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** In general the setting of the SS-5 Incident is unsettling. Using an orphanage as the site of a presidential assassination (followed by murdering a witness at the scene) is pretty dark (not to mention Huang's pleading just to see his son before he's killed, making it all the more depressing). The fact the orphanage director was in on it and they buried his body on the grounds where children play is even worse. Furthermore, the fact the murder of the president was covered up so thoroughly in the aftermath gives you a chilling look at how influential and vile Blaise Debeste is.

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** In general the setting of the SS-5 Incident is unsettling. Using an orphanage as the site of a presidential assassination (followed by murdering a witness at the scene) is pretty dark (not to mention Huang's pleading just to see his son before he's killed, making it all the more depressing). The fact the orphanage director was in on it and they buried his body on the grounds where children play is even worse. Hell, years later, the man's ''own son'' comes upon the site and unknowingly spends days rehearsing and recording for a movie ''right over his grave''. He even came '''this''' close to catching Blaise in the act of digging the body up to dispose of it elsewhere before the scheduled construction work could unearth it, meaning he very nearly followed Huang's fate in the same location he died in. Furthermore, the fact the murder of the president was covered up so thoroughly in the aftermath gives you a chilling look at how influential and vile Blaise Debeste is.
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* In the [[Anime/AceAttorney anime adaptation]], we get to see animated interpretations of the crimes as they happened. This also applies to the false testimonies of what say, the real suspect, claims to have seen. For example, the First Turnabout shows Frank Sahwit actively seeing Larry exit Cindy's room after the murder and deciding to call the police, when we already know that's not how it happened. That's all fine and dandy, but then we get to the cases where one of the heroes is the defendant; in other words, we get to see the [[SarcasmMode lovely image]] of Maya, and later Phoenix himself, murdering Mia.

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* In the [[Anime/AceAttorney [[Anime/AceAttorney2016 anime adaptation]], we get to see animated interpretations of the crimes as they happened. This also applies to the false testimonies of what say, the real suspect, claims to have seen. For example, the First Turnabout shows Frank Sahwit actively seeing Larry exit Cindy's room after the murder and deciding to call the police, when we already know that's not how it happened. That's all fine and dandy, but then we get to the cases where one of the heroes is the defendant; in other words, we get to see the [[SarcasmMode lovely image]] of Maya, and later Phoenix himself, murdering Mia.
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* Despite being an overall sympathetic figure, the BigBad 's misanthropy can be downright ''chilling'' at times, especially one of his dialogues for presenting wrong evidence, which has him asking Justine to prove Edgeworth wrong in his stead ''just so he can laugh at Edgeworth being betrayed by his friends.'' The fact that he's dressed as a [[MonsterClown clown]] at the time doesn't help. He could very well be a sympathetic version of The Joker or Kefka.

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* ** Despite being an overall sympathetic figure, the BigBad 's Simon's misanthropy can be downright ''chilling'' at times, especially one of his dialogues for presenting wrong evidence, which has him asking Justine to prove Edgeworth wrong in his stead ''just so he can laugh at Edgeworth being betrayed by his friends.'' The fact that he's dressed as a [[MonsterClown clown]] at the time doesn't help. He could very well be a sympathetic version of The Joker or Kefka.
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** And, unlike every other villain, he actually accomplished everything he intended to do. He took down all his enemies. He will be able to plea justified self-defense and beat his murder charge, as the body double was trying to kill him in earnest with a gun, and he had no way to flee, as he would have been shot out of the sky if he tried. And while he will do some time, he'll be with his assassin father figure, and likely be an amazing assassin himself once he gets out of prison, and no one will be able to do a thing to him. If you anger him, he will destroy you, either by getting someone else to murder you, or by getting you to willingly murder someone else and then leaving you at the mercy of Miles Edgeworth. And yet he's sympathetic...

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** And, unlike every other villain, he actually accomplished everything he intended to do. He took down all his enemies. He will be able to plea justified self-defense and beat his murder charge, as the body double was trying to kill him in earnest with a gun, and he had no way to flee, as he would have been shot out of the sky if he tried. And while he will do some time, he'll be with his assassin father figure, and likely be an amazing assassin himself once he gets out of prison, and no one will be able to do a thing to him. If you anger him, he will destroy you, either by getting someone else to murder you, or by getting you to willingly murder someone else and then leaving you at the mercy of Miles Edgeworth.Edgeworth, or, if you're the fake Huang, stepping in and doing the job personally. And yet he's sympathetic...
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Kick The Son Of A Bitch now is not a trope, which is due to TRS.


