User:Aidanzapunk/Character concepts/Universes

With the exception of Shadow and Yacker, each character on my character concepts page hails from a new (coincidentally, non-Nintendo) universe. This page acts as a parallel to our own universe pages, for those curious about each franchise listed on my page.

Fairy Tail (universe)

Fairy Tail (universe)
Publisher(s)	Kodansha
Designer(s)	Hiro Mashima
Genre(s)	Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Console/platform of origin	Manga
First installment	Fairy Tail (2006)
Latest installment	Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry (2017)
Article on Wikipedia	Fairy Tail (universe)

After finishing his previous work, Rave Master, Hiro Mashima found the story sentimental and sad at the same time, so he wanted the storyline of Fairy Tail to have a "lot of fun [for everyone]". When originally creating the series, Mashima was inspired by magicians and wizards. He based Natsu's motion sickness on one of his friends, who gets sick when taking taxis together. When naming Natsu, Mashima thought western fantasy names would be unfamiliar to Japanese audiences. When writing individual chapters of Fairy Tail, Mashima takes a five-day process: on Monday, the script and storyboards are written. On Tuesday, Mashima writes rough sketches. From Wednesday to Friday, he finishes the drawing and inking on the chapters. Mashima usually begins new chapters after completing the previous ones. For the characters of the series, Mashima drew upon people he has known in his life. In establishing the father-son relationship between Natsu and Igneel, Mashima cited his father's death when he was a child as an influence. Mashima based the humorous aspects of the series on his daily life and jokes his assistants would make.

Written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima, Fairy Tail has been serialized in the manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Magazine beginning on August 2, 2006. The individual chapters have been collected and published into tankōbon volumes by Kodansha since December 15, 2006. The series was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Del Rey Manga. The company released the first volume of the series on March 25, 2008 and continued until the release of the 12th volume in September 2010. After Del Rey Manga shut down, Kodansha Comics USA acquired the license and began publishing Fairy Tail volumes in May 2011. 51 English-language volumes have been published.

A-1 Pictures and Satelight produced an anime adaptation of the manga. The anime, also titled Fairy Tail and directed by Shinji Ishihira, premiered on TV Tokyo on October 12, 2009. The series ended its run on March 30, 2013, with reruns beginning to air on April 4, 2013 under the title "Fairy Tail Best!". Forty-one DVD volumes containing four episodes each have been released. The Southeast Asian network Animax Asia aired the series locally in English. On January 18, 2011, British anime distributor Manga Entertainment announced on Twitter that the company would release the anime series in bilingual format at the end of the year. On April 21, 2011, they had confirmed that the first volume with 12 episodes would be released in February 2012; however, they later announced that the first volume would be released on March 5, 2012. In 2011, North American anime distributor Funimation Entertainment announced that they had acquired the first season of the ongoing series. The series made its North American television debut on November 22, 2011 on the Funimation Channel. The anime is also licensed by AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand is streaming in simulcast on their website as it airs in Japan. On July 11, 2013, Mashima announced a sequel series of the anime had been greenlit. The sequel series was officially confirmed in Weekly Shōnen Magazine on December 28, 2013 with a special edition chapter. The sequel is produced by A-1 Pictures and Bridge, featuring character designs by Shinji Takeuchi; the original series' voice actors also returned to the project along with director Shinji Ishihira and writer Masashi Sogo. The official website for the sequel was launched on January 7, 2014. The series premiered on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2014, and is being simulcast by Funimation Entertainment.

Ace Attorney (universe)

Ace Attorney (universe)
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Genre(s)	Adventure, visual novel
Console/platform of origin	Game Boy Advance
First installment	Gyakuten Saiban (2001)
Latest installment	Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Kakugo (2017)
Article on Wikipedia	Ace Attorney (universe)

The games in the Ace Attorney series are primarily adventure games, though they require the player to collect evidence and to present it to the witnesses when they are in court. The game is presented primarily using animated two-dimensional manga-like sprites (although from Dual Destinies onward 3D models with a similar style are used), with text dialog, sound effects, and minimal spoken clips to simulate speech. Each game is made up of four or five cases with the games and the cases have some interconnection, recurring minor characters or similar crime elements. The game can be saved and resumed from any point.

