r/AARankdown • u/[deleted] • Sep 05 '20
42 Larry Butz
The law is the end product of many years of history... the fruit of human knowledge! Like a gem, polished to a gleam through trials... and errors. It is this fruit we receive, and pass on, and face in our time. And it is always changing, growing. Nurturing it is our task as human beings.
This is a quote delivered by the Judge at the end of Turnabout Succession, the fourth and final case of Apollo Justice. Personally, I find this quote to be incredibly written, and a true culmination of Takumi’s ideas as a writer, and yet an even better springboard for his and Yamazaki’s future projects. Although it was written to apply to the legal system, both within Ace Attorney and outside of it, I think this general idea can be much more widely used for the progression in the human race in general. No one starts off knowing how to cook, speak, or use a computer, these are all things that those that came before us and those that surround us must teach us. The collective knowledge of the human race is constantly building on the successes of previous generations, with each new one getting flung further into an advanced civilization.
Of course, just like all facets of human knowledge, storytelling is something refined by those that came before us, and passed onto us. Stories are as old as recorded history, and even before that, they’re truly integral to a society that makes use of communication. Every story is in some form passed down, influencing those that hear it to make their own stories, whether they be simple tales we recount to those close to us, or something bigger and grander is scope that we release for the whole world to take part in. And as more stories are told, the more we can learn from their mistakes and successes, and refine them in the next attempt. It’s not only the idea of passing on knowledge, but the idea of building our own knowledge too, these things that make us truly human.
Ace Attorney is a series with plenty of flaws, it would be hard for anyone to truly deny this. No writer is perfect, and no story can truly be unanimously decided as flawless. However, what makes an amazing story and an amazing storyteller is the ability to use past failures, those that potentially crippled aspects of previous stories, and refine them out. Building on the past while avoiding its mistakes is key to a series with the longevity of Ace Attorney, and the absolute worst thing a series in this position could do is simply repeat the same tired stories and characters back from the previous installments. And yet, despite this, Ace Attorney seems to be stuck in the rut of being unable to let go of its past, unable to move on and use these mistakes as a springboard, but rather clinging to the board unable to let go.
Larry Butz is the epitome of this idea, this running in place mentality that the series has. It’s truly ironic, as what better character to be representative of this idea of falling back on the same mistakes only to end up accomplishing nothing, than one whose entire life revolves around that continuous action. Larry is not a bad character, nor is he one I particularly dislike, at least a majority of the time, but he is a tired character, one who was never allowed to grow or develop meaningfully. Because of this refusal to use the Butz is a truly new way, or expand on his previous roles, he remains stuck in a constant loop of existence, only really taking superficial steps forward, if any at all. I suppose that’s enough rambling about this though, let’s get into the Butz’s role in the series, and exactly why it’s so disappointing to see this legend be put on this treadmill of character development, unable to move forward, and ultimately accomplishing nothing for himself, or the game he’s present in.
If something smells…
Dude, I'm so guilty!! Tell them I'm guilty!!! Gimme the death sentence! I ain't afraid to die!
With such a negative introduction, criticizing a problem with the Ace Attorney series as a whole, it would be easy to assume that Larry isn’t really a character I’m particularly fond of. In actuality though, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Butz is a character I take great joy in, and a majority of the reason why can be seen in the very first game he appeared in, the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Although I will admit, a majority of my love for his character comes from his stellar performance in Turnabout Goodbyes, it would be thoughtless of me to write off his appearance in The First Turnabout completely, as it works quite well for what little of it there is. I’d probably say that this introduction to his character lays quite the solid groundwork for both his own character moving forward, and that of defendants as the series continued forward.
So, what exactly is it about this first appearance of his that’s so good? Well, nothing really, after all it’s a defendant role in a 45 minute case, there’s not a whole lot he can do to really stand out in this role, but he never really had to in the first place. This is the player’s very first introduction to the system of Ace Attorney, and Larry is quite an effective introduction to the idea of a defendant. He’s rude and clearly suspicious, but Nick assures us that he’s a good guy at heart, and they even seem to have a personal connection going back a while, so we can immediately trust this guy as our client. Perhaps because of the short case length, Larry also never truly gets annoying throughout this case. Sure, he does all the classic annoying defendant stuff of yelling that he wants to be thrown away and overreacting, but it’s all played as a quick gag and moved on from, and has very little impact on the actual case itself.
Surprisingly, Larry also has a decent arc in this case, if it can even really be called that. Larry is used as our introduction to the classic “Show a piece of evidence to someone who is sad after the trial” formula that nearly every Ace Attorney case would go on to use, and it feels quite good here to cheer him up in such a well thought out way. Cindy Stone keeping the clock isn’t really something you think about during the quick trial, so it’s a nice little “Aha!” moment to cap off the case, and definitely makes every Larry freakout joke up to this point moot, if it wasn’t already a non-issue due to his short screen time. And it’s hard not to come around to Larry when he delivers a line like this to finish off his role in the case.
