Sandbox / Ace Attorney Barok Van Zieks

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Barok van Zieks

Voiced by (Japanese): Kenjiro Tsuda (GAA)

Voiced by (English): Robert Vernon (GAA)

"Please forgive my impudence in my partaking of the hallowed chalice within these Halls of Justice."

The Reaper of the Bailey, and main prosecutor of the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles duology, Barok van Zieks is a feared prosecutor who has returned to the courts after a 5-year absence. He's gained his moniker and reputation due to the fact that defendants in his trials are doomed to death should they receive a Not Guilty verdict, dying in horrific incidents either soon after the trial is over, as long as they remain within British soil.

Like most of London's population, he has a scathing prejudice towards Japanese people and is openly disdainful of Ryunosuke, taking every opportunity to belittle him in court while sipping wine from an ornamental chalice.

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A-L

• Abstract Apotheosis: A rather dark example, as he's come to be seen as a divine avatar of karmic deaths. Stronghart engineered the Reaper's murders specifically to achieve this, to which Van Zieks is not happy about.
  Stronghart: Your role wasn't that of some embodiment of death. No, you were London's guardian angel.
  Van Zieks: An angel with bloody hands? I think not.
• Antiquated Linguistics: His language is notably dated even in the context of a Period Piece, leaning more towards Flowery Elizabethan English than Victorian. His most noticeable linguistic quirk is to use the more dated term Nipponese in place of Japanese, and he often uses "Pray" instead of "Please."
• Ambiguously Evil: Ryunosuke spends the entirety of Adventures unsure of what to make of his motives, connection to the Reaper curse, or even his literal humanity. It's not until Resolve that his byronic nature becomes clear.
• Apologizes a Lot: While no less prone to violent courtroom dramatics than other prosecutors, he does apologize to the judge for them.
  Van Zieks: ...If the sight of my iron-heeled Wellington offends...pray, do forgive the discourtesy.
• Backhanded Apology: Most of his frequent apologies are comically insincere, always asserting that he's simply reacting to others' absurd Courtroom Antics in kind.
• Badass Bookworm: He's apparently as much a beast outside the courtroom as he is in it, regularly fighting off assassination attempts by the underlings of late defendants.
• Badass Longcoat: Wears a sleek black justacorps.
• Bad Boss: Subverted. Van Zieks's apprentice, Kazuma, explains the exhaustive, back-breaking labor that maintaining his master's wine supply involves. Ryunosuke is dismayed to hear this, but Kazuma quickly corrects him: van Zieks does all the work, since he doesn't trust anyone with his wine. Kazuma himself finds the apprenticeship quite reasonable and even talks van Zieks out of retiring at the end of Resolve so he can continue it.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: In Case 1-5, when Sholmes arrives to give Ryunosuke evidence, something that will take a few minutes, van Zieks observes that the trial has taken hours, seemingly as a complaint, and Gregson chimes in to concur... but van Zieks then says that if the trial has gone on that long, they may as well spare a few minutes, much to Gregson's dismay.
• Baritone of Strength: An imposing deep voice for an imposing man.
• Batman Gambit: Prosecutes Albert Harebrayne even though he secretly believes him to be innocent, predicting that Ryunosuke would once again employ The Perry Mason Method to win an acquittal and expose some corruption in Scotland Yard's ranks while he's at it.
• The Beautiful Elite: Wears Gorgeous Period Dress, drinks the finest vintages from gold-trimmed chalices crafted by the most talented craftsmen in the most lavishly decorated office, speaks with impeccable eloquence, and is very attractive on top of it all. He even shouts, "Objection!" and "Hold it!" in blackletter rather than bold comics lettering.
• Better Manhandle the Murder Weapon: Albeit a more grounded example than most. Scotland Yard doesn't yet have the ability to test ballistic markings, van Zieks wears gloves (not that the British Courts accept fingerprints as evidence yet) and the make of the gun is standard for all members of British law enforcement or the judiciary. Witness testimony does put him under suspicion and lead to his immediate arrest, but his possession of the gun is deemed merely circumstantial after the prosecution admits they cannot conclusively establish the gun's ownership (serial number tracking is available but only came into effect in the recent past, meaning some guns assigned to the judiciary were not tracked).
• Beware the Honest Ones: His allegiance is to the truth alone, which becomes an increasing frustration for less scrupulous individuals the justice system. Stronghart seizes the opportunity presented by Jigoku accidentally framing Barok to try and convict him for Gregson's murder. This winds up backfiring horribly, and the ensuing court case unveils Stronghart as the true mastermind of the Reaper Conspiracy.
• Big Brother Worship: Revered his late older brother, who was the reason Barok became a prosecutor. He takes it very hard finding out that his brother was a serial killer.