There are two phases to each case, Investigation and Courtroom sessions. Investigation includes the ability to visit several key locations in the case and talk to people involved with it while searching for evidence by examining the scene; the second and third game also introduced the "Psyche-Lock," a system through which the defending attorney can break mental barriers to learn the truth from uncooperative witnesses during investigation. Players can present both evidence and, in the second and third games, profiles of people involved with the case.

Courtroom sessions are generally made up of testimonies consisting of statements by witnesses. The player may cross-examine the witness to locate a contradiction by showing a piece of evidence that relates to what the witness has testified. The player may also "Press" the witness, asking the witness to clarify a statement. Sometimes pressing and presenting evidence will lead to additional statements added to the testimony. Presenting evidence successfully may also lead to new lines of testimony altogether and it is almost always the only way to proceed in the game. Occasionally the player will have to specifically prove their allegations, either through presentation of more evidence, or more careful examination of existing evidence. In the fourth game, the game introduces the Perceive system, which is active during some cross-examinations. During testimony, the player can activate the Perceive system to look closely at body language and actions that trigger when the witnesses state something untruthful (for example, their hands may twitch or they may swallow), and thus force the witnesses to respond truthfully. The fifth game introduces the Mood Matrix system, which allows the defense to analyze the given testimony and pinpoint conflicting emotions, signalling contradictions or false memories from witnesses. Using the Mood Matrix allows a witness to get a grip on their emotions and allows them to testify clearly and truthfully.

As the defense, the goal of the player is usually to have a "Not Guilty" verdict handed down to their defendant. Most of the trials in the game last two days, with three as the maximum, between which the player can visit or revisit areas relevant to the trial to obtain more evidence or information. Throughout the trial process the player must determine through the information acquired the true perpetrator of the crime in order to absolve their client of any blame.

Presenting evidence is accompanied by the defense attorney pointing with his finger, as in the game's logo, and shouting "Objection!" (異議あり!), accompanied by a word bubble of the same word, both which have become iconic representation of the series. If the player presents the wrong evidence, attempts to present at the wrong time, or fails other parts of in-court questioning, they lose some measure of acceptance by the judge, represented by exclamation marks in the first game (same for the crossover title with Professor Layton, which uses exclamation marks for the first trial and shield icons for the rest of the trials) and a life bar in subsequent titles (except the crossover title, as previously mentioned). If the player is wrong too many times, the case will be declared over with a guilty verdict for the accused, and the player will have to restart from their last save point or the beginning of the court session.

Additionally, after some trials end, the player may be asked to present a piece of evidence that further explains part of the story. For example, Larry Butz is broken-hearted after he discovers his girlfriend, the victim, was cheating on him. Presenting a certain piece of evidence will make him feel better by understanding more about what she really thought of him.

In the DS remakes, the game utilizes the touchscreen in addition to the normal controls, and also the microphone, allowing the player to shout "Objection!", "Hold it!", "Take that!", "Gotcha!" or "Eureka!" at the appropriate times, though they can also select these options via more common entry methods. The remake of the first game for the DS included a brand new fifth case created specifically for the remake, with additional aspects of gameplay that fully used the DS special features; for example, one could dust for fingerprints by tapping the screen to apply fingerprinting powder, then blowing at the DS microphone gently to blow them away, or by using the 3D capabilities of the DS to render the collected evidence; key details concerning the evidence are often revealed this way. The fourth game of the series, which is the first game developed completely for the DS without a prior GBA release, also includes a number of these elements. In the WiiWare versions, players will be able to fling the Wii Remote forward like Phoenix's finger in order to shout "Objection!"

The two Investigations games, while split into cases, follow a less rigid structure as the events of each case occur prior to the official trial and generally right after the crime has been committed, though feature a similar two-phase approach of investigation and cross-examination. In one phase, the player controls the main character (Edgeworth) in moving around a single room to investigate clues or to talk to witnesses. During this time, Edgeworth may recognize some key facts forming the basis of the games' Logic system. When the player believes two facts are connected, they can "join" these facts to create a new line of reasoning; connecting the wrong pieces will impact Edgeworth's concentration, with too many missed guesses causing the game to be over. Subsequently, Edgeworth will engage with characters through cross-examination, which otherwise is similar to the courtroom version. Other elements of gameplay include "Logic Chess" introduced in the second Investigations game (a metaphorical chess battle which is essentially a timed argument against another character) and crime scene recreation using "Little Thief" in both installments (a holographic device that can project elements as determined by its owner).

