Ace Attorney/WMG

Apollo is related to Shawn Spencer
Since Hyper Awareness runs in Apollo's family, that explains Shawn's ability to detect evidence
 * OBJECTION! Shawn's Hyper Awareness comes from the extensive training his dad put him through.
 * HOLD IT! Perhaps Shawn had the Hyper Awareness before the training, and his dad trained merely to improve the ability.

Joe Darke is Cody Hackins' father.
Well, the ages do match up. And before you say that Cody said his dad was alive and took him to the Steel Samurai Convention...Joe Darke was jailed when he was 5 years old, so his mother may have married another man, and Cody may be referring to his new father, although there is no evidence to support entirel this claim.

Phoenix actually is part spirit medium.
This explains why is is able to hear Mia, even though he hasn't trained in Kurain or elsewhere.
 * OBJECTION! Acording to T&T, only women can become spirit mediums!
 * TAKE THAT! The original poster never claimed that Phoenix was a spirit medium, just that he could be part spirit medium! He could still be male with spirit medium blood flowing through his veins, allowing him to use the Magatama, and see/hear Mia without her being channeled.
 * OBJECTION! You mentioned that he needs spirit medium blood to use the magatama, but Edgeworth uses it at one point!
 * Gah! ...How did they...? Very well, I concede that point. However, that still doesn't explain why Phoenix can see Mia without being a spirit medium, unless he is part (and only part) spirit medium!
 * OBJECTION! T&T says that only women can possess spiritual power, which means that he can't even be part spirit medium!
 * OBJECTION! Saying that "only women can possess spiritual power" and that "Phoenix could be part spirit medium" are not mutually exclusive! Let's say that a spirit medium gives birth to a son. That son (though not possessing any sort of "power") would still be part spirit medium, correct? The WMG is saying that perhaps Phoenix has the blood of a Kurain medium flowing through his veins, giving him the brief ability to see Mai at the end of PW:AA. (This could work especially well if you take into account the fact that many legends of ghosts include those who haunt the living to bring those who wronged them to justice.) Phoenix is not a spirit medium, we accept that fact as true. But, if he has spirit medium blood flowing through his veins, and (maybe) Mia stuck around to bring her murderer to justice, it's possible that the two coupled together allowed Phoenix to see Mia without anyone else summoning her.
 * OBJECTION! ...Ha! In the bleak darkness of despair, we all see shadows of those we hold closest. If you insist that this glimmer of yearning was something more, then let's see some evidence!
 * Um... Please forgive me, but I do not have evidence, merely a question. If all it was was Phoenix seeing her because it was the "bleak darkness of despair", then why is it that Godot is able to see (or, at the very least, sense her) at the end of PW:T&T Case 4? Is he having a shared hallucination with Phoenix? Or is it possible that Phoenix, being part spirit medium, was maybe able to "channel" (sorry, I couldn't think of a better word for it, yes I know that it's not channeling) her spirit enough to touch the heart of Godot?
 * Phoenix never saw her in that instance, or heard her, or otherwise sensed her. This troper takes it as Godot seeing a bit of Mia in Phoenix's undying struggle towards the truth, seeing that Mia "is living on in him." This is supported by the fact that the thing that made Godot drawn to her in the first place was her belief in her clients to the bitter end. Also, Godot had demanded that Mia stay out of that particular court battle, insisting that Phoenix man up and battle alone. Plus, Mia's spirit was still residing in Pearls's body at that time.
 * Witness Testimony I think Mia is just too awesome to be stopped by something as puny as death. Phoenix is just lucky she likes him enough to bail him out again and again. You may now cross-examine this statement.
 * HOLD IT! Sorry, can I ask you to define what you mean by "awesome"? The only awesome thing this troper attorney troper can recall is the extremely satisfying Humiliation Conga she gave to Dahlia in 3-5.
 * In regards to the statements that only women can be Spirit Mediums, allow me to say that Pearl asked Phoenix if he studied some different technique when they first met (of course, she was very confused at what exactly a Lawyer Medium could do), possibly suggesting that there are other ways of channeling spirits besides the Kurain way.
 * The above statement is extremely likely. In 2-2, Pearl indeed mentions that. Phoenix would be part spirit medium, just not part Kurain spirit medium.
 * TAKE THAT! During the credits of 3-5, Pearl reveals Phoenix He really has no reason to, unless he just wanted to sit with Maya,

Phoenix is Richard Moore.
Policeman turned lawyer turned Private Eye 'Richard Moore' was Phoenix in between PW 3 and AJ. They both have a terrible curse of dead bodies being everywhere they go. Phoenix has always looked up to lawyers; his ex-wife is thus a lawyer. Both have basic knowledge of crime scenes, but can be pretty incompetent. They both need someone to walk them through it or just solve the case for them (Conan, Mia/Maya/any Fey). Phoenix is shown to have an interest in poker and gambling. All that 'grape juice' really is beer, as we know Richard Moore loves, but he's grown a tolerance to it. Both are world-famous, but after the disbarring, no one brought up his lawyer days out of consideration/fear. He couldn't get a case in his beginning days as a PI because of his reputation as a lawyer. After he 'solved a few cases' however, people began to overlook it. Hobo!Phoenix is Phoenix/Richard after PI-ing also fails for him, since he already failed at being a policeman and lawyer. Rachel lived with her mom up until Phoenix enters his Richard stage of life, then she moves back with her mom by AJ (likely due to bad parenting). Hobo!Phoenix really adopted Trucy much later (he was having a friend take care of her), because he missed Rachel once she went back to living with her mom.
 * He also lost the spikes because he didn't want people to recognize him, though he eventually opted for Trucy's knit beanie. He began smoking because he was so jaded. The Phoenix shown in the flashback case (4-4) seemed awfully cocky. After being disbarred, out of shock, this facet of his personality grew worse and worse until it became Richard Moore's personality. By AJ, he's mellowed and cleaned up his act, but he's still more like Richard than his old Phoenix self.

The Judge was a Prosecutor in his youth.
Think about it. His Favoritism towards the Prosecutors is blatantly obvious. He allows Franziska to physically assault people, Godot gets no reprimand for throwing scalding hot coffee at the defense and even when there's rock solid evidence that the defendent is innocent he still refuses to declare them not guilty until the real murderer is found. And even then he gladly accepts whatever straws the real murderer is clutching at. This would also explain why he is so easily enamored by a couple of female witnesses but is completely unaffected by Mia's large breasts.
 * Mia never tries to use them on the Judge. He's pretty gullible and is pretty easily led. As for Godot and Franziska, I always interpreted letting them get away with their antics as a result of being afraid of them.
 * Makes sense, because judges are usually lawyers with additional training. So it's a 50/50 at the very least that the Judge was a prosecutor.

This series is linked to the Buffyverse...
...via Wolfram and Hart. They are the ones Lana Skye "sold her soul" to, and are also responsible for extraditing Godot from Hell. "Lotta Hart:Y'all know my cousins from somewhere?"
 * There really IS a Demon Prosecutor somewhere.

Phoenix is Mia's Horcrux.
When Mia was murdered, she unknowingly would put a part of her soul in Phoenix. That would make him a Horcrux, which explains why he, who isn't a spirit medium, can occasionally hear her. Also, since she would have a Horcrux, even if her body was killed she would still be half-alive, which explains why she can be so easily summoned by Maya or Pearl.
 * And we know that by messing up with the Magatama you can shatter your soul, so maybe Mia was really bad when using it, which is why her soul was fractured and a piece of it entered Phoenix!
 * She ran into black Psych-locks on one of her first cases when Phoenix was her apprentice and didn't give up until her soul fragmented! But who would have such locks? Dahlia? Manfred Von Karma? Damon Gant?

Phoenix is a Reality Warper
Some (or all) of the clients he took were actually guilty, but because of his childhood trauma he believes so strongly in defending people who are innocent that he retconned this fact. In the early games, his powers weren't great, so he had to find plausible alternate explanations to the events. By game 4, he can violate the laws of physics themselves: whatever magic is behind Trucy's time-and-space defying panties, they still appear to be normal panties on the outside and thus can't cause a car to stall just by being stuffed up the tailpipe, and I haven't even gotten to the MASON system yet.
 * Expounding, Phoenix is a mutant/metahuman, with powers along the lines of the Scarlet Witch. The AJAA timeline is the manifestation of a psychological breakdown he went through at some point, a la Avengers Disassembled, and GS 5 will pick up with him facing whatever brought on such trauma, and winning, and then everything returning to post-GS 3 normal.
 * Ok, that's one more tally to the 'Nickwank' counter. Carry on everyone.
 * There's more evidence toward this. They say the judge has never given an incorrect verdict. Depending on how you play, you can get either guilty or not guilty depending on how well you do. Put these together, and Lawyers can alter reality with their debating skills.

The Judge is a Reality Warper
See the above suggestion.
 * Fridge Horror since on the first day of case 1-4,  was declared guilty for about five minutes before   stepped in. He was later found not guilty. So did he become guilty and then reality flipped back or what?

Ini and Mimi Miney have a brother called Moe Miney
or Moe the clown is somehow related to them

The "legal system" in the games is, in fact, an aspect of the afterlife where the people are judged for their sins.
Though the lawyers in the system don't know it, they're in fact tasked with helping the process of judging people who have died, to decide whether they're good and go to heaven, or bad and go to hell.
 * HOLD IT! If this is true, how could Edgeworth and Phoenix both be put on trial, be found not guilty, and then continue to defend/prosecute?
 * OBJECTION! Because they're lawyers, and very good lawyers at that - if we're dealing with people's souls here, wouldn't the Powers That Be want to hold on to two of their most effective and scrupulous employees?  The real question is why there are recurring defendants.
 * Clerical Errors, after all, all bureaucracies make mistakes at times.
 * OBJECTION! ::mug slides into hand:: ::sips:: Then how do you explain ::close-up, speed lines background:: ...the repeated channeling of Mia Fey's deceased spirit?!
 * ...well? How do you explain what?
 * Simple. Mia Fey... never existed in the Celestial Bureaucracy!! She was simply planted into the minds of Phoenix et al to facilite their efforts, and to act as a focal point by The Powers That Be to exert their will and avoid mistrials!
 * HOLD IT! Mia Fey is obviously still alive while everyone else is dead.
 * HOLD IT! A spirit who has been summoned back to purgatory
 * She got promoted out of the game (between the flashback cases and 1-2) and was used as a "trial by fire" for Phoenix to prove he was ready. She can still give him help, but only cryptic, practically useless hints (there are rules about this sort of thing). Perhaps every lawyer in the game has a "spirit" helping them. Fransiska could have her father, Edgeworth, maybe his father, Godot might have Mia as well, and Apollo? He has Phoenix. He doesn't need a spirit aid.
 * OBJECTION! The defense has yet to explain one basic flaw in his reasoning, namely that Phoenix Wight was put on trial before he became a lawyer!
 * OBJECTION! Simple: Phoenix died, was put on trial, and the almighty deities who control the system found potential in Wright and made him an attorney.
 * This particular trope amuses me, in part, because it can also be argued to be rather close to the original Jewish plot of the Book of Job. (For those unaware: in the traditional Jewish viewpoint, it is far less of a bet between God and Satan and rather a case of humanity itself being put on trial--with Job being the defendant/defense attorney representing humanity as a whole, God being the judge, and ha-Satan being the prosecuting attorney--right down to using curses as "cross examination", using Job's best friends as a form of attempted witness against the defense, and so on.)
 * Some modern (Christian) Biblical researchers even have pointed out Satan has a traditional characterisation not unlike Miles Edgeworth before his Heel Face Turn--an overzealous prosecuting attorney willing to do anything to win a case.
 * ...And Edgeworth wears red, the traditional colours of Satan/hell/devils/etc.
 * And this pretty much makes this trope officially Older Than Feudalism.
 * OBJECTION! What are the murder victims then?
 * People who are still alive.
 * Spirits who are undoubtly going to heaven or hell?
 * Made up people to create an exscuse for the dead people to be put on trial.

The characters in the game series "speak" in text.
Just how do you pronounce a star in Mask* DeMasque? How can Phoenix be corrected on the name if the spelling he used would yield the same pronunciation? The only logical conclusion is that the characters see dialogue as subtitles.
 * How do you manage to say the star in Black*Star?
 * The * stands for jazz hands.
 * Note that Ron didn't say Phoenix was pronouncing the name wrong, he specifically said that Mask* DeMasque is spelt with a star.
 * That might also explain how
 * There was an ad in Japan for the first DS remake where all the characters had voiceovers for their text, except in one scene where Phoenix and Maya started making the usual bip-bip-bip noise of text appearing instead, and Edgeworth got mad about it. Since they could still understand each other, this makes it pretty clear that they can "read" the text.
 * In a Japanese ad for the fourth game, everyone has voice acting except for Apollo, who has to speak in text-and-beeps. Everyone can understand him and is aware of the beeping...
 * OBJECTION! When Sal Manella uses the word 'R0xx0rz,' Maya thinks he's saying 'Rocksores' which only makes sense if she only heard it out loud. Come to think of it, the same concept is actually used as evidence during a trial: the Maggie/Maggey issue.
 * Maya may just have been unfamiliar with the word. She's not exactly a character one would expect to be fluent in 1337-speak, and could have been trying to "translate" it without having any idea what it meant.
 * As for the Maggie/Maggey evidence, this actually becomes a piece of Fridge Brilliance when you realize that the defendant who makes this mistake is missing his glasses! As for Gumshoe...well, he IS Gumshoe. He probably just didn't read the picture very carefully.
 * OBJECTION! The person in question lost the glasses when the murder occurred. Before that, he still had them, so he would have had no problem reading the textbox, meaning Fridge Brilliance is not a valid option in this case!

The series takes place in a totalitarian dictatorship; the trials are just for show
Let's sum up the facts. Guns are nearly impossible to obtain. Only incompetents seem to actually hold any job. Even self-defense with significant extenuating circumstances begets a death sentence. Any sort of courtroom antic is allowed, and let's face it, not only on the side of the prosecution. Prosecutors can taunt, insult, even whip the defense, not to mention the witness and/or the judge. Obvious shams of accusations are leveled at clearly innocent people, who remain guilty until proven otherwise. And the defense attorney(s) themselves seem to be easily-intimidated scaredycats.
 * The only thing that remains strange is how can the actual guilty parties get sentenced and the innocent cleared. It's possibly just the dictators' reward for a "good show". Keep everyone entertained and on the edge of their seats (panem et circenses...), and you actually get to indict the guilty parties. Fail, and, well, the first guy they see pays for the crime.
 * You are the button-pressing overlord at whose beck and call sprites dance. All insults leveled at Phoenix are in fact slights against the player. You and your allies are the defense, the prosecution is the enemy. Phoenix Wright is the avatar of Defense, and the dictator is the avatar of Prosecution. You, the player, pull the strings behind Defense. Capcom pulls the strings behind Prosecution. Ultimately, you are playing a zero sum game with the developers in the catbird seat, for they determine whether you can win.
 * Note on the gun issue: The game was originally set in Japan, where it is rather hard (read: Damn near impossible) to legally acquire a gun if you're not a police officer.

Phoenix's submission of false evidence happens during Edgeworth's trial, but it is only revealed during Manfred Von Karma's trial as part of a Xanatos Gambit on Karmas.
We never see Manfred Von Karma's trial, which makes sense because the focus is on defense attorneys. For the purposes of this theory, however, we shall assume that it takes place in the gap between AA 3 and AA 4, Von Karma clearly having enough legal skill to tie up the courts for that amount of time. Some of the clues Phoenix finds in AA 1 seem the result remarkably sloppy cover-up, especially for a Magnificent Bastard of Von Karma's character... but that's because the evidence is faked! Xanatos Gambit time! At his eventual trial for murder, Von Karma proves that the evidence Phoenix submitted during the first trial are forgeries, simultaneously getting an acquittal, and forever soiling Wright's reputation as a lawyer. Only foolish fool foolishness would lead one to believe that they could go up against a Von Karma without repercussions.
 * A tip of the Attorney Badge to xdelicious, who's Phoenix Wright Xanatos Gambit submission inspired this theory.
 * OBJECTION! The troper responsible for the Xanatos Gambit entry is baffled by this. It's clearly stated in the fourth case of Apollo Justice Ace Attorney that the false evidence was presented in a trial which von Karma had nothing to do with... unless one considers  to be von Karma's apprentice.
 * Well, they certainly have a shared tendency to overreact.
 * Not to mention that Trials and Tribulations makes it clear that von Karma is deceased.
 * The above theory was written by someone who had only heard vague spoilers for the third and fourth games, as such, consider it Jossed
 * Having played the fourth game, I'm actually of the opinion that

Manfred Von Karma committed suicide.
We used to have this one, a few bullet points deep, but it seems to have gotten shuffled off. A brilliant lawyer, and an undefeated prosecutor who doubtless has accumulated favours no matter how much of a Jerkass he was, simply doesn't get executed in less than three years. Remember, a conviction in the three-day trials doesn't lead directly to sentencing, but to an automatic retrial in a higher court--and then there are still appeals. On the other hand, Von Karma was obsessed with perfection--and he lost his win record, his long-plotted revenge, his reputation, and his freedom all in the same day. For a man so given to overreaction, this could easily lead to deciding that he was truly guilty of imperfection, and being his own hangman not long after. This adds resonance to Edgeworth's particular disdain for suicide in the final case of the second game--not only did he obviously not do it himself, but he sees it as the final failure of Von Karma and his way, in contrast to the new path he's chosen for himself.
 * I came to the same conclusion due to the fact that it took Dalhia 5 years to have her sentence carried out but Von Karma was dead before a year had even gone by.

