Ace Attorney Garan Sigatar Khurain / Sandbox

Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in

Voiced by (Japanese): Gara Takashima (SoJ)

Voiced by (English): Cindy Robinson (SoJ)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/garan_2.png

^{Click here to see her as a prosecutor.}

"Ho ho... May the Holy Mother's blessing be upon you."

Her Eminence, the current queen of Khura'in. Formerly a prosecutor and Minister of Justice, she rose to power following the assassination of the previous queen. Serves as the prosecutor for the final case of Spirit of Justice.

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Abusive Mom: She's neglectful of Rayfa to the point of spoiling her rotten, at best; generally, Ga'ran is emotionally abusive. During the final trial, she goes out of her way to mock Rayfa in every way possible, from calling her "worthless" to insulting the size of her chest to forcing her to perform a Divination Seance of Inga's murder. She also blackmails Rayfa with her true parentage, knowing that Rayfa's life will be ruined if it gets out that she's the daughter of a criminal. As Apollo says, she's not winning any Mother of the Year awards anytime soon.
The Ace: She had a perfect win record as a prosecutor until Apollo Justice defeated her. Her perfect win record was much more legitimate than Gaspen Payne's perfect win record because she did have to face real defense attorneys before she usurped the crown and passed the Defense Culpability Act.
Ambition Is Evil: Ga'ran is arguably the biggest forefront of this trope. As her jealously against Amara and her hatred of Defense Attorney's coming from her brother-in-law Dhurke is what drove her to usurp the throne. And with it, she therefore became the ultimate evil.
Amoral Attorney: Manages to outdo even Manfred von Karma in this department - after all, it doesn't get much more amoral than a prosecutor who used her position to become the dictator of a country. Once she's faced in court, she's soon revealed to be amoral on a case-by-case basis as well, forging evidence, using her position as queen to change the rules to her favor, attempting to kick out the judge, right down to throwing down a premature 'guilty' verdict, and finally trying to arrest and execute Apollo when she can't counter his argument.
Animal Motifs: Spiders, befitting her true cruel and manipulative nature; her machinations are described as an intricate web that ensnares Khura'in.
Anime Hair: It's shaped like a spider. Eight long "legs", the fringe as fangs, and her large, round hair decorations for eyes.
Arachnid Appearance and Attire: The shoes of her prosecutor outfit have spider designs on them, her hair is styled after one, and her personal seal depicts one (on her queen robes its legs are curled together so that it looks more like a flower).
Arch-Enemy: Ga'ran is the archenemy of Dhurke Sahdmadhi, and is responsible for staging an assassination attempt on her sister, demonizing the lawyer profession with the Defense Culpability Act, implicating Dhurke in this heinous act and branding him a terrorist. Dhurke would spend the next 23 years finding a way to permanently end the Defense Culpability Act, while she would spend those same years hoping to finally indict him, but for a long time, they were trapped in a stalemate with no resolution.
Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Her "prosecutor" outfit is heavily reminiscent of an evil sorceress; while she doesn't have any spiritual power of her own, she did turn Khura'in into a toxic, despotic kingdom through manipulation, blackmail, and even outright murder and genocide. And as mentioned above, her outfit has spider motifs, symbolizing her cruel and manipulative nature.
Ax-Crazy: Not necessarily within her false persona, but deep within is an enviously egocentric usurper who isn't afraid of getting her blood in her hands through despotism, genocide, and murder through the Defense Culpability Act. It even goes farther in the final trial of the case that she even threatens to shoot Phoenix and Apollo after realizing the finger has been pointed at her. She's easily the most bloodthirsty culprit in the franchise.
"Woe to you, O enemies of Khura'in, for I shall personally slice, dice, and grind you up into hog feed!"
Be Careful What You Wish For: One of her goals is to obtain the Founder's Orb. Apollo gives it to her in the final trial and challenges her to channel the Holy Mother, forcing her to reveal that she has no powers.
Bait the Dog: How she was like this for over the course of game towards her people and to our heroes. Case in point, Ga’ran allows her subjects free speech, but the reason she does is to identify possible Defiant Dragons or their sympathizers.
Big Bad: Of Spirit of Justice, and even to the point where she's able to hold a sphere of influence outside her nation.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Appears at first to be a benevolent queen and a caring mother, but quickly reveals to herself to be the exact opposite. This comes as no surprise, because after Phoenix meets with Datz for the first time, it's not hard to conclude that she's a vicious tyrant. Even the Dragons know for sure she’s evil. Admittedly, Dhurke himself remembers her saying he was like a brother to her. Clearly that was a lie.