League of Legends (universe)

League of Legends (universe)
File:AidanzapunkLeagueofLegendsLogo.png File:AidanzapunkLeagueofLegendsSymbol.png
Developer(s)	Riot Games
Publisher(s)	Riot Games
Genre(s)	Multiplayer online battle arena
Console/platform of origin	PC
First installment	League of Legends (2009)
Latest installment	League of Legends (2009)
Article on Wikipedia	League of Legends (universe)

League of Legends is a 3D, third-person multiplayer online battle arena game. The game consists of four game modes: Summoner's Rift, Twisted Treeline, Crystal Scar, and Howling Abyss. Players compete in matches, typically lasting 20–60 minutes. In each game mode teams work together to accomplish a terminal objective and achieve a victory condition, either to destroy a central objective (called a Nexus) controlled by the enemy team, or to capture and hold the most strategic points for the longest period of time. Each game mode includes a variety of smaller intermediate objectives that give players and teams advantages in achieving overall victory.

In all game modes, players control characters called champions, chosen or assigned every match, who each have a set of unique abilities. Champions begin every match at a low level (level one for Summoner's Rift and Twisted Treeline, and level three for Crystal Scar and Howling Abyss), and then gain experience over the course of the match to achieve a maximum level of 18. Gaining champion levels in matches allows players to unlock their champion's special abilities and augment them in a number of ways unique to each character. Players also begin each match with a low amount of gold, and can earn additional gold throughout the match in a variety of ways: by killing non-player characters known as minions and monsters, by killing or helping to kill enemy players, by destroying enemy structures, passively over time, and through unique item interactions or champion abilities. This gold can then be spent throughout the match to buy in-game items that further augment each champion's abilities and game play in a variety of ways. Champion experience, gold earned, and items bought are specific to each match and do not carry over to subsequent matches. Thus, all players begin each match on more-or-less equal footing relative to their opposing team.

Across matches, players also earn rewards that are specific to the individual, and augment matches played. Player experience is earned by playing matches over time on a particular account. Player accounts begin at level one and progress through a maximum level of 30. As a player progresses they unlock various maps and game modes not available to new players, as well as an additional two abilities to be used in matches, known as summoner spells. Players also unlock Runes and Masteries, which can be used to provide small bonuses to a player's champion in battle.

All game modes use automated matchmaking based on the Elo formula, with proprietary adjustments. A player's behavior is tracked between matches, and players that display poor behavior may be subject to varying sanctions. These are delivered by an automated system, and range from warnings, to chat restriction, to temporary and permanent bans from the game. This system replaced an earlier system, called the Tribunal, which sent game logs to the community to collectively decide whether a player's behavior was sanctionable. Permanent bans were still reviewed manually.

Shovel Knight (universe)

Shovel Knight (universe)
Developer(s)	Yacht Club Games
Publisher(s)	Yacht Club Games / Nintendo
Designer(s)	Sean Velasco
Genre(s)	Action, platform
Console/platform of origin	PC, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One
First installment	Shovel Knight (2014)
Latest installment	Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment (2017)
Article on Wikipedia	Shovel Knight (universe)

Shovel Knight is a 2D side-scrolling platform game presented in 8-bit graphics in which players control the eponymous protagonist as he collects treasure and fights against the Order of No Quarter. Shovel Knight's main means of attack is his shovel, which he can either use to attack enemies head on and dig up treasure, or aim below him whilst jumping to bounce on enemies, similar to the pogo jump from DuckTales or the downward thrust from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. By finding a salesman hidden in most levels, the player can purchase secondary items that can be used with a limited supply of magic. These include long range projectiles, gloves that can punch through dirt blocks, and a locket that makes the player invincible for a brief period.

Aside from the main quest, which involves fighting through each level and defeating the boss at the end in order to progress through the world map, players are encouraged to collect as much treasure as possible. Treasure can be obtained by defeating enemies, finding chests, digging through the environment, and finding note sheets which also unlock music tracks. Any money earned can be spent in villages on various items, such as upgrades to health and magic, secondary items sold by the salesman, and armor and shovel upgrades that grant bonus skills. While the player does have infinite lives, dying will cause the player to lose some of their money, though the player can recover it by collecting the flying sacks that appear around where the player last died. For added challenge, players can also choose to destroy checkpoints to earn more treasure at the risk of being sent back further should they die.

