| “ | MR. WRIGHT... IS IT? DISMANTLING BOMBS IS MY JOB. DISMANTLING THE CASE IS YOURS. DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT? I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU TRY. | „ |
| ~ Tonate's ominous remark before leaving the witness stand. |
Ted Tonate is a minor antagonist in the video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies. Specifically, he is the main antagonist of the very first case of the game, Turnabout Countdown. He was a bomb squad member responsible for the murder of Detective Candice Arme, as well as the assault of Apollo Justice.
Biography[]
Ted Tonate was a bomb addict. He and Candice Arme had collected a deactivated bomb (later revealed in "Turnabout for Tomorrow") and took it as evidence. The two didn't have any relation and they just met on the job. In Defendant Lobby No. 4, Arme found out that Tonate was trying to steal the bomb and sell it, so she confronted him. Panicked, Tonate, before realizing what he was doing, hit Arme with the bomb, unintentionally killing her. During this, Tonate saw someone grab the detonator for the bomb, but he didn't see who it was, nor did he have the time to find out as he hid Arme's corpse in a bomb transport case. When he realized the bomb had been reactivated during the trial for Solomon Starbuck, he called attention to it and had everyone evacuate before the bomb went off, destroying Courtroom No. 4. Then, he placed Arme's corpse in the destroyed courtroom making it look like she died in the explosion.
During the trial for Juniper Woods, who was accused of the bombing, as well as Detective Arme's death, he noticed that Apollo Justice was looking for clues of her innocence, so he hit him with a rock and altered a message that Candice Arme had written in her blood with Apollo's bleeding finger, framing Woods even further.
After Phoenix Wright and Woods's childhood friend, Athena Cykes, managed to clear Woods and accuse Tonate with decisive evidence, Tonate claimed that his practice model of the HH-3000, a replica of the bomb that had destroyed Courtroom No. 4 and the model that he had been dismantling and repairing, was real and threatened to set it off. After he allowed the court to evacuate, Phoenix managed to present evidence that the bomb Tonate had was not real. After being revealed as the killer and Apollo's attacker, he was arrested on those charges, as well as the charges for the courtroom bombing.
It wasn't until the final case that he reveals the truth about the bomb, and the investigation looking into it, more specifically. The photo that pictured possible evidence was essential in Phoenix's accusations against the one really responsible for Courtroom No. 4's destruction.
Breakdown[]
After laughing madly, Tonate, whose HH-3000 bomb was close to the end of its countdown, starts attempting to bite and tear the bomb's wires off, yelling, "Dismantle!" over and over again. He then expands his goggles and crushes them down onto the bomb, stopping it with the timer at two seconds. Then, Tonate's goggles explode from its impact, with him collapsing onto the floor as the timer resumes. The timer reaches zero and announces, "GAME OVER. DISMANTLE ATTEMPT FAILED." This verifies Phoenix's claim that he was bluffing; the bomb wouldn't explode and was actually just a fake bomb used for training purposes.
Soon after, Tonate calms down, confesses to his crimes, and is arrested for both Arme's murder and Apollo's assault.
Personality[]
Tonate was obsessed with his job and bombs. He often talked through a speech machine mounted on his arm and had a robotic voice. He frequently dismantled bombs just to show off.
When he is first introduced, Tonate comes across as calm and professional. He is very polite to Phoenix, Athena, and the judge and behaves in a very civil manner. However, this changes before the end of his first round of testimony. As he is dismissed from the witness stand, he displays his first hint of arrogance by openly challenging Phoenix and Athena to "dismantle" the case, knowingly hinting at his guilt in the process (though not quite enough for Phoenix or Athena to catch on, although it is enough to make the former at least somewhat suspicious of him).
When he is finally close to being exposed, however, his demeanor drastically changes. Tonate begins to show a truly insane, psychotic side of himself, laughing crazily and almost evilly at Phoenix and Athena as he dares them to show him proof of his guilt. It is only when he is finally, fully exposed by Phoenix that he loses what is left of his sanity and has his aforementioned breakdown, only returning to his calmer, saner self shortly after and confessing to his deeds.
Trivia[]
- Ted Tonate's name is a play on "detonate," which relates to his job as a bomb specialist.
