History VisualNovel / PhoenixWrightAceAttorney

** Manfred von Karma has his ATM PIN set to 0001 because he's "number one" -- and openly highlights this during a trial.

* MundaneSolution: In Case 1-2, Phoenix is in such a bind that Maya manages to channel her sister for the first time, allowing her to help Phoenix turn the case around in his favor. The solution is paper that Redd White wrote Maya's name on ([[ChekhovsGun the first piece of evidence Phoenix is likely to find at the crime scene]]), on the back of which is a receipt for the broken glass light stand that was the crux of Phoenix's case against him. The date listed is the day right before Mia's death, meaning White couldn't have seen it a week ago as he had claimed. In other words, the case is solved simply by looking at the backside of a piece of paper.

* MundaneSolution: In Case 1-2, Phoenix is in such a bind that Maya manages to channel her sister for the first time, allowing her to help Phoenix turn the case around in his favor. The solution is paper that Redd White wrote Maya's name on ([[ChekovsGun the first piece of evidence Phoenix is likely to find at the crime scene]]), on the back of which is a receipt for the broken glass light stand that was the crux of Phoenix's case against him. The date listed is the day right before Mia's death, meaning White couldn't have seen it a week ago as he had claimed. In other words, the case is solved simply by looking at the backside of a piece of paper.

-->-- '''Phoenix Wright''', "Turnabout Sisters"

The game was originally developed for the Platform/GameBoyAdvance, with the exception of the fifth case of the first game, "Rise from the Ashes," which was created for the Platform/NintendoDS remake, known as ''Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten'' (''Turnabout Trial: The Revived Turnabout'') in Japan. It plays out in a VisualNovel style through the perspective of Phoenix Wright during investigation sessions, where the player can talk to other characters, present evidence, and find clues to build up their case. Usually the next day, court begins, where the player cross-examines witnesses to find contradictions, [[ThePerryMasonMethod eventually forcing the real culprit to confess.]] The bonus 5th case of the first game took advantage of the touchscreen and mic on the DS allowing for more in-depth investigations on evidence, which is used in later titles in the series that require a system with a touchscreen.

!!''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'' provides examples of:

* AbsenceOfEvidence:

* KillTheParentRaiseTheChild: [[spoiler:When the defense attorney Gregory Edgeworth was murdered, Manfred von Karma, a prosecutor he faced in court, took his son under his wing and trained him to become a ruthless prosecutor like himself. Manfred murdered Gregory for coming close to defeating him in court and giving him a penalty, but his revenge didn't stop there. By raising Miles to be more like himself than his own father, he almost twisted him into everything his father would have hated]].

The game was originally developed for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, with the exception of the fifth case of the first game, "Rise from the Ashes," which was created for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS remake, known as ''Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten'' (''Turnabout Trial: The Revived Turnabout'') in Japan. It plays out in a VisualNovel style through the perspective of Phoenix Wright during investigation sessions, where the player can talk to other characters, present evidence, and find clues to build up their case. Usually the next day, court begins, where the player cross-examines witnesses to find contradictions, [[ThePerryMasonMethod eventually forcing the real culprit to confess.]] The bonus 5th case of the first game took advantage of the touchscreen and mic on the DS allowing for more in-depth investigations on evidence, which is used in later titles in the series that require a system with a touchscreen.

The second game, ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'', was released in 2002. It introduces von Karma's prodigal daughter, Franziska von Karma, as well as other gameplay mechanics that would become franchise mainstays. The third game, ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'', was released in 2004, starring a mysterious new prosecutor named Godot and a plot that greatly focuses on the Fey clan. All three were originally released for UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, and then ported to UsefulNotes/NintendoDS and Japanese PC. They have since been [[CompilationRerelease compiled]] and rereleased as the ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy'' and [[UpdatedRerelease updated]] with new graphics and animations for several systems. [[note]]The DS versions were then ported to the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} as individual downloadable titles on [=WiiWare=], featuring a modified, Wii-specific control scheme that permits the use of hand gestures with the remote. A further UpdatedRerelease featuring [[CompilationRerelease all three games]] was released for iOS and Android in February 2012 Japan and May 30, 2013 in all other regions, targeted primarily at the iPad and replacing the pixel art in the GBA and DS games with scanned versions of the original character drawings (entitled ''Gyakuten Saiban 123 HD'' in Japan and ''Phoenix Wright; Ace Attorney Trilogy HD'' in English). Another compilation of the three games for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS (featuring the crisper sprites from the iOS version with improved animations and corrected music as well as some mild 3D effects) was released in Japan April 17, 2014, in NTSC countries December 9th, 2014, and in PAL countries December 11th, 2014 (entitled ''Gyakuten Saiban 123: Naruhodou Selection'' in Japan and ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy'' in English). The compilation was released for non-Nintendo consoles for the first time in 2019, as it made its way to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and PC (this time worldwide) via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}.[[/note]]