Miraculous Ladybug (universe)

Miraculous Ladybug (universe)
File:AidanzapunkMiraculousLadybugLogo.png File:AidanzapunkMiraculousLadybugSymbol.png
Genre(s)	Action, Magical girl, Animated
Console/platform of origin	Television
First installment	Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (2015)
Latest installment	Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (2017)
Article on Wikipedia	Miraculous Ladybug (universe)

Set in modern-day Paris, the series focuses on teenage Marinette Dupain-Cheng and her classmate and crush Adrien Agreste. When evil arises, Marinette transforms into her secret superhero persona Ladybug, while Adrien transforms into his superhero persona Cat Noir, using powerful objects known as the Miraculous. Oblivious to each other's true identities, the two work together to protect Paris from the mysterious villain Hawk Moth, who covets and attempts to steal their powers by using his akuma, butterflies infused with black energy, to influence and transform everyday citizens into supervillains.

The original concept for Ladybug was conceived by Thomas Astruc around 2005. One day, after meeting a young woman who was wearing a ladybug shirt and working with her, Thomas played around the idea of a ladybug, soon creating a sticky note with the design of Ladybug. Thinking that the character worked well, Thomas began to develop this character with new drawings (like as seen with fake comic book covers called "The Mini Menace Ladybug") and constructed the universe around her, inspired by comic universes like Marvel. He continued to develop his idea until he met Jeremy Zag, a producer at Zagtoon, who allowed Thomas to do what he thought best with it.

There were many changes that Ladybug went through during development. The series was originally meant to be for older audiences like teens and young adults, having political stories and a darker tone. However, explained by writing director Sébastien Thibaudeau, "some elements hindered its perception and no one really knew why", so the crew worked on making it lighter for a younger audience. Toei Animation helped to create an animated promotional video showing footage of what the show would be like in order to showcase the show as an anime, but eventually, it was decided to make the series in CGI. There was also a point in time where producers encouraged making Ladybug and Cat Noir a part of a superhero team, but it didn't help sell the show, and the superhero team idea was dropped because of it.

Astruc created the show by drawing ideas and concepts from Franco-Belgian comics, American comics, and Japanese animation. He found inspiration for Ladybug from Amélie Poulain, Spider-Man, and Sailor Moon. He and his team wanted to create a show that reflected the romance and beauty of France, and they aimed for it to have superheroes that appeal to young girls while not falling into the clichés of female characters.

Skullgirls (universe)

Skullgirls (universe)
Developer(s)	Reverge Labs, Lab Zero Games
Publisher(s)	Autumn Games, Konami
Designer(s)	Mike Zaimont
Genre(s)	Fighting
Console/platform of origin	Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network
First installment	Skullgirls (2012)
Latest installment	Skullgirls (2012)
Article on Wikipedia	Skullgirls (universe)

The engine and playstyle for Skullgirls were intentionally modeled after Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, incorporating several similar game mechanics such as tag team-based combat, character assists, snapbacks, and delayed hyper combos. The game can be played using different ratios of characters, with each player able to select up to three fighters on their team. The teams are then balanced based on the number of team members. A single character possesses more health and deals more damage, while larger teams gain the ability to perform character assists and recover health when tagged out. Players can also customize their character assist attacks.

The game includes a story mode, arcade mode, versus mode, training room, tutorial mode, and online play using the GGPO networking library. Skullgirls includes various unique features to address system and balance problems, such as infinite combo detection. When the game detects a looping combo through monitoring the players' attacks, the other player can break free of the infinite by hitting any button. In addition, Skullgirls offers protection against "unblockable attacks", which occur when a player, for example, uses a low-hitting move and a high-hitting assist attack at the same time, making it nearly impossible for the opponent to block. The game attempts to remedy the issue by offering a brief period of unblockable protection after successfully blocking any attack.

At release, Skullgirls Encore saw numerous gameplay adjustments and additions, including character balance tweaks, faster gameplay, an online training mode, and a stun meter designed to limit lengthy combos without compromising creativity. A new local game mode called "Typing of the Skullgirls", a mode inspired by games like The Typing of the Dead, was also added. When enabled, teams automatically generate meter and all attacks deal negligible damage. Super moves give typing prompts to the player, awarding damage for typing accuracy.

In addition to fully voiced story modes and cross-platform play across the entire PlayStation family, Skullgirls 2nd Encore introduced challenges, where players fight against opponents under unique battle conditions; trials, which test players' skills by having them perform combos; and survival mode, which pits players against endless waves of enemies.