• Bigot with a Crush: Though not an overtly romantic one, he admits to being instinctively drawn towards Ryunosuke from the outset despite his own anti-Japanese sentiments, going as far to compare him to his much-idolized brother... and the man who killed him.
• Blue Blood: As a member of the highly esteemed van Zieks family, Barok is a lord as well as a barrister of the Crown court.
• Blind Shoulder Toss: Sometimes throws his bottle... into the gallery.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: In a platonic sense at the end of Case 3 of Resolve, he immediately orders his friend Albert Harebrayne out of England to Germany following his acquittal out of fear that his Reaper curse will kill him, much to Albert's dismay as he was planning to reconnect with van Zieks and tour the Great Exhibition.
• Break the Haughty: The second half of the final trial is not a good time for van Zieks, especially when his brother and idol is exposed for the very monster thought to have killed him.
• Broken Bird: The pressure of the Reaper and his Cynicism Catalyst have made him cold, miserable, and distrustful... and weirdly fascinating to Ryunosuke.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: You'd be forgiven for assuming he's among the more serious prosecutors in the series on account of his straight face. Even ignoring the "Curse" that gets every person he prosecutes killed if they remain on British soil, this is a man who drinks red wine in court, crushes and throws glasses of it, throws bottles of it at the gallery, and slams the desk with his leg when he's holding a glass. And he apologizes for it at most instances (though the longer a trial gets, the less he does the latter). Regardless, he's still a talented prosecutor who makes it quite clear the truth is what matters most to him, especially during the last case of the first game, and it's largely hinted that most of his losses are on account of corruption on the part of the defense or defendant.
• "Burly Detective" Syndrome: Hilariously, he never once utters the word "wine" despite his copious consumption of it, instead always using flowery alternatives such as "carmine contents", "essence of grapes", or "liquid of a more sanguine hue". Even the wine barrels in his office are just referred to as his "vintages".
• Byronic Hero: Shifts from Ambiguously Evil in Adventures to this in Resolve. He's very intelligent both in court and outside, is absolutely relentless and uncompromising in his pursuit of the truth to the point of defying the very institution he works for on many occasions, heavily struggles with personal demons from his past and his present, has grown cynical and mistrustful over the years, and lets his emotions cloud his better judgement in regards to his prejudice.
• Cannot Convey Sarcasm: His Perpetual Frown and cold bravado makes him sound like he's always sarcastic, and Ryunosuke will assume sarcasm unless proven otherwise.
• Classy Cravat: It's actually a jabot (traditional courtroom attire for judges and barristers), but it has the same effect.
• The Coats Are Off: He throws his cape away when he gets serious. Eventually he either just does it at the start of the trial or simply starts without it.
• Cold Ham: Van Zieks is probably the most theatrical prosecutor in the entire series - and trust us, that's really saying something. He manages to achieve this feat despite never raising his voice, other than to shout the obligatory "OBJECTION!" He doesn't need to, the way he swans about in a vampiric cloak, drinks glasses of fine wine, throws bottles into the gallery, and slams his foot onto his desk to make a point.
• The Comically Serious: He maintains a very serious demeanor even as he does ridiculous things such as slamming his leg on the prosecution bench or throwing a glass/bottle of wine.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Ryunosuke is unnerved by the casual attitude he (and everyone else) takes regarding assassination attempts against him. Often he just draws his sword and fights his way out of it.
• Conspicuous Consumption: While it isn't exactly stated how much his own-brand handpicked wine and crystal goblets cost, he always destroys both during trials as if they were worthless.
• Consummate Professional: He takes his job completely and utterly seriously to the point where he'll try to debunk an argument that could prove him not guilty of murder just because it has a potential hole in it.
• Contrived Clumsiness: Loves to claim this when throwing his bottles into the gallery.
  Van Zieks: I was throwing my hands up in despair and happened to catch my hallowed bottle on the way. Pray, forgive my maladroit mistake.
• Convicted by Public Opinion: When arrested for Gregson's murder, it's nearly impossible for him to find representation because of his reputation as the Reaper.
• Creepy Good: He's intimidating beyond all reason, but he's actually one of the few completely clean prosecutors in the franchise.
• Dark Is Not Evil: As it turns out, the man who dresses like a vampire who is surrounded by death is actually one of the franchise's most honest and restrained prosecutors.
• "Darkness von Gothick" Name: His given name is a play on baroque, while his surname is pronounced very similarly to "banjikyuusu", which means: "it's all over".
• Deadpan Snarker: He's very prone to sarcastic toasts and scathing comments delivered in the same dead-serious manner as his less facetious dialogue.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Played with. Much like many of the other British characters in the game, he has a great deal of racism towards the Japanese, although his case is due having a former Japanese friend who was later convicted of being a serial killer, one of the serial killer's victims being Barok's brother Klint. And later he learns it was completely unfounded, as it was the opposite: his brother was the serial killer while Genshin Asogi was a fall guy for it.
