Ace Attorney/Characters/Defense Attorneys and Assistants

Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo)
""Why is it that lately, all I want to do is cry?""



The eponymous ace attorney of the first three games. Easy-going, good-natured, and intelligent. Despite that last part, Nick usually ends up using bluffs, manipulation and general making things up in court. Scary thing is, he usually turns out to be spot-on. Between the end of Trials and Tribulations and the beginning of Apollo Justice, Phoenix loses his license, and no longer practices law.

"Phoenix Wright: *gulp* Maybe I should have brought a diaper with me today."
 * Adaptational Badass: He's a normal lawyer that can beat the crap out of GALACTUS in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
 * Adorkable: If you've seen his college self, this needs no explanation. If you haven't, Feenie spends most of his time  with his eyes closed, open adorably wide, or crying. In the Case Book manga, Mia wonders if the Phoenix back then and the Phoenix now are two different people.
 * Amateur Sleuth: Although sometimes he has Gumshoe's assistance.
 * Anime Hair: And proud of it.
 * A Protagonist Is Ryu: His name in Japan (Ryuichi Naruhodou). Played upon in the third game's third case, where the antagonist has a tiger motif.
 * Big Good: in the Apollo Justice game.
 * Bring My Brown Pants: Case 3 of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, when Phoenix had to confront  in court.

"Phoenix: Nobody loves me..."
 * Born Lucky: Played straight and subverted, often in the same instance. Phoenix has the tendency to end up in life threatening situations, but come out of them largely unscathed through bizarre twists of fate. Reaches absurd levels by the fourth game: he gets hit full-on by a speeding car, causing him to fly through the air and slam head-first into a telephone pole. His only injury from this? A sprained ankle. Franziska may have put it best in the third game when she said, "As always, it's hard to say whether he should be called lucky or unlucky..."
 * Another example of his enormous luck is that(and this isn't really a spoiler at all) ALL his clients are innocent. Yes, it's Phoenix's skill as a defense attorney that gets his clients to go free, but the fact that all his cases are innocent people, without having defended a single guilty person, is downright miraculous...
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Actually, aside from the use of the pointer finger, Nick has very little leeway in what he can or cannot do in court.
 * Butt Monkey: Phoenix is ridiculed and mocked by almost everyone and is never in favor of the Judge on a regular basis.
 * Iron Butt Monkey: All sorts of abuse is heaped upon the hapless attorney on a regular basis. He gets punched by Pearl for "being unfaithful" to Maya, whipped by Franziska, and beaned by Godot's (full) coffee mugs. All he has to say about the latter is "Should I be grateful the coffee's only hot enough to give me first-degree burns?"
 * Captain Ersatz: A less serious version of Batsu Ichimonji.
 * Catch Phrase: Take a wild guess.
 * OBJECTION! I demand to be told what it is!
 * Used less often are HOLD IT! and TAKE THAT!
 * Capcom vs. Whatever: Phoenix is part of the roster in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
 * The Chessmaster:.
 * The Chew Toy: "Why it is that, lately, the only thing I want to do is cry...?"
 * And he's in his sweaty face animation so much that it may as well be his default expression.

"von Karma: That has nothing to do with the question! Phoenix: Au contraire mon frére! It does indeed have something to do with the question!"
 * Courtroom Antic: All of them except one, combined with Indy Ploy (which most of his cases boil down to).
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's like a legal idiot savant; he's always flustered and it seems like he has no clue what he's doing, but he's brought down some legendary prosecutors, including Manfred Von Karma.
 * If Phoenix is confident in court, you're fucked.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Phoenix tends to be pretty snide, but he typically keeps it to himself.
 * Until the fourth game, where he vocalises most of his snarkiness. Seven long years after can do that to a person.
 * Determinator: Phoenix sometimes gets down on the dumps when a case is not going his way, but he never gives up on it. He is SO determined in doing what's right that he went through an entire trial, and won, while having AMNESIA.
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Almost never gets any long-term acclaim for his accomplishments.
 * Fan Nickname: "Naruhobo" for his Apollo Justice incarnation.
 * First-Person Smartass: He's outwardly fairly polite, but virtually everyone gets his snarkiness in thought dialogue at some point or another.
 * Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: His trademark.
 * Gratuitous French: Oddly, Phoenix speaks French once in trial during case 2-3 as a retort towards Franziska von Karma.

