i just finished the 3 movies and they were rlly good. benoit blanc, the protagonist is a detective who solves the 3 movies main mysteries. he’s been mentioned occasionally but pretty rarely.

As of now I believe he is a high-end low tier and i want to discuss is best and worst cats. his best performances feats wise would probably be 1. Wake Up Dead Man, 2. Glass Onion, 3. Knives Out

Reasoning, Thinking, And Sensory

this, a surprise to no one is his best and he is pretty good. Wake Up Dead Man would probably be his best in thinking and reasoning whereas Knives Out would be his best in sensory.

His best feat in reasoning and thinking would obv be >!deducing the priest had fabricated his death with the assistance of the culprit and another accomplice, then the culprit and accomplice worked together in the murder, then the culprit killed the accomplice!< you could use his scheming in the Glass Onion to buff his thinking as well.

His best sensory feat would be seeing the blood on protagonist’s shoes which seemed to he a pretty small drop, then was able to see 2 ppl sitting in a car from what appears to be at least a mile away in broad daylight. you could also use his visualization of the fake murder room in Glass Onion

Scheming, Deception, Manipulation And Foresight

I believe this is where he begins to lack feats enough to make it to mid tier. His foresight is good in the Glass Onion, being able to predict a lot of the other peoples movement after only hearing their personalities from someone who i believe didnt even meet them and heard from her sister.

In scheming he is just fine ig, the Glass Onion scheme isnt anything special and has points which can be countered pretty easily. In Deception he kinda sucks, his concealment in that movie wouldn’t have worked if the culprit was smarter, he’s also just okay at acting. his misdirection is fine and fabrication has the same issue as concealment. In manipulation the mf was featless.

EQ And SQ

His EQ and SQ are pretty good. His best EQ feats is obv understanding the psychology of everyone somewhat involved in a crime. Im not joking when i say he understands these ppl through and through and his EP is good as most of the time he understands these ppl at first encounter. His EE is good since he is willing to sacrifice his life to solve a murder, only issue is he is fairly featless in EM. Just like EQ tho, his SQ is good for the same reason. He understands the motives of everyone involved, their desires, and is shown to be convincing to ppl.

The Culprit****s

The culprits of Glass Onion and Knives Out are low tiers, Glass Onion culprit is an idiot even stated as such several times in the movie.

Knives Out culprit is pretty smart and good at scheming, deception, and manipulation. he also had to improvise a lot, but in the same time he got lucky a LOT.

However, a contest in no way shape or form, the smartest Culprit is the Wake Up Dead Man one. Not only are they the smartest culprit, but they are also the smartest in the series, yes above Benoit. They have great scheming, thinking, manipulation, deception, EQ, SQ, and reasoning. In fact I want to scale them in this sub, but i wanted to make this post first to introduce the series to ppl.

In Conclusion

fun movies, even when not considering scd the movies were fun to watch. If you enjoy scaling low tiers or want more low tiers included then i’d give these movies a shot.

subjectivity_normal scaling is

if i agree with it, it’s objectively true

if i disagree with it, it’s objectively false

been reading through asoiaf and loving it, specifically tyrion so im prolly gonna drop a few small analyses as i go through the books for my first read.

Tyrion gets abducted in a tavern by Catelyn and a band of men including starkmen and sellswords. Tyrion notices 2 particular men who he knows are sellswords, one is not important the other is Bronn.

within his journey to the Vale he has several conversations with Bronn. we dont know what all they entail since this is in Catelyn’s pov but knowing Tyrion likely just jokes since Catelyn specifically notes that they were “getting along”.

during the journey the band gets attacked and Tyrion notices the behavior of each fighter. the one he specifically pays attention to is Bronn, he sees that Bronn sacrificed someones life so he wouldnt die.

when reaching the Vale, Tyrion gets imprisoned and abused. Tyrion comes up with a plan, or in his own words “rolling the dice” so that he can escape.

Tyrion promises Morte, the jailor, silver and gold in exchange for a chance to “confess”. when he is brought he confesses to a lot of unrelated crimes in order to joke, win favor, and anger Lysa. Tyrion talks abt how this is injustice, then demands a trial by combat knowing Lysa will be looking for a champion.

Tyrion’s first move is demanding Jaime Lannister as his champion, but Lysa was scared of the goat Jamie so demanded that he find another since Jaime is too far away and the trial will be today. Tyrion then uses his contingency, he asks the crowd who will fight for him and bcuz of an earlier deduction which i’ll explain later, he knows Bronn will agree to be his champion and thats exactly what happens.

Bronn wins the duel and Tyrion is given his freedom. Tyrion knows Lysa wont be able to simply break the laws bcuz Catelyn, her honor bound sister is there.

Bronn asks how Tyrion knew Bronn would fight for him and he explains his deduction.

Bronn is a sellsword for a Stark. The Starks are incredibly honor bound, Catelyn will fulfill the payment but likely nothing more. the Lannisters however are known for being incredibly rich and shady.

Bronn was willing to sacrifice a man for his own survival with no complications and during the ambush, Bronn showed quick thinking and cleverness. Tyrion based on this knows that Bronn is smart enough to make the connection that the Lannisters are way better employers than the Starks would be.

thats it for the analysis, not the best feat oat but i’d consider it a solid one plus this is from the first book and as i said im just doing several smaller feat analyses. i’ll prolly make another for littlefingers strategy in the first books some other time.

