| Bronco Knight |
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| Bronco Knight |
| Yeah, well I'm doing my job as a knight and protecting my king. So go ahead. Keep running your mouth. |
Bronco Knight was the revolver-toting second-in-command of Zheng Fa president Di-Jun Wang's hired personal bodyguards. He was present during the apparent assassination attempt that was made against the president during the latter's speech at Gourd Lake.
Early life
Gusto and Halique with their sons.
Help from an unexpected source.
The man who would become known as Bronco Knight was born to Artie Frost, also known as the renowned French sculptor, Paul Halique. At school, the boy's best friend was the son of a confectioner, Carmelo Gusto, and they were close enough that the two of them and their fathers shared a photo together. In December 2000, Frost collaborated with Gusto in order to participate in a dessert-making contest hosted by the famous television chef Samson Tangaroa. Gusto would often rely on his son to taste his desserts, so when Frost betrayed him, the latter forced his own son to tie up Gusto's son.
Frost's son bound his best friend's wrists and legs while crying and asking for forgiveness. The boy then went inside Frost's car with his friend and locked the doors. Due to the freezing cold, the door soon froze over, preventing both of them from escaping. Luckily for them, a passer-by named Bodhidharma Kanis rescued them. In the meantime, Gusto killed Frost and fled the country, leaving both boys orphans.
The young boys were unaware of what had happened to their fathers, in no small part due to the memory loss that their near-death experience had left them with. Kanis thus took them to the Happy Family Home orphanage. It was presumably while they were at the orphanage that the pair obtained their new names of Bronco Knight and Simeon Saint. Saint eventually ran away, but the two friends kept in touch and played chess by correspondence. The police searched for an heir to Frost/Halique's possessions, and eventually found Knight and delivered the stamp seal that Halique used to sign his works, Knight then choosing to turn it into a ring that he would always wear.
President's bodyguard
As an adult, Knight was employed as a bodyguard for a private security company. When Di-Jun Wang, the president of Zheng Fa, arrived in the United States, he hired the bodyguards. Knight became resentful of living in the shadow of fellow employee Bastian Rook, who was assigned to be the leader of the president's security team.
The staged assassination
Knight in March 2019.
The president was due to give a speech at Gourd Lake on March 25, 2019. Back in Zheng Fa, Wang's approval ratings were abysmally low, so Knight, eager to prove his usefulness, went to the president with a plan for a staged assassination attempt, which his friend Saint had given him. Wang reluctantly agreed, but Rook refused to play any part in the scheme. The two conspirators went ahead anyway, leaving Rook in the dark of further details.
As part of the plan, Knight recruited the journalist Tabby Lloyd, who had appeared at Zheng Fa's embassy looking for a scoop. In exchange for information for her news story, Knight asked Lloyd to stand in the audience while wearing an easily distinguishable red hood, point a laser pointer at the president at a certain part of the speech, and then hide the red coat, in order to give the impression that the would-be assailant had vanished into thin air. Lloyd was left unaware of the staged assassination attempt because Knight planned to frame her as the "assassin". Knight even left a used gun in a garbage can in front of the stage for investigators to find. A bulletproof vest with a crushed-up bullet embedded into it was also prepared beforehand as fake evidence that the president had been hit.
De Killer incapacitating Knight.
Two days before the speech, however, the infamous assassin Shelly de Killer infiltrated Wang's bodyguards in order to kill the president. Although Rook was able to detect the imposter, by that time de Killer had already managed to get close to his target. With his cover blown, the assassin made his move, overpowering Knight by grabbing him by the throat. Rook proved far more formidable, as he quickly seized, twisted, and put a bullet through the assassin's left arm, forcing de Killer to escape. Knight's injury from the altercation forced him to wear a neck brace, and left him unable to turn his head to the right. This clear discrepancy in the skill of the two bodyguards caused Knight to resent Rook further, to the point that he became willing to murder him if the opportunity arose.
Knight murdering Rook.
As a result of the attack, the bodyguard's plan was changed so that only Rook and Knight would be guarding the president, and Knight was moved to the right of the stage, so that he could execute his plan despite his neck injury. Later, as the president gave his speech, Knight shot a balloon off to the side of the stage, using his bulletproof attaché case to hide what he was doing and make it seem as if someone was shooting at Wang, inadvertently hitting one of the podium's flags, leaving a clue as to the true origins of the shots. Knight and Rook quickly took their charge into the presidential seaplane, where Wang made his way into a safe room. Left alone with the object of his resentment, and knowing that the president was cowering under a table and covering his ears, with the security video feed of the central room of the plane turned off, Knight took the opportunity to shoot Rook dead. The fatal bullet went through Rook and into one of the security monitors, which Knight quickly hid elsewhere inside the plane, while putting the president's beloved plushie in place of the broken monitor to disguise its absence.