* RivalsTeamUp: Downplayed at first. Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright wind up cooperating to unveil the truth in "Turnabout Samurai," to the extent that the individual being questioned calls Edgeworth out on it. [[spoiler:Come "Turnabout Goodbyes," the two of them wind up actively cooperating, since Phoenix is now representing Edgeworth as his defense attorney. And then in "Rise from the Ashes", they team up again, this time as defense and prosecution, in order to bring down Damon Gant]]

* RivalsTeamUp: Downplayed at first. Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright wind up cooperating to unveil the truth in "Turnabout Samurai," to the extent that the individual being questioned calls Edgeworth out on it. [[spoiler:Come "Turnabout Goodbyes," the two of them wind up actively cooperating, since Phoenix is now representing Edgeworth as his defense attorney.]]

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Damon Gant]] seems like a nice guy who's always laughing and smiling, but actually he's a murderer. His façade is dropped the instant you discover the dirty evidence proving his meddling in a past case.

The game was originally developed for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, with the exception of the fifth case of the first game, "Rise From the Ashes", which was created for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS remake, known as ''Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten'' (''Turnabout Trial: The Revived Turnabout'') in Japan. It plays out in a VisualNovel style through the perspective of Phoenix Wright during investigation sessions, where the player can talk to other characters, present evidence, and find clues to build up their case. Usually the next day, court begins, where the player cross-examines witnesses to find contradictions, [[ThePerryMasonMethod eventually forcing the real culprit to confess.]] The bonus 5th case of the first game took advantage of the touch-screen and mic on the DS allowing for more in-depth investigations on evidence, which is used in later titles in the series that require a system with a touchscreen.

** In the 4th case, [[spoiler:Lotta has a seemingly-pointless photograph taken by her automatic camera which just depicts an empty lake. Phoenix uses this as a major clue in court- not for what it depicts, but because it meant that the camera, set to take pictures when a loud enough noise triggers it, ''heard a noise'' that didn't match up with the gunshots Lotta herself heard.]]

* AnimationBump: Since "Rise From The Ashes" was made with the Nintendo DS in mind, it takes advantage of both 3D models and fully-animated scenes, two things both lacking from the GBA cases.

* ArtisticLicencePhysics: [[spoiler:In the final case, von Karma threatens and then attacks Phoenix and Maya with a taser capable of firing "600,000 volts". It's completely likely von Karma is just being hyperbolic, but your average stun gun will fire about a tenth of that]].

* BaitAndSwitch: The DS version seems as if it'll end exactly like the original GBA version as the credits nearly finish...until Phoenix yells "Hold it!" and the main menu is pulled up to reveal a brand new chapter - Rise From the Ashes.
* BathOfPoverty: At the start of "Turnabout Goodbyes", Phoenix suggests that Maya could take a cold shower as a substitute for MeditatingUnderAWaterfall. She accepts the suggestion, but comes back complaining that their shower's water pressure is non-existent.

* BewareTheHonestOnes: Edgeworth derails a case twice because of a sudden conviction about the truly guilty party, even though both of those moments hurt his case. In "Turnabout Samurai", he objects to a testimony that otherwise would have given him the win, because he suspects that the witness is the actual murderer. In "Turnabout Goodbyes", he breaks under the weight of his assumed guilt and confesses to the murder of his own father, forcing Phoenix (who had just acquitted him for a different murder) to defend him again.

