I know Kristoph has about as much as a chance as a snowflake in Hell for this poll. However, I would be remiss if I didn't at least advocate for my favorite antagonist in the entirety of the Ace Attorney franchise.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is the fourth game in the mainline series which came out back in 2007. Now like its predecessors, AA4 is set to actually take place a few years in the future from the actual real-life release date. Which coincidentally actually falls in the year of 2026, which is why if you have been paying attention to the Ace Attorney fandom there has been an uptake in discussions surrounding this game and its content. In fact, it was just last week that within the game's canon, April 20th 2026, that the story starts with the titular character, Apollo Justice, begins his law career with his very first case. Some fans, myself included, have even dubbed this the year of Apollo with the canon timeline in consideration.
Now with April 20th being so close to this poll, I do this this is probably the most opportune time to campaign and vote for major characters in AA4 such as Apollo, Phoenix, and of course, this poll's contender, Kristoph Gavin.
I will give a quick rundown of Turnabout Trump (unfortunate name, I know) and what role Kristoph Gavin plays in it.
Turnabout Trump is the first case you as the player are put through in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney and as previously mentioned it is also young Apollo's first real case as a new defense attorney. Like the first game of the previous trilogy, the player is put in the shoes of a new attorney just beginning his legal career. This naturally helps navigate the player in understanding the mechanics of the game as the player is meant to learn right alongside Phoenix in the previous trilogy and Apollo in this game. In AA4, Apollo's first client is even the legendary Phoenix Wright, the playable character that fans grew attached to and loved throughout the first trilogy, who is now on trial for the murder of one Shadi Smith. Already the expectations for the player are flipped with the introduction of Phoenix Wright, a lovable and honorable defense attorney who once fought for the truth, as a suspect who is closed off, secretive and saying purposely vague things. Yet, there is more ways in which Turnabout Trump is able to pull the rug out from under the player.
Now as just mentioned, this is Apollo Justice's first trial, mirroring how Phoenix Wright started his own trilogy. Now in AA1, Phoenix being a novice was guided by a mentor. That being the senior attorney of Fey & Co. Law Offices, Mia Fey. Mia, as presented in the first game, is warm, patient and understanding of any mistakes the player/Phoenix makes. She is a gentle hand to help ease Phoenix into the world of lawyering. Always encouraging Phoenix even when he fumbles. Her presence is welcomed, and it is only through her interference that the first trial, The First Turnabout, is able to end with Phoenix getting his client acquitted. So who is Apollo's Mia Fey? Who is the mentor that guides him through the challenge of representing a client accused of murder? That would be Kristoph Gavin. And almost immediately, he is a very different person than Mia Fey.
Mia noticing how nervous Phoenix was, automatically goes to reassure him. She presses upon her beliefs as a defense attorney, that the best way for Phoenix to get through this is to have complete faith in his client's innocence. Where as Apollo, the living embodiment of anxiety, is almost instantaneously chastised by Kristoph. He is quick to bestow upon Apollo thinly veiled insults and backhanded compliments. As Kristoph helps Apollo throughout his first trial, along with providing the player instructions on how to actually play the game, there is a clear undercurrent that Apollo is not allowed to flounder about in anyway that may reflect poorly back onto Kristoph. This constant scrutiny, this judgement, increases the tension throughout what is still the tutorial of the game.
Now throughout Turnabout Trump, Apollo and the player are initially led to suspect Olga Orly. She was was working with the victim in order to scam Phoenix out of his title of being an undefeatable poker player. However, their plan fell apart and that would serve as motivation for Olga to turn on Shadi Smith, leading to his brutal murder. However, nothing is ever simple in an Ace Attorney case. With forged evidence by our side, Apollo is able to realize that his vain and controlling mentor is actually the real murderer.
Now typically in tutorial cases, the real culprit is usually a one-off antagonist whose sole narrative purpose is confined within a single case. There are exceptions of course, the previous game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations, had Dahlia Hawthorne play an integral role in the tutorial level only to end being the major antagonist of the game. And Kristoph, who like Dahlia before him, ends up being the central antagonist of the game whose pettiness, vindictive nature is the cataclysm of his own downfall.
Kristoph Gavin is a man who is mainly defined by his own vanity and insecurity. Where he constantly needs others to understand his own superiority. Any slight committed against him, real or perceived, he answers back tenfold. He also is not afraid of committing to his revenge with the entirety of AA4's story being a direct result of his consistent behavior that lasted 7 years. I think a man this self-absorbed to the point of him poisoning several people, stalking his rivals and manipulating his own family should deal with pregnancy. I think a man so hellbent on control that when he lost a client to Phoenix Wright several years prior, he proceeded to get him disbarred. His body, something we see him take great care to with his polished nails and stylish hair, should be something no longer recognizable to him. It would not do him any good, but that's the appeal to me. It is something he would hate and something he would have to adapt to.
Also he is good with kids, canonically. Now that's all because he was manipulating the kids in question, but apparently his demeanor is enough to warm a child to him. Even if the child in question would later describe him as The Devil, yet still wears the polish he bestowed upon her as a gift for good luck.
Also there is the toxic yaoi angle with Phoenix. Kristoph spent 7 years doing weekly dinners with a man he supposedly hated. A man he got disbarred. A man, who depending on your reading of the text, he was ready to frame for murder. Yet, their friendship was persistent throughout those years even if the foundation for it was built on lies, backstabbing and lack of trust. Tumblr, this is the toxic yaoi you want! And it's also doomed yaoi, because if you want to say they fell in love over the course of those 7 years, already the relationship is set for destruction because even before they formerly met, Kristoph had already manufactured Phoenix's downfall.
I know he's not going to win, but I hope I convinced maybe a few people to vote for Kristoph Gavin. The baby can be put up for adoption or given to Phoenix or Klavier. Let Trucy have a little sibling
ALSO IF HE SOMEHOW WINS THIS I WILL DRAW RISQUE PICTURES OF HIM PREGNANT
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