Valant Gramarye

Valant Gramarye is the stage name of a highly prolific magician who was a member of Troupe Gramarye, a famous group of magicians.

He was called as a witness during the Magnifi Gramarye murder trial.

Troupe Gramarye[]

Valant Gramarye, along with Zak Gramarye and Roger Retinz (as Mr. Reus), was an apprentice of the legendary magician Magnifi Gramarye. Together with Thalassa Gramarye, the group Troupe Gramarye was formed. Troupe Gramarye became a household name as their popularity rose to great heights.

However, beneath all the fame and hype, there was a dark side to the Troupe. Rumors of a love triangle between Zak, Valant, and Thalassa persisted. Thalassa left the group when she married Jove Justice, a guest performer, but returned to the group after he died in a fire. She ultimately married Zak and had a daughter called Trucy with him. Meanwhile, Retinz was expelled from the group after accidentally injuring himself while practicing a reckless trick and then defiantly showing up for the next show, despite being told not to do so by Magnifi Gramarye.

Shooting incident[]

Some time later, tragedy struck. During a rehearsal of a shooting trick in which Zak and Valant fired a series of bullets around Thalassa, she was hit by one of their bullets and was critically wounded. Magnifi managed to keep the accident a secret, but the relationship between the mentor and his pupils would never be the same, as he constantly hung Thalassa's "death" over their heads.

Magnifi's death[]

Two years later, Magnifi was nearing the end of his life, confined to a hospital room with cancer and diabetes. A year afterward, Valant received a letter from Magnifi. Valant saw the letter for what it was, a test, and he came up with a plot to kill Magnifi and frame Zak for the crime, in order to inherit the legal rights to his mentor's magic.

Valant arrived at Magnifi's hospital room at 11:20 p.m., as ordered. Magnifi was asleep in bed. However, Valant's nerve failed, and he couldn't bring himself to shoot his mentor, turning to leave instead. Magnifi, who was not really asleep, stopped him, telling him he'd already passed on his magic to Zak, and asking Valant to support him.

Valant left the room a broken man, knowing that even if he continued his career, he would be forever in Zak's shadow. As he stood out in the hall in shock, he suddenly heard a gunshot from inside the room. He quickly raced back inside, and found Magnifi dead. Magnifi had taken the gun and shot himself in the forehead.

Hurt and angry, Valant went with his original plan to frame Zak for the crime. He moved the gun out of reach of Magnifi, injected some additional IV fluid into Magnifi's IV bag (to throw off the time of death), and then called the police. Just as Valant intended, Zak was arrested for Magnifi's "murder," and Valant offered himself as a witness.

Trial[]

Main article: Turnabout Succession

The case looked bad for Valant initially. Phoenix Wright showed some evidence linking Valant to Magnifi's death, revealing the fact that the IV drip was tampered with. Over the course of the trial, Wright presented a page from Magnifi's diary that turned out to be a forgery, and the trial was abruptly ended. However, something happened that Valant had not intended: Zak vanished from the courtroom, never to be seen again for seven years. No verdict was ever given for the trial.

Valant thought that Zak's disappearance was as good as a confession of his guilt, but rumors began spreading that Zak had actually disappeared to cover for Valant. Thus, Valant was incarcerated for some time. Wright visited him in jail and questioned him about Troupe Gramarye, learning about the accidental shooting of Thalassa. Valant insisted he had not committed the murder, but Wright did not believe him. Valant also warned Wright to stop reopening old wounds, but Wright was resolute in his search for the truth and he left to continue his investigation of Magnifi's death.

Career post-Troupe[]

Valant was eventually released and able to continue his career. However, since he was not a legal heir to the rights to Magnifi's magic tricks, which had been left to Zak, he had to get by on his own, vastly inferior talents. Combined with the lingering suspicions from the public and his continued real guilt, this meant that Valant would come upon hard times. He would eventually come to live in a one-bedroom apartment and perform in supermarket parking lots. He continued to bide his time, though, knowing that in seven years, if Zak never showed up, he would be declared legally deceased, and Valant would inherit Magnifi's magic.

Gavinners gig[]

Main article: Turnabout Serenade

Seven years after Magnifi's death, Valant obtained a job with the popular Gavinners band. The Gavinners had acquired a foreign singer, and they worked with Valant to pull a disappearing act with her during one of their concerts. The disappearing act allowed the singer to witness a murder, which helped to prove the innocence of Machi Tobaye in the subsequent trial.