* Unlike in the games, Franziska getting shot is [[WhamShot actually shown]], and it seems to be worse than the injury she sustained in the games since she actually seems to have fainted. Further, while in the original games, her shooting might have been a KickTheSonOfABitch, a KickTheDog, or a TakeThatScrappy (depending on your opinion of her), but since the anime toned down her bad demeanor, it also gives her a more sympathetic P.O.V..

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* Unlike in the games, Franziska getting shot is [[WhamShot actually shown]], and it seems to be worse than the injury she sustained in the games since she actually seems to have fainted. Further, while in the original games, her shooting might have been a KickTheSonOfABitch, a KickTheDog, or a TakeThatScrappy (depending on your opinion of her), but since the anime toned down her bad demeanor, it also gives her a more sympathetic P.O.V..
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''so cute and charming'', '''[-MURDER-]'''--''zany, wacky, jokey''--'''[-DEATH-]!"'''

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''so cute and charming'', '''[-MURDER-]'''--''zany, charming''--'''[-MURDER-]'''--''zany, wacky, jokey''--'''[-DEATH-]!"'''
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* Case 5 officially kicks off when Sholmes realises that Gina (who was invited to stay over for the night) had gone missing late at night, then he directs Naruhodo to the pawnbrokery next door which has a light on for some reason, and Naruhodo realises Gina probably broke into there after a heated conversation regarding Iris' manuscript which Sholmes put up for storage earlier. The party breaks in, and one thing that might tip off the player that something is off is that the calendar is covered in blood and has been damaged by a bullet. Then Sholmes notices there's still someone inside, [[{{Jumpscare}} causing the camera to jump to two shadowy figures]] and a gunshot rings out. The following cutscene reveals that not only was Sholmes shot, but Naruhodo discovers that Pop Windibank has been murdered, and an unconscious Gina is right next to his corpse.
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*** And as if '''that''' wasn’t enough, during the moment you have to choose between raising an objection, presenting evidence, or waiting to see what happens, one wouldn’t be blamed for saving before making a choice. BUT!!! While saving, you can still hear the court chanting Stronghart’s name. The pressure is that high.
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''so cute and charming'', '''[-MURDER-]''' ''zany, wacky, jokey'' '''[-DEATH!-]"'''

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''so cute and charming'', '''[-MURDER-]''' ''zany, '''[-MURDER-]'''--''zany, wacky, jokey'' '''[-DEATH!-]"'''jokey''--'''[-DEATH-]!"'''
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''so cute and charming'', '''[[AC: murder]]''' ''zany, wacky, jokey'' '''[[AC: death!"]]'''

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''so cute and charming'', '''[[AC: murder]]''' '''[-MURDER-]''' ''zany, wacky, jokey'' '''[[AC: death!"]]''''''[-DEATH!-]"'''
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Increasing image resolution.


[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3attack3_9594.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Watch out, Edgeworth!]]

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[[quoteright:256:https://static.[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3attack3_9594.org/pmwiki/pub/images/913c49eb_9e81_4e6d_b327_01eeab5dff95.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Watch [[caption-width-right:350:Watch out, Edgeworth!]]
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope


* Blaise Debeste is practically NightmareFuel personified. The very idea of a ''68-year-old'' PsychopathicManchild is incredibly disturbing in itself, and almost from his first appearance he's horribly verbally abusing his own son. And it only gets worse as you learn more of what he did... holding a foreign president for ransom and ''having him assassinated anyway'', auctioning off ''evidence from past cases'', brutally murdering another person who found out, forging evidence in the past and using that fact to blackmail the coroner who helped him, and her family, later on, kidnapping the judge's son to manipulate his own trial... and then you remember that this guy was Chief Prosecutor for who knows how long, and that he's had a lot of people "disappeared" during that time (implied to be getting them sentenced to life in prison on false charges). Including ''his own wife''. And to make matters worse, ''he has a voiced Objection'', and it somehow manages to be worse than von Karma's and Alba's ''[[UpToEleven combined]]''. If von Karma was a demon, Blaise is ''the Devil himself''. He also gave von Karma the only penalty during his entire career which set the DL-6 incident in motion, making him the GreaterScopeVillain in the ''entire series''.

