Manfred von Karma

Manfred von Karma is a renowned prosecutor, now chief prosecutor, who once had an over 40 year long win streak in the courtroom from his start in 1983 to mid-2024. Though there were rumors of underhanded techniques he used to maintain his perfect streak, nothing was ever proven, and he was only given one penalty over two decades before the events of the story.

He meets one of the other employees of the prosecutor's office in the summer of 2023, and she immediately manages to anger him. Set on punishing her, he makes her his assistant, only to feel a quickly growing affection for her. During the events of the story, their relationship develops and becomes stronger.

Biography

Early Life and Career

Manfred von Karma was born on April 2, 1958 to a family that stressed perfection above all else. His parents had already determined his career as well as his spouse, and he was married as soon as he was 18 to a woman he never loved. His career as a prosecutor began in 1983 and his perfect streak of guilty verdicts began then, continuing all the way into 2024.

His first daughter was born on an unspecified date and his second daughter, Franziska, was born in 1999. Not long after, in 2001, Manfred found out about his wife's infidelity that had gone back years without his knowledge. He quickly divorced her, ensuring she wouldn't see a single cent of what was his, and possibly even forcing her to forfeit the name von Karma.

On December 28, 2001, after the conclusion of a long trial battling Gregory Edgeworth in the courtroom, Manfred successfully wins a guilty verdict but faces the cost of a penalty delivered by Blaise Debeste. Enraged, he gets his opportunity for revenge when an earthquake causes the power to go out in the courthouse. He's shot in the right shoulder but uses the gun to kill Gregory Edgeworth. The fate of the man's then orphaned son is unknown. He takes a vacation for six months to recover.

A Fateful Email

In the summer of 2023, Manfred checks his emails and clicks on a link. It opens a pop-up demanding that he take some sort of training from the IT department, as he clicked on a test phishing email. He takes the elevator down to the IT department in the basement, and finds the source of the annoyance: an unfamiliar young woman who immediately calls his perfection into question and says he 'needs help' with checking his own emails. He leaves, intent on making her pay for her insolence.

By the end of the week, he's managed to argue management into letting go of their newly hired IT specialist and allowing her to become his assistant instead. She offers him a bag of candy she's already eaten half of, and despite his attempts to make her new job difficult, she shows no signs of wanting to leave.

Love

The same day the former IT specialist, Miss Martin, becomes Manfred's assistant, she also cares for him at a crime scene, worrying about him overheating and offering him water. That moment marks the time when Manfred's attitude toward her starts to change, and over the weekend, he gives her a new desk, chair, and bonus for her time at the crime scene (all taken from Gumshoe). He also takes the bag of candy she gave him and brings it home.

The next week, he continues to be somewhat brusque with her, but also offers her tea and a short conversation. He gets into an argument with her, but offers her a day off as an apology. After that, he goes to the courtroom with her to show her what a trial looks like with him prosecuting, and puts on a show for her by leading the defense attorney to believe he might win while Manfred leaves the smoking gun to the very end.

After the trial ends, Manfred invites Miss Martin to dinner. Unbeknownst to him, she thinks he's inviting her to some kind of business meeting, and agrees. She only realizes it's a date when she arrives at the restaurant.

His Relationship

During the dinner date, Miss Martin confesses that she does like him, and the night ends with a hug. Their next date is in the same park where he had previously investigated a murder scene. There, they share wagashi under the trees, and have their first kiss.

Days later, Manfred invites Miss Martin to his estate, and asks her to move in with him. She does, and he introduces her to his younger daughter not long after. He makes an effort to have the two get along, trying to persuade Franziska to give Miss Martin a chance. This eventually works out, and Franziska's visit ends with a trip to a karaoke bar.

Conflict

Around a year after Manfred meets Miss Martin, a visit to a crime scene and (unknown to him) a talk between her and the defense attorney working on the current case leads her to question Manfred's methods. He confirms that he's used forged evidence and other underhanded tactics to win trials, and thought she was aware of the rumors surrounding him.

She's appalled at both what Manfred has done, and his attitude toward it, but is mostly worried he'll get caught and taken from her. She asks why he can't stop, or even go as far as turning in Blaise Debeste, the current chief prosecutor helping him 'acquire' forged evidence. Manfred tells her that doing so would lead to his own conviction, but seems almost willing to entertain the idea if such a thing could be avoided.

Resolution

Using skills once meant for her IT job, Miss Martin obtains the perfect evidence against Blaise: a hard drive with every record of forged evidence, completely scrubbed of Manfred's name. She hands it over to ensure he'll never see the consequences of what he's done.

