*The backside of his ID card is a name bling badge, a piece of golden jewlery often associated with rappers.
*The backside of his ID card is a name bling badge, a piece of golden jewlery often associated with rappers.
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*Rimes is one of the few villains or guilty characters who is not executed or given a long jail sentence. The Judge hinted that Rimes was offered rehabilitation and returned back to his job at the aquarium within a year later.
Marlon Rimes is an aquarium aquarist. He appears to be scrawny at first, but he had a more muscular alter ego who makes a debut in trial after swallowing a bucket of fish.
Rimes came to know the Shipshape Aquarium through his girlfriend, Azura Summers, who worked as an orca trainer. She would often send him videos via phone of her training sessions with the aquarium's resident orca, Ora Shipley. However, Rimes was unaware that Summers suffered from a severe heart condition.
A year later, Rimes attended one of Summers' "Swashbuckler Spectacular" shows. During the show, however, Summers suffered from a heart attack and fell into the water, dying instantly. Ora, in an attempt to rescue her, grabbed hold of Summers and shook her, but to no avail. To the viewing public, Rimes included, it appeared as though the orca had deliberately attacked and killed Summers.
Jack Shipley, the aquarium's owner, and Herman Crab, the resident vet, secretly moved Ora to another aquarium (as they did not wish to euthanize her) and replaced her with her sister, Orla. This went unknown by the public, who assumed they were the same orca. Rimes, devastated by the death of his girlfriend, vowed revenge against Orla and began training in order to become stronger, even fighting sharks.
Revenge
About a year later, Rimes had gained a job as an aquaist. Although he was not entirely fond of preparing the animal food due to being a vegetarian, he continued his job, waiting for his moment to kill Orla.
First attempt
On the anniversary of Summers' death, Orla's pool was due to be cleaned. Orla was moved to the show pool by hoist while Sasha Buckler, her trainer, worked on cleaning the pool. Rimes was to watch over Orla whilst her pool was being cleaned. Seizing his chance, he began to drain the pool of water, in order to suffocate the orca.
Just as the pool was almost completely drained, Shipley caught sight of what Rimes was doing. He rushed over to stop him, but in doing so accidently slipped and fell into the empty pool. Rimes was able to grab hold of his right wrist but was unable to pull him back up. Shipley tried to explain that Summers' death was not Orla's fault before Rimes' grip finally loosened, and the aquarium owner fell to his death, 65 feet at the bottom of the empty pool.
Second attempt
Although devastated by the death of Shipley, as he had unintentionally caused it, Rimes quickly formulated a new plan to have Orla killed. He climbed into the empty pool and placed Shipley's body into a skull-shaped rock which was used as a prop, taking the walkie-talkie (which belonged to Summers) on him in the process. He then called for Buckler to bring the rock and Orla back to the orca pool. After this, he contacted writer Norma DePlume and asked her to attend the aquarium, with the intention to use her as a witness.
When DePlume arrived, about ten minutes after the aquarium opened, Rimes used his walkie-talkie to play a recording the "Lifesaver" whistle command. Orla responded, headbutting the skull-rock until Shipley's body was released, before grabbing him in her mouth and bringing him to the surface. Once he had done this, Rimes headed back to work, only to run into Pearl Fey, who had wandered into the staff corridor after getting lost. It took about five minutes for Rimes to pick up the fish he had dropped and help Fey return to her summer-camp group, although he insisted she keep their meeting secret.
As intended, Orla was blamed for the death of Shipley. Buckler, not wanting to have her put down, contacted attorney Phoenix Wright to defend the whale in court. Not long into his investigation, Wright began to suspect a human culprit, much to Rimes' dismay; he only wanted Orla to be blamed for Shipley's death. He knew that Buckler would be the most likely candidate for a suspect, not only because she was Orla's trainer, but because she had had a fight with Shipley moments before his death (Shipley had tried to remove her from his new show after discovering Buckler, like Summers before her, also had a heart condition) and thus would have a motive.
Despite initially refusing to, Rimes presented himself as a witness during Orla's trial. He tried to explain that he had been with Buckler when Shipley's body had been discovered, to give both himself and her an alibi. However, Wright had learnt about his run-in with Fey the previous day and knew he was lying.
Third attempt
During the course of the trial, Wright, along with fellow attorney Athena Cykes, was able to prove that Orla had not killed Shipley. In order to demonstrate what had actually happened, Buckler was called to the stand whilst Rimes returned to the aquarium to be with Orla. Realizing his new plan would fail, Rimes made a final attempt to kill Orla by smuggling some "3 Zs" sleeping pills from Dr. Crab and hiding them inside some fish meant for Orla. As Buckler had Orla perform her "Lifesaver" trick and the whale was subsequently found innocent, Rimes "rewarded" Orla with the drug-laced fish.
