Characters / Iris Hawthorne: Ace Attorney

Main Characters

Iris Hawthorne

The titular protagonist of the series. A former nun who turned to a career in law, rookie Attorney Iris Hawthorne strives to defend her clients, who have been accused of murders they did not commit. She hopes to one day fulfill a promise that was given to her by her dead love Phoenix Wright.

• Adaptational Skill: Is a defense attorney who can go toe-to-toe with Franziska von Karma and win in this story when she lacked said skill in canon.
• Ascended Extra: Iris was only an important character in ''Bridge to the Turnabout'' and was never seen in the Ace Attorney series' other installments. In this fic, she's the main heroine.
• Arch-Enemy: Franziska von Karma sees her as this, much to the rookie attorney's chagrin.
• Armor-Piercing Response: Gives a simple yet effective one to Franziska in the third case.
  Franziska: Are you still mad at me for that? Hmph, typical rookies, always mad at the littlest of things...
  Iris: This rookie beat you, Von Karma. (Iris smiled when von Karma twitched in anger at being reminded of her first ever defeat.)
• Big Sister Instinct: Realizing just how much Pearl had been abused by Morgan, she does whatever she can to protect her little sister from her. She later ends up becoming her caretaker in the end of the second case.
• Butt-Monkey: Like Phoenix in the actual Ace Attorney games, Iris is ridiculed and mocked by almost everyone she encounters in her cases. Not to mention the constant physical assaults courtesy of Franziska and her whip...
• The Lost Lenore: Phoenix Wright is this to her, as Dahlia had killed him long ago.
• Muggle Born of Mages: Despite being Morgan's daughter, she has no spiritual powers to speak of.
• Nice Girl: In stark contrast to her sister, Iris is genuinely kind and polite to others.

• Promotion to Parent: Following Morgan's arrest, Iris takes over as her sister Pearl's guardian.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Has pale skin and long black hair and is considered beautiful.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni defense attorney to Franziska's Red Oni prosecutor.
• Stutter Stop: Has a habit of stuttering due to her nervousness or when she's in a highly stressful situation. She drops this when she feels angry or when she has solved the case, however.
• 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. She had traded her traditional spirit maiden attire for a practical Western suit upon becoming a lawyer, but notes feeling good whenever there's an opportunity to wear the former again.

Pearl Fey

Iris' younger half-sister and Maya's cousin. She becomes Iris' assistant when Maya is accused of murder in the second case, and hangs around in succeeding cases after Morgan is arrested for being part of Diego Armando's murder.

• The Baby of the Bunch: Is the youngest of Morgan Fey's daughters and the Fey Clan. Iris takes a liking to her the first time they meet.
• Big Sister Worship: Adores her older sister Iris, always referring to her as Mystic Iris.
• Break the Cutie: Goes through a pretty rough experience before and during the second case of the story. She is constantly pressured into being the heir to the Kurain Village by her mother Morgan, who actually physically abuses her when she is seen talking with Iris. She breaks down into tears at the end of the second case, when it's revealed that Morgan aided Dahlia Hawthorne in committing Diego Armando's murder.
  • Additionally, her scared breakdown to Iris as she begged her sister to not tell Morgan that she broke the sacred urn helps Iris realize just how broken her mother had made the poor girl, and opts to have Pearl leave Kurain Village.
• Fangirl: Of the Crystal Crusader Rose TV series. When the actress who played the titular character is accused of murder, she is most eager to help in proving her innocence.
• Mistaken for Romance: Initially believed that Diego and Iris were a couple, and that the latter investigating the former's murder was her trying to avenge him.
• Muggle Born of Mages: Inverted like in canon. Her mother and sisters had low spiritual power, and her unknown father was a normal man outside the Fey clan, yet Pearl herself is very much capable of channeling spirits. This ends up helping Iris greatly in the second case when Pearl channels Diego Armando.
• Terrible Artist: Like in canon, her she breaks a sacred urn supposedly containing Ami Fey's soul, and spends the rest of the investigation fixing it (although she reversed the I and A, making the name being spelled as "IAM" instead). Iris takes advantage of her presence in her mansion's hallway to catch a witness lying that they walked across the same hallway while not noticing anyone.
• Willing Channeler: Can channel the spirits of the dead. She uses the ability to channel Diego to help Iris win in the second case.
• Youngest Child Wins: Is the youngest of Morgan Fey's daughters and is the only one to possess immense spiritual power — her two older sisters, on the other hand, do not have this.

Diego Armando

Iris' mentor and veteran defense attorney.

• Affectionate Nickname: He refers to Mia and Iris as kitten and flower, respectively.
• Ambiguously Brown
• Arch-Enemy: To Dahlia Hawthorne, a feeling that is more than mutual. He is hellbent to ensure that will pay for putting Mia in a coma.
• Big Damn Heroes: Like Mia in the canon games, Diego is channeled near the climax of the second case to help Iris in figuring out Maggey Byrde's motivation in committing his own murder.
• Catchphrase: "That's one of my rules". Iris ends up taking this to honor him.
• Code of Honour: He has his own personal code of conduct that seems a bit odd from everyone else's point of view. Several times he offhandedly mentions one of his personal guidelines then follow it up with "That's one of my rules."
• For Want Of A Nail: Due to Mia being the one Dahlia poisoned into a coma, Diego doesn't become Godot and lives long enough to help Iris become a lawyer.
• The Lost Lenore: Mia is this to him, albeit in a non-death example as she's only in a coma.
• The Mentor: To Iris.
• Trademark Favorite Food: He's always seen drinking a cup of coffee.

