| Darklaw |
Image Gallery | Sprite Gallery |
| This article contains information about Ace Attorney media that has been recently released and thus likely contains spoilers! | |
|---|---|
 Readers of this page should be aware that this article likely contains MAJOR SPOILERS concerning the media in question. You have been warned! | |
| We need more pieces to finish this puzzle. | |
|---|---|
|
This article is under construction. While it is not short, it still needs expansion as outlined in the manual of style. The article most likely needs expansion near the end of the tagged section or sections. |
- 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 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 bought 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".
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 claws-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.
- "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 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 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.