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* Blaise Debeste is practically NightmareFuel personified. The very idea of a ''68-year-old'' PsychopathicManchild is incredibly disturbing in itself, and almost from his first appearance he's horribly verbally abusing his own son. And it only gets worse as you learn more of what he did... holding a foreign president for ransom and ''having him assassinated anyway'', auctioning off ''evidence from past cases'', brutally murdering another person who found out, forging evidence in the past and using that fact to blackmail the coroner who helped him, and her family, later on, kidnapping the judge's son to manipulate his own trial... and then you remember that this guy was Chief Prosecutor for who knows how long, and that he's had a lot of people "disappeared" during that time (implied to be getting them sentenced to life in prison on false charges). Including ''his own wife''. And to make matters worse, ''he has a voiced Objection'', and it somehow manages to be worse than von Karma's and Alba's ''[[UpToEleven combined]]''.''combined''. If von Karma was a demon, Blaise is ''the Devil himself''. He also gave von Karma the only penalty during his entire career which set the DL-6 incident in motion, making him the GreaterScopeVillain in the ''entire series''.
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* ''NightmareFuel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice''
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* ''NightmareFuel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney''

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[[folder: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice]]
* Before the game even launched, the description of the Kingdom of Khura'in's handling of defense attorneys in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7gsGg-MPX0 the animated prologue]] to the game is unsettling. They made being a defense attorney a ''capital crime''. It is literally punishable by death to ''claim someone isn't guilty'' when the water mirror has already said otherwise. The courts are referred to as "the court of despair" because so many guilty verdicts are handed out without any sort of objection. One defendant is even dragged out of the courtroom tearfully pleading for a defense attorney but it goes unheeded.
** The ''sheer hatred'' of defense attorneys in Khura'in is beyond crazy. The only other notable time Phoenix himself faced [[UpToEleven such an]] [[KangarooCourt antagonistic courtroom]]? It was [[VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVSPhoenixWrightAceAttorney Labyrinthia's Witch Trials.]] The main difference between the two? Labyrinthia is a fake city [[EveryoneLives with no actual casualties]]. Khura'in is far worse because of its government ever since [[TheCaligula Ga'ran]] came into power. Because of the DC Act, defense attorneys are scarce in Khura'in and that led to cases that led to the deaths of many innocents because of the lack of actual interpretation of the Divination Seance. Both of these created an infamous reputation that created the "Courts of Despair".
* The web demo can cause a chill to run your spine when you first see the images projected by the water mirror. You see Ahlbi raise something above his head and his terrified expression is upsetting (since he's only 9). Then he brings it down harshly and everything goes black followed by text reading "PAIN" in big red letters appearing in the lower left. It implies the victim suffered before they died but since you're only [[NothingIsScarier told it hurts]], it can be disconcerting (plus, again, without more facts you're basically seeing a 9-year old boy kill another person, which [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior doesn't sit well]]).
** It can get uncomfortable during the trial when the audience gets whipped up in saying Ahlbi (along with Phoenix) deserves the death penalty, just based on the hazy visions of the Pool of Souls. For one thing, Ahlbi is just a scared kid on the stand who thinks he has no recourse, quivering and comforting himself by talking to the dog in his bag while the entire room is demanding he be hanged (Gaspen is pretty bad too in this regard, gleefully labeling Ahlbi a traitor and a murderer). Then there's Phoenix, who is just ''trying to do the right thing'' and not only being ridiculed but having the Sword of Damocles (or rather the judgment of the Holy Mother, as it would be in this case) hanging over his head the entire time. It really ratchets up the tension for the player and makes getting a "Guilty" verdict one of the more FridgeHorror-laden moments in the series history.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0rWtGbAYRs The Divination Seance music]] (especially the ScareChord). It certainly reinforces the tone of being stalked by someone (or something) about to strike.
* While he's still very much the smug blowhard of a bully that he was in ''Dual Destinies'', Gaspen Payne's career choice as Khura'in's Chief Prosecutor is quite disturbing when one thinks about it. Because he was shooed out of the prosecutor's office by Edgeworth (and rightfully so), he decided to prosecute in a country where defense attorneys are basically extinct and has sentenced an untold amount of people to death for the sake of starting fresh with a perfect record. And he is disturbingly smug about the prospect of sending an innocent nine-year-old boy to his death, along with Phoenix when he takes his place in Ahlbi's corner. He basically went from Winston Payne 2.0 to a less intelligent and more incompetent Manfred von Karma, which really says a lot about the type of person Gaspen is.
