| Richard Robbins |
Sprite Gallery |
"She's always on my mind, especially since... since I haven't been able to say goodbye."
Richard Robbins is Ashley Mizuki Robbins' father, Sayoko's husband and Jessica Robbins' older brother. After a tragic incident, Richard vanished and he spent eleven years away from Ashley.
Richard sends Ashley a device called the Dual Another System and a letter. He also was waiting for her on the island, which was revealed to his daughter in the same letter, setting up the events of Another Code: Two Memories.
Personality[]
Richard is a socially awkward man who does not always express his inner feelings, being rather reclusive and not wanting to burden other people with his problems. He is also portrayed as more of a kind-hearted person in the Trace version of the original game. However, he seemingly has more of a self-centered side in the Another Code version. He is seen mumbling to himself such as when he was being interrogated by Ashley which is presumably a quirk of his. He is able to act direct when during some serious moments. He has a bit of a journalistic nature, writing about his feelings and concerns in diaries. He can also be interpreted as a bit of a history buff, interested in the history of the Edward family and Lake Juliet. He is described as being a very hard worker as well, unfortunately to the degree that he gets caught up in it, leaving Ashley by herself.
Exclusive to the Trace Memory version, when Ashley asks him if he believes in ghosts, he replies he believes some part of humans live on after death, clarifying, "whether it's a legacy or a spirit, I don't know."
He is also portrayed as a bit out-of-touch with the youth, claiming Ashley does not need a phone because he thinks the vast majority of teenagers don't have phones in 2007, to which she asks what decade he is living in; she retorts that she is the only one in her class without one. Richard is astonished and says times sure have changed when Ashley says maybe 10 years ago, most teens did not carry phones, but they do now.
Richard's sketch of Ashley.
He also has a fun side, like when he was cheering up baby Ashley after Sayoko left for a while and ended with him wearing the lunch she had. Like Ashley, he enjoys chocolate, which annoyed Sayoko when he kept on eating it. He also seems to be a talented artist, as he drew a decent sketch of an older Ashley, assuming the sketch and the DAS card left behind wasn't some manipulation by Bill instead. Richard's apparent drawing abilities are never brought up again in the story, however.
He has a lot of anger and torment about Sayoko's death, never quite being able to accept and fully heal from it, living in grief. Much of his writings are addressed to Sayoko. A lot of his anger has resulted in a subconscious desire to kill the man who did it to avenge Sayoko. He is also self-conscious about being Ashley's father and abandoning her for over a decade.
Background[]
Richard playing the guitar.
Richard and Jessica were born and raised by their parents in North America. Richard's father ran Robbins Memorial Hospital in Santa Monica, California.[1] This hints that Richard and Jessica grew up there and eventually moved up north to Washington at some point. His father also worked as a trade merchant (referred to as an importer in Another Code: Recollection), a line of business that took him all around the world. He was solely focused on his work, making him extremely busy and he was barely home as a result (which possibly meant that their mother mostly looked after them). When Richard was eighteen circa 1982, his and Jessica's parents passed away while on a vacation to South America. This trip came as a surprise to the family. The cause of their death was a plane crash. Richard mentions that it landed in the Pacific Ocean as well (this crash is mentioned on a DAS card message in the DS version of Another Code. In the Trace Memory script, it only mentions that they died in a plane crash with no further information). After this event, he never saw them again. He wants to avenge them, mostly his father because he wanted to connect with him on some level when he grew up. Sometime in his youth, he played the guitar and was in a band with Bob Fox.
Richard (left) with his sister, Sayoko, and Bill.
As he got even older, he became a scientist at M.J. Labs, met Bill Edward and befriended him. However, it is unclear where he had met Sayoko which was either at a café (mentioned in the European (English) version of Another Code: Two Memories) or in M.J. Labs (stated in the Japanese Another Code: R website). He started to have romantic feelings for Sayoko the moment she made eye contact with him and Richard went on dates with her. She even mentioned he showed her the blue sky and green trees, when all she had known was grey offices. He also showed her how amazing it was to love, and to be loved, which meant that she appreciated her time with him, leading her to stay by his side. Richard eventually proposed to Sayoko at Lake Juliet and the two of them traveled to Haneda, Japan (a district in Ōta, Tokyo) to inform her parents about their engagement. She felt nervous and was occupied with thoughts of what she'd say to them. He held her hand and talked about her hometown in an attempt to calm her nerves. The couple possibly got their blessing from her parents afterwards. Richard and Sayoko soon had their marriage.