5. Kanade

4.Mastermind(AAI2)

3.Herlock Sholmes(GAAC)

2.Tearer(AI: the somnium files nirvana initiative)

1.Akane(ZE)

i havent read unimeko so unimeko fans dont crucify me for not spamming when they cry characters.

Herlock Sholmes(GAAC) vs “The Mastermind”(AAI2)

FSIQ-Herlock
Herlock-FRI, PSI, VCI, VSI
Mastermind-WMI

EQ-Mastermind
Mastermind-EU, EM, EE
Herlock-EP

SQ-Herlock
Herlock-Social Skills, Social Awareness, Self Awareness, Networking, Leadership
Mastermind-Social Engineering

AC-Mastermind
Mastermind-Mental Fortitude, Composure, Cognitive Discipline, Perseverance
Herlock-Pain Tolerance>=, Determination

Reasoning-Herlock
Herlock-Deductive, Inductive, Abductive
Mastermind-nothing

Thinking-Herlock
Herlock-Convergent, Divergent, Hollistic, Critical, Quick
Mastermind-Lateral>=

Planning-Herlock>=
Herlock-Intricacies>=, Coverage, Improvisation
Mastermind-Invincibility, Creativity

Strategy-Mastermind
Mastermind-Fortitude, Effectiveness, Building, Complexity
Herlock-Logistics

Tactics-Herlock
Herlock-Complexity, Improvisation, Prowess, Application, Foresight
Mastermind-nothing

Foresight-Herlock
Herlock-Prediction
Mastermind-Anticipation>=

Knowledge-Herlock
Herlock-Quantity, Quality, Learning, Application
Mastermind-Retention

Manipulation-Mastermind
Mastermind-Indirect, Methods, Emotional, Mass>=
Herlock-Direct

Deception-Mastermind
Mastermind-Misdirection, Fabrication, Sophistry
Herlock-Concealment, Acting Skills

Sensory-Herlock
Herlock-Perception, Observation
Mastermind-nothing

Field Skills-Herlock
Herlock-Decision Making, Analysis, Trap Setting, Risk Taking, Adaptability, Counteraction
Mastermind-Trap Evasion, Risk Calculation

Verdict, Herlock wins high diff.

now maybe for some explanation. i no longer have Mastermind being top 1 in AA obv. he’s still top 2 but not 1. on my first play through i was as impressed with Herlock as i thought i’d be. ppl were talking abt Herlock like he was prime Lebron. was i impressed? absolutely but aside from what i thought just high tier reasoning, thinking, foresight, and i few smaller cats i wasnt as impressed as i was with Mastermind. his “2-5 scheme” at first impression was just a mid tier scheme. but oh boy was i wrong. this scheme which im gonna be calling “Capturing the Reaper” starts at 1-2 and onwards. analyzing this scheme shot his scaling way higher up. not to mention, a lot of his reasonings require replays as well to fully understand them.

mind you im not even fully done analyzing Herlock so theres a chance he gets higher. however even without my take on “CTR” its pretty close with both taking pretty much opposite cats but Mastermind would prolly win.

so the top 3 in reasoning in AA is undeniably Phoenix, Miles, and Herlock, also no thats not in order. since ive been interested in reasoning feats for awhile ive been analyzing these characters and while analyzing i noticed smth neat.

all 3 specialize, or are best at each subcat. inductive, deductive, and abductive. this isnt to say the characters lack in the other subcats, all 3 characters are great in every one.

Phoenix specializes in inductive reasoning. out of the 3 characters he gets the most showings bcuz bcuz he has to start with his client’s innocence then the specifics for why they are innocent. even when he starts looking for the real culprit, most cases have Phoenix accuse the culprit then find specific clues on why they are the culprit.

Miles specializes in deductive reasoning. this is bcuz the games with his best reasoning feats are the investigation games, where he is clueless abt what happened until he pieces everything together with clues. it also helps that his cases are some of the most complex in the series and whenever he gets brought up in the phoenix wright trilogy, his role is to still deduce what happened, rarely starting broad and moving to specifics. for example, bridge to the turnabout.

Herlock specializes in abductive reasoning. his role in the story is to essentially meet up with Naruhodo in some place with evidence or even the crime scene, make a theory of what happened, and guide naruhodo through the answer. now for some minor spoilers for the GAAC duology. >!we learn at the end of the game that the crazy wrong theories he made was just to mess around and he likely always knew the answer.!< so his educated guesses based during his dance of deductions lead to Naruhodo having a helpful premise to go off of when he goes and solves the case during the trial.

is this intentional? no ofc not. its just that each have separate narrative roles and game mechanics that make this coincidence. also their occupations play a big role.

Before i get into the plan itself. i have 2 primary reasons for analyzing this plan specifically. 1, this case was just really good and deserves some attention. 2, i already talked abt Satoshi who is from the same fangan. i want to go over his reasoning for this chapter as its his best reasoning feat, which is kinda hard to do if you don’t understand what’s being reasoned in depth first.