• Decomposite Character: He and Kazuma are this to Miles Edgeworth, with Barok having his stoic demeanor, upper-class posturing, some of his design elements and past cases that haunt them into adulthood, one of which involves a notorious serial killer.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: Subverted. Characters warn Ryunosuke that no one can save a defendant from Barok van Zieks. Ryunosuke and Susato assume this to mean he's never lost a case. It does not.
  Gregson: ... No, you really don't have a clue, do you? What happened to that bloke in the end, eh? He's dead... Magnus McGilded came a cropper in that omnibus when it went up in flames. So you can't rightly say you saved the defendant, can you?
• Deuteragonist: Becomes this in Resolve.
• Didn't See That Coming: He really didn't know as much about his older brother as he should have known. He is completely blindsided that Klint van Zieks is The Professor and he didn't know that Iris Wilson is Klint's daughter; but it does make sense that she shouldn't be raised into the van Zieks family because of Klint.
• Doom Magnet: Somehow, the defendants of the cases he tackled in the past that were declared 'Not Guilty' eventually died under various mysterious circumstances; run over by carriages, sickness, mugged by highwaymen, drowning in the Thames, etc. He has no idea why this is, though he's aware of it and gives McGilded a warning about it after it appears the man has become a Karma Houdini - quite accurately, as it turns out. As Resolve reveals, however, this is due to a conspiracy by an organization of people headed by Mael Stronghart.
• Does Not Like Guns: Prefers a sword when in battle. He was actually presented a gun after becoming a prosecutor, but somehow lost it some time ago.
• The Dreaded: A particularly feared prosecutor, though not because of his record. See Doom Magnet above.
• Ermine Cape Effect: He wears royal court dress no matter the occasion, even in jail.
• Evil Is Bigger: At 192 cm (6'4"), he's the biggest prosecutor yet and absolutely massive compared to the 168 cm (5'6") protagonist, Ryunosuke. And while he's not evil, he's certainly teased as such for much of the duology.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Contributing to his Ambiguously Evil nature, his voice is quite deep courtesy of both Kenjiro Tsuda and Robert Vernon.
• Face of a Thug: He may be handsome, but his stature, scar, garb, and perpetual Death Glare make him look Obviously Evil. Even when he's trying to be courteous, Ryunosuke can't help but feel like he's about to kill him.
  Ryunosuke: His face says 'I hate you,' but his words are... almost jovial today.
• Face Palm: A very common reaction, particularly outside of court.
• Failed a Spot Check: Toyed with. It exactly once occurred to him that his brother's hunting dog Balmung may have been related to the killings of the Professor using a large hound that ripped the victims' throats, but his hero worship of his older brother (and eventual death at "the Professor's" hands), as well as one of the Professor's victims being his brother's mentor caused him to dismiss the theory.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Racism, which leads him make enemies out of much needed allies for the crime of being Japanese. His prejudice drives him to unwittingly attempt to convict the man who stopped the Professor as the very serial killer he had defeated.
  • The above is a symptom of another flaw- his inability to be objective about people he cares for, which doesn't come up often in the present day because he has very few friends. The sole reason he blamed Genshin for being the Professor is because the other option was that Klint was, and Barok simply couldn't accept that his brother was a murderer.
• Final Boss: Although the final section of Resolve has an array of varying witnesses to it, Barok is the first to be called in as a witness to it, and is the one constant witness to be on the stand in its entire duration.
• The Finicky One: He is extremely particular about how his wine and chalices are handled, so much so that he refuses to trust anyone else with managing them and does everything from bottling to cleaning the glassware himself.
• Flourish Cape in Front of Face: Often opens trials with one.
• Flowery Insults: He likes to get very poetic and elaborate with his insults, at one point extensively explaining the expense and labour that goes into crafting each of his hallowed chalices just so Ryunosuke can fully grasp the cost of his idiocy whenever he breaks one in frustration.
• A Fool for a Client: Of a very unusual variety. While van Zieks hires proper representation in the form of Ryunosuke and lets him do his job, van Zieks winds up prosecuting from the dock, starting an evidentiary hearing against Stronghart before he's formally acquitted for the Reaper killings. Sholmes has to remind van Zieks after the successful indictment of Stronghart that he's still technically the defendant.
• Former Bigot: Following character development. Just to drive the point home, he gladly takes on Kazuma—the son of the same Japanese man who killed his brother—under his tutelage as a prosecutor.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: His justacorp isn't fitted so much as painted on. The clothes he provides for Kazuma under his mentorship are similarly skin-tight.
• Freudian Excuse: For his racism. His brother was murdered by a serial killer, who was later determined to be a Japanese detective Barok became friends with.
