Ace Attorney: The Fey Clan / Characters

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kurain_master.png

The crest of the Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique

The Fey Clan is a family of spirit mediums that plays an increasingly large role throughout the original trilogy. The members of the clan are practitioners of the Kurain Channeling technique, which allows them to channel spirits.

The Fey clan is headed by the Main Family — that is, the family of the Master, the most skilled and direct descendant medium of Ami Fey, the founder of the Kurain Channeling Technique (usually this is the first born daughter of the former Master) — while all other families become Branch Families.

For Mia, Maya, and Pearl Fey, all of whom are closely associated with Phoenix Wright, see the Wright Anything Agency page. One other character is a member of the Fey clan but was not raised by the clan; for that character, see this page.

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General Tropes

Alliterative Family: As far as the main Fey branch; Misty, Mia, and Maya. This is also the case with the sisters Misty and Morgan.
Big, Screwed-Up Family: The clan has a long and storied history, as well as a culture of scheming and rivalries over the prized position of Master (as only daughters of the main family can inherit it). The current generation has gotten murderous a few times.
The Clan: They are a prominent clan of spirit mediums with a long history — Spirit of Justice even implies that the family is descended from Khura'inese royalty. While their reputation is on the rocks at the start of the series, they still have most of the trappings of the trope: a Big Fancy House in a secluded village, acolytes following their teachings, infighting between the main and branch families, etc.
Gender-Restricted Ability: Only women can channel spirits. Deconstructed in that, because the Fey clan values their spirit channeling powers so highly, their men are left feeling deeply unappreciated. Kurain Village has one of the highest divorce rates, more than any place in the series, because of this societal and familial neglect.
Heir Club for Men: Inverted. Because lineage comes from the mother and only women can channel spirits, Kurain Village is very matriarchal and only women can inherit the position of family head.
Kimono Is Traditional: Residents of Kurain Village, as well as of the temples, wear kimonos, as they practice old, traditional disciplines.
Lady Land: A justified example; Kurain Village is heavily matriarchal and because of their focus on spirit channeling, the completely normal men have to live outside the village in separation.
Lineage Comes from the Father: Inverted; only female descendants of the Holy Mother can channel spirits. As a result, men are given low importance within Kurain Village, with absent fathers being quite common.
Matriarchy: Kurain Village is heavily matriarchal, with the women being regarded highly because of their spirit channeling. Only the most powerful woman of the main family branch could become the Master. Naturally, this environment causes the men of Kurain Village to be overlooked and neglected, leaving them deeply unappreciated by their wives and daughters, which is why divorce rates are so high.
Meaningful Name: The definitions of the word "fey" include: "appearing to be under a spell; marked by an apprehension of death, calamity, or evil" and "supernatural; unreal; enchanted."
Perpetual Poverty: The entire village seems to suffer from this, no doubt thanks to the DL-6 scandal that destroyed their reputation in the eyes of the whole county. One of the relics of the clan is a "sacred" scroll entitled "Hundred-and-X ways to save money." ("X" because the list is continuously expanding.), not to mention this would explain why Maya, pretty much the princess of the village, is addicted to junk food (noodles in the original, burgers in the localization.)
Priceless Ming Vase: The Fey clan's greatest treasure is the Sacred Urn, said to house the soul of the clan's founder. It gets broken and put back together again at least three times over the course of the trilogy. At the very end, a picture is shown of a very young Maya and Mia hastily restoring the vase to avoid getting in trouble, implying that it happened a lot before. However, it's eventually revealed that the urn actually has no monetary value whatsoever - its worth to the Fey clan solely comes from being said to contain Ami Fey's soul.
Royal Blood: Although very far removed, the clan is descended from Khura'in's royal family through Ami Fey, and their spirit channeling came from her.
Royalty Superpower: Their spirit channeling came from their very distant ancestor, Ami Fey, a member of Khura'in royalty who left to start her own clan.
There Can Only Be One: The position of Master of Kurain. While traditionally it goes to the older, more powerful daughter of the main family, other women vie for the position. The power struggles often get very messy.
Willing Channeler: Their bread and butter; the clan's entire culture is built around being able to channel the spirits of the dead. Only women can use this power, explaining Kurain Village's heavily matriarchal environment.