"Phoenix: [Y]ou know my strategy... speak first, think later!"
 * Not as out of place here as one might think. Phoenix is cross examining a French man who frequently throws French into his own speech.
 * Guile Hero: As a lawyer, he uses his wits, evidence, and knowledge of the events of the crime to best the true villain of each case.
 * Heroes Prefer Redheads: Phoenix's girlfriend in college was the girl with red hair he called "Dollie."
 * Subverted:
 * Honor Before Reason: Phoenix is not really determined to get his client to go free as much as he's dedicated to the ideal of justice, and this is never more apparent than in his darkest hour: case 2-4. A killer kidnaps Maya and give Phoenix a mission: have his next client go free in one day in court or Maya dies. Phoenix actually manages to not only get a watertight case in favor of his client, but also  The Judge then asks what course of action Phoenix wants to pursue, and he has the choice of asking for the Judge to pass a Not Guilty verdict or allow  to testify in her defense. Phoenix, having already basically won the case, decides he does not want to leave any doubt of his client's innocence nor deny  her right to defend herself through testimony.  then proceeds to not only manage to prove she's not guilty, but she riddles Phoenix's case full of holes, and the Judge decides to extend the trial one more day. Phoenix breaks down in agony, thinking to himself that, had he done what he wanted to instead of what was right, Maya would not be doomed to death.
 * Idiot Hero: Downplayed. He's not an outright moron, but he can be quite the doofus.
 * I Did What I Had to Do: in Apollo Justice just to find the truth largely because.
 * Indy Ploy


 * Internal Reformist: He manages to become one as the result of a Batman Gambit after.
 * Japanese Pronouns: Uses Boku.
 * Kleptomaniac Hero: Fourth Amendment be damned!
 * Knight in Sour Armor: In the fourth game.  And considering the sequels, this turns out to come true.
 * Leitmotif: In each of the first three games, he has a different "Objection!" theme.
 * The "Cornered" theme of the original game is heavily tied with him.
 * Love Martyr: When dating Dahlia Hawthorne.
 * Made of Iron: Phoenix somehow manages to not only survive every serious accident; he usually brushes it off. So his name, Phoenix, does make a lot of sense; he's seemingly unkillable.
 * He falls into a raging river early on in 'Bridge to the Turnabout', after a wooden bridge he's standing on bursts into flames. As a result of this terrible event, he suffers a cold.
 * During Apollo Justice, he gets run over by a car, which apparently tosses him several feet in the air. Although he gets taken to the hospital, his only injury is a sprained ankle.
 * As of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Phoenix enters the arena and survives attacks by trained martial artists, superheroes, supervillians, physical gods, robots, zombies, Galactus himself, and rabid raccoons...
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: "Phoenix" because he always returns from the brink, and "Wright" as in "right" ("Is that right, Mr. Wright?"). "Ryuichi" is simply a Shout-Out to Ryuichi Sakamato from Yellow Magic Orchestra (although the "ryu"--dragon--is played on once Furio Tigre shows up), but "Naruhodo" means "I see", used to the same effect as "Wright" ("Naruhodo, Naruhodou.").
 * Nice Guy
 * Nice Hat: He gains one in Apollo Justice.
 * No Indoor Voice: All that shouting sure isn't good for his lungs.
 * Oh God, with the Verbing!: "Mia, not you too! With the whip... and the pain... and the owww..."
 * Older and Wiser: His role in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.
 * Only Sane Man
 * OOC Is Serious Business: He's typically fairly easily flustered for the most part, but tends to remain calm and resolute as he's closing in on the true culprit.
 * Perma-Stubble: As of Apollo Justice.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Played with. Phoenix is the red oni to Edgeworth's blue, despite the fact that Phoenix wears blue whereas Miles wears red.
 * However, this could possibly be played straight in Apollo Justice, where he's the blue oni to Apollo's red oni, wearing a blue hat and gray sweater compared to Apollo's red suit.
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend: In the Case Book manga, Pearl questions him about what Maya really is to him, and is met with five Psyche-locks.
 * Stupid Sexy Flanders: It's those puppy-dog eyes he has in Apollo Justice...
 * Spotlight-Stealing Squad: In Apollo Justice, he is pretty much this. In the first case, he ends up as the one who takes care of it despite that he hands some actions to Apollo and that he's a defendant of that case. And later he takes a main role in a flashback and the one who make Apollo's cases a lot easier than they should be. Near the end, the plot appears to revolve moreso around Wright than it does Apollo.
 * Supporting Leader: During Apollo Justice's case 1 and 4
 * Tempting Fate: In Turnabout Showtime in the manga, he's fairly confident in his case, and believes that he has the upper hand on Edgeworth when he proves that Julie Henson couldn't have stabbed Flip Chambers from outside his costume. Edgeworth then reveals that he already knew that, and calls in Raymond Spume to provide a possible way she could have done it.
 * This Is Unforgivable!: He states "This is inexcusable!" when he finds out that one of his cases involved not only poison, but also betrayal. Poison and betrayal remind him of  He's also quite angry when Franziska withholds evidence while prosecuting Maya, thinking that she's as bad as her father.
 * This Loser Is You
 * Trickster Mentor: To Apollo.
 * Unusual Eyebrows
 * The Watson: Phoenix is invariably left in the dark regarding the whole Kurain Channeling Technique thing as well as all these TV shows aimed to kids that Maya always happens to be a fan of.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Apollo punches him for

Mia Fey (Chihiro Ayasato) mia_9678.png
""Wright? I hope you see the importance of evidence now. Also, hopefully you realize, things change depending on how you look at them. People, too. We never really know if our clients are guilty or innocent. All we can do is believe in them. And in order to believe in them, you have to believe in yourself.""

