Professor Layton and the Last Specter



Known as Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call in the UK and Professor Layton and the Specter's Flute in Japan, this is the fourth game in the Professor Layton Widget Series, and the first in the prequel trilogy.

Layton is called by Clark Triton, Luke's father, to investigate the mysterious specter that appears every night in Misthallery. After reaching the city shrouded in mist, Layton finds out that many mysteries hide the truth of the city and its inhabitants...

It was followed by Professor Layton and The Mask of Miracle. There's also an animated feature set between those two, Professor Layton and The Eternal Diva, which has been released in Japan and the UK and is set for a US release of November 2011. It was feared that the game was never going to be released over seas, but it was eventually released in October 18th.

Please place series-spanning tropes on the main Professor Layton page, and London Life-specific tropes in its respective section at the bottom.

"Emmy: I stepped on a nut! Luke: I stepped on a bolt! Professor Layton: Oh dear. I seem to have stepped on a hexagonal spanner."
 * 100% Completion: Throughout the game you will build a "collection," little odds and ends you acquire by accomplishing puzzles or just clicking on random hiding places, in a manner reminiscent of the previous games' Gotta Catch Em All minigames. The difference here is that completing your collection of more than 20 items achieves absolutely nothing...except this trope.
 * Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The city has pipes and water all over the place that are connected in long networks of pipes that are seen sticking out from the edges of the street.
 * Action Girl: Emmy Altava. She'll roundhouse kick criminals back to last week and can leap from rooftop to rooftop to chase after the Black Raven.
 * A Day in the Limelight: The episodes that are unlocked show little scenes involving daily characters during, before, and after the main story is taken place. If you get all the puzzles you get the last one  This is also the only way of seeing.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: This hilarious exchange when you examine the floor at the Third Ridge:

"Bucky: The word [X] isn't in Bucky's dictionary, and shouldn't be in yours, either!"
 * Back From the Dead: In the credits, can be seen in the background of the last shot with everyone else, despite the repeated Please Wake Ups followed by sad flute music and a Really Dead Montage. Then again, the body did slip down into the depths of the water...
 * The one in the credits seems to be a statue of the real thing. The real thing is still dead.
 * Baker Street Regular: Besides Luke, become valuable assistants to Layton, rather similar to the Trope Namer.
 * Benevolent Boss: The leader of the, Crow, is this.
 * Black Market: What's so special about this one is that.
 * Blonde Guys Are Evil: Third Eye Jakes.
 * Bookworm: Olga, the librarian of the city, is so obsessed with them that she dreams of having a house stacked to the roof with books.
 * But for Me It Was Tuesday: Heroic variant; Layton doesn't remember
 * Call Back: The last unlocked episode includes a reference to in the backstory of Unwound Future.
 * One of the papers you can investigate in Scotland Yard contains a picture of Prime Minister Bill Hawkes. Emmy comments that she doesn't like him all that much.
 * Catch Phrase: Whenever someone comments that Bucky getting a boat to where they are seems implausible/unfeasible/whatever:
 * Catch Phrase: Whenever someone comments that Bucky getting a boat to where they are seems implausible/unfeasible/whatever:

