#but then i thought it would make more sense if it was layton and randall so i statted swapping luke for randall

[lesiasmadness]

[lutiaslayton]

I’m very much buried under a giant pile of scientific papers due to me having to write my thesis, but I still had to share my joy at today’s random Layton epiphany:

I can finally come to terms with Katrielle’s game and anime existing. In fact, I can come to terms and live peacefully with everything Layton-related existing. Heck, even Cheerful Mystery while we’re at it! Because there’s more than just one continuity and everything is canon, just within the confines of more than only one timeline.

-

Just take Katrielle’s entire series. If you thought that it was taking place after the six main games and movie, then none of it makes sense, if only because Flora doesn’t seem to be here, and the entirety of the prequel trilogy (aka three games and a movie) were literally Thanos snapped out of existence.

In the anime, when Marina shows that Luke made charms as reminders of the cases he solved with Layton, there are only charms for the first trilogy. Nothing about the prequels. Characters such as Emmy, Descole/Desmond, the Stansbury gang, Janice & Melina, are never mentioned, and despite Layton and Luke having disappeared for an entire decade, none of these competent people went to look after them? This simply doesn’t make any sense. If Layton and Luke ever met these people like they did in the main games, then the moment these people would have learned about them going missing, at the very least Emmy, perhaps Descole, and probably the Stansbury gang as well, would have gone on a literal rampage looking for them.

-

But then consider: what if this is an alternate timeline in which the prequel trilogy really didn’t take place? What if Flora, after the events of Curious Village, decided to stay in St Mystere instead of following Layton and Luke to London? Hey, all of that suddenly makes a lot more sense.

In that case though, why didn’t the prequel trilogy happen (assuming Flora’s decision to stay in St Mystere would simply be a butterfly effect consequence of an entire trilogy + movie being erased)? Could there be one single event that could justify such major events… never existing?

I can think of one. One very dark and tragic one, but one that could explain everything.

-

In the Katrielle timeline, Desmond Sycamore died alongside his wife and daughter.

There was no prequel trilogy, because there was no Descole.

-

The Tritons likely moved back to London early enough, around the same time as they did at the end of Last Specter, perhaps because Clark and Brenda’s team never found the Golden Garden and they decided to do something else. Anyway, there was nothing stopping Clark from leaving Misthallery, since Jakes had no reason to change Evan Barde’s will in order to make him mayor.

With the Tritons back to London and reuniting with Layton, Luke probably became his apprentice/assistant early enough after they saved a cat down a tree or something.

There could be a number of reasons why Emmy was never sent to spy on Hershel Layton. Perhaps Bronev felt bad for killing one of his sons and decided to leave the remaining one alone, for a change?

Hershel Layton never got to reunite with the Stansbury gang. Randall is probably still missing, leaving peacefully his life in Craggy Dale, unaware.

Hershel Layton never got to learn about his origins. Roland and Lucille probably ended up suspecting that something happened to the Sycamores, but they never had the heart to tell their son that not only did they hide from him that he used to have a brother… But also that said brother is now dead.

There could be many reasons why either Layton and Luke decided not to take Flora in, or Flora decided to stay in St. Mystere. Perhaps Layton simply didn’t learn that many lessons about the importance of family and adoption or something. He’s just a gentleman doing his thing, and Luke is his only companion.

-

It took much longer for Targent to find the three sites and unlock the Azran Legacy. Perhaps they never did. Perhaps they actually succeeded, eventually, and were wiped out by the golems due to not having been able to gather the five people required as a sacrifice in time.

Perhaps, thankfully, various governments from countries all around the world managed to prevent the world from ending completely by finding a somewhat peaceful agreement (Aurora certainly helped a lot with that, and likely became the human-golem ambassador). Perhaps the golems eventually accepted that an entire planet would indeed suffice as a place to live free, even if that planet isn’t Earth.

Perhaps the golems are still in contact with humanity and now want to get a job in the UK, because why not.

[justkillingthyme]

13? I like that number.

MY MAGIC AU THAT IVE SAID NOTHING ABOUT!,,

I’m still working out general rules and systems in place but people are sorted into two categories. Either you have magic at birth, or you don’t. Some people have magic but it doesn’t present itself unless something traumatic happens (the trigger, though it doesn’t necessarily have to be traumatic). This means in some cases, people go their whole lives without ever knowing they have magic. Even with trauma, it’s sort of fickle. Some people also just present all on their own at a young age. There’s whole professions trying to narrow it to a science, but it’s mostly just A Thing That Happens. It’s about 50/50 for magic users and non magic users.

