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Max Galactica
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"Max" redirects here. You may be looking for the character Max Arden from the Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth manga.
"Bob" redirects here. You may be looking for Bobby Fulbright, the detective in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies.

Max Galactica
Ab-so-lute-ly... FABULOUS!!
Phoenix Wright
(Absolutely cringe inducing.)

Billy Bob Johns, known more commonly by his stage name Maximillion "Max" Galactica, is a stage magician and the most well-known performer at the Berry Big Circus. He was the defendant in the murder of Russell Berry, the circus's ringmaster.

Humble beginnings[]

A "country bumpkin" from a farmstead, Johns became a magician to try and repay the debts that his father had amassed at the family farm. He was never quite sure what he wanted to be when he grew up, although he had narrowed it down to either magician or president, but struggled to choose between them. He eventually decided on becoming a magician and took on the stage name "Maximillion Galactica". He soon earned quite the reputation for himself and went on to sign an exclusive contract with the Berry Big Circus sometime in March 2017. The ringmaster, Russell Berry, signed him on in an attempt to save their struggling circus.

Tensions rise at the circus[]

The Magician's Grand Prix

Max Galactica winning the Magician's Grand Prix.

Berry's plan succeeded and Galactica became the biggest attraction of his circus, much to the chagrin of the other circus employees. Ever since he had joined, Galactica had been trying to get his fellow performers to be more ambitious. Unfortunately, his attempts just came off as bragging and arrogance to them. This was intensified when he won the Magician's Grand Prix, held by the Association of International Magicians, and was given a trophy along with a bust of himself. He put this bust in the circus cafeteria to show what his co-workers could accomplish with a little ambition, but they thought he just was showing off and rubbing their noses in his success. Six months after the initial contract signing, Galactica negotiated an "incredible" pay raise due to his success.

Galactica also fell in love with his "sweetie pie" Regina Berry, the ringmaster's daughter. However, he was not the only one, as the ventriloquist Benjamin Woodman had also fallen for the naïve animal tamer. Therefore the tension between the two of them was particularly strong and eventually reached a head.

Murder of the ringmaster[]

Main article: Turnabout Big Top
Arguing with a puppet

Arguing with a puppet.

On 27th December 2017, a week after the pay raise, Russell Berry and Galactica met in the Ringmaster's room to talk about an incident that had happened that morning. During breakfast, Galactica and Woodman got into an argument over Regina, the two men having both professed their love to her on the same day. The argument ended in violence when Galactica, goaded by Woodman via his puppet Trilo (who called him a "no-good talentless hack of a fast food magician"), grabbed a glass juice bottle and brought it down on the ventriloquist's head.

This was the reason that Russell had called Galactica to his office after practice, but the magician took the opportunity to discuss his desire to wed Regina with the girl's father. Although Russell apparently wasn't adverse to the idea, he left during the meeting to deal with something important and never returned. The ringmaster's corpse was later found sprawled over a large trunk, having been killed from a blow to the back of the head.

Since Galactica was the only one of the circus performers without a solid alibi, he was arrested for the murder. Although he initially thought he was helping the police with their inquiries, he eventually realized the seriousness of the situation, with a little prompting from Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey. A distraught Galactica temporarily reverted to his true "country bumpkin" self and begged for Wright to help him, which the defense attorney agreed to do.

During his investigation, Wright discovered the resentment held against Galactica by the other performers, along with the fight for Regina's affection between Benjamin Woodman and Galactica. Wright eventually managed to prove Galactica's innocence and implicate the real killer: an acrobat named Acro. It turned out that Acro had intended to murder Regina, as punishment for not taking his brother's coma seriously. The coma was the result of an incident that occurred before Galactica had joined the circus.

Aftermath[]

Main article: The Kidnapped Turnabout

Moe took on Russell's position as ringmaster. With Bat, Russell and Acro gone from the circus, the remaining members revived the circus and decided to go global. Max Galactica performed at Gatewater Land in 2019.

Personality[]

Phoenix Wright
(Fabulous! Why does he have to keep saying fabulous!?)
Max mugshot

Mugshot.