* BilingualBonus: In case 5, Edgeworth tells the history of the Prosecutor's Trophy with a Chinese word for "contradiction", using the characters for "halberd" and "shield". Anyone who's studied the Chinese language will know that the word for "contradiction" is "máodùn" (矛盾), with the word "máo" (矛) meaning "spear" or "halberd", and the word "dùn" (盾) meaning "shield".

* CerebusSyndrome: ''Rise from the Ashes'', while still having comedic moments, is noticeably much darker and more intense than the rest of the game.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Compared to later games in the series, Phoenix is more snarky and short-tempered, Gumshoe has more of an air of authority about him and is far less of a ButtMonkey, while the Judge isn't quite the CloudCuckoolander that he would later become. DependingOnTheWriter is at work here as well, as this game's English localisation was overseen by Alexander O. Smith, whereas all the subsequent games were handled by Janet Hsu (except for ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', where Smith did the job again).

*** '''"Rule 1: No evidence shall be shown without the approval of the Police Department."''' Angel Starr gets a blood test done on the victim's shoe and determines that the two blood types likely belong to the victim and the defendant. Edgeworth tries to claim that it was illegal because of Rule 1, until it was confirmed by a "boyfriend" in the Police Department. [[spoiler:This comes back to bite Damon Gant in the ass, since the Police Chief himself ordering Phoenix to show something specific ''technically'' counts as "approval". He also uses Lana's photo of Neil Marshall impaled on a sword to prove a point, unaware that she had smuggled that in the "Evidence Law" book she lent to Phoenix and had only come to light a few minutes ago, destroying his own damage control attempt by claiming the piece of cloth was illegal all along.]]
*** '''"Rule 2: Unregistered evidence presented must be relevant to the case in trial."''' Because Edgeworth refused the report about the apparent death of the exact same victim in the Police Department's evidence room, it legally was regarded as unrelated and the victim's exact identity couldn't be revealed until Phoenix proved that the victim was the same man in both cases. [[spoiler:A lengthy amount of EvilGloating about the above evidence by Damon Gant also gives it some obvious connection to SL-9, making it legal for Phoenix to use against him.]]

** In "Turnabout Sisters", there is a note that has Maya's name written in blood. [[spoiler:This was a receipt for the lamp that would help out late in the second trial.]] Additionally, a seemingly-unrelated photo in Grossberg's office of a woman [[spoiler:reappears in 1-4, revealed to be Misty Fey, whose involvement in DL-6 created most of the conflict for the Fey clan onwards.]]
** In "Turnabout Samurai", Phoenix can note a dangerous-looking fence early in the second day of investigation. Then, on the third day of the trial, it's revealed that this fence [[spoiler:was the real murder weapon]].

** At one point in the second case, it's mentioned that someone else is staying with April. This is not touched upon until late in the case, when it's revealed to be [[spoiler:Redd White]], the same guy who [[spoiler:"ruined" the mother of the Fey sisters, and is a very important part of the case]].

* CoversAlwaysLie: See that woman, on the far left in the trope image (the game's cover)? [[spoiler: She dies in the second trial. In the original, she only makes a few more brief appearances when being summoned by her sister.]]
** It also makes the Judge out to be an imposing and distant figure of arbitration (he is not) and Edgeworth out to be a sinister, unflappable SmugSnake (he also is not). Hilariously, it ''does'' pretty much tell you everything you need to know about Maya's role.

* TheDayTheMusicLied: At one point, Edgeworth brings up an "[[red:Objection!]]", Pursuit~Cornered starts up... then he realizes he has nothing to say. [[LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand The music kinda deflates.]] Then it starts up again when he ''does'' think of something.

* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Phoenix goes up against two prosecutors with perfect records... and defeats them both on the first try. [[spoiler:Manfred had kept his record for fourty years until then.]]
** [[spoiler:Damon Gant is not only runs the police department, but by abuse of the law, has gotten away with murder perfectly to the point that two detectives and a prosecutor had no idea, and yet Phoenix manages to destroy his perfect crime despite Gant having the ability to functionally ruin everything Phoenix can use since he runs the law in this precinct.]]

** While examining the evidence room video, if you try to outsmart the game and point out something ''other'' that what the game's asking you, (for example: try to present the white cloth to the far left when you're supposed to present the light above Goodman's locker) the game will flat-out tell you "that IS strange, but that's not what you're looking for right now".

* DidIMentionItsChristmas: The murder of Case 4 takes place on Christmas and the trial is in the days after. The only effect this has is that one character hears a radio DJ say "It's almost Christmas!", which is critical to establishing a timeline of events during the trial.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Sort of. Since the English localization/DS port included an extra case not originally from the Game Boy Advance trilogy, the end credits of that case includes a scene where Maya (who didn't appear at all during the case) is standing at a bus stop in front of a Japanese-style manor, a background that was never used anywhere in the case or game. This is because the scene is of Kurain Village, a locale that wouldn't be visited until the sequel. However, in Japan this is just a nod to the next game, which had already come out years before on GBA (the Blue Badger also has a similar story, originally appearing on Maggey's shirt in 2-1 for Japanese audiences but appearing first in global territories in 1-5, which changes its context for those audiences). There are several other nods to future installments in 1-5 as well that would have no context for non-Japanese players until later (such as the coat hanging in Edgeworth's office or a bug-sweeping device in the evidence room).

** This game features a different health system, with a "five strikes" rule rather than the lifebar and variable penalties given out in the latter titles. The trials also take place over three days, which was changed to two days in subsequent games after complaints that the frequent shifts between the trial and investigations phases ruined the game's pacing. The five strike system would subsequently return in the crossover ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsPhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney Chronicles'' and the main series itself in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice''.

** InUniverse, the "three day rule" (all trials must conclude in three days) is still in effect for the rest of the series. It's only [[GameplayAndStorySegregation for gameplay's sake]] that they all happen to wrap up in two.

** The game's soundtrack is much sparser compared to the following ones, with most of the tracks being location-specific, and the only characters who get their own themes (outside of "Rise from the Ashes", which was scored more like the later entries in the series) being Maya and Gumshoe. The second game would add in a few more character-specific themes -- namely for Pearl, Edgeworth, and Shelly de Killer, and would also give Lotta Heart a BootstrappedLeitmotif recycled from the first game, -- but it wouldn't be until Noriyuki Iwadare became the series' regular composer with the third game that the soundtracks switched to focusing on giving each key character their own leitmotif, with a common set of "investigation" themes shared across all the cases.

* EasterEgg: You can use the Luminol Spray on the cactus at the Guard Station and in front of Edgeworth's desk in his office in "Rise From the Ashes" to find some unrelated blood. The first was apparently from a prior accident where someone tripped and landed on the cactus and the second is guessed by Phoenix to be Gumshoe's nosebleed after apparently being slapped by Edgeworth.
* EurekaMoment: In Case 4, Phoenix finds a way to continue the third trial when von Karma suggests [[spoiler:cross-examining a parrot]].

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Bellboy, a.k.a. "The Bellboy Who Swore An Affadavit".
* EveryoneHatesFruitCakes: Discussed. Wright's internal monologue has him calling CorruptCorporateExecutive Redd White a "fruitcake".

* FillerArc: "Turnabout Samurai" is the only case in the game not linked to the overarching storyline regarding the DL-6 Incident. Its main contribution to the story is allowing time for CharacterDevelopment, most notably from Edgeworth, who willingly cooperates with Phoenix rather than letting a clearly-guilty party go free.

* FoodAsBribe: Lunch lady witness Angel Starr in ''Rise From the Ashes'' is fond of offering people lunches to get them on her side. In the first trial, she offers the judge a triple-decker bento if he allows her to testify one more time. [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} He agrees without a second thought.]]

** An odd example in the first case. You can erroneously name [[spoiler:Mia Fey as the victim]] in the case when the judge is questioning Phoenix on how well he's prepared to defend the case. Doing so makes her grow indignant (since she's obviously standing right next to you). However one case later and things don't seem so facetious anymore...

** Also in Case 2, April May off-handedly mentions how she likes "men with big... vocabulary". This statement makes a lot more sense when you consider the kind of words her boss likes tossing around.

** In Case 4, upon talking with Maya about how Larry [[spoiler: started the myth about Gourdy living in Gourd lake with his Steel Samurai inflatable]] Maya says "someone should whip that Butz into shape". Guess what whip-toting prosecutor comes in next game? [[spoiler:And in the third game she does whip Larry. A lot.]]

* ForWantOfANail:
** Phoenix was late coming in to the office the night of Mia Fey's murder. If he had been there on time, he might have been able to save her life.
** [[spoiler:The DL-6 murder was caused due to an earthquake which trapped the Edgeworths and Yanni Yogi in the same elevator, and the ensuing fight led to Miles throwing a dropped pistol at them in an attempt to stop them. However, Manfred von Karma happened to be standing outside of the same elevator and gets shot in the shoulder by sheer chance. Once the doors opened, he took his chance to shoot Gregory.]]

* FranchiseDrivenRetitling: Well, not so much a "retitling" as a shifting of emphasis. Initially, the plan was for the localized title of the series to be "Phoenix Wright", with "Ace Attorney" being the subtitle of the first game. When it became clear that [[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney the fourth game]] would not feature Phoenix as the protagonist, the series as a whole was rebranded as "Ace Attorney". This change is most readily apparent when comparing [[https://aceattorney.fandom.com/wiki/Phoenix_Wright:_Ace_Attorney?file=AA_logo.png the first game's logo]] to [[https://aceattorney.fandom.com/wiki/Phoenix_Wright:_Ace_Attorney_-_Justice_for_All?file=JFA_logo.png the second game's logo]].

* HeinousnessRetcon: The storyline implies [[TheRival Miles Edgeworth]] frequently used forged evidence in his days as an "undefeated" prosecutor. The bonus case, "Rise from the Ashes", which was added to re-releases made after Edgeworth's HeelFaceTurn in later games, has Edgeworth state he never willingly forged evidence, it was all just rumors.

** The only reason Redd White is convicted is because he decided to testify to Phoenix's guilt in court.
*** His eventual confession comes when Mia hits him with the exact same tactic he's used against so many others over the years: blackmail.

** When Dee Vasquez complains about Phoenix slamming his desk, Edgeworth slams his desk, chimes in "Yeah! Mr. Wright...!" then realizes his mistake and says "Oops".

* ICantDoThisByMyself: After the 5th case, the player is called upon to show the prosecutor, Edgeworth a piece of evidence from the case that neither he nor Phoenix Wright could have put together without the other's help. More of an "I ''couldn't'' do this by myself", but still...
* IfOnlyYouKnew: In 1-3, after Phoenix proves that [[spoiler:Jack Hammer was wearing the Steel Samurai outfit before he died]], Edgeworth asks whether that suggests "he did so to cover up the details of his own murder". [[spoiler:As it turns out, via a different defenition of "his own murder", yes]].
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
** [[spoiler:Both the fictional and apparently true fate of the victim of case 1-3, who died by being shoved onto a spiked fence. Plus the irony factor of him having killed someone else the exact same way years before his own death]].
** In Case 5, [[spoiler:Damon Gant impales Neil Marshall on a sword held by a suit of armor. While he's ''still alive'']].
*** Furthermore, in that same case, the [[spoiler: present victim]] died after being stabbed...and then was stabbed ''again'' during the process of attempting to cover up certain elements of the crime.

* InsanityDefense: DeconstructedTrope. The defendant of DL-6 pled insanity under the excuse that he had suffered brain damage from oxygen deprivation after being trapped in an elevator for hours. [[spoiler: The defendant was not only sane, he was ''legitimately innocent''. But being declared insane and having to keep up ObfuscatingInsanity to support the insanity plea utterly ruined Yanni Yogi's life, to the point that even 15 years later, he's willing to kill his lawyer for pressuring him to take the plea.]]
* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: Case 3 relies on the fact that no one could get past the fallen statue blocking Studio 2, despite the fact that there's nothing preventing anyone from walking through the woods around it (and the camera watching the path) or climbing over it. However, [[BrattyHalfPint Cody Hackins]] wanders through the woods just fine.

* {{Jumpscare}}: In Case 1-4, [[spoiler: Manfred taunts Phoenix over the fact that he doesn't know where the alleged second bullet from the DL-6 case went. Suddenly, the screen cuts to a black void with an untitled dialog box, then '''Mia''' appears for a split second, struggling to tell Phoenix that the bullet ''was'' taken by the murderer, but without any intention in a very broken and cryptic fashion.]] This happens a few more times over the next few minutes, and is very startling if the player isn't prepared for it.
** Near the end of Case 1-5 [[spoiler: during the start of Lana's cross-examination about the actual crime scene of the SL-9 Incident, Gant suddenly interjects with his own "Hold it!". Since the gameplay during the trial segments hasn't been interrupted this way up until now (or even afterwards), it can easily catch the player off-guard.]]

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Edgeworth, especially in "Rise from the Ashes." As soon as he changes his ways and starts to seek the honest verdict, everything he did as the Demon Prosecutor comes back to haunt him. By the end of the first game he's clearly mentally and emotionally exhausted, not to mention consumed with self-doubt and self-disgust over what he's done.
* KaizoTrap: [[spoiler: Damon Gant]] sets one for you at the end of "Rise From the Ashes". You've all but proven his guilt, and all that's left is to present the final piece of evidence and bask in your victory. But present that evidence too soon, and you'll get in trouble for not only [[spoiler: presenting it illegally, thanks to the culprit's familiarity with evidence law]], but also implicating the culprit’s scapegoat, resulting in an innocent person being convicted of a crime they didn't commit and the real culprit getting off scot-free. To defuse the trap, you instead have to [[spoiler: claim you can't present the evidence yet the first time you're asked. The culprit will get angry and demand that you present said evidence by confessing to every other crime he committed short of the murder itself, thus making it both legal to present and giving it the final bit of context needed to implicate him as the killer, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard sealing his own fate]]]].
* LaughingMad: [[spoiler:Damon Gant]] does this during his VillainousBreakdown in "Rise from the Ashes".

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When Dee Vasquez admits that Phoenix's theory about [[spoiler:the actual cause of Hammer's death]] is true, she said it made for "good writing".

* LooseCanon: While the games in this series generally stay self-contained there's no doubt there's an overarching plotline that exists between them. Since "Rise From the Ashes" was written after the trilogy had already been completed its ability to fit into those order of events is somewhat tenuous, to the point that in the original English translation of ''Justice for All'' the implication that Edgeworth [[spoiler:was DrivenToSuicide in the wake of "Turnabout Goodbyes"]] was left intact, despite the lack of contradictory context for the audience that the Japanese dialogue may have been faced with for the same scenario (later translations did properly smooth this over). Even Ema -- who shows up during the Apollo Justice era of the series -- doesn't directly reference her experience with Phoenix during those appearances, merely making allusions. Furthermore the unique characters from the case have rarely appeared in official art that wasn't specifically created for it (and Ema is often depicted as an adult detective when drawn in official pieces instead of a high schooler) and it was not adapted in the anime.
* LuckySeven: During Case 5, a mysterious ID number shows up, being "7777777", which is lampshaded by Jake Marshall. However, the ID number can't be investigated due to numbers being that high are held by high-ranking members of the police unless they can be connected to the crime. [[spoiler:It belongs to Damon Gant, who uses it as his safe code.]]
* MagicIsFeminine: [[GenderRestrictedAbility Only the women of the Fey Clan can channel the dead]]. Phoenix's perky female sidekicks Maya and Pearl tag along because they can channel his dead mentor Mia. Phoenix's lie detector ability is even gained from Maya giving him a Magatama from the family home.
* MakeTheDogTestify: Phoenix calls a parrot as a witness in the fourth case. Said parrot completely turns the case around. This actually isn't as crazy as it sounds, since during his investigation he learned that a certain question would cause the parrot to repeat an incriminating phrase, "[[spoiler: Don't forget DL-6]]". Granted Manfred actually took the time to [[CrazyPrepared retrain the parrot]] not to respond to the trigger phrase, but Phoenix manages to turn the case around using other seemingly trivial phrases that the parrot was taught to repeat.

* MetaTwist: [[spoiler:Edgeworth being innocent of the murder in "Turnabout Goodbyes", despite TheTeaser implicating him pretty convincingly, works thanks to the fact that the game's first two cases were both genuine [[ReverseWhodunnit Reverse Whodunnits]]]].

* NoMercyForMurderers: In bonus case Rise From The Ashes [[spoiler:Lana Skye was forced to cooperate with Gant to save her sister. Arrested like every other culprit worse than her.]]

* NoodleIncident: The mysterious closed "AI-16" case mentioned in Case 5, which involved a blue screwdriver. Ema asks Edgeworth what case it was, which he doesn't want to divulge, but he assures her that the events of that case has nothing to do with the current events. Even Phoenix is curious on what happened that time. [[spoiler:Except that Gant used said screwdriver as an excuse for Edgeworth to take it, his car and the body to the Prosecutor's Office.]]

* PowerDynamicsKink: Implied during the third chapter, where the perpetually-lustful ''Steel Samurai'' director Sal Manella is a complete doormat for his producer, Dee Vasquez. Wendy Oldbag describes their relationship as, "She treats him like dirt, but I think he likes it." Official art depicts Dee [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/e/e0/Dee_and_Sal.png sitting on Sal]] while he slobbers and sweats.

* PreMortemOneLiner: Case 4 opens with what appears to be one, with the shooter saying "Merry Christmas" right before firing the gun. [[spoiler:Subverted in that this event doesn't show the actual murder, but rather the staged shooting meant to implicate Edgeworth.]]

* SecurityBlindspot: In "Rise From The Ashes", one of the witnesses manages to avoid being seen by the security camera in the evidence room when leaving due to knowing what its range of sight is.

* SixIsNine: In the fifth case, a piece of evidence contains a note that reads "6-7S 12/2." However, the note was written upside down on pre-printed stationery with the victim's name on the header and it actually reads "2/21 SL-9", tying it to another case altogether.

* SuspendSave: The original had them, but they were replaced with regular saves on the DS. The UsefulNotes/{{iOS|Games}} port, added them as a convenience on top of the main saves so that if the app was shut down, the player could chose to resume from the quick save file rather than losing unsaved progress.

* ThemeNaming: All of the chapter names [[OddNameOut (save for the DS-exclusive chapter, "Rise From the Ashes"--and even then, only in English)]] have the word "Turnabout" in them.

* TitleDropChapter: Downplayed and minor example. The full name of the DS re-release of the first GBA game is ''Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten'' in Japan. "Yomigaeru Gyakuten" is the name of the 5th case of the DS version of the game (and its literal translation is "The Revived Turnabout"). This 5th case was then localized as "Rise from the Ashes".

* WeNeedADistraction: While investigating Edgeworth's office in ''Rise From the Ashes'', Ema and Phoenix try to distract Edgeworth in order to see what's written on a crumpled note. Considering that Edgeworth is standing right next to them, Phoenix is a terrible liar, and Ema conspicuously crawls on the floor near Edgeworth's feet, this doesn't work out too well.
* WhamLine: Near the end of Case 3, [[spoiler:Dee Vasquez is about to be let off the stand, even though most of the facts point to her being the culprit, but without decisive proof. Then ''Edgeworth'' yells '''Objection!''' and refuses to let her leave and take his win, instead choosing to help the defense and manages to trip her on a major contradiction through testimony he requested from her.]]

-->'''Phoenix''': It was Mr. Hammer who was out for blood! All Ms. Vasquez did was push him off the stairs... [[spoiler: in self defense!]]

** Edgeworth himself is quite good at adapting his plan on the fly, though this doesn't come to the forefront until "Rise from the Ashes", when he simultaneously finds ways to fend off concerns about corruption and misconduct to prevent a mistrial while working with Phoenix to [[spoiler:bring down Damon Gant]].

