Moe

Moe

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Lawrence Curls V · T · F
Occupation	Circus clown Berry Big Circus ringmaster (Dec. 30, 2017 - )
Biological information
Reckoned birth year(s) (this is for age comparison purposes, and so may look odd; click on the question mark for details)?	1971-1972
Documented age range (as recorded in court record profiles & case files)	46* (Turnabout Big Top)
Last known status	Alive (Mar. 28, 2019)
Eye color	Blue
Hair color	Blond, but balding* (possibly a wig)
Height (the metric (cm) values are sourced from official guidebooks and may not reflect the relative sizes of characters as depicted in-game or in other official media)	5'4"; 163 cm
Associates
Family	An unnamed wife (estranged) Larina (daughter)
Friends	Russell Berry (old friend & former boss; deceased) Regina Berry (Russell Berry's daughter)
Affiliates	Max Galactica (colleague) Benjamin Woodman (colleague) Acro (former colleague; arrested) Bat (former colleague; comatose)
Aliases/nicknames
Moe* (stage name) Uncle Moe* (by Regina Berry)
One-off nicknames
Mr. Moe Curls* (self-styled) "One of those funny types"* (by Max Galactica) Chuckles* (by Phoenix Wright) Kooky clown* (by Phoenix Wright) The stooge* (by Trilo Quist (Benjamin Woodman)) Old fart* (by Trilo Quist (Benjamin Woodman)) Little guy* (by the judge) Stoogey clown* (by Max Galactica) Half-baked clown* (self-styled) Big guy* (by Max Galactica)
Names in other languages
Japanese (romanization written with the given name first)	富田松夫 (Matsuo Tomita)* (real name; equivalent of Lawrence Curls) トミー (Tomī)* (stage name; equivalent of Moe)
French	Jeff Rizet* (real name; equivalent of Lawrence Curls) Frisé* (stage name; equivalent of Moe)
German	Lawrence Curls* (real name) Moe* (stage name)
Spanish	Lawrence Curls* (real name) Moe* (stage name)
Italian	Lawrence Curls* (real name) Moe* (stage name)
Chinese (normally Chinese pronunciation of Japanese kanji; no longer applies as of AJT and AAIC)	富田 松夫 (Fùtián Sōngfū)* (real name; equivalent of Lawrence Curls) 湯米 (Tāngmǐ)* (stage name; equivalent of Moe)
Actors
Anime (romanization written with the given name first)	Takeshi Uchida (Japanese) Sonny Strait (English)
Miscellaneous
Debut episode	Turnabout Big Top
Musical theme	"More Simple Folk"

Moe

It's all Wright to be wrong every now and again, Wright?

— Turnabout Big Top

Lawrence "Moe" Curls is a circus clown and ringmaster at Berry Big Circus. He took over the ringmaster's position after the murder of the previous ringmaster, Russell Berry. Moe was a witness to said murder.

Life in the circus

A long-time friend of the Berry Big Circus ringmaster Russell Berry, Moe has been part of the Berry Big Circus since it opened in roughly 1997. Berry was good to his employees; when there were no customers he would pay Moe out of his own pocket since he had a family to support. Moe took his role as the circus's clown very seriously, spending every free moment either practicing his style of physical comedy or studying his reading materials. Both his equipment and room suffered at the hands of his act's theme: "How many ways can a fat funny guy fall down?"

Unfortunately, possibly as a result of his over-zealousness, his wife eventually left him, taking their daughter Larina with her. Moreover, despite spending so much time working on his act, Moe had not made anyone laugh in a long time. This was mainly due to his extremely bad jokes, which he tried to compensate for by laughing at himself. When the ringmaster took on an egotistical magician called Max Galactica, Moe was amongst those who took a disliking to the newcomer. This was mainly due to Galactica's habit of rubbing people the wrong way, including asking Moe if he was "one of those funny ones, right?"

That June, a prank involving the acrobat Bat and Russell's daughter Regina went wrong, with the former falling into a coma after being bitten on the head by Léon the lion. Moe would attest to having, seemingly inexplicably, seen Léon "smile" before biting down. Bat's brother Acro sustained his own permanent injuries trying to save Bat. Regina did not understand the seriousness of Bat's condition, thinking he was only sleeping, and that people would become stars upon death.

Moe the witness

Main article: Turnabout Big Top

The scene of the crime as Moe saw it.

One day, Galactica's commemorative bust disappeared. Five days later, a mysterious note appeared on the cafeteria bulletin board, addressed "To the Murderer".

