Line #8 Fridge/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney


1	Take moments specific to ''[[Fridge/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo Justice]]'', ''[[Fridge/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'', ''[[Fridge/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]'' or ''[[Fridge/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Investigations]]'' to those pages, please.
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3	'''[[Administrivia/SpoilersOff A reminder for editors and viewers:]]''' Fridge pages are for post-viewing discussions. Spoiler tagging here defeats the purpose of the article. You shouldn't be reading the following entries if you are worried about spoilers.
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5	[[foldercontrol]]
6	----
7	!! ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney''
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9	[[folder:Fridge Brilliance]]
10	* The fight over oxygen that broke out in the elevator seems a little weird, as it's customary that elevators aren't airtight, and commonly include ventilation. However, as it was during an earthquake, a piece of debris must've fallen over it, shutting it off.
11	* The name of Redd White, CEO of Bluecorp, is chock full of [[MeaningfulName meaning]]. For one his status as CorruptCorporateExecutive and Mia's murderer means that he's turned into a very effective example of a Type 2 {{Eagleland}}er. But then we meet Godot, who blames Phoenix for failing to protect Mia. He is incapable of seeing the color red on white AKA: putting the blame on who it actually belongs, Redd White. Even when he realizes his grudge against Phoenix is wrong, he still blames himself and never the true guilty party.
12	* After the third case, Edgeworth introduces himself to Will Powers as a "fan". Phoenix believes it's just flattery, and on a first playthrough, the player probably will, too. But as you play the later games and get to know Edgeworth better, you'll see that he rarely (if ever) engages in flattery. It eventually becomes very clear to anyone paying attention (especially in ''Investigations'') that he was ''dead serious'' when he said he was a fan.
13	** Sort of a Reverse Tear Jerker, but considering Edgeworth's past... this is probably the ''only childish thing he's been able to enjoy'' since nine.
14	** Edgeworth's sudden turn on Dee Vaquez makes more sense if you know about his fanboyism. Yes, it's later established that he'd help Phoenix save a defendant who really does seem to be innocent, but what better place to introduce that trait than the end of the trial convicting the lead actor of his favorite series? The [[Anime/AceAttorney2016 anime]] gives a nod to this one: Edgeworth starts helping the defense after Cody interrupts the trial to yell about how the Steel Samurai fights evil for great justice, and afterward Edgeworth is one of the many characters watching ''The Pink Princess'', sipping tea in his office and seeming entirely at peace with himself.
15	* This really covers the entire series but it began in the first game. Regardless of the situation the viewer keeps getting flashes of Phoenix and the prosecuting attorney staring one another down prior to the start of cross examination, without it mattering who was on the stand, when really, you're doing more to try and beat the witness than the prosecutor. But during the fifth case, when Gant is on the stand, it becomes clear: Phoenix and Edgeworth weren't giving each other the death glare, they were both giving it to the witness--the witness who was caught between the defense and prosecutor both trying to find out the truth!
16	* Why does Damon Gant have a cross-shaped necktie, a theme that sounds like organ music, a pipe organ in his office, and a suit of armor? He's a [[KnightTemplar crusader]], in the worst sense of the word.
17	* Angel Starr's primary trait is that, depending on which half of her face is concealed, she is either nasty or nice. She is also a former detective with a special talent for interrogation. She is literally [[GoodCopBadCop the good cop and the bad cop]], both in one person.
18	* When von Karma is serving as prosecuting attorney for Miles Edgeworth, he noticeably favors his left arm for the finger-wagging and snapping. At the end of the trial, it's revealed that he still has a bullet lodged in his right shoulder. Moving his right arm excessively must be painful, because of that. This is supported by the fact that at one point, before the reveal, he grabs his shoulder when he briefly loses his composure and complains at the judge. It probably does still hurt.
19	** Manfred getting shot evidently hit Franziska particularly hard, as her "shocked/hurt/defensive" reaction (even before Shelly de Killer shot ''her'') is to grab ''both'' shoulders.