Blank White Eyes: She gets these during her Villainous Breakdown after her attempt to channel the Holy Mother fails.
Blow You Away: Carries around a fan as a prosecutor and will use it to blast the defense with a powerful gust when she deals a major blow to their case.
Bond Villain Stupidity:
- Despite her ability and brutally pragmatic willingness to just change Khura'in's laws for a faster victory, she still keeps giving Apollo and co. chances to rebut — and for no other reason than that she enjoys watching them squirm. Though given that by that point the revolution was in full-swing, her husband was dead, her sister was proven to be alive, and her own daughter had begun to turn on her, that some part of her might have realized that she needed to defeat Apollo in the courtroom properly to put a stamp on any claims against her legitimacy to the throne.
- While she recognized that defense attorneys were a threat to her rule, instead of merely writing a law that made defense attorneys forbidden, she writes one where they would share the defendant's fate were they declared guilty, solely because she wanted them to give up out of fear. This works at first, but when a group of foreign defense attorneys show up and don't fear the Defense Culpability Act, a revolution begins and Ga'ran is overthrown in weeks.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: She's rather indifferent that she killed Jove Justice and doesn't seem to remember attempting to kill Apollo 23 years ago. As far as she is concerned, they happened to be in the way, the former being a potential witness to what really happened. The only "victim" she cared to remember was her sister.
Cain and Abel: The Cain to Amara's Abel.
The Caligula: She is an absolute terrible ruler. As she turns out to be prone to megalomaniacal flaunting of her own power when she stops pretending to be a good person.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: As much as she would have liked to get rid of Amara so she could take the throne, she has no spiritual power to speak of but needs to keep up the guise of being a queen capable of channeling spirits, so she keeps Amara around for when she needs to channel someone.
Catchphrase: Her unique Big Word Shout as a prosecutor is Such insolence! In Japanese, it's Hirefuse!, which roughly translates to "Bow down!".
Classic Villain: Representing Ambition, Pride, and Envy.
Dark Is Evil: She switches to a much darker looking outfit and reveals her black hair once she gives up pretence of being a nice lady.
Dead Person Impersonation: It is revealed that after Dhurke had been killed by her husband Inga, and his body laid to rest in the tomb's empty sarcophagus, Ga'ran saw an opportunity to ambush Inga. She stealthily opened the sarcophagus, took Dhurke's clothes and eyepatch from his own corpse, and dressed herself up in them before proceeding to literally and fatally stab Inga In the Back with a knife, thus pinning the crime on Dhurke himself... or at least his channeled spirit.
Despotism Justifies the Means: She won't go out of her way to betray her family, kingdom, and her people as long as she has all her power to viciously use it.
Dirty Coward: For all her extortion and abuse towards others, she lets her goons and proxies do her dirty work. She even changes the law to have anyone speaking out against her executed on the spot, only because she was backed into a corner.
Don't Create a Martyr: She could've easily sent assassins to kill Dhurke during her reign, but considering he was racking up a reputation beyond a terrorist, Ga'ran is well aware this trope is in effect. The whole point of her scheme is to frame him and paint him as a murderer to kill the spirit of rebellion. When he does get killed by Inga it only messed up her plan, so she had to keep up the facade that he's still alive for a while.
Dragon Lady: Has this appearance in her evil outfit. Justified, as she is a queen from a Far East country where the typical more of dress is also distinctly Asian.
The Dreaded: Because of her ratifying the Defense Culpability Act, no one wants to get on her bad side. Once she reveals her true colors in the final trial, the people know they really can't do anything about her tyranny.
Establishing Character Moment: An unconventional one since it occurs late in the story. Considering her queenly persona was a mask to provide a decent image to the public, it always left room for doubt as to who she truly was. There were hints of her nature beforehand by means of the state of Khura'in and some subtle threats, but nothing truly substantial. That is until the trial of Case 5 cast aside all doubts as to what kind of person she is. She starts with her queenly persona but provides some thinly veiled hints of the woman underneath. Then she changes into her prosecutor outfit and it immediately sets off bells as to who we're dealing with. It only gets worse when we finally see how frothing-at-the-mouth crazy she is. She starts openly talking about how she'd personally slice her enemies into hog-feed and openly threatens the defense team with beheading where they stand. It's at that moment that you know for sure that you're dealing with an insane megalomaniac.
