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- "Criminals like him make me think the whole world has gone mad."
- — Bill Hawks to Inspector Chelmey, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Bill Hawks is the overarching antagonist of Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. He is the prime minister of the United Kingdom and Dimitri Allen and Claire Foley's former friend and colleague. His actions in the past resulted in the deaths of many people, including Claire, and serve as the catalyst for both Dimitri's plan to create a fully functioning time machine, and Clive's plan to destroy London.
Biography[]
Appearance[]
Bill is a fair-skinned, top-heavy man with beige hair who wears a red jacket over a white dress shirt and a green bowtie, brown pinstripe pants, and black shoes with white spats. He also wears glasses with black rims and has a purple ring on his left pointer finger.
Personality[]
Bill is a stubborn, greedy, callous and overall unpleasant man. He ignores other people's opinions often, as he chose to follow through with the time machine experiment, dismissing Dimitri's observations, simply because he was offered a large sum of money to complete it. He also seems to have forgotten about what happened in the past regarding the time machine, as he doesn't seem to recognize Dimitri (when he's disguised as Alain Stahngun) by appearance or even voice despite studying and working alongside him. He does, however, hesitate when asked to enter the time machine being presented during the event at the beginning of Unwound Future, showing that he at least remembers the events of the original experiment and has a bit of trauma from it.
Even after hearing the full story of Clive's evil and his personal role in it, he sticks to his belief that he is a victim instead of Clive. He also regrets none of what he did, even though he ruined the lives of countless others and betrayed his closest friend for mere material gain. He is also quite ruthless, as he used any means possible to cover up his mistakes, including death threats, breaking and entering, and even physical violence.
Plot[]
Past life[]
Bill and Dimitri have been friends since university. They worked for a long time on the time machine with Claire as their assistant at the Institute of Polydimensional Physics. Bill chose Claire to demonstrate the machine; however, Dimitri found a fatal error and begged Bill not to go ahead with the experiment. However, Bill disagreed and went ahead without him, as he was offered a large sum of money for the test run of a prototype component of the machine. Unfortunately, Dimitri's prediction that the time machine would malfunction disastrously came true; the time machine worked for a split second, but overloaded and exploded with enough force to destroy half the laboratory and the apartment building next door. The explosion also killed Claire and many people inside the apartment block (including Clive's parents) and left Bill badly injured. Once he made a full recovery, however, he sold the details of the machine's power source to the corporation and received his boons, using it to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future []
Bill, entering the machine.
In the opening sequence to the game Professor Layton and Luke are having a conversation while aboard a bus bound for Midland Road. Luke flashes back, remembering an important event from about a week ago. It was a large presentation of what was claimed to be the first working time machine, created by Dr. Alain Stahngun. At the presentation, Stahngun begins to explain the use and procedure of the machine to the crowd. Among this crowd are Layton, Inspector Chelmey, and Prime Minister Bill Hawks.
The explosion.
Dr. Stahngun asks Bill for assistance in a test run of the machine. His wife, Caroline, quickly tells him not to go, but Bill refuses. Stahngun tells him he should give a simple address before proceeding. Bill agrees and he then begins talking. In his speech, he says that time has eluded humans, but now, with this great innovation of science, time itself has been grasped.
After his speech ends, Dr. Stahngun asks Bill to help with the demonstration. Caroline yells at Bill, telling him to stop, Bill once again refusing. Bill enters the machine, unaware of what was to happen next. Stahngun pulls the lever and closes the door. The machine spontaneously explodes, leaving rubble behind with no trace of Dr. Stahngun, his assistants or Bill. Layton and Chelmey investigate the case and begin to wonder what the fate of London is without the prime minister.
Much later in the game, atop the Towering Pagoda in the Future London, Layton and crew confront the future Layton in his office. Layton and Future Layton begin to engage in a battle of wits. In the confusion of their battle, Future Layton is proven to be an impostor. However, Layton, Luke, and the rest are trapped in a cage and the future Layton takes off his disguise. Dimitri Allen, a scientist who worked in the field of time travel, turns out to be the villain. He activates a hidden door, revealing that he has indeed kidnapped Bill Hawks for personal reason. Suddenly the real Professor Layton enters and Don Paolo (inside the cage, disguised as Layton) takes his mask off. Layton saves the crew, but Bostro comes and saves Dimitri, and Dimitri takes Bill along with him. Bill isn't seen again until the final chapter.
