phoenx:

So I was talking to @autisticsimonblackquill about Kristoph’s black locks a while back and I was saying how I was sort of hung up on the line:

“I killed a man named Shadi Smith because I’m a horrible human being.”

And while that’s true, that’s obviously not the whole truth. This is where the black locks come in. Phoenix asks for a motive and that’s the answer Kristoph replies with. Because it’s a black lock, what we know from Dual Destinies is that not even Kristoph is aware of the true reason why; he’s mentally suppressed it so hard that he truly believes that he just is a horrible person. 

So why was it suppressed so hard to the point of being pushed back to his unconscious?

I would like to argue that it was fear. 

When Kristoph was being convicted for the first time on the account of murdering Zak “Shadi Smith”, his breakdown was significantly less violent than when Apollo accused him of forgery. But that’s strange, considering most people would be more fearful of being convicted of murder than of forgery. So that leads us to one conclusion of many:

Kristoph Gavin was afraid of being caught with forgery.

Now this is something pointed out by Apollo near the end of the trial in Turnabout Succession. Apollo stated that Kristoph’s motive for killing Shadi Smith was because he didn’t want anyone to know that he forged evidence. But why did that cause such a reaction? It’s because of previously mentioned black psyche locks.

Now, in Dual Destinies, we are told that not only are black psyche locks representations of deep, unconscious secrets, but forcibly trying to break them will cause permanent psychological damage and traumatize a person for the rest of their lives. We see this through Athena when her psyche locks are broken in court (of her own accord). It is stressed twice that no one should forcibly open a lock. But only Phoenix knew this since he had the magatama. But who didn’t know of this?

Apollo Justice.

In court, Apollo pointed out that Kristoph was scared of being found out that he forged. This is what caused such a strong reaction. But it wasn’t just because his secret was leaked. No, it’s because Kristoph wasn’t even consciously aware of it himself. Apollo Justice forcibly broke Kristoph’s black locks without even realizing. Kristoph was just psychologically damaged beyond repair in that courtroom. That’s what caused the largescale breakdown. 

But it still doesn’t make sense, why would Kristoph be so scared of being found guilty of forgery, but not of murder? To answer that, we have to look back at the events prior to the seven years.

Klavier was seventeen and just graduated from a prestigious high school. He was in Germany for two years studying law. It’s even mentioned once or twice that Klavier is a natural genius, even if it isn’t readily shown. He has more than once proved that he knew more about the case than he let on and has even helped Apollo reach conclusions of several cases throughout AA4. 

Kristoph was a defense attorney that had made quite a name for himself: the best defense attorney in town. When Klavier got out of school, his first case was supposed to be against Kristoph in a fair fight of wits, brother against brother. 

Now, we know that Kristoph had requested forged evidence before Zak switched his defense attorneys. This meant that he was going to cheat his way through the trial even before getting replaced by Phoenix. Only when attorneys were switched did Kristoph use the forged page against Phoenix by letting Klavier know that Phoenix would use it in court. 

So why would Kristoph request a diary page be forged in the case if he believed his client to be innocent? One could suggest that it’s because he’d always been using false evidence, but there’s another option that’s more likely:

Kristoph didn’t expect to win the trial against his brother in the first place.

Now this is where the repressed memories come in. At this point, Kristoph repressed his emotions so hard and forced them behind his calm and pristine mask so hard he “forgot” why he’d done it in the first place. 

Kristoph was afraid of his brother surpassing him.

Kristoph ordered false evidence in order to make sure he came out on top in that trial. It all connects; Kristoph’s controlling personality over Klavier, Kristoph doing whatever he could to make sure that forgery went under tight wraps. He was even willing to kill two people in order to make sure that diary page was never found to be forged. That’s why he was more afraid of being caught of forgery than murder. It would show that Kristoph believed he was going to lose against that trial against Klavier seven years ago if he didn’t have a piece of leverage. Losing control of Klavier meant that he would surpass Kristoph.

Kristoph was praised for his intelligence. He was the older, superior brother, and was obsessed with keeping it that way. But when he saw Klavier improving so quickly and eventually realizing that his brother was likely to pass him in skill, Kristoph did anything he could to keep Klavier beneath him. 

Apollo made Kristoph realize that he was no longer superior than his brother. And that was what broke him. That’s what the black locks were for. That is why.