20	* In the [[TheMovie live action film]], Yogi's insanity plea was changed from being caused by lack of oxygen to being caused by fatigue from being overworked. This sounds like a pretty lame excuse, but that makes sense when you consider that Hammond outright admits he doesn't care what happens so long as he gets his not guilty verdict. Of course he wouldn't be bothered to find an excuse that would hold water. It also makes the harassment from Yogi's neighbors make more sense - him getting off on a very weak-sounding excuse just makes it sound like he really was guilty and his attorney couldn't build a better case to get him off.
21	** Considering Japan is notorious for overworking employees to the point of having a specific term for "death from overwork", it might not be as farfetched of an excuse as it seems, with the movie being definitively set in Japan. That said, the neighbors might still have worried that even the slightest bit of stress might cause the murderous side to re-emerge.
22	* A dark example comes when von Karma pulls out the stun gun and Phoenix mentions it's "for self-defense...usually". When you think about it, von Karma ultimately ''is'' using the taser for self-defense...because he's taking the letter from you, which is decisive evidence to implicate him in Hammond's murder.
23	* Despite being otherwise impeccably groomed, Edgeworth has had one stubborn [[IdiotHair cowlick]] at the back of his head ever since he was a child. This symbolizes that: 1) the otherwise serious Edgeworth does have a silly side to him even as an adult, and 2) he hasn't entirely discarded his ideals despite Manfred's influence. It also turns out to mark him as being his father's son, since Gregory's sprites in ''Investigations 2'' have it as well.
24	* In ''Rise from the Ashes'', towards the end, you receive a book from the defendant. Hidden within this book is a critical piece of evidence. Yet the game will not allow you to examine that evidence properly and find it until a specific point in the trial. These seems rather inconsistent, since all through this trial, you have had the ability to examine evidence in detail. So why is it that you can't examine it then? Simple: because ''Ema'' isn't with you when you get it. Remember: all of the Scientific Investigation stuff is ultimately tied into her; ''she's'' the one who suggests examining evidence in detail and shows Phoenix how to do it. Without Ema around, Phoenix can re-examine stuff he already had, but only Ema would suggest to actually examine the book. Methodically. Scientifically.
25	* In ''Rise from the Ashes'', we learn that the King of Prosecutors award originally had a broken sword and shield on it. But two years ago, Police Chief Gant had it removed for a reason that Edgeworth was unaware of. Now, the obvious reason would be to avoid people using the broken sword to deduce exactly what Phoenix and Edgeworth deduced in court. However, that would have required Gant to both predict the future ''and'' assume that someone would break into his office to steal the drawing, then put Ema on the stand. That being true or not, there is a better reason: symbolism. By removing the broken sword, he is symbolically removing the contradictory nature of the Prosecutor's Office, having created the unstoppable sword. Which reflects the corruption that he, through Lana, exerts over them now. And this is very much how he sees himself.
26	** Which adds to the brilliance when Phoenix and Edgeworth Tag team Gant symbolizing the start of contradictory nature of both the persecution and Defense; both are ''equally'' necessary to exploit each other's flaws and get to the truth.
27	* Edgeworth getting defensive of Cody in 1-3 makes a lot more sense when you consider that he probably had to testify during the original DL-6 trial, and wouldn't be much older than Cody at the time.
28	* So, we know that Edgeworth had severe PTSD after DL-6. We know he's repressing the memory of everything that happened in the elevator, and that he doesn't fully recall it or understand it until Phoenix presents enough evidence to explain what happened. Given that the Magatama hasn't come into the games yet, but also considering the developments it receives in ''Apollo Justice'' and ''Dual Destinies'', this could mean that the last day of case 1-4 boils down to breaking Edgeworth's Black Psych-Locks.
29	* The reason why InterrogatingTheDead resulted in a MiscarriageOfJustice in the DL-6 Incident isn't because Misty was a PhonyPsychic, it's a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: the victim is essentially the same as any other eyewitness (albeit in an unique position to see the most of the crime scene) and is not immune from [[BeAsUnhelpfulAsPossible lying]] (Phoenix notes that Gregory ''would'' lie to protect Miles if Miles accidentally killed him, since Miles is his son) or misinterpreting what they saw (Gregory was unable to point out Manfred von Karma as his murderer because Manfred was ''outside'' the elevator and only entered after Gregory had fallen unconscious, so Gregory never saw him and assumed his murderer had to be in the elevator).
