Kay Faraday is the second Yatagarasu, a self-proclaimed "Great Thief" who "steals" the truth. She assisted Miles Edgeworth during his investigations into an international smuggling ring.
Early life
Kay Faraday was born to prosecutor Byrne Faraday in 2001. From birth, Kay came to know Byrne's friend, detective Tyrell Badd, and she referred to him as "Uncle". Byrne brought Kay to the District Court at times during trials, and at these instances Byrne always bought Kay a Swiss roll from one of the vending machines in the courthouse. In the course of Kay's early life, Byrne had her make several promises and keep them in a notebook. She promised not to cry in front of strangers or to accept any gifts from them.
Byrne's death
- Main article: Turnabout Reminiscence
Kay at 10 years old.
When Kay was ten years old, during one of her father's trials, the defendant accused Byrne of being the Great Thief Yatagarasu. The two men moved into Defendant Lobby No. 2 to talk, and so Byrne was unable to buy Kay her usual Swiss roll treat.
After hanging around the vending machine near Lobby No. 2 for a while, with only a pink balloon to keep her company, she met the hungry detective posted as the guard for Lobby No. 2, Dick Gumshoe. He had recently been paid his rather paltry bonus of $5 and agreed to put Kay's and his own money together to buy a $6 pair of Swiss rolls. Kay only had loose change, so ran off to find someone with whom she could exchange her coins for a $1 bill and found Miles Edgeworth speaking with his mentor Manfred von Karma. Although Edgeworth was puzzled by the little girl's presence, he exchanged the change for a $1 bill without any questions. Kay told the older prosecutor that he was "scary" and left.
Kay eagerly returned to Gumshoe to retrieve the Swiss rolls. Saving a roll for her father, she and Gumshoe split the other roll among themselves. They sat down at a bench nearby; as a prank, Kay popped her balloon on a cactus plant, startling Gumshoe into dropping his roll. After finishing the roll, Kay told Gumshoe about her promise not to receive gifts from strangers, so "Gummy" promised her that he wouldn't tell anyone about their meeting. Kay left the hallway after this.
Kay blowing her nose on Edgeworth's cravat.
Twenty minutes later, Byrne and the defendant were found dead in Lobby No. 2. Kay quickly found out about this. Gumshoe became the prime suspect of the murder, and in anger she ran into the 3rd Floor Lobby, kicked Miles Edgeworth in the shin, and ran away, dropping her Swiss roll in the process. She later tried to ambush him again in Courtroom No. 3, but he caught her in the act. He returned her Swiss roll and, now that the roll no longer had a recipient, she happily ate it. The shock of her father's death then began to overwhelm her, and she cried. She blew her nose on Edgeworth's cravat, and she explained the promises that she had made to her father, giving Edgeworth the promise notebook. Edgeworth gave Kay his drenched cravat, telling her that she was merely borrowing it and to give it back later.
Kay followed Tyrell Badd, who was conducting an investigation into Byrne's murder, into Lobby No. 1. Badd told her that he would let her help him in his investigation, and he gave her some tasks to do to this end. Kay found a bottle of perfume in the room, and Badd let her keep it, though she was too young to wear it. In truth, Badd was trying to keep her away from the investigation and what it might reveal. Eventually, Miles Edgeworth confronted Byrne's opponent for the trial, Calisto Yew, and proved that she was the killer. However, Yew told Edgeworth that she was the Yatagarasu but was also an agent of an international smuggling ring. She then drew a gun and threatened to shoot Edgeworth. Edgeworth froze in place until Kay shouted at him to get away, and he dived just in time to avoid the bullet. Yew escaped from the courtroom and no one saw her again.
Aftermath and reunion
- Main article: The Kidnapped Turnabout
Kay Faraday in 2019.
After Byrne's death, Kay moved far away from the courts to live with her mother and her relatives. Over the next seven years, she lived her life not knowing the true circumstances behind her father's death or what happened to his killer. Seven years later, she found a diary from her father proving that he really had been the Great Thief Yatagarasu, as well as a device called Little Thief that Byrne had used for his heists. When the Yatagarasu sent a calling card to an embassy, Kay decided to adopt the Yatagarasu title and returned to Los Angeles to look for Miles Edgeworth, vowing to find Calisto Yew and bring her and the smuggling ring to justice.
Kay Faraday
Kay Faraday found Miles Edgeworth tied up in a room in Gatewater Land, having been knocked out by an unseen assailant. While Edgeworth was struggling to get free, he made a "funny sound" that Kay found hilarious. She untied the prosecutor and declared herself his investigative partner, due to Dick Gumshoe being forced to work under the rival Interpol investigation under Shi-Long Lang. Whilst Kay instantly recognized Edgeworth, he did not recognize her.