Skullgirls takes place in the fictional Canopy Kingdom, a country reminiscent of 1940s postwar America. In a corrupt and war-torn world, several individuals and organizations seek to obtain an artifact known as the Skull Heart. Once every seven years, the Skull Heart grants one woman's wish. However, if a woman with an impure soul attempts to use the Heart, her wish will be corrupted and she will be transformed into a monster known as the Skullgirl. Hundreds have sought after the Skull Heart, yet none of its wielders have been deemed worthy and spared of its curse.

Seven years following the Grand War, a battle fought between three nations, the newest Skullgirl, Marie, has emerged and begun to terrorize the Canopy Kingdom. The game follows several fighters and their journeys to confront Marie and claim the Skull Heart. Each character has their own motive for seeking the Heart, whether to destroy the artifact or use its power for their own interests.

The Skullgirls roster initially consisted of eight playable characters: Filia, Cerebella, Peacock, Parasoul, Ms. Fortune, Painwheel, Valentine, and Double. Following the conclusion of the game's Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, an additional five downloadable characters were developed: Squigly, Big Band, Eliza, Beowulf, and Robo-Fortune. On April 1, 2014, a clone of Filia, named Fukua, was added to the game. The character was intended to be a temporary inclusion for April Fools' Day, but was kept in response to fan feedback.

Viewtiful Joe (universe)

Viewtiful Joe (universe)
File:AidanzapunkViewtifulJoeLogo.jpg File:AidanzapunkViewtifulJoeSymbol.png
Developer(s)	Capcom Production Studio 4 (Viewtful Joe) Clover Studio (Viewtiful Joe 2 onward)
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Genre(s)	Action, platform, beat 'em up
Console/platform of origin	GameCube PlayStation 2
First installment	Viewtiful Joe (2003)
Latest installment	Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! (2005)
Article on Wikipedia	Viewtiful Joe (universe)

Viewtiful Joe's core gameplay is similar to a traditional side-scrolling beat 'em up. Taking control of Joe, the player is mostly limited to moving left, right, up, and down on a fixed 2D path. The game contains platforming elements such as the ability to jump and double jump. Combat consists of fighting multiple enemies on screen at once, with the enemies appearing from all directions, including the foreground and background. Joe has the ability to punch, kick, and dodge—which he can do by leaping upward or ducking. Dodging enemies' attacks successfully temporarily dazes them, leaving them wide open for attack. The player has certain number of hit points in the form of "Life Marks" located above the VFX Gauge, which decrease whenever Joe takes damage. Health can be restored by picking up hamburgers.

Several copies of a character in a red superhero uniform attack grey-colored enemies onscreen. Three hearts are displayed at the top of the screen next to the word "Life". Below that is a blue bar fixated between the word "VFX" and a few film canister symbols. A larger version of the symbol is displayed at the right along with a time and four-digit score. The letter V is repeated across the left of the screen. The Mach Speed VFX Power allows Viewtiful Joe to attack multiple enemies on screen at once.

Viewtiful Joe features unique gameplay elements in the form of Joe's "Viewtiful Effects (VFX) Power", which is designed to emulate camera tricks seen in films. VFX Power is used in both battling enemies and solving various puzzles. These three powers are limited by the "VFX Gauge" located at the top of the screen. Normally, the meter is full, giving the player access to Joe's super powers via his Viewtiful Joe transformation. The meter slowly empties when an ability is in use. Once it depletes, Viewtiful Joe changes to normal Joe, lowering his attack and defense and leaving him temporarily devoid of VFX Power. The VFX Gauge automatically refills over time and can also be manually filled by picking up bottles of "VFX Juice". The first VFX Power is "Slow", which slows time, causing the player's attacks to be more powerful, increasing Joe's reflexes, and allowing him to dodge attacks more easily. The second VFX Power, "Mach Speed", allows Joe to move at a faster speed, creating multiple after-images of him when he unleashes a flurry of attacks on all enemies on the screen. It can additionally cause his attacks to envelop Joe in a temporary heat shield, rendering him immune to flame attacks and setting enemies on fire when struck. The last VFX Power, "Zoom In", causes a camera close-up of Joe, powering up his normal attacks, granting him a set of new attacks, and paralyzing all lesser foes in proximity to him. However, any damage dealt to Joe whilst zoomed in is increased too. Any two VFX Powers can be combined. The VFX Gauge can be extended by collecting a certain number of V-Films present in each stage. The bar reverts to its normal length when a new stage begins.

