Professor Layton

Professor Layton is a video game series for the Nintendo DS and 3DS. The games centre around solving a large variety of puzzles in order to progress the story. As of 2018, there are six games in the series, one crossover game with Ace Attorney, and two sequel spin-off games starring Layton's children, Alfendi (Layton Brothers: Mystery Room) and Katrielle (Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy, with this game having an anime adaptation expanding from it).
==Original Trilogy (2007-2010)==
==Prequel Trilogy (2011-2013)==
*When Spectre's Call and the Eternal Diva were released, and Miracle Mask announced, the original planning of the prequel trilogy included the possibility a second movie before Azran Legacy. This movie was never mentioned again but because of Youtube channel Picarats there's still unfounded rumours in the fandom about a movie called "The Towering Silence" that has never existed. Nothing officialy released by Level-5 had ever that name.
==Hiatus (2014-2017)==
* Layton 7 was announced by Level-5 and basically rejected by the fans as it was a casual gacha style game that in the early version had nothing of Layton except the title. Later versions had Layton characters in but fans were not convinced.
*Online petitions to bring Layton back adressed to Level-5 started to appear. One of the most important was the one made by '牧 -Maki-', originally named "Give us a new series of Professor Layton!", then changed to "Let's support Professor Layton Series" after LEVEL-5 VISION 2016, which achieved 1.735 signs. Accessed 18 February 2022
*As Layton content was scarce, people started playing Layton Brothers: Mystery Room more, which had been originally overshadowed by Azran Legacy and the Ace Attorney crossover.
==Layton's Mystery Journey and Layton Mystery Detective Agency (2017-2019)==
*In 2017, Level-5 released Layton's Mystery Journey: Real World Puzzle Solving, a promotional campaign to promote Layton’s Mystery Journey, where fans of the series would have to solve puzzles in order to earn picarats and other content that could be transferred to the game after its release. Some of these puzzles were placed in real-life locations in different countries, and fans of the series had to collaborate in order to find the puzzles.https://miscrave.com/articles/where-is-professor-layton/
*The fandom had mixed reactions to Layton’s Mystery Journey. On the one hand, some people found the game enjoyable, and said that the new characters and episode-based storyline were a breath of fresh air to the series, while still keeping the Layton essence of solving mysteries. On the other hand, other fans expressed their disappointment, saying they found the storyline too disjointed and boring, the puzzles weren’t as good as in previous games, and that the characters were unlikeable.https://www.reddit.com/r/ProfessorLayton/comments/774fc1/laytons_mystery_journey_review_false_advertising/ 
*The anime release of the game, Layton Mystery Detective Agency, received similar, mixed opinions.
== Second hiatus (2019-2023) ==
* In late 2021, a manga adaptation of Layton Brothers: Mystery Room (named Layton Brothers: Mystery Room Perfect Crime Puzzle) was announced. Since it was the first instance of new content for the series since Layton Mystery Detective Agency (aside from HD remakes), fans speculated that there was a possibility for more new games in the Layton series, despite the long hiatus since Layton's Mystery Journey's release.
* To commemorate the release of the mobile port of Lost/Unwound Future in 2020, Level-5 organized an art contest.https://www.laytonseries.com/lostfuture/euen/contest/ Fans had to submit their entries on Twitter, using the hashtag #Layton3illustration. The grand prize included a diorama of Professor Layton's office and a gold Layton art card, while the five runners-up also received a gold art card.
* In February, 2022, Level-5 organized an art competition for the 15th anniversary of the series.https://www.laytonseries.com/15th-anniversary/ Fans had to post their entries on Twitter under the hashtag #Layton15th, and the winners received sealing stamps with the Layton logo.
== Professor Layton and the New World of Steam (2023-present) ==
A new Layton game starring Professor Layton was announced in the Nintendo Direct of Februrary, 2023. As a result, a lot of old fans who left after years with no new content about the main series rejoined the fandom to theorize about the potential storyline of the upcoming game.
== Fanfiction ==
The fandom has an active fanfiction community. In 2020, there was an movement called Drownout2020 that attempted to 'drown' out the Layton/Luke fics.
==Fandom==
===Fanworks===
====Fanart====
* by winta-melon
* by maki56565
* by yes-asil
* by herasouflee
*Fan pieces created for the Unwound Future HD release contest
*Fan pieces created for the 15th anniversary contest
====Fanfic====
* Professor Layton and the Memories of a Time Gone By and Professor Layton: Love in All Adversities by GentleAaron on Wattpad
*Note to Self by bananabog on AO3
==== Fanzines ====
* Enigma, a charity zine released in 2019
* Labyrinthia, charity zine released in 2023, crossover with Ace Attorney
* Once Upon a Turnabout, charity zine released in 2023, crossover with Ace Attorney
==== Fangames ====
* Professor Layton and the Thespian's Curse by Team Top Hat
* Professor Layton and the Raven's Curse
=== Fan events ===
==== Big Bangs ====
* Layton Big Bang 2018, organized by @laytonbigbang on Tumblr. It took place on August 18th, 2018.
* Layton Big Bang 2021, organized by @laytonbigbang2021 on Tumblr. It took place on August 31st, 2021.
==== Gift exchanges ====
* Professor Layton Secret Santa:
** PL Secret Santa 2017, ran by @laytonsecretsanta on Tumblr.
** PL Secret Santa 2021, ran by @layton-secretsanta on Tumblr.
** PL Secret Santa 2022, ran by @layton-secretsanta on Tumblr.
* Professor Layton Secret Valentine's:
** PL Secret Valentine's 2017, ran by @laytonsecretvalentines on Tumblr.
==== Thematic weeks ====
* Layton Brothers Birthday Bash, organized by @laytonbrothersbirthdaybash on Tumblr. It has been celebrated every year since 2019 in September-October to celebrate the release anniversary of Layton Brothers: Mystery Room.
* Layton NPC Appreciation Week 2022, ran by @layton-npc-appreciation-week on Tumblr. It took place from November 14th to November 20th.
* Black Raven Week 2023, organized by @matchamabs on Tumblr. It was celebrated from February 21st to February 28th.
==== Ship weeks ====
* Lucrow Week, ran by @lucrowweek on Tumblr. 
** 2019 edition: from August 25th to August 31st.
** 2020 edition: from August 31st to September 6th.
* Clora Week, organized by @clivexfloraweek on Tumblr.
** 2021 edition: from February 15th to February 21st.
** 2022 edition: from January 16th to January 22nd.
** 2023 edition: from January 22nd to January 28th.
* Layclaire Week 2023, organized by @layclaireweek on Tumblr from January 23rd to January 29th.
* Clemmy Week 2023, organized by @nebulousboops on Tumblr from February 7th to February 13th.
== Links & Resources ==
* Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series at AO3
* Professor Layton at Fanfiction.net
* Professor Layton at Wattpad
* レイトン教授 on Pixiv
==References==
Category:Fandoms by Source Text
Category: Professor Layton