Et Tu, Brute?: Dhurke remembers Ga’ran saying he was like a brother to him. The truth is she had it out for him. The sister-in-law he knew was a facade.
Evil Aunt: To her sister's children Nahyuta and Rayfa.
Evil Is Petty: She is quite petty. For example, she abuses her niece, makes evil laughs, and drags the trial out just to play with her opposing lawyers.
Evil Laugh: She makes evil laughs in the courtroom as a prosecutor especially when her main enemy is discovered to be murdered.
Evil Makeover: She gets one when she steps in to become a prosecutor, as she goes from this◊ to this◊ when she changes from her queenly attire to her prosecutor's attire. Phoenix and Apollo even lampshade how she underwent an extreme makeover. Chatter from the gallery also says this was her regular attire during her prosecuting days.
Evil Priestess: Because she was the de facto queen of Khura'in, she was also the de facto head of the religion of Khura'inism and perverted it into a Corrupt Church until she was exposed as someone who was not fit to be queen at all.
Eviler than Thou: Killed her husband Inga, who was trying to overthrow her so he could install his own dictatorship.
Faux Affably Evil: Ga'ran appears to be publicly harmless and jovial towards the heroes, even giving polite warnings, but it's all just a facade, because at the core, she is generally abusive, especially towards Rayfa, and she is cruel and merciless towards the heroes once they meet in the courtroom.
Femme Fatalons: She's concealing long red nails under her robe sleeves. They also apparently function as pens.
Final Boss: She's the main prosecutor of the final trial, and the last killer in the game.
Foil: To Lady Kee'ra, which is highlighted by the fact that her older sister Amara's kindness and power is compared to the Holy Mother's a few times in-game. Although Lady Kee'ra had no spiritual power, she didn't let that influence her actions, and fought valiantly to help establish her sister's kingdom and was responsible for keeping the peace within it afterwards. Ga'ran, meanwhile, deals with her ambition and lack of spiritual power by staging a coup and destabilizing Khura'in in a bid to get the throne, becoming a person that Kee'ra could've become if she obsessed over the fact that her lack of spiritual power cut her off from the line of succession to the throne.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Originally, Ga'ran was a Justice Minister at the time and was a princess who was seen alongside her sister Amara. After she ruthlessly usurps the throne however, she becomes an Amoral Attorney capable of committing the genocide of lawyers.
Genocide Backfire: She committed genocide against lawyers in Khura'in. Dhurke Sahdmadhi, the last surviving Khura'inese lawyer, started the Defiant Dragons to dethrone her. His foster son, Apollo Justice, manages to nullify her rule as queen by exposing her as someone who never can legally become queen.
Good Wears White: Subverted. Although she wears some white in her queenly attire and she initially seems like a Nice Girl, she's actually pure evil.
God Save Us from the Queen!: It was her that created the Defense Culpability Act, and sent countless people either to prison or to their beheadings. And, just to rub salt in the wound, she isn't even fit to be queen under the laws of Khura'in.
Greater-Scope Villain: For Apollo's arc, and it's not until Spirit of Justice where it's revealed she's the killer of Apollo's father.
Green and Mean: Her eyes are green, she wears some green (most notably in her queenly attire), and saying she's "mean" is a huge understatement.
Hate Sink: She staged an assassination attempt on her sister to cruelly paint lawyers as sinful people, then ratified the Defense Culpability Act to effectively remove them from the justice system, leading countless innocent people sentenced to their deaths, all of which serve to make you root for the Defiant Dragons more.
Hoist by Her Own Petard:
- By committing what is essentially genocide against defense attorneys, Ga'ran left herself without someone who could legally defend her once her crimes came to light. This sealed her demise, since she was left with no choice but to try channeling the Holy Mother in a futilely attempt to prove her innocence.
- Her pretending to be a powerful spirit medium eventually backfires when Apollo requests to see her so-called power himself, so he gives her exactly what she's been seeking from him—The Founder’s Orb. The possibility of seeing their holy "queen"'s legendary power in public brings the adoration and applause of Ga'ran's subjects, much to Ga'ran's fury, as she knows that she's really a fraud and Apollo had backed her into a corner with no escape.
Hypocrite: She has no qualms about pleading for a lawyer when it's certain that she will have to face justice for her many crimes, despite the fact that she created the law that made that profession practically illegal in the first place. Of course, the existence of said law means that there is no lawyer left in Khura'in that could defend her anyways after her schemes come to light.