At 10 p.m. that night, Moe was tired after rehearsals, so Benjamin Woodman walked him back to his room and he went to bed. Suddenly, Moe heard a loud noise, like a thump, and looked out his window to see Russell Berry lying dead across a large wooden box. Next to him, he saw a shadowy figure in a hat and cape that looked very like Max Galactica. The clown was startled when said figure then flew away from the crime scene. Moe offered himself as an eyewitness to the crime and eventually crossed paths with Phoenix Wright, who was defending Galactica in court. Although Wright was unimpressed with Moe's sense of humor, Maya Fey, Wright's assistant, quite enjoyed it. Moe told them partly about what he had seen that night and about Galactica's unpopularity amongst the circus performers.

Before being called as a witness, Franziska von Karma demanded, with her whip, that he not tell the court about the suspect's flight. However, during Moe's actual appearance in court, Wright was able to cast doubt on what Moe had seen that night, so much so that the clown became angry at the court for doubting his memory. His credibility was reduced even further when he was forced to reveal that he had seen Galactica fly away from the crime scene. This resulted in the trial being extended to the next day.

Afterward, Wright and Fey headed to the cafeteria. There, they questioned Moe, who was beginning to understand what Galactica was trying to achieve with his constant boasting and mocking of his fellow circus performers. Moe told them about the note and the disappearance of Galactica's bust, but awkwardly attempted to dodge further questions when he accidentally mentioned another tragedy that had befallen the circus, with two Psyche-Locks appearing to protect the secret. After briefly leaving the location to get some hamburgers, Moe returned to the cafeteria to grill and eat them, when he was approached by Wright and Fey once again. Having investigated further, Wright was able to crack open Moe's Psyche-Locks, making him reveal the full extent of the incident of six months prior.

Moe brought Regina to the trial the next day, convinced that the young girl needed to face the reality of what had happened to her father, as well as the consequences of her own actions. Moe politely offered Galactica a milk carton, which the latter gladly accepted. Moe, having himself figured out by this point Acro's guilt, then warned Wright about the acrobat's lack of fear, which meant that bluffing wouldn't be enough to reveal the truth this time, only hard evidence.

During the following trial, Wright was able to prove what had really happened that night: what Moe had actually seen was merely the bust of Galactica, previously pilfered by Money the monkey. Russell had grabbed Galactica's stage coat on his way out from a meeting with the magician and put it on. When he was hit with the bust, the cape flew off him, and got stuck on it. Because it was dark outside, and the silhouette was clear, Moe thought he had seen Galactica himself fly as the bust was being pulled up into the air by the real murderer, Acro, who had no knowledge of the cape sticking to the bust, nor of Moe witnessing it, because he could not look down from his window due to being wheelchair-bound.

After the trial, Moe, accompanied by the grieving Regina, came to congratulate Galactica for his acquittal, with the clown reassuring the troubled Fey to not worry too much about Acro's fate. While Wright consoled the crying Regina, Moe also took the occasion to apologize directly to Galactica for what he had gone through, offering to pay his fee and rip his contract with the circus if he so chose. However, upon hearing about how everyone in the circus wanted to continue staying together as well as Moe's newfound desire to make the circus the best in the world, Galactica instead agreed to continue working with the Berry Big Circus, leaving Moe moved by the gesture. When Regina herself became hesitant about continuing to stay with the circus, both Moe and Galactica warmly reassured that they needed her if they wanted to achieve their new goal, then declared that both Wright and Fey would always be welcomed at the circus, Moe even offering custom-made whoopee-cushioned seats for them.

Upon the resolution of the case, Moe, just as Russell had hoped he would, took over as the circus's new ringmaster, and led it on a worldwide tour. At some point before March 2019, he split the circus into various specialized independent departments, which included Animal Taming (led by Regina Berry), Magic, and Ventriloquy Departments. Meanwhile, Wright would continue to be reminded of Moe during his investigations of Juan Corrida's hotel room, where he, upon seeing the overwhelming quantity of bear-themed goods, could not help but think of Moe when imagining a bad bear pun, much to his dismay.

Personality

Moe

To celebrate this momentous occasion, would you care for an organic grape? Just one! Did you get my joke right there!?

— Turnabout Big Top

Mugshot.

