current chapter of my fic involves the "professor"/pigeon man/junkyard superintendent, so here are some of my dialogue and characterization notes from reviewing the game script:
only has one portrait, which imo indicates that he's not very expressive.
knew Jowd when they were both with the police together, and was close enough with him that Jowd left his coat with him, which he promised to return.
often ends questions with "eh?" (Sissel does this as well, so it may be more of a quirk of the localizer than the character)
frequently uses colloquialisms, especially as expletives. eg "what the devil"
says "hmph" frequently. reacts to things he finds dumb with lines like "Hmph. Ridiculous." or "Hmph. Pitiful." and is generally very open about calling people foolish.
not particularly sympathetic. see the below analysis of his relationship with Cabanela, as well as telling Sissel to "Deal with it." when he complains about how complex it is to save him from the explosion.
on the flipside, is actually pretty complimentary when Sissel and Missile do accomplish things! "You did a fine job, little one. You saved another life." is such a great line.
probably the most intelligent character in the game, and knows it. he's the only character to immediately regain consciousness after his death, and his turn to the camera in chapter 16 probably shows that he, like Yomiel, has a deeper understanding of how the ghost tricks function
his relationship with Cabanela is also really interesting to me; they're definitely friends but they're also not always nice to each other! the professor is very blunt and makes no exception for Cabanela.
Lynne's death in chapter 4 is really fascinating. from a greater narrative perspective, it makes sense for Cabanela & the professor to not be on good terms, since it's a twist later that they know each other and are both allies. however,
Cabanela puts the barbs out first; he's grieving but still trying to stay focused on the manipulator case. unfortunately, the professor takes this as an insult, and basically responds with "you're egotistical to think you can do this alone" before leaving. it's very pointed! and I think, on a deeper read, shows that he knows Cabanela's tendency to avoid relying on others. and it annoys him.
of course, this is them at their worst, but I still think it's indicative of elements of their larger relationship. the professor finds Cabanela scientifically uncurious (Cabanela doesn't care about the details of the Temsik meteorite, just how it relates to the case), and also calls him foolish a few times (but he calls everyone foolish lol) for his proposed solutions in chapter 15.
but despite all of that, they clearly get along! they banter and call each other nicknames. they're just not very emotionally-open people. another interesting detail is that Cabanela did not tell the professor about Yomiel's interrogation. in fact, the professor is just as surprised as Sissel is to learn about Cabanela leaving his gun on the table. this is so interesting to me because the professor is like the one person most in-the-know and about the manipulator case, and this is relevant information, but Cabanela is so ashamed that he still doesn't tell him.
ultimately, I read them as having mutual respect for one another and a shared goal of clearing Jowd's name. it makes a lot of sense that Cabanela calls him "professor" (gonna guess it was originally "sensei") since that is the closest descriptor for their relationship: they're coworkers, but the professor likely had to teach him a lot about the Temsik meteor over the past year.
my own headcanon for the nickname is that he was called that when he worked with the police; I could see him training new medical examiners and developing a reputation as a harsh yet effective teacher. Cabanela didn't know him in the police force, but he might've heard of him, especially since he worked with Jowd.
anyways I wish this guy had a goddamn NAME, it would make him a lot easier to write!!