Impulsive Murder and Before
it’s important to note that this killing was an impulsive murder. the killer Tomoe was helping the victim Rikka in the library with investigating the books in there. Rikka prior would usually use a step ladder to get books do to her short height, this time the stepladder was taken by someone else. this resulted in Rikka getting hit in the nose by a falling book causing a nose bleed. and her glasses to fall off. when Rikka has her nose bleed he was wiping the blood on the ground with her sleeves bcuz of her coat size(her sleeves covered her hands) this nose bleed caused Tomoe to become a freak and kill Rikka bcuz he is a very disturbed individual. basically its mentioned that he had some deep urges that he had kept repressed for awhile. the motive in this case was a machine that gave advice suited for the individual. his very first advice was smth that went along the lines of “be true to your heart”. so when he saw Rikka’s nose bleed and saw it as ‘beautiful’ he killed her with a book. pretty big EM antifeat but this whole murder is basically crazy quick thinking after a silly murder.

before the murder happens a series of events transpire. Rikka finds a book abt crime scene forensics and teaches everyone finger printing for when a murder occurs. the day the murder does occur, the protagonist Miyuki and another character Erika who have been investigating the library alongside Rikka didnt sleep the whole note. the leader of the group recommended both to sleep and they slept through the entire murder, giving them no alibi. Last important note, Rikka had been keeping a roll of toilet paper with her due to a condition she had she dealt with allergies and excessive sneezing. with her allergies, being in the dusty library required the roll of toilet paper.

Crime Scene Set Up.
everything after this is where the impressive part comes in. after Tomoe kills Rikka, he uses the toilet paper Rikka had been keeping with her to wipe his finger prints off the book. Tomoe grabbed the toilet paper and made his way into the locker room and threw the toilet paper into the pool where the door just so happens to he broken. During 4:20 Tomoe sees Mikawa with the stepladder and uses this fact as another trap in this murder. around this time he hears Shoji in the hallway talking abt returning a specific book to the library. Shoji’s whole deal is that he is a streamer and uses a camera everywhere he goes. Tomoe gets the idea to go into the library whenever Shoji returns the book at 4:30 and replace the cover. Tomoe predicts the camera will he used for evidence so he uses this to fabricate a fake time of death so that he could have an alibi during this time. Tomoe roams around the school to meet up with anyone and he runs into Satoshi(the worst possible person 😭). this alibi would have him with Satoshi from 4:30 to 4:52. in the precaution his traps get figured out, he uses the remaining 8 minutes to accuse Satoshi. his biggest goal in his plan is to specifically frame Miyuki. going into the trial, his biggest crutch in his plan is his “alibi trick” which was ofc the fabrication of an alibi and a false time of death, as well as the the logical manipulation involved. the trick itself is layered with 4 levels of contingency, those being the framing of Miyuki, Satoshi, Erika, and Mikawa. he might’ve been planning another with Shoji but based on the recording there was no way of framing him. simply put, the misdirection, fabrication, and concealment of the crime scene set up is already pretty impressive especially when taking account that the murder was from impulse.

During the Class Trial
Tomoe’s strategy going into the trial is to subtly direct the group into the framings he made. As i mentioned before there are 4 ppl being framed and within Tomoe’s plan there is a linear order. first to be accused is Erika which he anticipates will fail. then Mikawa framing, which works as another layer in the Miyuki framing. then the next being Miyuki which was his ultimate goal. lastly, Satoshi as his final concrete framing. this will only ‘work’ if the alibi trick gets discovered.

Starting with Erika framing. Tomoe makes several tactics to keep up his act. when the topic of touching the floor first makes ‘incorrect deductions’, such as the killer not having a reason to touch the floor. his plan hinges on the investigation of the floor so why does he do this? Tomoe is fully aware of how good his classmates are at reasoning and is fully aware that they can deduce the floor was definitely tampered with. eventually after this some typical dangan nonsense happens and they mention a beast being the killer bcuz they had to have been in all fours. using this opportunity Tomoe cleverly uses this to direct the class by mentioning that the ppl saying it was a beast has a point and then corrects ppl’s perception by bringing up the killers posture. he then lets other ppl make deductions to lead to the ‘truth’. after the group deduces that the killer must have dropped smth then Tomoe gives the answer that it was glasses, mentioning Shinano pointing him to this conclusion. this officially putting Erika in the hot seat as the prime suspect. now some might be wondering “why are you yapping abt all this your just repeating events”, well these events are important to consider bcuz Tomoe anticipates the group finding out the culprit was leading them to a trap. without mentioning things specific moments this strategy becomes a nothing burger. this particular act gives clarity on Tomoe’s foresight, strat shielding, etc. its also important to note how this connects to Miyuki framing which i will get to. Tomoe anticipating the the counterargument of the straps, he mentions if the strap was cut. Tomoe knowing this argument sucks since the strap was metal, predicts someone else mentioning Rikka pulling the strap as she was being murdered, but the argument of students only getting 1 accessary proves her innocence.