Nick's beautiful mentor, although she dies in the second case (which is about twenty minutes into the first game). She's often hauled back from the afterlife to give Phoenix advice.


 * Absolute Cleavage: Not the most blatant in general but pretty blatant in the series. It especially comes out when she's being channeled through the much smaller-chested Maya or Pearl, whose breasts increase to match hers.
 * Spoofed hillariously here.
 * : Mia is a tragic example of this trope, early in the series.
 * Badass Teacher
 * Beauty Mark: On the right side of her chin.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Maya or Pearl channels her just in the nick of time, nine times out of ten.
 * Brainy Brunette
 * Buxom Is Better: Played straight in case 3-3, when Maya channels her so that she can look more attractive in her waitress outfit.
 * Dude Magnet: Seeing as she attracted the a number of male admirers including Dick Gumshoe and Larry Butz, then, after death, Victor Kudo and possibly Cody Hackins. Just a photograph was enough to trigger an interest from "Director Hotti" and Luke Atmey. She also had a boyfriend named Diego Armando according to case 3-1.
 * Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: The first character to do so chronologically. Phoenix likely picked it up from her while working under her.
 * Technically, that was Edgeworth, but Mia was the first to do so in a legitimate courtroom.
 * Also technically correct if you mean.
 * Hot Chick in a Badass Suit
 * I Need to Go Iron My Dog: She gives the excuse of having to go home to get a package if you choose her as the client in the first case of the first game.
 * Mayumi Iizuka
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: "Chihiro" means "1000 questions"; fitting, considering her lawyering techniques. Edgeworth says pressing witnesses' testimony is her signature style.
 * Fey also means
 * Mentor Occupational Hazard
 * Ms. Fanservice: Maya and Pearl's robes are designed to be quite modest. It doesn't work as well when Mia ends up wearing them.
 * Understatement of the year. It's not as bad with Maya's outfit, but in Pearl's clothes, she has to keep her arm pressed against her chest to stop them from popping out.
 * Even though character's lower bodies are almost never seen, you have to assume that Mia is showing off quite a bit of leg when she's in Pearl's clothes.
 * The Obi-Wan: She draws countless parallels with Obi-Wan, including her being the protagonist's teacher
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Doles out an awesome one to.
 * Talking the Monster to Death:
 * : During the first case, she's set up as one of the main characters.
 * Sexy Mentor
 * Spirit Advisor
 * Stuffed Into the Fridge and Disposable Woman: A subversion. Although early in the first game kicks off Phoenix's solo career, it's not there solely to serve as his motivation, and in fact a little thing like  doesn't stop Mia from being a hero in her own right all the way through the first three games.
 * Weirdness Censor: Played with. Most characters not to notice the changes when she possesses someone (e.g. Miles Edgeworth). Others ask if there's "something different" about whoever she's possessing (e.g. Penny Nichols), and others definitely notice the difference but don't connect Mia and Maya/Pearl (e.g. Victor Kudo).

Maya Fey (Mayoi Ayasato)


""It's a nightmare! The Steel Samurai is over! The world is over!""

Mia's little sister, as well as a spirit medium-in-training of and heir to the discipline she uses (Kurain Channeling Technique). She's the main assistant to Phoenix in the first three games, though she decides to accept her role as the Master of Kurain Village at the end of Trials and Tribulations, resulting in her absence in Apollo Justice, which made many fans upset.


