Darklaw

Darklaw

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Eve Belduke V · T · F
Occupation	High Inquisitor of Labyrinthia (lapsed) Great Witch to the Shades (lapsed) First Shade (lapsed)
Biological information
Reckoned birth year(s) (this is for age comparison purposes, and so may look odd; click on the question mark for details)?	Unknown
Documented age range (as recorded in court record profiles & case files)	20* (The Final Witch Trial)
Last known status	Alive
Eye color	Turquoise
Hair color	Purple
Height (the metric (cm) values are sourced from official guidebooks and may not reflect the relative sizes of characters as depicted in-game or in other official media)	Unknown
Associates
Family	Newton Belduke (father; deceased) An unnamed mother (deceased)
Friends	Espella Cantabella (childhood friend)
Affiliates	Storyteller (superior) Zacharias Barnham (subordinate)
Aliases/nicknames
Darklaw The Great Witch* (Shade leader title)
Names in other languages
Japanese (romanization written with the given name first)	ジョドーラ (Jodōra)* (equivalent of Darklaw) クローネ ベルデューク (Kurōne Berudyūku)* (equivalent of Eve Belduke)
French	Aurora* (equivalent of Darklaw) Eva Belleduque* (equivalent of Eve Belduke)
German	Gloria* (equivalent of Darklaw) Nora de Victoire* (equivalent of Eve Belduke)
Spanish	Diana* (equivalent of Darklaw) Selene Belduke* (equivalent of Eve Belduke)
Italian	Laura* (equivalent of Darklaw) Dafne Belleduque* (equivalent of Eve Belduke)
Dutch	Darvell* (equivalent of Darklaw) Eva Belduke* (equivalent of Eve Belduke)
Actors
English	Jo Wyatt
Japanese (romanization written with the given name first)	Toa Yukinari
French	Violaine Fumeau
Spanish	Graciela Molina
Miscellaneous
Debut episode	On a Dark and Stormy Night

Darklaw

Did you all just come here to stand around speculating? If so, there's a quiet cell in the dungeon which has just become vacant... You can speculate all you want in there.

— The Great Witch

Darklaw was the High Inquisitor of Labyrinthia and tasked with ridding the town of witches. She was also the only person normally able to meet directly with the town's "creator", the mysterious Storyteller.

Legendary Fire

Main article: Legendary Fire

Espella and Eve as children.

Darklaw was born Eve Belduke, daughter of Newton Belduke, and was the childhood friend of Espella Cantabella. They lived in a small town that Newton and Espella's father, Arthur, had created.

During an expedition, Newton and Arthur discovered a large, silver bell and constructed a bell tower in the town for it. They intended to ring the bell for the first time after the annual Fire Festival held in the town, but young Espella wanted to sound the bell herself first. On the night of the festival, she asked Eve to sneak over to the tower with her, as they each had one half of key necessary to access the belfry. Once there, however, Espella found herself unable to ring the bell, as she was put off by a cautionary tale Arthur had told her about an evil witch called Bezella who would possess her if she rung the bell. Espella therefore decided to watch the festival instead. Eve, frustrated by her friend's actions, decided to ring the bell herself, but an unusual condition brought about by a substance in the area's groundwater caused her, and everyone else in the town, to fall unconscious the moment the bell rang.

Tragically, with everyone in the town unconscious, there was no-one to keep the large bonfire set up as part of the festival under control. By the time the two girls had recovered, the entire town was ablaze. Newton and Arthur, who had been on another expedition at the time, arrived home and began searching for survivors, but found only Eve and Espella, the latter of whom had fainted from shock. Tearfully, Eve begged her father and Arthur not to blame her friend for what had happened; the two adults suspected Eve was the one responsible, but couldn't bring themselves to punish her. The incident emotionally scarred both girls, with Eve eventually mentally blocking her role in causing the fire.

Sometime later, Arthur began writing stories about witches in order to cheer Espella up and convince her that it had been "Bezella" who had started the fire. To this end, he asked both Newton and Eve to help re-enact his stories, eventually fabricating an entirely new town called Labyrinthia in place of the one that had burned down. Eve herself became the first Shade; individuals responsible for creating what appeared to be the "magic" being cast by witches. She also became the town's "High Inquisitor" to battle the "witches", and took the new name of "Darklaw" in order to prevent Espella from remembering her past. Arthur became the town's ruler and took the pseudonym of "the Storyteller", while Newton became an "alchemist"/doctor. Although Espella had blocked her memories of the fire and Eve, some part of her did still remember her old friend, as she eventually got a black cat she named Eve and would refer to as her "best friend".

The ruling trio of Labyrinthia: Zacharias Barnham, the Storyteller, and Darklaw.

While initially fully supportive of the Labyrinthia Project, Darklaw and her father gradually grew increasingly disturbed by the callous and oblivious way the Storyteller treated the volunteers in the project, as well as his habit of leaving direct administration for longer and longer periods of time, only returning to distribute his stories during parades. Eventually, after a lightning strike destroyed the "cloak of invisibility" (a pure black fabric that the inhabitants had been hypnotized into viewing as transparent) concealing the Bell Tower, Newton Belduke took his own life due to the overwhelming guilt he felt concerning the project, especially after having witnessed first-hand the victimization a "witch" called Jean Greyerl. Enraged and embittered, Darklaw blamed the Storyteller and began to plot against him, vowing to make him experience the pain and sorrow that his "stories" had put her and the town through.