Misty Fey (Maiko Ayasato)

Misty Fey (Maiko Ayasato)

Voiced by (Japanese): Kaori Nakamura (anime)

Voiced by (English): Terri Doty (anime)

Played by: Kimiko Yo (film)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/misty_fey.png

The mother to Mia and Maya, and the Master of Kurain in the first three games. She had previously disappeared in disgrace following the mishap with the DL-6 incident.

Absurdly Youthful Mother: Doing the math shows she had Mia when she was just 19.
Back for the Dead: Her absence is commented on as early as the first game, and she shows up in the third, with her identity only becoming clear after her death.
Chekhov M.I.A.: She's explicitly stated as missing in the first game, not dead. Sure enough, she eventually shows up, although the audience only learns this after the fact.
Mama Bear: As Godot points out, the fact that she brought a sword with her when she learned of the plan to kill Maya in 3-5 shows just how far she was willing to go to protect her.
Meaningful Name:
- Misty, because she's mysterious. Her full name sounds like "Mystify."
- "Maiko" means "dancing girl", making her pseudonym, "Elise", a Shout-Out to the short story "The Dancing Girl".
- Also, Deauxnim means "two names," which is appropriate since it's a pseudonym.
Missing Mom: To Mia and Maya. Maya barely remembers her, since she was only 2-years-old when her mother left Kurain Village in shame after the DL-6 Incident.
Interrogating the Dead: Helped the police do this as a last resort for the DL-6 investigation; she channeled Gregory so the police could get a lead on his killer. Unfortunately, she (or Gregory) implicated a man who was later found innocent, resulting in the Kurain Channeling Technique being dragged through the mud. Gregory was the one who made a mistake; he implicated Yanni Yogi (who pled insanity, but was in fact innocent) because Yogi was the person trapped in an elevator with him and his son Miles. Gregory fell unconscious before being killed and was thus unable to see Manfred von Karma enter the elevator and shoot him.
Personal Effects Reveal: Inside the Master's Talisman, which she always wears, is a photo of her two daughters when they were young.
Police Psychic: Played for Drama. Out of leads in Gregory Edgeworth's murder, the police turned to her to channel him so they could ask him who did it. However, he named the wrong person, resulting in massive ramifications for every major character.

Morgan Fey (Kimiko Ayasato)

Morgan Fey (Kimiko Ayasato)

Voiced by (Japanese): Shukoku Tsugawa (anime)

Voiced by (English): Stephanie Young (anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morgan_fey_art.png

"A pure heart that knows not of the evils in this world is a powerful thing, good sir."

Pearl's mother and Misty's older sister, who appears to be the acting family head following Misty's disappearance. Despite her seniority, however, Morgan had lesser spiritual power than her sister, and was therefore stripped of her place as next in line as the Master, prompting her power-hungry husband to leave her. However, after she remarried (and divorced again), Morgan had Pearl, and believed the very powerful little girl to have power worthy of the place as the Master, with good reason. If it weren't for the fact that she's actually pretty scary, she'd almost be sympathetic.