Around her mid-20s, Sayoko gave birth to Ashley. She decided to quit being a scientist, so she can be a mother. The couple took the research with them (due to the thought of Another falling into the wrong hands), chose to live in a then permanent home to look after their daughter in the suburbs of Seattle and Sayoko presumably took care of the home while he was working since she wanted to dedicate her life to Ashley, which made her a stay-at-home parent as well.
Sayoko dies in Richard's arms in 1994.
In 1994 when he was 30 years old, he found Sayoko bleeding to death from a gunshot when he returned home on his daughter's third birthday. He was able to hear her final words. He found Ashley in the closet and brought her out. He then reported his wife's murder to the authorities. He got arrested and was put in custody for questioning due to being a murder suspect (since he was near her body), however he was acquitted due to a lack of evidence. After Richard was released from custody, Jessica wanted to know if he really killed Sayoko. He looked at her straight in the eyes and said "absolutely not".
At some point, he went to see Jessica and arrived at her doorstep, telling her to keep his daughter safe and he left her there with Jessica. He promised to return to Ashley someday and ordered her not to tell Ashley he was alive.
Sometime after Sayoko's murder, Richard saw Bill leaving a bouquet of flowers at her grave. He stayed by it for a long time with a stricken (sad) look on his face (likely because he felt emotionally hurt). Richard never suspected Bill of being the one who killed her, although he did suspect that he loved her.
With Bill's encouragement, Richard worked on Another with him on Blood Edward Island for many years, wishing to continue the project Sayoko worked hard on. Richard secretly encoded Another to be only usable by Ashley's biometrics, fueling Bill's anger. He saw this as another act of Richard being secretive and selfish. Recently, he has finished his work on the Dual Another System to ensure only Ashley can use Another, and mails her the device and a letter revealing that he's alive so that she can meet up on her fourteenth birthday in 2005.
Another Code: Two Memories[]
Richard on the floor.
Prior to Ashley's and Jessica's arrival, Richard is not present at the dock, due to being knocked unconscious by Bill somehow. Bill implanted a false memory of Sayoko's murder into Richard's mind using Another. He later leaves an unconscious Richard in a secret room belonging to Lawrence Edward.
Ashley discovers Richard there sometime afterwards and wakes him up. She questions who he is. He replies by saying "what is your name?". After she confirms her identity, he is surprised to see how much older Ashley has gotten (due to the fact that they haven't seen each other in years) and wants to have a good look at her as well but she tells him to stay away. He reasonably thinks that she is upset with Richard for abandoning her. Ashley doesn't believe what he's saying and assumes he is Bill and more things she talks about left him feeling confused during the confrontation. He tries to explain that he's actually her father, however she does not believe him once more. In the middle of being bombarded with her questions, he leaves the room (possibly because he was affected by his daughter's words). Eventually, she finds him in the laboratory and is able to accept him as her father after seeing him in a family portrait. The two work together to verify Richard's memory and both of them are relieved to discover his memories of murdering Sayoko are merely a false memory.
Ashley and Richard on the beach.
In the mine at the Edward's Mansion, Richard found out that Bill didn't like that she chose Richard. He also felt betrayed after Sayoko refused and ignored his pleas to give him the research on Another. He was tired of her refusals, which caused him to shot her in the chest. Bill explains to Ashley why he thinks Sayoko and Richard are terrible people, and holds Richard at gunpoint. Richard is saved by D's ghost spooking Bill and Richard tries to save Bill after he falls off a cliff, but Richard's grasp loosens and Bill falls to his death. Then, Richard tells Ashley that he never suspected Bill as the killer. In the ending, Richard decides to return to the mainland of Washington and live with Ashley and Jessica.
Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories[]
After the first game, Richard and Ashley's relationship deteriorated a bit, and they would often have arguments with each other.
Sometime in 2006, Richard got to work as a lecturer at a nearby college through Jessica.[2] On the same year, Richard receives a mysterious anonymous e-mail. The e-mail calls Richard a blissfully ignorant fool and claims Sayoko's death was orchestrated and that there was more to it than he knows. The e-mail upsets Richard and he wonders if it's just a cruel prank.