The professor and the attorney

Darklaw decided that the best way to get her revenge was through Espella. Having completely blocked out the fact that she was the one responsible for the now-so-called "Legendary Fire", she deduced that her childhood friend must have caused it. Taking advantage of the Storyteller's long absences, Darklaw began to rewrite his stories, slowly turning the town against Espella. She knew, however, the best cause of action would be to reveal what she believed to be the truth of the Legendary Fire to the town. Having heard about the famed puzzle-solver and professor of archaeology, Hershel Layton, and the mysteries he had solved, Darklaw vowed to bring him to Labyrinthia so that he could reveal the town's secrets for her.

Kidnapping Espella.

Her chance came three months after her father's death, when Carmine Accidenti, a former student of Layton's, arrived in Labyrinthia and managed to smuggle her out of the town. Disguised as the "Great Witch", Darklaw, alongside several of her Shades, pursued Accidenti and Espella all the way to London and eventually ambushed and kidnapped Espella in Layton's office, where the latter was seeking his help. She then headed to Tower Bridge and waited for Layton to arrive. As expected, Layton and his apprentice, Luke Triton, managed to locate Espella and rescue, although they also managed to hide her in a passing freighter moments before Darklaw transported them to Labyrinthia.

By the time Darklaw was able to find Espella again, she had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting the freighter's chef. Forced to take the incident to court, Darklaw pretended to be a school teacher and brainwashed Espella into thinking she was one of her students. Before the trial began, she informed the prosecution and defense that Espella had already pleaded guilty, intending to take her back to Labyrinthia without undue suspicion. However, the defense attorney she had chosen, Phoenix Wright, refused to accept the plea, and eventually proved that Espella was innocent, leading to the possibility of a third person. With her plan scuppered and seeing no other option, Darklaw transported Wright and Maya Fey, his assistant, to Labyrinthia along with Espella, and "wrote" them into the "story" as apprentice bakers. Wright, Fey, and Espella lost all memory of the trial, with their new memories leading them to believe that they had known each other for five years.

Name

• Her Japanese name, "Kurōne" (クローネ), is likely derived from "kuro" (黒), meaning "black". It may also have been chosen for its similarity to Espella's Japanese name, "Mahoney" (マホーネ).

• Her English alias is a portmanteau of the words "dark" and "law", likely in reference to her seemingly brutal prosecution of witches. It may also be a reference to the claw-like gloves she wears (Darklaw).

• The names "Eve" (English version) and "Eva" (French and Dutch versions) originate from the Biblical figure with the same name. Comparisons could be drawn between the two in that both ignored an authority figure in order to perform an action that was seemingly innocuous to them, but led to dire consequences. Alternatively, it may be a play on "eve", meaning "night/evening". If so, this could be a reference to both her dark clothing and cold personality, as well as the color of the cat named after her.

• "Aurora", her French alias, is Latin for "dawn", as well as the Roman goddess of the dawn. This could be intended to show that she is meant to be like the sun rising in the morning and driving away witches to the people of Labyrinthia.

• Her German alias "Gloria" comes from the Latin word for "glory". This could be meant as a reference to her perceived fame and honor as an inquisitor.

• Her German given name, "Nora", may originate from the Latin word "honor" (which has the same meaning as its does in English), although it is debatable as to whether or not the character acts honorably in-game.

• Her German surname, "de Victoire", means "of victory" in French, which may be in reference to her apparent aim of being "victorious" over the "witches".

• Her Spanish alias "Diana" is a given name believed to mean "heavenly" or "divine". The name is also shared by the Roman goddess of the moon and the hunt; Darklaw's role as an inquisitor requires her to hunt down witches.

• "Selene", her Spanish given name, is the name of the Ancient Greek goddess of the moon, thus tying in with her alias.

• Her Italian alias "Laura" comes from the Latin word for the laurel tree, the leaves of which were often used to symbolize a victor, particularly in Roman and Ancient Greek culture. This could be a reference to her being "victorious" over the witches.

• "Dafne", her Italian given name, is a variant of "Daphne", which also means "laurel", albeit this time originating from Ancient Greek; Daphne is a water nymph in Greek mythology who was turned into a laurel tree.

Development

• Darklaw is one of Kazuya Nuri's favorite Ace Attorney-related characters due to having many elements that he likes. She had even gotten the voice actress that he wanted.

• Darklaw's hair is designed to resemble a cat, with the hair ornaments intended to be "ears" and the sides resembling paws or tails.

• The claw-like gauntlet Darklaw wears on her right arm appears to be identical to that worn on the left arm of her father, Newton Belduke.

• As a part of her alias as a teacher, Darklaw claimed to be from the "Owl Cote School for Girls"; "Owl Cote" likely comes from "owl" and "coat (of arms)", referring to Labyrinthia's coat of arms.

• If the special (fourth-wall-breaking) downloadable episodes are included, Darklaw is the third named character to have a mentioned birthday around the time that an Ace Attorney game take place (with the other two being Dustin Prince and Victor Kudo), as well as the only one to have said birthday actually take place during an episode.