Line #11 Fridge/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth


1	Take moments specific to [[Fridge/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the Phoenix arc]] or ''[[Fridge/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo Justice]]'' to those pages, please.
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3	'''As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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5	[[folder:''Investigations 1'']]
6	* There's an exchange of dialogue with the culprit of the final case that gives enormous insight into his actions and overall character.
7	--> Edgeworth: Is every life precious?
8	--> Alba: That doesn't even warrant an answer.
9	** The logic here is Alba is a ''war hero''. Of ''course'' a soldier would have been conditioned to not value the lives of others. Suddenly, his lack of empathy and willingness to eliminate his underlings made perfect sense.
10	*** There's a part where Edgeworth thinks, "how can that person be so proud, knowing they took alife?" Taking life is probably related to what Alba did that got him some of those medals. The idea of "you shouldn't be proud of ending human lives" may feel different to someone who has been decorated for it.
11	*** It could also be interpreted as another reason why he's such a horrible person. While many soldiers end up with PTSD over the things they need to do in the line of duty, having to take time to readjust to civilian life, it makes Alba look sociopathic for just how much he takes pride in killing others. Alba doesn't express any regrets for his long military career, and considers any death that benefits him as worth the price, even when he's no longer actively serving.
12	*** There's also the parallels between Edgeworth's prosecutor badge and Alba's medals. Edgeworth's distaste for this particular villain's mindset is probably at least partly rooted in his former dedication to Von Karma's belief that any underhanded tactics are acceptable if it means the prosecution gets a flawless victory every time. Edgeworth himself had to go through a lot of crap to get himself on the path to the truth while still having a frankly heroic amount of respect for his former mentor (that is, ''any at all''), and in the final confrontation with Alba, he's basically staring the future he avoided in the face.
13	*** Keep in mind what exactly Edgeworth's job is. The people he prosecutes are often put away for life or given the death penalty. Killing for sport is exactly what prosecutors are doing by going outside of the law to get a perfect win record, exactly what Edgeworth's former mentor and to a lesser extent Edgeworth himself was doing not so long ago.
14	* The Yatagarasu goes out, finds out a companies deepest dirtiest secrets and then spills it to the press. Aside from the fact that they intend to do good... isn't that pretty much what Redd White did, minus the blackmail?
15	** ''Minus the blackmail''. The line between a good guy and a bad guy can be very thin in places.
16	** The only things that are specifically mentioned as being exposed by the Yatagarasu are cases of "corruption," specifically ties to the smuggling ring. If anyone committed suicide because of the Yatagarasu, it's never mentioned.
17	** Also, the Yatagarasu is only said to go after corporations, not individual people. Corporate dealings don't often get blamed on any one person within that corporation.
18	* When Kay tells Edgeworth that she's the Yatagarasu, he's incredibly skeptical at first. This might be because he was under the impression that Calisto Yew was the Yatagarasu because of what happened seven years before. He also hadn't twigged that the Yatagarasu was more than one person, so, since Kay clearly isn't Calisto Yew, then he has no real reason to believe her until she whips out Little Thief.
19	* In ''Turnabout Airlines'', there is a point where Franziska von Karma accuses Edgeworth of murder, which, given their sibling-like relationship, appears to be overly harsh and cold, even for [[DefrostingIceQueen her standards.]] It only makes sense once you remember what exactly her oh-so-perfect-and-honorable father turned out to be like. Franziska isn't ignoring the fact that Edgeworth's her adoptive brother and friend. She thinks that he might have ended up walking down the same horrible road as her father after all, having learned that even trusted family members can suddenly turn out to be scum.
20	-->Franziska: "Even if we were related by blood, that's no guarantee that he's not a criminal!"
21	-->Edgeworth: "...Franziska..."
22	* When investigating the gift shop during case 2, Cammy recommends that Edgeworth use a stuffed animal for stress relief. Remember how, upon being found out as the murderer, she talks about how scared she was of being found in cahoots with the smuggling ring, and suddenly the fact that she carries her own stuffed animal around for the entire case makes sense.