Abusive Mom: Poor, poor Pearl. She gets put through so much emotional trauma because of her mother's actions (and one line where Pearl asks Phoenix to not tell her that she was playing in the trash or she'll get a spanking suggests there's some physical abuse as well, although spanking is not considered as cruel in Japanese culture). This is still nothing compared to her other two daughters, Dahlia and Iris, who she is implied to have given up on because of their lack of (or at least weak compared to Pearl's) spiritual powers, although it is Dahlia who says that, and some sources say that her first husband took them from her when he divorced Morgan. She even has no problems letting Dahlia use Iris as a scapegoat in her plan to kill Maya.
Adaptational Jerkass:
- She was outwardly polite towards Maya in the games, although she's hinted to be a Resentful Guardian, but in the "Hear the Waves of Turnabout" anime episode, she viciously berates Maya for taking Pearl to the beach without permission, insults Maya's mother and sister and reminds Maya that Pearl is a better spirit medium.
- In the games, it is never stated if Morgan had any influence over Mimi's plan to kill Doctor Grey outside of using it to her advantage by trying to get Maya guilty, whereas in the anime, Morgan outright blackmails Mimi into helping with her own plan.
All for Nothing: None of her schemes pan out in the end, and Maya remains the sole heir to the Fey Clan. Even worse, her belief that her own daughter is more worthy proves false, as while Pearl has greater spiritual power at the time both are introduced, Maya has greater spiritual potential. Her training in the country of Khura'in proves she was always going to be stronger than Pearl in the long-term, completely invalidating Morgan's ideology.
Ambiguous Situation: While it's clear that she doesn't care for Dahlia or Iris, some characters give conflicting accounts on whether Morgan willingly abandoned her eldest daughters (stated by Dahlia) or her husband took them from her during the divorce (stated by Bikini).
Ancient Tradition: Morgan is fiercely protective of the Fey family traditions, and if you break a sacred object relative to the Fey clan, you better watch out for her. She also has high expectations of the people that visit Kurain Village.
Arc Villainess: Of the plot to eliminate Misty Fey and her children from the main line of succession within the Fey Clan, and have hers become such instead. Said plot is explored in Cases 2-2 and 3-5.
Broken Pedestal: Mia and Maya both loved her (to the point Mia had Psyche-Locks in 2-2 because she couldn't feel like implicating her outright), and are greatly saddened at the thought that she would try to plot against Maya like she did. The anime has Maya tearfully ask Morgan "How could you?" while Mia is unable to look Morgan in the eye.
Cain and Abel: The Cain to Misty, since she's incredibly jealous of Misty and her daughters. It's unclear how much Misty reciprocated the hostility.
The Chessmaster: One of the best and most cunning plotters in the entire franchise, which is saying a lot. She's been working on and calculating her plans for more than 20 years, after all.
Consummate Liar: The one time she takes the stand in a trial, her testimony proves to be flawless with neither Phoenix nor Mia able to find any holes in it whatsoever, so much so that pressing her statements only serves to make her testimony look even better. The only reason Morgan is caught and sent to jail at all was because Mimi wasn’t quite as adept a liar.
Death Glare: One of her sprites has her doing shooting daggers, particularly in the sequence in which she monologues while being incarcerated.
Dragon Lady: She wears her hair in a bun, wears a kimono with Japanese text completely covering it, and is a murderess who tried to frame Maya Fey so that her daughter would be the one who inherits the position of Master.
Evil Aunt: To Mia and Maya, of the sort that's jealous of her sibling's children for the position they can inherit.
Evil Matriarch: Acting matriarch of the Feys, considering the clan's actual head is missing in action. She manipulates people around her to get rid of her niece, whom she sees as inadequate compared to her own daughter.
Evil Wears Black: Always wears dark clothes and she's the mastermind behind Cases 2-2 and 3-5. The latter case accentuates this point by almost always displaying Morgan's sprite with darker colors - and in one point, as a completely black sillouette.
Faux Affably Evil: Her thin veneer of politeness and Proper Lady courtesies only serve to make her seem more condescending and evil. To wit, she's known for her extremely-delicious desserts and attempting to manipulate her own youngest daughter into murdering her cousin and framing her surviving half-sister for it via channeling the spirit of her deceased psychopathic eldest daughter, who was a Serial Killer when she was alive.
Feminine Women Can Cook: She makes delicious strawberry desserts.
Foil: To Mia. While Morgan is a selfish woman who desires power and is jealous of Misty, part of the reason why Mia left the village was to ensure that she and Maya would not have to fight over the succession.
Freudian Excuse: As the oldest daughter in the Fey clan's main branch when she and Misty were growing up, she was set to inherit the title of Master. However, due to her low spiritual power, she was passed over in favor of Misty and was reduced to a low ranking branch member. This led to her being mocked throughout the clan and ruined her relationship with her younger sister. Her first husband also left her, having only married her for the wealth and prestige that would have come with her being the Master of Kurain, and he took full custody of their twin daughters when he left. Morgan married again, but that marriage also failed and her second husband left her shortly after Pearl was born. All of these events have left her full of hate, jealousy and bitterness.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Sister Bikini "kind of feel(s) sorry for" Morgan, due to the fact that it wasn't her fault that she had less spiritual power than Misty and what that had on her life, but agrees with Phoenix that it doesn't excuse everything she did.
A Glass of Chianti: Although Morgan's not known to drink, she uses a thermos of tea to the same effect, even bringing it with her to court.
Greater-Scope Villain:
- Sure, she is the mastermind behind cases 2-2 and 3-5 but the legwork is done entirely by Mimi Miney and Dahlia Hawthorne, respectively.
- Possibly of Trials and Tribulations as a whole, considering that her implied abandonment of her twin daughters, Dahlia and Iris, factored into the former becoming the Big Bad of that game, as a sociopathic Serial Killer who manipulated and killed her victims to either advance her plots to exact her petty revenge on those who she believed wronged her or to cover up her previous crimes. Iris even laments that Dahlia had no one who cared about her during her upbringing, while Iris was raised lovingly by Sister Bikini; while it’s not an excuse for Dahlia’s wickedness, there is the chance that had Morgan not given up on her and Iris, Dahlia may have not grown up to be a vindictive, spiteful monster.
Green-Eyed Monster: Her resentfulness stems from her jealousy of Misty's channeling powers and how it caused Morgan to be passed over as Master.