Unbeknownst to her, Manfred is making his own plans, and he asks her to come to his next trial. There, he announces before the courtroom that Blaise's corruption has been exposed and punished, and it was similar poor leadership that led to him being assigned that very case. He admits there is no evidence to prove the defendant's guilt, surrending to a bewildered judge's verdict.

After the defendant is declared not guilty, the courtroom empties save for Manfred and Miss Martin. She comes down to the prosecutor's bench, realizing what he's sacrificed for her, and he informs her that he took Blaise's place as chief prosecutor.

He then asks her if she'll continue to be his assistant, and she accepts. He also then proposes to her, and she's overjoyed. They're later married in the very same courtroom by the same judge, with both of their families attending.

Personality

Manfred's personality appears to change drastically between the few he has a personal connection with, and the rest of the world. He doesn't care to get to know most people, and certainly isn't the type to waste time on small talk. He's concerned with achieving perfection in his career, and little else.

Those who are close to him get to see a different side of Manfred, and know him as a caring but stoic man who won't hesitate to boast about the successes of his loved ones. For them, nothing is too much to ask for, and Manfred will use his wealth and considerable influence to please the ones he cares for.

His relationship with Damon Gant is an odd combination of these two modes, as he seems reluctant to ever call the chief of police a 'friend', but seems to secretly enjoy his company - at least enough to not push him away as forcefully as he could. Damon has gotten to know Manfred somewhat well over the decades they've worked together, and has learned to read him. In multiple fics, the chief of police has noted an oddly common way Manfred tends to lie: by saying things that are all technically true, but either omitting important details, or wording them in such a way that they'd fool the person he's talking to. Damon figures that such a roundabout way of lying somehow eases Manfred's conscience.

He has a particular hatred towards defense attorneys, seeing them as nothing more than annoying insects to be crushed. This disregard also seemingly affects his ability to recognize said attorneys outside of his job, as Manfred makes a comment about 'all defense attorneys looking the same' in the short story Double Dinner Date. In the same story, he fails to recognize both Phoenix Wright, who he recently defeated in court, and even Miles Edgeworth, who broke his perfect record.

Career

"Mistakes can be made by the justice system. The police may arrest an innocent, their attorney may be incompetent, and the judge may be persuaded by faulty arguments...But I do not make mistakes. My only sin is being very, very skilled at my job. Am I to be blamed for that?”

-Manfred, Chapter 4

Manfred places great value on his career as a prosecutor, and especially his perfect record of guilty verdicts. He's aware there are rumors that not all of his victories are legitimate - and those rumors are spread for good reason, as he's not above forging evidence to win a case or even just to make his case stronger.

Outside of actual criminal activity, Manfred is shown to be intimidating in the courtroom to everyone from the opposing defense attorney to the witnesses he calls, and even the judge himself. His total command of the courtroom makes it even more difficult for an attorney to try and make their case.

When confronted by Miss Martin early on about his perfect record (which she refers to as 'lucky', thinking it must be a miracle to have forty years of defendants who were actually guilty) he's very defensive. He practically confesses that at least some of those defendants weren't actually guilty, but justifies his actions as similar to the duty of a defense attorney: just as they defend a client no matter what their own opinions are, he must get the defendant convicted even when he thinks they might be innocent.

As in canon, Manfred is so affected by a simple penalty that he's driven to murder over it. However, at the end of Your #0001 Fan, he's willing to give up even his perfect record to save his relationship with Miss Martin. Though he still tries to justify it to himself then by saying that technically, he did finish his job as prosecutor with a perfect record, as he was promoted to chief prosecutor before his current trial officially ended in a loss.

Interests

He wore a familiar smirk as he took the mic - it was the same look I'd seen from him in the courtroom. He was in his element, in control, and he had a crowd hanging on his every word.

-Miss Martin watching Manfred on the karaoke stage, Chapter 13

Manfred visits a particular karaoke bar after winning guilty verdicts, and is well known by the regulars there as well as the owner. He's one of the small bar's best singers, and his performances draw the attention of the entire establishment.

Manfred also plays the violin. In the short fic Music, he's slightly upset when Damon Gant asks his girlfriend what sort of instruments she likes, and it turns out she prefers organ music (which Gant plays) over the violin.

Manfred's cane was shown to double as a sword in the short fic On Crutches, though he's never actually shown using it as a weapon.

Notes

• A variety of things have been changed from the canon Manfred to this story's version. Notably, his age has been changed so he's 65 as of 2023, but his children's ages haven't been altered in the same way. He also never took Miles Edgeworth in after killing his father, leaving the boy to eventually become the defense attorney who would finally break his winning streak (and indirectly leading to Manfred becoming Chief Prosecutor).

Gallery

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