* Case 2 brings us Roger Retinz, a.k.a The Great Mr. Reus, a former magician with a grudge against Troupe Gramarye. The sheer amount of ''loathing'' that man has running through his veins, and the sheer cackling insanity he shows when taunting Magnifi Gramarye from beyond the grave can be downright chilling-especially given his "taunting Magnifi" pose, where he looks like ''the freaking Devil'' admiring his own {{Hellfire}} while laughing at the soul caught therein. The VillainousBreakdown is quite creepy: He puts on one final "show" for the court, making creepy masks of each member of the troupe appear in his cloak, them making them vanish in flames while proclaiming how he'll see them all burn. Then he gets to Trucy, except when he opens his cloak, it's ''his'' mask inside. He freaks out for a bit, then tries the trick again, only to have his face show up a second time, this time bloody and laughing. He then starts panicking, yelling that he's not to blame (in a manner that echoes [[VillainSong "Hellfire"]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}''), as multiple spotlights shine in his face as the camera slowly zooms in. It's implied that a large amount of this might just be happening in his head, showing just how deluded and insane he's become.
* Tahrust Inmee's Divination Seance. Just imagine seeing a cloaked figure wearing a creepy mask suddenly hovering towards you in the darkness and ended up killing you at the end. Not helping that it is one of the most challenging seances to crack down, so you get the privilege of seeing the scene over and over again.
** The whole truth? It was [[DrivenToSuicide all a cultivated suicide]]. Tahrust used his own death to draw away suspicion from his wife over the fact that the place he died is an [[LaResistance entrance to a rebel base and that they were rebels]].
* The end of Case 3's first trial, especially to those savvy about the series conventions. The witness turns out to be a complete dead end, and Phoenix has nothing. The judge feels there's no further need to prolong the trial, and so declares Maya and Phoenix GUILTY. ...now would be the time for the obligatory BigDamnHeroes moment, right? Naturally, the bailiff runs in. Phew, the trial is saved... wait, he came to say another murder has occurred, and ''Maya looks guilty of that one too?'' And now the prosecution officially accuses Maya of not just one murder, but of being a ''vigilante serial killer who's been operating for the past 2 years?!'' He's suspending the trial to ensure she gets a ''worse sentence?!'' When it's implied she was ''already'' getting the death penalty?!? And no, the guilty verdict is NOT overturned. In a rare moment in the series, [[DarkestHour a day 1 trial ends in a decisive victory for the prosecution, and Phoenix is, as Rayfa points out, a dead man walking]].
* Case 3 has Phoenix entering a possible rebel hideout alone... and inevitably being [[TapOnTheHead knocked out]] and waking up [[AloneWithThePsycho in an old, dilapidated room with the recently-escaped Datz Are'bal]]. The sense of dread is defused when [[AffablyEvil Datz is revealed to be a pretty jovial guy for a rebel]], but it comes right back when he "tests" Phoenix by pretending to want to leave the rebellion, and when he "passes" reveals he was fully prepared to ''stab him to death right there'' if he turned out to be an agent of the queen. Remember, Datz is ''ex-military'', so he would've made good on that threat. It's a good thing Phoenix was smart enough to talk his way out of that one because Datz is clearly someone whose bad side you do ''not'' want to be on. The whole situation makes the rest of the investigation ''extremely'' tense as Phoenix can't reveal anything he learned there to anyone, as if it got out he'd been speaking with someone essentially considered a terrorist... well given the ExactWords of the DCA, he'd be considered one himself.
* You thought that Dual Destinies's Final case was really that dark? Well, the final case of Spirit of Justice makes it look like a rainbow story full of joy. It features the death of not one, not two, but [[SerialEscalation FOUR PEOPLE IN ONE SINGLE CASE]], with one of them being Apollo's father! It's like a deadlier version of Turnabout Goodbyes!
** The Divination Seance showing Inga's last moments is downright ''haunting'' before Apollo can make sense of it. It isn't too bad to start with until Inga is stabbed in the back. Seeing "'''Pain'''" flash up on the screen is practically a JumpScare here. In the final seconds before Inga's vision fades to black, he sees what appears to be a faceless Dhurke Sahdmadhi who seemingly laughs at him when the screen cuts to black before Inga succumbs to his injury. It's even worse for poor Rayfa, who initially has a ''very'' realistic-looking panic attack from having to process it.
** We also get to see the ''[[SarcasmMode pleasant]]'' scene of Dhurke getting shot thrice. With the 3D models. You also get to see Amara get shot in the stomach ''while testifying in court'' and then being told she only has a 50% chance of surviving.
