Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney/YMMV

This page covers the first three games. Take general series tropes to Ace Attorney, and take tropes specific to Apollo Justice or Investigations to those pages, please.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
"Lana Skye: "Give it three years. Then we'll see what you've become.""
 * Awesome Music: Has its own page
 * Complete Monster:
 * from 1-2.
 * Well, kinda did have an excuse.
 * No.  is a complete monster. He
 * And then we have from case 1-4. To summarize:
 * Crazy Awesome: Many characters have their moments. One of the best example is Manfred von Karma who . No, he doesn't want to lose.
 * Ear Worm: Some of the music will get put on repeat in your head. Jake Marshall's theme, for example.
 * The. Blue. Badger. Theme.
 * Da-da-da-da-da-da, DA, da, da-da-da...
 * ''Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum dum...
 * Fanon Discontinuity: Some people ignore the fifth case of the first game (which was not part of the original Japanese GBA game but instead added in as a bonus for the DS remake) because, despite providing us with Memetic Badass Damon Gant, it actually subtly retcons the backstory of the game: . This, to many people, effectively makes a good portion of the first game pointless.
 * Interestingly enough, when Phoenix sees Edgeworth again in 2-4, he assumes Edgeworth quit because his perfect win record was tarnished, when actually, in 1-5, particularly on the third day of investigations and the last trial segment, Edgeworth is already questioning himself and admits shame over his Amoral Attorney past and fear that he might become like Manfred Von Karma and Damon Gant in the future.
 * Well, to be fair, the backstory supposedly being retconed has a possible explanation in that, while . No idea for the point right above this, though, as you'd think Phoenix would be a bit more understanding of Edgey after 1-4 at least, even if 1-5 wouldn't have happened...
 * Funny Aneurysm Moment: When you show Lana Skye the Attorney's Badge, she comments that the gold plating will flake off in a few years, then we'll see the real Phoenix. The conversation ends like this:
 * Interestingly enough, when Phoenix sees Edgeworth again in 2-4, he assumes Edgeworth quit because his perfect win record was tarnished, when actually, in 1-5, particularly on the third day of investigations and the last trial segment, Edgeworth is already questioning himself and admits shame over his Amoral Attorney past and fear that he might become like Manfred Von Karma and Damon Gant in the future.
 * Well, to be fair, the backstory supposedly being retconed has a possible explanation in that, while . No idea for the point right above this, though, as you'd think Phoenix would be a bit more understanding of Edgey after 1-4 at least, even if 1-5 wouldn't have happened...
 * Funny Aneurysm Moment: When you show Lana Skye the Attorney's Badge, she comments that the gold plating will flake off in a few years, then we'll see the real Phoenix. The conversation ends like this:


 * That could have been deliberate foreshadowing.
 * Hell Is That Noise: Manfred von Karma's villainous objections.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: Redd White murdered Mia Fey in the first game. In the third game, an important fact is . Additionally, Godot/ cared for Mia Fey in the past and was resentful of Wright of doing nothing to prevent her murder.
 * Case 1-3 is the first case that makes it clear that the American version takes place somewhere similar to Los Angeles. Three of the characters are William, Hammer, and Penny.
 * Memetic Molester: Damon Gant.
 * Memetic Mutation: Damon Gant--in spades. He will RAEP you, indeed. Also, Phoenix Wrong.
 * Peachifruit's comics does this constantly.
 * Most Annoying Sound: Manfred's frequent, demonic Os in 1-4.
 * Speaking to Mike Meekins in case 5; that megaphone...!
 * Oh God, Manfred's fingersnaps. They might just be worse than his Objections. Stop doing that.
 * Nightmare Fuel: In case 1-4, running into in the police station and  promptly thereafter.
 * Player Punch: Having to prove towards the end of 1-5 that.
 * That One Boss: The first half of the first day of the trial in 1-5 is one of the hardest parts in the game, especially since much of it consists of finding subtle flaws in Angel Starr's testimony, mainly concerning the point from which she supposedly saw Lana stab Goodman.
 * That One Boss: The first half of the first day of the trial in 1-5 is one of the hardest parts in the game, especially since much of it consists of finding subtle flaws in Angel Starr's testimony, mainly concerning the point from which she supposedly saw Lana stab Goodman.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All
""Let's go let her whip us, Mr. Nick!""
 * Anticlimax Boss: Breaking Wendy Oldbag's psyche-locks in 2-4. It's the first time you have to deal with 4 locks at once, but if you show her, all four of them break at the same time.
 * Well, given how it's Wendy Oldbag we're talking about here, who is very dramatic, they probably did that on purpose.
 * Base Breaker: Case 2-3 (Turnabout Big Top).
 * Complete Monster: The killer of Case 2-4, . Especially what was done to, over extremely petty things.
 * By the same token,
 * Oh yeah, and how about that ? Tried to kill her own niece just to get her daughter to become Master, indirectly caused her own sister's death, and then there's how she plans to use Pearl... It's also explicitly mentioned that the reason she planned to  is not for her young daughter's well-being or benefit, but instead to revive a shred of her petty prideful dignity in assuring that  . She seriously did not give half a damn about her eight year old daughter's feelings on the matter.
 * She's even worse when you consider that, in case, it's mentioned that Pearl would not have wanted to . It's bad enough that she was going to use Pearl for her own benefits, but the fact that she deliberately lied to manipulate Pearl's devotion to her is even more awful.
 * Ending Fatigue: The last trial eventually boils down to just stalling for time.
 * Canonically!
 * Harsher in Hindsight: Maya, despite being cleared of all charges, laments at the end of Case 2-2 that every time something like this happens, she loses someone close to her. In the next game, she loses
 * Most Annoying Sound: Franziska's whip will have you wanting to strangle her with it by the time those two cases are over.
 * Player Punch: Pretty much all of the last case, starting right at the beginning when, and just getting worse when you find out.
 * Squick: In Justice for All, Pearl gives us this gem:


 * Also, "Director Hotti" implies that he'd like to "research" the crime scene photos if you show them to him in 2-2.
 * Even worse when you remember that it's in the pictures, and he'd been going on about how she was a favorite patient...

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

 * Alternative Character Interpretation: In an odd example, a couple gets this. The DeLites are either
 * No reason they can't be both.
 * At least they are Happily Married either interpretation.
 * Then there's the question of Terry Fawles' mental state. If he's mentally healthy, then he's an ephebophile, but if he suffers from mental problems or learning difficulties, then it's possible that he just doesn't understand the implications of a relationship with such an age gap. At least in the American version of the game (where Word of God claims takes place in California), the question is one of whether or not he was knowingly skirting the line with 14-year-old Dahlia, as the local age of consent is 18.
 * can be subject to this based on your interpretation of her statement that  was the first time that  . Does this mean that she knew about things like  ? Does she deserve  ?
 * Base Breaker: Godot.
 * Complete Monster: The Big Bad, . She ruined--or tried to--the lives of pretty much every single human being she could for utterly petty reasons. Her solution to almost every problem she faces seems to involving murdering someone. The Case Files manga once refers to her as the "most evil woman in Ace Attorney".
 * , arguably - while the murder of Glen Elg was out of little more than desperation, his manipulation of Viola and the lengths he went to to get Maggey convicted push him into this category.
 * Draco in Leather Pants: Godot. There's a pretty big difference between sympathetic and absolving him of all his  and bad decisions. Then again, the writers could have arguably been doing the same thing.
 * Evil Is Sexy:.
 * Fridge Horror: calls Mia a spinster out of spite, which would normally just be insulting
 * Funny Aneurysm Moment: Phoenix's behavior in case 3-1 gains a whole new dimension when it turns out that.
 * Perhaps it also counts as a bit of foreshadowing...
 * Harsher in Hindsight: Phoenix's comment in 3-3 that  becomes a lot harsher after the events of Apollo Justice, where he
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: 3-5 has one when you examine the incinerator. "A fight between a lawyer and an overgrown boiler? Who'd want to see that?"
 * Jerkass Woobie: Dahlia in Iris's perspective, although most likely not the player's. Both sisters were separated from their mother and received no love from their father, and while Iris had a mother figure in Sister Bikini. Dahlia had no one. Iris realizes Dahlia has done many unforgivable things, but still cares for her and wants to help her because of what she's been through (including recovering the necklace so she won't commit any more crimes).
 * Magnificent Bastard: While not being a Big Bad,  from the third game certainly counts..
 * Squick: STOP TALKING ABOUT HEMORRHOIDS!
 * There's only one reason! One as obvious as Jean Armstrong in a thong on the Riviera!
 * Values Dissonance: 3-4 gives us a 20 year old man in a relationship with a 14 year old girl (quite a heated one too) - the mention of the age gap is Played for Laughs.
 * Only the reactions of Mia and Diego are played for laughs. The relationship itself is portrayed as unhealthy, although less because of the age than because
 * Viewer Gender Confusion: Ron DeLite.
 * Viewer Gender Confusion: Ron DeLite.

Multiple games

 * Iron Woobie: Maya Fey: smiling through even the most hardcore misfortunes.
 * Maggey Byrd, who gets caught up in three murder trials over the course of the series (and that's not even covering half the things that have happened to her,) but remains plucky and optimistic throughout.
 * Jail Bait: Get into any location that contains Phoenix/Maya and Phoenix/ shippers and ask whether Maya is too young for Phoenix.