I Am the Noun: She declares that as the queen of Khura'in she is the very embodiment of the law and thus has the right to make or break them as she pleases.
Improbable Age: Somehow served as Khura'in's Minister of Justice at the age of 20, and as a prosecutor before even that. There's probably nepotism involved, however, and she's certainly not the first prosecutor in the series to debut in their teens.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: According to Nahyuta, Ga'ran developed a complex from her inability to channel spirits. Her main reason for usurping the throne, using her sister to fake being a channeler, and building a Cult of Personality is because she desperately seeks outside validation. This results in her genuine belief that she's channeling the Holy Mother's spirit during her breakdown when she's finally exposed.
Informed Ability: Justified; everyone believes that Ga'ran is an incredibly powerful spirit medium, but she never actually performed such acts on screen. This is because she's truly powerless, but hides it by having other spirit mediums perform for her. Only when Apollo takes the stand is she exposed to her subjects.
It's All About Me: This is apparently who Ga'ran is. A self-serving, sadistically crazy megalomaniac who cares no one but herself. In spite of the lies and propaganda to spit on defense attorney's and her non-sensical legal system, the only real thing Ga'ran cares for is her own self.
Judge, Jury, and Executioner: An almost literal example. She certainly does fancy herself as such. She even invents a law that allows her to have everyone executed on the spot in the middle of a trial.
Karma Houdini Warranty: For 23 years, Ga'ran has gotten away with killing Apollo's father, oppressing the populace with unfair laws, killing numerous innocent people, scaring away lawyers and executing those who became victim to the Defense Culpability Act, and threatening Princess Rayfa's safety. It isn't until Apollo faces her in court that she finally gets her long-overdue comeuppance.
Kick the Dog:
- Especially if that dog's name is Rayfa, to whom she goes out of her way to mock and abuse repeatedly, in public no less. Special mention goes to the time when she banned Rayfa's favorite TV show while slipping in an insult about her daughter's chest size.
  Ga'ran: I have already banned its broadcast for containing content unsuitable for our kingdom. Besides, the actress playing Rayfa looked nothing like her. I can't have my subjects feeling so... disappointed when they see the real Rayfa.
- She kicks two dogs for the price of one after the "Dhurke is actually dead" reveal, where her reaction is to laugh and express joy that the rebel leader is dead right in front of his clearly-despairing sons Apollo and Nahyuta. At that point and time, she already knew that he is dead because she used his clothes to disguise herself to kill Inga, so she only said all of this to drive Apollo and Nahyuta further into despair.
Kneel Before Zod: She insists on this, even while otherwise appearing gentle and regal. In the Japanese version, her special Objection, "Such insolence!" was "Hirefuse!", meaning "Bow before me!"
Laser-Guided Karma: Two of Ga'ran's crimes came back to become her undoing:
- By killing Jove Justice, she gave Apollo a Divination Seance, that (unlike all the others) identifies the culprit with little to no mistake. Furthermore the baby, which she left to die in the flames that supposedly killed queen Amara, was then saved by her Arch-Enemy Dhurke, grew up to become a lawyer like his adoptive father and then later returned to Khura'in to end Ga'ran's regime.
- When Apollo accuses her of having no spiritual powers at all (the one thing you need to have to become the ruler of Khura'in) she demands a lawyer, forgetting that there was no one left thanks to her Defense Culpability Act which had literally all of them killed or forced to resign.
Lean and Mean: It's especially noticeable in her prosecutor outfit how thin and how much of a bitch she is.
Leitmotif: "Audience Chamber", despite its title, plays during encounters with Ga'ran even outside of the eponymous location. As a prosecutor, it gets a more malevolent rendition as "The Court of Resignation".
Leave No Witnesses: She killed Jove Justice the same night her sister was "assassinated", because she did not want to risk any potential witnesses getting word out about the truth on Amara's survival.
Light Is Not Good: She wears some white in her queenly attire and she lives up to the "Not Good" part.
Loony Laws: Not only is she responsible for the Defense Culpability Act, a law that punishes lawyers for defending guilty criminals, but in the final trial she attempts to rewrite the law to make it impossible to punish her. In the end, all of her insane laws are rendered void when Apollo discovers she has no real claim to the throne.
Loophole Abuse: When coaxed by Apollo into admitting that she was responsible for her husband's murder, she uses her position to change the law such that anyone who'd dare challenge her authority regardless of their motives is to be executed on the spot.

