Akihiro Hino
Professor Layton was designed by Akihiro Hino, CEO of Level-5. When designing the game, he thought about what kind of character would make an "interesting lead". What came to mind was the concept of a famous detective and his assistant, in the manner of Sherlock Holmes. From this idea, he created Professor Layton and his young apprentice, Luke Triton. The English setting of the games was also inspired by these mystery stories. Professor Layton was also derived in part from Phoenix Wright (from Capcom's "Ace Attorney" franchise). Hino examined what he believed to be Wright's good and bad points, and designed Layton by overcoming what he saw as Wright's bad points.