23	* During case 3, after the stage is rebuilt, you can see a sign advertising a showdown between Troupe Gramarye and Max Galactica, most likely the next show coming up. Since this game takes place shortly before Magnifi's death, that could very well have been one of their last shows.
24	* In the fourth case, Calisto's stress animation is her calmly putting on her makeup. Why? Because she's starting to sweat -- which ruins her makeup, leading to her putting it back on!
25	** Doubly poignant when you realize "Calisto" and Shih-na have completely different skin tones. If the paler Shih-na tone is her natural skin color then sweating off her makeup would blow years of undercover work.
26	** She's also visibly twitchy when doing so, also retouching her eyeliner and her lipstick nervously. When she takes a "hit," she jumps and smears her lipstick. She's also an experienced infiltrator and double agent, so her reapplying makeup is a metaphorical way of putting her current mask (i.e. fake identity) back into place.
27	* In the first ''Ace Attorney'' game, von Karma was defeated because of a wound to his shoulder, which linked him to the crime. Fair enough. But what is it that helps you defeat the BigBad of Investigations, Quercus Alba? A wound to the shoulder.
28	* Case 4 kicks off with Mack Rell claiming that the Yatagarasu instructed him to commit murder, and that the identity of the Yatagarasu is Byrne Faraday. Both these statements turn out to be true, albeit for different reasons. Byrne Faraday was a member of the three-person entity, the Yatagarasu, but it was another member of the Yatagarasu who had Rell commit the murder -- Calisto Yew.
29	* In case 5, it's repeatedly mentioned that Manny Coachen's hypercompetence and the blind faith that was placed in him were what allowed him to manage the smuggling ring without arousing suspicion. This foreshadows that Shih-na, Lang's trusted and competent secretary, also turns out to be a mole for the ring.
30	* The defendant lobbies are shown to be devoid of any supervision during case 4, despite that the bailifs have been there in every other case in the series. Of course, the murder in case I-4 only happened because the lobbies weren't under surveillance, explaining why the bailiffs were assigned to the lobbies in the first place. In another vein, there's the oft-mentioned fact that conflict of interest never seems to show up in the series, often having prosecutors being accused of murder yet still prosecuting the case. The only time conflict of interest is known to be applied ended up with the prosecutor and the defendant dead...
31	* Colias Palaeno referring to Manny Coachen as the 'secretariat' is weird since it's usually used for an entire office rather than an individual secretary...until you realize that Manny's HypercompetentSidekick status for Palaeno meant he very well could have been the 'entire office himself'. Not to mention that low budget...
32	* Palaeno becoming the Ambassador of the reunited Cohdopia makes sense if you think about it. While it's true that Ambassador Alba was fired and arrested, Allebhast could still appoint a new ambassador to the position. After all, so much fuss was made over the statues and the right to rule that is offered by them, and Palaeno openly admitted to Edgeworth that their statue is fake. The two statues were to be examined that day to determine which was genuine, and whichever nation had the genuine statue would have the right to rule a reformed Cohdopia. But that's just it: Babahl didn't have the fake statue anymore. Alba's manipulations left the true statue on Babahl's side, so when the two statues were examined, ''Babahl'' would be the one granted rulership rights. Ironically enough, Alba's murder of Manny Coachen and desperate bid to conceal evidence of his smuggling ultimately wound up accomplishing what Coachen was trying to do in the first place: steal Allebhast's statue for Babahl.
33	* Lauren Paups' "shock" animation has her recoiling like she's been slapped. Take into account her boyfriend Lance's treatment of her coupled with the apparent threats against her that he used to coerce Colin Devorae into helping with his kidnapping plot, and [[DomesticAbuse the implications speak for themselves.]]
34	* Edgeworth ends up using Rhoda Toneiro's suitcase to hold the ransom money in case 3. Not only would he not plan to use it for anything else, but it's extremely eye-catching, and the fact that the design never sold means he can count on it being the only suitcase with that design in the area -- making it an easy way to track the kidnappers once the ransom money is turned over.
35	[[/folder]]
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37	[[folder:''Investigations 2'']]
38	* FridgeBrilliance for Knightley switching the guns in the first case. You may not realize it at first, but this, too, is part of his ChessMotifs: He ''castled''.
