“ | Night, night, alderman... Sweet dreams! | „ |
~ Florent L'Belle, just seconds before murdering Rex Kyubi. |
Florent L'Belle is a minor antagonist in the video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies. He is a flamboyant individual who served as the aide of Mayor Damian Tenma. He is also responsible for the murder of Rex Kyubi, the alderman of Nine-Tails Vale.
History[]
Florent L'Belle created his line of cosmetics, Je Suis L'Belle. However, due to his extreme narcissism, after announcing his line and making contracts, he refused to sell the products due to his belief that only someone as special and beautiful as he was should be able to use them. This resulted in him racking up a huge debt, and it created desperation to pay it all off as soon as possible. L'Belle heard of the Tenma Taro, a gold ingot at Nine Tails Manor in Nine-Tails Vale. However, in Nine-Tails Vale, Tenma Taro was also the name of a yokai rumored to steal the souls of the townsfolk who look at him and tell others about him. L'Belle used this folklore to his advantage.
L'Belle drugged Rex Kyubi and Damian Tenma while dressed as Tenma's wrestling alter ego, the Amazing Nine-Tails, to eliminate any witnesses. He then opened the chamber, only to find that the treasure had already been stolen. When he came out, he hit Tenma with a Fox and Demon statue to make it look like Kyubi had tried to resist the attack and then donned Tenma's mask and confessed to his daughter, Jinxie, to make her think her father was guilty. L'Belle had done so to pin the murder on Tenma and walk away unscathed.
The plan had multiple dimensions to it. L'Belle first blackmailed Tenma into forcing a municipal merger between his town, Tenma Town, and Kyubi's town, Nine-Tails Vale. He accomplished this by threatening to expose Tenma's identity as the Amazing Nine-Tails—a sufficient threat since the mask and identity of a pro wrestler was always meant to be kept secret. Then, after murdering Kyubi, L'Belle would pin the murder on Tenma to drive down the popularity of his wrestling alter ego, allowing the merger to occur seamlessly so that he could search for the treasure at his leisure. His plan would have succeeded if Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes hadn't figured out his crimes and exposed him in court.
Breakdown[]
L'Belle has one of the longer breakdowns among the Ace Attorney villains. As he is backed into a corner, he keeps spraying himself with cologne to calm his nerves. He sprays so much that a puff of yellow smoke covers his entire face. While doing so, he curses Apollo for exposing him, threatening to 'exterminate' him like he did Alderman Kyubi, officially confessing to the crime. When the smoke clears, L'Belle's makeup comes off, revealing his real face: that of a prematurely aging man with multiple wrinkles and white hair, the same hair found in the mask he wore to impersonate the Amazing Nine-Tails.
Just then, in the wake of his admission, the cellphones on his shoulders begin to ring excessively. The calls indicate that various contracts of his have either been pulled or cancelled. He gets another call from someone who fires him as Tenma's aide. The trial was likely broadcast on live television, and those involved with the contracts immediately opted to distance themselves from and break all contact with the now-confessed murderer. It is also possible that someone working in Tenma's office decided to fire him for the same reason. In particular, one call tells L'Belle that he has been charged with severe damage to the ozone layer because of all of the cologne he was using and now owes $100,000,000 in addition to the debt that he already has. Knowing now that his debt has increased even more and that he is officially "washed up," L'Belle begins laughing insanely and uncontrollably. Afterward, he is arrested for Kyubi's murder. Prosecutor Simon Blackquill then says that one officer sprayed L'Belle with a sprinkler.
Personality[]
As mentioned, L'Belle is a flamboyant, egotistical, pompous, vain person who is shown to have a narcissistic nature. This is shown by the many times he sprays himself with cologne and talks about his makeup. He cares very much about his physical appearance, what with how he wears his hair in different colors throughout the case. However, none of these are necessarily the characteristics that make him a villain. They would normally make a person come off as more harmlessly annoying than actively villainous.
As the case progresses, it is clear that L'Belle possesses a darker evil side. He is very smug, as demonstrated by the obnoxious way that he laughs at Apollo and Athena's attempts to pin Kyubi's murder on him while he is on the witness stand. He is also shown to be temperamental and ruthless in how he treats Apollo Justice, spraying the lawyer with perfume every time he is annoyed. He also has a lot of desperation, which drives his motive for murdering Kyubi so that he can get to the already-stolen ingot, as he is anxious to get out of his debt.
Finally, he cannot think on his feet or deal with pressure, as shown by him only recovering from nervousness whenever Prosecutor Simon Blackquill pokes any holes in Apollo's theories and eventually having his aforementioned breakdown once he is fully exposed as the culprit.
Trivia[]
- L'Belle's design resembles the Joker just as Luke Atmey resembles the Penguin (DC).
- L'Belle could be a homage to Redd White. Both of them are flamboyant businessmen who resort to murder and are driven by greed and vanity. While Redd White was a more dangerous antagonist due to his status and wealth, L'Belle was a more cunning murderer, putting up a much harder fight than White.