sen

thank you, first of all!! im happy you like the way i write him :] and i had some trouble getting into his voice at first too! i think its because hes Not Like Other Prosecutors, within the feeling of the games, since he is immediately in your corner with no downsides and almost consistently nice to you.

one important thing about his characterization/voice i think is that "almost," though. approximately once per trial, klavier says something balls to the wall insane, rude, and tactless.

transcript from turnabout corner:

Klavier: ...How ironic that you would kill the one man capable of helping you. You're almost as careless as he was! ...Ah ha ha ha. Wocky: …… Apollo: …… Klavier: Well, now that the place is hopping… Let's get this gig started!

turnabout serenade:

Ema: You... You jerk! Just what was I in here for? Comic relief!? Trucy: Yeah! Apologize! Klavier: Ah ha ha. Oh, sorry!

turnabout succession:

Brushel: Actually, I did notice something when I visited the studio. I'd heard of poison that "takes its sweet time", see! Klavier: ...But not what I've been saying for the last few minutes, apparently.

those are just some favorites off the top of my head. my point is that it's important to not get caught up in the nice guy thing klavier has going on. i actually think he veers more toward "kind but not nice"! he absolutely is a good guy, he's there with you to find the truth and he will weather any storm his fucked up social circle brings him if that means finding the right killer, but he is also very frequently kind of a bitch.

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his speaking voice specifically gave me grief at first. writing miles and phoenix into scenes together is easier, because phoenix talks like a normal guy who was born in the 90s, while miles is a lot more posh (although miles is also plenty rude, but that's a rant for another time). klavier is a prosecutor, famous, and evidently rich, but he doesn't necessarily sound like that. a lot of his Cool Rock Star Lingo however sounds stilted, too. he's kind of suspended between two worlds and doesn't seem to neatly fit into either of them. i don't think that's a problem that needs solving when writing him though! i think in essence klavier attempts to bring the cool, chill vibe of rock'n'roll into the seriousness of law to loosen things up, and he also brings the pedantic perfectionism of law into music to shape it to his will.

the german gimmick is part of that too, for me. this isn't supported by canon since we never see him off work there, but i just like to headcanon that his go-to german phrases (ie herr/fräulein, achtung, etc) are very much part of a deliberately constructed persona. if he isnt on a stage (and a courtroom counts as one) he has no need for those, so i leave them out. since i personally still write him as a native german speaker, occasionally he'll still slip into real german or struggle with translations for things, but all those little pleasantries he throws around for show fall away when it's just him alone.

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back to his character, i know we all lament how little screentime he got and how the writers seem to have forgotten about him. and so maybe this was entirely by accident, but just from the way he is presented in aa4, i think klavier presents a very rich character with a lot of seeming contradictions, which of course just serves to make him more complex. here's some facts i just think say a lot about him.

his shoes look like biker boots, so he's wearing proper footwear to ride his literal harley davidson, but he is also wearing the suit he wears to court.

the glimpse we catch of his music sounds like classic hard rock to me, with his and daryan's looks supporting a glam rock edge to it. he says he likes poetry, which makes sense given the fact that he writes lyrics (this is also something the brothers have in common, so it's likely that they grew up with it).

when romein letouse's body goes missing and they have to go look for it, klavier says that he is having fun.

lamiroir's music is nothing like his own, yet klavier clearly appreciates her to the point where he felt it was an honor to perform with her.

when his trial against phoenix comes closer and closer to the point of no return, klavier repeatedly tries to give him an out. i guess this could be construed instead as him baiting phoenix into presenting the diary page, but i dont really know about that. klavier was cheeky with him and kept talking about the old versus the young, but that still implies a knowledge of just who phoenix wright is, who he was up against, and what phoenix stood for. klavier, assuming that phoenix knew that the evidence was forged, told him that he does not have to present it, that now is the time to give up and back out, and then he would have let him get away with it. it's only when the page was actually in the open that he fully succumbed to the belief that phoenix wright was crooked beyond repair, and that he had to be removed from the courts.

he personally comes to the wright anything agency the morning after the turnabout serenade concert, to give apollo the news that machi requests him as his counsel. why did he do this?? phoenix could have been there. klavier didn't have to deliver this message himself. he apologizes for how that evening went, while also fearlessly standing in the lion's den of the guy whose life he (ARGUABLY.) ruined

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i think one of the most important things for writing klavier is that whatever facet of his life youre writing, he is feeling everything very deeply. he fits right into the artist trope for that. only his art goes further than music, and extends into law.

whatever klavier gavin does, he wants to do it perfectly, and he makes it his very personal responsibility if that doesn't work out. he took it upon himself to register daryan as a witness before apollo could request it. when apollo starts accusing kristoph in succession, he says he wants concrete proof, or he is "off this case." why would he stay on the case with concrete proof? that's his brother. he doesn't have to prosecute his brother. if being "off the case" is an option, then he can and should walk, but he doesn't. klavier sticks things out until the very, very bitter end, because he feels that no one else can, and that makes it his responsibility. and he does not run away from responsibility.

and he's genuine. that's one point i feel like people tend to forget when writing him. the whole rock star thing and the shiny smile can lead you into thinking that everything he does is an act, but i don't think it is. klavier cares very deeply and he shows you this openly. he doesn't fully break down while he's at work, but that only means that he is an adult with a good grasp on his self-control.

which brings me to one more point, and that is the fact that he was a professional at age 17. and not just in law, but also in music. i'm sure we've all heard music industry horror stories, now imagine you're 17 years old and deep in there through over-night fame. klavier was then already a lawyer, already had his band together, stood tall with his degree and his creativity and knew exactly where he wanted to go. but he was fucking seventeen. somewhere out there, klavier grew up really, really fast.

he evidently knows a lot about music, he is fully in charge of that concert, he writes his own songs, he potentially even mixes it himself instead of having staff to do that. he is an extremely good investigator and prosecutor, figuring out cases before anyone else does and then playing his cards so meticulously correct that he essentially puts work into his own loss. once he realizes that apollo's clients are innocent, klavier has to figure out moves to convince the entire court that he's wrong, all while keeping up appearances, and he manages.

klavier is extremely good at everything he does, because he has to be. because he was seventeen.

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and after all that.... bro....... i think it's important to let him be happy.

i put him through a lot in exorcism. canon already puts him through a lot, and then i put him through more. i think he's complex and tragic, but he can't be only that. he plays air guitar in court! there's a still of his concert in canon where he passionately dips his microphone stand like they're dancing. he loves what he does!!! hes having fun!

he clearly has hobbies and interests and it's important to give them space between all the angst. doesn't he even say something about it being time to bury the teenage angst in the past? i think klavier actively wants to be good. he's had a turbulent life with fabulous ups and devastating downs, but he deliberately wants to come out okay.

and i think he puts in the work. because it's what he does.