39	* FridgeHorror comes up in the second case of ''Investigations 2'', which takes place in a prison and in it, convicts make death threats against Edgeworth (and he personally convicted some of them). This makes you wonder how prosecutors would fare in the prison population, especially considering that Edgeworth nearly got convicted of murder in the first game, and quite a few prosecutors are also serving time at this point in the game's timeline, and whether there is more to Lana Skye not making any more appearances since the first game and Ema's change in personality than we thought.
40	** Presumably prosecutors and cops convicted of serious crimes are kept in different prisons or otherwise away from the majority of the prison population. Lana only committed crimes under coercion, so she would probably be sent to a minimum security prison. As later shown in ''Dual Destinies'', at least one prosecutor (Simon Blackquill) has been in jail for years and seems relatively intact. (Although, comparing [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140409223509/aceattorney/images/0/0c/Young_Blackquill.png his younger self]] to [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130620044654/aceattorney/images/7/7e/Simon_Blackquill.png his older self]], it's clear he's seen ''some'' hard times.)
41	* In AAI 2, FridgeBrilliance occurs in the final case: The final and decisive evidence against the BigBad is the pollen of the lilies that the fake president of Zheng Fa was carrying and also found on his body, and indeed traces of the same pollen was found in the murder weapon (the lion hot air balloon). It is repeatedly mentioned in the case by both Courtney and Franziska that the Japanese flower language for shishiyuri is "the bond between parent and child". In other words, the final nail in Simon's coffin is the bond between parent and child: Gregory and Miles Edgeworth, Di-Jun Huang, Justine Courtney and John Marsh, and Dane Gustavia and Simon Keyes himself. The entire game revolves around this theme, in fact.
42	** The relationship between a parent and child (natural or adopted) is a very large theme of AAI 2, to the point that it's an oddity when a major character has no direct ties along those lines. So when Tyrell Badd serves as the detective in the third case's flashbacks, despite the case having almost no relevance to the events of the first ''Investigations'' or anyone we met in that game, the best conclusion is simultaneously more indirect and heartwarming. In short, he's the closest thing the series has to a father figure for Dick Gumshoe.
43	* The Japanese title for ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'' is Turnabout Prosecutor. In AAI 2, A conflict in the game is having Edgeworth choose between being a prosecutor or working as a defense lawyer like his dad. In the first case you play as Edgeworth the prosecutor. The second, you play as an assistant for your dad's law office's attorney Shield (because Courtney revoked your right to investigate as the prosecutor for Knightley's crime is changed into Sebastian instead). The third has you switching between Miles and Gregory (the defense lawyer). The fourth case has Edgeworth abandoning his prosecutor badge and (again) working under Shield. In the end of the fifth case, Courtney returns the badge and Edgeworth vows to continue to devote himself as a prosecutor and reform the law. [[TitleDrop Turnabout Prosecutor]] indeed!
44	* Playing the second case of AAI 2 is pure FridgeHorror, especially since you're acting as an assistant defense attorney '''DEFENDING THE BIG BAD'''.
45	** Worse when you realize the implications had you and Shields not been around for the case. Shields only happened to be there due to his daily visit with Master. Had he not been around, who would've taken his defense? Pretty likely that Phoenix Wright himself would've likely taken such a case, especially if Edgeworth prodded him to do so. So unless he learned his lesson from Justice for All and asked some VERY specific questions to implicate Simon's indirect involvement in Knightley's murder...Nick would've been defending the BigBad of the game...AGAIN!
46	** A similar situation occurs when replaying AAI 2-1 after beating AAI 2-5. Turns out "President" Di-Jun Huang was a '''LOT''' worse than everyone realized... that, and the fact that Horace Knightley, as much as a despicable {{Jerkass}} he was, was just an UnwittingPawn for the BigBad's plan, the plan of someone he thought was his friend...
47	* FridgeHorror: When Sebastian finally confronts his father in court during the final case, Blaise actually ''leaves the witness stand'' to approach him, suggesting Sebastian wants to "play" and that the two of them should go home. He's trembling and is ''TERRIFIED'' when his father says this with Sebastian's actual moving sprite going backwards. Blaise's sprite even approaches him when Sebastian tries to weakly fight back. If it weren't for Edgeworth demanding that he get back on the witness stand so the trial could continue, Sebastian might have broken down again, but the implication is very obvious.