"Unnhh...braaaaains... Or at least some tea, please."
 * "That's Goosey!"
 * City of Canals: Misthallery itself.
 * Conveniently Empty Buildings: Thanks to Luke getting messages out to the townspeople through Doland, no one is injured..
 * Cool Pet: Like the parrot in Unwound Future, the fish you get happens to be a Misthallery-exclusive species and shows you the way to hint coins..
 * Cool Train: The train toy you get from Bucky is just like the car mini-game in Unwound Future.
 * Creepy Child: Upon meeting Arianna face to face, she's got a dark shade over her eyes that points out her status as the city's resident witch girl.
 * Cross Dressing Voice: The Bardes' old gardener SURE does have a rather feminine voice for being quite old....
 * Cute Kitten: Granny Riddleton's cat Keats, who happens to keep all the puzzles you skipped or couldn't find between chapters.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: Luke, of course, but Crow easily qualifies as well.
 * Cute Witch: Arianna, known as 'the calamity witch' by the townspeople.
 * Daddy's Boy: Jakes' son keeps going on and on about how great his father is and, when upset, threatens to report Layton and his assistants to him.
 * During the postgame,
 * A Day in the Limelight: Compared to the other chapters where Professor Layton is the main character, Chapter 6 has you controlling Emmy.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything:
 * Distant Finale: Only in the form of an art piece, but once you solve all the puzzles,
 * Dirty Old Man: Clarence qualifies for this.
 * The End of the World as We Know It: Luke has prophetic visions that correspond to the specter's arrival.
 * Expy: Jakes' son slightly resembles Homer Simpson, except a bit fatter...
 * The Fagin:
 * Fan Girl: Hanna is one for Inspector Groskey.
 * An episode shows that she was completely upset about where her life was going to until Groskey came in attacking a local thug; cue love at first sight.
 * Fat Bastard: Jakes and his son.
 * Fish Out of Water: Literally speaking; the fish you own is this game's method of finding hidden coins. It will tell you by defying the laws of physics and splashing in midair over the place where a coin is hiding.
 * For the Evulz: Right before the final showdown,
 * Foreshadowing: If you enter the building under the arch in Highyard Hill, you'll met a woman named Naiya. When you talk to her, she mentions an opera house built over the sea. Professor Layton comments he would like to go to a place like that someday.
 * Get on the Boat: Bucky is an avid boat owner that takes you anywhere in Misthallery that's close to a river. It's taken Beyond the Impossible once you realize his services extend to the old bridges to the town and market that are clearly not very close to the river down below... Lampshaded when Layton and Emmy comment on how unlikely each new location is.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: One optional conversation with townsfolk has him commenting that "when you assume, bad things happen to you and me", a cleaned-up version of a mildly crude pun.
 * Emmy eyes Aunt Taffy's candy for much of the game, to the point that Taffy accuses her of "unwrapping my candy with your eyes."
 * Good Morning, Crono: In the opening cutscene of the game, Layton is shown sleeping on the couch until Rosa wakes him up.
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: All right,, let's hear the truth about what's going o-wait a minute,
 * Hand Wave: How does Bucky get his boats though narrow canals, up cliff faces, and through roads? Please, Bucky doesn't know the meaning of the word infeasible.
 * Heartwarming Orphans: Arianna and Tony. A flashback shows Arianna being devastated by their father's death.
 * In the episode I, Of the Yard,
 * Ill Girl: Arianna suffers from Soap Opera Disease and doesn't have long to live.
 * I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You: The chief engineer found near the end of the game.
 * In Medias Res/How We Got Here: The beginning explains how Emmy, Layton and Luke are waiting for the specter, and then flashbacks to how they got there, and then continues onto the plot thereafter.
 * Ineffectual Loner: Once he starts to see his father's strange behavior and develop suspicions about his mother's "vacation," Luke shuts himself in his room for most days during the start of the game. Once he teams up with Layton, though, Luke plays a role in finding the truth.
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Misthallery's police force has multiple officers named Chippe, who all look alike. Apparently, only some of them are related to each other, and while Jakes can't tell them apart from each other, the rest of the townsfolk can.
 * Latex Perfection:
 * Laughing Mad:  pulls this out rather fast after meeting him.
 * Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Goosey has a strange hobby of hiding around Misthallery. Just like Hazel in Unwound Future, Goosey likes to hide beyond the side of your DS.
 * Let's Split Up, Gang!: At one point, Emmy heads back to London on her own to gather some important documents for Layton (and solves several puzzles along the way). After her segment, the game goes back to focus on what Layton and Luke accomplished during her absence.
 * Lost Forever: Averted. After you finish your business in London, despite never needing to return for plot-related reasons, you can go back there via car to get any puzzles you missed.
 * Played straight with hint coins; after the first hotel room  you can no longer return for them if you didn't pick them up the first time around.
 * MacGuffin: The Specter's Flute
 * Magic Music: The Specter's Flute is said to call the specter to protect the city. However, seeing as how said specter is destroying the city it's supposed to protect, the music is deadly..
 * Marathon Level:
 * Must Have Caffeine: Emmy starts slow in the mornings:
 * Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Goosey has a strange hobby of hiding around Misthallery. Just like Hazel in Unwound Future, Goosey likes to hide beyond the side of your DS.
 * Let's Split Up, Gang!: At one point, Emmy heads back to London on her own to gather some important documents for Layton (and solves several puzzles along the way). After her segment, the game goes back to focus on what Layton and Luke accomplished during her absence.
 * Lost Forever: Averted. After you finish your business in London, despite never needing to return for plot-related reasons, you can go back there via car to get any puzzles you missed.
 * Played straight with hint coins; after the first hotel room  you can no longer return for them if you didn't pick them up the first time around.
 * MacGuffin: The Specter's Flute
 * Magic Music: The Specter's Flute is said to call the specter to protect the city. However, seeing as how said specter is destroying the city it's supposed to protect, the music is deadly..
 * Marathon Level:
 * Must Have Caffeine: Emmy starts slow in the mornings:
 * Must Have Caffeine: Emmy starts slow in the mornings:
 * Must Have Caffeine: Emmy starts slow in the mornings:

"Of course I hear you, woman! I'm deliberately obtuse, not deaf!"
 * Obviously Evil: Third Eye Jakes. If the didn't give it away...
 * Obfuscating Disability: The apparently deaf Clarence.