Now let’s discuss Mikawa framing. the topic of the step latter being introduced by Miyaka. Tomoe at first defends Mikawa when he took the latter for the act mentioning the possibility of another despite knowing he’ll get debunked immediately when someone brings up Mikawa being the only one of two with finger prints on the latter the other being the victim. as Tomoe predicts Erika, Ego, and Miyuki deduce that it was an impulsive murder which eliminates the possibility of the latters finger prints being removed due to the straining time which incriminates Mikawa further. Then Tomoe accuses Mikawa with the information given however Ego deduces it cant be Mikawa bcuz he only has 1 glove and cleaning that one glove would take too much time.

Now, for the biggest part. Miyuki Framing. Tomoe anticipates both of the framing attempts being debunked and makes this trap. Tomoe predicts Miyuki and Ego will deduce the male locker room being used to dispose of the toilet paper. this will prove that the killer must be a male. during this point every other male would be accounted for instead of Miyuki. all other framings would be pinned perfectly on Miyuki framing as well, since Miyuki has been making a lot of the deductions(since he’s the protag duh). the framing itself is almost perfect, Miyuki has no evidence of his innocence and he himself couldnt think of counter arguments for awhile. however, what Tomoe didnt know was that Miyuki has severe hydrophobia. it was so bad he had seizures at a glance of deep water. there was also 2 witness accounts. Tomoe forms several counter arguments with were pretty good. he brings up the possibility of the door being at a glance yet, Satoshi brings up he had his seizure at a glance(after Satoshi was the reason he had that seizure).

Lastly, for Satoshi framing. this part of his plan isnt rlly much to note, it was basically just a desperate attempt. basically Tomoe used short time frame Satoshi was gone to accuse him of hiding evidence for a murder or commit the murder itself but this got debunked rather quickly by Satoshi.

After the plan itself gets dismantled Tomoe rlly has nothing left. he makes a few good counter arguments but nothing worth noting. he basically just stubbornly denied killing Rikka.

This plan, and the strategies involved shows a great level of deception, foresight, planning, strategy, and thinking. it is one of the smartest plans ive seen from a fangan so far and makes me more hyped for the series.

before getting into the comparison i should prolly explain who this random is. this is Satoshi Shitanda, the Ultimate Puzzle Champion from Danganronpa Mauve. DM only has 2 chapters for rn and satoshi plays pretty much a nagito and kokichi role as the antagonist. i would’ve loved to compare him to kanade but that would be blatantly unfair as satoshi has been yet to actually shine and make schemes unless in chp3 he will be the culprit which i doubt.

FSIQ-Satoshi
Satoshi-FRI, WMI, PSI, VCI
Shobai-VSI

EQ-Satoshi
Satoshi-EU, EP
Shobai-EE, EM

SQ-Shobai(both suck on this lowk)
Shobai-Social Skills, Self Awareness, Leadership, Networking, Social Engineering
Satoshi-Social Awareness, Social Integration

AQ-Shobai
Shobai-Perseverance, Determination, Mental Fortitude, Self Control
Satoshi-Cognitive Discipline

Reasoning-Satoshi
Satoshi-Deductive, Abductive
Shobai-Inductive

Thinking-Satoshi
Satoshi-Divergent, Convergent, Quick, Critical
Shobai-Creative

Manipulation-Shobai(both suck in this too)
Shobai-Direct, Logical, Mass, Methods
Satoshi-Emotional, Indirect

Tactics-Satoshi
Satoshi-Tactical Complexity, Tactical Prowess, Tactical Foresight, Tactical Improvisation, Tactical Application
Shobai-nothing

Strategy-Shobai
Shobai-Building, Shielding, Complexity
Satoshi-Logistics, Improvision

Planning-Shobai
Shobai-Coverage, Intricacies, Invincibility, Building
Satoshi-Versatility

Deception-Satoshi
Satoshi-Misdirection, Sophistry, Acting Skills, Concealment
Shobai-Fabrication

Foresight-Satoshi
Satoshi-Prediction, Anticipation, Risk Calculation
Shobai-nothing

Knowledge-Satoshi
Satoshi-Retention, Quantity>=, Application>=, Learning
Shobai-Quality

Field Skills-Satoshi
Satoshi-Trap Setting, Countering, Decision Making, Unpredictability, Analysis
Shobai-Trap Evasion

Seeing Through People-Satoshi
Satoshi-Cold Reading, Hot Reading, Mind Reading
Shobai-nothing

Verdict-Satoshi high diff(-).

im so hyped not only for what satoshi will do in the next chapters but for the project itself, very cool fangan. ive been going through quite a bit fangans so maybe i’ll find some more characters that would make for solid additions to SCD.

Ayanokoji COTE vs >!simon keyes!< AAI2

FSIQ-Koji
Koji-VCI, FRI, WMI, PSI, VSI
Mastermind-nothing 😔

EQ-Mastermind
Mastermind-EU, EE(maybe a hot take), EM(definitely a hot take)
Koji-EP>=

SQ-Mastermind
Mastermind-Social Skills, Social Engineering, Social Integration, Social Awareness, Self Awareness
Koji-Leadership, Networking

AQ-Koji
Koji-Perseverance>=, Cognitive Discipline, Self Control
Mastermind-Determination, Mental Fortitude>=(hear me out frozen car feat)

Reasoning-Mastermind
Mastermind-Inductive, Abductive
Koji-Deductive

Thinking-Mastermind
Mastermind-Quick Thinking, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Divergent Thinking
Koji-Convergent Thinking

