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Luke Atmey
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Luke Atmey
Zvarri! The truth has once again been elegantly revealed to me!

Luke Atmey was an egotistical self-styled "Ace Detective" who was a witness to the murder of Kane Bullard and the theft of the Kurain Sacred Urn. Atmey's archenemy was the notorious thief Mask☆DeMasque.

Early life[]

Allegedly, as a child, Atmey got the same report card comment every year, namely: "Gets into lots of mischief trying to be the center of attention."[1] As he grew up, Atmey failed to grow out of this personality trait. He has also claimed to have been the vice-president of the boxing club at college, thus giving him faith in his own fighting abilities.[2]

Blackmailer[]

Newspaper about heist

A newspaper article about the Tear of Emanon heist.

When Mask☆DeMasque stole the Tear of Emanon, Luke Atmey figured out that the thief's real identity was Ron DeLite, since he had hidden his costume in a nearby bucket. Atmey sent a letter to DeLite, telling him to give the Tear to him in exchange for money lest he be caught. Atmey began to blackmail DeLite into stealing three more items for him in exchange for money. Atmey gave DeLite plans and instructions to help him steal the items. On the third planned heist, Atmey "retrieved" the item in question and received a red jewel from the museum in return. He fashioned this jewel into a ring, which he wore on his left hand and began to flash around.

Murder of Kane Bullard[]

Main article: The Stolen Turnabout
Mask Atmey

Dressed as Mask☆DeMasque.

One day, Kane Bullard found out about Atmey's secret and began blackmailing him, threatening to expose the secret to the press. Atmey decided to take matters into his own hands and kill Bullard. In order to secure an alibi for himself, Atmey faked video evidence of himself dressed as Mask☆DeMasque stealing the Kurain Sacred Urn on the night of the murder. The urn itself was worthless on the black market, but since it was meant to contain the spirit of Ami Fey, the founder of the Kurain Channeling Technique, it had immense sentimental value to the Fey clan and the rest of Kurain Village.

In order to lure DeLite into coming to KB Security's CEO office and take the fall for him, Atmey repurposed a blackmail letter sent by Bullard and sent it to DeLite alongside his previous key card to the CEO office. When DeLite arrived, Atmey hit him to render him unconscious, killed Bullard and pressed the buzzer in an attempt to mislead Larry Butz about the real culprit.

DeLite turned himself in for the thefts in order to prevent himself from being implicated for the murder. When the trial for DeLite's supposed theft of the urn started, Atmey used the forged evidence to trick DeLite's attorney, Phoenix Wright, into implicating Atmey for the thefts. If Atmey was tried for the crime and declared guilty, he would be determined to be not guilty of the murder by his alibi, thus making it impossible for him to be charged for the murder under the law of double jeopardy. However, during DeLite's subsequent trial for the murder, Wright uncovered this plot and successfully pinned the murder on Atmey before he was formally found guilty for the Mask☆DeMasque crimes. Finally defeated, Atmey laughed hysterically before being taken away.

Personality[]

Luke Atmey Mugshot

Mugshot.

Luke Atmey was an eccentric, egotistical and attention-seeking man who considered himself a master detective. He liked to boast about his deductive skills and courage. In order to be ready to examine clues all the time, Atmey wore a monocle that doubled as a magnifying glass. He seemed to be proud of his acquisition of the red diamond on his ring, often showing it off. His detective office served as an expression of his narcissism, containing such features as a massive self-portrait, an "unabridged edition" of his autobiography, and an "Atmey Virus" sample. Underneath this eccentricity was a cold, manipulative and intelligent individual.

Atmey's ego also reflected in his speech. He tended to use sophisticated or multi-syllabic words, with plenty of alliteration such as, "Might you my merry murderous motive manifest?" His most memorable personality quirk is his habit of exclaiming the word "Zvarri!" similarly to the way in which "Eureka!" is often used. Since Atmey's arrest, Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey have used this word as well, in reference to the case. Dick Gumshoe once referred to him as "Detective Zvarri" before recalling Atmey's self-styled title of "Ace Detective", from which Phoenix and co. were able to deduce that he was referring to Atmey.

