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| Rayfa Padma Khura'in |
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| Rayfa Padma Khura'in |
| You would imply that the trials of this country are unfair? Do explain, outsider... ...how verdicts founded on truths imparted by the very souls of the dead lack impartiality. |
Rayfa Padma Khura'in is the princess and royal priestess of Khura'in. She is notable for her ability to perform the Divination Séance, a ritual which utilizes a "Pool of Souls" to reveal the sensations experienced by the deceased in their final moments.
Early life
Being held by her mother as a baby.
Rayfa was born on Christmas Eve of 2013 to Queen Amara Sigatar Khura'in and her husband Dhurke Sahdmadhi, who was the leader of the Defiant Dragons. The two were living in hiding at the time, with Amara having abdicated the throne to her younger sister Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in eight years previously due to an assassination attempt and Dhurke being wanted by the Ga'ran regime, as he was believed to be responsible for the crime. Shortly after Rayfa's birth, her parents were discovered by the regime; Dhurke was forced to flee, while Amara was taken back to Ga'ran Palace and told to conceal her identity so her husband would not find her again.
Rayfa was subsequently raised by Ga'ran and her husband, the Minister of Justice Inga Karkhuul Khura'in, believing them to be her biological parents. Amara took on the position of Rayfa's personal attendant in the guise of an elderly woman named "Nayna", taking care of the princess' basic needs; although unaware that Nayna was in fact her real mother, Rayfa developed a close bond with her as well as her adoptive father Inga. However, her relationship with Ga'ran was a complicated one.
Once her spiritual powers developed, Rayfa began to act in her capacity as royal priestess, which entailed performing the Divination Séance – a ritual which allowed a deceased person's final memories to be witnessed in a pool of water called the "Pool of Souls", and which was required as part of all murder trials in Khura'in. Due to the apparent irrefutability of the Divination Séance as evidence and the fact that the defense attorney profession had died out in Khura'in, Rayfa came to view the Séances and her interpretations of them – known as "insights" – as infallible.
The foreign attorney
- Main article: The Foreign Turnabout
Performing the Dance of Devotion.
Rayfa's insights remained unchallenged until the trial of the monk-in-training Ahlbi Ur'gaid, who stood accused of murdering a treasure guard and stealing the national treasure known as the Founder's Orb from Tehm'pul Temple. After Ur'gaid was declared guilty, a foreign defense attorney named Phoenix Wright intervened, claiming that a trial without a defense attorney was unacceptable. Rayfa was soon called to perform the Séance again, but Wright found inconsistencies in it, ultimately convincing the judge that the Séance was not enough to render a verdict. Shocked and somewhat panicked, Rayfa insisted she could not be wrong and argued with the judge over letting the trial continue or not, eventually being ordered to leave the courtroom due to her disruptiveness. Wright would go on to prove that the murder and theft had been committed by someone else, resulting in Ur'gaid being acquitted – the first "not guilty" verdict the country had seen since the enactment of the Defense Culpability Act twenty-three years earlier.
Disillusionment
- Main article: The Rite of Turnabout
About a week later, Tahrust Inmee was found dead shortly after the Purification Rite. Rayfa went to the Inner Sanctum to offer a prayer for the deceased abbot's soul. It was there she once again crossed paths with Wright, and she was none to pleased to learn that he was planning to once again defend the accused. Remembering her parents' teachings on the underhanded methods of lawyers, she decided to accompany Wright in his investigation to make sure he was not up to anything illegal. During these investigations she met Maya at the detention center, and quickly tried to force her to confess to the murder. She expressed a low opinion of Maya, believing her to be nothing more than a spiritual "neophyte" whose training in Khura'in was nothing more than a bid for prestige and vacation time.
Afterwards, she and Wright met with Ahlbi once again. Rayfa was disappointed that the monk-in-training decided to trust Wright instead of heeding her warning about lawyers. When Ahlbi showed the two an arrow his dog had found, Rayfa recognized it as the type the legendary Lady Kee'ra used in battle. Ahlbi informed them that Shah'do had found it near the victim's house, and agreed to lead the two there. They met with Tahrust's widow, Beh'leeb, to whom Rayfa offered condolences. She warned Wright not to pressure Beh'leeb with questions while she was still in mourning. She took notice of a wanted poster of the escaped rebel Datz Are'bal, particularly the three million dahma bounty offered for his capture. Realizing this would come out of the people's tax payments, she made a mental note to have the reward lowered to one million. Her consideration for her people impressed Wright, but she replied that she was taught by Nayna that a kingdom that doesn't respect its subjects is doomed to ruination.