30	* A very minor one from ''Rise of the Ashes'', again. At one point in the trial, the Judge asks Edgeworth if an old case being dug up again is relevant to the case at hand, and Edgeworth replies that yes, indeed, it does have relevance. The Judge gives in quickly, and Phoenix remarks that that was surprisingly quick. Apparently he's forgotten that the exact same thing happened not even three months ago, during ''Turnabout Goodbyes'', involving the same judge, prosecutor and even the same defense attorney.
31	* At the beginning of Rise From the Ashes, Phoenix struggles with being alone for the trial. At the end, Lana makes a deal out of telling Edgeworth about he wasn't alone in the courtroom- but, she could also be trying to indirectly tell Phoenix the same message that he and Edgeworth are able to work together, even if neither has an assistant or ally at the time.
32	* Damon Gant's catch phrase being "Have you been swimming lately?" has a three-fold meaning. He's trying to make friendly conversation, he usually wants people to focus on something other than him, and usually, when someone sees him, [[OhCrap they look like they've been swimming due to breaking out in a cold sweat]].
33	* In case 1-2, a lot of people give Phoenix crap for [[IdiotBall charging into Redd White's office and accusing him of blackmail and murder]], but thinking about it logically, it was important that Phoenix did this. It's mentioned multiple times that White ''owns'' the courts. Even if Phoenix implicated him for the murder during what was going to be the second day of Maya's trial, there's virtually no way they would've been able to get Redd White into court. However, by Phoenix charging in and accusing him, his bold actions irritated White to the point where he, in a display of petty overconfidence, accused Phoenix of murdering Mia for a crime they had been setting up Maya to take the fall for (which ultimately made his accusations against Wright look weaker), and came in willingly to testify to the courts. It was likely the only way to get him into the courtroom, and once he was on the witness stand, his web of lies started to unravel.
34	* Another one from case 1-2, during the scene where Phoenix confronts White about Mia's murder. There are very subtle details foreshadowing events that will happen and be discussed in ''Rise from the Ashes''.
35	--> '''Redd White''': Chief Prosecutor. I do not believe that you are in the position to offer your opinions to me, correct?
36	** In this scene, Redd White shows that he has a direct line to the Chief Prosecutor's phone, and can order them around on a whim with no repercussions. The Chief Prosecutor ''recognizes'' that it's White calling without him saying a word, tries to protest what he's doing, and backs down instantly when he says the quoted line. Redd White knows that Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye is being blackmailed by Damon Gant. Redd White would've benefited from blackmailing both parties by knowing about Damon Gant blackmailing Lana Skye, which allows him nigh invulnerability from the police and from the prosecutors. [[RewatchBonus First time players would forget this detail when playing Rise from the Ashes much later considering just how long cases 1-3 and 1-4 take to complete.]]
37	* Ema Skye idolizing Edgeworth is more than just surface admiration, he was the prosecutor during Joe Darke's trial. Ema saw Edgeworth convict the man that had tried to kill her and likely gained her assumptions of him from that. Similarly, Edgeworth knowing of Ema's trauma is why he's much more sympathetic towards her than his other witnesses.
38	* When visiting Mike Meekins in the detention cell, the track "Old Age, Regret, Retribution" plays instead of the typical detention cell theme. In a possible CallForward to ''Justice for All'', the reason for this is that Mike Meekins isn't actually the client Phoenix Wright is representing, nor was he ever actually involved in the murder of Bruce Goodman to begin with. It's a musical selection that would be played with in a similar manner with [[spoiler:Matt Engarde]].
39	* In 1-4, Gumshoe talks a bit about how the prosecution and police have to trust and help each other. In the end, we see that with the defense. Edgeworth trusts his defense, and they all step up for him. Phoenix defends him, Maya saves the crucial evidence from Von Karma, and Gumshoe? He is the linchpin. The metal detector that is used to expose Von Karma comes from Gumshoe himself.
40	* Damon Gant is probably deaf, or at least hard of hearing. His pauses after someone speaks could be him parsing out what he just heard and how well he could lipread. At another point, Phoenix is able to sneak into his office with him inside and goes unnoticed for some time. The clincher, however, is how he punishes insubordinate officers: Hours of loud organ music; agonizing for a normal person, but not to someone already hard of hearing.