Defeating enemies gives the player "V-Points" in the form of small and large coins, while using special attacks gives them "V-Marks", or "Viewtifuls", which can be converted into V-Points. Viewtifuls can be quickly gained by using combos or long chains of attacks. For example, while using Slow, striking a dazed enemy sets up all other enemies on the screen for a chain reaction, causing all points accrued during the duration of Slow to be multiplied by the number of enemies struck. If used deftly, the player will accumulate a large number of Viewtifuls due to the multiplier effect called "X-Bonus". Each stage in Viewtiful Joe consists of several interconnected missions, or scenes, that the player must complete in order to advance. When completing the stage, the player is graded on the number of V-Points earned, the amount of time taken, and how much damage Joe took. V-Points can be used between stages to purchase new abilities, expendable weapons (which include the "Voomerang" and "Shocking Pink Bombs"), more health, and health-restorative items. Clearing the game on various difficulties allows players to play as different characters such as Silvia, Captain Blue and Alastor, with the PlayStation 2 version also allowing players to play as Devil May Cry's Dante.

Professor Layton (universe)

Professor Layton (universe)
Developer(s)	Level-5
Publisher(s)	Level-5, Nintendo
Designer(s)	Akihiro Hino
Genre(s)	Puzzle, Adventure
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo DS
First installment	Professor Layton and the Curious Village (2007)
Latest installment	Layton's Mystery Journey (2017)
Article on Wikipedia	Professor Layton (universe)

Professor Layton was a direct result of Akihiro Hino's childhood love of Akira Tago's popular Atama no Taisou series of puzzle books, which have sold more than 12 million copies to date in Japan.

The main character in the Professor Layton games is Professor Hershel Layton, a renowned archaeologist and a well-mannered gentleman. He is called to solve various mysteries in different places. Professor Layton is always accompanied by his apprentice Luke Triton, a cheerful and curious boy who brings a touch of humor to the story of Layton. According to Hino, Layton is partly inspired by the character of Phoenix Wright of the Ace Attorney series. Wanting to improve over what he saw as "bad points" in Phoenix's character, he was able to develop Professor Layton.

The game is essentially a collection of puzzles with exploration sections between them. The player (as Professor Layton, Luke and other characters) explore their environments in a point-and-click adventure game fashion using the DS's touchscreen. This can be used to talk with non-player characters, learn more about the environment, moving between different areas, or to find hint coins that are used during puzzles. Often, when interacting with a person or object, the player will be presented with a puzzle, valued at a number of "picarats", a type of currency within the game. Solving the puzzle correctly will earn the player that many picarats, but a wrong answer will reduce the value a small amount on subsequent attempts down to a minimal picarat number. In order to progress the plot, the player is required to solve specific puzzles, or to solve a minimum number of puzzles or gain a minimum amount of picarats. When the player leaves an area due to progression of the plot, puzzles they have yet to find or solve are collected and placed into a "Puzzle Shack" owned by a fictional character known as "Granny Riddleton", where they can return and attempt to resolve later. Curious Village contains 135 puzzles, Diabolical Box contains 153 puzzles, Unwound Future contains 168 (the later two having another special puzzle obtained via the use of codes found in the previous game), Last Specter contains 170 and Miracle Mask contains 150.

The puzzles take the form of brain teasers and are only loosely tied to the plot. All puzzles were created for this series by Akira Tago, who is famous for his best-selling Mental Gymnastics series. They take the forms of math problems, logic puzzles, mazes, sliding-block puzzles, and brain teasers. The games give the player the opportunity to bring up a translucent memo screen they can write on using the stylus to work out their answer before submission. If the player is stuck, they may spend one hint coin to receive a hint. Each puzzle has three hints available, and within Unwound Future, the game introduces "super hints" that nearly solve the puzzle for the player but which can only be bought with two hint coins and after the three other hints have been revealed. The puzzles are not timed, though for puzzles such as mazes or sliding blocks, the player may be challenged to complete the puzzle in a limited number of moves.

