| “ | Tell me, Worthy. What are you doing in court? You despise criminals. I can feel it. You and me... we're the same. One day you'll understand. If you want to take them on alone... you'll figure out what's needed. | „ |
| ~ Damon Gant's speech to Edgeworth, after being exposed |
Damon Gant is the main antagonist of the fifth case of Phoenix Wright:Ace Attorney, Rise from the ashes. He's the Chief of the Police and the real culprit of Bruce Goodman's murder, a detective who was re-investigating the SL-9 case, the murder of Neil Marshall, a detective who was seemingly killed by Joe Darke, a serial killer. It was later revealed that the murderer was actually Gant, who used said murder to frame Darke, and to secure the position of police chief.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- He's always polite to everyone he interacts with, very rarely ever losing his composure and when he does, he doesn't take long to snap out of it and return to his affable persona, even personally being friends with the Judge and telling him he is sorry that they can't eat dinner together now that he has been exposed as a criminal.
- Unlike other masterminds in Ace Attorney, Gant has no petty motive for his crimes, instead being motivated by a genuine desire to capture criminals.
- He's also one of the few villains who show sincere respect for Wright and Edgeworth, even having a Pet the Dog moment where he compliments Wright's skills in the first trial and apologizing to Edgeworth for using his car to transport the body.
- When he saw the unconscious bodies of Ema Skye, Joe Darke and Neil Marshall, the latter two who engaged in a fight some moments before, he decided to frame Darke by cutting a bloodless piece of Neil Marshall's vest with Ema's hand print on it, killing Marshall by impaling him on a sword from a suit of armor, and writing Ema's name with Neil's blood on a jar, tricking Lana Skye into believing that he was accidentally killed by Ema.
- When Lana panicked that Ema would be found guilty for manslaughter, Gant took the opportunity to help her cover up the crime by forging evidence and making it look like Darke was the real culprit, then he proceeded to blackmail her for the next two years after appointing her as chief prosecutor so he could maximize his power over the law.
- To remark how intelligent he is, it should be noted that he came up with the idea and completed his plan in just a few minutes, keeping the piece of cloth and a piece of the broken jar in a safe as insurance.
- He tricked prosecutor Miles Edgeworth into giving Darke a guilty verdict with false evidence, successfully getting away with his murder for 2 years.
- After he murdered Goodman in a panic, he tricked Edgeworth into moving the body for him by hiding the body in the trunk of Edgeworth's car and then he gave him a screwdriver from a past case that he ordered him to deliver to the prosecutor's office as an excuse to have him drive from the police precinct to the parking garage of the prosecutor's office.
- He then had Lana stab the corpse with Edgeworth's knife to make it look like Goodman had been murdered in the parking garage and blackmailed her into being tight-lipped about the details of the case and confessing to the crime, hindering Phoenix and Edgeworth's investigations in the process.
- He took advantage over the fact he didn't have to give testimony if he didn't want to due to being chief of police and while this meant he couldn't give any words about the case afterwards, he didn't let it bother him because he knew that the decisive evidence would make the facts clear regardless if he said anything or not.
- He almost tricked Wright into submitting the piece of cloth with Ema's fingerprints as evidence by setting up a trap that all the heroes were falling into.
- If Wright had submitted the evidence before Gant indirectly admitted he concealed said evidence, Ema Skye would be linked to the murder and declared guilty.
- When he was about to be arrested, he almost got away with his crimes by bringing up the fact that illegal evidence cannot be used to convict a suspect.
- If Wright hadn't gotten the evidence law book from Gumshoe, Gant would have tricked everyone into thinking the cloth was illegal evidence, and gotten away with his crimes.
- He faced his defeat with dignity, recovering from his minor breakdown and admitting that he is okay with going to prison because justice is safe in Wright and Edgeworth's hands.
What Makes him a Baddie?[]
- According to Dick Gumshoe, if one of his men failed him, he forced them to listen to his organ at deafening volume for hours on end.
- He killed Neil Marshall and tricked Lana Skye into thinking that her 14-year-old sister Ema accidentally caused it, before helping Lana forge evidence to get Joe Darke framed for it and executed.
- He blackmailed Lana for two years into keeping control of law enforcement in the city, threatening to tell everyone that Ema killed Neil if she didn't help him.
- He killed Detective Goodman for trying to re-open SL-9, making Lana help him in the crime before framing the murder on her.
- He manipulated Edgeworth into transporting Goodman's body, then had Lana attempt to frame Edgeworth for the crime, before having her confess to the crime and being uncooperative when she was arrested for it instead.
- He attempted to frame Ema for his murder of Neil and get everyone involved in the case fired, or sent to jail to tie up all loose ends.
External Links[]
- Damon Gant at the Villains wiki
- Damon Gant at the Ace Attorney wiki
[]
 Magnificent Baddies
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