 * Over-the-Shoulder Carry:
 * The Pollyanna: Even after his house was completely demolished by the specter, Brock takes a positive attitude to it... a bit too positive.
 * Post-Kiss Catatonia:.
 * Red Herring: Luke's door puzzle.
 * Scooby-Dooby Doors: The Black Raven pulls this off while being chased through the marketplace alleys, much to Layton's consternation.
 * Shout-Out: The old lady selling candy right outside the market is appropriately named Aunt Taffy.
 * Emmy pointing out a (step)ladder, calling it a ladder. It's a shame there's no one to argue it with.
 * The Black Ravens are an obvious reference to The Thief Lord. The Black Raven even wears a similar mask!
 * That flute looks rather familiar as well...
 * Speak Ill of the Dead: Barde was never very popular, and when he died the townspeople had no problem with commenting on how he had it coming, right in front of his body and his grieving daughter. Small wonder Arianna became a recluse after that.
 * Street Smart: The children populating the market..
 * Strong Family Resemblance:
 * Supreme Chef: A scene played in the credits shows Layton and Rosa complimenting Emmy's superb cooking.
 * Sweet Tooth: All the kids in the marketplace LOVE Aunt Taffy's sweets (and Emmy wants to love them, if only Taffy would let her buy some).
 * Tareme Eyes/Tsurime Eyes: Arianna switches between both types depending on her mood.
 * Third Person Person: Wherever you need to go in Misthallery, "Bucky's there!"
 * "That's Goosey!"
 * Villain Exit Stage Left:
 * Violation of Common Sense: Go right ahead and hit that Plunger Detonator some idiot left lying around at the archaeological dig site. It'll let you find silver ore for your collection!
 * Unexpected Inheritance: For some unknown reason, Barde bequeathed ownership of Misthallery not to his children, but to Clark.
 * Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Arianna, before her father's death. When she heard the townspeople muttering about how glad they were to be rid of him and how he deserved what he got, she developed a powerful resentment and isolated herself on the family estate.
 * Wasted Song: Theme is one of the most popular songs in the series, with a breathtaking orchestral version used in the release trailer in lieu of the game's official theme. However, it's used in exactly one short conversation, which segues into the next cutscene so quickly most will only hear the first third of it. Fortunately, it sees plenty of usage in 
 * Wise Beyond Their Years: Luke and Arianna, although both tend to overreact to unfamiliar situations like most kids their age.
 * You Have 48 Hours: Jakes gives Layton and Emmy 24 hours to pack up and leave town, then sends some goons to "encourage" them to hurry it up almost immediately afterward. Fortunately, Emmy is more than capable enough to fend them off..
 * Younger Brother Instinct: Tony is very protective of his older sister
 * Wise Beyond Their Years: Luke and Arianna, although both tend to overreact to unfamiliar situations like most kids their age.
 * You Have 48 Hours: Jakes gives Layton and Emmy 24 hours to pack up and leave town, then sends some goons to "encourage" them to hurry it up almost immediately afterward. Fortunately, Emmy is more than capable enough to fend them off..
 * Younger Brother Instinct: Tony is very protective of his older sister

Packaged in with some (though sadly, not all) versions of the game is a bonus role-playing game called Professor Layton's London Life. You take on the role of a resident of Little London, which is entirely populated by sprite versions of characters from all of the existing Layton games. As you dwell amongst the characters, you are assigned small quests, usually in the form of acquiring a specific item for a specific individual or delivering a message from one character to another. Certain of these quests make up a storyline, which must be completed to win the game, involving Professor Layton, Luke, Flora, Inspector Chelmey, Don Paolo, and a strange mystic artifact which may or may not have something to do with fairies and/or The End of the World as We Know It.