As Rimes had initially feared, Buckler was arrested on suspicion of killing Shipley. As Wright, Cykes and Fey returned to Shipshape Aquarium to continue their investigation, Rimes' drug began to take hold and Orla nearly drowned. With the aid of Dr. Crab, Orla's stomach was cleared of the fish and drug, although Wright now began to suspect Crab, as he had seemingly not noticed the pill. The investigation also uncovered Rimes' handprint on the show pool ladder, which he had gripped onto whilst trying to save Shipley.
Rimes became even more determined to pin the blame for Shipley's death solely upon Orla, so he returned to the court the next day, for Buckler's trial, to testify against her. He explained that he had seen Orla kill Shipley by slamming him into the air, resulting in his subsequent fall. By this time, however, Wright had figured out that Rimes was the only person who would have drugged Orla and began to suspect him, figuring that he'd tried to kill the orca to prevent her from leading the authorities to him. Additional aid from Cykes soon revealed the source of Rimes' grudge against Orla, as well as his attempt to kill Orla in the show pool and manipulating her to "attack" Shipley's body.
Backed into a corner, Rimes swallowed his bucket of fish, causing him to buff up and become much more intimidating. He continued to accuse Orla and claimed that Wright had no proof that she had not killed Shipley, berating the lawyer in the process. He claimed that his walkie-talkie had broken, presenting the one he had taken from Shipley, and that he couldn't have commanded Orla. However, on further investigation, Wright realized who the walkie-talkie really belonged to, figuring out the aquarium's secret about Ora and Orla in the process.
Aftermath
With no ground left to stand on, Rimes finally confessed to the murder of Shipley and the attempted murder of Orla, admitting he had done it purely to protect Buckler. He urged the judge to declare her innocent, but Wright suddenly objected before he could do so, much to the surprise of everyone. Comparing the handprint he had found on the pool ladder with a handprint left on Shipley's wrist, he had managed to figure out Rimes' attempt at rescuing Shipley.
Rimes admitted this to be true, but explained he hadn't told anyone this because he felt he didn't deserve to live for his actions - Shipley had died because he had tried to kill Orla for something she didn't do, and Summers had not been avenged. Wright pressed on, explaining the truth behind Summers' death, leaving Rimes even more devastated. However, encouragement from both Wright and Buckler caused him to rethink his actions and he promised to find a way to make up for what he had done, thanking both for their support.
Since Shipley's death was accidental, the judge ordered that Rimes be put on rehabilitation. A few months later, he returned to Shipshape Aquarium with a new job, taking over from Shipley as the villain "Redstache" in the Swashbuckler Spectacular show.
Personality
He likes rapping so much that he will often rap when describing his own feelings, even phrasing one of his testimonies as a rap. He is also very kind to most of the animals he takes care of, the only exception being Orla due to his vengefulness, but even this changes when he realizes he had no good reason to hate her, and feels extremely remorseful due to his role in his boss' death, initially believing himself responsible. He is also fairly protective of Sasha, repeatedly asking the Judge to declare her innocent during her trial, and mainly focusing on getting Orla convicted. He can, however, be very confrontational and belligerent, especially in his buff form.
Name
Marlon Rimes' mugshot.
"Iku" (育) in his name means "grow up" or "raise", most likely referring to the abnormal muscular growth his body develops after swallowing a bucket of fish in court.
"Itsuka" (伊塚) comes from the word "itsuka" (何時か), which means "someday".
His English name "Rimes" is a play on the word "Rhymes", as Marlon is fond of rapping, and rapping uses rhyming clauses. Rimes could also refer to Rime, a type of ice formation, relating back to his aquatic theme.
His first name "Marlon" is a play on "Marlin", a type of fish. After he "transforms" in court, he wields a large one.
Development
Marlon's true appearance.
Notes
Rimes is the first and currently only "true culprit" in the series who didn't kill anyone, or help inflict their death in any way, intentionally or otherwise. He's also the first to not get arrested, with him instead having rehabilitation before returning to the aquarium a few months later, with the arguable exception of Dee Vasquez.
Trivia
When first encountered, Marlon claims to be a vegetarian. This is probably a lie, as he downs an entire bucket of small fish before revealing his muscles, his first rap after revealing said muscles proclaims the virtues of meat eating, and chews on his marlin as one of his animations.
Rimes is one of the few villains or guilty characters who is not executed or given a long jail sentence. The Judge hinted that Rimes was offered rehabilitation and returned back to his job at the aquarium within a year later.