** The way Dhurke Sahdmadhi dies, first he gets shot in the chest thrice by Justice Minister Inga, and considering that Dhurke did not die almost immediately, the bullets probably penetrated his lung or lungs and not his heart, how long he stayed alive after being mortally wounded and if his cause of death is either blood loss or suffocation is unknown. But since Dhurke Sahdmadhi was shot, not only would he have labored breathing and dyspnea, it probably hurt for him to even breathe until he died. He PROBABLY had the worst way to die out of any Ace Attorney Victim, since it was a lingering death, and not only did he lose a lot of blood and it was hard for him to breathe but it also hurt for him to even breathe as he was dying.
*** Heck, even in his dying minutes, Dhurke Sahdmadhi becomes ''the'' Nightmare Fuel for Inga. When Dhurke steps in to save Maya, he gets shot in the chest to her horror... but doesn't even flinch. When Inga gets confused, Dhurke gives him a DeathGlare that gets him in a panic, and Inga tries shooting him again and again in his futile effort to take him down for good... only to find that he's still standing like some kind of superbeing after two more gunshots. When Dhurke gives him the following BadassBoast, he gets all freaked out and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere runs away like the]] DirtyCoward he is.
---->'''Dhurke:''' Heh... did you really think a peashooter like that... could kill a dragon?!\\
'''Inga:''' ''[terrified at what he's done]'' What are ya, some kind of freak?! Nuts to this! ''[runs away]''
** One witness late into the trial has a "damage" animation that's practically a JumpScare. Namely, a sudden lightning flash coming from behind Amara, scaring off her animals and showing her as a terrifying glowing-eyed silhouette for a split second. It's a good thing she's actually not evil, or it could've gotten even worse.
** The last moments of the trial deserve special mention. It's one of the few times someone's life is threatened in court as the queen calls in the royal guard. Yes, for the last part of the trial PHOENIX AND APOLLO are held at gunpoint!
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7jv1ticnf0 The low, droning music track]] that plays when you have to present TheReveal that Dhurke was DeadAllAlong. It sounds more like something out of a SurvivalHorror game, and perfectly captures the moment: both Apollo and the player know ''exactly'' what the solution to this contradiction is, but ''desperately'' don't want to believe it. And instead of a '''Take That!''' when you present it, you get a ScareChord.
*** It's even scarier if you're still playing the game on a [=3DS=]. It's bad enough if you press the "Present" button, but it's even worse because, if you're brave enough to shout '''"Take that!"''' on a working microphone, you press the "Microphone" (Y) button and all the sound becomes muted. Normally when you press the Y button in all other ''Ace Attorney'' DS/[=3DS=] games, you can shout '''"Hold it!"''', '''"Objection!"''', '''"Take that!"''', '''"Gotcha!"''' (games that involve Apollo Justice) '''"Eureka!"''' (''Ace Attorney Investigations'') or even '''"Yes!"''' or '''"[='=]Scuse me!"''' (''The Great Ace Attorney'', [=3DS=]-only) without fear. But here, the moment you turn on the microphone button before the AwfulTruth, the silence becomes deafening with a sense of unease, [[NothingIsScarier making you afraid]] that you don't want to shout the two very words that come out of your mouth, but you ''know'' you reluctantly have to in order to progress further with the right evidence... and pray that the nightmare may pass without incident.
** Jove Justice's Divination Seance. Imagine being a parent who is caught in a fire with your baby, desperately trying to escape with you and your child's lives until you're floored by a blow to the head. You drop your child to the ground, and in your final moments desperately try to reach out to your baby before your vision goes dark and the fire consumes you, with your last thoughts being that your child is going to burn to death and there's nothing you can do about it. This was exactly what happened to Jove Justice during the last moments of his life.
* Apollo nearly drowns. It's hard not to come out of that part feeling like Apollo did at that moment because of the way it's written and the speed the dialogue appears at. It's hard not to feel like you yourself are drowning while it's going on, since the scene drags out and makes you feel a sense of desperation and fear like nothing before in the series. No matter how aware you are that they won't kill Apollo here, the scene is ''terrifying'' and, on a second play or when talking about it with someone who's not as far in the game as you, can stir up feelings of anxiety. This one part of the game is ''traumatic''.
* The FinalBoss is without a doubt the most frightening Ace Attorney villain yet. This is a woman who, out of petty jealousy, framed her sister's husband for murder, used her own niece as a blackmailing tool to keep her sister and nephew in line so she could legally kill them later, and left an infant to die in a fire without batting an eye. This is a woman who is responsible for Khura'in's downright toxic and putrid legal system which has killed many lawyers and innocent people alike and makes it impossible for those accused of a crime to have a shot in court, almost leading to 9-year-old Ahlbi's death as well as being the reason why Beh'leeb and Tahrust have to resort to framing Maya for Zeh'lot's accidental death. This is a woman who is not afraid of rewriting the laws in court to suit her needs, including making ''standing up to her'' punishable by death. This is Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in, a ruthless and sadistic dictator who comes dangerously close to getting away with all of her crimes if not for Apollo's quick thinking.
