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Zacharias Barnham
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Zacharias Barnham
...What say you in your defense, witness? I highly recommend you give us nothing but the truth.

Zacharias Barnham was the head of Labyrinthia's Order of Knights, as well as an inquisitor in the town's witch trials. During Phoenix Wright's time in Labyrinthia, Barnham faced off against him as inquisitor two times.

A new life[]

Labyrinthia trio

Barnham, the Storyteller, and Darklaw.

Nothing is known of Barnham's past life before he signed the contract with Labrelum Inc. However, upon starting his new life in Labyrinthia, he was given the important roles of inquisitor and leader of the Order of the Knights. Although he would later claim to have been a previous student of Primstone, it is unclear as to whether or not this was a fabricated memory. Barnham soon gained the trust and respect of many Labyrinthians, including Rouge, as he would judge fairly and always help anyone who was in need no matter who they were.

Inquisitor[]

Main article: The Fire Witch
Barnham parade

During the Storyteller's parade.

Barnham was present during the Storyteller's parade, where he led the procession in his full plate armor while Darklaw and the knights passed out the new story for the townsfolk.

Inquisitor Barnham

In court.

Later that night, Barnham was called upon to prove Espella Cantabella's guilt as a witch in court. Upon finding out that the defender, Phoenix Wright, was a mere "baker", he declared that the trial would end swiftly, causing the crowd to cheer for him. He then called upon four witnesses: Wordsmith, Mary, Kira, and Knightle. At the beginning of the trial, Barnham easily got the upper hand and it seemed as if a guilty verdict was inevitable, but Professor Hershel Layton intervened, aiding Wright by giving him the Grand Grimoire. After the defense introduced the concept of "logic" to prove that Cantabella could not have held the Talea Magica, Barnham learnt quickly and used it himself to force the trial back to his favor.

At the half-point of the trial, when a not guilty verdict was about to be handed down, Emeer Punchenbaug appeared as a fifth witness. This caught Barnham by surprise, as the drunkard did not show up when he initially called for witnesses. However, Wright and Layton were soon able to prove that Kira was the real witch. When she was placed in the cage, Barnham asked Kira why she had tried to frame Cantabella as the culprit, to which she claimed that Cantabella was the Great Witch Bezella and started begging for her life. Barnham stopped her and claimed that the knights must protect Labyrinthia from witches. Even after Cantabella offered herself to be executed for being Bezella, the inquisitor and the judge did not listen and Kira was sent to the flames.

Interrogation[]

Main article: The Great Witch

After the trial, Barnham had Cantabella arrested on the charge of being Bezella after being ordered to by Darklaw. He later had the girl readied to be questioned by Darklaw, but she had him do the questioning instead, much to his surprise. Wright and Maya Fey then met with him to ask about the unsolved witch incident that had occurred three months prior and resulted in the death of the town alchemist Newton Belduke. At first he refused, saying that the inquisition was more than capable of handling the case. But after learning that they were looking into Belduke's death with information they received from Darklaw, Barnham gave them more details about the case and told them where to find the alchemist's house near the Town Square.

The trial of Maya Fey[]

Main article: The Golden Court

Later that day, Barnham reappeared at the Witches' Court as the inquisitor for Maya Fey's trial, in which she was accused of turning Layton into a golden statue by a Goldor spell. Barnham called forth another four witnesses: Punchenbaug, Primstone, Birdly, and the professor's apprentice, Luke Triton. Barnham found out that Punchenbaug was also a witness, but deliberately excluded him after his embarrassing previous appearance. When Fey tried to protest and said that there was a third person in the office, Barnham silenced her, threatening to punish if she ever spoke again. He then went on to argue that Layton had been confronting a familiar brought about by the Famalia spell. Barnham reasoned that it was the same as Belduke's death, and placed the blame on Fey for the murder. His point was that the two incidents were connected because both victims were killed by the same witch.

After Wright argued that Fey could not have used the Talea Magica because of where it was dropped near the severed golden Layton arm, Barnham countered that witchcraft could confuse people about what events happened at which time. This gave Triton the idea of letting Birdly's parrot Cracker testify, as he had a perfect memory of the sounds that had occurred at the time of the incident. At first, Barnham objected because it seemed preposterous, but was forced to concede when the judge granted Wright's request of calling the parrot as a witness. However, after Cracker testified about the order of the events, he objected again when the spell incantation came last in Cracker's "retelling", as Layton should already have been turned to gold by that point. But Wright and Cantabella proved that the incantation was for an entirely different spell called Godoor, much to Barnham and the judge's surprise.

