“ | Pleeeeeease! Don’t just ignore meeeeee! | „ |
~ Ron DeLite's catchphrase. |
Ron DeLite is the defendant of the second case in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations, "The Stolen Turnabout." He is a former security guard turned master thief known as Mask☆DeMasque, who is initially accused of stealing the Kurain Sacred Urn, and later accused of murder.
In the anime, he was voiced by Kōtarō Nishiyama in Japanese and Justin Pate in English.
Biography[]
Ron DeLite was a security guard at KB Security. After he saved a woman named Desirée from two knife-wielding robbers, they fell in love and eventually got married. Due to not having enough money for his wife's spending and the subsequent worry that she would leave him if he could not afford her lifestyle, Ron attempted to steal confidential information from his employees so he could support her. He was caught and fired by his boss and the company's CEO, Kane Bullard.
Ron then decided to become a thief and took on the identity of Mask☆DeMasque, since he could not find a job to support his Desirée's lifestyle, despite knowing of her hatred for criminals. His first heist was stealing the Tear of Emanon; after successfully steeling the gem, he dumped his costume in a trash can and donned his security uniform to appear as though he was investigating the scene. However, private investigator Luke Atmey discovered that Ron was Mask☆DeMasque after finding the thief costume in the trash can and proceeded to blackmail him, forcing Ron to steal more valuable treasures so that Atmey could sell them on the black market; Atmey would pay Ron in exchange for his heists, allowing him to continue supporting Desirée.
The final heist occurred when Luke told him to go to Kane Bullard's office at KB Security. He dressed up as Mask☆DeMasque and walked into the office as told, only for Atmey to knock him out and leave him in the office with Bullard's body, who Atmey had murdered. Upon regaining consciousness, Ron, fearing he would be accused of the murder, hid Bullard's body in the office's safe and fled the scene.
Ron was later arrested for the theft of the Kurain Sacred Urn, and was represented in court by Phoenix Wright, who had Ron declared innocent by 'revealing' Atmey as the true Mask☆DeMasque, only for his client to subsequently be accused of Bullard's murder. Phoenix realized that Atmey had claimed to be Mask☆DeMasque in order to give himself an alibi for Bullard's murder, and instead re-implicated him by proving that Ron was indeed the thief all along. Ron could not be charged for his thefts as Mask☆DeMasque due to double jeopardy laws, leaving him completely off the hook.
After the trial, Ron and Desirée decided to open an organization to help thieves start an honest life, while at the same time giving them detailed plans for their heists.
Trivia[]
- Ron is a rare example of a villainous defendant in the Ace Attorney series, the only other ones being Terry Fawles, Matt Engarde, Machi Tobaye, and Magnus McGilded. However, while Terry, Machi, and Ron are innocent of the crimes they were charged with, Matt and Magnus are not.