 * Adult Child: While 17 in the first game, she fits entirely for the 2nd and 3rd.
 * Phoenix's one line about Maya in the fourth game refers to her as "this kid I know".
 * Assist Character: To Phoenix Wright in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. One of his Level 1 Hypers has her flailing her arms at the opponent.
 * Barrier Warrior: Her fighting style as Phoenix's assistant in Marvel vs. Capcom 3
 * Big Eater
 * Break the Cutie: Poor Maya goes through hell in both the first, second and third game. In the second game,  Somehow she has it EVEN WORSE in the third installment, where
 * Butt Monkey: There isn't a single game in the main trilogy where Maya isn't accused of murder. Or kidnapped. Or both.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Half the things she says during investigation are off-the-wall comments.
 * The quote on top should prove how she fits into this trope.
 * Damsel in Distress: At least once a game in the first three games.
 * Ace Attorney: You defend Maya in 1.2
 * Justice For All: You defend Maya in 2.2, and she's kidnapped in 2.4
 * Trials & Tribulations: You rescue the Sacred Urn in 3.2, and she's missing/almost killed/accused of murder in 3.5.
 * Hair Decorations
 * Fan Girl: Lover of all things Steel Samurai and its spinoffs.
 * Geek Physiques
 * Generic Cuteness: In the manga, Phoenix notes that she's not all that attractive for someone her age.
 * Genki Girl
 * Hime Cut
 * Kawaiiko
 * Kleptomaniac Hero: If it wasn't for Phoenix, much of the evidence and various possessions of witnesses and suspects would end up in her pockets. She's always eager to get into restricted areas through illegal means, as well.
 * Leitmotif: "Turnabout Sisters", comes in 2001 (first game) and 2002 (second and third game) flavors.
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: "Maya" and "Mayoi" are the Sanskrit and Japanese names, respectively, for the Buddhist concept of illusion. Meanwhile, the kanji used for the name Mayoi mean "true night," which the director felt suited the setting of "Turnabout Sisters", her debut case.
 * Nice Girl
 * Older Than They Look: Maya's already 17 in the first game.
 * Plucky Girl: Even after all the stuff that she has to suffer, Maya's enthusiasm never wavers, with the exception of her introduction in case 1-2.
 * The Pollyanna: She will mention being accused of murder with a big smile on her face.
 * Power Incontinence: In the Miles Edgeworth Case Files manga, her powers have developed to the point that when she thinks about Mia while asleep, she often ends up channeling her.
 * Put on a Bus: Right before Case 1-5, though in the original Game Boy Advance release there was no case 1-5 and her reappearance in 2-1 came without a break in between.
 * She also doesn't appear in Apollo Justice beyond having sent Nick some videos to watch, with no explanation of why she left.
 * Rapunzel Hair
 * She's All Grown Up: Whenever she channels Mia. Played for Laughs in Case 3-3, when she does it to get a Dirty Old Man to cooperate.
 * Sidekick: Effectively Phoenix's partner in solving crime and the second main character in the first three games.
 * Slipknot Ponytail: In Case 3-5,
 * Stealth Pun: She's a paralegal.
 * Stepford Smiler: At times, as Mia comments that she's more lonely and sad than she lets on. This is especially true at the conclusion of 3-5, when.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Burgers or ramen, dependng on whether it's the English or Japanese version.

Gregory Edgeworth (Shin Mitsurugi)


Miles' old man, and a stunning defense attorney. He was the only one to make a mark on von Karma's performance record (before Nick came bungling along). His English name may come from Gregory Peck, who played Atticus Finch and whom Gregory Edgeworth strongly resembles. spoiler:


 * Badass Longcoat: When playing as him.
 * Death by Origin Story
 * : It must be genetic...
 * Megane
 * Nice Hat: When playing as him.
 * Only Sane Man: Compared to most other lawyers in those games he seems a lot more down-to-earth. He even stayed very reasonable when he was about to die from a lack of oxygen in an elevator... The other guy inside said elevator... not so much.
 * He certainly acts this way
 * Origins Episode:
 * The Stoic: Apparently only (nervously) smiles when he gets a penalty.
 * The Stoic: Apparently only (nervously) smiles when he gets a penalty.

Pearl Fey (Harumi Ayasato)


""I know who you are. You're…You're Mystic Maya's…'special someone!'""

Mia and Maya's cousin, and a spirit medium prodigy. She believes that "Mr. Nick" is "Mystic Maya"'s "special someone", but this is a result of a sisterly devotion to Maya and growing up in a village with a high divorce rate, even for the US.

"...* glare*"
 * Armor-Piercing Slap
 * Badass Adorable: The girl can run from her home village to the courthouse. Without getting winded. On a route that takes 2 hours by train. She can also slap a 26-year-old man out of consciousness.
 * Blush Sticker: Often when in the depths of Phoenix/Maya shipping delusions.
 * Cheerful Child
 * Child Prodigy: An even better medium than Maya.
 * Death Glare: One of her default sprites. Even moreso in Case 3-2, when she thinks Phoenix is getting too close to Desiree.


 * Die for Our Ship: In-Universe example. She tends to beat the crap out of Phoenix if she catches him with another woman.
 * Expressive Hair
 * Fatal Flaw: Pearl's only true fault is her naivete. Cool and all, except  And the sad thing is, she really just wanted to help...
 * Innocent Prodigy: She is very naive but at the same time precocious.
 * Japanese Pronouns: "Watakushi" one of the most formal, sophisticated ways to say "I" in japanese. Explains why Phoenix was so shocked about her speech-patern when he first heard her talk.
 * Leitmotif: "With Pearly".
 * Meaningful Name: She is precious to her mother
 * Nice Girl
 * She's All Grown Up : When she summons Mia, moreso than Maya.
 * Shipper on Deck: Pearl is an in-universe Phoenix/Maya shipper. She responds... violently... to any suggestion they are NOT madly in love, at least on Nick's part.
 * Unwitting Pawn

Marvin Grossberg (Soranosuke Hoshikage)


""'Ah... the days of my youth... like the scent of fresh lemon...' you see.""

A rotund defense attorney and Mia's teacher. White manipulated him into giving him the inside scoop on DL-6 (which he had because the defense of that case worked for him), and then when it was leaked to the press, Misty was put on trial for fraudulence; Grossberg cleared her name.