M-Y

Machiavelli Was Wrong: Ga'ran was certain that by passing the Defense Culpability Act, fear would deter people from crime out of knowing that there will be no one to defend them in court if they are accused, as well discouraging (but not criminalizing) lawyers from practice, knowing that they will be seen as liars who abet criminals and that their lives will be on the line if they do. Thanks to the events of Maya's second trial in the game, people's eyes were opened to a tragedy the DC Act caused, the Defiant Dragons slowly gained momentum, but Dhurke's arrest and a successful TV station hijack led to general outrage enough for more citizens to rescind their support for the queen in favor of the rebellion.
Make an Example of Them: To deal a crippling blow to the Defiant Dragons, Ga’ran aims to not only prove Dhurke guilty, which the hardcore Dragons would never accept, but also to have his head displayed on a pike to discourage all would-be rebels any idea of going against the crown.
Muggle Born of Mages: Unlike her sister, she doesn't have any spiritual power, so she forces Amara to impersonate her when she is required to channel spirits. Apollo finally defeats her by exposing her as a fraudulent spirit medium and thus unfit for the crown.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Sigatar" comes from "shi kataru", meaning "death speaks". While it's meant to be a reference to the Khura'in royal family's spirit channelling abilities, Ga'ran is very bloodthirsty and has left many, many deaths in her wake. Doubles as an Ironic Name, since Ga'ran has no spiritual power and can't speak for the dead at all.
The Nicknamer: She uses some of Rayfa's nicknames on Phoenix and Apollo.
Noblewoman's Laugh: She laughs this way, complete with hand-to-mouth pose.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: She paints the DC Act as something that is cruel but necessary for order to be held in the country. In reality, it's all a blatant power-grab in order to keep herself in power.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: She could've ended the trial regardless of her desire, and at best she lets Apollo and Wright discover what appears to be incriminating evidence which ends her reign entirely.
Obnoxious In-Laws: A very vicious example. She became a foe to Dhurke when her sister Amara got married to him.
Obviously Evil: As queen she's serene and dignified but, when she decides to prosecute the case, run for the hills. She basically looks like a demon or a witch with her crazy hair and long fingernails (Apollo even calls her a "witch"). And apparently this is how she came to court every day when she was a prosecutor!
Older Than She Looks: She's in her mid-forties, although she looks younger than that.
Off with His Head!: Her preferred method of execution seems to be beheading.
Oh, Crap!: Her reaction to seeing her formerly-loyal Royal Guard turn on her upon realising that she's a fraud.
Phony Psychic: An interesting case where psychics actually exist in the series, but she's not one herself, a fact which really grates on her. It also makes her unfit for the crown under Khura'in law, requiring a huge gambit to cover this up.
Politically Incorrect Villain: Ga’ran absolutely hates foreigners, especially Westerners, and you’ll see her spout venomous words towards Phoenix and Apollo.
Power Copying: Invoked and Subverted. Queen Ga'ran's attempt to channel the Holy Mother has her desperately and poorly copying Maya's channelling, Rayfa's Dance of Devotion, and Nahyuta's sutra.
Praetorian Guard: The Royal Guards, who often show up to applaud her or support her points. It's later revealed she chose them more for their worship of her than competence, though... and even they turn on her when they realize she's a Phony Psychic.
Psychopathic Womanchild: She carries himself with a more composed, sophisticated air befitting a dignified queen, but is deep down a Spoiled Brat not unlike Rayfa, one who thinks she deserves to have power and rule all of Khura’in, simply because she thinks she should, and that's not even getting into how much of a Sore Loser she is when things are about to not go her way for once.