Magic can also be learned, if the person has enough energy. It’s sort of thought that magic presentation is tied to how much ‘energy’ your soul contains. Kind of a mana system, where if you expend too much energy, you could seriously hurt yourself. It’s easier with an item used to channel energy (see staffs, wands, etc, but they’re considered old fashioned and also expensive.) working on controlling energy makes it easier to practice magic, etc. There are magic schools.

In the case of one Hershel Layton, his gift is a branch of intuition sort of. He can see possibilities and outcomes, and has a kind of spidey sense that makes him good at Not Getting Killed. Luke’s natural gift (triggered pre-LS) is premonition. Hershel is training him to hone in exactly what he sees, and to find what he’s looking for. (Luke’s prediction that the world would end was a brief flash of the ceiling crashing). More often than not, Luke gets random visions of the future that he can’t make sense of. And even with it being involuntary, it expends a lot of energy. Luke is. Tired a lot

Some other vague ideas for magical abilities! DP and Des are shapeshifters, Randall has wings (triggered during his fall in akbadain). Grosky is a speedster, and I’m planning on Emmy having a vaguely strength and or protection related power. Clive has a time related power (I’m thinking something like a minor restart ability and/or glitching.)

[darklight-owl]

I think I have a pretty good idea of who the Masked Gentleman is by now but it might just be because some fanarts I've seen highly suggest it (speculation under the cut)

DO NOT TELL ME IF I'M RIGHT OR NOT please i wanna keep as many Layton plot twists intact as possible I'm so bad at avoiding spoilers already

At first I thought it was Descole but this doesn't feel like his style at all, he's more of a "pull the strings behind the scenes while other people do the dirty work" typa fella.

I think it's Randall, I think he survived. It makes sense why he would hold a grudge against Henry since he encouraged him to go to the ruins where he supposedly died. The people who have gotten letters of warning from him are also all people who had some sort of connection to him in the past. ALSO also he found the mask first. ALSO ALSO ALSO it's implied they never found his body. Sus.

idk this feels like a very Layton-ish plot twist and I don't think I even thought of this myself I think I just saw it somewhere and forgor oops 💀

(As a side note I've called him "the dead one" multiple times while playing this lmao if it turns out he's actually alive I'm gonna lose my shit)

[clockwork--comet]

A collection of random Professor Layton headcanons (may be a bit spoiler-y)

Layton and Desmond are double-jointed. Layton is hypermobile in his elbows, Desmond is hypermobile in his knees, and both of them are hypermobile in their hands/fingers. When Layton was a teenager, Randall openly thought it was gross.

Luke's part Korean! He gets it from his mom. He can speak a bit of it, but it's so limited that it never really proves useful.

Flora plays piano, like, really well. She does not utilize this ability in a way people would expect her to, as she only plays joke songs.

Flora picked up fencing and tailoring after Unwound Future.

Desmond plays the saxophone and annoys Hersh with it. His favorite song to play is Fragrance of Dark Coffee.

Claire was the one who taught Layton how to play the piano.

During the spring and fall, Monte d'Or has shows featuring the Masked Gentleman, who is played by Randall. It's part miracles, part musical, part-ARG mystery game. The public is encouraged to join the investigation and submit any evidence they might have!

The Tritons moved to California (Japaniforina???) after Unwound Future.

Clark and Brenda are close friends with Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth. They come over for wine sometimes.

Desmond is really good at drawing (in some aspects). He makes brilliant nature and object studies, but can’t draw a person for shit. He’s got a drawer full of “failed” Raymond portraits.

Luke sometimes just can’t speak. Like, the words are coming out but they don’t make sense. Either that, or he’s struggling to say skrittle, er, skillet.

Desmond’s wife was named Clarine. (When I made this headcanon I forgot Claire was a character so there is no correlation there)

I probably have more, but I can’t think of any. Maybe I’ll add some in the future.

[anothertastelesstetrahedron]

Descole headcanons maybe 👀

Did someone say Descole? 👀 I’m just gonna put the whole thing under the read more cut, since this ended up being a very long post - and I mean looooooong - like almost 3000 words long. Major spoilers for most of the games - mainly the Descole Trilogy (looking at you AL), but there’s also one UF one.

Des has terrible handwriting. I just think it would be funny if that's the one thing he cannot change about himself while impersonating someone else. He can manage faking signatures, but free writing as someone else? He has to try very, very hard to get that (nearly) right. Tbh for most of his roles that’s also hardly a problem, so he doesn’t bother.