Name[]

  • Japanese - Aiga Hoshīdake (星威岳 哀牙):
    • His name comes from the phrase "ai ga hoshii dake (愛がほしいだけ)" meaning "I just want love", fitting with his egocentric personality. It was originally intended for Diego Armando, but the director decided that the kanji for "dake" (meaning "mountain") did not fit with Armando's "smug" personality and therefore gave the name to Atmey instead. Due to his name pun, many Japanese Ace Attorney fans sent him chocolate on Valentine's Day, addressed to Capcom. He received even more than Phoenix Wright and Godot. [3]
  • English - Luke Atmey:
    • His name is a pun on "look at me", which correlates with his personality and strong desire to become famous.
  • French - Matt Moissat:
    • His name comes from "mate-moi ça" which means "look at this".

Unofficial[]

  • Brazilian Portuguese - Luiz Zibido: [4]
    • "Luiz" is derived from the Germanic Chlodovech, which became Ludwig, then Ludovicus, then Louis and finally Luís, and means "famous warrior".
    • "Zibido" is an invented surname.
    • In addition to being similar to Luke, Luiz was chosen to form the pun with "exibido" (Luiz Zibido) (show off), illustrating his personality.
  • Russian - Sam O'Tree:[citation needed]
    • His name is a wordplay on Russian imperative verb "смотри" that means "look here".

Development[]

Design[]

  • Atmey has gray eyes, a long nose, and a large blond fringe on his otherwise shaven head with black stubble. He wears a black tuxedo with a red bow, a red pocket square, and yellow buttons on the cuffs. He wears a white dress shirt, white gloves, a magnifying glass over his right eye, a silver ring with a red gem on his left middle finger, and black shoes.
  • Atmey's flamboyant bowtie somewhat resembles (albeit in a different color) that worn by the primary defense protagonist in very early concept art; said character would later be redesigned into Phoenix Wright.

Zvarri![]

  • In the Japanese version, he talks with a lot of very old Japanese words, and his catchphrase is "Zuvari!" (ズヴァリ). The catchphrase is based on the word "zubari" (ズバリ - lit. "frankly" or "decisively"), often used in Japanese infomercials.[5]
  • At one point in the localization process, his catchphrase was "Schwing!" However, Janet Hsu changed it to "Zvarri!" as a catchy, eccentric phrase worthy of the character, based on the Japanese catchphrase.[5]
  • His catchphrase in Chinese localization is replaced with "哎呀!" (Āi·ya!; equivalent to "Aye!" in English), which is pronounced the almost the same as his given name "哀牙" (Āiyá).
  • Curiously, in Atmey's official artwork, he has two gold chains, with a ruby button at either end of them, but this is not seen on his sprites in-game. However, they do appear in his character design for the Ace Attorney anime.

Anime differences[]

  • The red jewel on his ring is stolen from Bullard rather than given to him.
  • He speaks in alliteration instead of having a catchphrase.

References[]

  1. Phoenix: I think I see it...
    Atmey: See what...?
    Phoenix: When you were in grade school, you received the same report card every year. "Gets into lots of mischief trying to be the center of attention."
    Atmey: Wh-What do you mean...!?
    Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations. Capcom. Episode: The Stolen Turnabout (in English). 2007.
  2. Phoenix: You had that much faith in your own fighting abilities?
    Atmey: But of course. In college, I was the 2nd in-charge of the boxing club.
    Judge: I'm sorry if I fail to find that appropriately impressive.
    Atmey: However! My opponent in the ring this time was my arch-nemesis, Mask☆DeMasque!
    Phoenix: (This guy is a real piece of work...)
    Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations. Capcom. Episode: The Stolen Turnabout (in English). 2007.
  3. Gyakuten Saiban 3 Iwamoto's 9th column, part 2
  4. "Nomes - Jacutem Sabão". Advogados de Primeira. Retrieved on 2022-03-21.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Hsu, Janet (2014-10-31). Ace Attorney Trilogy - Surprising Tidbits You Never Knew! Capcom Unity. Retrieved on 2014-11-02.
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