Pyrrhic Victory: Apollo invokes this to do her in once and for all. She is given the Founder's Orb, the MacGuffin that she and all the players in the story had been desperately seeking, at the worst possible time. Since the Founder's Orb shows the founder's face, Ga'ran herself knows the founder's name, and she allegedly has great spiritual power as Grand Priestess of Khura'in, everything should be in place to channel the founder. To the courtroom that has seen Apollo accuse her of being a Phony Psychic, which would nulify her claim to the throne. And her Praetorian Guard who worships the ground she walks and wants to see her show her power. By obtaining the Orb when she does, she is now forced to demonstrate her power to the court... or rather, her lack therof.
Red Is Violent: She wears some red in both of her outfits, and she has zero qualms with murdering innocent people.
Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: She constantly rewrites the law mid-trial in a bid to legally become a Karma Houdini. When cornered, she instantly writes a law giving her permission to shoot anyone who opposes her.
Royal "We": As queen, she refers to herself as "we," but she drops this once she becomes the prosecutor of the final trial.
Sadistic Choice:
- It's not her that makes it, but she gives one to Apollo Justice. Sometime during the case of Dhurke Sahdmadhi, Apollo finds himself trapped under the Defense Culpability Act, enacted by the very prosecutor of Dhurke's case, meaning that Apollo is pretty much considered a criminal himself for "defending a criminal". While he seems royally screwed, Ga'ran offers Apollo this in exchange for his life: if Apollo were to give up on Dhurke right then and there, she would let Apollo and his friends go, given that Ga'ran is the law, with no strings attached. Ga'ran was even willing to reduce Dhurke's punishment, should Apollo give up.
- At the climax of the trial, after being called out for a fraud in spiritual channeling, she must either prove otherwise or lose her crown. Needless to say, since she is a fraud, she fails. Epically.
Sadist: Indeed, quite so. There's never a moment where Ga'ran can make evil laughs, let alone play around through the whole trial for her amusement. She also finds it quite delightful abusing her niece and her nephew through blackmail.
Sanity Slippage: Overlaps with Villainous Breakdown; upon waking up from fainting, she was convinced she really was the Holy Mother.
Scenery Censor: Orders three members of the Royal Guard to stand in front of her while she changes into her prosecutor attire.
Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: She repeatedly changes the law on the spot throughout the trial, up to making it so just opposing her will get you executed. Then again, since Khu'rain is portrayed as an absolute monarchy, this is more or less Truth in Television. But, Apollo proved she’s not fit to rule, which effectively voids every law she created since the start of her reign.
Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: Her "evil" outfit has the most cleavage-showing of any Ace Attorney character yet. This bites her in the ass when a chest burn that she does not have proves that The Alibi that she was claiming actually exonerates the owner of that burn scar.
A Sinister Clue: She writes with her left hand, and is the Big Bad.
Smug Snake: Her true personality is that of an arrogant and selfish individual who looks down on others. Underestimating Apollo and his allies ends up being her downfall.
Sneaky Spider: She is associated with spiders through her personal seal and her appearance and clothing once her true colors are revealed. This fits her scheming, cruel, sadistic, and manipulative nature.
The Sociopath: She is willing to change the laws of the land to suit her needs on a whim, is willing to have anyone who gets in her way killed, thinks nothing of hurting her own family, cares for no one but herself, and was perfectly willing to let a baby die in a fire that she started.
Stripperiffic: While not as overblown as some examples of this trope, her prosecutor's outfit is easily the most provocative one worn by either side of the bench up to this point, with special note going to the ample cleavage it reveals. This, of all things, comes back to bite her big time later on.
Stupid Evil: She confesses to Rayfa that her birth parents were Dhurke and Amara all along, sadistically choosing to abuse the entire trial for her own selfish entertainment, and even letting it continue without realizing the two greatest attorneys of the legal world were there to put an end to her reign of terror.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