Ema Skye is hot.
Don't deny it. Its better than the other theories here.... "Sal Manella: Best...WMG...EVER! :D"
 * HOLD IT! Ema Skye the stand-in for Maya, or Ema Skye the detective? Choose your answer carefully.
 * Let's see. The problem is, she's kind of a bitch in Apollo Justice...
 * TAKE THAT! But the other one is sixteen.
 * Objection! 16 years is too old for lolicon!
 * OBJECTION! Have you SEEN Mia!?
 * OBJECTION! You honor, the purpose of this inquiry is not to determine "Is Ema Sky hotter than Mia Fey?" but rather "Is Ema Skye hot?". Mia's hotness, while smokin', has no relevance to the case at hand! If the opposition wishes to claim Mia's hotness holds some relevance to the case of Ema's hotness, I must ask they prove it... with evidence!
 * 'TAKE THAT! Phoenix (or you the player, whichever you prefer) has been with both, Ema and Mia at some point during his career. Phoenix has only worked with Ema on one case and that was when she was a hyper spunky 16 year old (thus not being legal in some parts of the world) while Mia was in her 20s before she died and even after death, she is summoned back many times to help Phoenix in his cases. As mentioned before, Ema, nearly 7-10 years later, has become a cold ice queen unless you bribe her with Snackoos or a fingerprint duster. Not to mention she can be somewhat flaky. Mia, however, can not only retain her "goods" while being channeled, but she always has something to help you out with and has a much nicer personality. Between a smart and smokin' woman and another woman who stuffs her face whenever you even annoy her, the defense proposes that Mia is an easier fish to catch compared to Ema!
 * 'OBJECTION! ::Smirks, wags finger:: Nice try, rookie. But look back. What have you proven? 'Mia Fey is a very nice, smoking hot lady. Nicer and hotter than Ema, certainly.' ::Slams hand on desk:: As if anyone with eyes did not already know this! ::Points:: Yes, Mia IS hotter than Ema, smarter, and nicer! And if that were the purpose of this trial, you might have managed a full acquittal! But I must remind you again, the purpose of this trial is to determine 'is Ema Skye hot?', and ONLY to determine that fact! Mia Fey's hotness ::Slams hand on desk:: still has no relevance!
 * Urk! (I thought I was on the right track...? Damn, I don't have any other options!) The defense...the defense...
 * Phoenix...your looking at this the wrong way. Don't ask why she isn't hot...point out evidence that only exists because she isn't...wow. Is that her? And I thought Lana was hot...Nevermind, Wright. Your on your own on this one.
 * Phoenix Wright!!! You foolishly foolish fool! Only an idiot would not think of a night with Ema once laying eyes on her I mean...was that out loud? Shut up, lets go home Adrian.
 * No fisher brags about any fish but the one that got away, Trite. Ema is not nearly so objectionable as you claim. The unavailable ice queen angle is still quite attractive. Or would you really ::slams mug on desk:: ...turn down Franziska Von Karma as well?!
 * ...! Godot! ::slams hand on desk:: I must ask you not to bring up Wright's relationship with Franziska! For...er..personal reasons.
 * The defense would like to propose that Detective Skye is, indeed, a stone-cold fox, if you manage to snap her out of her bitchiness. As evidence, he would like to present various pieces of forensic investigation equipment, which make her instantly more personable. If you date her, bring a fingerprinting kit.
 * I find her young self cute as heck, and for her older self, the ice queen types normally annoy me, but something her attitude is funny (QUIET, SNACK TIME) and her happy go lucky self can come out every so often, generally with the aid of scientific crap
 * ORDER! (bangs gavel) We're here to discuss if Ema Skye can be considered "hot". We aren't discussing if she's the hottest thing in the series, just does she qualify. Any more bickering about irrelevant topics will result in penalties!
 * 'TAKE THAT! Ema is definitely hot. ::holds paper sheets in his hand while hitting them, triumph music starts playing:: She was asked to provide security in The Gavinners concert, even though she publicly dislikes Klavier, such a band surely has the power (both as celebrities and as law officers) to have any member of the police staff they requested. On top of that, there weren't any groupies waiting in the Gavinners' dressing room. given all this evidence, one can assume that one or more of the Gavinners had the intention of performing actions of questionable nature with the detective. ::Slams hand on bench:: And why would someone have this intentions? ::Points finger::Because she is indeed hot!!!
 * (Gasp!) Mr. Nick! How dare you do that to Mystic Maya! (Slap)
 * What's going on in this thread, pal?
 * Say, Nick, you can hook me up with this Ema chick, right? Nick, buddy?
 * ::Wince:: Your Honor...this is...this is undue badgering of the troper! I won't let this...rookie slander the woman whom rid me of my hair!
 * Wait a sec, folks. This gal's got her two cents, too! Ain't this "Mia" gal dead? ::Looks at picture:: HOO DOGGY! That's ghost I saw in my picture!
 * (Slams Gavel) That's enough! The evidence presented to me is quite clear. I see no reason to continue this trial. This court finds Ema Skye VERY HOT BUT IS STILL A DEFROSTING ICE QUEEN


 * A splendiforous deduction, Mr. Wright. ::"flashes rings":: But I would prefer my darling little April May, wouldn't you agree?

Mia Fey is hot
There, are you happy now?
 * Objection! Your honor, the defense is abusing the plantiff.
 * Hmm...Mia Fey... ...Ah! ::Nods:: Objection sustained. Please refrain from personal attacks.
 * This troper pleads guilty of staring at the defense attorney's cleavage then undressing her with his eyes.

Kay Faraday is hot.
She charmed a national ambassador who's twice her age within hours, made even Franziska and Detective Badd show softness with her, somehow convinced Edgeworth to not immediately dump her somewhere when they first met despite how annoyingly Genki she has, and later managed to drag him off to the Allebaht/Babahl embassy events when he just wants to take it easy after spending the previous day investigating three murder cases at a pace that made 24 seem sedate. Canon Sue? Perhaps. But still indisputably hot.
 * 'EUREKA! ::points:: Obviously, Kay Faraday has stolen your heart.
 * 'NOT SO FAST! This is all circumstantial Mr. Prosecutor! This old pack ain't gonna run with weak reasoning like that. You know what I'm talking about? Proof!
 * 'OBJECTION! ::points:: Your honor! Without proof, that statement is nothing more than a personal opinion, and won't do in court! ::slams desk:: All that it proved was that Kay Faraday is a charming young lady, which doesn't prove that she's 'hot'! I am forced to ask for some evidence!!
 * 'TAKE THAT! In Turnabout Ablaze, she stood next to a burning building! That would make her very hot! While it is impossible to prove that she is hot through opinion... :desk slam: You can certainly prove it with fact! In fact, since she has been closer to the largest fire in the series than the above witnesses... I submit to the court that Kay Faraday is the hottest girl in the series!
 * 'NOT SO FAST! Sorry, pup, but this wolf isn't gonna bite. Just 'cause she was standing near a fire, doesn't mean anything if you're trying to prove she's 'hot'. But if that's your line of thinking... ::close up, speed lines:: Then I guess everyone involved in that case is potentionally hot?!
 * ::head scratch:: Well... yes. Can you name a single person in that case who wasn't hot?
 * 'OBJECTION! ::slaps paper:: Are you implying that everyone in that case was hot? :slams hands on desk: There is just one thing off in your logic. ::points:: What about the people who were in the other building? ::close up and speedlines:: What about Oldbag?!?!
 * (Barges in) Mr, Edgeworth, sir! We just got a report back from the boys in the lab, and it says Kay's very short skirt is more than a little titillating! I think this might be enough to prove she's hot, pal!
 * 'OBJECTION! Kay Faraday is a pettanko with no real sex appeal! Plus, while not making a comparison to the hotness of other Ace Attorney females (such as in the Is Ema Skye Hot WMG), the fact is, the player has been exposed to way hotter, and as such, Kay Faraday and her mild attractiveness should leave no impact on the player. Thus, she shouldn't be considered hot. (On the subject of her younger self being adorable, however...)
 * 'NOT SO FAST! You refer to the precedent set by the Ema Skye WMG. However, it was established there-- and thus stands true here-- that only OBJECTIVE hotness matters! Furthermore, in addition to her still having a chance to fill out a bit more, breast size is only one aspect of perceived hotness! I submit for your consideration her incredibly short skirt.
 * We accept her skirt into evidence and concede on the matter of Objective Hotness. Ah, but lest you forget the rest of her outfit, her ugly rubber boots nullify the hotness of her legs and short skirt. While you could be looking at a whole lotta leg or some fetish-y Zettai Ryouiki, these abominations of footwear stare you right in the face. You cannot concentrate on a ruffling skirt when those things catch your eye. Furthermore, Kay has no fashion in any sense of the word. Her ensemble does her body a disservice. Her scarf does a fine job of covering up her neck and collar bone and any other sexy elements. Her outfit in general looks terrible, and her face is an awfully generic "mischevious face", offering no unqiue appeal. Now if you wish to suggest that Kay is hot au natural or in other clothing, without her joke of an outfit, I may have to reconsider.
 * 'TAKE THAT! I will submit this piece of fanart, which may not show as much skin as other females in the AA cast, but definitely shows that Kay, given the chance to grow a little older and "fill out," can definitely be one sexy Great Thief. Therefore, you must reconsider now and conclude that Kay is, indeed, hot - or at least, has the potential to be hot.

Edgeworth would make a hot woman.

 * He'd certainly pull of a Tres Bien uniform better than Wright.
 * 'OBJECTION! This court will not accept evidence that will mentally scar the judge!
 * Scar... OR IMPRESS?!
 * ::Gavel bang:: No, just scar. ::Penalty::
 * (Ack! I must be on the wrong track! ... Maybe I can turn this case all around... Think outside the box...) Aha! I have you now, Your Honor! I move to accuse ::close up, speedlines:: the judge of murder!

Dick Gumshoe is hot.
... Well, I think so anyway.
 * Why else would Franziska keep whipping him?
 * So Phoenix is hot too, under that logic?
 * Er, I actually think he's hot, too...

Edgeworth will eventually be murdered.
It happens to everyone else Oldbag likes.
 * By this logic, Larry Butz will never die.
 * 'OBJECTION! It only happens when those that Oldbag likes are mentioned for the first time! Edgeworth's been around for three games, and he hasn't been killed!
 * Yet.
 * Where was Edgeworth during Apollo Justice...?
 * Abroad, most likely. Edgeworth seems to spend a lot of time abroad. Whether this entails studying foreign legal systems or bedding six German milk maids simultaneously, I can't say.

Godot was hospitalized at House's hospital.
Godot was in coma since Dahlia poisoned him, and was awoken when he smelled the aroma of the coffe a doctor brought to his room. And House has been know to use the comatose patient's room as cafeteria.

The Ace Attorney series as we know it is a set of alternate universes that split with the existence of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney's special DS only 5th case.
In the second game, Edgeworth is stated as never having done another case after the incident with Von Karma. This is clearly contradicted by the fifth case of the first game, so one can only assume the fifth case only exists in an alternate continuity that runs through the other games, including Ace Attorney 4. The original continuity only goes up to three, and ends there, presumably with Phoenix never being disbarred in some series of events we cannot know.

The origin of the tangent universe is the birth of Ema Skye. She was never born in the original universe, and was in fact created by Schala from Chrono Cross upon hearing the screams of Lana Skye being sentenced to death without anybody to give a good lawyerly representation for her. Hence the creation of Ema, a clone who looks nothing like Schala (see Kid.) This also explains why Lana was so cold to Ema before the events of the trial -- she didn't exist, and the false memories only went back so far.

For those who say this is a completely overcomplicated explanation that makes no sense, you've obviously never had anything to do with Chrono Cross.
 * Yet more 'Nickwank' * tallies*
 * Ezekiel finds this explanation both straightforward and logical.
 * 'OBJECTION! If Ema Skye did not exist, then  Or are you suggesting she's the kind of person that can turn a blind eye to injustice for the sake of her own career?
 * Ack! Well...what if case 5 and the SL-9 Incident never happened at all? Then
 * HOLD IT! Alternatively, in the first run through, Lana was found guilty. Over the course of the next two games, Ema realized that Phoenix Wright would be able to save her and so built a time machine to send back a note to herself telling her to go find him, thus created an altered timeline which eventually led to the Apollo Justice and Investigations plots.

Gant is Phoenix's father. And Apollo's. And Zak Gramarye's.
The first two are admittedly crack fanon based on Gant's fandom reputation as a universal rapist (this troper prefers to think of him as more of a love machine), but Zak's face in his laugh sprite is near-identical to his putative father's.

Pearl's father is Manfred von Karma. The two evils cancelled each other out and made Pearl the bastion of sweetness that she is.
I take your Pearls and raise it to the fact that not only is Pearl really Manfred's daughter, but Franziska von Karma is Misty (and I do mean Misty)'s daughter. Manfred vK doesn't have any 'good' children- his oldest daughter is a failure, and his wife died in childbirth. He finds that (though it goes against his nature) he misses his wife, and goes to Kurain village to channel her. Misty accomplishes this, and they end up spending... 'time' together. Later, Misty 'wakes up', and in 9 months she is pregnant. Her husband has left her by now, and she doesn't know what to do. Manfred wishes to have his wife's spirit channeled again, and he goes back to Kurain village to find that Misty is pregnant. Putting two and two together he realizes that it is possibly his child. When the child is born, Manfred vK blackmails Misty (using Maya and Mia...?) into giving him the baby. She complies, and tries to forget about it ever happening. The baby is named 'Franziska', and all is well. At least, until DL-6 when Misty vanished. He tries to ignore that she is gone, but at the same time she was the one who could contact his dead wife. He eventually tried to get someone else to channel his wife, and he got to Morgan. She had guessed what had happened to Misty, and so she agreed to channel Manfred's wife. She did not wish to actually channel her though, and instead she made sure she knew enough that she successfully faked channeling his wife. She wished for a child as a 'Take That!' against her husband who had left her, and her knowledge of Manfred vK lead her to decide that he would be a good 'sperm donor' as it were. She made sure that she hid her signs of pregnancy, and then had the baby girl early. It worked, Manfred became too busy with adding the finishing touches to perfecting Miles Edgeworth, and his daughter was becoming a prosecutor in her own right, and he missed the fact that he could have had another daughter. Morgan named her daughter "Pearl" after the way a Pearl is created when a tiny grain of sand- a seed, if you will- gets into the Oyster. She raises her child hoping that Pearl would turn out to be as ruthless as her father, however she didn't think about the impact that Mia and Maya would have on her precious.
 * OBJECTION! Maya and Franziska are almost exactly the same age - both are eighteen in JFA. I suppose they could have been twins, with Manfred demanding the child that more strongly resembled him.
 * Ooh- that's even better!
 * OBJECTION! ::Head shake:: Sorry, one tiny detail there contradicts one big point of Pearl's back story. The fact that her father left when she was very young. not before she was born!. You're saying that Mr. Von Karma wasn't even aware of Morgan's pregnancy. In addition, it was stated that Pearl's father is Morgan's second husband!. Also, Pearl's hair is brown.
 * OBJECTION! There is one way to clear this up:Morgan's 2nd husband either refused to have sex with her for whatever reason or had fertility problems so Morgan decided to cheat on him with Manfred. This most likely caused problems in Morgan's relationship leading to her husband leaving her. Also, for all we know, Manfred's hair could have been brown when he was young and Franziska's hair is dyed.
 * OBJECTION! Let's remember Manfred's character here. Does he really seem like the type to have an affair with anybody? Let's also Manfred's perfection obsession. Do you really think he'd go in unprotected? In addition, he probably would keep his hair dyed if that were the case.
 * OBJECTION! Who said it was consensual? Anyway, Franziska and Pearl actually have a lot in common. They've both been described as prodigies, are (in some ways) more mature than you'd expect from people their age, and physically assault people(especially Phoenix Wright, both of them even knock him out on one occasion each) without any attempt to punish them in any way.
 * An attempt to put this theory in a legible story format can be found here. It's a little easier to read than the mass of text above. X3

Viola Cadaverini and Vera Misham were Separated At Birth
Either that, or Drew used to be or had an affair with someone of the Cadaverini family, and had Vera later. Think about it. Both of them are thin, waifish, sickly-looking girls who are disturbingly quiet, with ties to a criminal underworld. Not to mention that both of them ended up smack in the middle of poisoning cases that involved a poisoned cup of coffee. Coincidences? I think not!