• Functional Addict: He's evidently an alcoholic, but it never seems to truly affect him much, as he stays coherent. It probably helps that most of his wine supplies end up decorating the courtroom instead of being drunk.
• Gentleman Snarker: Likes to deliver his snark in the form of backhanded apologies and sarcastic praise, and With Due Respect.
  Van Zieks: My learned Nipponese friend is obviously in training to be a clown, the way he regales us with such witticisms. To your future career in the circus.
• A Glass in the Hand: He crushes it when he's sufficiently agitated, and tosses it against a nearby candelabra when he's demanding attention.
• A Glass of Chianti: He's not a villain, but he does have the habit of drinking red wine from an ornamental chalice in court, which not only makes him look malicious and uncaring for the defense and the defendant, it makes him resemble a certain vampire. Amusingly, only one of his animations actually involve getting around to drinking his wine, because he's too busy using it for Courtroom Antics.
• A God I Am Not: Is more bothered by rumors of his divinity than he is of suspicions of serial murder, and usually only refutes such suspicions when they ascribe supernatural abilities to him.
  Van Zieks: I'm a Crown prosecutor and mortal like any other. I'm no demigod.
• Graceful Loser: Because he cares more about finding the truth of a case more than his record, a Not Guilty verdict where it's clear where the defendant is actually not guilty barely gets a reaction out of him, and in fact gradually gets him to treat Ryunosuke a bit fairer. The only time he seems genuinely upset about a case not going his way is with McGilded, who was obviously guilty and rejoicing he was off on a technicality.
• Hair Color Dissonance: Though the only suggestion as to what colour it's supposed to be is his assertion it "could no more be described as black as it could red" when asked about the Red-Headed League.
• Hellish Pupils: Has narrow, oblong pupils to make his Icy Blue Eyes even more chilling.
• Hello, Attorney!: He may intimidate more than entrance, but his looks don't go entirely unnoticed, particularly by 2-3 jurist Evie Vigil. Character designer Kazuya Nuri also admits in the game's artbook that he chose to ignore historical accuracy in favour of the Rule of Sexy, giving him an impossibly Form-Fitting Wardrobe before the invention of stretch fabrics.
• Hero Antagonist: While very, very flawed, he's simply doing his duty in an adversarial legal system. And while he is suspiciously fixated on Ryunosuke, he doesn't seek to defeat him, but to "look into the eyes of the man [he] once knew and try to understand."
• Heroic BSoD: Screams in anguish when he learns his deceased brother was the serial killer known as the Professor.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: He really is an honest prosecutor; the Reaper of the Old Bailey is a Government Conspiracy, designed to present Barok Van Zieks as an embodiment of divine justice, striking down criminals who are too wealthy or well-connected for the courts to touch. Despite his on-screen actions being, at worst, rude and racist, the public views him so negatively that there's an exhibit based on him at Madame Tusspells - "for public scorn," as he puts it.
• Hey, You!: Makes a point of never using Ryunosuke's name, instead sarcastically addressing him as his "learned Nipponese friend." Only upon baring his heart to Ryunosuke and explaining why he trusted him the moment they locked eyes does he does start calling the young lawyer by name.
• High-Class Gloves: So classy that they don't even get stained by all that wine he throws around.
• High Collar of Doom: Part of his usual outfit. It's a big contributor to his vampiric image.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Often made more chilling by his tendency towards Thousand Yard Stares.
• I'm Standing Right Here: In the third case of Resolve, he has to endure Iris and Ryunosuke gossiping about various features in his office, such as speculating that he hides bodies in his wine barrels and had artists touch up a picture of him to make it more handsome, while he's standing right there and clearly getting increasingly annoyed with them.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Absolutely refuses to endure his own trial sober.
  Van Zieks: Pray forgive the discourtesy of filling my hallowed chalice whilst I stand accused of murder.
• It's Personal: Deconstructed. Genshin Asogi's trial was indeed personal for Barok as the victim was his older brother... which is exactly why he shouldn't have gotten involved. Real-world legal systems have conflict of interest laws for a reason; Barok fell for a frame job he would normally be intelligent enough to see through because he couldn't be objective about the person who killed his older brother. It's pretty clear that Stronghart only let Barok prosecute to make him a patsy; in the event someone discovered that Genshin wasn't the Professor, it'd be easy to point at Barok and claim he framed Genshin on his own initiative in revenge for Klint's death.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • He condescendingly says that the juries are too easily swayed by emotion when the jurors temporarily decide that McGilded is not guilty. It may sound like sour grapes considering that he's losing, but he's absolutely right. Even disregarding that McGilded is, in fact, guilty, and used bribes and evidence tampering to win, the jurors are overly quick to fall for McGilded's Villain with Good Publicity act. His point is further proven by every subsequent trial up til 2-4, as Ryunosuke will have to perform a Jury Summation at least once per case.
