ooc; APPLICATION
[PERSONALITY]
Kristoph is the dangerous combination of selfish, manipulative, and extremely intelligent. The vast majority of people who come to know him will never recognize him as anything aside from a charming and gentle man with a great deal of talent in his career as a defense attorney. And he certainly is talented; in fact, that vast majority hasn't even the first idea. Kristoph knows the ins and outs of the law and the logic thereof so thoroughly that he's committed multiple murders without leaving any immediately obvious traces of his involvement. I think his thorough knowledge of courtroom logic suggests that he has a very rigid interpretation of law; in addition, he appears to dismiss Phoenix Wright as a hack and an embarrassment to the practice due to his reckless style of defending.
As mentioned before, Kristoph tends to come off as a very pleasant person to be around. People often come to view him as very sympathetic and empathetic, kind, witty, calm, and friendly. He reaches out to people when they're at their lowest point in life, providing them a source of comfort and support, as he did with Phoenix. He's apparently good with kids as well, telling a twelve-year-old Vera Misham after earning her trust that the bottle of poisoned nail polish he gave her was enchanted to protect her if she went outside. Only Klavier seems to react toward Kristoph with a somewhat conflicted attitude at times, probably because he's had some occasion to witness the person Kristoph really is. I would imagine that Kristoph probably puts a great deal of pressure on Klavier in order to get his way; he's shown himself to be extremely skilled at emotional blackmail and manipulation, and sometimes appears to hold the threat of being disappointed in his brother as a sword over Klavier's head. He does the same thing with Apollo during his first trial, repeatedly gently requesting that Apollo not embarrass him when he falters.
Although Kristoph appears for all the world to be a confident, impeccable man, actions usually speak louder than words when it comes to uncovering his true self--a fact of which he seems to be largely unaware. All but one of his postures in the game are closed, featuring him holding onto his arms. This is generally taken to indicate that a person is defensive, anxious, or feels the need to protect him or herself. Klavier observes that Kristoph has been living in fear for the last seven years, keeping a close eye on anyone who had anything to do with the case he sabotaged in order to ruin Phoenix Wright. Upon hearing this, Kristoph is incredulous. In general, Kristoph appears to be remarkably blind to his own weaknesses, and possesses a sense of self importance that can verge on megalomaniacal: he becomes extremely agitated and outraged when he learns that the Vera Misham case was being used to test the Jurist System, stating that there would only ever be room for two things in the courtroom: himself and the law. He loses control when cornered, and his behavior turns quite irrational and hostile. However, if any loophole opens up through which he can slip free, he's able to collect himself with remarkable ease.
It's never really explained why Kristoph killed Shadi Smith. When questioned in court, he states that Smith deserved to die simply for his foolishness in dumping Kristoph in favor of taking Phoenix Wright as his defense attorney. He doesn't explicitly state that he killed Smith for insulting him, and when Phoenix visits his solitary confinement cell and personally asks him why, he responds that he killed Shadi Smith with a bottle because he is "simply an evil human being." He appears to have no problems whatsoever with allowing people to write him off in such a way. In search of the truth, Phoenix attempts to look inside Kristoph's heart with his Magatama, but he finds it locked tighter than anything he's ever seen before. He describes the feeling he gets as "dark, cold, full of despair." Such despair is never immediately obvious in any of Kristoph's outward actions, but it is my belief that it forms the core of who Kristoph is and how he became that way. He may not even acknowledge it himself. No one is at liberty to say what could have happened to Kristoph to twist him so much, but I can't believe it was anything short of profound--whatever it was.
[BACKGROUND]
Seven years prior to the events of Apollo Justice, Phoenix Wright was disbarred for presenting forged evidence in court. Of those on the Bar Association review board, all but one voted to revoke his badge--that one person was Kristoph Gavin.
Kristoph was a very successful attorney and the head of his own law firm, and was approached by famous magician Zak Gramarye to defend him in what would undoubtedly be a high-profile case. Zak asked him to play a game of poker in order to learn what sort of person Kristoph really was. When he didn't like what he saw, he rejected Kristoph as his attorney and approached Phoenix Wright instead. Kristoph, understanding how important this case would be for his career, had already arranged for the creation of evidence that would guarantee Zak an acquittal. Snubbed by his client for a lawyer that he considered a talentless upstart, Kristoph apparently became enraged enough to attempt to ruin both men by seeing to it that the evidence would be publicly revealed to be fake. Having already informed Klavier, the prosecutor of the case, that Phoenix would be presenting forged evidence to the court, he used a young Trucy to give the fake diary page to Phoenix during a recess. Phoenix walked directly into the trap. In the midst of the fallout, Kristoph appeared as a friend and a shoulder to lean on--but somewhere along the line, Phoenix began to suspect his involvement.
When Zak Gramarye returned seven years later after vanishing from the courtroom, this time as "Shadi Smith," Kristoph struck him in the head with a glass bottle and killed him. Accused of his murder, Phoenix deliberately chose Kristoph's young associate to represent him, believing him capable of ultimately unraveling all the events leading up to that night. In his first trial, Apollo Justice managed to prove that his own boss was guilty of murder. Consequently, Kristoph spends most of his time in the game in prison. With the help of the video surveillance Phoenix had been taking for years, Apollo uncovered the truth of Kristoph's involvement in the events of seven years prior.
Vera Misham, who had forged the fatal evidence at the age of twelve, stood accused of the poisoning of her father, Drew. Although Apollo succeeded in persuading the six Jurists to acquit her, Kristoph's guilt in the murder of Drew Misham was never proven. Nevertheless, Kristoph laughed loud and long when Vera was found innocent--a laugh that is described as echoing through the courtroom for a great while after the trial had ended. As far as we know, Kristoph returned to his solitary confinement cell and was eventually executed for his crime.