- She's essentially a combination of Morgan Fey and Manfred von Karma. Like Morgan, she was jealous of her sister's spiritual abilities and the power that she was able to achieve because of them, and plotted to take her place (albeit she did so directly, whereas Morgan aimed to do so via proxy with Pearl). And like Manfred, she's an Amoral Attorney who takes over as prosecutor for the final case of the game, constantly dictates the flow of the trial once she takes over (though it's more justified in her case considering she's the queen), forces the rival prosecutor to take the fall for a murder that she committed, and was responsible for the death of a main character's parent many years before the game's events. She even uses the same dirty courtroom tactics that Von Karma uses, like withholding witness testimony she deems "irrelevant" (i.e. disadvantageous to her case) and withholding vital evidence until she can use it to put Apollo at a disadvantage. Her resemblances to von Karma are even lampshaded when Phoenix and Edgeworth have a talk with her; when Ga'ran starts talking about getting perfect trials, Edgeworth all but begs Phoenix to not go "THAT" path. In a sense, she's even worse than Von Karma, as Von Karma never had the ability to freely rewrite the law whenever it suited him.
- In terms of character design, she bears resemblance to Darklaw from the crossover title Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, with a witch-like design and Femme Fatalons. She even has a vaguely similar role in the plot, as both serve as prosecutors for the final cases in their respective games and were responsible for fires that occurred years before the events of the story, albeit Darklaw started the fire by accident after the Disaster Dominoes had been set up by several others, whereas the fire that Ga'ran caused was very much intentional.
- In addition, she has traits from several other villains from the previous games. Fitting for a game that has so many call backs to the rest of the series — for example, she's got a vicious streak and has a sibling to impersonate her when needed like Dahlia, covers up her sister's survival in a fire like Mimi Miney, forces a prosecutor to take the fall for her crimes(namely two murders- one to establish her power and one to remove a potential threat) because of leverage she has over their younger sibling like Damon Gant, attempts to have the opposing attorney shot in the middle of court like Callisto Yew, kills an accomplice who was plotting to overthrow them and uses their position of power to evade justice and prolong the investigation like Quercus Alba while only being defeated by being stripped of said position (Lang gets the royal family to fire Alba from the embassy, Apollo proves Ga'ran is an illegitimate ruler), her abusive treatment of Rayfa mirrors the relationship between Yumihiko and Bansai, frames a heroic defense attorney in blue for forging evidence and gets away with it for several years like Kristoph Gavin, and is responsible for killing a parent of one of Wright Anything Agency's attorneys and later being responsible for one of their allies being Dead All Along, like the phantom.
Til Murder Do Us Part: Ga'ran gets wind of the fact that her husband Inga is planning to kill her. She murders him.
Tom the Dark Lord: Her name sounds pretty innocuous enough (her name is derived from the Sanskrit meaning for "Temple", which is rather fitting for the high level of spirituality of the populace), yet severely understates how evil she really is. "Sigatar", on the other hand...
Twitchy Eye: This tends to happen when she gets flustered.
Tyrant Takes the Helm: Her predecessor was considered The High Queen. Ga'ran is The Caligula.
The Usurper: She lacks the spiritual power necessary to be the legitimate holder of Khura'in's throne. She made her way onto it through manipulation and maintained her rule with lies.
Utopia Justifies the Means: Ga'ran feels that by ratifying the Defense Culpability Act, crime will be virtually non-existent under the fear that no attorney will defend one in court if accused of a crimes. However, it's subverted because her promise of peace and safety is just a way to rule her own subjects with an iron fist.
Villainous Breakdown: Apollo's final objection, literally blowing her guards away and making her jolt back in shock, as he challenges her to channel the Holy Mother. She accepts and tries doing the ceremony dance, while her guards cheer her on. Nothing comes out of it, though, so her guards realize the truth and aim their rifles at her. She tries doing the dance again, only to be knocked unconscious, fall backward to the pool, and lie there, now defeated. It also overlaps with Sanity Slippage; Ga'ran thought she genuinely was the Holy Mother after waking up.
