| “ | For the honor of the De Killer name, even if it takes an eternity...I would follow that person to the ends of the earth to exact my punishment. | „ |
| ~ Shelly de Killer's view on traitors. |
Shelly de Killer is a major antagonist in the Ace Attorney franchise.
He is the secondary antagonist of "Farewell, My Turnabout," the fourth and final case in the 2002 visual novel Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice For All, and a major character in its 2011 spin-off Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit.
He is the third heir to a line of assassins known as "de Killer", who are known for their honor and the calling card they leave behind at the scenes of their assassinations. He was initially hired by actor Matt Engarde to assassinate his rival Juan Corrida, but de Killer would later return to assist Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth in solving one of his investigations.
Biography[]
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice For All[]
Farewell, My Turnabout[]
De Killer was hired by Nickel Samurai actor Matt Engarde to assassinate his rival, Juan Corrida, and to steal a wooden bear figurine containing a suicide note and bring it to his client. However, Matt Engarde was arrested based on evidence that was planted by his manager, Adrien Andrews, so de Killer had to resort to desperate measures in order to procure his client's acquittal; namely, he kidnapped Phoenix Wright's friend and legal aide, Maya Fey, and ordered Phoenix to defend Engarde in court, threatening to kill her if he refused or failed.
The court case drags on, and despite the culprit having been identified as de Killer, Engarde remains under suspicion for having hired this assassin. To clear his client's name, de Killer decides to testify in court about his client through a two-way radio transceiver; naturally, he lies and claims that Andrews is his client. Knowing that de Killer will kill Maya if Engarde is convicted, Phoenix is forced with a choice to either give Engarde and acquittal to save Maya while letting Andrews take the fall for Corrida's murder, or sacrifice his friend to ensure that Engarde is found guilty for his crimes. Before he can do so, however, Franziska von Karma arrives and delivers a crucial piece of evidence; a video recording of de Killer's assassination of Corrida. With the tape, Phoenix is able to prove to de Killer, who considers the trust between assassin and client sacred, that his client had been planning to blackmail him with the recording. Furious by this breach of trus, de Killer immediately breaks his contract with Engarde, declaring him his next target, and releases Maya. Engarde, terrified for his life, desperately confesses his guilt, choosing to face punishment for his crimes rather than to live the rest of his life with De Killer chasing him.
Breakdown[]
The transceiver de Killer uses to communicate with the court breaks apart violently; the case falls off and the various parts come loose. When he regains his composure, the transceiver is sweating oil.
Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit[]
Turnabout Trigger[]
Shelly de Killer appears in the very first case, where he is the initial suspect for the assassination attempt on the president of Zheng Fa, Di-Jun Wang, initially posing as an ice cream vendor called John Doe. Once Bronco Knight, one of the president's bodyguards, attempts to dismiss everyone from the investigation after he reveals his partner Bastian Rook died, de Killer immediately drops his façade and takes Knight hostage, asking him to let Edgeworth continue his investigation. He reveals he considered Rook a worthy rival, for he was the first person to ever injure him when he attempted to assassinate the president himself, unlike Knight who ended up being strangled by him. Once he figures out the truth, de Killer makes his escape, but not before leaving a cryptic hint for Edgeworth to decipher.
The president's refusal to defend Knight from de Killer and willingness to scapegoat Knight for the assassination led de Killer to discover that the president was a fake since the real Di-Jun Wang cared for his men and the real Di-Jung Wang never would have shown such extreme cowardice.
A Turnabout Forsaken[]
After the entire case is solved, Edgeworth and Kay find a familiar radio transceiver in the secret 51th floor of the Grand Tower, which starts ringing. Once Kay picks it up, de Killer calls Edgeworth's name and talks with him, giving him a hint that there was a mastermind behind all events, which Edgeworth confirms he suspected as well.
Turnabout for the Ages[]
After Edgeworth retrieves evidence from a safe in the 51st floor, he meets with de Killer in the building's rooftop, where de Killer offers Edgeworth ice cream but Edgeworth refuses, not wanting to take ice cream from a known murderer. De Killer says he is after the mastermind as well, because he broke his trust by not revealing to him the true nature of the president (who was actually a body double that took his place after the real one was murdered 12 years before the game takes place).
After Edgeworth reveals Simeon Saint is the mastermind and the murderer of the fake president, de Killer appears before everyone and attempts to kill Simeon, but he is stopped by Bodhidharma Kanis, who begs de Killer to spare Simeon's life. Though de Killer finds it amusing that an assassin like Kanis would go to such lengths to protect someone, he agrees to spare Simeon and once again escapes.
Personality[]
Shelly de Killer is an assassin of honor: the one thing he believes in the most is the trust between his client and himself. Should a traitor arise, that person would be de Killer's next target. He is usually very calm and collected, and does not hesitate to throw death threats at all who stand in his way. He also holds a level of respect for Phoenix Wright due to their mutual beliefs of trusting their clients and doing whatever they can for them, and considers Phoenix a worthy successor to him if Phoenix were to ever take up assassination in the future despite Phoenix repeatedly stating he is not interested. De Killer also never killed Maya so long as Phoenix did as he asked, allowed Phoenix to have a second chance at saving her even though the original deal was to get it done in just 2 days and released Maya after his contract with Engarde had ended due to Wright revealing that Engarde had planned to blackmail de Killer with a video tape of the assassination, showing he is a man of his word.
Despite being a ruthless assassin, de Killer was very polite and friendly to both his friends and enemies. He was studious, patient, and affable, unnerving many of those listening to him over the radio. De Killer believed that the assassinations he committed were to uphold his family legacy and did not have any personal or emotional motivations behind them, committing them out of honor rather than malice. After Bastian Rook managed to injure de Killer, Rook gained de Killer's respect and it led to him pushing Edgeworth to solve his murder.
He had some conditions in which he would break the contract with his clients: if they betray him, or if they lie about the target. He went after Engarde after Engarde broke the first rule and he subsequently went after Simeon after Simeon broke both the first and second rules.
Gallery[]