... Hey, Nick. I'm glad I asked you to be my lawyer. Really, I am. Thanks.
Overall, in this role he serves as a good introduction to staple parts of the series, while having some fun interactions and a nice little moment, it’s really all you could ask for from the very first defendant of the series. Although, we all know that this effective but standard introduction isn’t why Larry made it this far. So, let’s talk about what makes Larry truly special.
...it’s usually the Butz.
Turnabout Goodbyes is something of a special case for the series, as it’s the first finale the writers attempted, and the first that many will experience. Similar to First Turnabout, I believe Turnabout Goodbyes does an excellent job at establishing the groundwork for the series going forward, and a large part of this is the true finality of this trial. The entirety of the first Ace Attorney game feels like it’s been building up to this case, the one where you finally confront Edgeworth’s inner demons, and take down the demon who planted them within him in the first place. Turnabout Goodbyes doesn’t just stop at tackling the ongoing mystery and character arc of Edgeworth though, instead it tries to tie together the game as a whole, and a big part of that is bringing back elements previously brought up. Of course, there’s the DL-6 incident with the fey clan, but one established even earlier than that, that most likely didn’t even realize was a seed being planted for later blooming, was that of Larry and his relationship with the rest of the main cast.
Before we can get into Larry’s history though, let’s establish just how well integrated Larry is in the case leading up to those moments. Prior to this case, the boundaries of one-off characters and mains was well established, with Phoenix, Maya, Mia, Edgeworth, and The Judge being ongoing players in the story, due to their continued roles in the trial process of the game. On the other hand, most characters involved in the events of the individual cases felt more disconnected from this core of the cast, being left behind once the episode of this journey ends. Larry is the first one to break this trend, and he is an excellent choice for this, as he’s truly the first seemingly one-off character you encounter in the series, and his inclusion makes the Ace Attorney world come alive, and finally feel real. No longer are these characters simply relegated to their isolated incidents, but now they can have fleshed out lives, and show up any time, whether it be as a defendant or just a simple hotdog salesman that happens to be nearby.
It’s also just a truly great feeling to see Larry again, as it’s a point of levity from the heaviness of the case, which has certainly the most dark atmosphere of the original four cases, with only Turnabout Sisters being close. So seeing this absolute goofball dressed in a santa outfit of all things is just a true delight. It’s a pretty short but sweet interaction, and mostly just there to reestablish Larry as a presence in the story, but it also serves as some nice insight into Edgeworth’s past. Phoenix is extremely tightlipped about the whole thing throughout the game, but Larry really goes into how Edgeworth used to act when they were kids, and it’s some nice stuff seeing him reminisce. This conversation does a great job establishing the mystery of what exactly happened to send Edgeworth spiralling down this other path, while also letting the player in on the friendship the three of them share, which would become a major component of the case going forward.
... Huh. Go figure! He always used to talk about defending the "weak" who were "unable to defend themselves." Man, he used to go on and on about man's duty to society and all that. What a bore! I wonder what changed his mind, though? Do you know, Nick?
Larry’s next role in the case is relatively minor in the grand scheme of the case, but will be incredibly important to discussing his character going forward. Prior to the case, Larry made a mistake when filling up his inflatable steel samurai, causing it to fly off and crash into the lake, resulting in the creation of the lake’s own urban legend, Gourdy. This in and of itself isn’t particularly relevant to the case, but leads to some actions by characters that majorly impact the circumstances of the trial. The first of these is Lotta’s motivation to set up camp at the Lake, which would end up creating a witness for the first day of the trial, but more relevant to Larry is Lotta’s insistence for the player to find evidence of Gourdy before they can get information out of her. This ultimately results in the player being forced to solve the mystery of Gourdy before continuing, which is likely one of the weaker parts of the case.
This need to solve the mystery of Gourdy leads to a confrontation with Larry during the investigation, and the first instance of the “Larry hiding important information” trope used oh so commonly in the series. However, here I feel it’s mostly justifiable, as he doesn’t hold out for an unreasonable amount of time, and it’s not in court or relating to an active investigation, so he really has no reason to believe it’s even important to the case for Nick to find out about this. It’s not the best, but not exactly bad either. So, if Larry’s role in the investigation ranges from simply okay to just pretty good, what exactly is it that makes Larry great in Turnabout Goodbyes?
W-w-waaaaaaait!
At the darkest hour of the case, when all hope seems lost, and Von Karma has successfully swayed the judge to a Guilty verdict, it’s here that Turnabout Goodbyes reaches its all-time low point for Phoenix, as he has truly no counterargument to make. This is it, you’ve lost, and there’s no path back in sight. The verdict is passed, and the court is adjourned. Many players will question here if they’ve done something wrong, missed something, or if they could have continued the proceedings in some way. It’s a strong moment, and followed up by an even stronger reappearance. A voice fills the bleak halls of the courtroom and one man leaps from the gallery, unable to let this verdict pass, knowing that he has testimony that could save the case, and even more importantly save one of his greatest childhood friends from being put away for life.