Misty Fey is Miles Edgeworth's mother. By this same logic Gregory Edgeworth is Mia and Maya's father.
Miles mother is never mentioned in canon and the Fey's father is mentioned only in passing. So what if the other is the missing parent of each family? Say Misty and Gregory fell in love with each other. Mia was born, but they realized they had a problem when Miles was born. Kurain's inner family politics is vicious and the Branch Fey families are not afraid to use anything or person to their advantage. There is also the fact that Kurain is not all that friendly towards men. In order to protect and give Miles a normal life, Gregory covered up all connections he had with Misty so they could never use his son as a pawn. Misty and Gregory still secretly kept in touch with each other and visited each other occasionally, later resulting in the birth of Maya. When the tragedy of DL-6 occurred, Misty knowingly went along with Gregory's lie about Yanni Yogi in order to protect their son from suspicion. The guilt of that act, as well as the shaming of the Fey family name is what drove her into self-exile. As the result of those two's efforts neither Miles nor the Fey sisters realize they are siblings.
 * 'OBJECTION! Gregory never lied about Yanni. He was deceived into thinking so by the real murderer.
 * 'HOLD IT! Gregory wasn't deceived, he simply didn't know. He was unconscious when Von Karma shot him, and his last memory was Yanni Yogi attacking him when a gunshot went off, so he assumed that Yogi shot him.
 * Hence the deception.
 * 'HOLD IT! Gregory is a smart man (he'd have to be to make a dent in von Karma) and he'd know that there would be two immediate suspects for his murder, Yanni Yogi and 'his own son, Miles'. Yanni because he attacked him, and Miles because he threw Yanni's gun and it discharged. While Yanni was pursued as the prime suspect, the police ran into such a brick wall during their investigation that they resorted to using Misty Fey. But they could have just as easily turned their eyes to the only other person in the elevator, Miles. The games have shown that time and time again the court system is brutal; even self-defence is hinted to ruin the defendent's life. Gregory would know this, and that would be a powerful motivator to say it was Yanni--a likely candidate anyway, to remove any chance of suspision turning to his son.
 * I wrote about this at length some time ago on CR. Whether or not Edgey was an illegitimate child is up to debate, but it was possible for Gregory to have had some sort of relationship with Misty. As the Master of Kurain, infighting directed at Misty's immediate family would have been particularly intense, and we know already that Fey men often leave due to the structure of the Fey family and the fact that men have no place in the Kurain tradition, so it's not unlikely that Gregory left Misty and took Miles with him to protect him from the family's power complex. The possibility that Gregory and Misty had some sort of connection is made more likely when we consider Misty's involvement in DL-6: having a spirit medium aid a murder investigation was a first, and it carried with it the enormous risk of ruining the reputation of both the police department and the Kurain Channelling Technique. Misty wouldn't have had a lot of reason to help out unless she had a personal connection to the case, which she would have had if Miles was her son. Fast forward to the present, and we see that Edgeworth also bears quite a physical resemblance to the Feys, to the point where his and Young Mia's "shocked" animations are identical. He is also, notably, able to use the Magatama despite his fervent disbelief in it and his lack of guidance by someone who knew how to use it.
 * Just to add fuel to this fire, it is also possible that Phoenix Wright and Edgeworth are brothers, or possibly cousins! If Phoenix is, in fact, the son of a Spirit Medium, then it is possible he is also related to the Feys. His own father may have had a brief affair with Misty Fey, or it is even possible that Morgan Fey herself is Phoenix's mother, with a second, unknown man being his father. This is supported by his ability to use the Magatama and hear Mia's voice without her first being channeled, and their ability to use the...SUPER OBJECTION!!!

Phoenix Wright is Batman.
Think about it. He realized that his days as an active superhero were over, and decided to protect the innocent in another way - as a defense attorney. He had to change his name, of course, or else he'd be too conspicuous. On top of this, has anyone else noticed that despite complaining about the bills and yet not taking on many jobs, that Phoenix oddly manages to keep his house rented and pays for Maya's appetite? As Batman, he'd have his fortune to mooch off of. To top it off, it's obvious that the spikes in his hair are simply a result of him hiding his old Batman spikes in it to use as backup weapons.
 * OBJECTION! Batman can actually drive.
 * Phoenix could be faking an inability to drive as part of his cover-up.
 * Phoenix has a house?
 * You know, I can easily see many Batman characters fitting in to the Pheonix Wright universe. Seriously. Picture a courtroom battle between Phoenix Wright and Two-Face. So easy!
 * OBJECTION! Bruce Wayne is in his late 30s - early 40s while Phoenix is in his mid 20s in his own arc, and in his early 30s in Apollo Justice.
 * HOLD IT! What if this WMG has it backwards, and in fact he was Phoenix Wright then Batman?

Apollo's father is still alive.
What happened to him sounds awfully similar to what happened to Thalassa, and we know she's not dead. Although knowing the way this series treats its long-lost parents, he'll probably die as soon he appears. There's another idea going around that Valant is Apollo's father, but I am unconvinced by it.
 * *sigh* ... Objection. Remember the ending? Where Trucy is found out to be Apollo's sister? Add one and one together. It's not hard. Apollo's father is Zak Gramarye. ::slams desk:: And he is dead!
 * ...Wasn't it said that Apollo was born while Thalassa took a year off from the Grammaryes and visited another group? I don't think it was ever said they're full siblings; they're most likely half-siblings. Anyway, this is quite the depressing WMG, since if Apollo's dad shows up and suddenly dies, then both he and Trucy would have had that happen to them.

Apollo Justice isn't Apollo's real name, it's one he himself opted for.
Now, I know characters in the AA universe tend to have astoundingly appropriate names, but not usually the main characters, Gumshoe excepted. Add that to the fact that he grew up an orphan, his Catch Phrase and his general passion for the law, and it's easy to see him taking the name 'Justice' and possibly even the name 'Apollo' for himself.

The trials are actually a strange version of the Reaper's Game.
Relating to the afterlife judging idea near the top, the trials are actually a way of judging whether the dead have the right to come back to life. They judge the memories of the souls and use a crime from their past as a fake trial. Also, the judge is the Composer.
 * Well, in any case, this can't really be disproved yet, because we've only seen Shibuya's Game; Joshua implies that other cities could be very different.
 * There's more than one judge, though. There's only one Composer per city, so the judge must be the Gamemaster, since he can be switched out. The Prosecutors would be the Harriers, I suppose... don't know where the defense attorneys fit into this. As for the Composer... Consider this. If the Composer determines who the players are for each game session, and the players are the defendants... well, the person who arrests the defendants is Gumshoe...
 * So Gumshoe's the Composer and faking incompetence?
 * All those 'save the day' moments he got? A clue he wasn't really as useless as he acted! Now we know the reason the yakuza kept surrendering whenever Gumshoe entered the room!
 * In that case, it follows logic that Ema as the detective in AA 4, defeated the former Composer, taking his place, explaining the cast change, since she wanted to put her own spin on the game. Her bitterness comes from the fact that she has to be a detective, as part of her role as Conposer, rather than her dream job.
 * When you consider that Phoenix used to be a defendant himself(a player), who then went to being a lawyer, then to being a hobo with nobody from the first 3 games 'on his side' apart from Ema, it's not hard to believe that he ascended. Why is Phoenix still around? He's the Producer, which is why he can bend time. If Producers can reality hop, time hopping should be child's play.
 * Wait, so Phoenix went from Player, to Reaper, to Harrier, to freaking PRODUCER? My gosh, we were controlling an Angel all along.
 * ALL of the attorneys are Reapers. Like in Shibuya's Game, the lifespan of a Reaper depends on the number of souls they erase, but unlike Shibuya, there's usually only one or two souls erased per Game, so the Reapers are forced to compete with each other - prosecutors tag certain souls for Erasure at the beginning of the Game and have to stick with that soul for the whole time, while defense attorneys are allowed to pick and change what soul they want to Erase at any time but, as a price, face much higher difficulties. This also explains why having a perfect winning streak is such a big deal, to the point where several Reapers are willing to bend or break the rules - the longer they can keep up their streak, the longer they stay in the game.
 * After her first acquittal, Maya became Phoenix' assistant - thus, she chose to become a Reaper instead of incarnating. Considering that not all Reapers have to erase Players to extend their lifespan (otherwise the Wall Reapers or 777's behaviour don't make sense), defense attorneys could just be another kind of Reaper who test the Player's Soul.
 * If that's true, then why is there no time limit? And no mission mail? Not to mention they're not even using psychs!
 * Well... each trial lasts a max of three days, so there's your time limit, at least. If the players are the defendants, then their 'Mission Mail' is getting arrested, I suppose. And as for psychs... um... well... they're... two out of three ain't bad?
 * The Evidence replaces psyches. The magatama and the normal evidence actually cause metal strain on the person using it or the person it's being presented to, depending on the evidence. That's why people react to damning evidence like they've been physically struck.

Thalassa wasn't shot by Zak or Valant
Someone else took advantage of the amount of bullets that were flying around to shoot her from a secret position, and then set Valant and Zak up to take the fall. Her shooting will be something Apollo has to solve as part of the backstory to the last case of his arc.
 * So you're saying that she could've been shot from the grassy knoll?
 * Nope, it was definitely the book depository.

Redd White is the victim of a Death Note owner
All those 'suicides' he was apparently responsible for were murders via Death Note designed specifically to set him up. Then the guilty party wrote in 'Mia Fey: Blunt force trauma. Killed by an intruder to her office' and 'Redd White: Suicide. Breaks into the legal office where papers incriminating him are being kept and takes the papers through any means necessary. Later that week, is extremely insolent towards a lawyer investigating the death of his superior, then calls the police to have said lawyer arrested for murder. Five days later, commits suicide in his jail cell'.
 * Can't the Death Note only control actions for about a month leading up to death? I revise your theory--he really was a bastard that caused suicides but the entire case for his murder of Mia was due to a Death Note.
 * Perhaps the Kira was very clever at manipulating things to frame White. Probably not though. New theory: White himself is a former Kira, and for each of the people being blackmailed he wrote in 'redrafts his/her will to leave a large sum of money to Bluecorp, then commits suicide'. However, he for whatever reason lost his Death Note before the beginning of the series.
 * Fridge Brilliance: The papers that Mia Fey hid were pages from the the Death Note that she managed to steal from Redd White and wrote this scenario in it: 'Redd White: Suicide. Breaks into the legal office where papers belonging to him are being kept and takes the papers after killing Mia Fey with the container the papers were in. Later that week, is extremely insolent towards a lawyer investigating the death of his superior, then calls the police to have said lawyer arrested for murder. Five days later, commits suicide in his jail cell'

Daryan Crescend is Elvis
Really, I've only written this because there are already entries guessing this about Dr. Kelso and the Shinigami king, and I want to turn it into a full-blown trend along the lines of 'X is a time lord', 'x show is being imagined by Shinji Ikari' stuff. But as for my evidence, he's a rock musician with strange hair, he has to be older than he claims (Klavier said he was the first detective he ever worked with, when Klavier began prosecuting at 17 because he's German...but Daryan isn't German and he's the same age as Klavier) and he's.

Coffee is what saved Godot from being poisoned, and is what's required to keep him alive.
The poison that was given to him - while experimental and cooked up by a pharmacology student - could have had its potency reduced by the chemicals in the coffee it was slipped into, thus preventing it from being lethal. As for why Godot has to drink it so often, now, is pretty obvious: the poison messed with his central nervous system, and the caffeine in coffee is a powerful stimulant. He probably needs the caffeine to keep his nervous system active, and prefers to take it in the form of his own coffee blends.
 * Good idea. It would help explain how he is able to drink so much coffee without dying.
 * That explains WHY he died; He was a whole day without coffee in 3-5, right? The next day, he starts to randomly bleed. And then he dies. Now that was spoilerrific.
 * Except Word of God says he's still alive.
 * Sources please. Which Word of God is this?
 * While I don't know nothing about this Word of God you guys are talking about, I never doubted that he survived that. What makes you think he died, pal?
 * The last picture in the credits, where he's shown standing next to Misty and Mia, basically watching over the others with them.

The Ace Attorney series takes place in an alternate universe where the Nazis won.
Why, yes, I do have decisive evidence. Consider:
 * The legal system seems more appropriate to a fascistic dictatorship.
 * Even though the games are set a few decades in the future, no visible change in technology has occurred, suggesting that some horrific, long war turned back the clock.
 * When a Prosecutor from Germany visits LA, he or she is treated with extreme deference, and may be assumed to be familiar with the US legal system... perhaps because the US and German legal systems are now one and the same. The same goes for German rock stars.
 * The US and German legal systems aren't one and the same. You can become a lawyer at a younger age in Germany.
 * 'OBJECTION! That is because is in the Germans best interest to have more GERMAN law enforcers, ergo they allow them to become prosecutors at a younger age
 * And most tellingly, given that this is LA, where are all the minorities? There aren't any.
 * Except for the Japanese. Aha.
 * OBJECTION! If this is so, explain how Dee Vasquez, Juan Corrida, and Diego Armando not only exist, but were able to become successful at their respective jobs? Also, I'm not sure what Damon Gant is, but he is certainly neither white nor Japanese!
 * There's a simple answer for this, and it also helps explain why the Nazis won. Remember that message Germany tried to send to Mexico during WW 1, encouraging them to attack the US? In this AU, they got it. And followed it.
 * That may be so, but the defense would like to point out that during the Holocaust, there was also rampant persecution of homosexuals. Explain the continued existence of half the damn cast.
 * In this AU, Ho Yay is outlawed. That's why there aren't any explicitly established homosexuals in the cast. Not even Jean.
 * OBJECTION! Jean flirts with and only tolerates flirting from male characters! Combine this with the decor of his restaurant and his eccentric dress, and you have no other explanation but homosexuality!
 * He's French illegal immigrant. In AU's, everything is possible.
 * Game 3 case 1 mentions both the Union Jack and "stars and stripes" still exist, how would this be if the Nazis took over?
 * It's a common misconception that the goal of Nazi Germany was world domination, or even domination of Europe. They supported fascism elsewhere, and definitely wanted to set up Western Europe as client states and recolonize, but they never actually seriously set out to conquer the world.
 * Even if they conquered the world, states need flags too.
 * Incidentally, Apollo Justice takes place in another alternate universe where the Nazis lost, but the Soviets won. Think about it. The AJ courtroom has plain red flags, and Apollo wears all red and says its his favorite color. Hmm...

Dahlia Hawthorne is indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands.
Yes, she's an even worse criminal than we all thought... and it's all related to Apollo Justice, case 3. In this case, we learn that Borginian coccoons, which cure the lethal and very poorly named disease 'incuritis', are an illegal commodity because they can also be used to create an exotic poison, which is never named. This law was instituted because, as Klavier puts it, 'a while back' some of this poison caused 'a lot of trouble', or something to that effect. Dahlia's preferred method of murder? An exotic poison which is never named. Furthermore, the two people she used it on (that we know of), Terry Fawles and Diego Armando/Godot, were both high-profile victims. Dahlia is the reason Borginian coccoons are illegal outside their country of origin, and therefore each and every person who dies of incuritis, in the entire world, was indirectly murdered by Dahlia. Damn, she really DOES belong in Hell.
 * I got the impression that Incuritis wasn't a very common illness.
 * True, but think of it this way. A 'rare' disease is defined as a disease that affects at most 5 out of every 10,000 people, or about .05% of the population at most. Now, .05% of the worldwide population is still a hell of a lot of people. Maybe incuritis isn't that prevalent, but medical treatment for it has been hampered thanks to Dahlia for 12 years (Five for the jump from her being arrested to end of AA 3, and seven more for the jump from AA 3 to AA 4). It adds up.

Apollo is a graduate of Wammy's House
. He's an orphan (well, not really), is incredibly perceptive like the other Wammy's graduates (albeit in a different way), his name is clearly a fake, and he became a lawyer at 22, younger than Phoenix and Mia, without having to be raised by a Von Karma and/or in Germany, like all the other prodigy lawyers. He was clearly being raised to be the world's greatest detective, but for whatever reason found the courts more interesting, decided to become a lawyer instead, and was disowned by the house. Following on from this, Godot is L (they both love caffeine and have similar hairstyles), Matt Engarde is Mello (both have blonde hair in similar styles, and (spoilers for both Death Note and Justice For All) ). Gumshoe is Matsuda (they're both policemen who mean well but who aren't the sharpest tools in the shed). And Mikami is...I don't know, but it has to be someone. He is a prosecutor, after all.

Okay, everything from 'Godot is' onwards is complete nonsense. But I'm sticking with the theory about Apollo.
 * Ridiculous! Matsuda is obviously Meekins, not Gumshoe!
 * Objection! Matsuda is gumshoe. they are both pretty much useless except for crowning moments of awesome, very cheerful and constantly scolded by their superiors (Aizawa and Edgeworth).

Maya and/or Pearl were killed shortly after the end of AA 3
. Phoenix adopts Trucy less than a year after the end of AA 3 (confirmed by relative ages). At no point during the MASON system investigations is any indicator ever given that they're around. OK, fine. Maybe they're just out getting ice cream or dealing with Kurain stuff. Except that Trucy is still hanging around for the next 7 years, and clearly doesn't seem to be at all familiar with either of them. At this point Pearl is practically Phoenix's adopted daughter too and almost the same age, so you'd have to figure they'd hang out. Then we have Trucy's end of game comment about finding a new "mother" and Phoenix having nobody to turn to when he gets disbarred. Not to mention the fact that every single closed off mentor type in the series has to have some horrible death in the family to be dug up later. Then Pearl being dead could cause an imprinting sort of thing with Trucy, causing him to investigate the case of her father with such badass dedication. As for how it went down, heck. Morgan could have gone for a take 2 on the last case of AA 3 after dying in prison. Apollo Justice 2 is all about digging up the details.
 * The hospital scene in 4-2 indicates that Maya is still in touch with Phoenix.
 * Guilt?
 * The topic title should be sometime after Investigations because.

What happened to Maya and Pearl between 3 and 4
With Misty Fey killed, Maya decides it's high time to get back in gear for training so that she can become the next Master. So, shortly after the events of Trials and Tribulations, Maya and Pearl head back to Kurain Village to start vigorous training. Phoenix, being without a Fey by his side for That One Case, doesn't have the better judgment regarding that one piece of evidence, and with no one there to stand by him, he had no confidence/help in talking with The Bar Council, leading to his disbarment.

Maya later returns for a visit, and finds Phoenix no longer practices law, and, in fact, has a daughter (which likely resulted in an epic slapping from Pearl like we have never seen). Because she is still unaccustomed to the idea that she is the Master, Maya has a hard time accepting a role of a mother (or maternal figure), and so returns to Kurain Village to put on the hat of Master again, until she feels that she can handle it all. Pearl returns with her, as since she does not have a talent that she can really support herself with, she would be just one more mouth to feed with an already struggling family. She also returns to train and help Maya, of course.

