Story Teller

"Professor Layton, I've had enough of your running around, flagrantly contravening the flow of my story. As such... I can no longer ignore your meddling."

- The Story Teller to Professor Layton and Luke.

The Story Teller (real name: Arthur Cantabella) is one of two main antagonists of the video game Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney alongside High Inquisitor Darklaw. He is the ruler of Labyrinth City, who has the power to make everything he writes in his book come true, which he apparently uses for evil purposes. He is the one in charge of the trials against the witches who terrorise the town.

Backstory
Arthur Cantabella was raised in a small, poor town, where he grew up with only one friend, Newton Belduke. One day, they stumbled upon the ancient ruins underground, where they found the Bell of Ruin, a bell that an ancient culture who roamed their land had worshiped. There were ancient writings that Newton was able to decipher some of them around that time. It said that the bell brought calamity upon the native's plants and water, which they were led to believe that it was cursed by an entity, known as the Great Witch Bezella, thus causing them to seal it in the ruins. Although warned, Newton and Arthur were excited after they discovered the bell, believing it could save their town. Ever since then, the two of them vowed to return for the bell as they went their separate ways to study in their career. Cantabella went to study management at a university in London, while Belduke studied the plants in their area. He discovered that the plants were contaminated by pure silver water that their land had, causing anyone who drinks it to fall unconscious after hearing the sound of pure metal being struck. Newton later created an anesthetic from the plants that led to the foundation of Labrelum inc with Cantabella as their president. Sometime later, Belduke and Cantabella took the Bell of Ruin, and built a bell tower in their town. They created two keys that grant access to the tower, which they both gave to their wives. Cantabella's daughter, Espella, wanted to ring the bell. But her father warned her not to ring as he explained to her about Bezella, in order to prevent her from ringing it. One day, while investigating the ruins during the fire festival, Arthur and Newton return to see the town on fire. There, they find Espella and Newton's daughter, Eve, knocked unconscious after Eve rang the bell without hesitation. After that, Espella became catatonic for believing that she rang the bell, and believing that she was Bezella. In order to save her from insanity, her father wrote a storybook that he read in front of his daughter, revealing to her that she is not Bezella. He then asked for help from Belduke to make the story look real, which led to Project Labrynthia: a research facility this is disguised from the world as a town. For the inhabitants, many people gave up on their lives, and decided to sign a contract with Cantabella, who gave them a specific role in the town. Ever since then, the town had parades, where the Storyteller writes a story for all of his people with a hypnotic ink, leading them to believe in what they read. The town also had witch trials, where several people were accused of being a witch, and were put in a chamber that was brought into a pit of fire. These people actually survived and became Shades, a group of cloaked figures, who used invisible machinery to make people believe it's magic. As for the bell tower, it was covered in a invisible cloak.

Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
One day, on a rainy night, lightening stuck the bell tower, burning away the invisible blanket in the process. When Newton Belduke saw that, he committed suicide, which made Darklaw turn against the Storyteller. She summoned Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright to Labyrnthia, where they first met the Storyteller at a parade, giving out stories to the citizens, who were very excited about it first. However, they were then disappointed after they read it as they found out that it was a story about a girl, using witchcraft to burn two men alive. The townsfolks always believed in what the Storyteller writes was true, thus puzzling Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright. The girl accused of murder and witchcraft was his daughter for burning two men that mugged her. The real murderer was a flower seller named Kira, who used witchcraft to frame Espella, and was sent to the flames for it. The next morning, the Storyteller called upon Professor Layton

Personality
While at first he seems like a cruel ruler who causes chaos with his stories, he is actually a caring old man who only decieves and scares the people of Labyrinthia to protect his daughter from emotional trauma.

Appearance
The Story Teller has white hair and wears middel-age-like elegant clothes. He has a metallic mask with a gem instead of an eye.

Powers and Abilities
The Story Teller is nearly omnipotent inside of Labyrinthia, as he is in control of the complete illusion of city through the invisible machines he had put everywhrere.

Trivia

 * His given English name "Arthur" is a play on the word "author", while "Cantabella" is derived from his original Japanese surname as well as from the Italian for "sings" (canta) and "beauty" (bella); these meanings are more likely meant to be intended for his daughter. "Cantabella" may also be derived from "bell", in such similar manner to the surname of his friend Newton Belduke..
 * Although Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is only one game, he is considered as it's Bigger Bad by TV Tropes, as the game consists of multiple story arcs.
 * He is similar to Drosselmeyer from Princess Tutu.
 * Both wrote a story that started a bad chain of events; except Drosselmeyer wanted an unhappy ending, while the Story Teller wanted to clear Espella of her name.
 * In the downloadable episodes, he seems to have a sweet tooth, especially for Tiramisu. He tries to make the hospital food delicious by writing it down as the Storyteller but he was very disappointed when it didn't come true.
 * His given Japanese name is "Riterasuta" (リテラスタ), which is a play on the English word "literature".
 * His French given name, "Roman", comes from the French word for "novel", while his surname "Novella" means "story" in Italian.
 * His German given name, "Louis", is the French form of "Ludwig". "Ludwig" comes from the Old High German words for "famous" and "fight", which is fitting considering that he rules, and is the most famous person in, Labyrinthia. His surname "de Narrateur" is French for "of narrator". Since the Storyteller's full name was never unraveled until late in the game while Espella's is known from the start, this likely meant to be a hint of the relationship between the two.
 * His Spanish surname "Fable" comes from the English word for a story with a moral or lesson.