Note: many of these characters are a Walking Spoiler so all spoilers will be unmarked.
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Returning characters
Athena Cykes
- The Empath: Even if Widget doesn't help her set up a mood matrix this time around, she is still brilliant at gauging discord in people's hearts. The only person able to trick her intuition is Grace Barre, though that is because of how convincing of a liar she is.
- Fiery Redhead: She is a redhead, and extremely feisty and determined.
- Genki Girl: It's Athena, what do you expect? She's full or energy and determination, no matter what.
- Gratuitous German: She is fond of slipping German words in her conversations. Her and Klavier even temporarily bond in court over this.
- Hero-Worshipper: She has a massive crush on Klavier and swoons over him for the first part of the trial. Phoenix has to snap her out of it and remind her they're against each other in this trial.
- Nice Girl: She tries to be as kind and patient to everyone around her. The only person she has little patience for is Ronald, though this is because he is nothing but rude towards her.
- Older and Wiser: In the space of a year, she has become more mature and level-headed, finding it easier to keep her composure in court despite the stress piled on top of her. It's safe to say that Phoenix is immensely proud of her.
- Player Character: She is the protagonist of this chapter, with Phoenix as her assistant.
- Sympathy for the Devil: When she realises how horrible Grace's life has been, she feels nothing but pity for her.
- Teen Genius: She's nineteen, and she's extremely sharp.
Widget
- Adaptational Expansion: Widget gets more time to shine this chapter, throwing out far more quips than they do in the main games.
- Blue Is Heroic: It is blue and ready to help Athena with her work no matter what.
- Brutal Honesty: Widget says what is on their mind, feeling be damned.
- Excellent Judge of Character: Widget seems to be very good at deducing people's true personalities, even if their outbursts are ignored by most people.
- Robot Buddy: To Athena. Widget is always willing to assist Athena in her investigations, or spill out her inner monologues to everyone within an earshot.
Phoenix Wright
- Blue Is Heroic: He wears blue and is strongly on the side of good.
- Dull Surprise: When he's accused of murder, he's not even taken back much, likely due to having experienced this many times in the past.
- The Mentor: He's this to Athena, offering her support and encouragement during the trial.
- Mentor Archetype: He's Athena's boss, but he trusts her with defending him and sits in the sidelines while she does most of the work.
- Nice Guy: A must for anyone in the Wright anything agency. He's supportive, friendly, and willing to do anything to help those around him. The only people that get on his nerves are those who break the law with no concern for others.
- Relegated Mentor: He notes that due to how much Athena has grown, he doesn't need to step in and correct her as much, leading to her being the star of the show with Phoenix there to give her a subtle prod in the right direction when needed.
- The Stoic: Few things faze him or get the better of him, even being accused of murder.
Klavier Gavin
- Friendly Enemy: Even if him and Athena are on the opposite sides of the bench, they're still remarkably civil to each other, even trading playful banter in court. He even goes to congratulate Athena for her spectacular performance at the end of the trial.
- Graceful Loser: When he loses the trial, the first thing he does is tell Athena how impressed he is with her.
- Gratuitous German: Well, he's German, so it's to be expected. He even has a scene where he throws in German phrases with Athena, like a strange foreign duet.
- Hero Antagonist: He's a prosecutor, but a remarkably moral one at that.
- Insistent Terminology: According to him, court proceedings are like a concert. Everything is a performance and everyone is a performer.
- Nice Guy: He's there to mantain a fair and just trial instead of score points against the defense. He provides a devil's advocate instead of being overtly antagonising, unlike some of the more unscrupulous prosecutors.
- Purple Is Powerful: He wears purple and is a commanding presence in court.
Trucy Wright
- Daddy's Girl: She rushes to court to support Phoenix when he's accused of murder, staying in the gallery the entire time.
- Happily Adopted: She obviously loves her father very much, supporting him the entire time throughout his ordeal.
- Nice Girl: While she doesn't do much in this chapter, her limited appearances consist of her offering support to Trucy.
- Skewed Priorities: She's concerned about having to find a new social media platform at the end of the trial, instead of focused on all the horrible secrets that have been uncovered.
Judge
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's a bit odd as usual, yet an incredibly just and rational person, always there to provide a fair verdict.
- Deadpan Snarker: He occasionally has a few choice remarks when Athena messes up in court.
Apollo Justice
A defense attorney who has recently travelled to Khu'rain. He doesn't appear physically in the chapter, though he has a phonecall with Athena.
- Butt-Monkey: Even in his limited appearance in this chapter, he still manages to be severely overworked.
- The Cameo: He appears in the ending credits, in a phone call with Athena.
- The Ghost: Though his voice can be heard, he's not seen in person, with only his surroundings visually indicating that it's really him.
Original characters
Arkus Strater
- Aerieth And Bob: His name is the most unusual out of all the characters, who have very common names by comparison.
- Alone with the Psycho: He locks himself in a building with four people who all have reasons to want him dead. Naturally one of them ends up taking him up on that offer.
- Anti-Hero: His methods of bringing his daughter's killer to justice are certainly extreme, though they end up working and taking three menaces to society off the streets.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: He's rather good looking, and despite the many burn scars on his body, none of them are on his face.
- blackmail: He holds what he knows about each guest over their heads to force them to comply in his game.
- The Chessmaster: He manipulates four people into reinacting the day of his daughter's murder, then invites an attorney to solve the case. This leads to his death, which reopens the investigation, causing Athena and Phoenix to expose the killers of both murders and bring posthumous closure to him and his daughter. He was clearly an extremely crafty man.
- Complexity Addiction: His plan is so elaborate and convoluted that Athena has to use several tesimonies to explain it to the court. It certainly causes a lot more hassle than if Arkus had taken his findings to the police straight away.
- Crazy-Prepared: Every detail of the crime scene is accounted for so that the participants can't cheat or exploit their roles.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His wife died in a car accident, he was horribly burned rescuing his daughter, and she was murdered several years later by a trusted business associate. The poor guy has had it rough.
- The Farmer and the Viper: He invested heavily in Ronald Barre's company, causing it to become incredibly successful. Ronald thanked him by murdering his daughter.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: The knowledge that someone close to him murdered his daughter causes him to become far more cunning and ruthless. Many of the guests notice his downward spiral into insanity.
- Good All Along: He originally seems like a shady person with some dark secrets, due to his strange behavior and ominous presence. He's actually a heroic figure willing to go to extreme lengths to bring his daughter to justice.
- Good Parents: He loved his daughter dearly, and the two of them shared a close bond. He was absolutely devastated by her death.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He's got burn scars across the whole right side of his body. Despite his amoral methods, he's mainly a good person at heart.
- He Knows Too Much: He was murdered by Grace for knowing about her infidelity.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Even if he wasn't intending to die, he put himself in harm's way to bring the truth of his daughter's murder to light. This ends up getting him killed by one of the guests who was willing to do anything to keep their secret.
- The Lost Lenore: His wife and daughter are this to him. He still misses them dearly, and his actions are motivated by getting justice for his daughter.
- Necessarily Evil: He uses blackmail to force four people to play his murder mystery game, yet if he hadn't done this, the murder of his daughter would have gone unsolved.
- Outliving One's Offspring: He dies three years after his daughter did, something that have caused an immeasurable amount of pain to him.
- Papa Wolf: He may seem friendly, but God help you if he thinks you've hurt his daughter.
- Punny Name: He's the orchestrator of this murder mystery game, playing every person like a fiddle.
- revenge: The reason he invited Grace, Connor, Ken, and Ronald to his mansion. He knew they played a part in his daughter's murder and he blackmailed them into reliving the moment so that Phoenix and Athena could root out the killer and bring them to justice.
Isla Strater
- Daddy's Girl: Her and Arkus loved each other dearly and few secrets weren't shared between them.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Her last moments were trying to protect her boyfriend from her dangerous line of work.
- He Knows Too Much: She was murdered because she almost revealed the truth or Ronald Barre's company.
- Informed Flaw: She was apparently very clingy. Though, since this is coming from Ken, it's best to take this with a massive grain of salt.
- The Lost Lenore: She's the daughter of Arkus, and his desire to avenge her death drives this chapter into motion.
- Posthumous Character: She's long dead by the time of this chapter.
- Punny Name: Illustrator. She used her job as a journalist to draw a picture of the people she was investigating.
- Teen Genius: She was in her late teens at most, and already a savvy journalist.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: She was killed because she wanted to bring some shady people to justice. A cruel fate for such a visionary woman.
Ken Forza
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Amazingly, he still manages to be this among the cast, if only due to the fact that his crime is the smallest out of the four suspects.
- Anime Hair: He has the same hair Phoenix Wright did as a college student, so it's only natural.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He originally seems like a friendly if slightly slow man. He's actually a selfish gold digger with a startling Lack of Empathy.
- Dark Is Evil: He wears black and tampered with a crime scene to save his own skin, despite not even being guilty of the crime.
- Dark Secret: He stole a knife from the crime scene to avoid becoming a suspect.
- Dirty Coward: He stole important evidence from a crime scene so he wouldn't be a suspect, just because being accused would put him through a stressful situation.
- The Ditz: He's by far the most stupid out of the guests. This is to be expected, as he's a mechanic instead of a highly educated businessman like the other three are.
- The Ending Changes Everything: He's a shallow and cruel bastard, as shown by the final few minutes of the trial.
- Faux Affably Evil: He seems to be a friendly, if kind of stupid individual. He's actually a greedy and selfish bastard who is not much better than the people he's trapped with.
- foreshadowing: There's a few small hints to his true nature. He never mentions being upset that Isla died due to the fact she was his girlfriend, but rather due to the circumstances of how she died. This shows that he was more concerned with what she had access to rather than her as a person.
- Gold Digger: A male version. He was dating Isla because of her wealth.
- greed: The main motivation for him dating Isla in the first place. He knew her family was wealthy, and he wanted the cash for himself.
- Handsome Lech: He's Larry Butz without any of the charm or kindness whatsoever. He feeds off wealthy women and empties their pockets to fulfil his lazy lifestyle.
- Hate Sink: What he becomes in the ending. All his traits that originally seemed endearing now paint him as a lazy and selfish bastard who cared about nothing but personal gain.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: He actually couldn't stand Isla, he only wanted her money.
- It's All About Me: Isla's death bothers him because he became a suspect, instead of due to the fact the poor girl was murdered.
- Jerkass: What his true personality is shown to be in the end.
- Karma Houdini: He's the only person not to be punished for his actions, though this is probably because they pale in comparison to what the others have done.
- Lack of Empathy: The only person he cares about is himself, as he's far more concerned with his financial status than the murders that have happened around him.
- Lazy Bum: He'd rather mooch off his girlfriends than work at the repairs shop that he's employed at.
- Meal Ticket: This is what he was intending to use Isla as before she was murdered.
- Red Herring: He originally seems like he may be the killer, due to being alone in the secret room as well as having removed vital evidence from the crime scene three years ago. He's the least involved in the case and the only character to have not committed a serious crime.
- The Reveal: He's as shallow, cold, and cruel as the rest of the guests at the party, as revealed by his final conversation with the attorneys. He just happened to be better at hiding it.
- The Sociopath: A very low functioning example. He's selfish, impulsive, superficially charming, and willing to break the law for selfish reasons.
- Walking Spoiler: The ending changes everything that was previously established about him, making this entire page have a very different view on him as a person.
Ronald Barre
- Awful Wedded Life: He may have some love for Grace, but he mistreats her constantly and forced her into helping him commit a murder to save his own skin. It's no wonder she ends up cheating on him.
- Big Bad: He sets the plot into motion, leaking confidential information from his userbase and murdering Isla when she tried to expose him.
- Big Bad Friend: He was this to Arkus, in that he feigned a close business partnership in order to fund his business. He also murdered Arkus' daughter and was complicit in his death too, making him fit squarely into this trope.
- Brainy Brunette: He's got brown hair and is an incredibly observant and cunning man.
- Confess to a Lesser Crime: He tries to confess to a single murder rather than two in order to get a lighter sentence.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He sold data from his users to advertisers to make a quick buck and murdered a woman trying to expose his corruption. He's not winning any points for the most morally sound CEO.
- The Corruptor: He is the one that starts Grace on her path of darkness.
- Dark Secret: The man has almost enough skeletons in his closet to fill a cemetary. He abused his wife, killed his benefactor's daughter, sold his client's personal information to advertisers, and was accomplice to the murder of Arkus.
- Domestic Abuse: He's this to Grace. While it's never fully stated what exactly the extent of his actions to her are, he's emotionally cruel, controlling, and manipulative. It's fitting that she uses her testimony to break up with him for good.
- Dull Surprise: He reacts with this when he finds out that Connor Iving has been stealing from him.
- Establishing Character Moment: He pushes Athena aside and reads her role card, showing him to be an unscrupulous man who bends the rules to gain an advantage. He only gets worse from there.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all his many flaws, he does have some love for his wife, as he seems to show some concern for her until she turns against him.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He sees murdering Arkus as unnecessary, only doing so because his wife coerces him into it.
- Evil Is Petty: He throws his wife under the bus when he realises he's not going home after his testimony.
- Eviler than Thou: He's far more ruthless and vicious than his wife, causing far more pain and destruction from his actions than she did.
- Evil Genius: He's extremely intelligent, and extremely evil.
- Evil vs. Evil: He becomes this when him and his wife turn against each other.
- expy: To Nathan Mags. Both men are extremely evil buisnessmen who will murder their own subordinates to gain a short-term advantage. They are both the main antagonists of their chapters and the most dangerous foes that Phoenix and Athena face off against. They even take alcohol with them to their court hearings.
- False Friend: He was this to Arkus. He pretended to be a trustworthy business partner but was willing to murder his daughter to serve his own means.
- foil: Also to Nathan Mags. While Mags is effortlessly charismatic and cunning, Barre is threatening and aggressive, using his intelligence to force people to do his dirty work for him instead of sitting back and playing people like puppets in the way that Mags does. While Mags is beloved by his employees until his crimes are revealed, nobody really tries to hide their contempt for Barre.
- A Glass of Chianti: He's never seen without it, even during the party. How he doesn't spill it when pushing Athena is anyone's guess.
- Green and Mean: He wears an obnoxious green tie and is the most evil out of the guests.
- Hated by All: Nobody likes him. Athena can't stand him. His own wife cheats on him. Arkus suspects him of murder, and Connor is funneling funds behind his back. Klavier teams up with Athena to take him down near the end of the trial after having to put up with his whining for several hours.
- Hate Sink: He doesn't even try to hide what a scumbag he is. He's cruel, obnoxious, selfish, petty, and greedy. He also is willing to betray everyone around him to save his own skin as well as kill his friends to cover his own tracks.
- Humiliation Conga: During his court trial, not only is he arrested for two murders, but his own wife reveals she was cheating on him, the defense and prosecution team up to take him down, and he loses his world-famous company. You'd almost feel sorry for him if he didn't deserve all that happened to him.
- Insufferable Genius: He's very intelligent, and quick to remind everyone within an earshot of this fact.
- It's All About Me: He uses a murder trial to complain that he was cheated on. Even Klavier Gavin helps arrest him due to his whining and myopic mindset.
- Jerkass: The most obvious trait he possesses. It's also a massive understatement.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: After getting away with murder for three years, he's dragged back as a suspect, betrayed by his own wife, brought to justice by Phoenix Wright and Athena Cykes, and thrown in jail for what is likely to be a long, long time. It's safe to say he got what he deserved.
- Moral Myopia: Murder, data theft, and conspiracy are all fine to him, yet he draws the line when his wife cheats on him.
- narcissist: He's manipulative, lacks any empathy for anyone but himself, hedonistic, and extremely self absorbed and convinced of his intellectual superiority. Athena explicitly calls him this.
- Not Me This Time: He did not murder Arkus, though he was aware who the killer was. This becomes vital in proving there's a second killer.
- Obviously Evil: He's such a douche that it would have been more shocking if he somehow ended up not being the ruthless monster that he was found out to be.
- Outdated Outfit: Ronald's clothing went out of style in the last century, coming off as incredibly jarring when compared to the fashion style of other characters.
- pride: Ronald is so full of himself, that he believes he can beat back charges when there's overwhelming evidence implicating him. He sees himself as above those around him, sees such people as tools to be used, and believes that his wishes should be put before those of others, even in the midst of a murder trial.
- Red Is Violent: He wears mostly red and is the quickest out of the four to resort to murder.
- Rich Bitch: He's wealthy and a total asshole.
- Skewed Priorities: He's more concerned about revealing his wife as a hussy than being arrested for murder. He becomes rather indignant when Athena stops putting his wife through the wringer.
- Smug Snake: He's delusional enough to think he can worm his way out of a murder charge, nonchalantly admitting to one as a means to obscure his second crime. To say this backfires on him spectacuarly is an understatement.
- The Sociopath: He has no qualms with breaking the law, uses people as means to get what he wants, and is extremely selfish and cruel. Athena names him as such.
- Sore Loser: He takes his defeat about as well as you'd expect. Apparently, he wouldn't stop screaming as he was dragged off to jail.
- Take That!: He's this to unscrupulous social media CEOs who sell their user's data. He's portrayed as horribly as possible just to show what a scumbag he is.
- Taking You with Me: When his crimes are about to be bought to light, he decides to drag his wife down with him and provide a self-incriminating testimony if it causes her to be arrested too.
- Villainous Breakdown: He drops his glass and turns pale when the extent of his crimes are revealed.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: He's far more difficult than anyone that's come before him and his testimony takes much longer to dismantle. Beating him requires using all the previously obtained evidence to wipe the smug smile off his face.
- Would Hit a Girl: He murders Isla who is barely an adult and shoves Athena. This guy does not have a problem with roughing up the fairer sex, it seems.
Grace Barre/Gilded
- Alas, Poor Villain: When she realises that the man she had an affair sold her out, she breaks down, realising he never truly cared for her, just like everyone else in her life. Seeing her so broken and alone is played for complete sympathy, despite her horrible crimes.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: She is a murderer, though she's a saint compared to her husband.
- All for Nothing: Her secret gets revealed at the end, meaning that she killed Arkus for nothing in the end. Her life is ruined and she is left on her own once more, without any of the wealth or power she had before, meaning that she'll almost certainly be disowned by her family.
- Alliterative Name: Grace Gilded.
- Arranged Marriage: She was practically gifted to Ronald to merge the two families.
- Awful Weddedlife: She was married to Ronald purely out of convience and witnessed his horrible actions firsthand. It's almost not surprising that she cheated on him.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: She is the quietest and most cunning out of the four suspects.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While she may seem like a well mannered lady, she's actually the most dangerous person in the chapter, being the mastermind behind Arkus' death.
- Blatant Lies: She claims she loves Ronald when asked about him. Athena is extremely skeptical of this claim, due to having met the moustache-haired douchebag shortly before.
- Broken Bird: Life has certainly been cruel to her. She does play up on this for all it's worth to gain sympathy for herself and deflect blame for her actions during court. She almost gets away with this.
- Consumate Liar: She is incredibly deceptive and good at passing blame onto others, being able to trick even Athena with her feigned emotions. She does start breaking down when the pressure becomes overwhelming.
- Confess to a Lesser Crime: She tries to plead guilty to accessory to a murder instead of the murder by proxy and murder she is responsible for.
- Crazy-Prepared: She took a knife with her to kill Arkus with in case he tried to reveal her secret.
- Dark Secret: She's an adulterer, a secret she is willing to kill in order for it not to be revealed to her husband.
- The Dog Bites Back: After all the abuse Ronald put her through, she lashes out at him and exposes his crimes, knowing she'll be arrested as well.
- Dude Magnet: Connor and Ronald seem to agree.
- Even Evil Has Standards: She may be a ruthless woman, but Ronald is far too despicable for her.
- Evil vs. Evil: When her and Ronald turn against each other, it's made clear that despite her moral superiority to him, the two of them are both ruthless murderers.
- Faux Affably Evil: She seems friendly, if a bit timid. She's actually ruthless and opportunistic, willing to resort to murder to save her dignity.
- Final Boss: She is the last antagonist Athena and Phoenix face off against.
- Gilded Cage: She was wealthy and married to a famous CEO, yet had an awful life, due to not having any choice over her own actions and being used as a pawn for her families whims.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: She can't stand Ronald Barre, despite the facade of a loving wife she portrays. It's hard to blame her.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: This is her first major slip up in court. She mentions the murder weapon came from the dining room even though everyone else was under the impression the weapon came from the study room. This is the first hint that she knows far more than she's letting on.
- Likes Older Men: Disregarding Ronald, who she didn't have a choice in marrying, she falls for Connor who is seven years her senior.
- Manipulative Bastard: She tricks Connor into giving her an alibi and uses her knowledge of Ronald's murder to force him in assisting her in another murder. She's clearly far more cunning than she originally seemed.
- Oh, Crap!: She breaks down when she realises that Connor stole her locket, the item that directly links her to the scene of the crime.
- The Quiet One: She rarely talks unless she has to, preferring to stay out of sight.
- Precision F-Strike: "To hell with all of you." She shouts this when she's finally revealed as Arkus' murderer.
- Punny Name: She is very graceful. Gilded Barre could also be a reference to a gilded cage, something she was currently trapped in.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: She has red eyes and is one of the two murderers of the chapter.
- Start of Darkness: She crosses this when she helps murder Isla.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: When your husband is Ronald Barre, it would be more shocking not to want to be with another man. Her affair is portrayed as shameful, yet an understandable reaction to the abusive relationship she was currently in.
- Tragic Villain: While her actions were reprehensible, she was trapped in a loveless marriage with a socipath and used by her family as a bargaining chip. It's not hard to see why she became the way she is.
- Villainous Breakdown: She drops her meek facade and curses out Ronald and Connor, becoming far more emotional and volitile than before. For once, she's being honest about her feelings, rather than hiding them behind an elegant facade.
- Walking Spoiler: She murdered Arkus during the party Phoenix and Athena were invited to. She also helped to murder Isla three years before the events of the chapter.
Connor Iving
- A Lighter Shade of Black: He's a terrible human being, yet is far from the most evil person invited to Strater's murder mystery game.
- Beard of Evil: He's got a small beard, and is a thoroughly amoral man.
- Brainy Brunette: He's got brown hair and is a respected financial analyst ...and embezzler.
- Bullying a Dragon: It's a ballsy move to steal money from a murderer. He's lucky that Ronald didn't seem to care much.
- Chekhov's Gun: The locket he stole from Grace turns out to be incredibly important in linking the two together and exposing her for Arkus' murder.
- Disc-One Final Boss: He's the first of four witnesses to be fought in court, and the only one who truly disappears once his arguments have been crushed.
- Greed: His main motivation. He wants money, and doesn't care much about how he obtains it.
- It's All About Me: He'll sell out his own girlfriend to deflect blame from himself. It's clear who the person he's looking out the most for is.
- Light Is Not Good: He wears light clothing, and is a highly unscrupulous person.
- Punny Name: He is extremely conniving.
- Reused Character Design: His character design is the exact same for Wade Waters pre surgery, an artifact from beyond the shadows, another game by gizmological.
- Villain in a White Suit: He wears a white suit and is an embezzler.
- Warm-Up Boss: His argument is a bit more forgiving than those that come after him and serves as an appetizer for what to expect from the testimonies to come.