Each game features an additional set of three unique meta-puzzles that can be accessed at any time through "Layton's Trunk". These puzzles generally require the player to complete specific puzzles in the game to receive items to use within the meta puzzle; for example, Curious Village gives the player furniture as a reward for some puzzles, which then must be placed within a set of apartments to Layton's and Luke's exacting desires in the meta puzzle; the meta puzzle cannot be solved completely until all the furniture has been collected. Completing the game also opens a number of series of more difficult puzzles to be solved, including one that involves a curiously heavily-locked door that the player may encounter during the game. Until its cancellation in 2014, the games could use the DS Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection features to connect to Nintendo world network and unlock additional puzzles for play for a number of weeks after each game's release.

In 2017, a new title, Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy, was released for the Nintendo 3DS. The game received a slight makeover; as Akira Tago had passed away in 2016, puzzles were instead designed by Kuniaki Iwanami. The game follows Professor Layton's daughter, Katrielle Layton, as she solves puzzles in London with Sherl, a talking amnesiac dog, and Ernest Greeves, Katrielle's ever-eager assistant. Unlike previous Layton titles, the game is split up into twelve distinct cases, with one overall theme, rather than one continuous story separated by chapters.

Rurouni Kenshin (universe)

Rurouni Kenshin (universe)
File:AidanzapunkRurouniKenshinLogo.png File:AidanzapunkRurouniKenshinSymbol.png
Publisher(s)	Shueisha
Designer(s)	Nobuhiro Watsuki
Genre(s)	Chanbara
Console/platform of origin	Manga
First installment	Rurouni Kenshin (1994)
Latest installment	Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014)
Article on Wikipedia	Rurouni Kenshin (universe)

During his childhood, Watsuki used to practice kendo which influenced him in the making from the series. Although, Watsuki developed various one-shots prior to the official serialization from the series, he mentioned he based the series from Crescent Moon in the Warring States, a story which introduced Kenshin's fighting style and his teacher. While naming the characters, he based some of their names from places he used to live such as Makimachi Misao's "Makimachi" and Sanjō Tsubame, who are named after places from Niigata.

Being fascinated by the Shinsengumi, Watsuki designed the characters by basing their characteristics to that of the real Shinsengumi members and also used fictional representation of them and other historical characters from the Bakumatsu period of Japan. The historical characters were considered to be a hard task by Watsuki. Due to problems with the characterization from Sagara Sōzō, Watsuki decided to illustrate Saitō Hajime in his own style avoiding the historical figure. He felt very good with Saitō's character having noted he fit very well in the manga. However, Watsuki mentioned that many Japanese fans of the Shinsengumi complained about the personality of Saitō, as he was made sadistic.

When questioned about the series' theme being Kenshin's self-redemption, Watsuki mentioned that when he was young he used to read shōjo and that it influenced his writing of Rurouni Kenshin. He added that he wanted to make a story different from other comics as he considers the main character Kenshin is neither a good nor evil character. Since volume 7, Watsuki mentioned the series took a more adult tone due to the various conflicts in the story, but commented it was influenced by the shōjo manga he read. Through the series' development, Watsuki was deciding if Kamiya Kaoru's character was going to die prior to the end. However, he later decided to keep Kaoru alive as he came to the conclusion he wanted a happy ending and that the manga is aimed at young readers. Watsuki said he was an "infatuated" type of person rather than a "passionate" kind of person, so therefore Rurouni Kenshin is a "Meiji Swordsman Story" as opposed to being a "Meiji Love Story."

When the manga series started to be published in Weekly Shōnen Jump, Watsuki had little hope in the development of the series. He planned to finish the story in approximately 30 chapters, ending with Kenshin's departure from Tokyo in a similar manner to the one from volume 7. Kenshin's enemies would have been people from Kyoto who would send an assassin to kill Kenshin. When the Oniwabanshū were introduced during the serialization, Watsuki noted that the series could be longer as he had created various main characters. In that time, there was a survey, and the series had become very popular.

When the series reached seven volumes, Watsuki's boss suggested him that it was time to make a longer story-arc, which resulted in the creation of the fights between Kenshin and Shishio Makoto. The arc was only meant to be serialized for one year, but it ended up being one year-and-a-half long. This arc was also done to develop Kenshin's character as he considered him not to have a weak point. Watsuki commented that his artistic skills were honed with this arc, as he could draw everything he wanted to. The last arc from the manga was meant to be much shorter, but it turned out to be a fairly long one as he could not present it in a simplistic manner. This arc was originally made by Watsuki prior to the series' start, having already thought about how would Kenshin's scar had been made. Watsuki also planned to create a Hokkaido arc and a sequel, but felt it would be better to start with another manga and so ended the series with the last arc he made.