  • Many of his objections to Ryunosuke's positions tend to be reasonable, but very abrasive in their wording. One example is his dismissing Ryunosuke's attempt to link a witness to the scene of a crime using a blood-typing chemical. He does so by belittling its inventor, Herlock Sholmes, but also by pointing out that the chemical and what the defense claims it does has not been officially verified in any way—something which Ryunosuke even admits he knew would be a problem when presenting it.
• Large Ham: What else can you say about a man who brings a wine glass to court so he can throw it at dramatic moments?
• Leg Focus: His most infamous Courtroom Antic is to perform a vertical split and axe-kick the prosecutor's bench for apparently no other reason than to show off his legs. He even does this while testifying in the dock at his own trial. An unused pose ups the silliness on this by having him literally sit on top of the prosecutor's bench.
• Leitmotif: "Reaper of the Old Bailey", a grandiose classical piece which incorporates elements of a funeral dirge, invoking a powerful, imposing image.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: He insists on fighting fair and holding to due process no matter how low his opponent sinks. He even switched from drinking from his grandfather's silver chalice to crystal glasses to show how much he values transparency.
  Van Zieks: I will fight fair in all things. My taste in glassware reflects that.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Was kept in the dark about Stronghart's Reaper plan despite being its central figure, both because it hinged on keeping his hands clean and because he would definitely blow the whistle if he ever knew the truth.
• Luxurious Liquor: His office doubles as his personal wine cellar. He's so particular about it that he insists on carrying out the backbreaking labor involved in maintaining it himself.
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: "Pray forgive the discourtesy of [doing X]." "X" usually has something to do with his "hallowed chalice" and/or is something outlandish such as slamming his boot onto the bench.
• Meaningful Name: Baroque, like the art movement, which refers to his upper-class posture and outfit. "van Zieks" might be from the Japanese term "banjikyūsu", translated roughly to "all is over". His name's also Dutch for "baroque of sickness," perfect for a Darkness Von Gothick Name.
• Mistaken for Superpowered: He's rumored to be The Grim Reaper himself or some warlock enacting his "curse" through magic.
• Moment of Weakness: While he had all the clues available to realize Klint was the real Professor and would normally be smart enough to connect the dots himself, he couldn't bring himself to actually believe his brother was a serial killer and succumbed to Selective Obliviousness instead.
• Mr. Fanservice: Very tall, very handsome, finely dressed and has a deep, attractive voice (with Kenjiro Tsuda providing his Japanese voice, and Robert Vernon providing his English voice). Also, he wears form-fitting pants and thigh high boots and his memetic desk slam has him kick his one foot into the air and slamming it on the table in all its glory.

M-Y

• My God, What Have I Done?: His reaction to discovering Genshin was the fall guy for the real Professor, Klint van Zieks. While entirely unaware of what was going on behind the scenes, he fully recognizes that demanding Stronghart give him the case to begin with was a serious case of prosecutorial misconduct and that his personal stake blinded him to obvious signs of falsified evidence.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Grim Reaper of the Old Bailey. A man who is named after both the embodiment of death and the highest criminal court in London is not to be trifled with, even before you factor in what happens to the defendants he can't take down legally.
• Never Be Hurt Again: While Japanese people face the brunt of his distrust, he admits that he can't find it in himself to trust anyone, nor even the very system he works for, ever since his brother's murder.
• Never Gets Drunk: He'll drink as many as seven glasses of wine during a trial, yet remains just as coherent and clear headed at the end of each trial as he was from the start. It's worth pointing out that he spills more wine than he drinks.
• Non-Idle Rich: Is both a lord of an estate and a public prosecutor.
• Nostalgic Music Box: His second theme, aptly titled "The Reminiscences of Barok van Zieks".
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Many are convinced he's an outright serial killer, if a Necessarily Evil one, and his ominous mannerisms do little to dispel the rumors.
• Not So Stoic:
  • Despite earning the moniker Reaper of the Old Bailey and being seemingly uncaring of it, this was actually the reason he decided to take 5 years off of prosecuting; he couldn't handle the stress and burden of being called the Reaper and being associated with so many deaths.
• Obviously Evil: Played with. He's got an imposing voice, a penchant for capes and wine that make him come off as outright vampiric, and he's nicknamed 'Reaper of the Old Bailey'. His defendants always seem to die, even if they're acquitted; the game drives this home by showing Barok watching from the shadows as McGilded burns to death at the end of Case 3. He's really a Red Herring meant to divert the player's suspicion.
• Oblivious Younger Sibling: He couldn't acknowledge the obvious signs that his brother was the Professor, blaming Genshin for his crimes instead.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: In Case 3 of Resolve, he and his apprentice got involved in an ambush where the thugs wanting to kill them had pistols. Both just drew their swords and neither suffered any injuries.
