| “ | Shutupshutupshutup! I hate you! | „ |
| ~ Frank Sahwit |
Frank Sahwit, named Hoshio Yamano in Japanese, is a minor antagonist from the video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Specifically, he is the main antagonist of the very first case, "The First Turnabout." He appears again in Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Gambit as a supporting antagonist.
Biography[]
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney[]
Frank Sahwit was a common burglar who posed as newspaper salesman to discover when people left their homes. One such day, he saw a man leaving an apartment while leaving the door open, allowing him to enter and steal its contents. However, the owner of the apartment, Cindy Stone, suddenly returned and caught him in the act. Sahwit panicked, grabbed the nearest object—a statue-clock in the shape of The Thinker—and struck Stone on the head with it, killing her. He decided to pin the murder on the man he witnessed leaving the apartment earlier, who happened to be Stone's ex-boyfriend, Larry Butz, and appeared in court as the sole witness to the crime, delivering a false testimony to implicate Butz and ensure his conviction. However, the rookie attorney Phoenix Wright easily saw through his lies, unmasking Sahwit and saving his friend, Larry, from a false conviction.
Breakdown[]
Sahwit incoherently mumbles parts of sentences while he desperately tries to think of another lie, as pictures of the crime flash behind him. He eventually loses his composure and throws his toupée at Phoenix in anger. He then shouts out, "Shutup!" multiple times, and even says, "I hate you!" to Phoenix. After Phoenix proves that The Thinker clock was telling the incorrect time at the time of the murder, thus proving that Sahwit is the murderer, Sahwit hyperventilates before frothing at the mouth and fainting behind the witness stand.
Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit[]
Frank Sahwit appears during the second case, where he is shown paying his sentence in prison. He claims to be a model prisoner, taking care of the animals inside the prison and training to be an animal groomer. He is the one who found the dead body of Bronco Knight inside one of the workrooms, but Miles Edgeworth interrogates him and discovers he was able to enter the room because his prisoner bracelet was broken. It is later revealed that he worked as an accomplice to the prison's warden, Fifi Laguarde, helping her to smuggle goods inside the prison for Bodhidharma Kanis, which also allowed her to dispose of Knight's body in the prison. Sahwit's prison sentence was extended for his role as Laguarde's accomplice, much to his fury.
Personality[]
In his first appearance, Sahwit is a sycophantic, smarmy, and nosy man; however, he also possesses a short and volatile temper. He has a habit of telling fairly transparent lies, then having a strong feeling of displeasure when these lies are questioned. His words unintentionally reveal his excellent poker face, thereby giving away his true nature.
In his second appearance, all efforts as a model prisoner are just a front to make certain that his prison sentence is made smaller. When his sentence is extended due to his actions as the accomplice of Laguarde, he flies into a wave of uncontrollable anger and admits that he does not actually care about animal grooming.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Sahwit is the first villain encountered by the player in the Ace Attorney series, and thus, he is the very first villain to be defeated by Phoenix.
- Sahwit's breakdown in the anime was cut short. He never threw his toupee at Phoenix in the anime. Instead, his toupée was knocked down by the wind when Wright gave him a final blow by proving Sahwit as the culprit. Sahwit then collapsed on the floor while frothing at the mouth.
- Sahwit is the only villain in the series who had his breakdown scene reprised in the same way when he appeared in Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit. In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, when Sahwit threw his toupée at Phoenix, Phoenix was annoyed. However, in Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit when Sahwit threw his toupée again, this time at Edgeworth, Edgeworth was utterly shocked.
- He is also the only villain that does not require pressing at all to find his contradictions.
- In the original release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the court record lists Sahwit's age as 36, yet in Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit, his age is listed as 47, despite the events of the game taking place only 3 years following his arrest. The Japanese version of the Nintendo DS port and the iOS port of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy HD list Sawhit's age as 44.
External links[]
- Frank Sahwit on the Ace Attorney Wiki