"Phoenix: It's not something I can claim to understand... But you and Mr. White are lovers, aren't you! Grossberg: W-w-what! My boy! Phoenix: You sent that painting to him! As a sign! A sign of undying love! Grossberg: M-m-my boy, please! You're letting your fancies run away with you! Where do you get these bizarre ideas? Phoenix: I... I don't understand how you could... Grossberg: That's because I'm not, we're not... Don't be ridiculous! Enough. I'll swallow my pride and tell you all. Phoenix: (I knew it! They are lovers!) Grossberg: N-no! We are NOT lovers!"
 * Amoral Attorney: Not regularly so, but one has to question his ethics after he accepts a bribe from Redd White for information on Misty Fey.
 * Continuity Drift: When Phoenix first meets Grossberg in the first game, they don't appear to know each other, but in the third game, Grossberg was Mia's aide when she defended Phoenix. Even so, Grossberg doesn't appear to have the best memory anyway, since later that same game, he has once again forgotten Phoenix and Maya's relation to Mia.
 * Eyes Always Shut
 * They are open in his sadness expression, though.
 * Informed Ability: He's said to be a very good lawyer, being Mia's mentor and all. However, we never actually see how he does his stuff in the Court Room. Even more blatant in Trials & Tribulations, where acts more the part of a mentor to Mia than him.
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name/Shout-Out: "Grossberg" may be a play on the German for "big mountain." His Japanese name is both astrology-themed and a reference to two Japanese mystery novels--"Soranosuke" ("star boy") is from The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, and "Hoshikage" ("starlight") is from a Tetsuya Ayukawa novel.
 * Mistaken for Gay: Played for laughs. And how.


 * Mr. Exposition: Provides much of the information about DL-6 in the second and fourth cases of the first game.
 * Squick: He keeps talking about his hemorrhoids... Ew. It was much worse in the Japanese version, though ("I feel a lancing pain between my buttocks!").

Diego Armando (Soryu Kaminogi)


""The only time a lawyer can cry is when it's all over.""

A senior member of Grossberg Law Offices, and the best lawyer under his employ. The night before Mia's first trial, Grossberg had drunken himself unconscious and wasn't awake in time to be at the trial, so Diego comes to help the new "kitten" instead. After managed to escape conviction in that trial, he pursued her, but she poisoned him, resulting in his death. .


 * A Glass in the Hand:.
 * Badass Spaniard: Never directly stated, but his name and appearance are very convincing.
 * Knuckle-Cracking
 * Large Ham: Get used to seeing this.
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: Might be a reference to the soccer player Diego Armando Maradona, who fell victim to drugs.
 * New Old Flame
 * Sexy Mentor: Not only that, he and his "student" Mia did get together.
 * Something Only They Would Say: More for the audience's benefit than any character.
 * Theme Song Reveal:
 * Theme Tune Cameo: His leitmotif is also his ringtone.
 * Tranquil Fury: He is the one who taught Mia that defense lawyers don't get to cry, no matter how bad things get. At the end of Turnabout Beginnings, he still has a calm smile on his face after . The only thing that betrays his anger is.
 * Theme Song Reveal:
 * Theme Tune Cameo: His leitmotif is also his ringtone.
 * Tranquil Fury: He is the one who taught Mia that defense lawyers don't get to cry, no matter how bad things get. At the end of Turnabout Beginnings, he still has a calm smile on his face after . The only thing that betrays his anger is.

Apollo Justice (Hosuke Odoroki)


""Objection! O-B-J-E-C-T-I-O-N!""

Phoenix's replacement as the protagonist when he loses his badge. Apollo is passionate and somewhat headstrong, but relies much less on Courtroom Antics than Phoenix did. Naturally, he has most of the tropes that Phoenix did in his lawyer days.


