[hider=A True Gentleman]
[color=b99e6b]Name:[/color] Hershel Layton
[color=b99e6b]Origin:[/color] Professor Layton
[color=b99e6b]Appearance:[/color] [url=https://www.layton.jp/jouki/en/assets/img/top/img_chara01.png]"Every puzzle has an answer."[/url]

[color=b99e6b]Personality:[/color] Professor Layton is first and foremost a gentleman. He strives to embody all that title suggests - he's polite, amiable, soft-spoken and eloquent, humble. He treats those around him with compassion and empathy, even the more unsavory or tactless sorts, and is always willing to offer his help to anyone that may need it... though even he has limits to what kinds of personalities he'll endure. Layton keeps a cool head in all matters, maintaining a calm and collected presence that others can rely on. Only in the most dire of circumstances does his demeanor shift, particularly when those he holds dear are concerned.

[hider=Background]
Professor Layton’s life is one full of adventure and intrigue, and of immense loss. Raised in a sleepy village, Hershel, in his teen years, lost his close friend while exploring a series of ancient ruins. He took up his friend’s passion for archeology and puzzles partly in remembrance, setting a course for his future he couldn't imagine.

As he grew older he became an esteemed professor of archeology in London, his reputation preceding him as tales of "Professor Layton" spread throughout the continent. Stories of him besting giant shadowy monsters, unearthing lost civilizations, exploits from impossible cities to curious villages. Along the way he met several friends and allies, and even gained an apprentice, one Luke Triton who stayed at his side for years, forging an unbreakable bond between them. While much of London, and Luke himself, extol the grandeur of his adventures, Layton prefers to keep the small and personal details to heart; the family he's never known and yet still lost, the love of his life gone forever, the orphaned girl he now raises...

(Layton will be taken from after the end of [i]Unwound Future[/i] and sometime prior to [i]New World of Steam[/i], before any events transpire that lead into [i]Layton Brothers[/i] or [i]Layton's Mystery Journey[/i].)[/hider]

[hider=In the Now]Ever since Galeem absorbed the London he knew, Layton's life has been... normal. He's still an archeology professor, situated up north in Edinburgh, under his old Dean Delmona as well. There was no shortage of ancient relics to find and mysteries that needed a look into, so for the most part he'd gone about his days as if nothing happened at all, teaching his classes some days and traveling to far-off locales on others, in search of historic finds and puzzles. The only thing that's been off, in his Gleaming state, is that he hasn't heard from Luke in a while, no letters from America like he used to receive and no reply to his latest message. Very unusual.[/hider]
[color=b99e6b]Job:[/color] Professor of Archeology
[color=b99e6b]Specialty:[/color] Strategist & Tactician, Problem Solver, Duelist
[color=b99e6b]Inventory:[/color]
[list]
[*][color=b99e6b]Professor's Trunk[/color] - a simple travel case, about twice the size of an ordinary attaché, where Layton keeps his essentials, as well as any useful odds and ends he comes across. It currently contains...
[list][*]A Journal, and something to write with
[*]A Tea Set
[*]A Puzzle Index
[*]Several changes of clothes
[*]Spare Hat[/list]
[*][color=fff200]Hint Coins[/color] (x5)
[*]Traveling funds, in several widely-accepted denominations[/list]
[color=b99e6b]Lv:[/color] 5
[color=b99e6b]EXP:[/color] 0/50
[color=b99e6b]Abilities:[/color]
[list][*][color=b99e6b]Hint Coin Collector[/color] - Wherever he goes, Layton is able to find [color=fff200]Hint Coins[/color], usually in out-of-the-way nooks and conspicuous areas. Their primary use is to be traded for hints for a given puzzle, though thanks to Galeem’s influence they can help in other contexts. In combat, Layton can use a Hint Coin to strike at an opponent’s weak point, inflict “critical” damage, or evade an attack that would otherwise land. They can also be used to increase Layton’s physical abilities for a brief moment, giving him bursts of speed, longer hang-time to make a jump, and so on. Hint Coins are physical objects, so he's limited by the number he can carry, and can only be used once per effect.
[*][color=b99e6b]This Reminds Me of a Puzzle[/color] - True to form, Professor Layton can spin just about any scenario into a puzzle, regardless of relevance. When the Professor presents a puzzle in this manner, it appears in the current surroundings (ie, a puzzle about matches would have the required matchsticks pop into existence on a nearby surface), and can even slightly alter space (ie, a puzzle of untangling wires can significantly reduce the amount of wires present) until the puzzle is solved or abandoned, in which case things return to normal. Mundane or minor actions affected by a Puzzle are "free", though any attempt to Puzzle anything of significance - disarming a bomb, navigating a storm, avoiding an ambush, etc - require a Hint Coin to be spent.
[/list]
[color=b99e6b]Skills:[/color]
[list][*][color=b99e6b]A Sharp Mind[/color] - Professor Layton's intellect is quite high. There's his knack for puzzles, obviously, and there's also the fact that he's very well-read, logical, and even quite technically minded, able to jury-rig equipment from things he has on hand (he once turned a slot machine into a machine gun). His knowledge has limits, as does anyone's, though he's quick on the uptake.
[*][color=b99e6b]A Promising Fencer[/color] - ever since he was young, Layton had practiced the art of fencing, and in his adult years he's become very proficient. He's capable of fighting with a long sword (or anything of similar length, like a pipe or branch), against armed opponents or groups, to the best of his abilities. Common sense trumps prowess, after all.
[*][color=b99e6b]An Athletic Build[/color] - despite his position as a professor, Layton leads a very active life. This affords him good physicality, being acrobatic and dexterous to an impressive degree. He won't be pulling off too many backflips or anything so outrageous, but it does give him an edge.[/list]
[color=b99e6b]Weaknesses:[/color]
[list][*][color=b99e6b]"A true gentleman knows that violence is not the answer."[/color] - Layton is something of a pacifist. When facing off against living foes, he always seeks a peaceful resolution, and if forced to fight he only acts defensively, seeking to disarm or convince his opponent to back down. He never strikes to harm, and he never throws the first blow no matter the circumstances.
[*][color=b99e6b]"A true gentleman is never without his hat."[/color] - thanks to personal convictions, Layton is steadfast in his commitment to headwear. Particularly his own. He's never seen without it, and he never takes it off in any circumstance. He'll even avoid situations in which he may have to remove it. He always makes some comment to brush it off, though the insistence can raise eyebrows.
[*][color=b99e6b]"A true gentleman is still human, after all."[/color] - this is to reference both the physical limits that a human can't overcome, especially taking the current state of the world into account, but also to all else that can affect the average person. Layton isn't immune to manipulation, or to things that may alter his perspective or mental state, or even to having his emotions played with. He may seem unflappable, but at the end of the day he's as susceptible as anyone else to the maladies of life.[/list]

[color=b99e6b]Spirits:[/color] N/A

[color=b99e6b]Rapport:[/color] N/A[/hider]