Professor Layton's London Life provides examples of:
"Thief! We hates it forever!"
 * Abhorrent Admirer: If the player gives him a Love Potion (as required by one quest), Gordon will come on to the player, regardless of gender. Likewise, regardless of gender, the player can expect their avatar's happiness to be cut in half.
 * Alliteration: The town's called "Little London" in the NA localization. There's also references to the "Tiny Thames", "Reduced Rome", and "Big Britain".
 * The three buildings in which your avatar can live are "Humble Homes," "Darling Dwellings," and "Royal Residences."
 * An Interior Designer Is You: You can decorate your room according to various themes, such as Cute, Modern, and Elegant. Other characters may be your roommate, but will only stay if the decor is to their liking; different characters prefer different styles.
 * And Your Reward Is Clothes: Many quests.
 * And Your Reward Is Interior Decorating: Many other quests.
 * As You Know: In the department store, the receptionist explains that the floor numbers follow the English system of the bottom being the "Ground Floor" and the "First Floor" being the next one up; and that this is different from America where the bottom one is the "First Floor". She then wonders why she's telling you this, as everyone in Little London is English anyway. Oddly, she refers to it as an elevator in this speech, rather than a lift.
 * Backdoor Pilot: London Life is really this to Level 5's upcoming Fantasy Life, which, based on the descriptions thus far, will play almost identically.
 * Bag of Holding: The Mini Chests. The woman selling them lampshades how it doesn't make sense that they can hold objects bigger than themselves.
 * Bat Family Crossover: This is the only format in which it's possible to see characters from all of the currently existing PL games, and watch them interact with each other too. For instance, the museum curator (from Last Specter) becomes friends with Katia Anderson (from Diabolical Box), and Ingrid (from Curious Village) rents a room to Dr. Stahngun (from Unwound Future).
 * Betting Minigame: At the casino, you can play Higher or Lower against Mark in order to earn as much as 32,000 Wealth (based on your luck and how much you bet in the first place).
 * Call a Hit Point a Smeerp: Your success is measured in "Happiness" and, to a lesser extent, "Wealth."
 * Call Back: The museum is basically one big giant room full of these to memorable puzzles from the original Layton trilogy.
 * Captain Ersatz: Invoked by name in the title of one quest, "Ersatz Krantz." Krantz, the hotel manager, asks you to pay a visit to Mr. Beluga in his place.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Puzzlette, still.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Whoever writes the Little London Times has elements of this. "Demonic voices? Or just Hazel being paranoid? We'll let you decide what's more likely, Dear Reader."
 * Escort Mission: A handful of quests involve taking a character to a location he or she wants to visit but for one reason or another can't reach alone.
 * Extended Gameplay: London Life is a 100-hour RPG. And it's advertised as a bonus feature. Good gravy!
 * The Fair Folk: Deke thinks there are fairies in the park.
 * Fake Longevity: Of the 100 promised gameplay hours, most of them are going to be spent working if you want to earn enough wealth to purchase the Golden Gloves, which cost 99,999,999 wealth.
 * Fetch Quest
 * Fishing Minigame
 * Good Feels Good: Your character's signature trait is the fact that he/she runs around all day doing good things for other characters (in other words, fulfilling the quests). This is given as the exact reason why you are the only one who can.
 * : In the main story, Fortunately, Layton figures out what really needs to be done and stops this from happening - with the player's help, of course.
 * Hopeless Suitor: Rory spends all day, every day, standing outside the train station waiting for his girlfriend. Occasional quests involve you getting him something to eat since he won't move.
 * Also Belle, from Unwound Future, for "Fluke."
 * Hostage for Macguffin: Part of the game's main story.
 * Loose Canon: This game throws characters together without regard for the main games' canon. Their personalities remain intact, but, for example, none of the Curious Village characters are.
 * Love Potion: Granny Riddleton will make one upon completion of a certain quest.
 * Money for Nothing: Eventually, you will have much, much more wealth than you can logically spend on anything, except the above-mentioned Golden Gloves.
 * Plot Coupon: The . It's supposedly cursed to boot.
 * Rainbow Speak: Most speech appears as white text on a black background. However, if a character speaks to you in red text, your happiness will drop - and the longer their speech, or the more angry they are, the more it will reduce your happiness. Conversely, if a character speaks to you in green text, your happiness will be restored. You have absolutely no control over how they will speak to you, and of course each quest can only be resolved in one way. The most you can do to protect yourself is to avoid speaking to members of the Family except when required to do so by a quest.
 * Regional Bonus: Both played slightly straight (for North America) and horribly inverted (for Europe). Though the game was included with the Japanese version, it required clearing the game to play; it's unlocked from the very start in the North American version. However, the game is completely removed from the European version - even the English-speaking ones, for, you know, the people who actually live in London.
 * The game is, however, included in the Australian release, just like the American one.
 * Royal Blood: According to the Curse on the Plot Coupon, a female descendant of the royal family will die if it's destroyed.
 * Ship Tease: The game actually hints, very slightly, at the possibility of
 * Shout-Out:
 * Shout-Out:


 * Socialization Bonus: Shipley allows players to trade items through Tag Mode, but more importantly, Segal runs a Social Club that allows the player to see their friend's London Life avatars. Supposedly, a special character appears if you interact with the Social Club at least ten times.
 * Twenty Bear Asses: Several quests, but usually those involving fishing or flower picking.
 * The Un-Reveal: After you fulfill the last quest of the main story, Layton answers all of Luke's questions, except for one. He refuses to explain how he knew.
 * Vendor Trash: Bruno will buy anything (except items vital to completing the main storyline) that you don't want to keep, including picked flowers and caught fish. Conversely, many of the 'worthless' items he sells - such as the Broken Compass - are actually sought by other characters and form the basis of quests. Laurel, another shopkeeper, won't buy things from you but sells a few other 'worthless' items that you also need to buy for quests.