Villainous Crossdresser: Overlaps with Sweet Polly Oliver; she dressed herself up in the clothes and attire that belonged to Dhurke (who's a man) as part of a Dead Person Impersonation.
Villainous Legacy: Her murder of Apollo Justice's biological father plays a large role in his backstory of how he came to be where he is now.
Villainous Princess: Plays the trope to the letter. Ga'ran was the jealous younger princess who wanted to be queen, so she faked her older sister's death, framed her brother-in-law for it, and usurped the throne.
Villain with Good Publicity: As evidenced by the gallery in the Khura'in trials (and even some of Ahlbi's early dialogue while he's a suspect), she manages to at least sway the populace that isn't aligned with the insurgency that her way of doing things (where defense attorneys are a blight and interfere with the rite of passage of the slain) is for the best in Khura'in. Even when she takes off her facade as a saintly person and puts on her villainous prosecutor robes she garners support from the audience but none of her advocates realize she's manipulated everyone into shunning defense attorneys to keep them under her thumb, not to protect the values of Khura'inism. However, the revolt gains more steam in the wake of case 3 and by the end of the game, even her Praetorian Guard has turned on her.
Well-Intentioned Extremist:
- Ga'ran tries to convince Rayfa to be this, believing that sometimes the truth must be kept from the "ignorant masses". And this is before it's revealed that Ga'ran is the Big Bad.
- Ga'ran meanwhile seems to fit the bill at first glance, initially coming off as a fair yet stern queen who believes that the DC Act is for the greater good. Of course, it's complete bunk as she's simply an egocentric and purely evil dictator who's putting on a friendly face.
Wild Take: A more subdued example than most, and it only happens twice, but when Apollo points out a large enough contradiction, Ga'ran grimaces and clenches her fist slightly, causing her fingernails to fly off.
Witch with a Capital "B": Apollo calls her a witch multiple times throughout the final trial, with his tone heavily implying he means something else. This is made deliciously ironic when it's revealed she has no spiritual power to speak of.
Would Hurt a Child: Tried to murder the infant Apollo alongside his father because he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Back then, Apollo was just some nobody that she couldn't care less about. However, while Jove dies, Dhurke rescues Apollo just in time, eventually providing the means to topple Ga'ran's reign.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne: Through attempted assassination and blackmail, Ga'ran secured her place on the throne to Khura'in and kept her legitimate relatives in line so they wouldn't retaliate against her. Through lies, she also painted herself as a spirit medium despite being born completely powerless, and kept up this facade by having her spiritually powerful niece and sister do the spirit channeling for her. Once Apollo publicly exposes her, Ga'ran's subjects waste no time in turning against her.
Worthy Opponent: She seems to regard Phoenix as one due to him winning a couple of court cases in the face of the DC Act. Out of everyone who has ever opposed her, he deserved a little credit for his attempts.
Xanatos Gambit: Invoked in Case 5: If Apollo and Wright lose the trial, they'll be executed. Or, since Nahyuta made false testimony in favor of her, the Defense Culpability act will still apply even if she's convicted, and thus he will share her sentence. But after a while, Ga'ran instead decides to execute them for speaking against the Crown. Unfortunately for her, Apollo had the founder's orb as his final ace up his sleeve, and proved she is not fit to be queen.
You Killed My Father: Is responsible for the death of Apollo's biological father, Jove Justice. And quite fittingly, it's Apollo who takes her down, avenging his death.

Sandbox / Ace Attorney Garan Sigatar Khurain

Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in

Voiced by (Japanese): Gara Takashima (SoJ)

Voiced by (English): Cindy Robinson (SoJ)

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Sandbox / Ace Attorney Garan Sigatar Khurain

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Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in

Voiced by (Japanese): Gara Takashima (SoJ)

Voiced by (English): Cindy Robinson (SoJ)

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