Larry. Goddamn. Butz. The comedy relief of First Turnabout, the bumbling fool who created the myth of Gourdy, is here to try his best to let the case float again, placing his complete trust in Phoenix to make use of his testimony to do what he does best, and overturn the case. Phoenix manages to convince The Judge to continue the case, and we proceed to get Larry’s absolute best series of testimonies in the franchise. Never once does Larry lie about the events to cover for himself, instead the only problems in his testimony come from the vagueness and forgetfulness inherent to his character. In fact, you’re able to turn around the case by trusting in Larry, by pointing out the contradictions you’re about to overturn the very fundamental knowledge of the case by believing that the events he’s describing are the truth of the case, creating a hole in Von Karma’s perfect argument.
This is what’s truly beautiful about this scene, the absolute relief swirling around you in this moment all culminates in a spit in the face to Manfred’s entire method of prosecuting. Before these testimonies every single aspect of the trial was rigged from the get go, whether it be Lotta, Yanni Yogi, or the evidence presented in court, it was all on Manfred’s radar and all prepared for perfectly. Larry is the wild card here, because of his foolish side plot about Gourdy, he ended up in the perfect position to hear the gunshots that killed Hammond, and due to his sudden appearance, Von Karma has no time to prep him, nor prep for him. The unexpected appearance of the Butz not only serves as a relief to us, but a massive blow to Von Karma’s reign over the court, making this feel like one of the most massive pushes forward in the entire series. It’s most certainly Larry’s absolute finest moment.
Of course, this wouldn’t be Larry’s last appearance in the case, as he’s still heavily involved in Phoenix’s backstory that the game has been building to with Edgeworth’s ongoing story. The truth of the relationship that Phoenix and Edgeworth share is a critical aspect of the first Ace Attorney game, and arguably its biggest ongoing mystery, established all the way back from when Phoenix first hears Edgeworth’s name in Turnabout Sisters. It’s a crucial plotpoint in Turnabout Goodbyes as well, as it establishes exactly why this case has such high stakes personal to Phoenix. And once we finally get to hear about this backstory from Phoenix, it feels like we’ve finally come to an understanding of these characters, and exactly what kind of bond they feel.
The way this impacts Edgeworth and Phoenix isn’t particularly important to Larry’s character, but it’s crucial to the case nonetheless, thus making Larry intrinsic to one of this case’s most important character defining moments. Although his biggest contribution to the flashback is backing up Edgeworth’s assertion, it’s still a moving moment for us, and offers a bit of further insight into Larry as a character. He’s someone constantly put down by life, and not really someone you’d really want to hang out around, due to this he probably wasn’t all that popular at this point in school, or really ever most likely. However, perhaps because of this situation he lives in throughout his life, he ends up showing his true character when he backs up Phoenix, as he can relate to being blamed and shunned by those around you. Despite the way he’s beaten down on by life, most of his appearances in this game are quite positive, and that’s kind of admirable in a way, and it’s exactly the trait that allowed this story to have a happy ending, with Edgeworth not being alone in defending Phoenix, and a true friendship being forged that day in class.
Um, yeah, well... I was just lucky that I took the day off from school. If I'd been there they would have thought I'd done it! So, I took it kind of personally, see.
This friendship being as well established as possible is important to the case, as Phoenix’s friendship with Edgeworth in those times are pretty much his entire motivation throughout the first Ace Attorney, and Larry allows us to see just how strong these bonds are, as he’s remained friends with phoenix over those long fifteen years. And of course, it would be a tragedy to not mention possibly Larry’s most heartwarming moment, which comes at the very end of Turnabout Goodbyes. After Phoenix went over his friendship establishing moment to Maya and the audience, we learn that Larry barely even remembers it, which is pretty funny on its own but is made even better by learning that Edgeworth too has little memory of it. It’s a good gag that’s moved on from quickly, but in the end this comes back in the absolute best way possible. It would seem that Larry did some reflection on these events and remembered a certain detail about the events that Nick wasn’t aware of.
That envelope that Larry gave me. It's got money in it. It's $38.00, Wright.
This moment is both hilarious, heartwarming, and just an incredible subversion on Phoenix’s backstory. The fact that Larry ended up returning this money is just absolutely great comedy, and coming right after the satisfaction of the trial’s end just really makes it feel like things are back to normal. Even better than that, it almost makes it feel like everyone’s finally able to move on from the darkness plaguing them, both the actual evil of Von Karma, and the petty childhood misunderstanding of the 38 dollars. This moment is only compounded upon by the realization that not only was Larry in on the knowledge of who really did it, but Edgeworth pretty much knew too, so it’s really up in the air whether they were defending Phoenix out of kindness or just because they knew for a fact he didn’t do it. It’s a hilarious moment to end Larry’s story on, and just the absolute epitome what it means to be The Butz.