As evidenced in case 4-2, Maya still keeps in contact with Nick, whether or not it's a major part of either's lives. This shows that they still hold a place in Phoenix's heart, they're still alive and well, and they may be called on in a future game.


 * HOLD IT! Look at how Maya dotes on Pearly, and then tell me she's not maternal/sisterly.

Ema was filming the events of case 1-5
. Phoenix Wright, in his new incarnation, has a badge on his hat. In the final case, this badge is revealed to be a camera that he used to film various things. Now, think back. Where have you seen that badge before? Yes, on Ema Skye's lapel, in the final case of AA 1. From this we can conclude that Ema was filming that case. But why? I've no idea, so someone else can guess at that.
 * She carries it just in case--but keep in mind she meets her idol Miles Edgeworth in this case. She probably kept that footage forever.

Phoenix didn't try to find the truth and reclaim his badge because Sissel was making it hard to find work anyway.
Obviously. I mean, how many people did Sissel un-kill in one night? If we assumed Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick took place near each other and the only major crimes that seem to take place there are murder and costumed burglary, what's a defense attorney to do when people suddenly stop dying in such numbers?

Matt Engarde is a former successful child star, and has been in show business a long time.
. Well, he's only 21. How else do you think he got that evil?
 * Does that mean that Corrida is also a former child star?
 * A slightly less successful child star. This feeling of inferiority led him to discover Matt's deep, dark, secret of totally having a crush on the red-headed girl from math class, even though girls have cooties. Juan then planned to expose this scandal, ruining Matt's 'no girls allowed like a spring breeze' image. This, in turn, led Matt to hire the school bully to give Juan a wedgie.
 * I remember reading a forum post which mentioned how interesting it would be if Matt and Juan's rivalry started in childhood and escalated. You know, Matt flicked paint on Juan's head, then Juan stole Matt's pencil, and so on.

Maya Fey went to/is at law school
She was so disgusted with the bum rap Phoenix got when he was disbarred that she took as much money as the village had and went off to college, leaving Pearl in charge. Using whatever knowledge she gained from her time working with Phoenix she hoped to make sure no one go railroaded like that ever again. That was why she was gone during the missing years, and in the second Apollo Justice game she will make a triumphant return and start working at Wright and Co.
 * Please let this be real?
 * If this doesn't happen, I will cry.
 * Okay, I was previously hoping that AA 5 would be Phoenix-centric again, but now I think I'd rather be playing Maya Fey: Ace Attorney.
 * Who would play the role of her assistant?
 * I wish to submit this possibility to the court.
 * http://greenmage.deviantart.com/art/Maya-Fey-Ace-Attorney-77504204
 * If Capcom isn't already making this, then they're wasting their time! Maya uses her status as a defense attorney to defend the innocent, and to inspire Phoenix and remind him of why he became a lawyer in the first place.
 * This can't be right... The prosecutors are the more 'outlandish' of the two, and you got to admit a Spirit Medium Attorney is as out there as previous ones!
 * She should totally rip Godot off and become a prosecutor to see if Apollo is worthy of continuing the legacy.
 * Perhaps Pearl could be her assistant?

Redd White was actually Morgan Fey's ex-husband
Morgan Fey was apparently originally married to a "wealthy jeweler", who left her due to the loss of face when Misty Fey took over power in the family and leaving Morgan's branch powerless. Redd White is wealthy, loves jewels (he wears tons of them), and is clearly obsessed with his public image. Which means, yes, that Redd White killed his own step-sister (Mia Fey).
 * You mean that he killed his niece (Mia's mother was his sister-in-law).
 * And got his sister in law disgraced.
 * This is... unsettlingly plausible.
 * Which means that Dahlia and Iris are...
 * ...That makes so much sense. -ponders- He married Morgan to stimulate his business and when Misty took over because of her greater spiritual power, he plotted with Morgan to disgrace her. However, he wasn't going to wait twenty years and left her, taking his children with him and then being convinced to drop Iris off in Hazakura Temple. This theory certainly explains why you can show Morgan Mia's picture and she just smiles. Secretly thanking her bastard of a incarcerated ex? Hell yes! Plus, Dahlia seems to likes to dye her hair...

Ema and Klavier are secretly an item
It begins with a one-night stand shortly after "Turnabout Corner", and escalates from there. It's the real reason why Ema got assigned to watch over the Gavinners' concert. No amount of pull, even in the Ace Attorney work, gets a homicide detective working security. Getting your secret girlfriend to do it? Considerably easier. Plus, there seems to be just a little bit too much petty infighting, more than you'd get from someone you only occasionally work with.

Ema is secretly the Gavinner's backup drummer
Well, they said all the band members are involved with law enforcement, and she's a detective. She claimed to be working security at the concert because she didn't want to admit that much association with the glimmerous fop. She has no idea how she got roped into this. Really. The glimmerous fop's nice abs have nothing to do with it.

Kristoph Gavin has Dahlia Hawthorne's hand
After This allowed Kristoph to channel Manfred von Karma, Damon Gant, Matt Engarde, and other villains, hence  This also explains his use of nail polish. A girl's hand has to look good, after all.
 * Alternately he channeled her into his hand somehow as she is just as much the devil as Satan is.
 * While I like this theory, I think it was (unfortunately) stated that, so I doubt that Kristoph would be able to do any channeling with her hand.

Von Karma's granddaughter is the main prosecutor for the 5th game
(Not Perfect Prosecutor) as in the one with the dog named Phoenix.
 * If she does, she absolutely MUST be a Phoenix fan girl.

The Attorney's badge is Phoenix's penis
1.Gumshoe regularly tells him it is nothing compared to his police badge, something real men have and that his small badge is always good for a laugh. Jake Marshall also mentions how pathetic it is, as does Dr. Grey. 2.Phoenix mentions he likes to whip in out whenever possible in the 2nd game, and Maya claims he likes showing it off. 3.It is his most cherished possession, overserve how incomplete he feels when it is taken in 2-3 4.Grossburg mentions he has really grown up from the sight of it in the first game. "Gumshoe: Weenies, pal!
 * So what does this mean regarding the fact that he lost the badge in game 4?
 * He has ED?
 * OBJECTION! The witness's statement is... clearly faulty, Your Honor.
 * The Answer's obvious. He woke up one morning, with a bad hangover. And his penis was missing again. This happens all the time--it's detachable.
 * This had better be unrelated to Missile eating all the hotdogs.

Gumshoe: I can't get enough of their tender juiciness!"

Phoenix's Butt Monkey qualities are due to the bad karma gained from being a kleptomaniac
Note how perfectly his first case goes, he never stole anything at that point!

Phoenix's Chessmasterism in Apollo Justice is part of his training to become the fourth deKiller.
How many times did deKiller make that offer to Phoenix in JFA? After he lost his badge, Phoenix remembered the offer (and the fact that deKiller got a large roll of cash for one of his jobs) and took deKiller up on it. He already had the required intelligence, determination, and sense of trust between himself and his clients, and so the whole fourth game was a demonstration of his ability to orchestrate events. Since his Xanatos Gambit worked without a hitch, he's now ready for deKiller to teach him the next step...
 * What, it took him eight years to prove himself worthy of the deKiller name? Given deKiller's particular interest in him and his own state of despair/desperation after being disbarred, Phoenix has probably already been deKiller IV for several years prior to AJAA. Phoenix's piano playing nets him a low profile, and his poker playing gives him connections to potential clients. He also still has the Magatama, so he won't make the same mistake Shelly made.

Phoenix's Butt Monkey qualities are due to being the reincarnation of Ami Fey
Related Guess: Phoenix carries a bit of Fey blood. How else does he see or hear Mia's spirit without having Maya or Pearl around to channel her? Also, Ami's Butt Monkey status can be seen by what happens to the things most closely related to her. The Sacred Urn has been broken at least three times, and those are just in the last twenty years or so. That gold statue of hers and its sword have been involved in two murders in one year, one of those being Ami's direct descendant.

Winston Payne will be the protagonist of the next Ace Attorney Investigations.
Nuff said.
 * Who?
 * Why would the janitor of the Prosecution Offices start solving crimes?

7-8 years latter, Pearl Fey has Gag Boobs
Because it would be funny (on a related note, Relative Error MUST be her reaction to Trucy/Apollo)
 * On that note, Maya turns out to take after her sister as well.
 * The prosecution submits that being a pettanko is part of Maya's charm, as well as her personality. Unless they give Maya a personality redo like with Hobo!Nick, a flat chest will forever and always be associated with her.
 * HOLD IT! Maya is still tiny at the age of 19. Pearl with Gag Boobs? Maybe. Maya? Nope.

Winston Payne is Daryan Crescend's father.
Based entirely on Payne's hair in case 3.1.
 * Given the ages, it's completely biologically possible.
 * And consider: Payne is a completely incompetent prosecutor. As shown in AAI, not even fellow prosecutors are entirely aware of who he is. But if his son (also in law enforcement, you may note) was part of the Gavinners, and the Judge was a Gavinners fangirl, it explains why Payne is still getting cases at all. Plus, Payne can't possibly be making enough money unless he has a famous son. New WMG: Payne won't get any more cases now that Daryan has been arrested.

In German versions of this game series, The Von Karmas And Klavier were trained in Japan
Think about it. In the original Japanese versions, the Von Karmas etc. were from America, and the regular lawyers from Japan, where the series takes place. In the American version, since the setting shifts to America, the prosecutors are now from Germany. In the German version of this game series (which I know there is one of, but I can't find any information on), the series will come full circle, and the Von Karmas and the like will be from Japan.
 * Sorry, fellow troper, it's not the case. I have one of the European versions of JFA (comes with French and German language options as well as the regular English one.) And I can say from my playthrough of it in German that the Von Karmas, at least, are from Germany as much as they are in the English version. Would have been brilliant if it did go full circle like that, though.

The Patriots are the Totalitarian Dictatorship from the previous WMGs.
Think about it. As mentioned above, the trials are ridiculous kangaroo courts. But they're still needed to maintain the facade of a free society, central to The Patriots goal of controlling information flow in society. Obviously, the Ace Attorney games take place in a continuity that is pre-2014 USA. Any discrepancies in the dates can be explained by Patriot information changing. Hell, the entire Ace Attorney series could be a LITERAL video game, in-universe: a VR simulation set up to train lawyers like Apollo to be like Phoenix Wright, the "Big Boss / Solid Snake" of the battlefield of the courtroom, after they got rid of him using fake evidence when he outlived his usefulness. Using Memes! Possibly... Maybe. Any games with improvements in the perceived hijinks of the legal system are set after 2014 - when The Patriots were taken down. Any discrepancies there can be handwaved by the fact that the system is still recovering from having its "head" (The AI system) cut off.

This also explains why the games are set in Japan for Japan and California for the English release, while the characters seem to fit into any environment: The characters are all Patriot/Philosopher sleeper agents, in the same vein as EVA/Big Mama and ADAM/Adamshka/"Revolver" Ocelot. They can speak the language and act as natives of any land they are sent to, whether it be Japan or California.
 * The crossover potential is amazing.

The Phoenix Wright series is set in the Venture Brothers universe.
Specifically, in Underland. Think about it, the only people that ever seem to be up for trial are going to get the death penalty. It's been established that Baron Underbheit has established the death penalty for all infractions of Underlaw.

Logic and Trick 2009 will be named Logic and Fact
"Trick" doesn't suit Edgeworth at all. Fact does.
 * An Alternate theory presented is that it will simply be called "Logic."
 * Jossed, it's "Trick and Gimmick".

This series takes place in the Death Note universe.
Only five years after the Kira case, and the world has already bounced back aaaaall the way. No reason for it, except it would be cool.
 * Expounding on this a bit: The United States overreacted after the Kira case and went too far in the other direction, declared martial law, and suspended Habeas corpus. The government would now rather put innocents to death than risk the appearance of another Kira, especially not within its own borders.

The Phoenix Wright in the fourth game isn't the real Phoenix.
He is in fact Sanae Hanekoma, disguised as Phoenix. Note the stubble, mysteriousness, refusal to give a straight answer, and all-around Chessmaster-ism that Phoenix "Stupidity Is the Only Option" Wright could never master. Also, his ability to escape being hit by a speeding car into a light pole with only minor injuries is because he's actually.

The events of the Ace Attorney games happen in a distant future of the Discworld universe.
In the Discworld books, it is frequently stated that one-in-a-million chances happen nine times out of ten. Most of the events and circumstances surrounding Phoenix's cases are one-in-a-million chances. Phoenix is a descendant of Granny Weatherwax, which is why he's so good at making up Ass Pull explanations that end up being right (and it also would explain a lot about his personality and actions in Apollo Justice). The reason why magic and non-humans don't exist any more is simply because people stopped believing in them. (Hey, it works for the anthropomorphic personifications, as proven in Hogfather.)
 * OBJECTION! Clearly the candidate for being Granny Weatherwax's descendant is Damon Gant. I submit to you as evidence his ability to stare into your soul!
 * Mustrum Ridcully seems like a better candidate for Damon Gant's ancestor than Granny Weatherwax.
 * HOLD IT! Esmerelda Weatherwax is clearly established to have gone straight from being the Maiden to being the... Other One without ever meeting the technical requirements to be the Mother! Therefore, it is impossible that anyone is her descendent!

Phoenix will become a Godot-esque character
Being so badly damaged by the Gramarye case, he will retake the bar exam--as a prosecutor. Then, he will face down Apollo in the courtroom. Why? BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE EPIC.
 * And he'd never drink more than 17 bottles of "grape juice" per trial.

Phoenix prefers noodles to burgers.
This goes a long way toward reconciling the burgers/noodles translation inconsistency between games 1-3 and 4. Maya, as established in the original trilogy of games, prefers burgers, and most of the time, it was easier to cave to her demands than to put up with a whiny Maya who had been deprived of burgers. They did occasionally eat at the noodle stand, just often enough to justify Guy Eldoon's statement that they ate there when Phoenix was a lawyer. Once Maya returned to Kurain village to focus on her training and become the new Master, Phoenix more or less stopped going for burgers at all and started eating noodles all the time instead. Trucy has picked up her father's liking for noodles, because she's more or less grown up eating them.
 * Considering that in the Japanese version, Maya/Mayoi liked ramen (in lieu of burgers), this may not be far off.

After each game, reality changes
Everything in the next game has better sprites. This isn't because of artistic ability of the drawers getting better, but after each time Phoenix goes around recollecting about the events of the game in question (credits), everyone he hasn't met becomes better shaded. It's a coincidence that everyone he hasn't met gets better drawn. 3-1 and 3-4 are him reading about the cases; that's how he imagines them.

The games are designed to spawn memetic mutation.
I hold as evidence that the collective writers here have, on several occasions, slipped into character, or at least used the various catchphrases from the games. This also tends to occur in just about any Ace Attorney-related thread Neo Silver Thorn has ever read. As such, it leads me to believe that the games are, in fact, an experiment in memetic mutation that Capcom is performing on the gaming community.
 * OBJECTION! I object! That was...damn it.
 * ::bows:: Your honor, the prosecution would like to thank the defense for proving its point.

Machi smuggled in the cocoon in order to pay for Lamiroir's eye surgery
She really means a lot to him, we can see that, and I can't see him wanting the money for himself. Not only that, it's not long after the end of the trial when she decides to get her eyes fixed. (Seemingly on the suggestion of Phoenix, who already pieced it together.)

Lamiroir's blindness and amnesia were not due to physical damage.
Lamiroir is blind and amnesiac after an accident, but doesn't appear to have any scaring around her head, which lead me to wonder what was going on. Remember how she doesn't want to remember who she is? In certain cases of psychological trauma, people can blank out their memories - and sometimes, they can also force themselves to lose their vision. Lamiroir, when she first appears, isn't just worried about getting her vision and memory back, she's actively stopping her own body from remembering.

During case 4-3, sometime after Lamiroir gets to thinking about it. During court, just before she translates for Machi, that's when she decides that she wants to remember. At that point, everything floods back to her... just in time.

But that goes against the game, correct? At the end of 4-3, Phoenix remarks that a doctor examined her and found her blindness was due to an accident? ...But at this point, he knows she's and is actually playing along with her lies. After all, she's, so it makes sense that a doctor would see her then. Plus, we all know Phoenix is a bit of a sneaker barsteward at this point.

Phoenix is not just pointing enthusiastically, he is throwing small objects at the others in the court
This is why the witness always looks like they're being hit physically.

Maya was not originally going to be in this picture
Namely this one Namely Capcom was worried that if it was just Mia Fey and April May like that then people would get the wrong idea of what the game is really like. So Maya was added in to hopefully make things seem more innocuous, but like other examples of censorship whether it actually does do that is of course up to you.
 * Why is April May even in that picture? She was an accomplice to Mia's murder and gave testimony in an attempt to get Maya arrested for it.
 * Probably because April is the only other female character in that case and Capcom thought that was a justifiable enough reason.
 * It would have been better if they just had Mia and Maya hugging each other in a sisterly way.

Mia entrusted Maya to Diego.
Basically, in the second case of the first game, Maya mentions the law firm Mia said for her to go to if she was ever in trouble. Note that Maya never mentions the name of the lawyer himself. Now, look at Grossberg. From what we can tell, he's a bit of a coward, he complains, and from what we can tell, he kind of annoyed Mia when she was a new lawyer. Why would she entrust her sister to him? It's more likely that she was actually entrusting her sister to Diego, who was A) a lot more calm and reliable than Grossberg, and B) comforted her after her first, traumatic trial.
 * Well, why wouldn't Mia entrust her sister to her lover?
 * Because by the time Mia told Maya about Grossberg&Co Diego was already incapacitated?

During the seven-year break between AAs 3 and 4, Phoenix single-handedly shut down the black market.
In the second case of AA2, the victim had bought a gun from the black market. In the first case of AA4, Nick claims that the black market is a thing of the past. How could he know for certain? Because he destroyed it; he had to do something to pass the time before he had the idea of becoming a poker pro.
 * However, that just might have something to do with Edgeworth's brilliant disruption of a major crime syndicate in Investigations.

Another game will be made, detailing Phoenix's adventures as a non-attorney in the seven-year break.
He'll become a bit less of a Non-Action Guy, as well; replacing his ubiquitous Attorney's Badge will be the Phoenix Rising Uppercut. (Based on his comment on Apollo's uppercut at the end of AA4, case 1: "Phoenix: "Oh, about your uppercut. Try yelling 'Take That!' next time. I find it packs a little more punch.""

He "finds" that it packs more punch. In other words, he learned from experience. Experience punching people.
 * Phoenix Wright: Ace Piano: Pokerface and Punching.....I think you are on to something

The Ace Attorney series takes place in the same universe as Scrubs.
Both have their unique blend of wacky antics, improbable situations, and a somewhat lighthearted take on Serious Business along with all the drama and tragedy. And along with the similar settings... Ted has gotta be related to Winston Payne somehow. He's just gotta be. Perhaps a cousin or a stepsibling or a half-brother or... something. They've got the incompetence, the Butt Monkeyness, and they're almost identical. And the ninth season of Scrubs will be like what Apollo Justice was to Phoenix Wright: New rookies step in while a few characters from the first series reprise their roles and become mentors while the setting remains primarily the same with a few changes.

Mind reading is a common ability in the Phoenix Wright universe.
You just have to learn it! Everyone seems able to read Phoenix's mind and replies to what he says without him even opening his mouth.
 * Alternatively...

Phoenix is a telepath.
His mind-reading is less than developed, but he does have the ability to project thoughts to others. This explains how come his partner du jour can always read his blue 'thought' text. Not only that, it explains exactly what he does when he presents evidence or profiles. He doesn't show an object or a photograph; instead, he plants an image of the object or person into his target's mind. Since Apollo studied Phoenix's cases and his signature attorney style, he also studied telepathy and learned to project thoughts in the same manner.
 * On the other hand, the blue text could just be Phoenix talking to himself, like in an aside or soliloquy in a play. Given the script-like nature of characters' speech, it's not that far of a leap, and his partner's proximity to him would allow him to privately share certain thoughts.
 * OBJECTION!] In the first game, third case, Edgeworth answers to the blue text a few times, and then Phoenix says something among the lines of How does he know what I'm thinking? and then Edgeworth answers this. But not with I don't. You're just talking to yourself. Because the blue text is not Phoenix talking to himself.

The prosecutors do not actually have the authority to cut Gumshoe's pay.
Gumshoe just thinks they do, and they keep saying they're going to to screw with him. This explains why he never seems to be so broke that he can't afford food and rent, despite being told that his pay's been cut half a dozen times each game. Klavier doesn't threaten to cut Ema's pay because she knows perfectly well that he can't, and probably snackoo'd the hell out of him if he ever tried.
 * Objection.
 * Objection! (slams hands on desk) Police detectives like Gumshoe most likely have regular panel reviews where their superiors judge their conduct and adjust their salary accordingly. It's likely that the prosecutors' threats imply not a direct pay cut, but rather their putting a negative comment into the record which will come up at said review.

The three-day bench trials started as a sort of "minor league" of the justice system.
Think about it--a half-senile judge and his just plain screwy brother, incredibly low standards of courtroom etiquette, eccentric prosecutors, no plea option, and convictions are automatically retried. Despite the rhetoric about rising crime rates, the real rationale for the new court was to assuage public dissatisfaction with plea deals with a visible "day in court", while also quickly getting weak cases where acquittal was almost inevitable off the docket. To everyone's surprise, "The Great Judgini" ended up mostly handing down solid verdicts that stood up in higher courts, and the preliminary trials became such Serious Business that it was the retrial that was considered a formality.

Godot has some severe, ADHD-type manic thing.
The coffee is self-medication. Without it, he'd barely be able to pay attention to the evidence, and would be painting his case on the walls of the court in chalk just to help concentrate. He's so laid back because he errs on the side of caution, and if he acted any more excitable he'd never be able to make it between recesses without a Bladder Failure from all the coffee. The "red on white" vision issue may be a result of stress-related ocular trauma (such as constant but mild hemhorrage that tint everything red, he's just not good at telling colour by shade, and the visor affects light in some way that makes it easier to differentiate "red-tinted red" and "red-tinted white") rather than or in addition to the poison, or it could be entirely unrelated. If the above guess that the Ace Attorney court is the minor leagues of the judicial system, this is probably why Godot isn't in the Major League- they wouldn't let him keep up the caffeine habit, and he'd therefore be useless as a lawyer.

Ema Skye hooked up with Franziska von Karma while studying abroad
Look at Ema's oh-so-condescending expression and tell me she could have learned it from anyone else. The relationship likely didn't end well - Ema probably got fed up with the perfection obsession and so ended up with a deliberately 'take it easy' attitude - but it could have started easily enough. Ema interns at the Germany Department of Justice equivalent, meets Franny on a case, Phoenix comes up in conversation, Ema defends him against accusations of being a foolish fool, things get heated, and suddenly everyone's clothes are on the floor.
 * This may be one of the best things I have ever read.
 * Oh dear.
 * Where does this put Adrian?

Matt Engarde has a real Split Personality, deliberately created
His true self finally comes out after "calling himself" on the wristphone...and when he used it earlier, in jail, Phoenix doubted that he could get a signal. This would also nicely explain the total lack of Psyche-locks..."he" actually doesn't know what he did. At some point in the past, he actually took Method acting to the point of insanity, and created a "cover" personality that would be far more publically acceptable, and only dimly knew of him, likely believing any communication between the two personalities to be literal calls.

The Judge and Manfred von Karma share a grandchild
So, according to Court-Records.net, the Judge has a grandchild, name and gender unknown. According to Game 1, Case 4 we know that vKarma also has a grandchild. Wouldn't it be fun if the grandchild was teh result of the Judges (potential)Son, and vKarmas other daughter?

Zak (or Maginifi) got rid of Apollo
Think about it. When she comes back to the troupe, she brings her son (Apollo) with her. Both Zak and Magnifi are well-established jerks, so it's not beyond them to seperate Apollo from Thalassa for whatever reasons. It doesn't seem Trucy ever knew him until the 4th game, so it must have happened pretty quickly.
 * "I also have a son." "Not any more, you don't! * dropkicks offscreen* "

The Gramayres were originally from Borginia
At the very least, Magnifi and Thalassa lived there; Zak and Valant may or may not have come from there as well. When Thalassa/Lamiroir woke up in Borginia without her memory, she didn't magically aquire a new language while forgetting her own. She defaulted back to her first language, which would have been more deeply ingrained in her mind anyway.

Jeff Angel from Hotel Dusk grew up to become Damon Gant
He'd be roughly around the same age as Gant by the time of the Ace Attorney games, has being annoying down to an art form (although his really long pauses could use some work) and really really hates criminals

Phoenix or Apollo is the reincarnation of Edward Marshall-Hall
How cool would that be?

Manfred von Karma was a demon who was stuck on earth.
Sort of connected to the "Phoenix Wright is connected to the Buffyverse" at the top. Manfred von Karma was a demon/demonic being who did something to piss off the ruler of Hell, and as a punishment he is sent to Earth until he learns "failure", at which point he will be dragged back to Hell to serve the kind of punishment only humans receive there. Once on earth, he decides he kind of likes being evil there, and he decides to become a prosecuter using his connections with various non-human beings to forge evidence, and never feel failure. However, Gregdeworth manages to mark his record. vKarma is shocked, and nervous about going back to Hell, when he gets shot. It is because of his non-human abilities that he is able to shoot Gredgworth, and not have to go to a doctor about the bullet in his shoulder. Because of his actions, he no longer feels like he failed, pissing off the ruler of Hell/whoever punished him. It is only years later, when he loses to Phoenix Wright that he truley feels failure, and when he dies, he goes to Hell/whatever you want to call it. Franziska, however, being a Half-Human Hybrid, has the compulsion for non-failure, but it isn't as strong as it was in her father, allowing her to break away from the compulsion.

Manfred von Karma made a deal with the Devil.
This is a more sensible version of the WMG above. Manfred von Karma made a Deal With the Devil for something. (Maybe a child who was just like him?), the price being that he would go to Hell as soon as he felt true failure. He killed Edgey-Daddy, and so the black mark that Edgey-Daddy gave him didn't feel like a 'failure', however when Phoenix Wright beat him, he felt true and utter failure, and the contract was fulfilled, meaning that the child that was just like him (Franziska) was no longer â€œjust like himâ€?, and was able to grow and change as evidence by her breaking down in front of Edgeworth, and learning that there is more then just "perfection" in life.

Maya will appear in the next game...
And it'll be what inspires Phoenix to taking up defending again. As we know, it is almost tradition for the girl to be accused of/related to a murder, and such if she made a return, it would almost be inevitably because of such a thing. Phoenix would have Apollo try and defend her to the best of his ability, all the while trying to get his badge back - we know that such a thing apparently doesn't take too long if its recognised that you have experience, hence why Godot seemed to come out of nowhere. Phoenix will then make an epic Big Damn Heroes moment with his classic objection, and will take over the case for Apollo.
 * OBJECTION! It is more likely that Phoenix would make his Big Damn Heroes Objection while not being a defense attorney. Think about it: so many non-attorney characters have made objections and saved the trial. It'd actually be much harder for Phoenix to object and try to overtake Apollo's role as the defense attorney, because, as evidenced in AJ case 4, defense attorney switching takes place outside of court. Phoenix has better luck saving Maya as a random bystander bursting into the courtroom then a licensed DA.

Maya Fey is bulimic.
She's rail-thin and is implied to regularly eat multiple burgers at a single meal. Phoenix is aware but in denial; his constantly cleaning the toilet is, in part, an attempt to hide the evidence.

The Court Record is a Phantom Zone.
It can hold statues, spears, cameras on stands, fishing rods, metal detectors, dogs, a parrot, dancing cardboard badgers, jars, CSI equipment, folding screens, monkeys, dead lions, trunks, umbrellas, sacred swords, jockey calendars, cane swords, glass bottles, noodle stands... The explanation is: Each attorney involved with a case is given a small portal to the case's assigned phantom zone and all evidence they find or need can be conveniently stored or accessed through such medium.
 * Also, consider that Ace Attorney Investigatons (the only game in the series that does not involve trials) does not have a Court Record, instead having the pieces of evidence written down. This is obviously because within the game, Edgeworth is not in any actual trials, and thus does not have access to the Court Record.
 * Have you ever considered that they just take pictures of the evidence?

In the interim between Ace Attorney Investigations and Ace Attorney 4, Larry Butz becomes a lawyer.
Devastated by Phoenix's disbarring, he finally gets off his ass and commits himself to becoming a defense attorney, in order to prove his best friend's innocence. However, he ends up getting roped into joining Kristoph Gavin's office and becomes an Unwitting Pawn as a fallback plan, eventually becoming convinced that Phoenix really was a phony and did deserve to be disbarred. A future game will have him confront Phoenix about this, kill him out of anger, then cover it up and go after Apollo Justice to ruin his reputation and crush Phoenix's legacy, ending with him finally realizing through Apollo's expert defense that he'd been had and committing suicide in his despair.
 * That would be sad
 * I'd rather not believe this WMG.

Kristoph Gavin is a disciple of Manfred von Karma
When Kristoph and Klavier were children, von Karma was training Edgeworth as part of his revenge. However, Manfred had also noticed the resolution in Miles's friend, Phoenix, and predicted he would become the one attorney that, with Edgeworth's help, could bring an end to him in time. As such, he set a second gambit in motion; he murdered Mr. and Mrs. Gavin, lightly trained Klavier as a prosecutor and took Kristoph under his intellectual wing, teaching him to be obsessed with personal perfection and instructing him to become a defense attorney in order to eliminate Phoenix when the time came.
 * ...WTF
 * Well, where else would he get the notion to destroy one of his professional opponents and murder everyone else involved in such a psychopathic manner?
 * He also learned to punch the stand/desk instead of slamming it. Needless to say, Kristoph improved the technique.

Apollo Justice's biological father is Damon Gant.
Based on the first three posts in this thread.
 * Is is surprisingly plausible. I think I need to go lie down for a little bit...
 * OBJECTION! Part of the testimony in that thread has a clear contradiction! See the final post at the bottom of the page here.
 * OBJECTION! Your contradiction holds no water, as shown p41244 here
 * And here's another something linking Thalassa to Leto, which the poster seems to have missed: Leto is goddess of "being unseen." Who, pray tell, was blind for a while?

Klavier Gavin and Ema Skye will be part of .
To compliment Wright-DeKiller WMG.
 * In Apollo Justice Ema didn't actually flunk out of forensic school, she chose to come back to help Kay as a detective.
 * That's why she's acting as security at the Gavinners concert, she's really watching for.
 * OBJECTION!! . Replace Klavier with Maya Fey. She would act as the defense attorney with Kay as the prosecutor. Kay said she wanted . With two previous Wild Mass Guessing devoted to discussion of how Kay and Ema are hot and considering Maya's sister, this could work.
 * OBJECTION! Maya never meets Ema or Kay. Replace Maya with Franny.
 * I vote for Ron DeLite being the third, personally. (You can't tell me he isn't pretty enough or girly enough! Not without lying.)
 * Personally, I always thought it would be Kay, Maya and Trucy. The three sidekicks from each each arc, coming together as one. Kay would provide Little Thief, Maya would provide spiritual aid, and Trucy would provide her magical prowess.

Shi-long Lang is a gay wolf furry
That explains the adherance to the wolf motiif and the skin tight leather
 * Well, the character designer did want him to be shirtless...

In the seven-year gap between the Phoenix and Apollo games, Edgeworth, Gumshoe and Kay become the second Yatagarasu.
I can't be the only one who saw the connection. Both generations would be formed of a noble prosecutor, a trusted detective, and a hot chick. Besides, they need to do something.
 * That can't possibly last. Putting Gumshoe in charge of concealing evidence?
 * Of course. He... er... "loses" it.
 * Gumshoe was at the breakup of the first Yatagarasu, and got the idea to continue the legacy. He's been the second one all along and is really just Obfuscating Stupidity so no one will suspect him. After he meets Kay they have a conversation about their mutual interests and team up, and Edgeworth gets suspicious after a while.

Quercus Alba is related to ExDeath.
He is clearly a human-shaped tree.
 * HOLD IT! I'm more than fairly certain Alba wasn't created from a thousand evil souls being sealed into a tree. But I applaud your reference of the evil tree.
 * Quercus Alba is the exact inverse of Exdeath: he is a thousand evil trees sealed into a man.

The main character of the next game will be The Judge, with a bailiff as his partner.

 * ...egad... if this occurs around the time of Phoenix's disbarment, he'll be paired with Mike Meekins...

The judge will be a defendant soon enough.
Think about it; everyone eventually returns either as a defendant or as a corpse. Eventually, the judge (whose name will likely never show up) will be picked for one of them, and seeing as EVERY trial needs a judge, they can't afford to kill him off.
 * The Judge can't be a defendant and a judge at the same time either, so in either scenario his brother will have to come to reside over the court proceedings. Cue dramatic flashbacks and insight into both judge's characters, and an enormous plot twist when it's revealed that.

Come Apollo Justice 2, some characters from Phoenix's days will show up
While some are painfully obvious, there are many ways this could happen:
 * Gumshoe: He'll be one of the people Apollo has to defend or the detective in a case where you defend Ema.
 * Maya: Either the above lawyer reasoning, Kruian master or a defendant.
 * Pearls: Prosecutor, assistant to Maya or defendant
 * Judge's brother: See the above Judge is a defendant WMG
 * Edgeworth and Fraziska: Cameos, witnesses and/or prosecutor/defendant, depending on the person
 * Larry: it's Larry, he'll get into trouble somehow
 * Payne: But thats a given
 * Mia: Either in a "Play as Phoenix" case, or in one of the above Maya/Pearls cases. May or may not involve giving Apollo a charged Magatama.

Edgeworth is a robot.
In the first case of Ace Attorney Investigations, Edgeworth explicitly discusses the mechanics behind the revolutionary new "think before you speak" system. However, when he talks about "tapping the Logic button", he has his finger to his temple. On top of that, the image showed every time the Logic menu is opened is... the same image of Edgeworth tapping his temple. He's not simply painting the fourth wall; as a robot, he actually does have a button there that accesses his memory banks and overcharges his positronic brain for the sake of making connections.
 * A very interesting WMG. A robot that ages, I suspect you mean? Would it be that Gregory Edgeworth made him and Manfred reprogrammed him after DL-6? Do earthquakes make him malfunction, thus the 'passing out' in AAI case 2? I would be quite happy if you expanded on this, because you seem to know what you're talking about.
 * Not the same troper, but trying it anyways. It would also explain why Edgeworth is not interested in women, but shows affection for his fellow men: Women are different, and men look more like him. It's just his progaming saying that "Different is bad, Look-alike is good", like many programs. On that same line of thought, it would explain the vast number of awards and cases he's been on and won. He's a robot. He can work much more than the ordinary human without getting tired. And for the ending: To justify his fanboyism with The Steel Samurai, Edgey often states that "Other people cannot grasp at the deep meaning of the show.". It sounds like a lame excuse, but think about it: The logical mind of a robot is the most suited to say if a show has actually meaningfull messages or not!

The "Little Thief" system shown in Ace Attorney Investigates is a precursor to the MASON System in Apollo Justice
First off, when we first see the "Little Thief" system, we know it's before Apollo Justice for several reasons, one of which being that the Gavinners are the group playing on the stage in the kidnapping case. So, what's to say that, during the break between AAI and AJ Edgeworth doesn't manage to get his hand on a version of "Little Thief". Somehow it gets to Phoenix, and Phoenix creates a virtual "time machine" that is the MASON System. That's why you may have to find something in the "future" before you can present it in the "past"- because you're not actually going between the two time periods in a logical, orderly manner!
 * Also, it seems highly unlikely that Phoenix became a master programer before AJ. Alternatively, Kay could helped program the MASON system. Phoenix asks Miles for help with the jury system being reinstated and Miles contacts Kay to see if she could help with this project.
 * Grins, yeah, though with all the other stuff Phoenix gets into doing... Of course, that could (sort of) explan why Edgeworth was gone during the main events of AJ, he was getting the MASON system working for Phoenix, who was so cool he knew he needed it. X3

The Gramaryes would eventually become the thought police
In the Orwellian world, the Gramaryes would be the perfect candidates for identifying any subconscious twitch or contraction that could give away a person's thoughts... the inner party would have a field day with these guys.

Kay will next show up as a opponent for Apollo in his next game
Specifically she goes to law school to follow in her father's footsteps and becomes Edgeworth's apprentice. The game will be basically Edgeworth and Phoenix passive aggressively sniping at each other through surrogates like competitive parents vicariously fighting through their children. It will be hilarious.
 * ... This sounds really cool. I might be disappointed if this doesn't happen.
 * Also added to the mix could be Franziska's niece who was trained by Franziska.
 * And whose Courtroom Antic is her dog named Phoenix. Cue "Not you, the dog," and other related humor.

Kay will next show up in her own Investigations style game
Where she as Edgeworth's successor(and maybe part of the new Yatagarasu on the side) takes Edgeworth's investigative role and goes to trial unlike Edgeworth Investigates. Having to deal with a competitive and lecherous Klavier, a older and even more bumbling OVER PROMOTED Chief Gumshoe, a surly and bitter Ema (who doesn't like that Kay actually managed to reach her dream) and goes up against Apollo and others such as older more disgusting Grossman. One case will be against a newly reinstated Phoenix defending Maya, which will be unwinnable, because Phoenix as his new Chessmastery self will the universe's resident Ace.
 * OBJECTION! Isn't it because law is hindered and can't always bring about truth the reason that Kay becomes the Yatagarasu? One would think she'd find being the Yatagarasu more valuable than being a lawyer, and invest her full time in it. Plus, Kay comes across as a kleptomaniac even outside of stealing 'the truth', considering how she's always talking about stealing everything in sight (or even intangible things like lines and jobs).

Shi-Long Lang really is a werewolf.
He doesn't make much of an effort to hide it. This is because werewolves are in fact commonplace in the AA verse - that Phoenix and Apollo do not meet any in-game is mere coincidence.

Shi-Long Lang is actually Wolf O'Donnell stuck in a parallel universe
Wolf flew a little too far towards the edge of the universe and ended up in Zheng Fa. The only way he can get back to the Lylat system is to take down the Interpol agents whom hold the secret to universe-to-universe hopping.

Kristoph Gavin defended
would want the best lawyer around to take his case, but seeing as Edgeworth handled the investigation Phoenix and his known associates would refuse the case as they would conclude that he's guilty. Who amongst defense attorneys at the time is both known to be exceedingly skilled and amoral enough to want to defend him? Not to mention, despite, ; a client of that nature would match Kristoph's M.O. to a T. Oh, and it even adds another layer to his ; we know from a credits sequence in Investigations that was found guilty, which would mean that Gavin lost to Edgeworth in court:
 * ...This is awesome.
 * This is now my headcanon.

Closed eyes are an almost sure sign on evil.
Thins about it. If a character spends a lot of the time with their eyes closed, chances are they are the real killer. The cutoff point for how much time they spend with their eyes closed seems to be somewhere between Larry Butz and Damon Gant. Anyways, characters who spend a lot of time with their eyes closed include.
 * Frank Sahwit
 * Damon Gant
 * Ini Miney
 * Kristoph Gavin
 * De Killer
 * Big Wins Kitaki: A mafia boss
 * ...who turns out to be not so bad... when he opens his eyes, of course!
 * Ernest Amano
 * Marvin Grossberg?
 * Well, Marvin Grossberg did rat out Misty Fey, which in turn caused pretty much everything bad that happened to the Fey family in the series. That's pretty evil when you think about it.
 * Also there's Director Hotti, but he so obviously fits into the hypothesis it's not worth discussing.

I haven't seen all of the cases yet (I'm still working my way through the second game) but the only other people I see who can make a claim to this are Larry Butz and Lotta Hart, and they both are selfish butt monkeys who keep on getting in your way. Maybe they're just less evil.
 * OBJECTION! ::desk slam:: I-5 gives us, with closed eyes 90% of the time but turns out to be a really nice guy. Further, after undergoes The Reveal, his eyes hardly stay closed throughout the rest of the case! ::point:: This clearly contradicts your hypothesis!
 * Kinda justified, because by the last case of the most recent game people are bound to pick up on something like that subconsciously, and I can't be the only one who thought that the game was trying to make me hate Palaeno.

Calisto Yew is Kay's mother
I have no proof for this other than.
 * OBJECTION! Assuming her cited age in I-4 is correct, she would have been twelve when Kay was born! A clear contradiction!
 * HOLD IT! Assuming that  Ergo, the previous statement is based on false evidence and is circumstantial at best!
 * HOLD IT! Where's your evidence of ? It clearly says in !
 * Byrne and Tyrell only met Calisto after the KG-9 incident, Tyrell says that she knew Kay sice she was born, there was no reason at all for Byrne or anybody to hide that Calisto was his wife or Kay's mother and finally, there is just no way she could be her mother.

Ghost Trick will take place in the Ace Attorney universe
The game will be made by the same company and even the same designer, after all. And it is about the afterlife. I see no reason why Capcom can't have the games share the same universe, just like Valve did with Half-Life and Portal. Or Cing's Another Code and Hotel Dusk series (possibly Again as well).
 * Word of God confirmed.

Daryan Crescend is a member of the smuggling ring from Investigations
It's been a while since I played Apollo Justice so please bear with me, but I don't think we ever got to know his motive for smuggling the cocoon out of Borginia other than that "he was a greedy Jerkass" (I'd like to think that Machi's motive for helping him was because of Lamiroir, though). This would explain a lot, especially since the ending for AAI implies that the ring is still alive, except with a new leader.
 * OBJECTION! ::slams desk:: We know full well that his reason for the smuggling was ::close-up, speed lines:: !
 * HOLD IT! Who says it can't be both reasons? He needed the cocoon, but who's to say that he didn't work with the Syndicate to complete his goal?
 * HOLD IT! Where's your evidence that... ::points:: ...anyone other than Crescend was involved in the smuggling? ::slams desk:: Your only basis for this claim was the apparent lack of motive... ::close-up, speed lines:: ...which has already been proven false!
 * OBJECTION! ::desk slam:: Being a member of the smuggling ring requires that the smuggling ring still exists at the time! However, according to the testimony of one Miles Edgeworth during the closing sequence, with the help of information from as uncovered in court... ::pointing:: ! Further, he refers to... ::desk slam, close-up, speed lines:: ! That is indisputable testimony that the smuggling ring no longer exists!

Snackoo is a euphemism
Ema really likes to Snackoo Apollo, and after a while, Apollo learns to enjoy it.
 * Rape?.

Diego's love for Mia was unrequited.

 * Mia never refers to him as her boyfriend, and doesn't make any particular effort to speak to him when they meet again.
 * Diego, despite his obvious feelings for her, never refers to her as his girlfriend.
 * Grossberg refers to Diego as Mia's boyfriend, but she doesn't acknowledge it. He may have known about Diego's feelings for her and just assumed.
 * Mia was extremely shaken by the events of 3-4, but that could have had just as much to do with as anything.
 * Well, maybe Mia prefered people with who she had an "intellectual attraction", like Lana Skye. And by "people" I mean "women". And by "maybe" I mean "please, make it canon".
 * No, I believe it's confirmed at some point. The wiki, at least, says it's true.

This game and the Trauma Center series take place in the same universe.
It makes far too much sense for it not to be true.
 * I have been thinking the same thing for quite a while now. The two series do have a lot of similarities.
 * Examples please?
 * Percieve/Healing Touch, for one. The over the top Serious Business in both professions, for another. Plus, they both have a touch of Magic Realism (Percieve, Healing Touch, GUILT (admit it, it's clearly a MAGIC DISEASE), Channeling...)
 * Operation=Trial, Angie=Maya, Prosecutor's Office=Delphi, GUILT=forged evidence, Hands Of Asclepius=von Karmas, Press=Scalpel, Present=Forceps, Advance Text=Antibiotic Gel...
 * I have evidence! Look at this and this then look at this. TAKE THAT!

Wearing an attorney's badge gives the user limitted time control capabilities.
Mostly it's the ability to stop or reverse time (by a small amount). If they want, they can freeze some people while talking to others. This explains why sometimes a person in the scene will be frozen in a very active pose while you have time to look at everything. That's because time is stopped. It also explains why sometimes conversations bring up information you've heard before, or they play out in the exact same way if you bring them up again. In the courtroom, this only works during cross-examination. This is the main advantage that defense attorneys have over the prosecution. Phoenix was later able to tap into this technology to make the MASON System.

Quercus Alba is related to Barlowe
While it doesn't show in their portraits, one look at Barlowe's sprite will tell all. Plus, they're both old guys with

Edgeworth is becoming the Ace Attorney equivalent to Sherlock Holmes
He's got the detective skills, extensive knowledge in many fields, and has learned the benefits of keeping a Watson around the place. He may quit being a prosecutor to help the helpless, or do some investigating on the side with Gumshoe in tow.
 * OBJECTION! Watson is actually competent!
 * Besides, this troper thinks Phoenix would make a better Watson.
 * Personally, I think it's more like Conan and Kogoro, or at least Takagi.

The games are a Take That at the culture around the Japanese judicial system
After reading this I can't help but wonder.

The Judge is immortal.
No matter how far into the past or the future the games show us, the Judge never seems to get any younger or older. He's always the same perpetually grey-bearded and bald man. That's because he's immortal, and no one has ever noticed. He was a judge long before Phoenix was born, and he will continue to be one long after Apollo dies of old age.

Phoenix was the Chessmaster behind cases 4-1 and 4-4.
After all, the timing of his secret mission in relation to the time the murder occurred is a bit too convenient. Besides, he could easily set up the jurist system so that all verdicts are final, and he has double jeopardy preventing him from being tried on the Shadi Smith case.

The poison Atroquinine is made of Borginian Cocoons.
Remember why it's illegal? It's because you could make a rare and deadly poison out of these babies. Antroquinine is a deadly poison. It has no taste and no fragrance and it's hard to get. Now let's connect these thoughts with basic logic.
 * But cocoons are how you treat Incuritis. Wouldn't that be like treating AIDS with cyanide?
 * Maybe it all depends on how you process the cocoon? One way it becomes something for healing- the other way it becomes deadly poison. Kind of like how fugu can be processed as a food, unprocessed it's poisonous, and if the posison is proccessed a different way, it's a heart medication.
 * That is correct; in Apollo Justice, it is said that the reasons that the cocoons aren't to leave Borginian borders is because if the purification process in making the Incuritis cure is altered slightly, you get a powerful poison. And an addendum to this WMG: Atroquinine is the poison which Dahlia stole from Doug Swallow and was used in her attempts to poison both Diego and Phoenix.
 * OBJECTION! Diego's poisoning being caused by atroquinine is possible, although, if we assume that the poison intended to kill Phoenix was the same used in the necklace that killed Terry Fawles, the circumstances of his death make it clear that the poison is not slow-acting. The poison used must have been a different one!
 * Actually, at the end of 4-4, it's mentioned that Vera Misham was the only person to survive atroquinine poisoning, rendering the fact that Diego was poisoned with it to be a false claim. As well as that, Phoenix ATE Dahlia's bottle containing traces of the poison. If it were atroquinine, which is lethal at two micrograms (meaning two MILLIONTHS of a gram), the trace amount of poison left in the bottle, which is perfectly plausible to be two micrograms, would have killed Phoenix. (Also in 4-3, it IS mentioned that a slight change in the processing of the cocoons yields a deadly poison.) Otherwise, it's still plausible that atroquinine is the deadly poison from Borginian cocoons, but just not used by Dahlia Hawthorne.

Little Thief was made by Glen Elg
If I remember correctly, it's said that made that little gadget, but I'm not buying it. Just look at that thing and how it works! Holograms and the calculating and I'm not even gonna try and bullshit and attempt talking smart. Anyway, in 3-3 his boss states that he's been doing some work on the side, mostly underground stuff for who knows who. Now, how much more underground can you get than Yatagarasu? Well, aside from the mafia, but still. Also, given Phoenix's klepto ways, I bet he stole the blueprints to that hologram that's used for the jury in AJ...

Franziska continues idolize her father because she is in denial about circumstances surrounding his downfall
Based on Investigations, it's very clear that she looked up to ol' Manfred and consoles Kay seeing as her father is also a prosecutor. Fast forward several years later, when she finds out that her father is dead, a murderer, and not perfect. She most likely didn't take this very well and whenever she thinks about him, she tries to think about the ideal person she looked up to so that it doesn't destroy inside. Edgeworth, being her adoptive brother, probably knows that it would be best to let her live denial and rather than rebuke her for speaking well about his father's murderer, decides to let it slide. Compare that to when Ernest Amano mentions Manfred and Edgeworth isn't exactly pleased to hear his name.

Kristoph Gavin is Vampire Hunter D.
People don't usually have demons in their hands. I know it's on the wrong side and doesn't talk, but maybe the familiar needs time to mature... I dunno, it's just too fun an idea to not post.
 * Or maybe it does talk, I mean, just 'cause we don't see it talking in-game doesn't mean it can't...

Maggey Byrde is related to Glen Elg
It's not often you find two characters in this fandom that share the same traits such as bad luck, unless.... But seriously. Maggey fell from several floors of her apartment building and survived. At the time, I bet her parents didn't chalk it up as the start of her natural disasters of luck, but as one parent neglecting her. This keeps happening over and over in different ways and boom! They're fighting like crazy and eventually divorce and one parent takes Maggey and the other remarries and has Glen, who also has it in his genetic coding to be cursed with bad luck.
 * OBJECTION! The whole crux of your argument is your theory that Elg was born after Maggey's parents were divorced, and that Glen is the child of a later marriage from one of them. You seem to forget that... Glen Elg is older than Maggey!. By quite a few years in fact!

Quercus Alba wasn't speaking in gaming terms metaphorically
In actuality, he was breaking the fourth wall. During the final "battle", he mentions high scores, getting game over, saving your game and whatever. Somehow, I find it hard to believe that a 72-year old ambassador/ex-general/criminal mastermind is interested in video games. My theory is that he is completely aware how annoying he is, and he's trying to get under your skin. Yes, your skin. In one of his animations (to be more specific, the one where he flashes his medals) he's also doing a Troll-like face directed at the player.

Oldbag is from space.
When she returned from her vacation in Trials and Tribulations, she was dressed in the same space suit from the second game. She took a vacation back to her native homeworld and her gun is real, but it fires something that, while nothing to us, would actually be deadly to aliens. Alternatively, she's Samus' daughter.

Larry Butz will get his own Investigations game.
Since people complained that the first Investigations was too easy (since Edgeworth is a genius), Capcom will make a game with Larry Butz and make it the toughest Ace Attorney game ever to mirror his idiocy and the fact that he has no legal power. Like the other main characters, he will also have an exclusive game mechanic to let him harness his inner "Laurice Deauxnim" and paint mental pictures. It'll work like a one-man Magamata, though with hints of Edgeworth's Logic.
 * Actually, I think this idea is clever in an absurd sort of way. Frankly, I'd look more forward to this than a game starring Franziska Von Karma or, ugh, Godot.
 * Maybe Larry's exclusive game mechanic will be based on analogies, allusions, and metaphors. You have to use seemingly useless evidence or examine certain objects in certain ways to create "Eureka" moments for your idiotic protagonist.

In Apollo Justice's game, Phoenix's friends weren't absent - they were just as Chessmaster-y as Phoenix himself.
Maya had to take her position as Kurain Master, but seriously wanted to do something about it - so she had Pearl occasionally channel Mia in order to secretly help Phoenix out behind the scenes, or rearrange things to make events more convenient for him. Maya, of course, would encourage him by sending him Steel Samurai stuff. Meanwhile, Edgeworth and Franzy would know that they would be unable to help Phoenix directly as prosecutors, so they ended up finding Klavier Gavin and mentoring him.

Edgeworth's Pet the Dog moment was not 1-3.
He wasn't legitimately searching for the truth in that case...he just wanted Will Powers, the Steel Samurai, to get off.
 * Or we could look at it another way. Edgeworth was in a difficult position, being forced to choose between regaining his reputation after his 1-2 loss broke his perfect record or saving one of his personal heroes. When Phoenix raised the very viable possibility that it was someone else, Edgeworth finally made his decision to hear him out, once and for all sacrificing his record for his love of the Steel Samurai. The Samurai's innocence rekindled his belief that justice is best when solidly backed by truth, leading to his Heel Face Turn. In a way, the Steel Samurai redeemed him.

