Hershel Layton

Professor Hershel Layton is the protagonist of the series by the same name. He is a stereotypical English gentleman, who enjoys solving puzzles and drinking tea. He is a professor of archaeology at London's Gressenheller University. Because of his prowess at solving puzzles and mysteries, he is well known throughout London. He also has a recurring quote, being: 'That's what a gentleman does'. The signature feature of his appearance is his black top hat (given to him by his deceased sweetheart, Claire), which he wears along with an orange shirt under a black high-collared coat with matching pants. He is 37 in the first trilogy. He is also adept at fencing, as demonstrated in a sword fight against Anton as well as another with Descole in the Eternal Diva.

His original name was Theodore Bronev, one of the two sons of Leon and Rachel Bronev. He lived happily together with his parents and older brother Hershel for several years. However, when he was still very young, the Targent agency came and kidnapped both his parents for their knowledge of the Azran Civilization. Leaving the young Theodore and his big brother as orphans. Shortly after he had been adopted (at the age of six) by his adoptive parents, Roland and Lucille, whom he considered to be his real parents up to his mid-thirties, having involuntarily suppressed the memories of his past. Since Roland and Lucille wanted to adopt Hershel, but never met him, Hershel give his name to Theodore, in an effort to keep him away from the Azran Legacy and live an happy life with a loving family. When he was 14, he and his parents moved to Stansbury, where he met Randall Ascot. He and Randall both had a great interest in fencing.

Randall was very interested in archaeology, and his love of it rubbed off on Layton. One day, Layton accompanied Randall on an investigation of the Akbadian ruins. During this, Layton accidentally stepped on a trap and Randall fell through the resulting crack in the ground. Layton made it out of the ruins, but his grief at being responsible for the loss of his best friend caused him to move to London. Layton attended and graduated from Gressenheller University, where he later became a professor of archaeology. During his time there, Layton was taught by Dr. Andrew Schrader.

At Gressenheller, Layton met Clark Triton and Claire Foley, whom he dated and planned to ask for her hand. Claire is the one who gave him his trademark hat as a congratulatory gift for being hired as a professor. However, that same day, when the time machine she was working on was tested, it exploded, killing her. It seems that before this, he had lost contact with another classmate of his named Paul, who is later revealed to be Don Paolo. During the events of the third game, Layton comforts a young Clive, whose parents had also been killed in the explosion, and keeps him from running back into the building to find them. Since then Hershel never stopped wearing the hat that Claire gave him, as a constant memento. Layton, who discovered that the events of that day had been censored, undertaken an investigation until he is beaten by thugs (presumably Bill Hawks'). He restarted his investigation multiple times but it ended always to a dead end. But he vowed to never give up. One year after the tragedy, Layton saved Emmy Altava from being wrongly arrested for a crime she did not commit. Although she remembers this encounter, he does not.

Five years later he was (apparently) summoned by Clark to solve a mystery. This action spawned a chain of events that would lead Layton in the following three years ("Last Specter", "the Eternal Diva"s movie, "Miracle's Mask", "Azran Legacies") to meet Clark's son, Luke Triton, meet again Emmy Altava, whose has became his assistant, and uncover the hidden truths of his past as well the mysteries of the Azran Civilization and destroy the very same organization that destroyed his early childhood life, the Targent. He also meet again Randall Ascot, who survived the fall but was left amnesiac for years, his older brother, but under the persona of the villainous Jean Descole, and as such he clashed with him multiple times, as well as his biological father, who was corrupted by the very same organization that kidnapped him. Hershel Layton swore to never accept back his original name or recognize Bronev as a father, but he expressed the hope to meet him again one day as a friend and colleague.

Shortly after, in "Curious Village", Layton and Luke go to St. Mystere to solve a mystery involving a will. In St. Mystere, they meet a girl named Flora, who is the daughter of the man whose will needs deciphering. After discovering the secret of the village, Flora decides to leave her father's fortune alone so the village people could continue to function as normal, and Layton adopts her.

Months later, in "Diabolical Box", he visits his old mentor's home, only to discover him (presumably) dead. With a ticket to the Molentary Express as the only clue, he and Luke set off. This voyage would ultimately lead them to discover the troubled past of an once sparkling city and free a man from an unending illusion and sorrow.

Months later, in "Unwound Future", he and Luke are invited to attend an event demonstrating a time machine, and witness the prime minister Bill Hawks disappearing, along with Dr. Stahngun. Soon he receives a letter by someone who claims to be Luke but from ten years in the future, telling them to head to a clock shop. Upon heading there, a time machine is activated, and he and Luke are transported to Future London. While on his quest in Future London, he repeatedly sees a woman similar to his former love, Claire. In the end it is revealed that the time machine was an elaborate ruse all the time, created to avenge the injustices behind the original time machine's incident. But the mysterious woman was indeed Claire: the original time machine worked for a short time before exploding sending her in the future. But due to the incomplete nature of the machine, she was doomed to return to the past, back to the moment she died. Layton was left heartbroken by being separated from her again, but at the same time he was able to finally accept her death.