Hate Sink: Morgan is an abusive and neglectful mother who saw her daughter as little more than a tool to serve her own selfish goals. Behind her sophisticated and polite facade was a envious and petty monster who was willing to murder her own family to get what she wants.
Hypocrite: In the anime, she complains about the women of the main branch disgracing the family in various ways —— Misty because of the fallout of her channeling Gregory Edgeworth and Mia because of deciding to become a lawyer to search for her mother (and partly out of a selfless desire to let Maya become head of the family so they won't have to fight over it) —— but Morgan is involved in plotting two murders for the sake of making Pearl head of the family, something that is far more disgraceful than anything her sister or niece did.
Improbable Hairstyle: Her hairstyle is a traditional Japanese woman's formal hairstyle, but it's taken to ridiculously oversized extremes. How that hair could stay up without being lacquered is beyond belief.
Inadequate Inheritor: Despite being the elder sister, she was passed over for the Master position because of her weak channeling skills.
Kick the Dog: In "Hear the Waves of Turnabout," she lashes out at Maya, badmouths Mia and Misty, and reminds Maya that Pearl is a better choice of successor to the head of the family.
Knight Templar Parent: Everything she does, she did it all for Pearl. One of her other daughters, Dahlia seems to disagree, claiming she saw Pearl as a pawn, but given that the accuser doesn't have much of a leg to stand on, it's hard to say how true the accusation is. Although, one should remember that Morgan pretty much disregarded her other children due to their lack of spiritual power. So at minimum, Morgan does have a severe case of Parental Favoritism towards Pearl… until it becomes clear in "Bridge to the Turnabout" that she didn’t really care about Pearl either, and was only using her because she had spiritual affinity, fully willing to use her daughter for her attempt to rise in power vicariously.
Leitmotif: "Kurain Village".
Manipulative Bitch: Poor little Pearl never doubts her until the very end.
Meaningful Name: She's likely named after Morgan le Fay, of Arthurian Legend - King Arthur's sometimes-sister-sometimes-protector-sometimes-enemy. She begins as a helpful and friendly figure, but gradually morphs into a dangerous enemy, much like her namesake. She also plays all three of the roles associated with Fay, to different people; sister to Misty, guide to Pearl, enemy to Phoenix and Maya.
Muggle Born of Mages: Her spiritual power is too weak to channel spirits, which is why she was passed over to be the Master despite being the elder sister.
Non-Action Big Bad: Despite being an important player in the events of two very lore-important cases, she never actually kills anyone. She's not even seen having a Villainous Breakdown due to the same reason.
Oral Fixation: Just how long is she going to sip at her green tea? This even extends to when she's in a courtroom, mind you.
Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Morgan plays to a specific Japanese, feminine tradition of subtly sarcastic false humility as a means of distancing herself from the person she's actually condescending to.
Politeness Judo: Phoenix frequently gets trapped into apologizing to her slipped in barbs thanks to this.
Punny Name: Morgan le Fey, anyone? "Kimiko" comes from "Himiko", a shaman queen of ancient Japan.
Resentful Guardian: Presumably, as she took care of Maya after Misty left from the fallout over DL-6, and Mia left to study law and to search for her mother. This is made obvious in the anime, where we see that Morgan frequently insulted Maya and her side of the family while caring for her.
Silk Hiding Steel: She looks like an elegant woman, but when she gets angry, her true evil colors show.
Single Line of Descent: On the losing side of this. Despite being the elder daughter, she was pushed into the "branch" family due to a lack of spiritual power. She wants to eliminate Maya as a contender to push Pearl into the line of inheritance.
Smug Snake: Morgan is, apart from a superficial amount of politeness and formality, quite bitter and condescending to others. This is exemplified in how she blames the failure of her plan in 2-2 on the culprit and the prosecutor.
The Sociopath: She hits all the same markers Dahlia does; she's manipulative (masterminds cases 2-2 and 3-5), lacks empathy and remorse (never showing any real emotion when plotting to use her daughter to murder her niece), she's a Consummate Liar (one of the best in the games) and feels entitled to the position of Main Family leader because she's the older sister. She clearly intends Pearl to be a Puppet Queen for her (or at very least make Morgan retroactively the 'rightful' Master) and shows no concern for Pearl's feelings (Pearl loves Maya and has no desire to supplant, much less kill, her), and she only even acknowledges her other daughters when she needs Dahlia to help her carry out her murder plans.
Spared By Adaptation: An implied example overlapping somewhat with Dub-Induced Plot Hole: in the original Japanese script for Trials and Tribulations, it is all but stated that Morgan is on death row awaiting execution for her crimes, with her brief appearance in 3-5 representing her final thoughts before her death. The English script, however, removes the direct insinuation and only states outright that she is serving a regular prison term, leaving her final fate ambiguous^note.
Stage Mom: She is determined to make Pearl the Master of the Fey Clan by any means, because Pearl is her daughter and becoming Master would get Morgan into the main family again. Pearl's feelings on the matter are not important.
Sweet Tooth: Morgan is known to make "lovely bitter green tea" that is "so bitter you lose your tongue", along with "jaw-droppingly large strawberry desserts".
They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Doesn't invoke this on herself, but insists that Phoenix addresses Maya as "Mystic Maya" (Mayoi-sama) like she does. Maya herself couldn't care less.
This Is Gonna Suck: In the anime, while she doesn’t go into a breakdown, this is her nonverbal reaction to Mimi confessing her crime and outing her as the one who blackmailed her.
Traitor Shot: In 2-2, she ominously looks and talks to a picture in the Channeling Chamber, giving an obvious warning that she's the mastermind of this case. In the anime, after Maya asks who set her up, there is an Answer Cut to this scene.
Vague Age: While most characters in the series have their age listed in the Court Record, Morgan's profile simply lists her age as "??".
Vicariously Ambitious: Knowing she can never become master of the Fey family, she does everything possible to make sure Pearl will be someday.
Villain Has a Point: Downplayed. Her motives for seeing Pearl become the Master of the Kurain Channeling School were likely rather petty, focusing more on her jealousy of Misty's side of the family than anything else. That being said, she wasn't wrong to think that Pearl - at least at the time - had greater abilities than Maya. For an example, Pearl was able to channel Mia with no warning or prep time, a feat that took Maya almost a game and a half to accomplish. This is eventually subverted completely once Maya reaches her full potential.