Faraday threw herself into Edgeworth's investigation and the pair soon found the body of a man named Oliver Deacon, quickly turning the kidnapping investigation into a murder investigation. Deacon was quickly found to have been a convict named Colin Devorae, who was connected to the Amano Group and the smuggling ring. Little Thief eventually proved useful for reconstructing an apparent crime scene in the park stadium and the real crime scene in the park's haunted house, which Ernest Amano had bought to block investigations into the real building. After the case's resolution, Faraday handed Edgeworth the cravat that he had given her seven years ago, which reminded Edgeworth and Gumshoe of their first meeting. She then told Edgeworth about the calling card, and Edgeworth and Gumshoe vowed to help her catch the "fake" Yatagarasu.
The real Yatagarasu
- Main article: Turnabout Ablaze
Shih-na apprehends Kay Faraday and threatens to kill her.
The next day, Faraday heard that the Yatagarasu had announced plans to steal the "dirtiest secret" of the Allebahstian-Babahlese embassy. She burst into Edgeworth's office, interrupting Edgeworth's attempt to have a quiet cup of tea, to show him a newspaper article on this announcement. The two of them decided that this Yatagarasu must be Calisto Yew, and therefore they should head to the embassy capture her. Shi-Long Lang's officers were there as well, as part of the bolstered security in the building. Faraday and Edgeworth watched a Steel Samurai stage show in the American-owned Theatrum Neutralis between the embassies of Allebahst and Babahl, during which nothing out of the ordinary seemed to occur. However, soon after the show, the Babahlese side of the building caught fire, and word came of claims of Yatagarasu sightings. Seeing her chance, Faraday hurried to the open-air stage, where she found a cloaked figure and gave chase. The chase ended in Babahl's secretariat's office, where she found a corpse. She screamed in shock, but one of Lang's officers, Shih-na, found and apprehended her, accusing her of the murder. Gumshoe caught up to her before she could be taken away, shortly followed by Edgeworth. The investigation then began into the murder of the victim, the Babahlese ambassador's top secretary Manny Coachen.
Edgeworth planted himself into the investigation team by working under Franziska von Karma, who was part of the Interpol investigation into the smuggling ring. Edgeworth examined the room and proved to Shih-na that the murder weapon was from Allebahst, clearing Faraday as a suspect. Another murder had occurred in Allebahst, so Edgeworth had Faraday and Gumshoe investigate Babahl further while everyone else moved to the other crime scene. Faraday found little other than a small object that looked like a guitar pick.
Lang apprehends Shih-na, jumping in front of Badd's gun.
When Edgeworth returned, he had Gumshoe collect information on the secretariat's office and used Little Thief to reconstruct the office from before the fire. The investigation provided some answers but raised more questions, and Faraday encouraged him to keep going despite the exhausting work ahead. The evidence indicated that Shih-na was involved in the murder, and so the three confronted her at the Theatrum Neutralis. Upon proving that Shih-na had been the figure who Faraday had chased all along, Shih-na gave a familiar laugh, giving herself away as Calisto Yew. Faraday faltered at this, but Edgeworth encouraged her to see her quest through to the end. Faraday revealed the perfume bottle that she had kept from seven years ago; the fingerprints on it would prove that Shih-na was Calisto Yew.
Shih-na was not about to give up, however. She taunted Faraday, drawing her into her trap. Shih-na put a gun to Faraday's head, and Edgeworth had an epiphany: both Byrne and Yew were the Great Thief Yatagarasu. Tyrell Badd then appeared, revealing that he was the third member in the operation, but before Badd could finish the traitor, Lang grabbed Shih-na and declared that she was his responsibility. Shih-na was subsequently arrested and taken away, dropping what looked like a pair of hair sticks, which Kay Faraday picked up and gave to Edgeworth. Byrne Faraday's killer had finally been brought to justice, but the ringleader was still nowhere to be found.
The smuggling ring
It soon turned out that Allebahstian Ambassador Quercus Alba was the leader of the smuggling ring and the culprit in both murders. The investigation team confronted Alba and Edgeworth engaged in a long argument with Alba while the others stalled him in various ways, preventing him from escaping. Faraday threatened Alba with her father's old organizer, which contained details of the smuggling ring's activities, though it was largely a bluff as no evidence incriminating Alba existed on the organizer. She told Alba that she would surrender the organizer and Little Thief to him if he won the argument. Eventually, Edgeworth defeated Alba and, with Lang contacting the Allebahstian imperial household to remove Alba's ambassadorship, Alba was put on trial in both America and Allebahst for his crimes.Faraday watched as Edgeworth presented his case against Alba to the courtroom. After the trial, Faraday told Edgeworth that she would halt her activities as the Yatagarasu until she could find two other girls to form a team like the original Yatagarasu. She took a picture of her, (an unwilling) Edgeworth and Gumshoe before returning to her life.