During the second half of the trial, Belduke's butler, Jean Greyerl, was called to testify. Much to everyone's surprise, it was soon revealed that the butler was actually a girl disguised as a boy. Wright continued by accusing her of being a witch, but she denied it. She then asked Barnham if she could return to her duties, to which he conceded, reasoning that Fey could have swapped the gems on the Talea Magica. But Wright then protested that Greyerl could testify about Belduke's death instead, which the inquisitor allowed. As Wright asked the butler about the alchemist's neighbor, Barnham tried to stop him, knowing full well who the neighbor was. But said neighbor, Punchenbaug, soon appeared anyway and began to testify. When the manner of Belduke's death was questioned, Barnham noted that there was no sign of a struggle, meaning that if there was one, the murderer would have had to tamper with the evidence. Even Punchenbaug's testimony supported this claim.

In the end, however, Wright was able to prove that Belduke had actually committed suicide by poison. Greyerl was about to be executed as a witch when Cantabella offered her life instead on the grounds that she was Bezella. Fey tried to rescue her, but in the ensuing struggle, she was accidentally sent down into the flames.

Questioning the status quo[]

Main article: A Taste of Despair

After the trial, Barnham found Wright, Triton, and Cantabella outside the courthouse trying to escape. To their surprise, he did not arrest them, and instead gave his condolences for Fey. Wright demanded that Barnham bring his friend back, but the inquisitor simply stated that there was no magic that could bring back the dead. As the angry mob from the court closing in on them, Barnham ordered the group to seek shelter in Rouge's tavern and hide there while he provided a distraction.

During his own investigations, Barnham eventually found Darklaw at the Shade village outside Labyrinthia, disguised as the "Great Witch". He attempted to apprehend her, but was rendered unconscious, allowing her to escape. Barnham then encountered Layton and Fey, and was surprised to see them both alive and well. Worrying that the Great Witch would harm the Storyteller, Barnham left the investigation to the pair and hurried back to Labyrinthia.

The final trial[]

Main articles: The Story's End & The First Story

Barnham soon tried to confront Darklaw, but instead found himself removed from his position for "treasonous acts" against Labyrinthia. Barnham was arrested by his subordinates, much to their reluctance.

After Wright and Layton solved the mystery of Labyrinthia and proved that there was no such thing as witches, Barnham was released from prison and escorted Layton, Triton, Wright, and Fey from Labyrinthia on a motorboat headed for London.

Personality[]

A serious and dedicated man, Barnham is viewed as something of a celebrity in Labyrinthia due to his passion in defending the town from witches. In court, he cut an imposing figure owing to his wearing of a suit of armor and his frequent use of metaphors revolving around swords when speaking (e.g., noting that Wright has "finally grown skilled with his blade, however, it has dulled"). Barnham also appears to enjoy giving his rivals nicknames, referring to Phoenix Wright as "Sir Blue Knight" and Hershel Layton as "Sir Dark Hat".

Like many of the citizens of Labyrinthia, Barnham had no understanding of logic prior to the arrival of Wright, and based his accusations strictly on the words of witnesses and available evidence. Because of this, he would become irritated when a witness was shown to be lying or withholding evidence from the court. He would also become annoyed with Layton and Wright when the two presented theories without the ability to back them up. Partway into Espella Cantabella's first witch trial, Barnham was introduced to the concept of "logic" by Wright. After this, he was seen to be considerably more skillful and began to present logical counter-arguments. Layton noted that, despite having no prior comprehension of the concept beforehand, Barnham was able to quickly learn how logic worked and use it against Wright in court.

Name[]

  • His English and Dutch surnames are likely plays on "burn them", which could be a reference to the penalty for witchcraft in Labyrinthia.
  • His English name "Zacharias" is the Greek form of the name "Zechariah", and means "Yahweh has remembered". This could be in reference to the fact that the "creator" of Labyrinthia, the Storyteller, is the only person in the town who remembers what truly happened during the Legendary Fire.
  • His Japanese given name "Jīken" (ジーケン) may come from "kenji" (検事), meaning prosecutor. His surname "Bānroddo" (バーンロッド) is a play on "burn rod", as in burning a magic rod.[1]
  • "William", his given name in the French version, means "determined protector".
  • His French surname "Garnet" comes from the mineral of the same name. Garnet was once thought to ward off evil, which Barnham believes he is doing in his job. The gemstone also lends its name to a shade of red, the color of Barnham's hair.
  • His German given name "Aloysius" is a variant of "Louis", which means "famous warrior".
  • "Flamberg", his German surname, is the name of a type of sword.
  • Both "Alexandre" (Spanish version) and "Alistair" (Italian and Dutch versions) are variations of the given name "Alexander", which comes from the Ancient Greek for "defender of man". This fits with his role as an inquisitor protecting Labyrinthia from witches.
  • His Spanish surname, "Flamair", comes from "flamma", which means "flame" in Latin.
  • His Italian name, "Flamant", is most likely a modified version of either 'flame' or 'flaming'. Either way, it's another allusion of the penalty for witchcraft.

Development[]

  • His Japanese name "Jīken" was intended to be a temporary name in the early stages of development, but Shu Takumi never ended up changing it.[2]

References[]

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