Manipulation-Mastermind
Mastermind-Indirect, Logical, Emotional, Methods, Mass
Koji-Direct>=

Deception-Mastermind
Mastermind-Acting Skills, Sophistry, Misdirection, Concealment, Fabrication
Koji-nothing

General Intelligence-Koji
Koji-Crystallized, Fluid(closer than ppl think it is)
Mastermind-nothing 😔

Knowledge-Koji
Koji-Retention, Quantity, Quality
Mastermind-Application

Strategy-Mastermind
Mastermind-Logistics, Complexity, Shielding, Effectiveness, Building, Improvising
Koji-nothing

Planning-Mastermind
Mastermind-Invincibility, Building, Intricacies, Contingencies, Coverage
Koji-Versatility

Foresight-Mastermind
Mastermind-Anticipation, Prediction, Risk Calculation
Koji-nothing

Sensory-Koji
Koji-Observation, Perception
Mastermind-nothing 😔

Field Skills-Mastermind
Mastermind-Trap Evasion, Trap Setting, Tactics, Analysis>=, Unpredictability
Koji-Decision Making

Verdict-Mastermind low-mid diff(-). now some of these distributions might need reasoning so i will provide.

For EE and EM i believe his ambition and frozen car feat to be enough. for EE, he is using his hatred, fear, and trauma and applying that to killing the Head of the Prosecution Committee and A PRESIDENT OF A COUNTRY. Koji’s white room adaptation is great but i find it a less taxing ambition and less emotion involved. EM on the other hand is taken with frozen car which ive already talked abt. to simplify it here, being awake for the time needed while still operating your working memory should be entirely impossible yet is done anyway. mastermind’s as a child when he was went through this. so he should absolutely have been dead or at the very least in a very long coma yet he took it like a champ and remembered the whole thing(excluding the thing with the fathers) this is also why he takes Mental Fortitude.

For reasoning and thinking, his feats in Turnabout of the Ages should be enough specifically anything to do with the murder and Shaun Framing. Mastermind would need to reason how Edgeworth reasons the crime despite all the crazy bad luck. there’s also his reasoning on how to specifically frame Shaun which he does in one of the most creative ways strategies ive seen. However, there is also his inductive reasoning for Leguarde Murder Goading which i somewhat went over in that post.

and lastly for the general diff, Masterminds incredibly large gap in scheming, foresight, reasoning, and thinking makes winning for koji damn near impossible. however i made it low-mid bcuz koji safely takes general intellect which can obv be important for certain situations.

to clarify more specifically on what i mean, i love characters, especially antags who challenge the rules set for them by how they were created, born, raised, or simply destined. nature is a very vague or open term so lots count as nature. i love protagonists who do this as well, but i find antagonists on average preforming better bcuz their entire role is challenging the protagonist and the cast of characters.

it imo offers the most introspective thinking of any motivation that antagonists can have and showcases their psychology to the fullest

these characters dont operate the same way under this concept which make these characters so good. its all so unique in how they rebel against the invisible force that controls their life.

lysander from red rising in the first image is fighting against his manipulation from his aunt, grandmother, and everyone else as well as everyone else who tries to indoctrinate him in wtv cause they want. however, lysander fails and often leads himself right back on that path he is trying to combat. he’s even a hypocrite who uses his birth rights for justification but then tries to prove he is somehow different.

roy betty from blade runner is rebelling against his programming, his purpose, and his limitations. despite being born with an incredibly short life span he leads other replicants to increase their life spans so that he can form new memories. he unfortunately dies, incapable of completing this task but as a final act of rebellion he saves rick’s life despite him trying to kill roy.

kuja from final fantasy 9 had one purpose. be an angel of death for terra and kill as much as he can to accumulate the souls needed to save their dying planet. garland, his creator made him as a prototype until he could made a superior replacement, zidane. kuja as to defy garland, left zidane in gaia so that garland would only have him. kuja would manipulate and control his own fate as he saw himself as a god, someone above such little things. kuja believed he was immortal and that he didnt abide the same rules as those beneath him. thats why he hated the black mages so much, he was exactly what kuja believed he wasnt or scared to admit he was. weapons to do bidding and kill, while having a short and finite life. kuja’s constant taunting of directing a play to show how he can manipulate fate, however he was wrong. garland would reveal he was mortal and that he would die whenever zidane surpassed him in power which made kuja have a mental breakdown. he became unstable and within this realization intended to end all life. however, his final act of rebellion after watching the party defeat the embodiment of death was to save them after he realized how despicable his actiosn were.

batista from choujin x is funny enough the only one mentioned that managed to sorta defeat his nature in a way, that being the predetermined fate against him. however, he also fulfilled another prophecy set, that he would be a great evil. batista betrayed sora who was genuinely the closest thing to god shown, who’s largest motivator is the fulfillment of a prophecy. batista would change all of reality just so he can have what was taken from him, his life, his wife, and his daughter who originally died in pregnancy. his daughter and wife even died bcuz of what batista was, his biology as a choujin was what killed his wife and daughter. so he would warp all of reality, create a new one where he can have his wife and daughter again. this ofc all being an illusion set by the nue however, so even with all the scheming, killing, and betrayal. he never truly got what was taken from him bcuz of his nature and the nature of the world around him. even if he did get the world he wanted through the nue’s illusion, one where his nature didnt curse his life.

these are just a few characters who work with this concept very well and even excluding protagonists. if there are other characters that fit this and you enjoy feel free to mention them.

i also enjoy antagonists who are obsessed with fulfilling or fitting into their own nature so perhaps i’ll make another post like this but with that instead.

if he isnt then who is?

also his best feats are in the investigation games so if you havent played those making an opinion on the overall character would be silly.

the images are unrelated.