** The moment she reveals what she's ''[[TheCaligula really]]'' like. Forget the fact that she looks like some kind of EvilSorceress straight out of DarkFantasy. It's also at that point that she decides to reveal she's ''[[AxCrazy completely fucking insane]]'', changing the laws of Khura'in on a whim not only out of the desire to win the case to ''legally kill her own nephew'' but also out of raw sadism and mentally torturing her own family out of nothing but spite for her sister. Even the tone of her theme changes from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIVXfEHvI2s intimidating but regal]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXD2t8WLMWw discordant and shrill]], as if the music itself were slowly losing its mind.
** And if you needed proof of how [[AxCrazy frothing-at-the-mouth bloodthirsty]] she is, her ''[[EstablishingCharacterMoment second line]]'' as a prosecutor absolutely sells it.
--->'''Ga'ran:''' Woe to you, O enemies of Khura'in, for I shall personally slice, dice, and grind you up into hog feed!
** Let's not forget about her breakdown. She desperately tried to commune with the dead even when she knows she can't, and when she tried so hard and failed miserably she collapsed. When she woke up she was convinced that she was the Holy Mother whom she tried to channel. She essentially had a SanitySlippage.
* Case 5 has Maya being held hostage for several days. While this has happened before, this time she actually has to be hospitalized and put on an IV drip when she's recovered. One can only imagine how much distress Phoenix felt at having to go through this all over again. Sure, it's revealed she was rescued earlier than was first thought, but that doesn't make it any less horrifying.
** Speaking of flashbacks to 2-4, anyone suddenly start to have those when you realized that you are unknowingly condemning Maya to death with ease, just like Edgeworth? Or maybe you got those flashbacks earlier because you picked up on the fact that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Phoenix was not acting like himself]], and you went through all of that ''knowing'' why Phoenix would be acting so peculiar? It really doesn't help that, just like back then, his opponent, Apollo this time, has extremely good arguments that deftly shoot down his own just like Edgeworth's back then, while Phoenix's, by comparison, are weak and desperate and more than once, Apollo's skill forces Phoenix to play dirty, just like before.
* Dhurke's final request before expiring was for Maya to channel his spirit. He dies and Maya channels his spirit right then. Leaving aside how unnerving it must have been to watch someone die than try to channel them right afterward (Maya is only accustomed to channeling the deceased after some time had passed since their death), there's the matter that Dhurke was channeled right after he died, meaning the first thing he got to see was ''his own body'' lying on the ground, dead. Imagine having an out-of-body experience on an operating table but it's 100% real and you ''know'' that the only link you have left to the living world is the spirit medium channeling you at that moment. It's enough to drive a person mad but Dhurke perseveres on because he has UnfinishedBusiness.
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[[folder: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice]]
* Before the game even launched, the description of the Kingdom of Khura'in's handling of defense attorneys in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7gsGg-MPX0 the animated prologue]] to the game is unsettling. They made being a defense attorney a ''capital crime''. It is literally punishable by death to ''claim someone isn't guilty'' when the water mirror has already said otherwise. The courts are referred to as "the court of despair" because so many guilty verdicts are handed out without any sort of objection. One defendant is even dragged out of the courtroom tearfully pleading for a defense attorney but it goes unheeded.
** The ''sheer hatred'' of defense attorneys in Khura'in is beyond crazy. The only other notable time Phoenix himself faced [[UpToEleven such an]] [[KangarooCourt antagonistic courtroom]]? It was [[VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVSPhoenixWrightAceAttorney Labyrinthia's Witch Trials.]] The main difference between the two? Labyrinthia is a fake city [[EveryoneLives with no actual casualties]]. Khura'in is far worse because of its government ever since [[TheCaligula Ga'ran]] came into power. Because of the DC Act, defense attorneys are scarce in Khura'in and that led to cases that led to the deaths of many innocents because of the lack of actual interpretation of the Divination Seance. Both of these created an infamous reputation that created the "Courts of Despair".