 * Amateur Sleuth: Although sometimes he has Ema's assistance.
 * Animal Motifs: Minor example, and also brought about due to localization. In both Spanish and Italian, Justice's nickname "Pollo" means "chicken", since his hair could look like a chicken's comb.
 * On the Spanish and Italian version, his nickname is switched to Polly.
 * Anime Hair: Though he needs to gel it every day.
 * Ascended Fanboy: Who else stays up at night training themselves to bellow Objection!? Not to mention his extreme excitement at meeting Phoenix for the first time...
 * Broken Pedestal: Apollo enters his first case absolutely idolizing Phoenix Wright, claiming that no one in his generation hadn't heard of him and his office, and attempting to defend him in court using such logic as "that is a contradiction because there's no way Phoenix Wright would cheat at cards!" By the end of the case, Phoenix has tricked him into using forged evidence and Apollo is so furious he decks him. He vows not to take Phoenix's job offer but winds up having to as an absolute last resort, . Although he doesn't seem to hate Phoenix, it definitely shakes him out his case of hero-worship, and he often thinks mildly disparaging things about his former idol. To a lesser extent, this applies with.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: While we, as the player, always see the Perceive system in action from Apollo's perspective, staring down the witness, saying "You're hiding something", and having the witness admit it must look pretty odd from the sidelines.
 * When he Perceives, people tend to look at him in shock and say that he was staring so hard his eyes bugged out.
 * Butt Monkey: Somehow, he manages to get even LESS respect in court than Phoenix did.
 * Catch Phrase: "Here comes Justice!" He also adds Gotcha! to the set of catch phrases to shout in big red letters.
 * Character Development: Apollo is initially a pretty stock character, and doesn't succeed in setting himself apart from the protagonist of the previous games, even coming across as Phoenix's Palette Swap at times. Luckily, Apollo's character grows substantially throughout the games he's in, as well as his backstory gaining a lot of depth, to the point he becomes a really fleshed out character; arguably even moreso than Phoenix himself.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * First-Person Smartass
 * Detective Patsy: A lawyer version, as in, he was hired by the murderer in order to represent the defendant out of the belief that he would lose.
 * Expressive Hair
 * Forehead of Doom: Klavier even begins calling him "Herr Forehead" partway through the second case.
 * Giving Someone the Pointer Finger
 * Hot-Blooded: A phrase used over and over to describe Apollo is his "passionate heart burning red".
 * This is even more obvious in "Turnabout Serenade", when Apollo and almost duck duke it out if it wasn't for Klavier's intervention.
 * Hyper Awareness: An explicit ability of Apollo's family.
 * Idiot Hero: A downplayed example. Apollo isn't necessarily stupid, but he does often end up very flustered, and doesn't often think ahead of time. It's justified as in him being relatively new to the world of defense attorneys, so he comes across as a bit foolish compared to some of the more experienced characters.
 * Ironic Echo: Minor one if the player thinks about it. At the beginning of the game, where Trucy is revealed to be Phoenix's "daughter", Apollo is somewhat shocked upon realizing that would mean Phoenix would've... you know... at just 18 or so..
 * Japanese Pronouns: Unlike Phoenix, he uses Ore.
 * Kleptomaniac Hero: He is Phoenix's student, after all.
 * Leitmotif: "Start of a New Trial", his Objection theme.
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: His surname is "Justice". Meanwhile, in the Japanese version, "Hosuke" means "law boy" and "Odoroki" means surprise.
 * Also, the god "Apollo" was not only the god of truth, but also of the sun and is sometimes attributed with reviving the sun every morning, giving Apollo yet another connection to Phoenix.
 * No Indoor Voice: Chords of Steel!
 * Older Than They Look: He's 22 years old during the first game he appears in. Despite that, he still gets mistaken for a high-schooler by other characters. It doesn't help that he's usually accompanied by Trucy, so they often are mistaken as a "bunch of kids" whenever Apollo tries to investigate a crime scene.
 * Out of Focus: With regards to the series as a whole. Edgeworth has had two games since Apollo's, and Phoenix is about to have another. He's not even present on the series homepage anymore, the 10th anniversary banner having been changed to one featuring just Phoenix and Edgeworth. Whether this trend will be reversed with the upcoming Ace Attorney 5 remains to be seen, since literally no information except the name and logo has been revealed.
 * Luckily it did. Sort of. Apollo Justice gets a healthy dose of attention in the following games, and his character & backstory gets further developed. Though he overall is still somewhat left in the background, compared to Phoenix. Some things haven't changed, it seems.
 * Supporting Protagonist: To the disdain of Apollo fans, and despite the fourth installment in the series being named after him, Phoenix Wright hogs much of the attention throughout the game regardless. Phoenix is also more tied to the overall plot than Apollo is. Especially near the end, Apollo appears to mostly serve as the player character, and not much further beyond that. It does get mitigated by The Reveal that Apollo is so at least he's not utterly unrelated to the plot.
 * It also still applies to the next game in the series, Dual Destinies. Though Apollo's character does get more attention this time around, he's still overshadowed by Phoenix.
 * This Loser Is You

Trucy Wright (Minuki Naruhodo)


""How can you call someone as good as Machi a "pianist"? Why, that's like throwing him in the same class as Daddy!""

Phoenix's adopted daughter and magician extraordinaire (in training), and the Heir to the Gramarye name. Her best tricks are "The Amazing Mr. Hat", a wooden puppet almost as big as her that she can somehow hide in her cloak, and "Magic Panties", where she pulls out all sorts of bizarre items from frozen turkeys to mops to noodle bowls... all from a large pair of panties.


 * Cloudcuckoolander: Arguably moreso than Maya was.
 * Decoy Damsel: Played with. During the middle of the second trial,
 * Fan Girl : In regards to Troupe Gramarye and the Gavinners. She even has a special animation when she is "fangirling" on someone.
 * Genki Girl: Especially if it means an opportunity for her to bedazzle or entertain someone, whether it involves using a magic trick or not.
 * Happily Adopted
 * Honor Before Reason: Trucy refuses to reveal the secrets behind a magician's trick. Even when her partner Apollo needs to know how a magic trick works in order to save someone accused of murder.
 * Kawaiiko: Just look at her bouncing animation.
 * Kid Sidekick
 * Leitmotif: "Child of Magic".
 * Magician Detective: Sort of.
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: "Trucy" comes from "true" and possibly "see true"/"see through". "Minuki" means "seeing through" (just so you know, the Perceive System is called the Minuku System in Japanese).
 * Also considering her legal surname: her full name resembles "True See Right". To see the right(eous) truth.
 * Nice Girl
 * Nice Hat
 * Plucky Girl
 * The Pollyanna: Although not to the same ridiculous extent as Maya during the previous games, Trucy also has plenty of bad things happening to her. Nevertheless, she remains a cheery girl.
 * "Silly Me" Gesture
 * Stepford Smiler: A far less drastic version, but nonetheless
 * Third Person Person: In the Japanese version.