Ami Fey (Kyoko Ayasato)

Ami Fey (Kyoko Ayasato)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ami_fey2.png

The long-since deceased founder of the Kurain Channeling Technique.

Ashes to Crashes: The Sacred Urn, supposed to contain her ashes, has been broken at least three times, with two of them being relevant to two different trials Phoenix had to take part in.
Butt-Monkey: Not her, but her Sacred Urn. It has been broken on three separate occasions (by Pearl, Mia when she was much younger, and by Adrian Andrews in Case 3-2). On top of that, the urn has been stolen multiple times as well. This is despite being explicitly stated as priceless in the negative sense by Godot; appraisal found its monetary value at practically zero.
Meaningful Name: She's named after the Buddha Amitabha.
Oddly Shaped Sword: The Shichishito her statue holds.
Our Founder: Her statue.
Priceless Ming Vase: The Founder's Urn is the Kurain village's greatest treasure... so naturally when we first find it it's been broken to pieces and crudely restored by an 8-year-old, and this is not the first time this has happened, nor the last. Godot even mentioned that it's priceless in a negative sense- you can't get a price for it because it's practically worthless.
Royal Blood: Implied; The Kurain Channeling Technique originated from the Khura'in Kingdom (hence why spiritual training in Khura'in is needed by the incoming Kurain Master). The ability to channel the spirits of the dead and take their form is something that can only be done by descendants of the Founder, namely the Royal Family.
Sealed Good in a Can: Subverted. Supposedly, her spirit was sealed in the Sacred Urn, and so long as it was, the Fey line would retain their powers. However, Mia considers this a fairy tale, and there's no evidence anything other than ashes was ever in the urn at any of the times it was broken. Mia is the first person (we know of) who broke it, so she should know.

Bikini

Bikini

Voiced by (Japanese): Rinko Hayashi (anime)

Voiced by (English): Cynthia Cranz (anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bikini_4.png

"Well, well, well. Don't worry! I'm more than up to the task! I'm a woman of faith, after all. The head honcho of Hazakura Temple."