Sometime in early 2007, Richard chose to leave Ashley and Jessica to work at JC Valley at Lake Juliet, with the encouragement of Rex Alfred. Gina Barnes becomes Richard's assistant. He even didn't bother to come back to Jessica and Ashley's apartment, let alone see his daughter for quite a while because he went back to being absorbed in his work.
Ashley telling her father to shut up.
In August 2007, Richard invites Ashley to meet him at Lake Juliet. However, she is annoyed when he doesn't appear like before. She eventually finds him and she has a talk with him while she's feeling very irratated. He then goes back to work. Later, he encounters Matthew Crusoe and upon hearing Ashley's argument about how he is searching for his own father, he agrees to keep Matthew's existence private. At one point, Richard sees Ashley, Matthew and Elizabeth Alfred in a discussion. Ashley becomes enraged when it seems like Richard is taking Elizabeth's side over Matthew's, prompting Ashley to call Richard the "worst father in the world" due to her build-up of frustration at him.
Richard prevents Ryan's suicide.
Later in the game, at JC Valley, Ryan Gray wipes Richard's memories as part of a cruel experiment in order to blackmail Ashley. Even through his memory loss and not recognizing Ashley, Richard feels Ashley is someone he should protect. The situation is saved by Rex Alfred, though Ryan escapes. Richard and Ashley confront Ryan on an island and although Ryan gives Richard the chance to avenge Sayoko's death (by having Richard shoot Ryan), Richard refrains. Richard also saves Ryan from suicide; the two have a long conversation later and Richard convinces Ryan to turn himself over to the police. Richard says goodbye to Ashley at the end of the town when she takes a bus back to Liberty Town.
Quotes[]
- "Don't you understand the suffering of a man whose wife was taken away from him? Every night... Every single night, I dream of killing the man who did it. And my hands... They still remember the warmth of Sayoko's dying body, her blood flowing out... The sorrow and hatred I felt 13 years ago hasn't lessened one bit since then. I haven't gone a single day without feeling it. But I won't let that sorrow turn into vengeance."
- "No! I won't let you die here. I won't let you run away. Only the weak take their own lives. And you despise the weak, don't you?"
- "Ryan, it's okay to cry now. You can stop holding it all back."
Trivia[]
- According to the DAS memory cards, in order to get by while living on the island, he ate a lot of canned food.
- The Robbins Memorial Hospital his father worked at is also mentioned in Hotel Dusk: Room 215, where Kevin Woodward works and where Mila Evans stayed while being in her coma.
- It can be theorized that Richard and Jessica inherited their father's intelligence or knowledge.
- It appears that the original writers really wanted Richard to be on the more self-centered side since he may be interpreted as a little less kind in Another Code compared to Trace Memory. In Trace, he adds, "Sorry for the wild-goose chase", also mentions he wants to help the mentally ill with Trace, says it's okay if Ashley doesn't want to verify his memory instead of expecting her to, mentions Bill's death was a horrible thing for Ashley to see, and tries to cheer Jessica up by saying she can't change the past.
- Players who play Trace Memory and Another Code: R may be surprised when Ashley calls him the worst father in the world since, however if one considers the original script, Ashley has more of a legitimate point to her frustration.
- In Another Code: R, Richard's nametag shows that he has a Ph.D. degree and it reads that he's a senior scientist as well.
- Richard seemingly doesn't live in his Washington home anymore since he abandoned it years ago but did stay in Ashley and Jessica's apartment for a while after leaving Blood Edward Island. Currently, he has a cottage at Lake Juliet.
- In Another Code: Recollection, Jessica described him as a neuroscientist.
- It is mentioned that Richard goes fishing with his friends, but he's considered a beginner since he hasn't done it in a long time.
- In Another Code: Recollection, Richard has his blonde hair in an old photograph which had been taken when he was younger, possibly hinting that he dyed it at some point.
References[]
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20221026124029/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/0902/page7/index.html
- ↑ https://ia804707.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/14/items/another-code-r-instruction-manual/another_code_r_manual_eu_jp2.zip&file=another_code_r_manual_eu_jp2/another_code_r_manual_eu_0002.jp2&id=another-code-r-instruction-manual&scale=2&rotate=0
Family Tree[]
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Gallery[]
Another Code: Two Memories[]
.jpg "Richard Artwork (AC TM).jpg (27 KB)")
Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories[]
Another Code: Recollection[]
| Characters in Another Code series |
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Major characters Major characters |