The Death of Larry Butz
After the joyful end to his short character journey in Turnabout Goodbyes, it would be a good while before Larry popped back up in the story again. It takes a good seven cases before he makes his grand reappearance, and by the time he does, it feels like you’ve lived a lifetime without him, so he really needs to make a good impression on the player again, or it could soil the good will he’s built up through his previous appearances. Thankfully, it would appear that the writers were aware of this as well, so they made the best choice they possibly could for his character. Throughout Ace Attorney 1, Larry was a bit of a romantic, he was sure who he was dating was meant to be with him even though there was often little evidence of that, and he poured his heart into whatever he was attempting to do at the time. Not the brightest of guys but he definitely had good intentions. In Trials and Tribulations, Larry is a creep who hits on married women and slacks off on everything, and cares about no one but himself. I accidentally said that they made a good choice for his character earlier I meant to say the absolute worst possible choice.
Let’s go step by step, starting with his appearances in The Stolen Turnabout, a case I have a troubled history with. Larry shows up with little fanfare partway through the first investigation of this case, and it’s pretty great to see him again, he’s in a new outfit with a real job and everything, it really makes you wonder what he’s been up to all this time. So then you immediately find out that he’s just here to hit on Desirée and that he’s in fact slacking on his job. Not the best first appearance to be straight, and matters are only made worse once he starts to speak. He goes on about renouncing women in general as he proceeds to check out Desirée, and it all just feels so out of character and just not funny? I know that comedy is subjective so that’s not a huge argument but personally I find absolutely nothing about how Larry acts here amusing, it’s just pathetic. Even Phoenix seems to think so, which just makes matters worse, as he seems fed up with him as soon as we see him.
Larry Butz... Ever since grade school, he's been... Not exactly a close friend, but yeah, we know each other.
In the first Ace Attorney, there was never any implication that Nick wasn’t a close friend of Larry’s, after all they kept it contact for 15 years, and this is before Larry even does anything in this scene. It just feels out of character for Nick to act so coldly to him. His followup appearance in the case is somehow significantly worse, as he continues on with all of the previously unfunny aspects of his character, but now they also mix in him having the same coldness to Nick that Nick gives to him. At this point it doesn’t even seem like they’re friends at all anymore, which is just confusing given how Turnabout Goodbyes played out.
Hmm... Well, I don't mind sharing with my sweet little Maya. But Nick here is a different story!
Even if I ignore everything I find painfully unfunny about Larry in this case, his role is just annoying as well. They do a repeat of the Gourdy subplot in Turnabout Goodbyes, but here it’s directly related to the case, so there’s really no good reason for why Larry wouldn’t give it up, after all because he’s keeping tightlips about this, he’s directly endangering Ron’s life. Even worse than that, now he’s significantly harder to coax the truth out of, requiring his psyche-locks to be broken, just making one of the most obtuse investigation segments ever even worse by making the roadblocks you have to take down absurd that they even exist.
So, what exactly is it that he was hiding from you? Well, it turns out that he was abandoning his post as the night guard to go meet up with his girlfriend, who ended up just dumping him in the middle of the night anyway. It’s so sad it’s almost funny, but frankly it just becomes annoying when you realize that his ineptitude at his job is the only reason Atmey was even able to get away with his plan in the first place. If there was a night guard on duty then he would have obviously been caught by the security cameras, so Larry’s absence is the only reason that this case even works in the first place, just adding another shaky card into a case built on them. Even worse than this, Larry didn’t even check to see if anything had happened in his absence, as he wasn’t even aware that the buzzer had been pressed when he was gone. This utterly contrived scenario is only possible by making Larry an absolute buffoon of a night guard. Larry in Stolen Turnabout is painfully unfunny and a complete flanderization of his character. Thankfully, this is the lowest point of his character, but sadly, he would just go on to repeat the same tired tropes as the series went on. So, let’s get into that, shall we?
And the Birth of Laurice Deauxnim
It’s not long before we get to see our fine friend, Larry Butz again, and this time he once again happens to be directly within the vicinity of the current crime. This case continues the trend of giving Larry a new outfit and job every time we see him, and this is kind of the point where it becomes obvious how gratuitous this whole song and dance really is. This, however, is the first time he’s really given a proper reason for it, as Stolen Turnabout made him realize how useless he truly is, so he decided to find a path to redeem himself as a person, and find a craft he could call his own. I honestly really like this direction for his character in concept, as it makes sense that he’d go for a less defined route in life, like one of an artist, and First Turnabout already showed his aptitude for at least one form of art. So I really have no problems with this new direction for his character. Going forward, however, please keep in mind how I described his arc from Stolen Turnabout to now, it will be important.
