MovieChat Forums > Umineko no naku koro ni (2009) Discussion > Knox's big 10

Knox's big 10

posted 11 years ago by enkephalin07
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This wasn't revealed until later in the sound novel, but a lot of Beatrice's Red Truth did uphold the commandments of fair play whodunnit. These might be helpful to figuring out the mysteries in the anime. They're slightly modified from Ronald Knox's original:

1. It is forbidden for the culprit to be anyone not mentioned in the early part of the story.
One of the anti-asspull rules; the murderer has to be an established character and not a last minute Diabolus Ex Machina. The second clause of the original rule, "must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow," is now covered by the 9th.

2. It is forbidden for supernatural agencies to be employed as a detective technique.
Nothing Battler sees, hears or learns from Beatrice or in the Meta-World may form the basis of his deduction. That eliminates everything that Battler didn't personally witness (everything else is subject to doubt due to 9th commandment anyway.)
The Red Truth has the potential for violation of this rule, but Beatrice is careful to use it either to uphold this Decalogue, or to stand in for Detective's Authority, compensating for Battler's inability to investigate as freely as he should be allowed to due to practical, logistical or security constraints. Anything Battler should've been able to investigate exhaustively as the detective but either didn't or couldn't, the Red Text would be permitted to fill in, including Devil's Proofs.

3. It is forbidden for hidden passages to exist.
At least in connection with closed rooms. There are secret passages, but they're designed for a purpose other than obfuscating closed door mysteries. Hidden passages do not feature into any of the locked rooms puzzles.

4. It is forbidden for unknown drugs or hard to understand scientific devices to be used.
Another anti-asspull rule: no surprise Phlebotinum. The crimes may only be committed with means the layperson is familiar with (This is kind of dependent on the audience, but this story assumes Battler's level of education.)

5. Not applicable
The original covered ethnicities the audience is sure to be prejudiced against, but everyone in this story is Japanese (mukokuseki as they may be.) It could be extended to apply to characters whose only developed dimension is to be interpreted as sinister, malicious or threatening to the audience, naturally including wicked witches and diabolical demons.

6. It is forbidden for accident or intuition to be employed as a detective technique.
Another anti-asspull. This doesn't actually come up in the anime. Along with the 2nd, it means no one can spew random speculations as Red Truths to find out which ones will actually work.

7. It is forbidden for the detective to be the culprit.
The detective can't be the one whodunnit. It also implies some guarantee on the 9th, see below.

8. It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not presented.
All clues necessary to solution have to be seen by the detective and revealed to the audience. Red Truth revelations qualify as clues.

9. It is permitted for observers to let their own conclusions and interpretations be heard.
Every point of view, everything seen and even thought, is as credible as the character whose POV it is. This includes the culprit's point of view and internal monologues. Along with the 7th, it's expected that the detective's POV (Battler's) will always be seen objectively, and their thoughts will be honestly revealed.

10. It is forbidden for a character to disguise themselves as another without any clues.
There are some hints (admittedly very tenuous hints) that become critical in the sound novel, but the anime never gives any payoff for noticing or figuring them out.

[–] enkephalin07 9 years ago

The 8th is where Detective's Authority comes from; it's a convention required for 8th commandment compliance. This Authority may be permitted or restricted by the narrative, or in this case the Gamemaster, but the clues to the solution still have to be presented. If Battler had known and examined the implications of the 8th, he could have figured it out, but Beatrice kept him in the dark about the rules he was playing under. In contrast, Furude Erika had been informed prior, and her Gamemaster granted exceptionally liberal Authority during her game.

I think the 5th is actually covered by Van Dine, or rather the character directly rebelling against Van Dine. It's always about the heart. The culprit must have a personal motive. This rules out shady ethnicities, psychopaths, anarchists, and the Joker. No one is evil for the lulz of it, they have a character-substantiated reason for wanting particular person(s) dead.

Van Dine explicitly ruled out organized criminals and secret societies, but I disagree. All politics are personal, and members of a closely knit and secretive organization will have more familiar ties. They will have a code of conduct, whether written or not, that they have to abide by in order to operate, and they can have circumstances under which they feel the need to break that code. These all provide clues to demonstrate sufficient personal motive for a murder.