While arguing with Wright over his theory that the recent rebel-hunting Lady Kee'ra might be involved in the murder, Nayna appeared suddenly to inform Rayfa that the queen had decreed that a rite be performed at the palace for the late Abbot Inmee, and that Beh'leeb was to be there for it. Rayfa made Wright come along so she could continue to keep an eye on him. When the rite and the Prayer of Lament concluded, she accompanied Wright as he went to visit one last time before the day was over. She was appalled when Wright asked Maya if Tahrust was a member of the Defiant Dragons, and momentarily stormed out of the detention center. When she returned a short while later, Maya showed off a one-of-a-kind musical Plumed Punisher strap. The collecter's item caught Rayfa's interest, though she made a failed attempt to hide her love for the children's show. When the day's investigation drew to a close, she informed Wright that his efforts yielded nothing more than speculation, and gave him one last chance to withdraw as the defense attorney for the case. Wright refused on the grounds that his faith in his client was his greatest weapon. She scoffed, and told Wright that her insights would be the death of him.
Maya's trial went underway the following morning. Rayfa had learned to deal with defeat more gracefully, remaining relatively calm after Wright disproved her next Insights, staying in court long enough for the murder of Rheel Neh'mu to be discovered-and that he was an assassin carrying out the will of her father. Horrified and upset by the revelation that Inga was willing to sponsor murderers and that the Divination Seance was not a perfect system by any means, Rayfa left the trial in a depressed haze, no longer sure of herself, her nation, or her moral convictions. Maya tried to assure her that it was her important duty to fulfill her role in giving voices to the departed victims with the Divination Séance.
Inga's death
- Main article: Turnabout Revolution
One week later, Rayfa, still conflicted by everything that had happened during Fey's trial, was watching the palace courtyard from her veranda at around 2:30 p.m. when she saw a dog attack Nayna and steal her hat in front of Inga's private quarters. Rayfa went down to the courtyard to help, but when she got there, Nayna was nowhere to be seen. Shortly after this, Rayfa saw her father leaving his private quarters in a hurry and heading for Amara's Tomb.
At 2:45, Wright arrived at the palace with his subordinate Apollo Justice, having returned to Khura'in after a few days in the United States. Wright and Justice, who were accompanied by Dhurke, informed Rayfa that Inga had kidnapped Fey and they were there to conduct the hostage exchange. This angered Rayfa, who said her father would not do such a thing, but Queen Ga'ran then arrived at the courtyard and confirmed that what Wright and Justice said was true. Upon seeing Dhurke, Ga'ran tried to have him immediately arrested for the assassination attempt of twenty-three years before, but he explained that Inga had asked him to make the hostage exchange personally and that they should call a truce until Fey was safe. Dhurke entered the tomb, but Ga'ran's guards soon went inside to find Inga dead, and Dhurke was arrested for the murder.
Although stricken with grief over her beloved father's death, Rayfa tried to put on a brave face when she approached Wright and Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth at the bazaar, saying she wanted them to assist her in investigating her father's private quarters. Their investigation revealed an old picture of Queen Amara hidden in Inga's safe; upon seeing the Defiant Dragons' mark on a law book in the picture, Rayfa realized that Amara had never actually been assassinated as everyone in Khura'in believed. She confronted Ga'ran about this, saying it was unacceptable for the royal family to hide such a fact and that the people deserved to know the truth. Ga'ran, believing that Rayfa was out of line and needed to be disciplined, told her the truth about her parentage; this revelation left Rayfa even more depressed than before, causing her to question whether there was anything she could still believe in.
The next day, when Dhurke was brought to trial for the murder with Ga'ran prosecuting and Justice leading the defense, Rayfa's mental state, coupled with the queen's oppressive treatment of her, caused her to have a nervous breakdown and collapse when attempting to perform a Divination Séance. She was later called to testify about seeing Inga heading toward the tomb the previous day, and Justice asked her to try to perform the Séance one more time. Despite Ga'ran's protests and claims that Rayfa was worthless as a royal priestess, Wright and Justice encouraged her to try again, with the former saying he would never have been able to prove Ur'gaid and Fey's innocence without Rayfa's help. Rayfa stood up to her mother, saying that she had come to realize that her Insights were not infallible and that lawyers were necessary in Khura'in to debate the contents of the Divination Séance with the royal priestess until the truth was revealed.