• Ominous Opera Cape: Complete with High Collar of Doom. Notably, the frequency in which he wears it decreases significantly when he shifts from Ambiguously Evil to Byronic Deuteragonist.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: It's noted that the cases he prosecutes after returning from retirement are a stark departure from his original MO, as if he's picking cases based on how likely Ryunosuke will take up the defense counsel. He's doing exactly that. Though not because he's seeking to defeat him...
  • He is noticeably more subdued and less caustic towards Ryunosuke than usual in Case 2-3, since the defendant is an old friend of his who Barok secretly believes to be innocent.
  • While presenting Ryunosuke's attorney badge provokes mockery from nearly everyone else, van Zieks makes no attempts at his usual sarcasm and responds with candid empathy while clutching his own Memento MacGuffin.
• Painting the Medium: His objections are written in ornate blackletter◊ to convey his aristocratic air.
• Parenthetical Swearing: "Nipponese" technically isn't a racial slur in the period the game takes place, but he sure uses it like one.
• Pass the Popcorn: Cracks out his first bottle to make a point of how comical he finds the defense counsel's arguments.
  Van Zieks: Pray forgive the discourtesy of filling my hallowed chalice in a court of law, but I find myself in unexpectedly good humour.
• Perpetual Frowner: Made even more perpetual by the Rugged Scar between his eyes.
• Persecuting Prosecutor: Subverted. He's a scary prosecutor, surely, and he does have a reputation for the defendants in his cases dying after their acquittal, but he's entirely focused on finding the truth and placing the real criminals in jail. Naturally, he's also not the one responsible for the defendants' deaths, merely being the scapegoat for a larger conspiracy at play.
• Pet the Dog:
  • After Constable Roly Beate confessed to moving the crime scene, van Zieks, instead of detailing the punishments the officer may receive, asks Roly and Patricia to go home and rest, gently telling Roly not to do it again, implying that he will make sure Roly will simply be let off with a warning.
  • He makes a point of asking after Soseki Natsume, despite his hatred of the Japanese; this is one of the earlier hints that Barok's reputation as the Reaper weighs on him since he's well aware that Natsume truly is innocent - twice over.
• Practically Different Generations: At the time of his older brother Kint's death, Barok was 23 and Klint was 33.
• Prestige Peril: The biggest downside of his infamy as the Reaper is that just about everyone in the criminal underworld wants him dead, either out of revenge or to prevent his alleged curse.
• Privileged Rival: While Ryunosuke is a broke college student setting up shop in Sholmes's attic, Barok is the lord of the van Zieks estate.
• The Proud Elite: Though his aloof and condescending demeanor is a product of trauma rather than upbringing, as Harebrayne remarks that he used to be Spoiled Sweet before his Cynicism Catalyst.
• Propaganda Hero: The Reaper's curse is revealed to be Stronghart's plan to elevate van Zieks into "London's guardian angel" to explain away the extralegal actions of Stronghart's Secret Police as divine retribution.
• Race-Name Basis: Has a noted tendency to address Japanese characters as "Nipponese" rather than by name.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Van Zieks will see that justice is done, but he won't usually be polite about it. His objections are generally logically-sound, and once Ryunosuke presents substantiating evidence, he doesn't mind following his line of thought, as can be seen during 2-3. He also hates dishonest witnesses, even if he summoned them, and doesn't hesitate to use his authority to force uncooperative people into complying with the Defense, whether it hurts his case or not. This is first shown when Joan Garrideb is trying to worm her way out of testifying, using her position as a juror as a defence. In a surprising Pet the Dog moment, he implies that he plans on letting Roly Beate off fairly lightly.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He calls Kazuma out on his incredibly shaky case, and accurately points out that his goal is to see Barok dead for what happened to Genshin - not to see justice done. He also remarks that this would make Kazuma "a far more sinister Reaper" than Barok was ever claimed to be.
• Red Baron: "The Reaper of the Old Bailey".
• Relative Button: One of the few ways to make him lose his composure is to bring up his brother or the man who killed him, Genshin Asogi.
• The Reveal:
  • He is truly not the Reaper of the Bailey. That is an organization led by Mael Stronghart with him at the top.
  • Since Iris is Klint's daughter, that makes him her uncle.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: He was correct that Genshin killed his brother. The crucial mistake he made was thinking Genshin was the Professor instead of the man who dispatched him.
• Royal Rapier: Always carries a court sword on his person, mirroring Ryunosuke's katana. Unlike Ryunosuke, however, he actually needs his sword to defend against assassination attempts, including one mentioned in the newspaper in Case 3 of the second game.