Kristoph Gavin (Kirihito Garyu)


""Well, well, well. Whoever heard of a thief in jail?""

Apollo's mentor and Phoenix's friend since the end of Trials and Tribulations. He's the "coolest defense in the west", and plays a key part of the Apollo Justice game.


 * Amoral Attorney: . Oh, and he, which while not technically having anything to do with his duties as an attorney is still a fairly amoral thing to do.
 * : He to get Phoenix  when he takes Zak's case instead,  all happening in a pretty severe case of, which most of the fourth game revolves around.
 * Cain and Abel: Cain to Klavier.
 * Chunky Updraft: Using the lobster and dinner plates left over from the previous witness ...
 * : Outwardly? Seemingly nice and friendly guy who rarely drops his smile.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: . That's... kinda harsh.
 * Evil Is Petty: See Disproportionate Retribution
 * Faux Affably Evil
 * Four Eyes, Zero Soul
 * Griefer: He has absolutely nothing to gain by being so obstructive in the final trial,, but does so simply to make Nick and Apollo lose.
 * Hidden Depths: There's a reason his entry is spoilertastic.
 * Laughing Mad:
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: "Kirihito" comes from "hitokiri",.
 * Real Men Wear Nail Polish
 * Red Right Hand:
 * Scary Shiny Glasses
 * Skyward Scream:
 * Stepford Smiler: Type C.
 * Stoic Spectacles
 * : Rather spectacular even by the standards of the series. You can't even really tell its the same person after he's done, his appearance has changed so much.
 * Wicked Cultured
 * Skyward Scream:
 * Stepford Smiler: Type C.
 * Stoic Spectacles
 * : Rather spectacular even by the standards of the series. You can't even really tell its the same person after he's done, his appearance has changed so much.
 * Wicked Cultured
 * Wicked Cultured

Kay Faraday (Mikumo Ichijo)


""Even in the depths of night, when no other bird dares to take flight... one alone soars to shine the light of righteousness on the world's blight! And that one is me, for I am the great thief Yatagarasu!""

Edgeworth's assistant in Ace Attorney Investigations, who serves the same in-game purpose as Maya in the Phoenix Wright games and Trucy in Apollo Justice. Described as a "mysterious thief".


 * : In AAI2, . Fortunately,.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Chronologically she first meets Edgeworth (during Ace Attorney Investigations) 7 years prior to the Amano incident, where she kicks Edgeworth in the leg and blows her nose on his shirt.
 * Fan Girl: She claims to be one in regards to the Jammin' Ninja.
 * Fan Nickname: Before her Japanese name was revealed, fans referred to her as "key girl".
 * Genki Girl: Possibly even more so than Maya or Trucy.
 * Highly-Visible Ninja: Questionable. A review in a recent Nintendo Power referred to her as a Ninja, but the Ace Attorney wiki uses the phrase "mysterious thief" and has her occupation listed as vigilante thief, suggesting she's more of a Highly Visible Phantom Thief. This is, of course, possibly even worse.
 * Edgeworth begins to wonder if Kay's real goal is actually to become a ninja and not a thief when Kay starts showing her preference for the Jammin' Ninja over the Steel Samurai.
 * And to expound on the high visibility, she's not at all averse to loudly declaring her role as the Yatagarasu with law enforcement personnel in immediate earshot.
 * : In AAI2.
 * Japanese Pronouns: Usually uses watashi. In the second game,
 * Kleptomaniac Hero: Surprisingly averted. Despite calling herself a thief and making jokes about stealing various items, the only thing she steals are Edgeworth's lines, and her biggest passion/goal is to steal (or rather try stealing) the intangible, such as the truth (or Gumshoe's support role).
 * Lady Thief: Repeatedly compares herself to Robin Hood. The Yatagarasu is explicitly called a gentleman thief in the Japanese version.
 * Kay states that the only thing the Great Thief Yatagarasu should never steal, is a life.
 * Magical Computer: Little Thief, a device that Kay uses to virtually reproduce crime scenes, even ones she can't actually access, by inputting data that Edgeworth gives her.
 * Meaningful Name: Chances are, Little Thief has been used for less scrupulous goals than reproducing crime scenes. It doesn't work in real time, though, so this fails to explain how Kay deals with the whole "highly visible" thing.
 * When she first uses it, Kay explains that it's used to 'simulate' potential heists. Which makes it perfect to reproduce a crime scene.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: With the exception of the romantic angle, the main entry description pretty much nails Kay's and Edgeworth's relationship.
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: "Kay" probably comes for "key", and "Faraday" may refer to the Faraday cage which is used in computer forensics.
 * Modesty Shorts: Official artwork reveals that she wears a pair of shorts under her skirt.
 * Phantom Thief: Moreso a wannabe, since she doesn't actually end up stealing a lot.
 * Shoo the Dog: She tells Edgeworth to when  and later,.
 * Stealth Pun: She wears a key as a hairpin; in the world of fiction, hairpins are frequently depicted as infallible lockpicks.
 * Take Up My Sword:  actually belonged to her father, a prosecutor who used it to
 * The Thief Who Doesn't Do Anything: Shortly after her introduction, she declares to Edgeworth that she has never actually stolen anything.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Swiss rolls.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Right on the borderline. Official artwork shows a C-grade, which is not considered true Zettai Ryouiki, but her in-game tiny sprites make it seem like they have crossed the threshold into a successful B-grade.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Right on the borderline. Official artwork shows a C-grade, which is not considered true Zettai Ryouiki, but her in-game tiny sprites make it seem like they have crossed the threshold into a successful B-grade.