Moe is a classic example of a man hiding his sadness behind laughter. At first, he seems to be a happy and immature man who constantly makes bad jokes. However, he quickly becomes sad at the mention of his daughter, Larina, who lives with his estranged wife and so he doesn't see her often. He also suddenly becomes serious if the ringmaster or Bat come up in conversation.

Moe takes his job as a clown very seriously. He practices falling down 100 times every night to perfect his breakfall after slipping on a banana peel and his desk is crammed full of joke and clown books, which he claims to spend every free moment studying or reading. His room also has a large collection of clown costumes, even sleeping in one and stating that, aside from a single T-shirt, all his clothes are clown costumes. Moe's theme as a clown is "How many ways can a fat funny guy fall down?" and the numerous broken props in his room are a testament to this. He even punched a hole through his ceiling while on a pogo stick.

Moe's jokes are so bad that he claims to have not made anyone laugh in a long time. To cheer himself up, he laughs at his own jokes. When under pressure, he tends to ramble. Maya seems to have appreciated his brand of humor. He also has another side to his personality; when the judge insulted his memory and eyesight during his court appearance he responded angrily, accusing the judge of thinking he was better than him, and acting generally rather childishly.

Carrots are his theme and he eats about five a day for his act. He is constantly changing the type he uses. Maya Fey guessed that the reason for this is that he believes in a carrot and no stick approach, putting the carrot out for motivation and judging what flavor he wants each day. Moe completely agreed with this, praising her for paying attention during his show. Phoenix Wright, on the other hand, found the entire conversation baffling.

His eyesight is a perfect 20/20 or, as he put it, "like a hawk from [his] left eye, and an eagle out of [his] right eye". He also knows pi to 30 decimal places, as demonstrated during one of his panicked rambles after being whipped by von Karma. His nose reminds him of his Italian heritage and is a sore topic for him..

Moe is the one responsible for all the circus animals' names, including Money the Monkey and Regent the Tiger. However, the ringmaster was the one responsible for Léon the Lion's name after pointing out that Moe's choice for the big cat, "Lyin' the Lion", was "awful".

The clown is apparently also quite the burger cook and uses quality beef, toasted buns, and special sauce for his creations. He even has his own special "Moe Moo Burgers", which are "beefy burgers filled with laughs and a sauce that tastes like [his] jokes". Wright thought this meant that they left just as bad of a taste in the mouth as his poor puns did.

Name

• Japanese - Tomī (トミー) ~ (stage name) / Matsuo Tomita (富田松夫):
  • His Japanese names "Matsuo Tomita" (富田松夫) and "Tommy" (トミー) are a reference to a Japanese comedy duo known as "Tommy and Matsu".
• English - Moe ~ (stage name) / Lawrence Curls:
  • "Moe" and "Lawrence Curls" are references to the comedy act The Three Stooges, who most famously consisted of "Moe", "Larry", and "Curly". The English nickname for Lawrence is Larry, Curls could refer to Curly, and Moe is his stage name.
• French - Frisé ~ (stage name) / Jeff Rizet:
  • "Frisé" means "curled". This is likely meant to be in reference to his hair.
  • His full name comes from "J'ai frisé", which means "I curled". This is likely meant to be in reference to his hair. Additionally, "Rizet" sounds close to "risette", which is the name given to a child's smile. Along with his first name, it sounds close to "J'ai fait risette", meaning cracking a smile.

Unofficial

• Brazilian Portuguese - Zeca ~ (stage name) / Renato Arias:
  • Continuing the pattern referring to great national comedians, the translation pays homage to "Os Trapalhões":
  • "Renato" is a reference to Renato Aragão, the famous actor who plays Didi. It comes from the Latin "Renatus", which means "reborn", "born again" or "resurrected".
  • "Sr. Zeca Arias" references the character "Zacarias".

Development

• The mouth on Moe's hat changes to match his facial expression.
• His puns are based on jokes that Shu Takumi found funny in high school and college.

Cultural references

• In the English and Spanish versions of the game, Moe, upon being whipped by Franziska von Karma during his testimony, starts to recite a clown-themed version of the opening sequence/theme song for the 1990's sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This is cut short when he is whipped further by von Karma. Curiously, the Spanish version does not refer to any Spanish dub of the show, but instead uses a different section of the English version translated into Spanish.
• At another point Moe once again panics, except this time it is the opening of the 1980's action/adventure show The A-Team that gets recited, with a clown twist. For example, the name of the team is changed to the "C-Team", with the "C" likely meant to stand for "clown". Moe's rambling is once again cut short by von Karma's whip.