The Divination Séance worked, revealing that the time of Inga's death had actually been 2 p.m., before Rayfa saw him in the courtyard. Justice deduced that Nayna was actually the missing Queen Amara and that she had channeled Inga's spirit to disguise the time of his death. Furthermore, it was revealed that Dhurke was already dead – having been killed by Inga and channeled by Fey several days prior – and that Amara had channeled his spirit in the tomb to make it appear as if he had committed the murder. Amara confessed to committing the murder and framing Dhurke for the crime, but Rayfa, now knowing that Amara was her mother, said she could not have killed Inga and pleaded with Justice not to let the trial end there.
Justice agreed to continue with the trial, eventually proving that, although Amara had tampered with the scene, she could not have committed the murder, and he then indicted Queen Ga'ran herself as the murderer. Rayfa assisted him in bringing Ga'ran to justice by testifying about how she had seen the queen heading into the palace from the courtyard around 2 p.m. She also performed a Divination Séance for Justice's biological father, who had died during the attempt on Amara's life years before, allowing Justice to determine that Ga'ran was behind both the past and present incidents.
Following Ga'ran's dethronement and arrest, Rayfa was set to become the next queen, with Amara and Nahyuta Sahdmadhi assisting her until she was capable of channeling spirits.
Personality
Mugshot.
Rayfa initially came across as rather haughty and aloof, especially when faced with defense attorneys. She believed, as much of Khura'in did, that her powers made her infallible when passing judgment on the accused, giving her a somewhat overinflated view of herself and an arrogant disposition. She regarded crime, especially that which insulted her country, as a blasphemous personal affront, and would often grow impatient with trials that required more than the Divination Séance and become irritable when contradicted or her "imperfections" (namely her lack of omniscience or her liking of things seen as immature) were brought up. As shown by her less-than-proper reaction to the first time her Insight was truly contradicted, she was not used to being proven wrong or told off for her ego, and when upset could become petty and immature. She did not hide her bitterness about her embarrassment in court, being extremely quick to take offense throughout her time with Wright during his investigation. She was always eager to insult him for any reason she could think of. She also had a rather dark sense of humor, once remarking that the heavily-armed bailiff of the court would "be happy to oblige [Wright] with a bullet or two" as a "souvenir".
However, Rayfa occasionally showed considerable maturity for her age, soon learning to swallow her pride after making a scene at Ur'gaid's trial. She took her responsibilities very seriously and made a great effort to live up to her own and others' expectations of her, and in fact a lot of her outbursts came from her belief that she must come off as infallible. When not acting in her capacity as the royal priestess, she would display a far more casual and emotional personality, even a bit playful at times. She also has an extensive vocabulary, but sometimes runs out of flowery language she knows, leading her to stutter and awkwardly invoke far simpler language to finish her sentences.
Despite Rayfa's outwardly imperious personality, Ga'ran's cold and aloof parenting style, combined with her lack of affection for her adoptive daughter, made her underconfident and high-strung, which would cause her to become depressed when failing in even the most subjective way and culminated in a nervous breakdown after Inga's death and being asked to perform a Divination Séance on him, leaving her to publicly wonder if she should even become queen given her self-declared incompetence. With the encouragement of Wright and Justice, however, she was able to break free of Ga'ran's malevolent influence and developed the ability to accept partial success and minor failures, as well as not being the sole voice of truth in trials.
Name
- Her middle name, "Padma", is one of the names given to Nelumbo nucifera, a species of lotus that plays a central role in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism.
Development
- Rayfa's hairstyle was designed to be reminiscent of the shaman queen Himiko, with the hair loops also being meant to resemble the Holy Mother's halo, as well as the hairstyles of Maya Fey and Pearl Fey.[3]
- Her staff was modeled after the Buddhist khakkhara, while the bells on her wrists are based on Japanese suzu bells, whose sound is associated with spiritual power. The ribbon between her arms is meant to make her resemble the butterflies that carry the souls of the departed to the Twilight Realm in Khura'inism.[3]
Note
- Rayfa is one of only four characters in the Ace Attorney games to have a known birth date. The only other characters to have a known birth date are Dustin Prince, an unseen and unnamed relative of one of Shi-Long Lang's subordinates, and Paul Atishon.
References
- ↑ ”レイファ１４歳、アウチ５６歳、ボクト９歳 新システムは動画とレイファの言葉の矛盾探し、動画の流れ覚えないとむずかしいかも。” ほそぼそ on Twitter. Retrieved on 2015-09-30.
- ↑ Brina Palencia on Twitter.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hsu, Janet. "Ace Trivia: Smorgasbord of Justice". Capcom Unity. Retrieved on 2016-09-02.