Luke Atmey vs Excelsius Winner(more accurately loser)

FSIQ-Luke
Luke-FRI, VCI, WMI, PSI, VSI

Excelsius-nothing

EQ-Luke
Luke-EU, EP, EM, EE

Excelsius-nothing

SQ-Luke
Luke-Social Awareness, Social Understanding, Social Integration, Social Skills, Charisma(excelsius prolly takes this but let me have this one)

Excelsius-Networking, Leadership

AQ-Luke
Luke-Stress Tolerance, Cognitive Discipline, Mental Fortitude, Perseverance, Determination

Excelsius-nothing

Reasoning-Luke
Luke-Deductive, Abductive, Inductive

Excelsius-nothing

Thinking-Luke
Luke-Convergent, Divergent, Creative, Critical

Excelsius-Quick>=

Knowledge-Luke
Luke-Knowledge Application, Knowledge Retention, Knowledge Quantity, Knowledge Quality

Excelsius-nothing

General Intellect-Luke
Luke-Fluid, Crystallized

Excelsius-nothing

Strategy-Luke
Luke-Complexity, Building, Fortitude, Effectiveness, Logistics

Excelsius-nothing

Planning-Luke
Luke-Coverage, Building, Intricacies, Contingencies, Complexity, Invincibility

Excelsius-nothing

Foresight-Luke
Luke-Prediction, Anticipation, Risk Calculation

Excelsius-nothing

Sensory-Luke
Luke-Observation, Perception

Excelsius-nothing

Field Skills-Luke
Luke-Tactics, Trap Evasion, Analysis, Trap Setting, Unpredictability, Decision Making

Excelsius-nothing

Manipulation-Luke>=
Luke-Indirect, Logical, Methods, Direct

Excelsius-Mass, Emotional

Deception-Luke
Luke-Acting Skills, Misdirection, Sophistry, Fabrication, Concealment

Excelsius-nothing

Verdict-Luke low diffs. Luke is genuinely one of the best low tiers whereas Excelsius just sucks 😭✌️. I have an interpretation I might post where Excelsius was countering Edgeworth ever since the 2nd EP but aside from that this guy is buns and even with the interpretation he prolly still gets decimated by Manfred.

before i go into the analysis a few things should be noted first. this is an analysis of The Mastermind’s (who i will for now on be actually addressing as his name) best manipulation feat.

this will not be applying the subcats we use. i will strictly mention real world manipulation methods. the reason for this is i believe this conveys the psychological aspect most. for those who might struggle to understand what this feat will fall into or simply want to know before going in, this feat covers basically every subcat.

these terms will be important so if you dont know what these are its best to remember now.

Gaslighting-A form of manipulation where the victim is made to distrust others and their own thoughts.

Scapegoating-Pushing blame on a person or group for something bad that was done.

Suggestion-Planting thoughts into someone without outright stating it.

Love Bombing-Using affection to gain the attention and trust in order to manufacture dependency.

Paltering-Misleading someone by telling technically true statements while withholding critical information.

some of these may appear as odd for being here but trust the process. but now lets actually get into the manipulation.

The plan starts off screen, before the events of the story take place. We can reasonably assume this starts after Kanus is transported to the prison this takes place in. This is bcuz Laguarde herself mentions Kanus blackmailing Laguarde whenever he had arrived. This was orchestrated by Simeon. Simeon had begun sending letters to Kanus, correspondence chess letters. Kanus would immediately start using these letters to deceive Laguarde into thinking he had people working under him, Kanus addressing them as his “young pups”. Kanus would deduce that the person sending these letters would be one of the kids he had saved, and had saved him in return. Simeon planting this suggestion in Kanus’s head had affectively begun the manipulation of Laguarde. We know this is suggestion and not Simeon outright telling him because the letters being sent to Kanus isn’t actually Simeon’s. It’s Bronco’s who Simeon is also communicating with in order to manipulate him once Simeon gets Bronco arrested for the murder goading. Also, Laguarde finds nothing from the letters itself and only makes a connection once she sees the corresponding chess moves.

Simeon knows Kanus will do this because of how Laguarde, Excelsius, and the body double tried to kill him. He knows Kanus will see this as an opportunity to revenge and(tho this maybe stretching it) Kanus likely deduced living in the orphanage for the “young pup” after that day was terrible. This would motivate him further as it was the one life he had ever saved making him cherish it.