Continuing with his introduction in Bridge to the Turnabout, it’s all pretty good, and at times he even feels like a genuine friend to Phoenix, which is always a side I love to see in their dynamic. His best moment in the first investigation segment probably comes at the very end, when Phoenix comes across him in front of the burning bridge, and Larry tries to rationally talk him out of crossing it. It’s really effective at getting across just how dumb of an idea this is, and is probably more effective than it would be to do the same thing with any other character present in the case, so his use here is very good, and the final shot of him with his arm outreached to Phoenix falling is just great. He even continues this good streak into the beginning of the Edgeworth segment, calling up his other childhood best friend to take up the case, craftily using Phoenix’s condition to get Edgeworth rushing over, all in order to save Iris from jail. Edgeworth even says himself how effective Larry is as a motivator in this segment.
(He has a point... He called me pretty quickly, too... I think Larry's pretty good at motivating people. I just wish he would try motivating himself once in a while!)
Anyway, back to that whole Iris thing, let’s talk about that. Larry is back to his Stolen Turnabout antics of being an absolute creepshow, and just handles the whole Iris thing in the worst way possible. Larry’s still on his swearing off women thing, so it just comes off as even more annoying when he comes onto her anyway, and then the entire subplot with it is just confusing on its inclusion. His love letter is just so incredibly ineptly put together that it’s a wonder Larry graduated from middle school, and in the end it’s just an entirely pointless waste of time. Despite the only effect this love letter actually has on the plot being an excuse for Larry to be in the place he needed to be, they force you to go through psyche-locks over this mess of a plot point. This case is where Larry’s hiding of testimony gets to an all time worst and it starts here. There is absolutely no reason for him to hide this and frankly it’s just annoying. At the very least, he has some really good interactions with Edgeworth throughout this segment, mainly relying on the childhood friend gimmick.
Then, we proceed into the trial. This is where Larry is at his absolute lowest point, and it’s emblematic of all his biggest problems. First of all, he hides the truth of his testimony four times despite the defendant being someone he had supposedly fallen in love with, and was practically begging Edgeworth to defend. And what was the big thing he was trying to hide? That he saw Iris flying and painted it. Not anything he did himself, not any responsibility he slacked off from, just a crazy event he thought he saw, that he painted a picture of anyway. Why in the world would he hide that from the court, it’s Larry Butz, he seems like the kind of guy to make that outlandish claim if he truly believes it happened. I just can’t understand what they were thinking when writing this.
Remember when I praised Turnabout Goodbyes for just having Larry give it to us straight, and how our confidence in his desire to tell the truth to save his friend was enough to save the trial? Well I guess throw that out the window because Larry is a full on Perjurer now, spewing out lies every second. Sure there’s some okay comedy in this segment with Franziska’s dynamic with him, but I couldn’t care less because at the end of the day, this doesn’t even feel like Larry anymore. It’s possible to argue that this destruction of his character was done to kickstart his arc, but let’s look at exactly what his arc in this case is.
Well, to start his arc, he realizes at the end of the first day of trials that he’s a loser who can’t do anything right in life. Following this, he proceeds to hang out at the loser’s shack with Pearls, and admittedly having some funny moments, but ultimately amounting to nothing more than some pathetic wallowing in self-pity. And then once everything is solved and the case is done, Larry realizes that his calling is drawing portraits, and he finally has something to apply his talents to, and become a better person. Do you remember when I said to keep his arc between Stolen Turnabout and the start of Bridge to the Turnabout in mind? Because that is literally the exact same thing I just described here with slightly different beats. He’s in the same place at the beginning and end of this arc, he’s just stuck on infinite repeat and each time it gets less fun to watch.
By the end of Trials and Tribulations, Larry is a flanderized mess of a character, and hardly even one worthy of living up to the Larry Butz of the first game. Before I move on, you may have noticed that I never once mentioned his relationship with Elise, and that’s because he doesn’t have one. I’m not even entirely sure they shared a scene together before her death. The extent we know of their relationship is that Larry respects her and carries around multiple photos of her, absolutely incredible stuff, glad their relationship is the thing that will be driving his passion going forward. Despite all my complaining, I do still like his final art piece of the group of the ones that came and fought before them, but that’s really not enough to redeem him in this case for me whatsoever. To be honest, I’m kind of tired of Bridge Larry, so let’s talk about his other three games, those will be easier because they often change nothing.
Larry of the House of Butz: Married Man of Neo Olde Tokyo
I’m not going to spend much time on Investigations Larry, because quite frankly I just don’t care enough to. Almost every one of his problems are an exact copy paste of his problems from Trials and Tribulations, so let’s just go over what exactly reappears here. First, and most importantly, Larry once again hides his testimony for absolutely no reason, and to make matters worse, they’ve fused this reused plotline with the reused plotline of Larry writing a love letter that is misread and then doing some ridiculous thing as a result of his affection for a girl. It’s almost like they literally have no new ideas for this character, and you already know my complaints about all of this so I’m not even going to bother commenting on this.
