Barok van Zieks Husbando

Barok van Zieks was a legendary British prosecutor. He was known as the "Reaper of the Bailey" due to the fact that all defendants that he had prosecuted would always wind up dying some way or another, regardless of their innocence or guilt, save for only three notable exceptions. This "curse" eventually led to a five-year leave of absence. Upon Ryunosuke Naruhodo's arrival in London, he returned to prosecute trials against him. van Zieks was most well known for the "curse" that befell everyone whom he prosecuted. At least some of the deaths were due to natural causes (according to Herlock Sholmes) or the machinations of others unrelated to van Zieks. Among his defendants, Soseki Natsume, Gina Lestrade, and Albert Harebrayne are not known to have died shortly after their trials, all of whom had Ryunosuke Naruhodo as their defense attorney and two of them left Britain before the "curse" took effect. van Zieks's bench attitude was dominated by a contradictory mix of imperturbable refinement and theatrics. He was extremely unflappable, rarely showing any sign of distress until late in a trial, and even then his reactions were quite muted. Though interested more in finding the truth than his win record, he did not cut the defense any slack. He had a wry sense of humor and often used snark at the expense of the defense, their assistants, and any other witnesses he found bothersome. He became notably upset when someone he trusted betrayed him, such as when he expressed his frustration towards Gregson for striking a deal with Ashley Graydon to suppress the truth. He did appear to have some sort of soft spot, as he personally ensured that a witness who had tampered with a crime scene to make an anniversary date kept his job. van Zieks often got away with outrageous actions at the bench, though this was tempered by a semblance of social grace. Aberrant behavior such as slamming the desk with his boot to object was frequently followed up by an apology for the behavior. Such apologies were obvious lip service as he did not make any actual effort to moderate his actions or mocking. Prominent among his bizarre bench behavior was his habit of bringing wine, though he only rarely actually drank from the chalices that he poured into. Instead, he smashed them wantonly to intimidate the defense and emphasize his points. When the court proceedings required van Zieks to change tacks, he would fling his bottle into the gallery behind him with little regard to whom it might hit. Over three cases that he prosecuted against Naruhodo, at least three bottles and nineteen glasses were broken. Despite all this, the prosecution's bench and van Zieks's clothes would remain immaculate. Genshin Asogi's supposed betrayal of van Zieks deeply wounded him, causing the prosecutor to develop a resentment for all Japanese people. This was seen in his treatment of Naruhodo, never using his name in court as a sign of disrespect, instead calling him his "learned Nipponese friend". Eventually, however, Naruhodo's attitude and dedication to the truth intrigued van Zieks. While van Zieks had preference for prosecuting particularly heinous criminals, he broke habit in order to have the opportunity to match up against Naruhodo once more. It appears van Zieks was something of a celebrity figure because many tabloids posted speculation columns on why he was taking on a seemingly ordinary case. van Zieks was rather more familiar with Herlock Sholmes and his stories than he was willing to openly admit, but he mistrusted the detective's tricky antics and inventions as far as courtroom proceedings went. One of Barok's few weaknesses is his deceased brother, Klint. He is always shown grabbing his badge when shocked and when talking about the Professor case. This has a different meaning, however, when it's revealed that the badge actually belonged to Klint. During the final case of this second game, he was shown to be quite shaken while uncovering the mysteries behind the Professor, eventually leading to him screaming in shock when Naruhodo reveals that the actual serial killer was in fact his own brother instead of being his last victim like he thought. Before Klint's death, he was known for his pleasant and gentlemanly personality, even willingly befriending people who was from a lower class or country than him.