While this is happening, Simeon had successfully gathered the trust of Laguarde. Simeon and the Berry Big Circus had been visiting the prison on a schedule. Laguarde wanted to transform her prison into a paradise in hope of reforming or making the inmates simply less likely to be dangerous. Now, usually we would assume Regina who actually owns the circus would make these decisions, but on several occasions in the story Regina had let Simeon plan mostly everything, examples being managing the freezers for the animals food and the show itself in the prison before the murder. So, it isn’t hard to believe that Simeon had also planned the schedule at the prison as well. in fact, it would make a lot of sense and wouldn’t make the planning itself appear as luck which is very uncharacteristic of Simeon to rely on luck.

With the Berry Big Circus going to the prison on a monthly basis, Laguarde would be in a constant state of anticipation and comfort every time they arrived. The animals wondering around the prison as well, being a constant reminder of their presence.

Once Kanus begins blackmailing Laguarde. The prison she was so attached to and the image of what it could be begins to fall as Kanus becomes “the fixer” and runs an underground trafficking ring in the prison.

This causes Laguarde to become gradually more angry but also more paranoid as Kanus would continue to threaten her family. This rage and paranoia would boil inside her more and more, but in her mind she would still have the circus and the animals to find comfort in. However, this would cause her to be even more paranoid of losing it all.

Now for when the story actually begins, Simeon convinces Bronco to stage a fake assassination for the president in order to boost popularity. He plants the suggestion off screen and gives him a plan layout. Simeon is also aware that the body double would absolutely agree to this plan. he knows the body double, unlike the real president was a cunning man. he can also infer by the low popularity that he lacked the courage the president had. he also could’ve inferred that bcuz he made Excelsius and Laguarde handle the disposal of the body he could’ve perhaps been unable to handle it bcuz he was a coward.(or simeon saw him being a coward after the murder but i sincerely doubt this would go unstated considering it described clearly what they were feeling at the time). Meanwhile, as this happens Simeon hires Shelly De’Killer to assassinate the president. Simeon knows Bronco will be exposed for the crime, and he also knows Bronco won’t sell him out for planting this suggestion.

He infers because of how high priority this would be, that the chief prosecutor Edgeworth would get involved. With Edgeworth working the case, there’s no doubt he would deduce that Bronco and President Wang staged the fake assassination.

The plan would fail for Simeon and Shelly would decide not to kill the body double but for such a stupid and petty reason, Bronco would commit his own murder and get caught.

This plan would happen close to the day of the circus show in the prison, which Simeon had planned so that he could manipulate Leguarde into killing the day of the circus show.

In order to prep for how he would direct Leguarde in how she would commit the murder. Simeon had used his visits to gain intel on what Kanus had been demanding in order to establish how he could plant a suggestion into Leguarde in how to frame Kanus for Bronco’s murder. Simeon would use a chisel because that is one of the primary things Kanus had been asking for.

Now, for before the circus show, when Simeon and Regina would be preparing it. Simeon visits Bronco who is currently in holding and hands him a chess board. Simeon would tell Bronco that he has another present inside that being the chisel. Leguarde would notice the correspondence chess game and make the connection that Bronco was Kanus’s “young pup” and would constantly and aggressively interrogate him. Bronco would have no idea which would aggravate Leguarde even more.

During this point and time Leguarde, just as Simeon would later describe, would be seeing enemies and threats wherever she looked. This causing her to increase every day in paranoia as the prison’s image she had wished so much for would be completely dismantled. Both the image of what the prison could be, and the destruction of that image being orchestrated by Simeon via love bombing. Leguarde would he increasingly attached and scared of it going away.

Leguarde had remembered Bronco from the orphanage, and gave a report to Excelsius due to her paranoia likely asking for help. Excelsius had the report on the hidden floor of the Bigg Building meaning he was clearly paranoid as well. Though this next part is never stated, it’s likely that this paranoia was founded on the belief that Bronco was the kid who had rescued Kanus and witnessed the murder. Though it’s possible Excelsius would be concerned about hearing of Kanus having any henchmen. As for why they wouldn’t recognize him as an ordinary orphan, it’s clear names weren’t enough as Leguarde had no idea Simeon was the orphan who witnessed that murder and based on her lines she didn’t recognize him before at all.

Now finally for the murder itself. During the day of the circus show Leguarde would kill Bronco then use the chisel to frame Kanus. Simeon’s intention was to manipulate Leguarde into framing Kanus for the murder by using the chisel, but having Edgeworth deduce the truth behind what had actually happened because Simeon had already figured out how this crime would be deduced logically. He knew the chisel wouldn’t be considered the murder weapon if a genius like Edgeworth had investigated the crime like he was supposed to.

However Euestace Dewinner the SMARTEST prosecutor in the series would catch the mastermind instantly. nah, in reality Eustace would mistake the chisel as the murder weapon bcuz this is before his glow up in AA7(capcom plsss). Edgeworth despite being the official prosecutor anymore would defend Simeon as a defense assistant.

Though Simeon being arrested was a surprise to him, he would cleverly find a way to get out of the situation by taking advantage of Edgeworth’s sense of justice. He guilt tripped Edgeworth and Kay by using his act of a silly animal tamer who struggles even at that. During their first conversation, Simeon would lie stating that he was a simple pencil pusher because he doesn’t want Edgeworth figuring out he works at the circus. Then after Edgeworth learns the truth Simeon palters him. He tells him that he was scared that if they heard, they would immediately suspect him. This is a common thing that happens during investigations and of course Edgeworth knows that and doesn’t judge him for it. In fact, this would make Edgeworth trust him further as it would further reinforce his image of the harmless, silly, clumsly, idiot causing Edgeworth himself to state that he couldn’t imagine Simeon committing murder which is one of the funniest lines in AA.