No, her name is NOT meaningful... or is it? (It may be based on Bhikkhuni, a female Buddhist monastic.) Bikini is a member of an unnamed Branch Family and the head nun of Hazakura Temple, as well as the foster mother of Iris. "Bikini" is not her real name; people apparently keep expecting her to be a woman dressed in one.

Apron Matron: Minus the apron. She's a jolly, rotund middle-aged woman who is quite motherly towards Iris, and friendly to the protagonists.
Big Fun: She's very plump, and very jolly; her Verbal Tic is a belly laugh. She's also one of the few witnesses to avert Be as Unhelpful as Possible, too.
Catchphrase: When describing something, such as her appearance or her bad back, she often ends it with "Especially in winter!"
Easily Forgiven: Her testimony almost got Iris into prison for murder. The next time when they see each other Iris is worried about her back. Then again, Iris was willing to take the fall in case anything went wrong in foiling Morgan's plan, so she likely understood there was no malice in Bikini's testimony.
Freudian Slip: She keeps calling Elise Deauxnim as "Mystic Elise"^note, when she was just known as a book illustrator that was just visiting Hazakura Temple. Phoenix eventually notices this and figures out why. This is because Bikini knows Elise was actually Misty Fey, and since Phoenix had his suspicions after finding the Kurain Master's Talisman, he confirmed that fact after paying attention to Bikini.
I Will Wait for You: States in the credits that she's happily waiting for when Iris is released from prison.
Large Ham: Ironically for someone so short, she's very bombastic.
Leitmotif: "Hazakura Temple".
Meaningful Name: The "ni" means "nun".
Miniature Senior Citizens: You can't tell when you're talking to her (due to the art) but in court she requires a box in order to look over the witness stand.
My God, What Have I Done?: After her testimony ends up having many inconsistencies, and seemingly casts suspicion on Iris. Iris is innocent of the murder, but stabbed Misty's corpse with the Shichishito in order to deflect suspicion away from the person responsible.
Nice Girl: She has no dark secrets and no involvement in the murder, and she's also one of the few witnesses in the series that averts Be as Unhelpful as Possible and goes out of her way to give you info.
Naughty Nuns: Parodied, starting with her name. She's middle-aged and overweight, but enjoys acting as if she were unaware of this.
Bikini: It's a tradition to have [a temple name], and I wanted something that has a nice image to it. So I thought, "Why not choose a bikini?" Besides, it makes me seem younger. Wa ha ha ha! Ho ho ho!
Only One Name: Is referred to as "Sister Bikini" by those who show her respect.
Parental Substitute: To Iris, since she was left in Hazakura Temple as a child. Iris does not even remember her own mother, so she sees Bikini as if she were her real mother.
Sympathy for the Devil: She has a certain amount of sympathy for Morgan, since a lack of spiritual power cost Morgan the position of Master and her first marriage. Despite that, she agrees with Phoenix that this doesn't justify her attempt to frame Maya for murder.
Thought They Knew Already: Assumes that Phoenix already knew that Iris was Morgan Fey's daughter, leading to him getting quite a big shock when she casually mentions it. She explains that she thought this because Phoenix mentioned seeing her daughter, and Bikini herself didn't know that Pearl was also one of Morgan's daughters.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her actions at the beginning of Case 3-5 planted seeds of doubt and worry on Pearl Fey enough so that she went to try go and support Maya with her training. As a result, she is indirectly responsible for both setting Morgan Fey's plan into motion and Misty Fey's death.
Younger than She Looks: Despite looking and acting like an old woman, she's actually only 48, making her the same age as Elise, and younger than Morgan.

Iris (Ayame)

Iris (Ayame)

Voiced by (Japanese): Rina Sato (anime)

Voiced by (English): Dani Chambers (anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/irisoa.png

"...Um, my name is Iris. I am but a simple nun undergoing training at Hazakura Temple."

A nun of Hazakura Temple with a bizarre likeness to Phoenix's ex-girlfriend Dahlia Hawthorne, though she's never been to college and has always lived at Hazakura Temple. Evidently, despite having some knowledge of it, Iris has no spiritual power.