Life after the smuggling ring
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Main Article: Turnabout Target
Kay Faraday's team photo.
Faraday attended Teikun Ō's speech at Gourd Lake. There she met Edgeworth, who was investgating the murder of a bodyguard. She gave him 3 pictures she took which were proven to be important clues. Later, they exposed another bodyguard as the killer.
Main Article: The Imprisoned Turnabout
Edgeworth was set to prosecute against Naitō and went to the detention center with Kay and Gumshoe to meet with him. To their surprise, Naitō was found dead. They met Naitō's defense attorney, Tateyuki Shigaraki, who was defending Sōta Sarushiro, a circus worker in suspicion of murdering Naitō. The trio questioned many prisoners, including Ryōken Hōinbō, an assassin, and Frank Sahwit. They also used Missile and Little Thief to recreate an important place in the crime scene. They finally proved that the murderer was the prison director, Marī Miwa who mistakenly believed that Naitō was one of Hōinbō's men who wanted to kill her.
Attempted murder
- Main article: The Forgotten Turnabout
Kay after losing her memory.
While Edgeworth was being evaluated by the Prosecutorial Investigation Committee, an unknown person apparently attempted to kill Kay by pushing her off the roof. She survived the fall but lost her memory as a result. A nurse found her and took her to Edgeworth, since she found his business card among her belongings. Edgeworth and Gumshoe didn't recognize her initially, but they knew it was her when they saw the Yatagarasu badge. Together they went to the headquarters to see what happened to her. There she was accused of murdering a defense attorney. Edgeworth had given up his badge to protect her and got himself arrested as well. After solving the case, Edgeworth helped her regain her memories by returning the promise notebook she gave him when they first met.
Kay looking at the moon over Gourd Lake.
She revealed that someone called her to meet her at Gourd Lake. She had been drugged with sleeping pills and abducted. She woke up at the top of the building. A stranger in a red raincoat came out of nowhere and dropped by her feet. It turned out she wasn't actually pushed - she was confused and dazed, so she stumbled backwards and fell into a hidden room below, where all the items from Bansai Ichiyanagi's illegal auction were kept. The stranger brought Kay to the scene to have her framed, knowing that Edgeworth would defend her and reveal the true killer in the process.
Personality
Kay Faraday is energetic, curious and cheeky. While making observations about crime scenes, she often points out how valuable some of the objects are, and jokes about stealing several of them, much to Edgeworth's distress. However, she makes it clear that the only thing she is really after is the truth. She idolizes her father, Byrne Faraday, and seeks to become a "Hero of Justice" like him, which manifests in her sheer determination. She strives for a world that doesn't need the Yatagarasu, and the court system is sufficient to deal with all criminals.
Kay is a great fan of the Jammin' Ninja and thinks his show is far superior to that of the Steel Samurai. Edgeworth feels that Kay would prefer to be a ninja rather than a thief.
Kay doesn't always keep her room clean.
Name
- The literal translation for the Japanese name "Mikumo" is "beautiful cloud". The cloud patterns on her vest are a reference to this.
- Her English given name, "Kay", is used in a similar way to Phoenix Wright's surname, being used in puns like "You can call me "Kay", 'kay!?" It may also be a reference to the key in her hair.
- The surname "Faraday" may come from Michael Faraday, a famous chemist and physicist, or the "Faraday cage". Alternatively, Faraday could be a reference to Inspector Farraday, a character from the Boston Blackie franchise. The character of Boston Blackie was a thief turned detective, similar to how Kay aids Edgeworth in his investigations.
- Kay's name may be a pun referring to 'Okay/Kay For A Day.'
Development
- Kay Faraday was the first Investigations-specific character to be revealed and the only one to be revealed as a confirmed character in the initial trailer for the game. Other characters were shown as silhouettes in the same trailer, but they were not actually confirmed, and indeed many of these characters didn't make it into the final version of the game.
- Early clips of Turnabout Airlines were shown in the Tokyo Game Show 2008 trailer, showing that Kay Faraday was once slated to be introduced earlier in the game.
- Kay's hair bangs resemble a crow's wing folded. Her black hair color reinforces this fact.
- Kay's Yatagarasu's Badge is allegedly hand-made.
- The spiral, cloud-like pattern on Kay's vest is called the Karakusa pattern. In Japanese fiction, thieves are usually depicted with bags (normally green) that tie over the face with the Karakusa pattern on it. This would be similar to a thief carrying a large burlap bag marked "swag" in British fiction, or a white bag with a dollar sign on it in American fiction. Byrne Faraday wears a blue scarf with the Karakusa pattern around his neck.
- She is the only partner character aside from Cammy Meele to have a breakdown.
Other media
- Kay appears in Onimusha Soul along with Franziska von Karma and Maya Fey.