Kanus had successfully gaslit Leguarde into believing the possibility of his henchmen being capable of killing her family at any moment(tho the family part could be referring to the prison) and Simeon had planted this idea into Kanus with the correspondence chess letters knowing full well what he would do, then planted a suggestion into Bronco’s head manipulating him to do the fake assassination. Simeon then gaslit Leguarde into believing Bronco was the henchman or even the orphan she was so scared of before. This in turn would result in Leguarde telling Excelsius about Bronco, where Simeon would manipulate this fear into making Excelsius commit murder later but that analysis will come later. While all this is happening, Simeon would manipulate Edgeworth into involving himself by planting another thought and using Edgeworth’s sense of justice. he had affectively manipulated 5 people for this plan all without the slightest clue of what might really be happening with the exception of Kanus who still had no clue what was going on except that a secret mastermind was behind everything.

this was inspired by the the post from u/IzyaboiConner this gives me the chance to talk abt characters i love.

imma use the characters that ive “introduced” or in thrawn’s case just discussed more. ik lysander technically isnt a full scd character cuz im the only person who brings bro up and thats like in 3 posts, however hes my fav antag and i can talk abt whoever i want.

Thrawn is a pragmatic, utilitarian, imperialistic genius and Zahn rlly does express this through his writings of Thrawn’s feats. most of his feats are inspired by real generals, like the tactics he uses are similar to napoleon. all of his actions are guided by logical reasonings and constantly thinking abt what is going to happen after. his usage of other’s culture also reflect on his characterization. the way he uses these stereotypes are exactly how imperialists would, especially using it to manipulate enemy governments from the inside. it also expresses his love for other species and his desire to keep the galaxy, especially the unknown regions in order. his out of the box thinking also reflects how he breaks the norms set by the empire and the ascendancy. the empire has a mostly strict “no alien” policy. yet despite this he joins the empire as he sees it as the best chance to combat the impending threat. he, unlike most of the ascendancy. advocates for warfare against foes which is different from the defensive chiss ascendancy. he also unlike most chiss, has no care for rising higher in the political scene. he also advocates for the freedom to choose your role, instead of how the ascendancy chooses your role for you based on your skills. he’s by no means a good person but all of his actions reflect his ultimately selfless goal to keep the galaxy safe from either the grysks or the yuuzhon vong.

The Mastermind, i’ll put a spoiler tag here. im going into big spoiler territory bcuz i love this character and dont want to make this choppy. >!simeon is made to be a dark reflection from edgeworth. instead of edgeworth fighting corruption with truth and reasoning. simeon fights it with lies and deception. instead of edgeworth’s appearance commanding respect, simeon flies under the radar or appears to others bcuz if his silly appearance. simeon’s design of a clown also reflects his duality which in turn reflects his feats. he hides in the background and right in front of you. he controls everything and everyone just like the animals he trained. he manipulates others to kill one another bcuz of how the victims he killed were either following orders or commanding others to do so. its also the best way he can to fight the system he was forced to be afraid of. instead of being massively influential like most other villains, he’s just a circus worker and was an orphan. just like he himself says “what was i supposed to do”. yet despite this, he was able to manipulate authoritative figures into preforming his show, just like the animals bcuz we are. !<

Lysander is a little fucking weasel. dont get mistaken by my constant praise of this guy. i hate lysander, he is by far my fav “love to hate” type of character. just like the weasel he is, his feats specialize in manipulating the masses, deceiving others, and being incredibly socially intelligent. his idealism and views of inherent superiority reflect his ability to make others follow him. just like mastermind is to edgeworth, lysander is also a dark parallel instead to darrow. darrow is no politician, but lysander perfectly fits what a politician does. he manipulates lower standing individuals to accept his world views, makes them follow his commands. he manipulates other golds into viewing him as a chosen one figure. even when they see who lysander rlly is, he somehow weasel’s his way out and gains their support just so they can be betrayed later on. now for the minds eye. the minds eye is a power which gives someone the ability to view things on slow motion, make’s quick calculations, perfect memory, perfect self cognition, and lastly superior understanding of those around him bcuz of the slow motion and calculations. the minds eye is symbolic for his supposed inherent superiority, and his “destiny” is a constant reaffirmation. even with the minds eye however, his own problems weaken its potential. he is so groomed by the golds and his grandmothers teachings that despite having perfect memory he was somehow able to erase specific memories tied to understanding himself.

considering how much praise he gets im interested on reading an analysis, especially since im not gonna read the wn any time soon.

i wanted to see how much he contests with my goat thrawn in reasoning.

ive been wanting to get into light novels more, currently the only ones ive read is cote, labb murder case, and another monster.

these two for now have my fav concepts that ik of.

i wanted to ask anyone who’s read these(which i doubt is many) what your opinion on these two are at a writing and scd standpoint?

whitedevil if your still with us pls give me your guidance 😭🙏