Knight then emerged from the plane to find Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (along with Kay Faraday and Detective Dick Gumshoe) questioning Lloyd after having thoroughly investigated the crime scene. The bodyguard revealed that Wang was perfectly fine and lied that Rook had been shot while protecting the president. He then told Edgeworth that control of the investigation was being handed over to the Zheng Fa police, and that Lloyd was being arrested as the assassin. However, Shelly de Killer, who had been posing as an ice cream salesman, suddenly grabbed Knight and held a knife to his throat, demanding that Edgeworth be allowed to investigate the plane.
Left with no other option, Knight led them all onto the plane with the assassin's blade still at his throat. Once on board, de Killer found that his target was still hiding inside the safe room. He attempted to make Di-Jun Wang come out by threatening to kill Knight. When it became apparent that the president would not appear, de Killer, satisfied with the progress of Edgeworth's investigation, proceeded to escape before police surrounded the plane.
Tampering with the evidence.
Wang then finally emerged and tried to claim extraterritoriality rights to take away control of the investigation from Edgeworth. He even had Knight confiscate all the evidence the prosecutor had acquired. Knight made sure to manipulate the evidence while it was in his possession, by attaching the laser sight from the one found by Edgeworth at the crime scene (which Knight had planted) to his own revolver, as well as changing the number of bullets in both guns. However, since the incident had seemingly happened outside the plane, Edgeworth retained his investigative rights and Knight was forced to give back the evidence; Edgeworth then went on to prove that the assassination attempt was a fake.
Knight nonetheless continued to attempt to frame Lloyd as the assassin and Rook's killer, but was no match for Edgeworth, who proceeded to search the plane with the president's approval, finding the broken monitor. Even Knight's attempts to manipulate the evidence were caught out, as his fingerprints were also on the bullets that he had transferred to throw off the shot counts. This was enough for Edgeworth to prove Knight's guilt and he was promptly arrested. Edgeworth was to take the prosecutor's bench for the ensuing trial.
Death
In prison.
Being interrogated by Laguarde.
Knight's crime made the news all over the country. He became a scapegoat for the president, who blamed him for the whole assassination attempt (hiding that it was fake), not just the murder of Rook. While awaiting his trial, Knight was incarcerated in the detention center. While he was being escorted to the holding cell, he and his escort were attacked by Rocco Carcerato, who stole the keys to the cell. Two days after the staged assassination, Knight was visited by Saint, who was working as an animal tamer for the Berry Big Circus and was about to perform a show in the prison. Saint gave Knight a pocket chess set.
After the visit, the prison director Fifi Laguarde, who also used to be the director of the orphanage where Knight and Saint had lived, took Knight away for interrogation. She suspected him of being an agent of the now imprisoned Kanis. Kanis would frequently threaten Laguarde that one of his "dogs" would come and kill her one day, and he had been using these threats to get her to deliver various goods to him and his fellow inmates. The frightened director had looked through Knight's mail and believed that he was playing correspondence chess with Kanis. Laguarde looked at Knight's chessboard and found a chisel inside, like the ones that Kanis had. Driven to the brink of madness by fear, Laguarde stabbed Knight in the neck with a knife, killing him instantly.
Laguarde moved the body into the prison using a secret route that had been established to deliver goods to Kanis. Inmate Frank Sahwit would turn off the power so that Laguarde could reach the courtyard from her office. She sprayed perfume on Knight's body, wrapped it inside a sheet to prevent a blood trail from being left behind, and tied it to a contraption that Saint had set up for the circus show. When the contraption was set off during the show, the body fell into a secret tunnel, and the scent of the perfume signaled Kanis's dog Helmut to deliver it to his owner. Kanis was surprised to find the body with Helmut and, not wishing to be suspected, ordered the dog to leave the body to one of the workshops, where it was soon discovered.
Simeon Saint became the prime suspect due to being seen talking with Knight and having the opportunity to murder him. However, despite interference by Verity Gavèlle and Eustace Winner, Edgeworth was eventually able to prove Laguarde as Knight's killer.