* The web demo can cause a chill to run your spine when you first see the images projected by the water mirror. You see Ahlbi raise something above his head and his terrified expression is upsetting (since he's only 9). Then he brings it down harshly and everything goes black followed by text reading "PAIN" in big red letters appearing in the lower left. It implies the victim suffered before they died but since you're only [[NothingIsScarier told it hurts]], it can be disconcerting (plus, again, without more facts you're basically seeing a 9-year old boy kill another person, which [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior doesn't sit well]]).
** It can get uncomfortable during the trial when the audience gets whipped up in saying Ahlbi (along with Phoenix) deserves the death penalty, just based on the hazy visions of the Pool of Souls. For one thing, Ahlbi is just a scared kid on the stand who thinks he has no recourse, quivering and comforting himself by talking to the dog in his bag while the entire room is demanding he be hanged (Gaspen is pretty bad too in this regard, gleefully labeling Ahlbi a traitor and a murderer). Then there's Phoenix, who is just ''trying to do the right thing'' and not only being ridiculed but having the Sword of Damocles (or rather the judgment of the Holy Mother, as it would be in this case) hanging over his head the entire time. It really ratchets up the tension for the player and makes getting a "Guilty" verdict one of the more FridgeHorror-laden moments in the series history.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0rWtGbAYRs The Divination Seance music]] (especially the ScareChord). It certainly reinforces the tone of being stalked by someone (or something) about to strike.
* While he's still very much the smug blowhard of a bully that he was in ''Dual Destinies'', Gaspen Payne's career choice as Khura'in's Chief Prosecutor is quite disturbing when one thinks about it. Because he was shooed out of the prosecutor's office by Edgeworth (and rightfully so), he decided to prosecute in a country where defense attorneys are basically extinct and has sentenced an untold amount of people to death for the sake of starting fresh with a perfect record. And he is disturbingly smug about the prospect of sending an innocent nine-year-old boy to his death, along with Phoenix when he takes his place in Ahlbi's corner. He basically went from Winston Payne 2.0 to a less intelligent and more incompetent Manfred von Karma, which really says a lot about the type of person Gaspen is.
* Case 2 brings us Roger Retinz, a.k.a The Great Mr. Reus, a former magician with a grudge against Troupe Gramarye. The sheer amount of ''loathing'' that man has running through his veins, and the sheer cackling insanity he shows when taunting Magnifi Gramarye from beyond the grave can be downright chilling-especially given his "taunting Magnifi" pose, where he looks like ''the freaking Devil'' admiring his own {{Hellfire}} while laughing at the soul caught therein. The VillainousBreakdown is quite creepy: He puts on one final "show" for the court, making creepy masks of each member of the troupe appear in his cloak, them making them vanish in flames while proclaiming how he'll see them all burn. Then he gets to Trucy, except when he opens his cloak, it's ''his'' mask inside. He freaks out for a bit, then tries the trick again, only to have his face show up a second time, this time bloody and laughing. He then starts panicking, yelling that he's not to blame (in a manner that echoes [[VillainSong "Hellfire"]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}''), as multiple spotlights shine in his face as the camera slowly zooms in. It's implied that a large amount of this might just be happening in his head, showing just how deluded and insane he's become.
* Tahrust Inmee's Divination Seance. Just imagine seeing a cloaked figure wearing a creepy mask suddenly hovering towards you in the darkness and ended up killing you at the end. Not helping that it is one of the most challenging seances to crack down, so you get the privilege of seeing the scene over and over again.
** The whole truth? It was [[DrivenToSuicide all a cultivated suicide]]. Tahrust used his own death to draw away suspicion from his wife over the fact that the place he died is an [[LaResistance entrance to a rebel base and that they were rebels]].
* The end of Case 3's first trial, especially to those savvy about the series conventions. The witness turns out to be a complete dead end, and Phoenix has nothing. The judge feels there's no further need to prolong the trial, and so declares Maya and Phoenix GUILTY. ...now would be the time for the obligatory BigDamnHeroes moment, right? Naturally, the bailiff runs in. Phew, the trial is saved... wait, he came to say another murder has occurred, and ''Maya looks guilty of that one too?'' And now the prosecution officially accuses Maya of not just one murder, but of being a ''vigilante serial killer who's been operating for the past 2 years?!'' He's suspending the trial to ensure she gets a ''worse sentence?!'' When it's implied she was ''already'' getting the death penalty?!? And no, the guilty verdict is NOT overturned. In a rare moment in the series, [[DarkestHour a day 1 trial ends in a decisive victory for the prosecution, and Phoenix is, as Rayfa points out, a dead man walking]].