When Layton finally tracks Dimitri down and finds him to be the barkeeper at the Thames Arms, Dimitri reveals everything that he is trying to gain from kidnapping Bill. Dimitri had once worked with Bill at the Institute of Polydimensional Research. However, there was an event the split the two apart. Claire, their lab assistant and Layton's girlfriend at the time, was tasked by Bill to be the first human test subject for the machine. Dimitri refused the gesture as he had fallen in love with Claire.
Dimitri and Bill argued as Dimitri had found a flaw in the machine, but Bill was given a deal by a shady corporation. The corporation had made a deal with Bill to sell the power source behind the time machine, and all he was required to do to seal the deal was test-run it successfully. Claire and Bill then decided to test the machine. However, upon beginning the test, the flaw that Dimitri pointed out was right, and the machine exploded violently, destroying a near-by apartment building as well as the building used for the field test.
Dimitri quickly rushed to the scene and many other people were there as well, including Layton. Upon inspecting the scene, Dimitri saw Claire killed by the blast, lying on the ground. The area was cleaned out and Dimitri had lost both the love of his life, and his entire life's work.
Dimitri explains why he had done everything he had done, how it was all for Claire, but Layton told him that he shouldn't have done it and nothing will excuse the kidnappings of the all the scientists and the lies he fed them. Afterward, Layton then tells him that he is even a pawn in this twisted game. Layton points to the true villain, the future Luke. The Luke of the future reveals his true name, Clive, and tells all in the room he is through with explanations. Upon this accusation, Clive takes his cap off, takes Flora and rushes out of the building, laughing. He takes a motorboat and rushes off to the lighthouse. The ground begins to quake and the horrific and deadly mobile fortress begins to rise. Layton and Luke use the modified Laytonmobile to scale the fortress and make their way to the top. Inside they find Flora, who had been kidnapped by Clive. With Flora in tow, the group go in search for a way to stop Clive.
Bill demands the arrest of Clive.
They manage to find him in the highest chamber of the fortress, but then Clive escapes and tells them that they cannot win this fight. Clive's fortress rises up into the actual London and begins terrorizing the town. Layton and crew reach the lower levels and find the Generator room of the fortress. Upon a closer inspection, they find Bill Hawks trapped inside. The only way to open the generator and stop the fortress is to remove Bill, but if Bill leaves the seat, then he will die.
Celeste quickly thinks of a way to stop the madness. Using the pocket watch given to Claire by Layton, Celeste points out Layton will have to exchange the pocket watch and the ticking of Bill's heartbeat in move, or the switch will fail. In doing so, he saves Bill's life, and then he reverses the flow in the generator, causing the fortress to start destroying itself. Claire stays in the mobile fortress to save Clive. The group then exit the fortress. Using the Laytonmobile's new flying mechanism installed by Don Paolo, Layton and the rest of the gang fly out of the fortress, landing safely in the streets of London. Afterwards Claire carries Clive get into the Laytonmobile and then too lands safely. After the generator begins to slow down, Clive's fortress falls back into the future London and explodes.
Along the River Thames, Layton, Clive, Inspector Chelmey, Dimitri, and Celeste begin to talk about the events that have transpired. Clive is taken away by police and Bill Hawks makes a comment on how criminals are just the worst kind of people. Chelmey, aware of Bill's past actions having led to the whole debacle, makes a pointed remark about how criminals aren't the only people that're blind to their atrocious actions. Bill then departs, never to be seen or confronted again.
Spoilers end here
Trivia[]
- His name could be a reference to former prime minister of Australia, Bob Hawke.
- Bill Hawks is name-dropped in Professor Layton and the Last Specter. His name is featured on a newspaper in Scotland Yard that Emmy points out. Emmy then admits that she doesn't care much for Hawks.
- He is a very stubborn man, and quite possibly unintelligent, for he completely fails to see Clive's actions are a result of his own, and blames Clive alone. That, and he doesn't seem to remember Dimitri or Layton despite working with the former and outright conspiring against the latter, showing how little he really cares for others.
- Bill is married to a woman, Caroline.
- Bill remains one of the most disliked characters in the franchise, due to his actions in the past, refusal to acknowledge his own culpability, and apparent lack of punishment for these acts. However, his final interaction with Chelmey at the end of the game implies that the inspector may open a more thorough investigation that would bring Bill's actions to light.
Images[]
Profile[]
- US Version
The prime minister of the United Kingdom, Bill once worked with Dimitri on the development of a time machine. However, Bill betrayed his friend, which helped him reach his current position. Even after being kidnapped by Dimitri, he still remains unremorseful.
- UK Version
The prime minister of the United Kingdom, Bill once worked with Dimitri on the development of a time machine, but betrayed his colleague, allowing him to rise to his current position. Even after being abducted by Dimitri, Bill remains unremorseful.