Resolution[]

Main article: Turnabout Succession

Three months later, the time had come for Valant to inherit the rights to Magnifi's magic by Zak's disappearance, and he scheduled a comeback show to revive the Gramarye magic. However, this was not to be, for Phoenix Wright met with Valant, showing him that Zak had reappeared long enough to make a legal will transferring the rights to the magic to his daughter, Trucy, as well as a written letter of confession by Zak. Valant admitted that Zak's confession was a lie, and he finally told the truth about Magnifi's suicide and his own crime of altering the scene to frame Zak. Having lost everything, Valant decided to turn himself in. His last words to Wright were that "she" might still be alive.

Personality[]

Valant maintains a high air of arrogance and prides himself on the larger-than-life persona he plays on stage. He is a true showman in every sense of the word. He wears yellow because that is his lucky color. He has a tendency to make puns that revolve around the word "Alakazam" when he is shocked and/or surprised, such as: "Alakazam, Alakazing... Alakaboom", "Alakanoooooooooo!", and "Alakazoooooooomg!" He also tends to use a substantial amount of alliteration when he speaks. It is possible that his arrogance is actually a front for a low self-esteem, as at one point, he admitted to Phoenix Wright that he actually doesn't believe himself to be a very talented magician.

Name[]

• Japanese - Baran Arumajiki (或真敷バラン):
  • "Baran" (バラン), when combined with Zak's Japanese name, "Zakku" (ザック) is a play on the word "zakkubaran" (ざっくばらん) meaning "frankly".
  • "Arumajiki" (或真敷) is a homophone of "Arumajiki" (有るまじき), meaning "unworthy". It could also be intended to sound similar to "majikku" (マジック), the Japanese spelling of the English word "magic".
• English - Valant Gramarye:
  • "Valant" likely comes from "valiant" meaning someone who shows courage or determination. Although not shown as a particularly courageous character, Valant does show great determination to become a great magician in his own right.
    • In chemistry, valence electron are electrons on the outermost "shell" of an atom that are involved in chemical bonds with other atoms. With the exception of the disgraced Roger Retinz, who was ousted from the group shortly after his debut, Valant is the only member of Troupe Gramarye to have no legal or blood relation to the others and who was never intended to inherit Magnifi's magic. He instead "orbits" around the rest of the troupe, but is never really a part of it. In the potential love triangle between Zak, Thalassa, and Valant, it is Valant who is cast off.
  • "Gramarye" comes from a word once used as a synonym for magic or sorcery. It is also an alternative spelling of "grimoire", which is supposedly a book of instructions in the use of magic. His French surname "Grimoire" is a more obvious play on this.
    • Valant formed a performing duo with his partner Zak which was referred to as "Zak and Valant". This is a play on "knack and talent", which is even referenced in-game after Phoenix Wright unlocks Valant's Psyche-Locks during the "present" section of Turnabout Succession.^[1]

• French - Virgil Grimoire

• Chinese - 布英該 植說 (Bùyīnggāi Zhíshuō):
  • "Bùyīnggāi" (布英該)is a pun for "Should not have" (不应该). Valant's Chinese name, "Zhíshuō" (植說), is a pun for "speak frankly" (实说). When both combined it means "Should not have said frankly" (不应该实说).

Unofficial[]

• Brazilian Portuguese - Serafim Grimório: ^[2]
  • "Serafim" references part of the term "Sim Salabim", used in magic tricks.
  • "Grimório" is a literal translation of "Gramarye".

Development[]

• Valant's younger self was designed first, and was given black hair so that it would be obvious he was graying in his older years.
• In the Japanese version, his belt buckle used to have a "B" on it, with the intention that his name would be "Baran." It became a "V" in the final version.
• In the back of the Gyakuten Saiban 4 Official Complete Guide, there's a character chart that labels Valant's feelings towards Thalassa as "one-sided love." This ties in with Spark Brushel's speculation that there was a love triangle between Valant, Zak, and Thalassa.
• Valant's older "shocked" animation has fewer doves and rabbits than his younger "shocked" animation does. He also spins his baton a fewer number of times when he is older.
  • In both animations, his staff opens revealing a series of small country flags. Those flags are (from left to right): Denmark, an unknown flag (diagonal red, yellow, and green stripes), another unknown flag (blue, white, and red triband), Japan, Mexico, and the United States. The two unknown flags do not appear to match any real-world counterparts, although the first one resembles a mirrored flag of The Republic of the Congo and the other resembles an upside-down flag of Luxembourg.
• Like the other members of Troupe Gramarye, Valant's cape is held in place by a brooch in the shape of a suit in a deck of cards. In Valant's case, this is hearts.

Notes[]

References[]