• Rugged Scar: Has a faint, cross-shaped scar between his eyes. The story behind it is never told, but it's strongly hinted to be the result of an assassination attempt.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: While no Cowboy Cop, he has little issue with breaking rank and defying superiors' orders if they run counter to the spirit of the law, such as in In Case 3 of Resolve where Ryunosuke manages to prove a possibility that Courtney Sithe had forged the autopsy of The Professor. However, Stronghart had instructed a missive that would prevent Sithe from testifying. Due to his own personal ties to the case, Barok orders the missive to be scrapped since he still has the final say of all policies set in any trials he's assigned to as the main prosecutor.
• Serious Business: Van Zieks is very intense about his wine stock and the maintenance thereof. Kazuma notes that he personally and fastidiously handles everything related to his wine collection—from cleaning his hallowed chalices to completely reorganizing the wine barrels lining his wall on a weekly basis—because he's far too fussy to trust anyone else with the job.
• Selective Obliviousness: He had most of the clues needed to conclude that his brother Klint was The Professor, but he dismissed the possibility due to his Big Brother Worship.
• Shrouded in Myth: Barok is widely rumored to be, at best, an embodiment of Divine justice, and at worst, a serial killer, sorcerer, or something not quite human. Every defendant who goes up against him suffers mysterious deaths, sooner or later. Ryunosuke himself facetiously speculates he's a secret demigod, and often refers to him as such in conversation. It isn't until you meet him outside the courtoom in Case 2-3 that the situation starts to come into focus. Barok categorically denies having anything to do with the mysterious deaths surrounding the Reaper, and Ryunosuke vindicates him after accepting him as a client.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: He ruthlessly tears into Kazuma for his actions. While he acknowledges that the former's hatred of him is understandable, he calls Kazuma out for doing the exact same things that he blamed Barok for.
• The Snark Knight: Though he professes to have no faith in Britain's justice system or even people in general, he nonetheless insists on abiding by the law and doing his job within its constraints instead of giving up or going vigilante.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Naturally, being an infamous public figure who cannot trust even his own colleagues makes for a pretty miserable existence, as he confesses in jail. It's also revealed in the epilogue that his five-year retirement was the result of an emotional breakdown from the stress of his reputation.
• Spanner in the Works: In Resolve, he's this to Jigoku's murder of Gregson. By all rights, Jigoku had a good plan to frame Daley Vigil for Gregson's murder by using a large firecracker as a fake gunshot, but Barok was personally investigating and heard the "gunshot" go off while closer, and thus, it ended up that Vigil witnessed Barok with the gun; the investigation not only ends up giving Vigil an alibi, but jogs his memory out of its Trauma-Induced Amnesia and reveal the truth of the Professor murders, and indirectly exposes the Reaper conspiracy.
• Spoiled Sweet: Used to be this. Albert goes as far as to call him the "little darling" of the van Zieks family and is just as shocked to learn of his present persona as Ryunosuke is to learn that he Used to Be a Sweet Kid. He begins to revert back to this old self during the final trial, becoming gracious, sincere and self-effacing enough to charm Iris and unnerve Ryunosuke.
• The Stoic: Hardly shows changes in emotion, and it's pretty hard to make him even flinch. He gradually loses this trait as the games go on and become more prone to doing his "damage" animation.
• Straight Man: Despite his overdramatic acts in court, he's actually a calm and collected prosecutor who has to put up with a lot of absurdities around him, such as Naruhodo's logic and assumptions.
• Strong Family Resemblance: With his brother, to the point that Ryunosuke and Iris mistake his brother's portrait for his own.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: He prosecuted the Professor trial despite a clear conflict of interests... and completely screwed it up because he couldn't be objective. Stronghart had allowed him to take the case specifically because Barok couldn't prosecute fairly- he'd never realize Genshin was framed because to do so would be to admit that Klint was the Professor, and his obvious motive for convicting Genshin would mean that any suspicions of foul play would be directed at him.
• Suspiciously Clean Criminal Record: Despite the suspicious deaths of the acquitted, Scotland Yard has yet to find anything to suggest he was involved in any of their deaths despite years of thorough investigation, which has lead the public to suspect a more supernatural explanation. In truth, he's entirely innocent every single one of them... because the deaths are specifically engineered by Stronghart to ensure it and provoke rumors of divine retribution.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Miles Edgeworth, as of Resolve. Besides the regal appearance and the stoic mannerisms with the occasional quirk, van Zieks is also associated with an incident concerning a family member (like the DL-6 Incident for Edgeworth) that has been haunting him for his entire life, said incident also involved a serial killer and blackmail (like the SL-9 Incident), and the final case sees him at the defendant's chair, requiring the defense attorney to help him. He also has similarities to Lana Skye, being a prosecutor with a fancy uniform who ends up being the unintentional scapegoat for the murder of a man of the law in leiu of the intended mark.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He stands at 6'4", with beautiful silver hair and piercing cold eyes, as well as overall handsome.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Towering, chilling, very accomplished, and has a stock of sarcastic jabs as seemingly endless as his wine supply.