Aftermath
Saint's role in suggesting the staged assassination attempt would later be revealed, as well as one of his motivations for doing so: to have Knight sent to the prison run by Laguarde. Saint had then took advantage of Laguarde's paranoia by planting the chisel in Knight's chess set, and manipulating the chess correspondence by having Knight and Kanis unknowingly play each other, with each believing that he was playing Saint. This framed Knight as an underling of Kanis, which spurned her into murder. Saint had done all this as revenge for Laguarde's role in the SS-5 Incident, and for what Knight had done to him 18 years ago. Furthermore, Saint's memory had been muddled, and he had come to believe that Gusto had been Knight's father rather than his own. As such, he mistakenly thought that Knight's father had killed his own, and blamed him by extension, increasing his grudge.
This would all come to light when Edgeworth figured out that Saint was behind a number of recent crimes, all with the aim of getting revenge, and confronted him. A delayed letter from Knight helped prove Saint's manipulation of the chess correspondence. Eventually, all of Saint's plans were unraveled, and he was arrested for his crimes.
Personality
Mugshot.
Knight was an arrogant man with a love of chess. Such was his enjoyment of the game, that he would often use chess metaphors and refer to himself as a "knight" protecting his "king" (Wang). His arrogance was such that he resented, and ultimately killed, Rook due to being envious of the more skilled bodyguard. Another obvious quirk of Knight's was his habit of playing with his revolver; he would often twirl it around his finger, reload it for no reason, and even point it at other people when talking to them.
It seemed that Knight would always lose to his chess correspondence opponent. The delayed letter depicted him making a surprising move that would turn the game around and lead to checkmate. This mirrored the fact that the letter itself exposed Saint's manipulation of the chess correspondence. Knight was seemingly completely unaware of the resentment Saint felt towards him.
Name
- Japanese/Chinese - Manosuke Naitou (内藤 馬乃介)//Nèitè Mǎnǎijiè (內特 馬乃介):
- "Naitō" is the Japanese romanization of the English word "knight" (ナイト), while his given name contains the kanji for horse (馬). Both meanings refer to his love of chess, in particular the knight piece. He often compares himself to a knight in the game of chess, defending his king.
- His Chinese name is basically the same as the Japanese one, except one character that was switched to make the pronunciation closer to the English word "Knight."
- "Naitō" is the Japanese romanization of the English word "knight" (ナイト), while his given name contains the kanji for horse (馬). Both meanings refer to his love of chess, in particular the knight piece. He often compares himself to a knight in the game of chess, defending his king.
- English - Bronco Knight:
- Both his given name and surname are references to the meaning of the original Japanese name; "Bronco" is term that refers to wild or partly tamed horses, which also alludes to his arrogant personality and unsafe gun habits. "Knight" is taken straight from "Naitō".
- French - Lucas Valier:
- His name is a pun on the word "Cavalier", which means "horse rider or horseman". This is a reference to him being a "cavalier" (knight) chess piece.
Unofficial
- English - Horace Knightley:
- His English name in the unofficial fan translation patch for Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit is "Horace Knightley". Both his given name and surname are references to the meaning of the original Japanese name; "Horace" is a play on "horse" (which the knight piece resembles) and "Knightley" is a play on "knight".
- French - Karl Vallier:
- In the unofficial French fan patch, his name is "Karl Vallier", which comes from the word "Cavalier", which means "horse rider or horseman"; his name can also be shortened to "K. Vallier". This is a reference to him being a "cavalier" (knight) chess piece.
- Brazilian Portuguese - Ulisses Cavalcante:
- In the upcoming unofficial Brazilian Portuguese fan translation of Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit, his name is "Ulisses Cavalcante". "Ulisses", derived from the Latin "Ulysses", is a masculine name that roughly means "the irritated" or "to irritate". Moreover, Ulysses is the idealizer of the Trojan horse in the Odyssey. "Cavalcante" means "one who rides" or "mounted on a horse". Put together, his name roughly means "the irritated horse rider", fitting in line with his jealousy and hatred of Rook and his horse/knight theming.
Development
- Like a few other characters in Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit, Knight has design and personality parallels with a chess piece. With his mane-like hair, name pun, and desire to protect his "king", Knight represents the knight.
- Continuing the chess theme is his tie, which has a checkered pattern reminiscent of a chessboard.
- During his breakdown, Knight is struck on the head by a number of objects, many of which are references to earlier Ace Attorney episodes. The objects are: a horseshoe, a Blue Badger doll, the The Thinker clock from The First Turnabout and Turnabout Sisters (making him the only character to survive being struck by said object), a Captain Ugo piggy bank from Turnabout Airlines, the box of Samurai Dogs from Turnabout Ablaze that was the final evidence against Quercus Alba (complete with blood spot), a mallet, and the revolver that Knight had thrown in the first place.