| “ | "Heh, bringing a bit of the courtroom into this, I see. No problem, I'm game!" | „ |
| ~ Jaques Portsman |
Jacques Portsman is a witness in the murder of his own partner, Buddy "Jim" Faith in the first Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth case, "Turnabout Visitor".
Role in the game
A mole in the Prosecutor's Office
In the eyes of the Prosecutor's Office, Portsman was only a sports-obsessed prosecutor, but in reality, he was an agent for the Cohdopian Smuggling Ring. His job was to tamper with cases related to the Ring's puppet corporations by forging evidence and intentionally backing out of certain cases, all to preserve the ring leader's identity. He quickly rose to a higher ranking inside the Office, only to reach a certain file about the KG-8 Incident contained in Room 1202, which belonged to Byrne Faraday. However, he was forced to occupy Room 1203, as the room beside him was already being occupied by Miles Edgeworth. As Interpol agent Shi-Long Lang was about to arrest Ring associate Ernest Amano, Portsman and his partner, Buddy Faith interfered and arrested him instead.
Murder and defeat
At that night, Portsman received a calling card from Alba telling him to steal a videotape confiscated from Amano during his arrest. He tricked his partner into acquiring the evidence from the KG-8 Incident, seizing it as an opportunity to steal the files from Room 1202, by putting his basketball hoop (usually seen in front of his office) in front of the office's door and switching the number plates. He then tricked guard Maggey Byrde into unlocking the office, making her believe it was his. He entered and scrounged the files, stole the KG-8 data and arranged the files as he thought it was correct. However, Faith caught him on the act, which forced Portsman to reluctantly shoot and kill him on the spot. He then proceeded to write Detetive Gumshoe's name with Faith's blood to incriminate him. But even though he tried hard, right after Edgeworth returned, he cleared all suspicions and proved Portsman to be the real killer, causing him to break down and be arrested.
Breakdown
A variation of his nervous animation, Portsman chews on the medal in his chest until it snaps and he swallows it, passing out soon after.
Personality
Portsman was a sports-obsessed man with a competitive attitude and a fairly good sense of sportsmanship. However, much like the other villains in the game, it was all a facade to hide a clever attitude that worked for the Smuggling Ring. Portsman likes to face cases like it is some sort of competition, and constantly associates the scenarios he's in with sports and the like. Even though he killed his own partner for criminal ends, he still regretted doing it, because of his close partnership with "Jim".
Name
- "Jacques Portsman" is actually a corruption of "jock sportsman". Also, Faith's nickname "Jim" might be a reference to "gym", further emphasizing his connection with sports.
- His Japanese name, "Makoto" (誠人), means "truth", while "Yuuki" (優木) means "courage".
External links
- 1 Jacques Portsman in the Ace Attorney Wikia.