Apologises a Lot: Half of her conversations include some variant of "I'm sorry".
Bad Liar: Averted. Unlike her twin sister Dahlia, the one time Iris actually lies to Phoenix, she does it so well that it doesn't even trigger the Magatama. Every other time she doesn't want to share information, she bluntly says so. This is a major tell that the "Iris" Phoenix is cross-examining on Day 2 isn't the real deal.
Be All My Sins Remembered: She tells Edgeworth that she's a nun because she needs to atone for past misdeeds. She won't tell him what those are, but the player eventually finds out.
Becoming the Mask: During the eight months that Phoenix thought he was dating Dahlia, Iris was standing in for her sister so that Dahlia wouldn't commit any more crimes; Iris eventually falls in love with Phoenix herself.
Book Dumb: Being raised in Hazakura temple she lacks formal education.
Bound and Gagged: In anime, Iris is tied up by her sister, and left locked up alone inside a cave.
Blush Stickers: Plenty of times, mostly when talking with or about Phoenix.
Even Evil Can Be Loved: She remains supportive of Dahlia for a long time, even though she knew how evil she was.
Evil Twin: Inverted. By the time Iris turns up, Dahlia's been the evil mastermind of two previous cases, so one might be inclined to mistrust Iris at first. She then turns out to be Dahlia's Good Twin instead. Both of them are Nice Girls at a first glance, but while Dahlia's personality is nothing but a facade, Iris is sincerely a good girl.
Exact Words: When Phoenix asks if Iris went to college, she replies that she "never had an interest" in college. This doesn't trigger the Magatama, because technically she never said she didn't go to college, only that she didn't want to. Well, people do plenty of things they don't want to do...
- Later, she tells Edgeworth that "whoever or whatever may come, I could never take a life," in the present tense. She's telling the truth, because Dahlia, the only person she's ever been motivated to kill (and even that would take exceptional circumstances) is already dead by someone else's hand. If this had been the Iris of the past speaking, or if the Dahlia of the present still had a life to take, Iris' words would have been a lie. But neither condition was true, so it wasn't.
Fall Guy: Was the intended scapegoat of Dahlia and Morgan's plan to assassinate Maya. Knowing this led to Godot making Iris a collaborator in his effort to protect Maya.
Fatal Flaw: Her loyalty to Dahlia, her twin sister. It doesn't come up much in the present day because Dahlia was caught and imprisoned, but it really caused trouble in the flashback era. She never wanted Phoenix to be hurt, but her hesitance to turn on Dahlia despite knowing Dahlia wanted Phoenix dead led to the fiasco of Turnabout Memories, where Dahlia got sick of Iris's plan not working and went for the murder route. The result was Doug Swallow dead, Phoenix traumatized, Dahlia on death row, and Iris suffering from massive guilt because her Sympathy for the Devil meant she hadn't gone to the police about Dahlia's crimes.
First-Name Basis: Once she finally confesses to Phoenix about who she really is, she begins by calling him "Feenie".
Heroic Self-Deprecation: She doesn't have the best self-esteem, partially because her father abandoned her into Hazakura's care when she was little, and partially because she inadvertently helped Dahlia try to murder Phoenix, and she still feels guilty about it.
I Never Told You My Name: Calls Phoenix "Mr. Wright" when he hasn't yet introduced himself to her, causing him to become suspicious.
Informed Flaw: Tends to claim she's a weak person but aside from apologising for everything we never see her actually showing any weakness. On the contrary, she's perfectly willing to talk Dahlia out of murdering Phoenix or to shoot down Phoenix's attempts to follow the search party by claiming that saving Maya is a priority. This is the result of a translation error, in the Japanese, she only refers to herself as such in regards to specific events in the backstory, when she was ultimately unable to stop Dahlia from following through on her murder plans, which is something she deeply regrets, and thinks that if she'd had the courage to break Phoenix's heart for the necklace or go to the police about it, no one would have died.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She believes she doesn't deserve to be together with Phoenix despite honestly loving him because their relationship was built on the false premise that she was Dahlia, and Iris hesitating about coming clean ultimately resulted in Dahlia nearly killing him. Iris thinks the best she can hope for is that Phoenix can eventually forgive her for the role she played in Dahlia's schemes.
Leitmotif: Shares "Distant Image" with Dahlia (with fairly good reason).
Meaningful Name: Iris flowers represent good news and loyalty in Hanakotoba. In Victorian flower language, they can represent faith, hope, courage, wisdom, and admiration. The good news is that the girl Phoenix thought loved him actually did, and she's much braver and wiser than Dahlia ever was. She also admires Phoenix for his sincerity and hopes that everyone she loves, even Dahlia, can better themselves.