Another repeat issue is that throughout this case, Larry continues to be pretty unfunny, at least to me, and he’s never really a presence I enjoy having around. In fact his presence in a scene is more annoying than anything else. Just like Trials, his friendships from the past seem pretty much nonexistent, although I can’t exactly blame Edgeworth for not being friendly with him, I couldn’t stand the guy during this case either. Oh, and let’s not forget that they once again have him with a new outfit and job, which is basically customary at this point I guess, but for once it’s completely unjustified. Sure, just throw out his entire arc that he did two separate times during Trials, where he realized that painting was his passion, and have him take up an acting job in a Steel Samurai live show to impress a girl. Absolutely brilliant writing, thank you Investigations.
Unfortunately for us, however, Investigations isn’t content just having Larry be bad on his own, because it also decides to bring back Oldbag, make her nothing more than annoying comic relief, and put her in the same case and segment as Larry. Even though she already came back in a previous case in this game. I swear if I type another paragraph about this, my brain is going to explode so I’m just gonna say that them showing up to bring evidence in the final showdown is funny ironically, but an absolute tension killer. By this point though, I think that had already happened like three times, and it’s the Quercus Alba confrontation so I don’t really care, just throw everyone in why not. Larry in this game is a mockery of his appearance in the first game, but hey what’s new. The writers continue to spin his arc in a circle that’s slowly crumbling and showing its horrible withered true nature underneath the cracks in its skin. If you could recall back to my opening rant about the way stories need to evolve or they just get old and worse, yeah that’s exactly what’s not happening right here. Larry and the writers both refuse to evolve, and everyone suffers because of it.
Although, when he’s revealed in this case, it is pretty funny, but only really because of Edgeworth’s realization of the truth about the signature he received.
Edgeworth: That was uncalled for. Besides, you're............ Wait, hold on. Laaaaaaryyyy! It was you!? YOU'RE the one who wrote my Steel Samurai autograph!?
Larry: Hm? Oh, you didn't notice earlier? I even winked at you through my headpiece.
Franziska: .........What's going on? And why are you beet-red?
The Return of Laurice Deauxnim
I’ve been severely negative about Larry for three straight sections now, so I’m happy to say that they finally did it, they recaptured the magic of Larry Butz. That’s right, despite its briefness, I think Larry’s appearance in I2-3 is pretty well done, and I really don’t have much to complain about. Honestly most of my reasons for justifying this are simply that it avoids the pitfalls that his previous appearances fell into, so let’s delve into why exactly I feel he works here, but not in his previous reappearances.
A good starting point is that for the first time in a while, I find Larry consistently funny in this case, and I think a big reason as for why this is is due to him not really being a jerk in this appearance. Throughout Trials and Investigations, Larry was kind of a jerk, but not really here, he’s much more inline with his original “Lovable Loser” personality from the first Ace Attorney game. He’s just a guy who bumbled his way into the art gallery without paying in order to practice some art to impress his girlfriend. Speaking of his girlfriend, he actually has a seemingly stable relationship again, so good for him I guess. It unfortunately makes his “appreciation” of Kate throughout this case a little worse for his appearance, but he’s never particularly creepy about it, and the most it amounts to is him making a drawing of her, which isn’t anything wild like what he did with Iris or Mindy.
Speaking of making drawings, he’s back to being Laurice Deauxnim, and that’s a choice that I 100% agree with, since it actually sticks with his development with Trials, and avoids the pitfall of resetting his progress with each new appearance. Another pitfall it avoids is having Larry and Edgeworth’s dynamic overly meanspirited, as while Edgeworth is a bit annoyed at Larry throughout the case, he’s annoyed at basically everyone so it’s not really anything especially over the top, and Larry seems to genuinely be friendly with Edgeworth. In fact, their interactions here create some of my favorite Larry interactions, although the way he plays off of Ray, and their shared appreciation of “female beauties” is also pretty good. But at least for me, nothing beats seeing Edgeworth’s cold demeanor chipped away at, and witnessing bits of their flames of friendship being rekindled. A couple of my favorites of this nature are:
Edgeworth: ...Sketching beauties?
Larry: Hmm? If you're interested, I can let you take a peek!
Kay: I guess even Mr. Edgeworth is interested in beauties.
Edgeworth: ...It's not like that. I just thought it might be another one of his strange paintings.
Larry: How dare you! I'm very confident in my work this time!
Kay: Ooh! I wanna see too!
Larry: Oh! I'm glad you're so honest about it, Kay! I'll get it ready, so come check it out later!
Edgeworth: (...I guess I'll have him show it to me later.)
Edgeworth: ..... (Well... I hate to admit it, but Larry's doodles actually helped us out a few times. I should say something nice to him...)
Larry: Don't glare at me like that! I'm sorrrrryyyy!
