jigokucho app.

[retroductions]

PLAYER INFORMATION

PLAYER: Jen
ARE YOU AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD?: Yes!
CONTACT: aurajen | PM
CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A

CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME: Herlock Sholmes
CANON: The Great Ace Attorney
CANON REFERENCE: His wiki entry here.
CANON POINT: After the events of the second game.
CRAU HISTORY: N/A
AGE: 34
APPEARANCE: A full-body image here!
CONTRACT PAYMENT: When he returns home, his foster daughter Iris who waits for him is guaranteed to be safe, healthy, and happy.

QUESTIONNAIRE:

What does family mean to you and who do you consider a part of your family?

I've a family that bears no relation to me at all. [His grin is wide, he nearly laughs at the thought.] Coming back to my flat day after day, to be met with trusted faces, reliable countenances, to take tea with them, to share meals with them -- are they not the sort that one should define as family, rather than obliging those with the middling connection of a shared family name?

You can be your best around them and be all the better for it. You can be your worst, too, and they may have the grace to learn to forgive you. You may accidentally catch their clothing on fire with an experiment gone awry one day, but even then, they should only laugh and shrug it off!

[Did it happen exactly like that? Well. One can only guess.]

Dear Iris is family, of course. The rest reside halfway across the world, on that island nation of Japan, and so! Even great distances cannot undo the connection between those kept closest. I wonder how everyone is doing these days...

How do you define "success"? What is something you're ambitious about?

Success is the moment all the pieces come together in a case, when the mystery ceases to be a mystery any longer. There is very little more satisfying or sublime in this world, and though that sense of accomplishment is sure to fade, in that singular moment where the truth has been stripped bare, what more could a man want from the world?

[But it is as he says: one case is sure to fade into obscurity, only the most pointed details remaining etched in his memory -- the rest is to be banished away to make room for another mystery, another problem that needs to be solved. The cycle is perpetual. The mind always needs something to gnaw on, lest it grows rusted with idleness.]

That is the full scope of my ambitions, you see. As long as my mind is engaged and my services needed for it--the rent paid, thusly--then I am in want of little else.

What is your favorite diversion? Hobbies, indulgences, vices? Would you put off important things for that diversion, or would you be more strict about how you spend your time and/or money?

I have more than just one way of whiling away the hours in between my work.

[It is necessary, otherwise he may succumb to utter boredom.]

Firstly, I always make time for developing various chemical compounds and agents that may aid in investigations. Iris is quite a blessing in that department, of course; her ingenuity is second to none, and though the path to a completed project is not always straightforward [explosions happen, it's part of the process], we've come up with several inventions that should be a boon to any forensic investigator worth their salt.

I also consider myself something of a musician when the mood strikes. My Stradivarius sings when it chooses to cooperate, wailing sorrowful tunes in the dead hours of the night or in the light of the morning. This was a hobby forced upon me through expectation, though I have to admit I've taken a liking to it over the years.

[What man cannot force musical artistry into his skillset through pure bullheadedness alone, after all?]

As for vices, the slow-burning of tobacco in my pipe helps me think. A loyal caramel bar, unearthed in times of need, gives comfort where others may not care to provide it. Surely these are simple and warranted indulgences, utilized in tandem with my work. They are not a replacement for it, and instead have come to my aid more than once when faced with a particularly stubborn problem that requires the utmost focus.

An enemy of your faction has asked for a meeting, proposing a truce of sorts to deal with a greater threat. On one hand, there is indeed a threat at hand, but on the other, this person double-crossing you is just as likely an outcome. Do you agree to the meeting? Do you trust them?

I should think this is all a matter of risk assessment. Trust plays little part in the outcome. Indeed, it is simply a matter of knowing which option is more enticing for the other: a temporary truce, or bitter betrayal. I should not like to go in blind and ignorant, either way.

Though in a strictly hypothetical situation, I would opt for a meeting if forced to choose. One might as well see what opportunities present themselves, if any at all, and if I'm to be met only with a knife in the back? At least it would not be a terribly surprising knife.

[Besides, preparation is key. It sounds like a situation where one should go in expecting the worst and walk away pleasantly surprised if it does not come to pass.]