48	* Why does Sebastian act like the conductor of an orchestra when presenting evidence, even bringing out a baton? Well, he takes after his father, and Blaise is known as the black marketeer who calls himself ''the Conductor''...
49	* In Case 4 of the sequel, it's a plot point that the victim, Jill Crane, always wore gloves to hide a nasty burn scar on her hand. After learning about his murderous, abusive, and pyromaniacal father, one can then make some pretty dark inferences as to why Sebastian ''also'' consistently wears gloves.
50	* Huang's body double covered up the fake assassination plot by pinning Knightley as a plain attempted assassin. That's all well and good. But consider this: Edgeworth was scheduled to prosecute Knightley. Knowing Edgeworth, he'd probably expose the fake assassination. Now, recall that Huang's body double works with Blaise Debeste, whose preferred method for dealing with people who get in the way is to make them "[[ReassignedToAntarctica disappear]]". Given all this...it's not exactly hard to imagine an unpleasant fate for Edgeworth, Kay, Gumshoe and co. if Knightley makes it to trial.
51	* Anyone who's played the last case of ''Justice For All'' will likely recognize the ice cream salesman in case 1 of AAI 2 as the assassin Shelly de Killer long before anyone in-game does. Though to be fair, it's the first time the other characters have ever seen him in person.
52	* During the final interrogation of Investigations 2, Regina Berry, usually a FriendToAllLivingThings, makes no attempt whatsoever to defend Simon; in fact, she immediately provides several pieces of evidence crucial to convicting him. While his attitude certainly doesn't help, this stands in stark contrast to the way people usually react in the series when a friend falls under suspicion; usually you have to wring that sort of evidence out of them. Either she already suspected something was up, or she wasn't really that friendly with Simon in the first place, confirming his view that he had no real friends.
53	** Could be Moe's work. He did, after all, bring Regina to court in 2-3 to realize what she caused through her immense naiveté. She may have become significantly more mature and realized something was off with Simon...
54	* Case 2-3 shows what's probably the first time Badd refused to bow down to his superiors (von Karma) in order to make the truth known. He ends up forming a bond with Gregory Edgeworth because of that, and it may be the spark that pushed him into joining the Yatagarasu after the KG-8 Incident.
55	* Again about case 2-3: one of the most salient plot points is the statute of limitations and how it is applied. At the time, it was interpreted as, basically, "if an accomplice is put on trial and judged guilty, the statute of limitations on the true culprit is put on hold for the duration of the accomplice's trial". However, there ''is'' room for a happy ending, the statutes specifies that "If any ''possible'' accomplices are put on trial, then the time limit is put on hold ''until the accomplice's verdict is reached.''". A judge (possibly even Judgey!) could re-interpret this as "If someone is put on trial for being a ''possible'' accomplice, then the statute of limitations for the true culprit is put on hold until the verdict ''no matter which verdict it is''". It would even tie nicely with the "The law grows as the people grow" message.
56	** Said revocation of the statute of limitations also comes into play if the original case must undergo a retrial due to inconsistencies with the findings. If evidence was forged in order to convict a person of being a "possible accomplice" to murder, the real evidence showing up would immediately raise the alarm that something is clearly wrong, and that the cold case would need to be reopened in light of new findings. Ergo, the conviction of the defendant would be held in doubt as a new investigation would be required to reach a more satisfactory conclusion.
57	* Some FridgeBrilliance in 2-5: One of the clues that allows Edgeworth and Co. to track down the kidnapped John Marsh is one of the milk cartons he's always drinking, which he dropped when he was grabbed. [[FaceOnAMilkCarton A milk carton helped find a missing child]].
58	* FridgeHorror: Why does Blaise bother getting Sebastian all these different rewards and prestige, when he clearly doesn't care about how Sebastian is actually doing? He just loves to use his influence to force things from people. He doesn't ever care about Sebastian's feelings towards something, he just sees him as a tool to find new things to control.