41	* Edgeworth gets a lot of flak for [[NeverLiveItDown the updated autopsy report]] in 1-2, which on a first playthrough most players will take as evidence that he's just as corrupt as earlier conversations have implied him to be. However, in ''Rise From the Ashes'' it's explained that Edgeworth never knowingly used falsified evidence. So why did he update the autopsy report? He had access to all the evidence ahead of time and spotted the same contradiction Phoenix does in court while preparing his case -- Mia couldn't have written anything down if she died instantly. Instead of seeing this as a sign of Maya's innocence, he concluded that the autopsy missed something and requested a second one to double-check the results and clear up the discrepancy.
42	[[/folder]]
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44	[[folder:Fridge Horror]]
45	* The reason Cindy Stone died is related to Larry leaving the door open when he left her apartment.
46	** In a similar way, Larry gave Mia Fey the statue that would bring about her demise.
47	* The DL-6 Incident happens because Yanni Yogi freaks out and attacks Gregory Edgeworth, while they're stuck in an elevator. Imagine if he had decided to attack the only other person stuck in there with them - ''nine-year-old'' Miles?
48	* Also terrifying to think about, in the DL-6 Incident ''everyone'' in the elevator was unconscious when von Karma found them. If he hadn't decided to spin his revenge out for fifteen years, and instead get it all done right then and there, he could easily have shot both of the Edgeworths, or even shot Miles instead to hurt Gregory.
49	* If von Karma caused DL-6 over a penalty on his record, think about what he would have done to Phoenix for breaking it.
50	* When a Kurain spirit medium (all female) channels the dead, they physically turn into that person. The game never shows the player what would happen if they channel a male, even though it's a plot point in the DL-6 incident.[[GenderBender That might be a little bit uncomfortable.]]
51	** It is shown several games later, in Spirit of Justice.
52	* The revised scripts in the 3DS/HD remasters alter the NonStandardGameOver of Rise from the Ashes, from “In the end, Lana was found guilty” to “In the end, Lana alone was found guilty… on all counts.” This seems to imply that Ema avoids being charged with Neil’s murder, but she isn’t that much better off. She’s lost her only family, is convinced she killed the man who saved her, and is indirectly responsible for the current incident. Who knows how well she’d be able to cope?
53	* Manfred von Karma was winning by cheating for forty years. Imagine the amount innocents convicted by his ego. By corrupting other prosecutors and using dirty tactics to win, he basically made a Dark Age of the Law before the titular period. And with an even worse Chief Prosecutor and a ruthless Chief of Police, he wasn't even the worst example.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	!! Entire Phoenix Arc
57	[[folder:Fridge Brilliance]]
58	* Why don't Maya or Pearl simply channel the spirit of the victim to find out who killed them? They probably ''can't'', or at least not repeatedly and/or with guaranteed success. The reason that Maya couldn't even summon Mia in the first game was because she was still in training -- it was only her panic at Phoenix losing the case that enabled her to call Mia to help her. Despite going back to Kurain Village to hone her abilities, she still hadn't mastered her powers by the time she meets up with Phoenix again -- she was attempting her first ''real'' summoning while Phoenix was there. After that, ''every person the Feys summon is a blood relative''. Maya tried to summon Mimi Miney, but that was under very controlled and ritualized circumstances, and we never get to see whether she would have succeeded or failed, as it was all a set-up, and Mimi wasn't dead anyway.\
59	Maya repeatedly summons Mia, her sister. Pearl summons Mia, her cousin. Both of them are cousins through the ''female'' half of the Fey bloodline. Pearl is told to summon Dahlia, who is her half-sister through their mother -- and therefore the Fey bloodline. She fails, but only because Maya has already summoned Dahlia -- who is her cousin through, once again, the female side of the family. They are never shown summoning anyone that isn't related to them through the Fey bloodline -- it's possible that doing so is extremely difficult, and they might not be able to control the spirit they summon regardless.
60	** On a related note, in case 1-2, Mia says "you're just lucky I was born a Fey" to Phoenix. One would think it would have been more fitting for her to have said "you're just lucky Maya was born a Fey" seeing as how she was the one who channeled Mia. However, given Maya's inexperience at the time that made it almost impossible for her to summon anyone, Mia meant that if she was not a part of the Fey bloodline, then even if Phoenix did have Maya to help him, it would still be very difficult (or even impossible) for her to summon her. Therefore Mia is not saying it as in he is lucky she can summon but rather that she ''can'' be summoned.
61	* Manfred von Karma was shot in his right shoulder and that is what brings his downfall. In ''Justice for All'', the last case has Shelly de Killer shooting Franziska, Manfred's daughter of course, in her right shoulder which makes her miss the trial and therefore almost gets Matt Engarde off the hook. During a first play-through, someone is extremely unlikely to make this connection.
62	** Also, when Edgeworth mentions the De Killer case in ''Ace Attorney Investigations'', Franziska shivers noticeably. Of course, the trauma of being shot unexpectedly is bad enough, but when you consider what happened to her father...
63	* In the first game, Phoenix describes [[ButtMonkey Larry]] as a good friend of his, but in the others, his opinion seems to be, "I'm ashamed to know him." The shift in attitude could be put down to {{Flanderization}} and/or CharacterizationMarchesOn, but it could also be explained by the fact that at the end of Case 1-4, Nick finds out that Larry was the culprit behind the incident in fourth grade that made him want to become a lawyer in the first place. He considered Larry a friend for coming to his rescue, but finding out Larry was the reason he got in trouble in the first place kind of tainted that a bit.
64	* Tie-in between the second and third games: In the second game, Adrian trusts Franziska so much that she clings to her words even when it becomes clear that trusting those words will lead to her death. This is similar to what Dahlia does with getting the trust of Phoenix and Terry in the third game. That could explain why Phoenix was so observant and upset about what Franziska did.
65	** On a related note, this is something that the culprit says in ''Justice For All'''s fourth case: "I had no interest in doing it, really, but bit by bit, it crept up on me. And then the situation just presented itself perfectly... 'How beautiful,' I thought. Let me tell you something. I'm not like [weak people]. I don't depend on anyone. People are simply things to be used. Used and thrown away. Put on a sweet, innocent face, and people will swallow anything you feed them. [That fool] fell for it. [That other fool], too. Oh, and how can I forget. Even you fell for it, Mister Lawyer! Everyone, all working their butts off for me! Aww, did that leave you speechless? What a shame." Remind anyone of a certain character in ''Trials and Tribulations''?
66	* Speaking of Adrian, the fact that she acts rather clumsy in case 3-2 makes the amount of spare pairs of glasses she has in case 2-4 a bit more plausible.
67	* The way Maya can shrug off [[TraumaCongaline seeing all her relatives dying horribly around her]] with so little pain is actually easy to explain when you realize she is one of the few people in the world who doesn't have any doubts about the existence of an afterlife and can always ask Pearl to channel both Mia and Misty at any time if she needs to see them.
68	** I believe the third game implied she does suffer a lot from the deaths of her family members but puts on a brave face for the sake of Pearl.
69	* It may not be intentional, but the Fey family seems to have a specific naming pattern; Almost all names start with an M and have two syllables: Mor-gan, Mi-a, Mis-ty etcetera. The exception being Morgan’s daughters.
70	** Additional Fridge Brilliance; the only characters who follow this pattern are from the main families of their generation. Pearl and her sisters are from the branch family and therefore do not follow this naming convention.
71	** Another thing: Mia and Ami can both be re-arranged to spell "I am". Maya spelled backwards is "Ayam", which sounds exactly like "I am." Which is just interesting, rather than anything significant.
72	*** "I Am" is the rough English translation of the Hebrew "YHWH", the name God gives himself when Moses asks. This could be a hint at Mia and Maya's status as the only truly good characters in the game, or it could be [[WildMassGuessing a huge coincidence.]]
73	* It may seem like FridgeLogic when unlucky Maggey Byrde fell from her 9th story apartment as a baby and survived. Seems like that would make her ''extremely lucky'', right? But then it hits you: by surviving, the rest of her life basically became a ''living hell''. Guess sometimes you really are [[FateWorseThanDeath better off dead]]. She is the defendant for case 3-3.
74	* Franziska copies a lot of her dad's body language. As mentioned above, Manfred von Karma [[http://www.court-records.net/animation/karma-sweat(a).gif clutches his right shoulder]] when backed into a corner; [[http://www.court-records.net/animation/franziska-sweating(a).gif she does this too]], despite not having the excuse of taking a bullet there. She also clutches at her sleeve the same way when annoyed, and [[WhipOfDominance uses whip-cracks]] in place of his finger-snaps. Interestingly, young Edgeworth (as seen in both T&T and AAI) also copies one of von Karma's gestures (the tsk-ing finger wag with one eye closed), but he's dropped it by the timeframe of the games. [[FreezeFrameBonus Blink and you'll miss it]], but both Manfred and Franziska have pierced ears.
75	* Franziska says the word "Fool" a lot- to the point where it stops being grammatically correct. But that actually makes perfect sense- she grew up in Germany, likely speaking German. She probably doesn't know enough English to always know the right synonym for "fool", so she goes with the word she does know instead of trying to guess words she doesn't know.
76	* We learn across the second and third games that the events of the DL-6 case basically ruined the Fey family, causing Misty to vanish, Mia to take up law instead of the family business, and setting in motion the entire drama around Morgan and her daughters. But we know that spirit channeling is real, so how did it end up going so wrong? Was it the failure of the prosecution to prove their case? No, because Yanni Yogi really didn't shoot Gregory Edgeworth. The truth was, he never saw who shot him. When channeled from beyond the grave, Gregory Edgeworth believed that only the two people in the elevator with him could have been the cause of his death...and rather than admit that he had passed out and didn't remember being shot, he named the one of those people who wasn't his only son. ''Gregory Edgeworth ruined the Fey family by lying to protect his son.''
77	** Actually the DL-6 case being the case that ruined the Fey family invokes a bit of FridgeLogic. Early on we hear about the case and how the police resorted to spirit channeling for a lead, yet the results of that channeling contradicted the results of the trial, leading Misty Fey to go into hiding out of shame. However, that doesn't make sense considering Yanni Yogi was never absolved of the crime of shooting Gregory Edgeworth. His attorney used the insanity plea, citing a lack of oxygen when the elevator broke down as the cause of his irrational behavior. In other words, the results of the trial would come to determine that Yanni Yogi shot Gregory, and Gregory, being channeled and not wanting to implicate his son for his own murder, would've also said that Yanni Yogi shot him.
78	** Also makes Manfred von Karma terrifying, as he outsmarted the supernatural to commit a crime.
79	* Phoenix complains that witnesses always seem to be more cooperative with Mia than with him. What he doesn't realize is that that fact applies to ''Phoenix himself'', as seen in the next game. In front of Diego, Phoenix is just the naïve wimp who- knowingly or not- helped Dahlia get away. It's only in a private conversation with [[MagneticHero Mia]] that he shows the intuition and drive to improve the world that would later make him a good apprentice.
80	* Larry complains he was never helpful and nobody tries to prove him otherwise. Though he was useful once before... against Manfred Von Karma. Wright cares about Larry enough not to tell that in front of Franziska.
81	* Among every methods of killing, Phoenix hates poisoning the most, finding it extremely cowardly. In all of his cases, he gets only one case of poisoning. The one in ''Recipe for Turnabout'', whose culprit is the same man who impersonated him.
82	** It also reminds him of Dahlia, who, as Mia proved, was trying to poison Wright.
83	[[/folder]]
84	[[folder:Fridge Horror]]
85	* Several of the prosecutors boast a flawless, or nearly flawless, win record (not counting Godot, since he had no career prior to T&T). They say explicitly that all they cared about was getting a conviction, not finding the truth. Edgeworth himself said he "used every dirty trick in the book". That's potentially a LOT of innocent people they've convicted. Especially from the oldest and most selfish, Manfred von Karma.
86	* Both Edgeworth and Franziska were trained in prosecution in Germany, and they seem to have no issues prosecuting in America, particularly notable with Franziska, who prosecuted in Germany for 5 years before heading to America. This implies that the legal system in Germany is very similar, if not identical, to the biased and corrupt system that America uses.
87	[[/folder]]

Context Fridge / PhoenixWrightAceAttorney