History VisualNovel / ApolloJusticeAceAttorney

-->--from the first english trailer of Apollo Justice

** Director Hotti, the pervert "director" from the second and third games, makes a brief return when you first visit Phoenix Wright in the Hickfield Clinic. During this appearance, he begins making blatantly subjective remarks towards Trucy Wright[[note]]Bare in mind as well that Trucy is only 15, which can make the scene pretty disturbing, especially in the localization[[/note]]. He even gets a profile, and eventually following his appearance. This is the same case in which involves the serial panty snatcher, who's latest victim was Trucy. He isn't the panty snatcher however, and this brief scene is his only appearance.

* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain:
-->'''Trucy''': I can still remember that moment... You brandished those bloomers on high, and shouted... "Objection!"\\
'''Apollo''': ...Here's what I want you to do, Trucy. Take that memory, gently lock it away deep in your heart, and never speak of it.

* RepetitiveName: In Japanese, Wocky Kitaki and Alita Tiala were named Kitaki Takita and Minami Namina, respectively. Put the first and last names together, and you get Kitakitakita and Minaminamina. [[MeaningfulName Incidentally,]] "Kita" is the Japanese word for 'north' and "Minami" is 'south'.

-->--from the first english trailer of Apollo Justice''

->''"A bold New hero has claimed the defense's bench!''
-->--from the first english trailer of Apollo Justice'''

->''"A bold New hero has claimed the defense's bench!"''

-->-- '''

->''"A bold New hero has claimed the defense's bench! And his name is..."''
-->-- ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''

->''A bold New hero has claimed the defense's bench! And his name is...''

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler:The whole debacle started because after news that Zak Gramayare was looking for a defense attorney broke out, acclaimed defense attorney Kristoph Gavin eagerly wanted the prestigious role since whoever could get him acquitted would recieve huge amounts of fame. He even commissioned some forged evidence to secure a Not Guilty verdict... until he lost to Zak at a card game and was subsequently fired, leaving Zak to instead employ Phoenix Wright after losing a card game against him instead. Now with a lesser-known defense attorney about to grab the fame he wanted along with a huge sum of money wasted on forged evidence he can't even use himself, Kristoph decides to frame Phoenix for the forged evidence, burn his career down and kill the defendant seven years later as well as try to then kill the forger he commissioned as well as her father, which he succeeds at the latter.]]

* ToBeLawfulOrToBeGood: Both the Judge and the prosecutor of the game explain outright that Good is always the right choice over Lawful, because the law is always changing... and that we have a responsibility to stand up and work to change the law if the law is wrong, for the sake of anyone else who might have to face that law.

** [[spoiler:The Jurist rules dictate that no one directly related to the case are allowed to serve as a juror for it. Phoenix specifically and is allowed to pick Lamiroir as a juror as not only was she not involved in the murder of Drew Misham, but her overarching and influential presence over the whole case as Thalassa Gramarye is rendered null due to the latter being legally dead.]]

** Apollo finds the Brooch in Case 3 really familiar somehow. While in actuality, he saw [[spoiler:Lamiroir]] wear it earlier that day, it's almost identical to [[spoiler:Trucy's, who's even using a sprite which puts her brooch in plain view next to the evidence preview.]]

** [[spoiler:Kristoph would've gotten away with poisoning the Mishams if he sent Drew an ordinary stamp laced with poison instead of a commemorative one featuring Vera's idols which she kept and framed for seven years.]]

* RogueJuror: [[spoiler: It is possible for the player to be this during the final verdict. If the player chooses "Guilty", the jury is hung and the defendant dies. If the player chooses "Not Guilty", the defendant is exonerated and survives.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: Ema Skye, who went from being Maya 2.0 in case 1-5 to now randomly throwing Snackoos at your face. Failing an exam after years of study for can make someone a tad bitter. WordOfGod states it's because they needed another Gumshoe, and Maya 3.0 is already filled in by Trucy.

* InnocentInnuendo: "Turnabout Corner" centers, in part, on Trucy's "Magic Panties" trick, leading to her saying a lot of things that definitely sound dirtier than she intended them to.
* ItMakesSenseInContext: A significant portion of the second case requires you to search for a 15-year old girl's panties, and later an old gangster wife's bloomers.

* BrickJoke: In the first case, any time you expose a contradiction in Olga Orly's testimony, the bowl she holds flies up in the air and she moves to catch each individual piece, including the lobster it contains. The last time you do this [[spoiler:after she reveals her TrueColors]], they all fall to the ground. Later that case, you finally corner [[spoiler:Kristoph Gavin]] inescapably, and his freakout animation is so powerful it [[ChunkyUpdraft summons the bowl and lobster back upwards momentarily]].

* BiggerIsBetter: {{Averted|Trope}} in the first casee as a plot point. [[spoiler:It is believed that Phoenix's motive for murder was due to being defeated. The poker chip amounts on the table led the prosecution to believe that the large grey chips on the victim's side were worth 1000 points compared to the small red ones which they though were worth 100 points. Apollo does some math and realises that the point total on the table would've been 10,600 instead of the default 7000, meaning that the red ones that Phoenix had a majority of were worth 1000.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: Two instances in Case 3. First, no one questions the fact that it was physically impossible for the defendant to fire the murder weapon. Second, the guards at the detention center allow a known suspect of the crime to be brought near the current defendant.