59	* Some general FridgeBrilliance regarding parallels to Phoenix and Co.—-namely, that Sebastian and Kay are parallels to the other members of the WAA. Sebastian has red as a big part of his color scheme, styles his distinctive signature Ahoge with hair gel, and has an arc dedicated to overcoming his EvilMentor while growing close to another parental figure who also happens to be in the justice system. Kay is a teenage girl with a murdered father who comes from a family engaged in an unconventional line of work, and who has a special ability directly “inherited,” in more ways than one, from said family. They’re basically Apollo and Trucy, without being SecretlyRelated.
60	* A minor FridgeBrilliance regarding all the SchizoTech - things like Edgeworth's smartphone and the Court having a flatscreen HD TV while Phoenix Wright and co still use oldschool "brick" cellphones, 90% photographic evidence presented being black and white, most of the security equipment using tape and CRT monitors, etc. This is probably simply due to the financial situations of all the parties involved - Phoenix is barely above Gumshoe's paygrade due to his clients hardly ever paying for his services, while places like the Global Studios and KB security were deliberately lowballing their security. Besides that the cases took place in desolate villages, mountain shrines, flashbacks to several years prior, circuses, endebted restaurants - all places where you wouldn't see much high-tech stuff either way. Meanwhile prosecutors and courts are all considered to be very prestigious jobs - you can literally be famous and they really don't spare much expense on... well, anything, hence the high technology standard.
61	* FridgeBrilliance, but may also count as funny. In the Ace Attorney series, sometimes a Deux Ex Machina will appear in the form of an ally bursting into the courtroom delivering vital evidence you need to bring the culprit to justice. What do you do near the beginning of the final case of AAI 2? Burst into the courtroom with vital evidence to prove Blaise Debeste's connection to Patrica Roland.
62	* FridgeBrilliance regarding Gregory's damage animation. Gregory gets blown back, but he keeps smiling. It goes back to the teachings handed down to Phoenix from Mia and subsequently from Diego about how an attorney is someone who smiles no matter how bad it gets. While he is taking a hit to his HP bar, he forces a confident smile unlike other {{Player Character}}s even though things aren't going his way.
63	* FridgeBrilliance about Frank Sahwit in ''Ace Attorney Investigations 2''. He testifies about seeing what was in the workroom where Knightley's corpse was discovered. Everything about what he said is accurate... too accurate, in fact. He shouldn't have been able to see Knightley's ring because of the sheet covering it, and he isn't supposed to be able to go into the workroom because of his bracelet. Sound familiar? The reason is that it's the same kind of contradiction in Sahwit's testimony in the very first game! Back then, he testified that he had never gone into the victim's apartment, but had known the time because the Thinker was a clock; he was correct about the Thinker, but he could've only known that by going into the apartment and holding the Thinker. In the end, despite his insistence about reforming as a model prisoner, Sahwit's the same old thief behind bars.
64	* It's mentioned that Raymond Shields was invited by Gregory to witness the IS-7 trial, which would then lead to DL-6 one year later. If that's the case, where was he when Gregory, Miles and Yanni Yogi were in the elevator? It's likely that he was absent that day, left early or took the stairs.
65	* Knightley and Keyes' career choices make sense when you consider their backstories.
66	** Knightley was forced to kidnap Keyes under his father's orders, so he became a bodyguard so he could protect people from similar experiences.
67	** Keyes was a witness to SS-5, which was instigated by some very powerful individuals, so he joined a circus so he could constantly be on the move and hone his skills at manipulating others into his bidding.
68	* It's mentioned by Regina that since Moe took over as the ringmaster for the Berry Big Circus, several divisions have been established such as the Magician and Ventriloquist divisions, with everyone trying to outdo the opposition. Perhaps this was Maximillion's idea to get everyone to try better like he did?
69	* One of Pierre Hoquet's sculptures is of a hero fighting a snake titled "[[EverybodyHatesMathematics The Math Test]]", which makes much more sense considering his true identity the late Issac Dover had money troubles from [[MoneyDumb being horrible at managing his finances]].
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Context Fridge / AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth