This page covers the first three games and the film adaptation. Take general series tropes to YMMV/AceAttorney, and take tropes specific to ''[[YMMV/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo Justice]]'' or ''[[YMMV/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Investigations]]'' to those pages, please.

!! ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney''
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: There's no question that [[spoiler:Manfred Von Karma]] is a terrible person, but is he an [[AbusiveParent abusive parent]] to [[spoiler:his daughter Franziska (there's no question he's using Edgeworth as part of his scheme]] or merely demanding?
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/AceAttorney Has its own page]]
* CompleteMonster:
%%Do not add Redd White back to this page per the decision of the cleanup thread. Adding him back will result in moderators being summoned.
** And then we have [[spoiler:Manfred von Karma]] from case 1-4. To summarize: [[spoiler:For having his perfect record a bit dented by Gregory Edgeworth and then getting accidentally shot by a misfiring gun, he kills Gregory and manipulates Miles Edgeworth into becoming a prosecutor instead of a defense lawyer like his father was. Yes, the man who killed his father became his mentor and steered him away from the morals he had at a younger age (but thankfully reclaims later). But that's not the real kicker; Karma's plan was to get Edgeworth framed for murder so he would be locked up/executed for it, and if that was to fail, he knew Edgeworth would think that he had killed his father and confess to that instead. The lengths he went to wreck Edgeworth's life for the small things his father did is staggering.]]
* CrazyAwesome: Many characters have their moments. One of the best example is Manfred von Karma who [[spoiler:''retrains a parrot'']]. No, he doesn't want to lose.
* EarWorm: Some of the music ''will'' get put on repeat in your head. Jake Marshall's theme, for example.
** The. Blue. Badger. Theme.
*** ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5WcVlg4oM8 Da-da-da-da-da-da, DA, da, da-da-da...]]''
**** ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MK0dhnKG7s Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum. Dum dum...]]
* FanonDiscontinuity: Some people ignore the fifth case of the first game (which was not part of the original Japanese GBA game but instead added in as a bonus for the DS remake) because, despite providing us with MemeticBadass Damon Gant, it actually subtly {{retcon}}s the backstory of the game: [[spoiler:Most of the rumors about Edgeworth being a WellIntentionedExtremist are false and he never intentionally used fake evidence]]. This, to many people, effectively makes a good portion of the first game pointless.
** Interestingly enough, when Phoenix sees Edgeworth again in 2-4, he assumes Edgeworth quit because his perfect win record was tarnished, when actually, in 1-5, particularly on the third day of investigations and the last trial segment, Edgeworth is already questioning himself and admits shame over his AmoralAttorney past and fear that he might become like Manfred Von Karma and Damon Gant in the future.
** Well, to be fair, the backstory supposedly being {{retcon}}ed has a possible explanation in that, while [[spoiler:Edgeworth might not have intentionally forged evidence, but he probably used all of vonKarma's ''other'' dirty tactics like witness manipulation and illegal searches]]. No idea for the point right above this, though, as you'd think Phoenix would be a bit more understanding of Edgey after 1-4 at least, even if 1-5 wouldn't have happened...
** It's a bit difficult to disregard 1-5 considering that [[spoiler: Ema Skye is a major character]] in Apollo Justice, which is very much canon. I guess the same people who take issue with the supposed retcon do not view that game as canon, either. Or they just pretend that AJ marks [[spoiler: her]] first appearance.
*** But then that brings up the question of [[spoiler: Where did Phoenix get the fingerprint powder?]]
* FoeYay: So common '''''examples are not necessary.'''''
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: When you show Lana Skye the Attorney's Badge, she comments that the gold plating will flake off in a few years, then we'll see the ''real'' Phoenix. The conversation ends like this:
--> '''Lana Skye''': "Give it three years. Then we'll see what you've become."
** [[spoiler:Phoenix is disbarred approximately three years later in-game -- for unwittingly using falsified evidence, the same thing she made Edgeworth do.]]
*** That could have been deliberate foreshadowing.
*** Mia also says something similar in her phone call to Maya in 1-2.
*** Or they could have been foreshadowing the ending of Trials and Tribulations, where Phoenix is able to stand on his own...
* HellIsThatNoise: Manfred von Karma's villainous objections.
* HilariousInHindsight: [[MeaningfulName Redd White]] murdered Mia Fey in the first game. In the third game, an important fact is [[spoiler:Godot being unable to see ''red'' on ''white'']]. Additionally, Godot/[[spoiler:Diego Armando]] cared for Mia Fey in the past and was resentful of Wright of doing nothing to prevent her murder.
** Case 1-3 is the first case that makes it clear that the American version takes place somewhere similar to Los Angeles. Three of the characters are [[WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog William, Hammer, and Penny]].
** Speaking of Redd White, there's this exchange when he tries to get out of testifying:
--> '''White:''' My stomach, you see, it is hurting...
--> '''Phoenix:''' [[MemeticMutation Deal with it.]]
* MemeticMolester: Damon Gant.
* MemeticMutation: Damon Gant--in spades. He will RAEP you, indeed. Also, Phoenix Wrong.
** [[http://hiimdaisy.livejournal.com/ Peachifruit's comics]] does this constantly.
* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Gant]] was genuinely an honest cop until [[spoiler: he murdered Neil Marshall and frames two people for it: Joe Darke to get him convicted once and for all, and fourteen-year-old Ema Skye to make her sister Lana one of his pawns]].
* MostAnnoyingSound: Manfred's frequent, [[NightmareFuel demonic]] '''[[color:red:Objection!]]'''s in 1-4.
** Speaking to Mike Meekins in case 5; that megaphone...!
** Oh God, Manfred's ''fingersnaps''. They might just be [[UpToEleven worse]] than his Objections. ''Stop doing that.''
* NightmareFuel: In case 1-4, running into [[spoiler:von Karma]] in the police station and [[spoiler:[[StaticStunGun getting tased]] by him]] promptly thereafter.
* PlayerPunch: Having to prove towards the end of 1-5 that [[spoiler:Ema, who's been your sidekick for the whole case, accidentally killed Neil Marshall two years ago]].
* ThatOneBoss: The first half of the first day of the trial in 1-5 is one of the hardest parts in the game, especially since much of it consists of finding subtle flaws in Angel Starr's testimony, mainly concerning the point from which she supposedly saw Lana stab Goodman.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: Edgeworth in this installment, as Shu Takumi noted that he was supposed to be tragic, yet unlikable. The "unintentionally" part fades over time.

!! ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All''
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: There's no question that Juan Corrida is an AssholeVictim, but just how bad is he really? According to [[spoiler:Adrian Andrews]], he's a CompleteMonster, but that's hardly an unbiased source. We do know that he was petty, a TedBaxter, and bitterly AlwaysSecondBest to Matt Engarde. He caused [[spoiler:Celeste's suicide]] when he [[spoiler:broke off their engagement]] due to jealous and wounded pride. He then [[spoiler:hid her suicide note]], which he planned to use at the most devastating moment for his rival. However, in the flashback to [[spoiler:Celeste's suicide]], he looks genuinely shocked and horrified, and his plans for revenge could easily be fueled as much by regret for the consequences of angry words he never got the chance to take back. [[spoiler:Were his subsequent actions just part of their "game," or was it really personal for him?]]
** There's also the issue of whether [[spoiler:"Ini Miney", aka]] Mimi Miney, or Turner Gray was the one at fault of malpractice incident. If Mimi was to be the one telling the truth, then Turner Gray is a CompleteMonster who overworked Mimi into the accident or drugged her to keep her quiet. However, [[spoiler: Grey had a point in that he had no real motivation for doing so and was in fact trying to bring her ghost back to clear his name, which would probably be a bad idea if she'd just accuse him of her murder instead. Also, she seemed to kill him because he was about to reveal that she was still alive, not out of any apparent desire for revenge]]. But Grey is an UnreliableNarrator about himself. [[spoiler:Why did he have an (illegal in Japan) gun with him? Why did he expect to get Mimi's ghost to sign a confession that utterly blackens her name and exonerates her former BadBoss? It seems likely he intended to force her to sign it at gunpoint (with the medium's life on the line), and if that's the case, then just how far ''would'' he go in anger?]]
* AnticlimaxBoss: Breaking Wendy Oldbag's psyche-locks in 2-4. It's the first time you have to deal with 4 locks at once, but if you show her [[spoiler: Juan's autograph]], all four of them break at the same time.
** Well, given how it's Wendy Oldbag we're talking about here, who is very dramatic, they probably did that [[RuleOfFunny on purpose]]. She also states what she wants from the beginning, perhaps making it easier but also making it less of a climactic confrontation.
* BaseBreaker: Case 2-3 (Turnabout Big Top).
* CompleteMonster: The killer of Case 2-4, [[spoiler:Matt Engarde]]. Especially what was done to [[spoiler:Celeste and Juan]], over extremely petty things.
%%Do not add Morgan Fey or Juan back to this page per decision of the cleanup thread. Adding them back in will result in moderators being hollered.
* EndingFatigue: The last trial eventually boils down to just stalling for time.
** ''Canonically!''
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Maya, despite being cleared of all charges, laments at the end of Case 2-2 that every time something like this happens, she loses someone close to her. In the next game, she loses [[spoiler:her long-lost mother]]
** Gumshoe's testimony in case 2-1, once you realize that he's had a secret crush on Maggey Byrde for a long time. The real punch is when he's asked to describe Maggey and Dustin's relationship -- how they were close to getting married and how Maggey even came to Gumshoe for advice on what to get her boyfriend for his birthday. That hangdog expression of his isn't just because he's testifying against a subordinate.
* MostAnnoyingSound: Franziska's whip will have you wanting to strangle her with it by the time those two cases are over.
* PlayerPunch: Pretty much ''all'' of the last case, starting right at the beginning when [[spoiler:Maya gets kidnapped to blackmail Nick]], and just getting worse when you find out [[spoiler:the client is [[CompleteMonster guilty as sin]]]].
* {{Squick}}: In ''Justice for All'', Pearl gives us this gem:
-->"Let's go let her whip us, Mr. Nick!"
** Also, "Director Hotti" implies that he'd like to [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar "research"]] the crime scene photos if you show them to him in 2-2.
*** Even worse when you remember that it's [[spoiler:Ini/Mimi]] in the pictures, and he'd been going on about how she was a favorite patient...

!! ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations''
* AccidentalInnuendo: In 3-5, you can get Gumshoe to admit he wants to stick his pen in Phoenix's face.
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In an odd example, a couple gets this. The [=DeLites=] are either [[spoiler:a HappilyMarried couple of a man who isn't above stealing for the happiness of his wife and a woman who likes strong emotions, and authentically loves her husband for many factors besides money, or a HappilyMarried couple of a crook and a gold digger.]]
** No reason they can't be both.
** At least they are HappilyMarried either interpretation.
** Then there's the question of Terry Fawles' mental state. If he's mentally healthy, then he's an ephebophile, but if he suffers from mental problems or learning difficulties, then it's possible that he just doesn't understand the implications of a relationship with such an age gap. At least in the American version of the game (where WordOfGod claims takes place in California), the question is one of whether or not he was knowingly skirting the line with 14-year-old Dahlia, as the local age of consent is 18.
** [[spoiler: Iris]] can be subject to this based on your interpretation of her statement that [[spoiler: the plot to poison Phoenix's cold medicine]] was the first time that [[spoiler: Dahlia didn't tell her about a plot in advance]]. Does this mean that she knew about things like [[spoiler: Diego's impending poisoning and let them happen]]? Does she deserve [[spoiler: to be punished as an accessory to all of Dahlia's crimes]]?
** Godot. A mysterious, badass prosecutor with a cool design and sympathetic, tragic past, or an overhyped sexist scumbag who's never brought to account for all his bad choices?
* AnticlimaxBoss: Sister Bikini's five Psyche-locks come off with two presentations of evidence. Most other unlocking sequences require, on average, one or two pieces of evidence ''per lock''.
** [[spoiler:Luke Atmey]] in 3-2 initially appears to be one of these, since he gives up with surprising ease on the first trial day and admits [[spoiler: to being the true thief.]] Actually a subversion however, since [[spoiler:he ''wanted'' to be found guilty of theft, so that he would have an alibi for the murder of Kane Bullard, which was in fact his doing]].
* BaseBreaker: Godot. See AlternativeCharacterInterpretation.
* BreatherBoss: In Case 3-3, Gumshoe's Psyche-lock regarding the lottery. Most likely PlayedForLaughs, given that Gumshoe ends up telling Phoenix crucial information about his cases without meaning to do so.
* CompleteMonster: The BigBad, [[spoiler:Dahlia Hawthorne]]. She ruined--or tried to--the lives of pretty much every single human being she could for utterly petty reasons. Her solution to almost every problem she faces seems to involving murdering someone. The Case Files manga once refers to her as the "most evil woman in AceAttorney".
%%Do not add Furio Tigre to this page per the decision of the cleanup thread. Ignoring this warning will result in moderators being hollered.
* DracoInLeatherPants: Godot. There's a pretty big difference between sympathetic [[spoiler:murderer]] and absolving him of all his [[spoiler:crimes]] and bad decisions. [[CreatorsPet Then again, the writers could have arguably been doing the same thing.]]
* EvilIsSexy: [[spoiler:Dahlia Hawthorne]].
* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler:Dahlia]] calls Mia a spinster out of spite, which would normally just be insulting [[spoiler: had she not been the one who poisoned Mia's boyfriend.]]
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Phoenix's behavior in case 3-1 gains a whole new dimension when it turns out that [[spoiler:the woman he dated for six months and the one that tried to kill him are not the same, and that his insistence on her innocence wasn't a result of him grabbing the IdiotBall]]. Perhaps it also counts as a bit of foreshadowing...
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Phoenix's comment in 3-3 that [[spoiler: the only way to win a phony case is with phony evidence]] becomes a ''lot'' harsher after the events of ''Apollo Justice'', where he [[spoiler: loses his badge due to evidence forgery.]]
** When Godot reveals that he drinks much more coffee than any healthy person ought to, the judge conscientiously rebukes him saying, [[spoiler:“You’re going to ruin your health, my friend.”]] Well, as you figure out his backstory towards the end... [[spoiler:his health has long been ruined, and coffee might be the only thing keeping him alive]]. Might be a FunnyAneurysmMoment depending on how you took the judge’s reaction.
** Mia's random comedic assaults on Grossberg in case 3-1 every time Phoenix says something adoring about Dahlia become much less funny when you realize that it's not just low tolerance for sappy, saccharine gushing -- it's because she's bottling up a lot of ''hate'' for Dahlia and with very good reason.
*** There's also the possibility that it's related to the fact that she ''knows'' Grossberg is responsible for leaking the information on her mother, and her mother's resulting disappearance.
* HilariousInHindsight: 3-5 has one when you examine the incinerator. "A fight between a lawyer and [[{{Galactus}} an overgrown boiler?]] [[MarvelVsCapcom3 Who'd want to see that?"]]
* JerkassWoobie: Dahlia in Iris's perspective, although most likely not the player's. Both sisters were separated from their mother and received no love from their father, and while Iris had a mother figure in Sister Bikini. Dahlia had no one. Iris realizes Dahlia has done many unforgivable things, but still cares for her and wants to help her because of what she's been through (including recovering the necklace so she won't commit any more crimes).
** [[spoiler: Godot could be considered as one, but only to Phoenix, whom he refused to acknowledge for the greater part of the game. He seems to be pretty nice to everyone else.]]
* MagnificentBastard: While not being a BigBad, [[spoiler: Luke Atmey]] from the third game certainly counts. [[spoiler: He uses a guilty verdict as his alibi for a murder, and this same verdict makes him look like a genius thief smarter than everyone, while giving him what he wants the most from others, their attention]].
* {{Squick}}: STOP TALKING ABOUT HEMORRHOIDS!
** There's only one reason! One as obvious as Jean Armstrong in a thong on the Riviera!
* ValuesDissonance: 3-4 gives us a 20 year old man in a relationship with a 14 year old girl (quite a heated one too) - the mention of the age gap is PlayedForLaughs.
** Only the reactions of Mia and Diego are played for laughs. The relationship itself is portrayed as unhealthy, although less because of the age than because [[spoiler: Dahlia was very obviously using the mentally disabled Terry.]]
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Ron [=DeLite=].

!! Multiple games
* FoeRomanceSubtext: Franziska and Phoenix.
* FoeYayShipping: So much of it, you half expect Edgey and Phoenix to rip their clothes off in the middle of a trial and start screwing like bunnies.
** Edgeworth and Franziska to an extent as well.
* IronWoobie: Maya Fey: smiling through even the most hardcore misfortunes.
** Maggey Byrde, who gets caught up in ''three'' murder trials over the course of the series ([[BornUnlucky and that's not even covering half the things that have happened to her]],) but remains plucky and optimistic throughout.
** No, let's count those too. She fell from the ninth story of a building when 6 months old and has been hit by multiple vehicles but suffers no visible injury or handicap from a series of potentially fatal or crippling accidents. She does not give up. She is '''[[MadeOfIron Made. Of. Iron.]]'''
* InternetBackdraft: Get into any location that contains Phoenix/Maya and Phoenix/[[spoiler: Iris]] shippers and ask whether Maya is too young for Phoenix.
* TheWoobie: Pearl. Oh, you poor kid. Her role as TheWoobie is most significant in ''Justice for All'', where in case 2-4, she lays out all the bad stuff that's happened to her when you talk to her in your office [[spoiler:after Maya's kidnapping, particularly when she says Maya is the only family she has left]]. And then there's her role in case 3-5, where [[spoiler:she's used once again by her mother to try to kill the girl who is her remaining closest family]]. While her time with Larry in the "Loser's Shack" is mostly played for laughs (Larry's involved after all), it's hard to see her so down when she's convinced she's losing her powers on top of everything else.

!!Film adaptation
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The Blue Badger stops the Judge from delivering a verdict by shoving his hand under the gavel. Then he falls to the floor and the head rolls off the suit, revealing...''no one.'' No one seems to notice or care, and the mystery of the haunted mascot suit is never touched upon for the rest of the movie.
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