He dehydrated/had a heat stroke at least once while in full costume. There must be a reason why Raymond tries so hard to make sure the AL gang takes water bottles, sunscreen and so on with them. Des has no self-preservation instinct (unless having Raymond around counts as Des taking care of himself?) He also probably almost died in Monte d’Or due to the heat.

Des beat up those guys who hurt Layton in UF. Listen, no one is allowed to hurt his bro except for him.

The first thing Des did after AL was visit Umid - after getting the much needed medical treatment. Because I absolutely love their interactions he promised to do so. It would be funny for him to show up in full costume as well.

Des eventually got used to Kietz (because the cat is now living with Raymond and Des. You cannot change my mind about that) At first he hated Kietz. Des is basically the old cat in the Bostonius that now has to get used to the new one lol

I know it was just the writers having no idea about Des’ backstory in LS but I still can’t stop thinking about how Hershel felt that Descole (in full costume) was familiar. So what if young Hershel Bronev actually liked to dress up in a costume similar to the Descole one? And that had left an impression on young Theo...

I also still cannot get over the fact that Des knows how to make Layton the perfect tea. Well, he had Raymond make it, but still. How does he know what kind Layton likes? Theory one: Layton’s taste hasn't changed from when they were kids. Theory two: He stalked observed Layton’s tea-drinking activities. Maybe he even posed as a waiter sometimes to find Layton’s favourite tea.

Des had kept track of how Layton was doing for a long time. He also was very close to introducing himself a couple of times. Obviously he never did. One reason why he decided against it was certainly to keep Layton away from everything. Des had given him the chance to live a peaceful life, so he obviously didn’t want to risk that. But that’s not all to it. Though Des hated himself for even feeling that, he was a bit jealous. It’s not that he regretted his decision from back then, but he still couldn’t help feeling that way. Plus, Hersh was a reminder of his past life. So while Des had his family that was another reason why he didn't approach - though in the beginning, he had actually thought even more about talking to Layton. However, Des had really tried to let go of his revenge and thus also his past - so Layton couldn't be a part of Sycamore's life. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he also couldn't help but think about their father whenever he looked at Hersh. He knows that’s not fair, but it’s what it is. The same way he thinks about Bronev whenever he sees his own eyes in the mirror. After his family’s death and after he became Descole he stopped approaching Hersh altogether and kept his distance. Not only because, again, he wanted to keep Layton out of all of this - even more so than before, because Des had already lost his family again, so losing Hersh was not an option (I write even though Des tried to kill Hersh himself hjasdjd)-, but also because he was afraid of how disappointed Layton would be were he to find out about all the things Descole had done. Des feared that he’d hate him.

Relating to one point in the previous point, Des absolutely hates mirrors. His reflection is bearable while being dressed as Descole, but he still avoids them like the plague. Even more so as AL Desmond. He also absolutely hates it when someone compliments his eyes - the thing he hates the most about his appearance.

Relating to that, I know Des’ glasses are just for show, but what if they are optical glasses nevertheless? Like, he cannot stand seeing clearly (especially since he ran into Bronev a couple of times and he absolutely doesn’t want to see that guy’s face). Maybe it’s also to help him distance himself even further from the others - especially Layton(?).

Des only possesses one photo of his family. It had been in his wallet when they died. I am just gonna assume Targent blew up his house, leaving Des with almost nothing. As much as he wishes to have the photo with him at all times, it's far too dangerous to do so while being Descole. Maybe Raymond keeps it safe? Or Des just keeps it in Desmond’s office? Maybe that was one of the things he actually liked while being Desmond again, at least he actually could carry the photo around this time.

Des lies a lot (obviously) - also to himself. (This is also me just trying to make his writing make more sense, since it often seemed to me he was written by 4+ people who didn't tell each other what they’ve written). I am thinking of that one bonus scene in MM where Des acts all empathetic towards Randall. “Just the thought of those poor parents, desperately looking for their own child.” That line does sound a lot like something Des himself knows too well… And then, one moment later, after Randall has left, Des just admits to himself that he’s just using Randall. (srsly writers??) I’m not saying that’s not right, because he’s certainly using him - no point in sugar-coating that - but he’s also very much trying to distance himself from Randall and his issues and reminding himself to focus on his goals and to not get distracted. Because Des does care. And I also think that he could have achieved his goal without Randall, but when he had learnt that Layton lost his best friend, Des tried everything in his power to get him back.

What is Des’ “true self”?

That is the one question I’m thinking about the most. It’s probably gonna get a bit complicated now… Let’s see if I can make my own words make sense (I really tried haha). For clarity's sake I’m gonna use three different names now: First, we have Des - the name I’m gonna use for the “true(est)” version of him - whoever that really is. Then we have Desmond - the AL Desmond Des “played” during AL. And, finally, there is Descole which is of course the Descole “role”.

Des has some serious identity issues - because of course he does. Descole started as a role (Des is even literally wearing a non-practical costume) that served a specific purpose. Des initially “created” Descole to have an outlet for all his rage and despair - and to get back at Targent without revealing himself. And I imagine some characteristics of Descole are things Des added, because he wanted Descole to appear a certain way different from how Des presented himself outside the costume. No one was to find who was behind the mask after all, so Descole had to act differently. Descole’s arrogance comes to mind, like that one just strikes me as not (fully) being Des himself. Des pretty much hates himself and blames himself for a lot of things. But Descole is also much more than a simple role. He’s very much a part of Des himself - it’s Des' own anger and his own feelings Descole is based on after all. Over the years, the lines between Des and Descole got more blurry. And now Des pretty much cannot tell the difference anymore between the things that make him him and the things he had just put into the Descole persona. So while Descole was initially based on parts of Des himself, over time Des truly lost himself in Descole who had become its own thing as well. Think method acting gone completely wrong - or right?

In a similar yet also opposite way, (AL) Desmond is also a role Des played during the game. Des said that he had just assumed Desmond’s identity again to get close to Layton and use him (which I don’t believe is 100% true, because I am convinced that a part of Des wanted to be saved. And also longed to see his brother again - and wanted Layton to like him), but it does make me think that Des mostly runs around as Descole. Obviously Des had kept the Desmond persona alive enough for Desmond to be regarded as a world-famous archeologist. But then again, it clearly doesn’t matter in the PL-universe if people don’t do their jobs.

I still do not know how much of Desmond is the “true” Desmond. Even if Des based Desmond on how he used to be with his family, there’s still the question how close Des actually comes to that. Memories can be deceiving and I doubt Des remembers exactly how he used to be. So maybe Desmond’s speaking style, his mannerism could be an act instead of that being Des’ true (past) self. Or which I like better, it’s a confusing mix between “lie” and “truth”. Some things are exaggerated (people tend to romanticize the past, so even with his family Des(mond) might not have been as nice as he presents himself to be as AL Desmond). Some aspects are more or less really Des(mond) and some other things are just stuff Des added to the Desmond role - consciously or not.

Let’s take this thought even further. When Des tried to leave his revenge behind and concentrate on his family, was that Des(mond) really his true(est) self? Or did Des play a role during that time as well (at least partly)? Des cannot let go. That has been shown throughout the games. So while he had tried to put Targent behind him, he might not have been able to do that completely. Thus he buried some things deep inside him and concentrated on “playing” Desmond Sycamore. Who might be the person he wished to be(?).

Long story short, I think that maybe AL Desmond is an idealised version of the Desmond Des used to be. Des acted like how he used to be while his family was still alive - or as much as possible, since he absolutely cannot let go of the pain completely. So his AL Desmond appearance could also be how he had looked like back then. I honestly do not even know if AL Desmond is the “true face” under the mask. Or if Desmond is also kind of like a “costume”. His appearance could be inaccurate as to how present Des really looks like. Descole’s character model also makes no sense. Like the hair that is sometimes visible doesn’t really look like Desmond’s most of the time after all. So is Descole wearing another wig? Is Desmond? I kind of like the idea that Des met Layton with his true appearance, so I’m on the fence here. Maybe he’s not wearing a wig, but extensions?I very much like the idea of Des appearing with his true face though… So I am kind of reluctant to have Desmond look too different from Des. Plus, Layton could have noticed if Desmond was in fact wearing a wig and that might have made Layton suspicious. But maybe Des dyed his hair a bit, and/or is wearing extensions? Maybe he actually already has grey hair, who knows. I certainly don’t.

However, I also believe that Desmond is far less of a role than Des probably thinks/admits. Over the course of the game, he might have lost himself in the Desmond role in a similar way to how he has lost himself in Descole.

Des' time as AL Desmond changed him for sure. And he does act differently as Descole after he changed into the costume than in the previous games. (I’m gonna make a whole separate post about how the German version uses different forms of politeness - and Des does speak rather … strange/different after his revelation than in other games… Again, I know that that’s just the writers being the writers, but where is the fun in that?)

Present day Des has probably no idea who his true self is anymore… Him “playing” Desmond further complicated things. Which parts did he make up, which parts are truly him? I don’t think there’s an easy answer to that… But that also makes Des so fascinating to me. I also really wonder what name he prefers after AL…

As much as I like the idea that Des himself came up with the plan to approach Layton as Desmond, I also very much like the idea that it had been Raymond instead who had suggested it. Raymond probably has to listen to a lot of Des’ angry rants. And after hearing another one about Layton seeing through one of Des’ disguises, Raymond came up with the idea to just go as himself next time. Partly also because Raymond knows Des better than anyone else and he knows how much Des longs to see his brother again - even if Des himself doesn’t admit that.

Des has acquired quite a lot of scars over the years… He does fall down a lot, so it’s bound to happen. He was probably wearing a fair bit of makeup in AL to hide some of them - in addition to his visible lack of sleep. Speaking of, I don’t think Des slept all that much during AL. He probably has nightmares that wake him up screaming. No way he could (or would want to) explain that to the others. Maybe that’s what he has been doing while he was not with the gang. He was taking a much needed nap… Or ...

… or he goes into the one room in the Bostonius that’s completely sound-proof (because that surely exists) and just screams (and cries) for a bit. In full Descole costume. He cannot bear being Desmond and being around the others at all times. He needs to have an outlet for his emotions.

Des really tried to retain his (emotional) distance from everyone in AL. I noticed that in the beginning he hardly ever said anything while I was clicking everything (and I hope believe that I’ve really clicked everything for potential Des dialogue). But he says more over time. It also takes a long time for him to talk about his family. So maybe that’s him slowly warming up to the others. Des was also probably still figuring out how to be Desmond (again). In a way, I think Desmond was one of his easiest yet also his most challenging role he ever had to “play”. No one is more familiar to him and yet also a total stranger. Plus, he had to be extra careful not to reveal too much. Can’t have been easy (which is why he needed to go scream for a bit sometimes).

He feels immensely guilty about caring for Aurora. He was especially reluctant to get closer to her, but he also just couldn't help caring for her. Because she reminded him of his daughter. He just feels very conflicted as he got more and more attached to her, not only because he knew he would eventually betray her, but he felt like in caring for Aurora he was betraying his daughter in a way… This guilt could apply to Flora as well when he eventually meets her.

One day after AL he found the Popoño he had bought for Aurora. He keeps it close ever since.

His revenge is achieved after AL, so there should be no reason for Descole to continue existing. But I don’t think Des will be able to let go of Descole right away. The AL ending shows that anyway. I feel him putting the mask back on in his last scene makes sense for him. He still cannot bring himself to leave Descole behind and he also very much still cannot bear to see his father’s eyes whenever he looks in a mirror. It would have been too sudden for him to just put all the pain behind him. Des’ revenge was basically also the one thing that defined his whole life. And Descole has been a part of his life for a long time as well - the pain and anger that led to Des creating Descole have been inside Des long before his family got killed. I can’t imagine it easy to just let go of all of that. Des is truly lost at the end of AL. He has lost his purpose, the one thing that made him go on. And he needs to figure out who he is himself. Even more so after his whole posing as Desmond again. I like to think that Des will be able to let go of Descole eventually, but that will be a slow process and not something that’s gonna happen overnight. Instead he’ll probably put on the costume fewer and fewer times until, eventually, Descole just disappears. Maybe he’ll stop when he runs out of costumes lol. No matter what, it’s gonna be a long road for Des to be able to heal… (And he should totally go get back to Layton and apologise to Layton and to a loooooot of other people and then they both go to therapy)

[professorlaytonparallels-blog]

Villain Motivations

There’s been a lot of controversy about liking Clive recently, so I thought I’d throw my two cents in. Please feel free to reply, but please let’s keep it like the last Emmy post, where it was more like a ‘debate’ and less like an argument. The last thing I want to do is widen a rift in the a fandom. I just want to discuss a few things. I hope that’s ok. If this post does upset people, I promise I’ll delete it.

Long story short, it’s perfectly fine to hate Clive, and hope he never gets released from prison. But please be aware that there are other villains deserving of your distaste for similar reasons. Share the distaste, guys!  