Franziska von Karma

The main prosecutor of the Iris Hawthorne: Ace Attorney. She is the daughter of the undefeated prosecutor Manfred von Karma. She became a prosecutor at the age of 13 and has had a perfect record, until Iris beats her in the second case.

• Arch-Enemy: Sees Iris is this. Due to Iris defeating her in Turnabout Family, Franziska is determined to defeat the rookie attorney.
• Bad Boss: Is this to poor Gumshoe, who constantly whips or berates him whenever he makes a mistake or just when she's angry.
• The Dreaded: While not as terrifying as her father, her reputation is intimidating enough to make Iris fear the idea of facing her in court.
• Freudian Excuse: It's shown that her bad attitude as a prosecutor is a result of her father emphasizing the need for her to be perfect in all of her cases.
• The Rival: To Iris in the second and third cases.
• Whip of Dominance: She carries a whip with her to assert her dominance in court, and over her own subordinates (mostly Gumshoe).

Supporting Characters

Miles Edgeworth

Franziska's stepbrother. He was once an ace prosecutor in his own right until he was accused and convicted of the murder of Robert Hammond.

• Miscarriage of Justice: Because Phoenix wasn't around to defend him from Manfred von Karma, he ended up getting falsely convicted for Robert Hammond's murder.

Detective Dick Gumshoe

Ini Miney

Iris' best friend. She's an air-headed occult freak, who aims to write a thesis involving Spirit Channeling.

• Ascended Extra: Thanks to being Spared by the Adaptation, Ini fills in Larry Butz' role as the bestfriend to the main protagonist. So far, she is the most recurring character in the series.
• The Ditz: Very much so, to the point where can be easily manipulated at times.
• Dumbass Has a Point: For all her idiocy, she had a point in that the court would not believe that Maya was possessed by the spirit of Dahlia Hawthorne to murder Diego Armando. Iris herself was shocked by this.
• Punny Name: eeny, meeny, miney, mo.
• Valley Girl: Says "like" a lot, is ditzy, is seemingly unable to function by herself.
• Verbal Tic: Says "like" in almost every sentence, and says "totally" on multiple occasions.

Maya Fey

• Cool Big Sis: or Cool Big Cousin, in the case of Pearl.
• Damsel in Distress: She's the defendant of Turnabout Family, having been framed for the murder of Diego Armando.
• Demoted to Extra: Her role of being the main assistant is given to Pearl. She does retake this role in Farewell, My Turnabout after Pearl gets kidnapped by De Killer and Dahlia.

The Judge

• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": As always, he's exclusively referred to as "The Judge".

Manfred von Karma

Franziska's father, a highly successful prosecutor who has a reputation as The Dreaded in the legal community.

• Abusive Parents: His Establishing Character Moment has him berating Franziska for losing twice to a rookie defense attorney like Iris, calling her an embarrassment to the von Karma family name. And of course, there's the fact that he got away with framing his stepson for a murder he committed.
• Adaptational Villainy: For all his despicableness in the original games, von Karma was at least implied to be a devoted father to Franziska. Here on the other hand, well, see Abusive Parents above.

Turnabout Debut

Winston Payne

• Warm-Up Boss: He's the first prosecutor the rookie Iris has to contend with and is by far the most incompetent.

Richard Wellington

A self-proclaimed "Virtuoso of Parapsychology", who is actually a scam artist. He manipulated Ini Miney into falling love with him so he can have her take her to the Hazakura Temple in the hopes of robbing the place.

• Domestic Abuser: Can't get much worse than murdering your girlfriend's sister and attempting to frame her for it.
• Hate Sink: He's a manipulative, self-absorbed little weasel who demonizes his girlfriend Ini for supposedly murdering her sister and attempts to have her take the fall for his crime. Absolutely no tears are shed for him when he's finally caught.
• The Sociopath: He manipulates his supposed girlfriend, murders her sister and attempts to frame her for it without a hint of remorse.
• Starter Villain: He's the first culprit of the fanfic, having murdered Mimi Miney and pinning it on her sister Ini Miney.

Turnabout Family

Morgan Fey

• Arc Villainess: Of Turnabout Family, with her and Maggey Byrde sharing the role.

Maggey Byrde/Dahlia Hawthorne

A former security guard who was fired for being romantically involved with Dahlia Hawthorne.