Winston Payne is a patient, vengeful Chessmaster.
After losing to Mia Fey, he vowed revenge on her, but he was too afraid of being caught to kill her himself. So, he looked into her past to see if there was a reason anyone else would want her dead. And there was. When the time was right, he told Redd White about Mia's investigations. While Mia died, as he had hoped, he had, in the meantime, acquired a new foe, Phoenix Wright. He once again looked for some way of making him a target. He found it in Kristoph Gavin, playing on his anger at not being chosen. Payne thought that Kristoph would kill Phoenix, but he settled for seeing him disbarred and ruined. This bodes ill for Apollo Justice...


 * Perhaps the title 'Rookie Killer' means a very different thing to what we thought...

Maya Fey gives up her seat as the Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique
She hands the title off to Pearly, who then goes into intense training to hone her own spirit channeling powers. Maya herself has either gone into self-imposed exile, due to being the center of one too many Fey-related incidents (the death of her sister, her own accusations of murder, and 3-5's entire surroundings), or she has gone elsewhere in the world to pursue a different path, but still keeps in touch with Phoenix Wright, who never let her know that he was disbarred out of fear of shame.

Every person in the Ace Attorney universe has either some sort of Bag of Holding or access to Hammerspace with them at all times
This means not just the Prosecutors or Defense Attorneys; everyone has to have one. The most obvious one is Angel Starr's basket, which can hold a plethora of boxed lunches alone, but also will hold whatever evidence she needs to carry and a camera. Then, there's Adrian Andrews with her infinite amount of quick-shatter glasses.
 * As mentioned, this would also explain how Phoenix, Edgeworth and all of the other attorneys are able to carry their evidence around, especially the Noodle Stand (which can be fully viewed in 3D, thus not being just a picture Apollo brought to court) and the bear from 2-4. Also explains Klavier's air guitar sound; it's just coming from a stereo in said Hammerspace, as much as it explains how Gumshoe stores all of that confetti.

There is some kind of relation between Phoenix and Kyon from the Haruhi Suzumiya Franchise.
During his time as a lawyer, Phoenix is basically Kyon with more facial expressions, right down to the sarcastic remarks in his thoughts, the Willing Suspension of Disbelief failure when Mia is first channeled, the heroic "She's annoying me to death, but I still love her as a friend" moment and the fact that everybody and their mothers seemd to be able to read his thoughts for some reason. Also, Kyon implies that he, surprisingly, actually used to be rather naive and childish just a few years ago... does that remind you on a certain cold-killer X taking law-student? Conclusion: Kyon too will end up as a Hobo in a few years, he just needs some traumatic experience to make him snap.

Phoenix Wright is responsible for every single one of Winston Payne's failures
When Phoenix isn't involved in the case, he actually does quite well. Note that every single case we see him fail involves Phoenix, even when Phoenix is not the main character. We see him win the trail against Maggey Byrde, and he would have won the trial against Luke Atmey if Phoenix had not intervened.
 * OBJECTION! Both of those cases had the defense... trying to lose!! I hardly think that counts!
 * Well, he was known as the Rookie Killer. How could that name have come about if he wasn't a good prosecutor? Phoenix just throws him off of his groove.

The missing characters from the Phoenix arc are the jurors in the last case of Apollo Justice
Phoenix had been planning to set up the jury system for a long time and had to keep his friends uninvolved, since he wanted them to be the jury for the first trial using this system. It's also for this reason that Phoenix refrained from introducing or mentioning them to Apollo. If he just lost one wrong word to them, they'd automatically disqualified for being too involved in the case. Ema, however, still disqualified in the end, because she donated the camera to him, so he replaced her with Thalassa. The other five jurists are Edgeworth, Maya, Pearl, Maggey and Iris. (Not Gumshoe, since he was involved in the trial which started the whole mess).
 * Pearl is too young to be a jurist. You're not legally an adult in Japan until 20 and Pearl would be only 16 at the time of Turnabout Succession. Repalce her with Larry Butz.
 * Only lays can be jurors, which means that it couldn't have been Edgeworth. Perhaps Lotta?

Alcohol is outlawed in the setting of Ace Attorney
Grape and tomato juice is served in wine bottles complete with wine glasses. There is a bar full of grape juice in the second case of AceAttorneyInvestigations. Oh, and that large glass  is swishing around? Apple juice.
 * Or perhaps that last one really is alcohol and he just doesn't care.
 * OBJECTION! In case 1-5, Gumshoe refers to Damon Gant as having been "quite intoxicated" at the police department new years party. I doubt even Damon Gant would be that blatant. Furthermore, Gumshoe doesn't consider it especially unusual that someone had been drinking. Alcohol is legal, those bottles of juice actually ARE juice. Perhaps making fun of such transparent censorship?

The MASON system is...
A mix of science (Little Thief) and what for all intents and purposes we're going to call "magic" (Kurain-style channeling). When you "travel" back in time, you're really viewing a channeling of a person's past self being channeled through a type of Little Thief System.

Akbey Hicks is Machi Tobaye's father
Both are blonde guys from Borginia with blue eyes, and it would make sense age-wise. This means Machi was made an orphan at the age of 7.
 * I... what. Yes, oh, ouch ouch. I wish to subscribe to your newsletter, please?

Pearl, Maya and Edgeworth all know about Phoenix's disbarring + Next Game Predictions
It seems unlikely that Edgeworth, as one of the top prosecutors as well as a person accused of forging evidence, would not know about the disbarring. Edgeworth would then call Maya to inform her of this, but encourage her that a direct talk with him about it wouldn't be productive, hence the Steel Samurai stuff. However, Pearls would have likely heard about this through Maya, who would've been heartbroken at the thought of Phoenix forging evidence, and would probably become a prosecutor to try and find the truth behind the whole thing by talking to Klavier. However, by the time that she becomes one (at a young age, possibly with Franziska or Edgeworth's help) she discovers that Phoenix has a protoge, and then gets either Franziska or Edgeworth to mentor her while still doing medium training, despite the fact that Edgeworth has Kay as an assistant

If the above is true, then in the next game both Pearls and Edgeworth (or Franziska) will appear, possibly including Gumshoe, Kay and Maya. The cases will go like so: Case 1 will be Apollo vs Payne, Cases 2,3 and possibly 4 will have Apollo vs Pearl, the final case will be Apollo vs either Edgeworth, Franziska or Klavier, and there will possibly be one bit where you play as a recently reinstated Phoenix, possibly for the first part of the last case. Also, to prove to Pearl that the lawyer spirit still burns brightly in the Wright Anything Agency, Apollo (with Maya or a channeled Mia's help) will grab Phoenix's magatama and use it in his cases, which will become a key point when in the last case you have to combine the Psyche Lock and Percieve systems to defeat the Black Psyche Locks. Kay, when she appears, will basicly be looking for evidence with Pearl or for Edgeworth.

Becoming a defense attorney or prosecutor is as simple as applying to McDonalds.
I mean, come on. Well-known Defense Attorney Diego Armando. Calisto Yew,  Nobody bats an eyelash at either of these. On top of this, Klavier Gavin could not possibly have had enough time to study law and become a super-popular rock star at age 17.
 * So Franziska trained in Germany for years to become a perfect prosecutor, and when she applied, she realized that all she needed was a badge/name tag and a smile (though she probably let her whip do the smiling)?

The law books are just fluff and the reason Phoenix has so much trouble with them is because he learned everything via word-of-mouth from Mia.

The "kid" who sent all of the Steel Samurai stuff in the AJ game to Phoenix was Edgeworth
No evidence, really, other than the fact that he was a Steel Samurai fan. And this would be really adorable.
 * Also, I can't really imagine happy-go-lucky Maya insisting that he write reports on them. Our dear Edgey on the other hand.... needless to say, this pleases my inner yaoi fangirl.

Max Galatica is Apollo's father.
OBJECTION! Mr. Galactica would have been EIGHT when Apollo was born.
 * He was originally Billy Bob Johns, the most pathetic magician ever. He tried to join Troupe Gramarye in order to improve and become the world's greatest magician. He got too cocky and tried an escape act that seriously injured him, ashamed to see his wife and son ever again he honed his magic to become a stage-magician under a new name, but became a Jerkass to hide the grief of his wife's death and losing track of his son.

Franziska Von Karma will be the protagonist of the next investigations.

 * I mean, how cool would THAT be?
 * Edgeworth used Logic. Franziska will use her whip to get information out of the witnesses/suspects.
 * No, it'll just replace the "Press" button during cross-examinations.
 * Oh so sadly, this seems to have been Jossed.
 * Not necessarily, there could still be a case played as her.

The next game will star Mia Fey and take place some time before the events of the first game, but after the flashbacks in the third.

 * Mia's assistant will be Phoenix as a lawyer-in-training.
 * Her particular ability would be Decision. In a logic-like menu, a flowchart of the possible events of the case can be seen, and expands as investigation goes along. Then, using evidence, possibilities in the flow chart are eliminated. Then, when only one possibility remains, the truth is found.
 * Doesn't Mia already have a Magatama? And she has been said to be a damn good spiritual medium, I think it might just be Psyche Locks again
 * The first case will be a simple one, with Phoenix assisting Mia in court, and her explaining the ropes of court to him. The game's justified tutorial.
 * The second case will involve Wendy Oldbag, and be the beginning of her crush on Edgeworth.
 * The third case will feature the prequel series to the Steel Samurai, and see leading star, Jack Hammer, accused of a crime. Mia later proves his innocence.
 * In the fourth case, Mia is accused of a murder, and assumes her own defense. Misty Fey's desperation will be an important factor in the case. Dahlia Hawthorne may or may not be involved, in association with Morgan Fey.
 * Appearing characters include:
 * Mike Meekins as a policeman
 * Larry Butz, who is even more annoying due to being teenaged.
 * Maggey Birde and Lotta Hart, both at younger ages
 * Victor Kudo (giving a second meaning to Mia's comment to Maya about calling her over just for seducing Mr. Kudo in th third game.)
 * Sal Manella, who is presently writing his first series.

Ron DeLite is an alternate-universe Jacuzzi Splot.
He just traded in his retarded name for retarded hair.

Tres Bien was put under new management by case 3-5.
Considering that. The court seized it and sold it at auction, so the food probably doesn't suck anymore, meaning that the celebration party has at least tolerable eats.

I hope.

Ace Attorney Investigations 2 takes place during Apollo Justice or after.
Come on, we need some plot, and it's not like we have some other places to put it. Hey, we might get to see the old characters again!
 * Jossed. The game takes place a day after the end of the first Investigations game.

De Killer's role in AAI 2 theory
After finding a successor and training them, it's time for their first job. Of course, Shelly would come along to supervise in case something went wrong. Probably why he's wearing his emblem so openly; to draw away attention from the real assassin and just freak us all the fuck out. Speaking of new assassins, I bet it's a girl... alias? Jane Doe.
 * Or possibly he's hired to assassinate the case's victim but is beaten to the punch by the real killer, and part of the over-arching story covers trying to discover the client.
 * Well, that's just as - if not more of an interesting thought. *scratches chin* Okay, so... If that's the case, then maybe Edgeworth will team-up with de Killer at one point to catch the real killer, but only if he doesn't arrest him?

Gumshoe is Obfuscating Stupidity.
One would expect that if he were really as dumb as he seems, he never would have made it through police academy, let alone still be on the force at all. Obviously, his mother was a spirit medium and he decided to heat up a magatama to see what happened; it exploded, giving him a scar on his face and psychic powers by proxy. Hiding the source of his powers with an omnipresent band-aid, he deliberately "misses" important evidence when he knows the most obvious suspect is innocent.

Edgeworth uses Axe Body Spray
It would certainly explain his massive popularity with the ladies....
 * More like Old Spice.

The Phoenix Wright games take place in the far distant future/past of the Wheel of Time-verse
In this time period of the WOT-verse channeling as it occurs during the WOT books has been largely forgotten about, existing here and there as 'magic tricks' though the purest and most clearly remembered line of actual one-power channelers is the Fey clan and the Kurain Channeling technique. All potential channelers have blocked themselves and need extreme conditions and or crutches to access their powers. The courts and legal cases, act as the extreme pressure and conditions needed to get around their personal blocks, and things like the Magatama which is actually a Ter'Angreal usable by men and women alike that has been passed down for ages upon ages as a crutch to get around it as well. The reason Witnesses act as though they've been physically struck when crucial evidence is presented is due to the Channeler-lawyers sub-conciously accessing their powers and hitting them with a light weave of compulsion forcing more of the truth to come out. The physical reaction and the fact that they don't spill their guts all at once is due to their unconcious and clumsy use of their abilities.

The reason only women in the Kurain Tradition can hold spiritual powers is that it's a hold over from the White Tower and the only weave properly remembered by the Kurain Tradition is a special secret weave that temporarily allows spirits bound to the wheel to be drawn into the real world again so long as they have a willing host body to inhabit. Explaining how events like 3-5 can occur

Phoenix is a reincarnation of Rand al'Thor. He has an almost suicidally stupid belief in the basic goodness of the female half of the human species (Compare Lanfear and Dahlia anyone?) His mentor sacrifices herself to protect him from a villain he later takes down (Mia/Moraine). He has one princess like love interest who is also, as or more powerful than his mentor was in spiritual power (Maya/Elayne) Pearls has been shown to be quite violent in her quest to keep 'Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick' together though lets be honest, who doubts that as soon as Pearl hits puberty her long cherished hero worship of Nick won't turn into a full blown crush even as she batters Nick into who she thinks he should be with regardless of her feelings just like Aviendha. Which would leave Iris to be an incarnation of Min, a more simple down to earth girl with little to no special powers but a strong love connection to her man who just wants her beloved to be happy no matter the cost. Any one else care to expand?

Olga is a prostitute
The waitress from apollo justice. Is not to hard to see why. When asked what her job was, she replies that is to provide "services" (but not saying which) and then she says that she will give the customer "If a customers requests it, I serve EVERYTHING". To make things worse, she throws some lines that can be really... er..., like "I might accidentally drop some cold food on the costumers LAP" and that the "food in her restaurant is as warm as the waitresses". Also, her own ROOM is in the restaurant! (called "the hideout")

Having in mind that the whole place itself is kind of not legal (hosting illegal poker matches), and she seems to be quite a fragile girl, there is no doubt about this.
 * Yeah, but it's later shown during that case that

"Shelly de Killer" is an alias.
I know this is Ace Attorney, but that's just a wee bit too silly. Plus, what kind of assassin tells his real name to an entire courtroom? Knowing the series, though, his real name is probably "Michel de Quilleur" or something.
 * "de Killer" is the line of Assassins he comes from. Presumably, as with any professional assassin, he has several (hundred) aliases he can adopt at any time for safety, and only uses his real name of Shelly de Killer when he is openly stating that he is an assassin.

There will be a "Yatagarasu: Ace Thief" game.
There HAS to be.
 * And while we're at it, add Ace Assassin to the list!
 * Dick Gumshoe: Ace Detective. It just has to be done.

Marvin Grossberg is a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass.
Some time down the series, we will witness him taking a defense case, and he will wipe the floor with the prosecution.
 * Well, he was mentor to such awesome people as Mia Fey and Diego Armando after all!

Mia is possessing Phoenix in Apollo Justice.
Being a member of the Fey family, Mia possesses extraordinary abilities regarding channeling (which is why it's easier for Pearl and Maya to channel her). After Phoenix's disbarment, she was so outraged that she used her awesome Big Damn Heroes / Determinator status to force her spirit into Phoenix and fix things for good - hence Phoenix's distant, abrasive personality in game 4. And since Phoenix isn't a spirit channeler, the body-appearance thing doesn't happen.

Why Maya has such a massive appetite...
It's because channeling a spirit uses up massive amounts of energy. Maya's massive consumption of burgers is her way of restoring the lost energy. Also a way of debunking the "Maya is bulimic" theory mentioned above. Maybe the entire Fey clan shares the post-channeling appetite and it's just never brought up.
 * So her kidnapping in game 2 (she was starved) must have been absolute hell since she was channeling Mia several times...Damn. You. Matt. Engarde.

OBJECTION! That might not be the case! The physical changes themselves could be the cause of this! Radically changing a person's appearance would take massive amounts of energy, requiring A lot of food to keep up with the energy demands!

Colias Palaeno in Ace Attorney Investigations was in on the smuggling ring.
Everything that Palaeno did in the last case was to become the sole ambassador and go scot-free of all his crimes. The reason I believe this is because he had the statue with the plates inside. Another reason is because Manny Coachen was his secretary. I refuse to believe that he wasn't aware that his statue had plates in it or that fact that his own secretary was committing crimes behind his back. Everything he did in the final case helped to put suspicion on Quercus Alba. Palaeno allowed Edgeworth to continue investigating because he already had his secretary burn all the evidence that would indict him. He told Edgeworth about the properties about Babahlese ink which led to the conviction of Shih-na. He told Edgeworth that his statue was fake which allowed Edgeworth realized that the statues were switched. In the end of the case, he became the sole ambassador and made it so Quercus would be seen as the sole ringleader of the smuggling ring.

Magnifi Gramarye killed Apollo's father
Seems like the sort of douchey thing he'd do, although I actually doubt this will turn out to be true, because it simply wouldn't be as dramatic as having the killer be still alive for Apollo to nail in the last case of his arc.
 * That's why we have Spirit Mediums, though.

Edgeworth is a (Bal)seraph.
For four years straight he managed to utterly convince courts that his side was correct, no matter what side that actually was, until such time as he ran into a certain someone who could counteract his Resonance and ultimately put him through redemption -- after which he not only becomes a champion of truth, but loses Life Meter for coming to untrue conclusions.