Galactica's obsession with his own beauty and fame borders on narcissism, even constantly looking at the detention center cameras as if they were TV cameras. He also has a habit of over-using the word "fabulous" to describe just about everything. However, during certain times, such as when he found out he was being arrested for the murder of the ringmaster and not just being questioned, he reverts to his true self, a "country bumpkin" with no trace of his former narcissistic demeanor.

It should be noted that he is also very territorial, fighting hard for the heart of Regina Berry with Benjamin Woodman. Despite his seemingly egotistical personality, he is actually just a very ambitious man who wishes to strive for excellence in his profession and tries to instill this in his colleagues. Unfortunately for him, his attempts to do so just come across as bragging to the others. Likewise, his exorbitant salary seems only to be for the benefit of paying off his father's debt.

The centerpiece of Galactica's act is a stunt in which where he appears to fly above the audience, only to suddenly disappear. He uses a cloak, silk hat and white roses as his signature symbols. Galactica had the hat custom-made from a sketch by Regina Berry, making it one-of-a-kind. He particularly likes the feather in its brim. Apparently, he originally thought you could never have too many symbols (amongst the other ideas considered were: a pair of sunglasses, a beauty mark, "soft pillows for lips", a beard, and buck teeth), but eventually cut the number down to three since he worried if he forgot one then the audience would not know who he was. He always has to have a glass of milk before going on stage otherwise he finds it difficult to function. This was true even for his appearance in court.

Name[]

  • Japanese - Makishimirian Gyarakutika (マキシミリアン・ギャラクティカ) / Kouhei Yamada (山田耕平)
  • English - Maximillion Galactica (Max) ~ (stage name):
    • "Maximillion" likely comes from the name "Maximilian" (also spelt: Maximillian, Maximiliaan, or Maximilien), a name shared by a number of noble historical figures and derived from the Latin word "maximus" meaning "the greatest", which may refer to Galactica's great ego.
    • "Galactica" is likely meant to make him sound glamorous and important, or possibly just as a reference to his galaxy-sized ego. Incidentally, the prefix "galact-" is derived from the Greek word for "milk" (hence the name for our own galaxy), which Galactica always drinks before performing.
  • English - Billy Bob Johns ~ (real name):
    • His real name is meant to make him sound like an unsophisticated country boy. A polar opposite to his "fabulous" stage personality. "Billy", "Bob", and "John" are also normally seen as rather generic "everyman" names.
  • French - Maximilien Galactica ~ (stage name):
  • French - Pierre Paul Jacques ~ (real name):
    • His real name is likely meant to have the same meaning as "Billy Bob Johns", in that "Pierre", "Paul", and "Jacques" are rather generic French names. In fact, a French term for an unknown person or a nobody is "Pierre Paul Jacques".

Unofficial[]

  • Brazilian Portuguese - Maximiliano Galática ~ (stage name): [1]
    • "Maximiliano" originates from the Latin Maximilianu, by the combination of the names Maximus, which means "the one of greater stature", and Aemilianu, which means "belonging to Emilio", "rival" or "the one who speaks in a pleasant way", referring to the your big ego.
    • "Galática" references "Galáxia" (Galaxy), to make him seem fabulous and important and in reference to his universe-sized ego. It also refers to the Greek root for milk λακ [lac], which he drinks before every show.
  • Brazilian Portuguese - Bento Jeca Tatu ~ (real name): [1]
    • His real name makes reference to two famous rednecks in Brazilian literature and to reveal him as a simpler person, and to contrast with his pompous artistic name.

Development[]

Relationship with a minor[]

A significant aspect of the narrative of Turnabout Big Top is that the 16-year-old Regina Berry attracts the serious affections of three different adult men, including Max Galactica, with marriage proposals even being discussed. There is very little detail about the specific nature of these relationships, even though any marriage involving Regina would be considered child marriage. Incidentally, such a marriage would be legal in most U.S. states, including California, and federal statutory rape laws provide a child marital exception.[3] Moreover, in Japan at the time, 16 is the minimum age for girls to marry.[4]

References[]

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