• Adaptational Sexuality: Magey never shows any interest in women in canon and neither does Dahlia.
• Adaptational Villainy: Unlike her canon counterpart, Maggey is a sly, vicious woman who was in league with Morgan and was responsible for Diego Armando's death. In reality, "Maggey" is really Dahlia Hawthorne, who murdered the real Maggey Byrde and had her face surgically changed to look like Maggey in an attempt to start a new life.
• Arc Villainess: Of Turnabout Family, with her and Morgan Fey sharing the role. She's later added to the Big Bad Ensemble in Farewell, My Turnabout.
• The Bus Came Back: Dahlia assists DeKiller in kidnapping Pearl at the beginning of "Farewell, My Turnabout" and now has her old face back thanks to reconstructive surgery paid for by the person paying her to blackmail Iris.
• Cain and Abel: The Cain to Iris's Abel, as she is responsible for Phoenix Wright's death, to which she framed on Iris.
• Co-Dragons: She and Shelly De Killer share this role for whoever hired both of them, both working together to kidnap Pearl and hold her hostage.
• Composite Character: Of Maggey Byrde and Dahlia Hawthorne as well as Bobby Fulbright and the phantom, given that Dahlia murdered the real Maggey Byrde and took on her identity much like what the phantom did to Bobby Fulbright. Coincidentally, both Maggey Byrde and Bobby Fulbright are members of law enforcement.
• Death by Adaptation: The real Maggey Byrde was murdered by Dahlia prior to the events of the story, having her identity replaced by the villainous woman.
• Depraved Bisexual: Emphasis on "depraved". She seduced, manipulated, and murdered both Phoenix and Magey, though given how she is, it's pretty clear that she's incapable of genuinely loving anyone besides herself.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: She gives one to Iris in Turnabout Family over Iris' actions leading to Phoenix's death, calling her a coward whose inability to stand up to others causes the deaths of the people she cares about.
• Vocal Dissonance: In-universe. Her voice has a tendency to go to a different tone that doesn't sound like her at all. A clue that she isn't really Maggey.

Turner Grey

• Adaptational Karma: Without anyone to pin the blame of his malpractice like in canon, Turner is now on the run and in hiding, now working in a small, shoddy clinic while avoiding the authorities.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears for a brief moment, but his actions tie deep into the case.

Turnabout Crystal

Violet Shade/Viola Cadaverini

• Adaptational Job Change:In-universe trope. After running away from home, she went from being the assistant of a loan shark to an actress.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In this version, she grew disgusted by her family's crimes and ran away, becoming an actress as a result.
• Mafia Princess: Granddaughter of mob boss Bruto Cadaverini and a member of the Cadaverini Crime Family. She's actually ashamed of this and ran away to start her own life.
• Signature Laugh: She has an unsettling and gloomy "Hee... Hee... Hee..." giggle that serves as one of her major character tics.

Penny Nichols

• Adaptational Villainy: Is the culprit of Turnabout Crystal, albeit for a tragic reason. Her father was killed by an enforcer of the Cadaverini Family and blames Violet Shadow for it upon finding out she was Viola Cadaverini. She set up a trap to kill Viola, only to kill her idol Will Powers instead.
• Arc Villainess: Of Turnabout Crystal.
• Composite Character: Take some aspects of Acro in that she's a Sympathetic Murderer who killed the wrong person by mistake and genuinely feels guilty about it. She even killed Will Powers in a similar way to how Acro killed Russell Berry.

Celeste L. Starr

• Original Character: The only original character in the cast.
• Red Herring: Is made to look like the culprit in the beginning, but in reality, she's just a grieving actress trying to avenge Will Powers, who was a father to her.

Wendy Oldbag

• Jerkass: She's every bit as rude, overbearing and obnoxious as her canon counterpart.

Furio Tigre

• Adaptational Heroism: In canon, Furio Tigre was a loan-dealer for the Cadaverini family, who only dated Viola to utilize her in a ploy to escape the one million dollar debt grandfather after accidentally running into her with his scooter. Here, he was the one who helped her escape the Cadaverini family, and when he learned she was arrested for murder eventually agreed to help Iris clear Viola's name, even revealing an incident where he killed one of his "clients" when he couldn't pay a loan, which identifies the motive of the true killer.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Decides to confess to murdering Penny Nichols' father and playing a part in her motivation to frame Viola for Will Powers' death, even if it means he'll be sent to jail...all so Viola's name can be cleared.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Viola's blue. Can also be as the red to Iris' blue once they team up.

Will Powers

• Death by Adaptation: He's the victim of the Turnabout Crystal.
• A Father to His Men: Will Powers had this dynamic towards the actors under him, accepting Viola despite learning her connection to the Cadaverini family and preventing Celeste Starr from committing suicide and helping her escape from her abusive mother.
• Parental Substitute: To Viola, Celeste, and Penny.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: See A Father to His Men above.

Farewell, My Turnabout

Shelly De Killer

• Pragmatic Villainy: Is constantly reminding Dahlia not to actually hurt Pearl, knowing that the moment Pearl dies before Engarde is acquitted, they no longer have any leverage over Iris.

Matt Engarde

• Ambiguously Evil: Shelly de Killer and Dahlia were both hired by a mysterious client to blackmail Iris into getting Matt acquitted, and while this plot should sound incredibly familiar to anyone who's played Justice for All, it's still unclear as to whether or not this client is Matt himself.