* ChekhovsClassroom: In Case 5, Evidence Law comes up early during the first day of trial:
** '''"Rule 1: No evidence shall be shown without the approval of the Police Department."''' Angel Starr gets a blood test done on the victim's shoe and determines that the two blood types likely belong to the victim and the defendant. Edgeworth tries to claim that it was illegal because of Rule 1, until it was confirmed by a "boyfriend" in the Police Department. [[spoiler:This comes back to bite Damon Gant in the ass, since the Police Chief himself ordering Phoenix to show something specific ''technically'' counts as "approval". He also uses Lana's photo of Neil Marshall impaled on a sword to prove a point, unaware that she had smuggled that in the "Evidence Law" book she lent to Phoenix and had only come to light a few minutes ago, destroying his own damage control attempt by claiming the piece of cloth was illegal all along.]]
** '''"Rule 2: Unregistered evidence presented must be relevant to the case in trial."''' Because Edgeworth refused the report about the apparent death of the exact same victim in the Police Department's evidence room, it legally was regarded as unrelated and the victim's exact identity couldn't be revealed until Phoenix proved that the victim was the same man in both cases. [[spoiler:A lengthy amount of EvilGloating about the above evidence by Damon Gant also gives it some obvious connection to SL-9, making it legal for Phoenix to use against him.]]

** [[spoiler:Larry Butz, seemingly a blockhead doofus who's just at the wrong place at the wrong time appears out of ''freaking nowhere'' and 180's the entire fourth case. Prior to this he was only the defendant of your very first trial and in the fourth case he had only appeared selling hot dogs and unintentionally spawning a controversy about a rumoured monster in the lake]].

* DiedInIgnorance: [[spoiler:Case 5 has an interesting take on this due to the use of [[WillingChanneler spirit channeling]] to engage in InterrogatingTheDead. In an attempt to solve Gregory Edgeworth's murder, investigators consulted [[PolicePsychic Misty Fey]] to channel Gregory's spirit to ask him who murdered him. Due to the fact that Gregory was unconscious when he was murdered, there was no way for him to actually know the one who murdered him was Manfred von Karma. Gregory ended up accusing courtroom bailiff Yanni Yogi, who Gregory ended up in a physical altercation prior to passing out with due to the latter having a panic attack from the ElevatorFailure both of them were caught up in.]]

* TitleDrop: A subtle example, but still... the full name of the DS re-release of the first GBA game is ''Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten''. "Yomigaeru Gyakuten" is the name of the 5th case of the DS version of the game (and its literal translation is "The Revived Turnabout"). This 5th case was then localized as "Rise from the Ashes".

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* LooseCanon: While the games in this series generally stay self-contained there's no doubt there's an overarching plotline that exists between them. Since "Rise From the Ashes" was written after the trilogy had already been completed its ability to fit into those order of events is somewhat tenuous, to the point that in the original English translation of ''Justice for All'' the implication that Edgeworth was DrivenToSuicide in the wake of "Turnabout Goodbyes" was left intact, despite the lack of contradictory context for the audience that the Japanese dialogue may have been faced with for the same scenario (later translations did properly smooth this over). Even Ema -- who shows up during the Apollo Justice era of the series -- doesn't directly reference her experience with Phoenix during those appearances, merely making allusions. Furthermore the unique characters from the case have rarely appeared in official art that wasn't specifically created for it (and Ema is often depicted as an adult detective when drawn in official pieces instead of a high schooler) and it was not adapted in the anime.

* LooseCanon: While the games in this series generally stay self-contained there's no doubt there's an overarching plotline that exists between them. Since "Rise From the Ashes" was written after the trilogy had already been completed its ability to fit into those order of events is somewhat tenuous, to the point that in the original English translation of ''Justice for All'' the implication that Edgeworth was DrivenToSuicide in the wake of "Turnabout Goodbyes" was left intact, despite the lack of contradictory context for the audience that the Japanese dialogue may have been faced with for the same scenario (later translations did properly smooth this over). Even Ema -- who shows up during the Apollo Justice era of the series -- doesn't directly reference her experience with Phoenix during those appearances, merely making allusions.

A [[Film/AceAttorney2012 live-action movie]] directed by Creator/TakashiMiike was released in theaters in Japan in February 2012 based mainly on the events of the second and fourth cases of the game. The game was also adapted into an [[Anime/AceAttorney anime]] in 2016.