Clive could easily qualify to be the most terrifying/successful/most horrible villain in the series. He kidnapped scientists. He transported civilians to Future London. He kidnapped the Prime Minister. He duped Layton and Co. He used Dimitri. He kidnapped Flora. He destroyed a good chunk of London with his mobile fortress, and I have no doubt he killed a number of innocent people. The list goes on. While his tragic backstory fuels his motivations, it by no means excuses them. The game and Clive both acknowledge that what he did was wrong, some part of him wanted Layton to stop him and he expresses the wish to atone himself by the end of the game. Grated, we never see him atone, and it’s unlikely he ever managed to atone from beyond a prison cell. The last image we see of Clive is him being led away by the police, looking very defeated. 

As people have already stated, Clive is not a good person, but he is an interesting villain. While no one should condone his actions, it’s very easy to understand them. (Most fans hate Bill Hawks.)

To me, Clive has a much better crafted motivation and backstory than Descole, Randall or Bronev. 

Yes, Descole (and Bronev’s) full stories span three games, so they need a more complex set up. But you can’t deny Descole’s character shifted between Spectre’s Call to Azran Legacy. (And I don’t just mean that he became a better person.) Remember, Descole has no hesitations about hurting people in Spectre’s Call and Eternal Diva. He kidnaps people, manipulates them, and pulls out giant robots to destroy Misthallery/Ambrosia when Layton gets the better of him. Oh, also, he throws a concrete slab at Layton - his little brother who he wanted to live a peaceful life - and almost blows him up during ED. 

Okay, Clive almost squashed Layton (the man he hoped would ‘save’ him again) when his giant robot emerged from the ground. But he never faces Layton directly or charges at him with a sword. And attacking your brother - who you gave up your name and a peaceful life for - makes less sense than attacking your idol. 

Descole takes a back seat and serves as a shadowy manipulator during Miracle Mask. The most interesting thing he does in that game is face off with Targent, which was really cool! It’s the first indicator we got that there was a deeper meaning to his evil deeds. Between Targent and Descole, I was rooting for Descole. We were introduced to Bronev, which was also interesting! He and Descole obviously have a history, and this built my anticipation for Azran Legacy. What possible twists could lie in the last game?

...Descole, disguised as Desmond, sends Layton a letter asking him to investigate an Azran mummy, then they team up to collect the Azran eggs and beat Targent together. Also, they’re brothers. 

Why the heck didn’t Desmond/Descole ask for Layton’s help in first place, to help find the Golden Garden, Amrborisa etc? Desmond obviously had a change of heart during AL, bonding with Layton and Co, so he helps stop the golems in the end. This completely excuses his past crimes and allows him to fly away in an his airship in the end. He doesn’t even give Layton an apology. 

Bronev, at least, gets arrested in the end. (After unleashing a device that could destroy the world.) Mr. Whistler gets arrested. Third-Eye Jakes gets arrested. Diane Makepeace doesn’t survive. 

Don Paolo almost destroyed St. Mystere, Layton, Luke and Flora. He stole the Elysian Box from Schrader. He also kidnapped Flora. He gets away. (Barely anyone one remembers Don Paolo, anyway.) 

Randall gets off scot-free with an apology. Oh, Descole manipulated him. SO WHY DOESN’T DESCOLE SERVE JAIL TIME? Descole or not, amnesia or not, Randall still caused a lot of damage and terror and kidnapped Angela but the MM credit scenes make it look like he didn’t even get ordered to do community service. 

Also, Arthur Cantabella is allowed to brainwash people and scar them for life, because they signed up for it, his daughter was in danger and he had a terminal illness. Darklaw kidnapped/brainwashed Espella, Layton, Luke, Maya and Phoenix.

Dimitri, desperate to save Claire, kidnapped scientists and Bill Hawks. We’re not given any indication of whether he goes to prison with Clive, but at least he acknowledges his mistakes. 

Anton pretended to be a vampire, trapped people in his castle - including Layton and Luke - and attacked Layton with a sword. Randall is excused due to memory loss, so we’ll forgive Anton due to inhaling hallucinogenic gas.  

Bill Hawks doesn’t count as a Layton villain. As far as we’re told, his motivations don’t go any further than money. He killed Claire and all those people for money. At least Clive and all the other Layton villains interact with Layton, serve a threat, get a backstory, and have reasons for what they’re doing. I’ve said before Layton villains shouldn’t be excused due to their ‘tragic’ pasts... but this has to apply to all villains. 

That’s one of the reasons I enjoy Bloom so much. He doesn’t have an excuse for being despicable, as far as we can tell, but he’s still an interesting character and gets somewhat redeemed at the end of AL. The difference between him and Bill Hawks is that he’s diabolical and doesn’t sleep for most of the game.