotle Means

"Aristotle Means"

- Here at our esteemed academy, we train our students to produce meaningful results.

Aristotle Means was a defense attorney and teacher at the Themis Legal Academy lawyer course. He was a witness in the murder of Constance Courte.

Career
Sometime in his youth, Means graduated from the lawyer course at Themis Legal Academy as top student, receiving a Themis Academy notebook as a reward.

It can be inferred that he worked as an attorney prior to his career as a teacher. However, unlike his colleague, Constance Courte, he believed that the top priority for a lawyer should be winning trials, by any means necessary. This caused a rift among the students, with half the student body following Means' policy and the other half following Courte's policy that the truth should be sought by legitimate means.

He would also accept bribes for grades, noting the recipients in his notebook.

Murder of a colleague
On October 22, 2027, Courte had received a monthly disciplinary report from her "snitch", Juniper Woods, where it had become clear that someone in the faculty was accepting monetary bribes in return for grades. The following day, Courte found Means on the stage where the school festival was to be held, and confronted him there. Cornered, Means stabbed Courte with the spear in his staff and left her to bleed to death. Having read the details of Juniper Woods' mock trial script from a note on Courte's person, Means decided to frame Woods for his crime.

Means then used two banners to mop up Courte's blood, one school banner and one Gavinners banner, whereupon he brought the Gavinners banner to the art room three stories above in order to wipe it on the floor and create a bloodstain, thus manufacturing a fictional crime scene. After this, he incinerated the banner. He then fashioned the body to resemble an unfinished Phoenix Wright statue (started by Robin Newman) by tying her hands behind her head and using his staff to mimic Wright's infamous "Objection!" pose. Using cloth to hide Courte's body and the finished Klavier Gavin statue, he hid the body until the next day.

On October 24, during the school's mock trial, Means was to give a customary introductory speech, which he had prerecorded on this occasion so as to establish an alibi. This speech amounted to a length of 10 minutes and 35 seconds. During this time, he took a white Lady Justice statue, which had been assembled "artistically" by Courte, and sent it down to the stage in a makeshift pouch constructed by the Themis banner. Doing so intentionally smashed both Lady Justice and the Gavin statue, leading to Wright and Athena Cykes discovering the body of Courte, cementing the professor's supposed alibi.

In the aftermath of his crime, he used the same tape on which his speech was recorded to fabricate evidence of a woman screaming "You're a goner", which was one of the lines in the mock trial, in the art room. He also deleted his speech, although he did this somewhat sloppily, leaving 10 minutes and 35 seconds of white noise on the tape. He then gave the tape to his student Hugh O’Conner, telling him to give it to the investigating attorneys. Finally, he planned to take up the defense of Woods himself in order to clear all suspicion regarding him, although Cykes was already heading the defense.

However, with some help from Apollo Justice, Cykes managed to deduce that Means was the actual culprit in the case. When confronted in court, Means showed a much more sinister side of himself, ruthlessly taking advantage of some of the earlier errors Cykes had committed, causing her to doubt herself to the point of nearly costing her the case. However, following an intervention from Newman, O'Conner, Woods, Simon Blackquill, and Justice, Cykes managed to recover and revisualize the facts, deducing how Means had hid the body. Knowing that the jig was up, Means attempted to sway the audience, to no avail, and was finally arrested and incarcerated.

Personality
"Aristotle Means"

- Professor Means always says what he means and means what he says by all means!

At first glance, Means appeared to be a benevolent teacher, genuinely interested in seeing justice made (although Cykes found his policy that "the end justifies the means" somewhat disturbing). He possessed a large, somewhat unnerving grin, which he tended to flash when disagreeing on something.

In actuality, Means' benevolence was a façade. He was not above accepting bribes for good grades or falsifying evidence to secure victory for himself. He also viewed the dark age of the law as a boon to the legal profession and even "beautiful", since his philosophy was a matter of routine. When cornered (and having his ruthless view of the law criticized), Means would fashion his hair into a structure similar to an ancient Greek war helmet by forming a mohawk in the middle of his head; at this point, he would become belligerent, condescending, and also downright malevolent. His manner of killing Courte, presumably standing by while she bled out, is testament to his coldness.

When found guilty of his crime, Means tried to barter with the audience for more lenient alternatives to his long prison stretch such as bathroom detail, retaking the bar exam, a 30% salary cut, and a dismissal.

He was one of the characters whom the Phantom impersonated during trial in Turnabout for Tomorrow.

Name

 * His Japanese first name comes from the word "shinjiru" (信じる), which means "to believe", and his last name means "one road" so his full name literally means "believe in one road". If mixed with Courte's Japanese name, then the phrase "michi wa tadase" is read, with the phrase meaning "correct the road".
 * His Western surname is "Means". Means may come from phrases such as "the ends justify the means" and "by any means necessary", referring to him teaching his students to win as their top priority. His first name, "Aristotle", comes from the famous ancient Greek philosopher, hence Means' berobed appearance. The name can also be a play on words of the phrase "arrest at all means", showing his ruthless drive towards victories in court.
 * His name not only refers to his resemblance to a typical figure from Classical Greece, but also to his personal philosophy. Aristotle the philosopher is famous for his belief that everything we do is a means to an end (i.e. going grocery shopping is a means toward the end of eating well), with happiness as the ultimate end at which all our activities aim. Means' philosophy that the "end justifies the means" is an absolutist spin on Aristotle's beliefs.
 * In line with his "Classical Greece" theme, Means' "post-transformation" mohawk mimics the plumes often sported atop the Corinthian helmets worn by Greek hoplite warriors.
 * One of Means' animations, which shows him pointing upward with his right hand, then doing the "OK" hand gesture, references the famous "School of Athens" painting by the Renaissance artist Raphael. The two men in the center of the painting, said to represent Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, are depicted doing different hand gestures. These hand gestures are also said to represent their contrasting philosophies. Ironically, although his first name is Aristotle, Means' "pointing upward" hand gesture actually borrows from Plato's, not Aristotle's, who is instead depicted holding out his hand towards the ground.