* OddballInTheSeries: Has been left as this for numerous reasons, including being the only main-series game to be specifically designed for the DS, the only game in the franchise (not counting the two ''Investigations'' and ''VisualNovel/DaiGyakutenSaiban'' games) in which Phoenix Wright is not the main player character, a very different soundtrack style to any of the other games, and an emphasis on "scientific investigation" minigames that was massively toned down in all the entries that followed. Lessened a little after the release of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'', which gave Apollo near-equal prominence to Phoenix, had this game's composer come back to do some work on the soundtrack, and added in a few more scientific investigation segments (though less than in this game).

* YouKeepUsingThatWord:
** There is a disease called "incuritis". A disease that ends in -itis alludes to an inflammation. It's not clear what part of the body is the "incur" or how it gets inflamed. Even better, a newspaper describes it as being a syndrome. A syndrome is not a disease, but rather the group of symptoms indicative of a particular disease or disorder.
** It might be that Incuritis was the name of the doctor who first described the syndrome... and whose name just happened to be an IncrediblyLamePun.
** The game also uses "jurist" in place of "juror". A jurist is someone educated in law, not a member of a jury.

** In Case 1, [[spoiler:Phoenix would have no reason to suspect Kristoph of Shadi Smith's murder and concocted the plan to joyride his own murder trial hadn't Kristoph offhandedly referenced Shadi's balding head, which no one would notice unless he took his hat off or it got knocked off when he was killed.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Zak Gramarye, while [[AffablyEvil very polite and friendly]], repeatedly behaves throughout the story in utterly incomprehensible ways that ruin (or risk ruining) the lives of nearly everyone around him. [[spoiler:He withholds evidence from Phoenix that would have allowed Phoenix to get him found not guilty with ease (and would have prevented Phoenix from being disbarred), has his daughter Trucy help him escape from the courtroom and then abandons her while he goes on the run for 7 years, and then comes back those 7 years later to frame Phoenix (the man who fought to defend him in court, ''is taking care of his daughter'', and moments ago helped him pass the rights to the Gramarye magic tricks to her) for cheating at cards and thereby destroy his livelihood and sole method of supporting himself and Zak's own daughter.]] He has... [[MemeticMutation quite the reputation for this]] [[http://forums.court-records.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7846&sid=8f5d0a71354b125e1e8d685792ec150d among the fanbase]].

* RealityEnsues:
** In the early stages of the first case, Apollo repeatedly mentions his "Chords of Steel" and how he's been practicing them for weeks. The first time he objects, he proudly puts them to use... and promptly gets rebuked by the judge and Kristoph for shouting too much. In the trial version of the game, Apollo outright ''loses his voice''.
** Apollo pursues the truth in his first case and gets [[spoiler:his boss Kristoph]] found guilty of murder. He is then fired from the law firm.
** The real killer in case 3 points out that there's no definitive evidence to prove that he did it. Apollo is able to piece together exactly what happened, and why he must be the killer... only to be reminded that without evidence he still can't prove any of it. [[spoiler:But Machi can.]] This also proves that the current legal system is in desperate need of an overhaul.
** Phoenix is given an item before a trial without any explanation or context and, like many times before in his previous cases, doesn't question its origins and presents it in court when it looks like the perfect evidence to prove his client's innocence. It turns out to be forged, which ruins his career.

* SpringtimeForHitler: [[spoiler:Alita Tiala]] tried to [[spoiler:get her [[MealTicket (ahem)]] beloved Wocky guilty of a murder she committed -- by hiring a rookie attorney. His name? [[SpannerInTheWorks Apollo Justice.]]]]

** Inverted for Ema Skye in comparison to Dick Gumshoe. Gumshoe was a dimwitted detective who was fiercely loyal to the prosecutor, prone to giving away evidence to the defence though blundering. Ema is an intelligent detective who is full of venom for the prosecutor and gives evidence to the defence on purpose.

* ChekhovsBoomerang: The object that [[spoiler:proved a man guilty of theft a thirdway through and]] finally proved who the real murderer was at the end of the second case was [[spoiler:a pair of panties. [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Your 15-year old sidekick's panties]], no less. (For the record, these are oversized prop bloomers from which she pulls random items in her magic act)]]. This is suitably lampshaded: [[spoiler: "Panties! Again?!"]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** In the second case, Trucy wants you to find her panties, which were stolen the night before. This gets repeatedly lampshaded by other characters throughout the case.
** In the same case, Phoenix directs you to give Ema Skye some... white powder that will apparently calm her down. Apollo is heavily implied to suspect that it's cocaine. [[spoiler:It's dusting powder for fingerprinting.]]

** An important plot point in Case 3: [[spoiler:Although Lamiroir is seemingly almost-fluent in English, she has a tendency to mix up certain phrases due to not knowing the language well, which by when referring to the air vent she was in as a "small window", this sent the prosecution into chasing the soundproof closed small window behind the victim.]]

* ForWantOfANail: [[spoiler:Kristoph would've gotten away with poisoning the Mishams if he sent Drew an ordinary stamp laced with poison instead of a commemorative one featuring Vera's idols which she kept and framed for seven years.]]

* AndTheAdventureContinues: In the end, Apollo continues his career at the Wright Anything Agency, Phoenix starts considering retaking the bar exam due to his lousy piano playing and [[spoiler:Vera Misham closes off the evidence forgery business to pursue a legitimate art career and to willingly go outside for references.]]

* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:Kristoph Gavin's plan to cover up his poisoning plot required the court's reliance of evidence to prove theories, which worked completely and would've gotten him off scot-free aside from being stuck in a LuxuryPrisonSuite for a conviction of a separate murder. However, the Jury introduced by Phoenix manages to nail him otherwise.]]