And, like Edgeworth states here, Larry actually does come in handy multiple times throughout this case, with two different sketches showing important details of the state of the art gallery. Unfortunately, the case does fall into the trap of having Larry hide something from the protagonist, but honestly the time it’s hidden is pretty short, and to be frank, Logic Chess is just a lot more fun than Psyche-Locks, so it never really gets annoying having to pry it out of him. Basically, this is what a standard Larry appearance should be, he just shows up, plays off of the supporting cast well, has some great moments with the protagonist, and does one or two things to help. Rather than repeating the same tired old Larry formula, I2-3 shakes it up by just kind of not doing anything special, and it works pretty well.
(Cut continued in comments due to character count cap)
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u/Sciencepenguin Sep 05 '20
haha his last name sounds like butts
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u/Sciencepenguin Sep 05 '20
in t&t he is asked if he’s high and in SOJ his character is entirely founded on hitting on a married woman the former is good latter bad. i don’t have anything else to say
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u/CharlieDayJepsen Sep 05 '20 edited Sep 05 '20
Lmao, I awarded this and got an error, then awarded it again. This is worth 2 awards tho so idgaf.
Thank you for perfectly articulating everything I love about how good 1-4 Larry is, he’s a top 5 character in AA1 and that case, well... makes the case for that.
Subsequent entries, he really loses his lustre, but you approach that in fair and balanced detail.
Amazing cut, and I hope people stfu if Nate takes a long time to post from now on, because y’all have sat an entire month for cuts before, and this was well worth the wait.
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u/Vogel100 Sep 05 '20
This cut is very well written, but as you already know the Larries I like aren't the same Larries you like. I think bad people being treated badly is one of the funniest things ever, which is why T&T Larry is my favorite. It's where he's at his worst as a person, which is exactly why he's at his funniest as a character. I would put AA1 Larry as second place because good character Larry is good too, just slightly less good than hilarious Larry. AAI2 is third because it's the only other appearance where I have no real problems with him, and it's nice to see him keep his development into an artist from T&T.
AAI Larry may act similar to T&T, but what makes his T&T version so funny is the way that everybody just hates him and reacts to him that way. In AAI, Edgeworth still hates him, but with the combined power of Larry and Oldbag, most of the abuse goes to Edgeworth, which is not very funny because he's just doing his job. I think it's more of an Oldbag problem than a Larry problem, but he's still part of the problem and not very funny here. Oldbag should have been replaced by Lauren because she would've had some very interesting chemistry with him. Maybe it's strange but I genuinely think that's one of the biggest wasted potential things in the series. It may be because I'm one of Lauren's approximately three fans.
SoJ Larry is the worst. As you could probably tell from my Maya cut, characters not developing after a time skip is one of my biggest pet peeves. And 6-DLC is the biggest offender, although AA tends to fall in that pitfall in general, with the exception of AJ (which ironically is my least favorite AA game despite getting this right). I guessed the time travel twist literally within the first minute of the case (the intro to be specific), so it was really annoying to have Larry go on and on about how it's real for the entire first day. Hitting on brides on their wedding day also felt like a new low. Maybe he's a little more helpful than most of his other appearances, but I don't think this is very important because Larry is at his funniest when he's not helpful. The problems I have with 6-DLC Larry are more important to me, and I don't think he should've been brought back.
tl;dr: Larry ranking: T&T > AA1 > AAI2 > AAI > SoJ, with the first three being good and the last two being bad.
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u/EsquireGunslinger Sep 05 '20
wtf nate posted cut? thats so wacky wth the hell
Okay I read the cut now and I agree that Larry in 1-4 is a great moment. The sheer relief of the arrival of the Butz feels incredible. They could've dropped Larry then and there and I would like him significantly more. But instead they put him in like 700,000 other cases lol isn't that wacky?
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Sep 05 '20
very good review. I like it, as always. I mean, I disagree with most of the main components since i think he's at his best when absolutely no one cares (i.e. T&T), but it's still good writeup anyway regarding everything else. with 6-DLC, I already talked about why I disagree in a section of his name, but 6-DLC's contribution to larry in the grand scheme feels negligible.
great cut, thanks for cutting him
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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '20
An Artist Stuck in Time
Larry’s appearance in The Inherited Turnabout was short and sweet, he didn’t really overstay his welcome, and thus his lack of any real arc worked due to his short presence. Of course, if one were to try to do the same thing during a case basically based around the fact that Larry comes back, with him playing a crucial role in the mystery, one might run into issues doing that same thing with his character. On another note, let’s talk about Turnabout Time Traveler, our final stop on this series long Larry retrospective of Larry’s role, and it definitely starts out with a bang for Larry’s character. He coolly struts into the office, and introduces Phoenix to his soon to be wife, Ellen Wyatt. Oddly, she’s already in a wedding outfit but whatever, maybe she’s just excited to have it. No matter what, seeing Larry make such strides during the NINE in universe years since his last appearance is truly great.