Calisto Yew (Himiko Kazura)


A skilled attorney who appears in case four of Ace Attorney Investigations. While she is usually very composed, she breaks into fits of hysterical laughter at someone's character tics, such as Edgeworth's constant seriousness and fancy way of talking.


 * Amoral Attorney: She's seen defending a clearly guilty murderer, Mack Rell, supposedly as a means of closing in on the smuggling ring that killed her sister..
 * Dead Little Sister:
 * Foe Yay:
 * Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: She does this at the end of one of Edgeworth's rebuttals.
 * Hot Chick in a Badass Suit: Say what you like about her, but she's a snappy dresser.
 * The Hyena
 * Jerkass: Making fun of Edgeworth, viewing him and Franziska as children, and mocking Badd for his failure to save Cece Yew.
 * Laughing Mad
 * Leitmotif: "Let Me Laugh at the Cool"
 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: Calisto is also a species of butterfly while Yew is a species of tree, hinting at her Cohdopian roots.  Himiko was a somewhat mythical queen of ancient Japan.
 * Also, most of the characters refer to her as "Ms. Yew." Say it out loud. There we go.
 * Not to mention, she's pretty "callous to you".
 * YMMV, but Calisto and her sister Cece could be Calipso and Circe, both 'villains' in The Odyssey.
 * Some characters scream "Yew!" when they're particularly angry with her. Particularly
 * Mood Swinger: Alternates between "stoic" and "uncontrollable laughter".
 * Sarcastic Confession:, then breaks down laughing, claiming she was kidding. She wasn't.
 * Shout-Out: Present the knife to her in Case 4, and after a fit of laughter, she'll ask Edgeworth, "Why so serious?"
 * Mood Swinger: Alternates between "stoic" and "uncontrollable laughter".
 * Sarcastic Confession:, then breaks down laughing, claiming she was kidding. She wasn't.
 * Shout-Out: Present the knife to her in Case 4, and after a fit of laughter, she'll ask Edgeworth, "Why so serious?"
 * Sarcastic Confession:, then breaks down laughing, claiming she was kidding. She wasn't.
 * Shout-Out: Present the knife to her in Case 4, and after a fit of laughter, she'll ask Edgeworth, "Why so serious?"

Tateyuki Shigaraki


A famed defense attorney who knew Edgeworth's father. Appears in Ace Attorney Investigations 2.


 * Accidental Kiss: With Marī Miwa.
 * Well, he was asking for it.
 * Adorkable: His past self.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: After meeting Regina Berry, he wonders if she's the kind of animal tamer who uses a whip and says 'down, boy'. Edgeworth mentions he knows someone else like that, and Tateyuki demands they be introduced. Of course, if you know who he's referring to...
 * Incidentally,
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Contrasted with the people he works with, he tends to come off as this. Bonus points for being an actual lawyer!
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Economy Cast: He's the defense attorney of and when 's supposed lawyer, he took over her case.
 * Note that only one of them was . Also, didn't commit a murder, she only tampered with the crime scene.
 * Extreme Omnivore: His past self. Well, with paper, at least. He used to rip off a page in his notebook and then swallow it in order to remember the info.
 * Fan Boy: His past self, of Dansweets. He even sings the show's themesong along with its two presenters when meeting them for the first time.
 * The Glomp: When he meets Miwa.
 * Handsome Lech: His present self. He gets on quite well with Larry when they meet in the third case.
 * Keiji Fujiwara
 * Leitmotif: "Joking Motive"
 * Nice Hat: It seems he got it from.
 * He also got his trenchcoat (though he doesn't wear it) as promised. And his law firm.
 * Peek-a-Bangs: Pulls this off with his Nice Hat instead of actual bangs.
 * Remember the New Guy?: Edgeworth makes it clear he's known him most of his life, though he's been away overseas for a while.
 * Ship Tease:.