Japan colonized California in the past
Think about it. The culture of the Los Angeles region is very Japanese, including several highly influential families of Japanese heritage (the Feys, the Kitakis, the Amanos). This would explain not only the presence of a zaibatsu and yakuza (okay they have no problems in the real world, actually), but also the hundreds of years that Kurain Village (and Medium Valley) has apparently been present in the mountains above L.A. Not to mention the myths of the Yatagarasu which were eventually used too.

Japan must have avoided the policy of sakoku in exchange for a policy of colonization during the Edo period. This gives plenty of time for the cultural roots to have been laid down. Eventually they probably gave up their territory (or lost it in war) to the expanding U.S. and the descendants of settlers just decided to stick around and intermarry. But they kept borrowing things from their original home, such as tokusatsu, ramen stands, etc.
 * So, in a sense... Ace Attorney takes place in the same universe as The Man In The High Castle.

Earth has undergone an environmental disaster
The L.A. area is shown having heavy snow in a few cases. While this is perfectly understandable for up in the mountains, the amount of snow on the ground in 2-3 at the Big Berry Circus is far from normal for the lower L.A. area which rarely even gets a dusting of snow (and no one really comments on it). Therefore, the climate must be radically changed by some natural or human-caused event. Maybe even the Second Impact...

The mysterious voice in the Gyakuten Kenji 2 demo, who calls Edgeworth by his first name is either Gregory Edgeworth (channeled by a medium) or Phoenix Wright.
Nobody else would have a reason to call him "Reiji/Miles". Also, it would for both of them make sense to ask Edgeworth  For Gregory, the reason why he would ask his son this is obvious. And for Phoenix, it would make sense as well, seeing how  Of course, the voice could also be Mikagami Hakari, A.K.A. "Judgette", but one has to wonder why this hyper-formal woman would call him by his first name.
 * HOLD IT! Are you referring to that new trailer for Gyakuten Kenji 2? The voice that's saying that part most definitely sounds like a man, so it's obviously not the "Judgette." Furthermore, it can't be Phoenix Wright or Gregory Edgeworth because the trailer clearly introduces a new character at those words - Tateyuki Shigaraki (the man with the brown shirt, blue tie, and hat). Apparently,
 * TAKE THAT! This may all be true, but if you take a look at the date this WMG was made, you will see that it is just a few days before the latest trailer was revealed... Ergo... THE TROPER HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING ABOUT TATEYUKI SHIGARAKI'S NAME OR ROLE!.

The reason why Edgeworth doesn't care about the law and only wishes to find the truth is because he hears of Wright's disbarment.
Because by finding out about Wright's disbarment, he would acknowledge that the law itself was imperfect and that only the truth is absolute. Of course, this troperette has no idea when GK 2 takes place, so this could just be Edgey's take on things.
 * ::Taps papers. Grins.:: OBJECTION! ::Slams desk.:: TAKE THAT! Phoenix's disbarment does not happen until weeks after Investigations ends!
 * OBJECTION! Gyakuten Kenji 2 ends on April 9th 2019, a week or less away from Zak's arrest! therefore, it is possible!

Manfred Von Karma would hurt Franziska is she did something that wasn't 'perfect'
Just an idea- when Phoenix or Edgeworth exposes a hole in her theory, she'll draw back as if expecting them to hit her.
 * It's a nice theory, but everyone does that, while Edgeworth has the same possible reason, no one else does.
 * OBJECTION!' The great majority of witnesses and prosecutors simply act surprised or tense. No one actually does anything similar to Franziska's bracing and instinctively dodging in self-defense. Also, consider her behavior of whipping people into submission when irritated with them! It is a classic sign of childhood bullying or physical abuse. Therefore, we have strong evidence to suggest that Franziska von Karma was abused by her father!

Edgeworth dies at the end of his Investigations series
Explains his absence and also why he's never mentioned in Apollo Justice. Phoenix blocks him out of his memory just like the last time he thought Edgeworth had died.
 * Or, he could just be abroad. Or he's being The Chessmaster.

Franziska is an Opposite Sex Clone or (also) adopted
No mention of a wife, a clone being a prefect fit for Mr. Perfect / ability to "pick and choose" instead of blind chance of the uh, normal way fitting.

Matt Engarde is Satan
He wears red, calls himself a "handsome devil" and killed a man with the initials JC. Plus, the wineglass thing has to be dark magic.

Doug Swallow didn't really die
Instead he was merely shocked unconscious. He decided that his current life had sucked so he pretended that he really was dead. He bribed some doctors into making a fake autopsy report. His decision for his new life, was to become a movie star by the name of Matt Engarde. The two look very similar to each other and even wear similar clothes. The reason Phoenix doesn't recognize him is the same reason he doesn't recognize Marvin Grossberg.
 * OBJECTION! While he could have lied about his name, age and hair color, and could have become an absurdly rich TV star within 6 years, there's one thing he would have a very hard time changing: his height!. Data says that Matt Engarde is five centimeters taller than Doug Swallow. That's nearly two inches.
 * OBJECTION! As Doug Swallow, he logically would have spent lot's of time hunched over while working in a lab. However, as actor Matt Engarde ::close up, speed lines:: he would stand up tall to become more presantable! Thus explaining the height difference.
 * OBJECTION! And what of Engarde's supposedly long-lived (since childhood) rivalry with Juan Corrida? Or do you propose that Swallow and Corrida somehow met outside of the acting biz or made up a good rivalry story for publicity? (Though if the rivalry were invented, it obviously got very real very fast)? I am quite intrigued.

Talented Spirit Medium automatically gain Ghost Tricks upon dying.
Remember: When Maya first channeled Mia, she had told Phoenix beforehand that she wouldn't be able to do it, since she is still in training. However, suddenly, Mia was channeled and tried to justify it to Phoenix by saying "Remember that I am of Fey Blood too.", hinting that the spiritual powers remain even after death and make it easier for her to take control of Maya's body, despite her being a little unskilled. Following this line of logic, Fey Women don't need, their own supernatural energy is enough to give them Ghost Tricks upon death. This explains how Phoenix keeps hearing Mia's voice: Her Ghost Tricks are limited Ghost-to-Human telepathy and significantly boosting a living Medium's powers.
 * Alternatively: Magatamas are crafted from fragments of the Temsik meteor, which would guarantee that a medium would die within range of the radiation, and get tricks upon death... Provided that that medium was still wearing her magatama, of course... (Or, in Phoenix's case, hadn't gotten it stolen/lent it to anyone)
 * Doesn't make sense, as Magatama have different colors are are traditionally made of jewels native to Japan. (Yes, Magatama ARE real beads, not something the series made up) Also, the greater Magatama is persumably very, very old... It sure goes back longer than the metorite shower in temsik park.

Wright & Co. Law offices has a tagline focusing on "the truth"
None of the clients who choose Phoenix on their own are actually guilty, and the one time he did have a guilty client, Nick was the one offering his services. obviously wouldn't know or care about an emphasis on the truth, and de Killer wouldn't care, since  has a way of getting people to see things your way. If there was a reference to finding the truth in an ad, then guilty clients wouldn't be as likely to go to that law firm, but innocent ones would. It would also explain the apparent lack of popularity and... unique clientele.
 * Everything makes sense now.
 * I always thought it might be "We help the hopeless."

The poster of the movie that made Mia cry in the office is of Toy Story 3
Considering the fact that the series takes place in the future-ish (actually, we're inching up on the date now), this is entirely plausible. And awesome. Maya likes Steel Samurai, why can't Mia be a Toy Story fan? Of course, this would also imply that Phoenix hasn't seen Toy Story 3, which is just sad in and of itself.

The localized version of the series takes place in a fictional city in California known as Hope Springs
Read the explanation here. I didn't come up with the theory, but it sounds damn plausible (moreso than Los Angeles) and it's now in my head-canon.

There will be a defendant named Bill Stickers
Which is to say that Bill Stickers may be prosecuted. What? The WMGs can't all be deep and insightful...

Winston Payne lost his hair due to poisoning, not merely psychological factors.
The script even hints at it--just before Payne loses his hair, the following exchange takes place: "Mia: So, if she's so trustworthy...then I'm sure there couldn't possibly be any poison in here, right?

Payne: Err... Well... Ummm... You see... Umm... Y-Yes...

Mia: OBJECTION! ...And here comes the backpedal! Come on now, "Rookie Killer"! Show this rookie how it's done! How much trust do you really have for this woman? Are you willing to bet your life!?

Payne: Gggg... Nnngh... Unnngggggh..."

At this point, the background fades to white. This Troper imagined him timidly picking up a pill and licking it. Next thing we see, Payne's hair comes flying out. Physical proof that Dahlia Hawthorne was untrustworthy! Small wonder Payne was so shocked by the experience.

The MASON system was co-created by

 * For two reasons: one, even more crossover WMG. And two, because "multidimensional programming theory" is both the best possible computer-related specialty and almost allows the apparent time travel shenanigans to make sense. Kind of.
 * This can be easily combined with the preceding theory about it being a descendant of the Little Thief system.

The characters actually know that they are not real but characters in a game.
Think about it, it all makes sense. At one point Maya says that Phoenix's face reminds her of a video game character. This makes phoenix say this rather tell-tale line: ""How ironic if you knew the truth...""


 * It's not uncommon for AA characters to break the fourth wall, so this is pretty likely.

The Perfect teacher from Courage the Cowardly Dog is Manfred von Karma's wife.
Both have a strange need for perfection. The teacher abuses Courage when he is imperfect and it's implied that Manfred did the same to Franziska and Edgeworth. Both have a Villainous Breakdown. And both are the villain of their respectful episodes.

Phoenix Wright has the Reading Steiner ability and is sending D-Mails or using Time Leap Machine
That Explains how you're in Phoenix's shoes... with items you WERENT supposed to have, bringing them back and forth between times.

Manfred von Karma did give a damn about Edgeworth.
Initially, he just decided raising young Miles as a prosecutor would be insult enough to Gregory's image. His ideal was to care for and raise Miles as a worthy von Karma prosecutor, achieve more greatness for himself, and wipe Miles of his Edgeworth identity and implant him as a true von Karma.

What made him resentful against Miles Edgeworth, however, was his failure against Phoenix Wright; after the second failure, he decided to eliminate this failure from the family, and thus 1-4 took place.
 * I doubt it. A remark in Turnabout Reminiscence:

Edgeworth did actually intend to kill himself.
Mundane WMG, but it is a bit difficult to believe that a man that savvy would honestly not realise that "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death" would be read as a suicide note, and he had no real reason to fake his death. It seems much more likely that he, in a very bad state, decided to settle things for good, left his note, went and stood on a bridge or something... and had an epiphany, realised what he was doing was stupid, immature, and not going to solve anything, and got back down again. He couldn't go back, because his note might well have already be found and that would be a horrible thing to try to explain, and he needed to put himself back together anyway, so he left for Europe. It's this troper's firm headcanon.

Gumshoe is suffering from malnutrition.
His declining competence over the course of the series is thanks to years of living on nothing but instant noodles, thanks to all his pay cuts.

Phoenix and Apollo are narrating the entire series from their death beds.
At the end of some cases, Phoenix often monologues about stuff. Only thing is, his monologues seem a little... out of characther. It sounds way deeper and mature than their usual speech. This gets even more apparent when we can read Apollo's thoughts. So they could be remembering the whole stories from a point far beyond in their lifetime, maybe even their deaths. It would also explain some Gameplay and Story Segregation, with the Cross-Examinations being points where Phoenix/Apollo remembers things in another order.

The Judge is behind EVERYTHING.
After all, he's the ONLY absolute constant in EVERY trial. Every single trial has the Judge, whose name is never revealed, presiding. Everyone pays him the utmost respect, and thus he is never suspected of his crimes. The biggest evidence for this? In Rise from Ashes, it is the Judge who gets the Big No when everything is figured out. In every crime, the Judge either manipulates the evidence to lead it to someone else or manipulates whoever is found guilty into doing it for him.
 * The judge isn't present in EVERY trial. What about his brother (the one with the yellow beard)?
 * Given that he's the only other judge AND the usual judge's brother, he's obviously in on it too.

Kay will become a defense attorney
... and then team up with Edgeworth and Gumshoe to form the second Yatagarasu. After all, the first was also a team of a prosecutor, a defense attorney, and a detective.

The next time Maya is a defendant in a murder trial, Pearl or Phoenix will be the victim or the murderer
At the end of 2-2, Maya laments that every time something like this happens to her, she loses someone important to her. Here's her track record. Pearl is the only living family Maya has whom she's especially close to, so she might be the next important person Maya loses. It's unclear whether there's a "minimum" age for being a murder victim or actual murderer in Ace Attorney, although teenagers are suspected of or almost fall prey to murder, but Pearl would be around 17 in Apollo Justice, and she would be fairly close to voiding Infant Immmortality and the equivalent protection against being convicted of murder. Phoenix is another candidate, although he would probably only get killed off in the final game of the series.
 * In 1-2, Mia is killed and Maya is accused of the murder.
 * In 2-2, Morgan, who looked after Maya after Misty's departure, tries to frame Maya for killing Turner Grey.
 * In 3-5, as a result of a plot against Maya's life, Misty Fey is killed.


 * This could have already happened, just not in a murder trial. Phoenix got disbarred for forging evidence at one point, right? Who's to say that Maya didn't somehow play a part in that hearing?

The series takes place millions of years After the End.
Millions of years is plenty of time for something big enough to warrant another calender change, thus why it is still the early 2000s. It also explains why cell phones are still like the ones in the 90s and why Kurain has existed for generations and it still doesn't exist in Real Life.

Redd White knew about the SL-9 case from 1-5.
In case 1-2, when Phoenix tries to accuse White of, White calls the chief prosecutor, Now, fast forward to case 1-5, where you meet Lana, the chief prosecutor.

Ob Jek Shun is a Shout.
It's a lesser version of Unrelenting Force, which is why it knocks the targets back slightly.

This page will soon fill with WM Gs about Gyakuten Saiban 5.
Just wait. It'll happen.
 * Confirmed

Gyakuten Saiban 5 will let players play as Phoenix and Apollo.
Hey, the above WMG is right! Anyway, GS5's logo combines a blue "Gyakuten Saiban" title (as per the original series) and a big red '5' (indicative of Apollo). It's just a logo but...Phoenix did say he'd look into restarting his law career. If there was a big enough case that required both lawyers, it's not outside the realm of possibility.
 * Perhaps we'll have old character such as Edgeworth, Maya and Pearl return too.

Predictions for cases in GS 5

 * A case at Apollo's old orphanage.
 * A case where a murder takes place at a Snackoo factory. Ema is very pleased.
 * Winston Payne as your client. It's bound to happen eventually, right?

Phoenix Wright will be the first murder victim in Gyakuten Saiban 5.

 * Say what you will, but this IS a WMG page, after all. If anything, it would certainly be the largest "turnabout" in the series, if that were to happen. Not that any of us actually want this to happen, of course.

Phoenix Wright will be the LAST murder victim in Gyakuten Saiban 5.
And Trucy will be the Defendant, bringing the games full circle with situation mirroring "Turnabout Sisters".

Phoenix Wright will APPEAR to be a murder victim in Gyakuten Saiban 5.

 * After all, do you think they'd really kill off everyone's favorite lovable lawyer? No. No, they would not. Would they pretend to kill him, causing much disbelief and tears among the fans, before revealing his "death" was just another one of his Chessmaster ploys in achieving some hidden end? Yes, yes they would. And it would be awesome.

Cody Hackins will make a reappearance in Gyakuten Saiban 5.
He's the only non-dead, non-guilty, non-Rise from the Ashes witness/defendant from the first game who hasn't been in another game.

Not only will GS 5 cross over with Ghost Trick, the whole purpose of Ghost Trick was for an AA crossover.
The crossover with Ghost Trick will be used to reintroduce supernatural elements to the series. All of this is part of a MASTER PLAN in response to the complaints some had about the lack of supernatural stuff in AJ outside of the Magatama.

Phoenix and Edgeworth both are Time Lords. Specifically, they're the Doctor and the Master.
Here me out here: After the whole trauma and tear-jerky scenes in "The End of Time", and sometime around the Doctor's 12th or 13th regeneration, the Doctor and the Master realize they're sick of fighting each other, and agree to Chameleon-Arch themselves into kids and live some life together as childhood friends again. They manipulate certain events, thus causing Gregory Edgeworth to adopt li'l Master (they never said he wasn't adopted), etc. However, the Universe really hates the last of the Time Lords, so causes DL-6 to occur, causing a scenario that is eerily deja-vuish. It causes the two to seperate again, only to meet reunite as(court-room) enemies. Or something.

The President of a major country will get taken down at some point.
We've already taken down a prosecutor with 40 years of experience under his belt, the Chief of Police, and a FREAKING AMBASSADOR. The leader himself is the next logical step.

The Phoenix trilogy is actually just Phoenix telling his story as he remembers it to Trucy and possibly Apollo.
Think about it. Have you noticed that in cases such as the end of 'The First Turnabout' and 'The Stolen Turnabout' Phoenix is talking in past tense? It's possible he's recollecting the old times back when he was a lawyer, in his brightest days.

Phoenix's guts are shredded to hell.
Remember how he kept cleaning the toilet in Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations? That was also the same game where it was shown (retconned?) that he had swallowed broken glass that was possibly coated in weakened poison before he became a lawyer. Combined with all the stress he's constantly under, we can only be thankful that Mia didn't teach him the Marvin Grossberg Method of Public Speaking.