Muggle Born of Mages: Despite being Morgan's daughter, both she and her twin sister Dahlia had zero spiritual power. Unusually for this trope, this was actually very lucky for them, since it saved them from being the subject of Morgan's schemes and abuse like Pearl was and allowed them a relatively normal childhood.
My Greatest Failure: Being unable to stop Dahlia from killing Doug Swallow and trying to kill Phoenix. She states that she would have tried to physically stop Dahlia if she'd known what Dahlia was planning, but she overestimated her sister's patience and Dahlia went ahead with trying to murder Phoenix without Iris's knowledge.
Nice Girl: In stark contrast to her sister, her kindness and courtesy to others are not an act.
Nuns Are Mikos: Despite being called nun she doesn't look like one and being in love with Phoenix isn't a problem in the slightest. That's only a case in the dub, in the original version she's just Miko.
Oblivious to Love: Doesn't notice that Laurice has a rather obvious crush on her until Edgeworth spells it out for her. Understandable, since she spent most of her life in a temple and didn't have much contact with men, And she already had a crush on Phoenix.
Only One Name: Her full name, for court purposes, is "Iris of Hazakura Temple", though her actual surname could either be Hawthorne (her father's surname, which her twin sister Dahlia also has) or Fey (as one of Morgan Fey's daughters). Though her father essentially disowned her to dump her in Hazakura temple, so it's understandable she doesn't take his name.
Palette Swap: Of Dahlia. Some of their sprites are nearly identical, except Iris has different clothing and dark hair. Justified, as they're identical twins and they pull a Twin Switch more than once.
Polar Opposite Twins: Dahlia is one of the cruelest characters in the series, while Iris is one of the kindest.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Has pale skin and black hair and is considered beautiful, fitting her Yamato Nadeshiko image.
Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: After seeing Dahlia's Bitch in Sheep's Clothing behaviour in two previous cases, one may be inclined to think the identical-looking Iris would be just like her. However, Iris is genuinely nice. She's also the reason Phoenix fell for Dahlia's act despite usually being an Excellent Judge of Character; he thought she was Iris, and Iris wasn't lying about loving him and her innocence wasn't an act.
Ship Tease: With Phoenix at the end of 3-5... which earns him a beating from Pearls.
Silk Hiding Steel: We mostly see her 'silk' side, but she states that had she known that Dahlia had lost patience and was going to kill Phoenix, she would've absolutely killed Dahlia to stop her.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: It IS Phoenix she falls for, after all.
Supreme Chef: According to Phoenix her mini-omlettes are "magically delicious".
Sympathy for the Devil: She feels sorry for Dahlia, thinking that she turned out the way she was because she had no one that really cared for her as she grew up, while Iris had Bikini as a loving parental figure.
Tender Tears: Unlike her sister, when she cries, it's very genuine.
Textile Work Is Feminine: Just look at the sweatshirt she knitted for Phoenix.
Theme Twin Naming: Shares Floral Theme Naming with Dahlia. Only in the translations, though.
Twin Switch: Pulled two with Dahlia Hawthorne. The first one was after Dahlia and Phoenix first met, so that Dahlia could recover her poison vial without killing Phoenix by having Iris impersonate her (didn't work), and the second one was when Dahlia was channeled by Maya, where Dahlia pretends to be Iris.
The Unfought: Double Subverted.
- Iris shows two sets of five psyche-locks, once to Phoenix and once to Edgeworth, but neither gets the chance to break them. She eventually reveals her secrets behind them in court. Phoenix does manage to break three psyche-locks from Iris, except that is actually Dahlia Hawthorne.
- In the second day of trial, Phoenix cross-examines Iris, except that's not Iris giving testimony, but her dastardly twin.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: She never had a chance to show it, but she outright says at the end of 3-5 that she would have put a stop to Dahlia's plan to kill Phoenix in Turnabout Memories had she known about it - whether it cost "(Dahlia)'s life, or even my own."
What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite being introduced as Phoenix's love interest, she is never seen or mentioned after Trials and Tribulations.
Yamato Nadeshiko: Iris is always kind and polite, as well as having the poise expected of a traditional lady, but she also can go to great lengths to protect people she cares about. Unlike her sister, who pretends to be this trope, Iris is a genuine example.

Characters / Ace Attorney: The Fey Clan

Misty Fey (Maiko Ayasato)