• 10-Minute Retirement: Took a five-year sabbatical from being a prosecutor before the events of the game, returning to his profession in the third case of Adventures.
• Terms of Endangerment: He likes to address Ryunosuke as "my learned Nipponese friend" With Due Respect.
• Terror Hero: Despite the suspicion and physical danger it puts him under, he does little to push back against his infamous reputation because crime has substantially dropped since people started calling him the Reaper. He comes to regret this attitude by the final trial, seeing his acceptance of the moniker and the legend behind it as a tacit endorsement of the murders committed in his name.
• Tragic Bigot: Unlike the other openly racist characters of the duology, Barok has a Freudian Excuse for his bigotry: he was once friends with a Japanese man who was later convicted of being a serial killer. He gradually learns to treat Ryunosuke with respect as he sees his competence as an attorney.
  • Ultimately subverted when it's revealed that not only was Genshin not actually the Professor, but that Barok could have easily realized this if only he had the courage to put the pieces together. Unfortunately, buying into Yellow Peril was easier than accepting that his own brother was a serial killer or that he sent a man to the gallows on obviously fabricated evidence.
• Tragic Keepsake: His prosecutor's badge, which formerly was his brother's.
• Tranquil Fury: He never truly loses his composure, no matter how much is getting to him at the moment. You can tell in case 2-5 that he has had quite enough of Lord Stronghart but he only tells him with fire in his words how he feels without changing his stony expression. The closest you see to him letting his emotions control his outward expression is when the Awful Truth about his seemingly idyllic brother finally comes to light but even then he manages to stay mostly subdued in his reaction. This compared to prosecutor Asogi, who can barely contain his fury whenever he speaks the name of the accused.
• Troubled Sympathetic Bigot: His racism is a dire Fatal Flaw in what would otherwise be a very principled (if eccentric) individual, leading him to repeatedly reject and lash out against a man who could otherwise be his greatest, most trusted ally. He even acknowledges that generalizing a personal betrayal to an entire ethnicity is irrational and unjustified—the feelings of anger and distrust just won't go away.
• Tsundere: His behavior towards Ryunosuke becomes quite erratic, often showing more trust and vulnerability towards him than he does for people he's not flagrantly racist against. Just before his own murder trial, he begrudgingly admits he has something of a (debatably) platonic Bigot with a Crush who's been trying to violently push down the unprecedented level of trust he felt the moment they locked eyes.
• Unwitting Pawn: The actual role he plays in the Reaper killings is being a figurehead who gets all the blame for the Reaper's actions while having no real idea about what's going on. He has his suspicions about the situation, but not enough evidence to do anything. Poor Barok is completely blindsided by the first time he was used this way- Genshin's trial. He thought Stronghart was allowing him to prosecute as a favour to give him closure and allow him to avenge his brother, but in actuality Stronghart did it because he knew Barok was too emotionally compromised to notice that Genshin was being framed, and his relationship with the victim would make him the obvious target of anyone else who noticed the frame-up.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Harebrayne describes him as 'a gentle, good-natured guy' in his university days. As we later learn, much of his current attitude stemmed from the murder of his brother Klint shortly after he graduated.
• Villain Takes an Interest: Ryunosuke notices that all of van Zieks's court appearances suspiciously coincide with his own, which he attributes to racist griefing. He's half right. Van Zieks has been court-stalking him, but out of ambivalent curiosity rather than spite, as Ryunosuke reminds him of Genshin before he shattered his trust.
• Villainy-Free Villain: He is a racist Blue Blood who antagonizes Ryuunosuke Naruhodo for being Japanese, but is one of the most honest and principled prosecutors in the series who only breaks the rules if they contradict the spirit of the law.
• The Von Trope Family: Used to signify his Blue Blood and as part of his "Darkness von Gothick" Name.
• When He Smiles:
  • The picture he took with Klint and Inspector Gregson to commemorate the start of his prosecutorial career shows him with a gentle, almost shy smile on his face, emphasizing even further how happy he used to be before his brother's death.
  • Later subverted after his own trial, when Susato promises Ryunosuke that he'll be rewarded with Barok's smile, only for van Zieks to give a Thousand-Yard Stare instead.
    Susato: Oh dear... I really shouldn't have presumed.
• You Are a Credit to Your Race: The halfway point to his Character Development is to acknowledge Ryunosuke's integrity as a lawyer "despite" being Japanese. The way he calls him his "learned friend" even seems imbued with this meaning.
• You Killed My Father: Barok gets Genshin Asogi convicted as the Professor as revenge for killing Klint, the brother he idolized, this also being the reason he hates Japanese people. Ironically, this is the reason Kazuma Asogi prosecutes Barok 10 years later.

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