Jack Layzon (ジャック・レイゾン) is one of the main antagonists in Cannon Dancer.

Jack Layzon is a high-ranking authority in The Federation, working as the Federal Attorney general (連邦法務長官, called the Director of Judicial Affairs in English), the main legal advisor for the government. An unscrupulous and corrupt official, Layzon will stop at nothing to eliminate those opposing the government. He despises the Slaver cult due to its quick growth and expansion, and spares no efforts as long as he finds a way to take them out. Although using manipulation and other underhanded tactics to achieve his goals, Layzon maintains the appearance of abiding to the law in public, and would only act if he gets a good enough legal excuse. It's for this reason he hires Kirin to eliminate the cultists so the cult is forced into a conflict that causes enough disruption across the city to warrant their arrest.^[1]

Besides serving as a government authority, he's seen directly in command of law enforcement during the Slaver Temple raid.

Story

Cannon Dancer

Following the takeover of the city of Agadan by the Slaver cult, and growing tired of their existence, Layzon contracts the services of Teki. Layzon receives Kirin in his quarters on Prague, the Capital City, and makes his request to him clear: to remove these "loathsome" cultists out of his city^[2][3][4]. This, however, turns out to be a trap: by forcing the cult into conflict with Kirin, the resulting chaos and commotion happening across the city during their fight gives Layzon enough of a legal reason to raid and arrest the cult members. Once Kirin reaches the temple and defeats Herio, a large police force raids the place and then Layzon walks in and presents a warrant demanding the cultists arrested on the spot^[1]. Layzon reassures Kirin he will be rewarded for his efforts^[5], but instead he has Kirin shot by his men and send to the Cabil desert to die.^[6]

Kirin, however, survives the desert and moves forward determined to hunt Layzon for his betrayal. After a long quest, Kirin finally returns to Prague, takes down all defenses and reaches the traitor in his quarters. Jack Layzon flinches at Kirin's presence, shocked to see he survived the desert, and backs away as Kirin slowly approaches him ready for the kill. But upon reaching the balcony, Layzon is suddenly pierced by Slaver's sword from behind and is completely obliterated.

Denied the chance to get revenge, Kirin's bloodlust would continue growing until he targets the goddess herself, setting up their eventual confrontation and Slaver's final demise.

Design Notes

Jack Layzon has very few design sketches made, with Utata Kiyoshi thinking it was because he was not one of the rival characters, and because Isuke designed him himself. Kiyoshi also stated that he was Yotsui's favorite character in the game.

Layzon's cut-in graphics were drawn by Isuke himself.

Gallery

Main art

In-game mugshot

Concept sketch of Layzon's face

Jack Layzon as seen in the game's intro

Sketch by Utata Kiyoshi

Trivia

• A character named Jack Layzon also appears in the PlayStation 1999 game Submarine Commander, a game Isuke wrote the design document for. This Jack Layzon (translated Jack Rayzon in the game's English release) has similar facial features to the one in Cannon Dancer, although part of his lower face appears to be covered by some sort of apparatus. Rather than a lawyer, here he is an expert on submarine-vs-submarine warfare, his expertise being known all over the Federal Forces where it is said that he "wrote all there is to know" about the subject. This is one of many references to Cannon Dancer found in Submarine Commander.
• During the introduction cutscene in the Japanese version, Jack Layzon's name is written with a "s", giving his name as Jack Layson (ジャック・レイソン), while the end cutscene in Stage 5 is written with a "z" instead. This minor discrepancy was corrected in the 2023 rerelease, with both instances now using Layzon with a "z".
• His English title "Director of Judicial Affairs" is not a government position, instead it refers to a college or university official that is approved to handle legal matters.^[7]

References