Very few endeavors worthy of action are without risk. Some even pan out unexpectedly well. Maybe I'm just a hopeful sort of fellow.

POWERS & ABILITIES: Sholmes has no supernatural abilities, but he does possess a few mundane ones worthy of note. Namely, he's a detective who has a great capacity to utilize both deductive and abductive reasoning to startling effect through simple observation. (Though many of the details in his deductions are widely wrong or absurd, this is played for laughs, and it's implied that he does it purposefully to help others reason out the truth for themselves.) This is perhaps his key talent, and when paired with his desire to unravel mysteries, makes him surprisingly good at his job. He is also able to pick almost any simple lock that exists in a handful of seconds, he is a talented boxer who is presumably able to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat, and he has a penchant for disguising himself to fool others, though his height is problematic in giving him away in some cases -- such as the time he tried to disguise himself as an elderly woman. Sholmes is also musically gifted, his instrument of choice being the violin.

SUITABILITY: Herlock Sholmes comes from a canon where crime and murder are central plot points to the story. Specifically, his work enables him to witness the aftermath of these scenes with regularity; he is drawn to the mysteries inherent within them and knows that there is always a darker side to the city that perpetuates crime, murder, and other unscrupulous events. He is no stranger to violence and has canonically suffered from a gunshot wound himself; these are just the dangers of being a consulting detective, after all, whose work can lead him to unsafe situations or locations. The supernatural elements in the game will only spark his curiosity. He is prone to ignore the sexual elements of the game or simply shrug them off out of disinterest, but he certainly won't be unplayable simply because they exist.

FACTION SUITABILITY:

THE SHUTEN CLAN - Sholmes’ predilection for solving mysteries would pair well with the Shuten's hatred for liars, in that they both run parallel to preferring the truth over obscuring it. Though more of a stretch, the clan's belief in death before dishonor would at the very least make sense to him, in that it is similar to the aristocracy of his time's priorities of upholding one's family name and legacy through honorable means and social deference above all else. Also, his fisticuffs skills might be suited to any of the Shuten's fighting arenas, though this is a somewhat laughable connection considering many in the game would possess physical and fighting skills well beyond what he's capable of.

THE TAMAMO CLAN - Sholmes resonates very well with the Tamamo's clan preference towards cunning and insight, as most of his work as a detective relies heavily on using the mind for rational thinking and creative problem-solving to bring to light what is hidden. Much of his work is done not just for the practical reason of paying the bills, but also to sate his own desires, mainly to stimulate his mind and constantly keep himself engaged in whatever he has happened to conjure up for himself. Sholmes' eccentricities allow him to act more openly than most of the peers of his era, securing his freedom of individuality and a general uncaring of how others may perceive these same eccentricities, another aspect that may align well with the Tamamo.

THE SUTOKU ALLIANCE - Possessing a wide array of information about any number of things is indisposable as a detective, as is utilizing what connections one has, which aligns well with the Sutoku's focus on information brokering. Sholmes has a stubborn tendency to unearth things that others are trying to hide, and is aware that the truth has the power to hurt as much as it can heal, especially in regards to those who value their reputation above all else. Though Sholmes has no drive to use information underhandedly against others, he would at least appreciate the Sutoku's fight as an underdog, knowing that there is value in fighting against those who wield more power and influence if the situation is right.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ENMA - It would be remiss to ignore the fact that Sholmes' detective work often assists Scotland Yard; that his works to solve murders and mysteries do not lend to the world spiraling out of control, but instead offers some semblance of order in that things may "right themselves" once a truth is exposed. And though Sholmes is not a city official in his own canon, he works in conjunction with cops and lawyers to aid in investigations. He is not dedicated strictly to justice more than he is uncovering the truth, but his work has the undeniable tendency to uphold it all the same; and even Sholmes, who just wants to seek out a mystery for the sake of it, knows that the system is necessary to keep things running smoothly, even if that same system is given to corruption and imperfection if not kept under a watchful eye. Regardless, if allowed to work as a detective within the Enma, he would be undeniably in his element.



SAMPLES

TDM top level (spoilers marked accordingly)
TDM thread (spoilers in the whole thread!)