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Revision as of 05:06, 13 February 2015

Darklaw
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You may be looking for Espella Cantabella's pet cat, who is also named Eve.

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.

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

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".

While intially 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, even leaving direct administration for longer and longer periods of time, only returning to distribute his stories durng parades. Eventually, after a lightning strike destroyed the Cloak of Invisibility (a pure black fabric used by the Shades to hide themselves and the technology used in magic) concealing the Bell Tower, the elder Belduke was driven to take his own life in guilt for the project, especially after having been shown the victimhood of one assigned witch, Jean Greyerl. Enraged and embittered, Darklaw blamed the Storyteller and turned on 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 old 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 the truth (or what she believed to be the truth) of the Legendary Fire to the town. Having heard about the famed professor of archaeology, Hershel Layton, and the mysteries he had solved, Darklaw vowed to bring him to Labyrinthia so he could reveal the town's secrets for her.

Her chance came three months after Newton's death, when Carmine Accidenti, a former student of Layton's, arrived at Labyrinthia. Disguised as The Great Witch, Darklaw, alongside several of her Shades, pursued Accidenti and Espella all the way to London and eventually ambushed Espella in Layton's office, where she 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, but the two were able 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, under the premise that they'd known each other for five years prior.

Name

  • 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.
  • 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 instead 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.
  • As a part of her alias as a teacher, Darklaw claimed to be from the "Owl Cote School for Girls". "Owl Cote" comes from "owl" and "coat (of arms)", referring to Labyrinthia's coat of arms.
  • "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", comes from the Latin word "honor", meaning "honor". This is most likely a reference to the way she acts. It might also come from "Eleonore", meaning "the other", which might be a remark to how this is in fact her real name and not her "other" name, being her alias. Her surname "de Victoire" is French for "of victory", which might be a reference to her 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.
  • 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.

Notes

  • Darklaw is the third character in Ace Attorney games to celebrate a birthday. The first being Dustin Prince, and the second being Victor Kudo. But unlike Dustin Prince, the date remains unknown.
  • It may be noted that on her right hand she has what appears to be a metal gauntlet/glove. This is very similar to the one Newton Belduke, her father wears on his left hand. It is likely these were a set, and Newton passed it down to her.