| “ | For I... am Gaspen Payne! I am the younger brother of your longstanding rival, Winston Payne! You'll see, Mr. Wright. I will cleanse Winston of the disgrace he met at your hands! | „ |
| ~ Gaspen Payne |
Gaspen Payne is a supporting antagonist in both Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies and Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice, being the main prosecutor of the first case of both games.
While initially an unlikeable but ultimately non-villainous character in the former game, he becomes worse in the latter one, as he chose to aid the draconian regime present in Khura'in, even attempting to gain his revenge on Phoenix Wright through his new position of power.
Evil Ranking[]
His Villainous Deeds[]
- Even prior becoming a genuine villain, he wasn't exactly a great person to begin with, considering how he mocked Juniper Woods and her defense attorney, Athena Cykes, during the Bombing Trial, at the point of causing to the latter a PTSD panic attack with no regrets. This forced Phoenix Wright to take the defense stand to help Athena.
- He is shown to be a coward as well, as he fell for Ted Tonate's fake bomb trick too easily.
- At the end of the game, he was investigated for corruption by Miles Edgeworth, being forced to leave the country.
- He eventually decided to become a prosecutor in Khura'in, due to the country's hatred and rejection of defense attorneys, allowing him to have an unbroken record with no effort whatsover and become Chief Prosecutor in just three months.
- When a newly arrived Phoenix Wright decided to act as Ahlbi Ur'gaid's defense during his trial, Gaspen allowed him to take a stand only for an opportunity for revenge as Phoenix wasn't aware of the DC Act, which marks a defense attorney and their guilty client as equally deserving of the death penalty.
- He then attempted to frame Ahlbi for the murder as a way to get him and Phoenix executed under the DC Act, something that backfired when the latter was able of winning the case in the end.
- It's heavily implied that he got away with his actions, as his fate is left unknown after the downfall of the Khura'in regime at the end of the game, making him a Karma Houdini.
- While claiming to want to avenge the Payne name, nothing really indicates that he cares about his family, being more motivated by the feeling that his ego was hurt by Phoenix.
Why He Doesn't Stand Out?[]
- While his crime of attempted child murder (which is a pretty unique crime in the series) is barely enough to pass the baseline, he falls far too much under Fridge Horror to be scaled higher, as the full extent of his crimes in Khura'in is never revealed. Even though it's implied that he helped kill many people through the DC Act, the exact number is never said through the game. He also fails the System Standard to both Inga and Ga'ran, who are the primary reasons why Khura'in became a totalitarian regime, with Gaspen being a mere enforcer of their laws.
- Even though his worst actions are taken seriously enough, he still has various moments that detract from his villainy, such as his over-the-top running in DD, unironically calling himself the "Incredible Payne", his defeat in SOJ that sees him losing his toupée leaving him bald (which is a running gag in the members of the Payne family), and his overall incompetence as a prosecutor.
External Links[]
- Gaspen Payne on the Villains Wiki
- Gaspen Payne on the Ace Attorney Wiki
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 Villainous Benchmarks
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Games Apollo Justice Trilogy Ace Attorney Investigations The Great Ace Attorney 2016 Anime | ||