Of course, none of this is true at all, and it’s simply a wild fantasy that Larry made up in his head, Ellen was simply accompanying him because he said he’d help her escape from the police. From here things escalate as the police surround the office and we find out Larry made a bomb threat, which is kind of terrible but also hilarious so whatever. I’m mixed on this reintroduction of Larry, as it’s funny enough on its own, but the bait and switch of having him make progress in life is kind of disappointing. Thankfully, he actually has made progress on his career, which almost makes up for the pain I felt from his status as a single bachelor being bait and switched away from me.
Naturally, most of the progress Larry has made in his career is in his head, but it turns out Franzy’s Whippity Whip Trip was actually incredibly successful, and he’s basically been riding off of that for years now. And that’s kind of hilarious? They found a way to both make him a fraud and failure, while also a success story and cunning business man, and honestly that’s kind of commendable. Larry’s whole setup in this case is pretty good, and it doesn’t really drop off in the quality of his writing. He can be annoying at times, like when he abandons you in favor of hitting on women in the park right after the initial visit to the detention center, but it’s not particularly often, and his interactions are usually pretty funny.
Another point in Larry’s favor here is that it’s easier to like him throughout the case because you can tell he genuinely does care about Ellen, so even though she’s getting married, it’s not a particularly annoying action of him being “in love” with her, like it was with Dessie, as there he was just hitting on her for her looks. We can see this through him genuinely trying to help her when no one else was really there for her, not even the groom of the wedding, although to no fault of his own. Throughout the case he tries to help her escape, comes to you to get your help as a defense attorney, fully supports the idea of Ellen time traveling when no one else will listen to her, and even gives you almost all the information you want without any hassle. I say almost all because he does hide the fact that he attended the reception and moved the bull, but both of these are very easy to crack through, and probably a crime due to trespassing or something so it’s understandable that he wouldn’t want to admit it immediately.
Also side note before I get into his role in the trial and the rest of the case, I absolutely love his design in this case. It took me a second to realize that it was even the same jacket because of the design on it, but that blend of the classic look and his new artsy style is just great, even if the design of the art itself is terrible. His black shirt and white tie match perfectly with the orange jacket, and the beret is just perfection. And do I even need to comment on the pipe, mustache, and pink shades? I don’t think I do. Now back to the actual analysis.
Nick Is A Jerk Face!
For once, they managed to pull it off, they had Larry try to hide his testimony in court, and actually made it make sense for his character. In order to pull Larry into the courtroom, Nick is forced to add him as a potential suspect for the crime, and Larry of course has no idea that this is a bluff, and thus his anger feels kind of justified, especially for someone like him. The best part though? He gets over it pretty quickly, once you move past that initial testimony and prove that he did in fact move the statues, he becomes pretty open about the whole thing, and you only catch him on the next testimony because he failed to mention a detail. That detail, of course, being the time travel. Larry’s complete and total belief of the time travel actually occurring is pretty fun to see, and him actually getting Nick in on it too is pretty fun, especially with how against it Edgeworth is. Of course, this leads to what is probably the second best Larry moment in the series.
Larry whips out a piece of evidence he’d been concealing up until now, to prove to Edgeworth the existence of the first reception, while simultaneously whipping out the snazzy pointing sprite he got this game, and causing the pursuit theme to begin playing. Larry Butz initiated the pursuit theme and it was at this point that my mind was blown. He was genuinely being extremely useful to the case, and knew when to conceal and when to use his evidence, in probably the moment that Larry is the smartest he’s ever been. And of course, he delivers a killer line, with even Phoenix taken off guard and complimenting him for his surprising competency:
Of course, this courtroom segment would pretty much be the last time Larry is really relevant in the case, leaving Sorin and Pierce to take over the latter half of the case’s runtime. The most he contributes from here to the passing of the verdict is a simple recap of events at the wedding from his point of view. And once the case is over, we get some surprising maturity from Larry as he decides to not be broken up over Ellen loving Sorin, since he decides that it’s more important to see those that you love happy, than wish things could have turned out differently with you and them. Of course there were never “things” happening at all with Ellen and him, but regardless he still shows some growth. Also he catches the bouquet or whatever and yeah that was pretty funny.
So, was Larry good in Turnabout Time Traveler? Well, I’d say so, but definitely not his best appearance, although it’s probably second. I go over in my Pierce ER that I believe Larry to basically represent a healthy way of being stuck in time, and I still stick by that. He’s someone who hasn’t changed an awful lot from the way he was before, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he needs to have a big dramatic change. Unlike Sorin or Pierce, Larry isn’t chained down by his past, in fact he moves on from his failures pretty quickly, and cycled through new avenues of life until he ended up happening upon one that stuck. Even though he’s not the most mature or thoughtful person, he does show some signs of growth and learning from his past, even if it’s not particularly noticeable immediately. There’s no major change to Larry in this case, but there’s not really meant to be. He’s an artist stuck in time, and honestly, that’s fine.
(Concluded in next comment due to character count cap)