* Case 3 has Phoenix entering a possible rebel hideout alone... and inevitably being [[TapOnTheHead knocked out]] and waking up [[AloneWithThePsycho in an old, dilapidated room with the recently-escaped Datz Are'bal]]. The sense of dread is defused when [[AffablyEvil Datz is revealed to be a pretty jovial guy for a rebel]], but it comes right back when he "tests" Phoenix by pretending to want to leave the rebellion, and when he "passes" reveals he was fully prepared to ''stab him to death right there'' if he turned out to be an agent of the queen. Remember, Datz is ''ex-military'', so he would've made good on that threat. It's a good thing Phoenix was smart enough to talk his way out of that one because Datz is clearly someone whose bad side you do ''not'' want to be on. The whole situation makes the rest of the investigation ''extremely'' tense as Phoenix can't reveal anything he learned there to anyone, as if it got out he'd been speaking with someone essentially considered a terrorist... well given the ExactWords of the DCA, he'd be considered one himself.
* You thought that Dual Destinies's Final case was really that dark? Well, the final case of Spirit of Justice makes it look like a rainbow story full of joy. It features the death of not one, not two, but [[SerialEscalation FOUR PEOPLE IN ONE SINGLE CASE]], with one of them being Apollo's father! It's like a deadlier version of Turnabout Goodbyes!
** The Divination Seance showing Inga's last moments is downright ''haunting'' before Apollo can make sense of it. It isn't too bad to start with until Inga is stabbed in the back. Seeing "'''Pain'''" flash up on the screen is practically a JumpScare here. In the final seconds before Inga's vision fades to black, he sees what appears to be a faceless Dhurke Sahdmadhi who seemingly laughs at him when the screen cuts to black before Inga succumbs to his injury. It's even worse for poor Rayfa, who initially has a ''very'' realistic-looking panic attack from having to process it.
** We also get to see the ''[[SarcasmMode pleasant]]'' scene of Dhurke getting shot thrice. With the 3D models. You also get to see Amara get shot in the stomach ''while testifying in court'' and then being told she only has a 50% chance of surviving.
** The way Dhurke Sahdmadhi dies, first he gets shot in the chest thrice by Justice Minister Inga, and considering that Dhurke did not die almost immediately, the bullets probably penetrated his lung or lungs and not his heart, how long he stayed alive after being mortally wounded and if his cause of death is either blood loss or suffocation is unknown. But since Dhurke Sahdmadhi was shot, not only would he have labored breathing and dyspnea, it probably hurt for him to even breathe until he died. He PROBABLY had the worst way to die out of any Ace Attorney Victim, since it was a lingering death, and not only did he lose a lot of blood and it was hard for him to breathe but it also hurt for him to even breathe as he was dying.
*** Heck, even in his dying minutes, Dhurke Sahdmadhi becomes ''the'' Nightmare Fuel for Inga. When Dhurke steps in to save Maya, he gets shot in the chest to her horror... but doesn't even flinch. When Inga gets confused, Dhurke gives him a DeathGlare that gets him in a panic, and Inga tries shooting him again and again in his futile effort to take him down for good... only to find that he's still standing like some kind of superbeing after two more gunshots. When Dhurke gives him the following BadassBoast, he gets all freaked out and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere runs away like the]] DirtyCoward he is.
---->'''Dhurke:''' Heh... did you really think a peashooter like that... could kill a dragon?!\\
'''Inga:''' ''[terrified at what he's done]'' What are ya, some kind of freak?! Nuts to this! ''[runs away]''
** One witness late into the trial has a "damage" animation that's practically a JumpScare. Namely, a sudden lightning flash coming from behind Amara, scaring off her animals and showing her as a terrifying glowing-eyed silhouette for a split second. It's a good thing she's actually not evil, or it could've gotten even worse.
** The last moments of the trial deserve special mention. It's one of the few times someone's life is threatened in court as the queen calls in the royal guard. Yes, for the last part of the trial PHOENIX AND APOLLO are held at gunpoint!
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7jv1ticnf0 The low, droning music track]] that plays when you have to present TheReveal that Dhurke was DeadAllAlong. It sounds more like something out of a SurvivalHorror game, and perfectly captures the moment: both Apollo and the player know ''exactly'' what the solution to this contradiction is, but ''desperately'' don't want to believe it. And instead of a '''Take That!''' when you present it, you get a ScareChord.
*** It's even scarier if you're still playing the game on a [=3DS=]. It's bad enough if you press the "Present" button, but it's even worse because, if you're brave enough to shout '''"Take that!"''' on a working microphone, you press the "Microphone" (Y) button and all the sound becomes muted. Normally when you press the Y button in all other ''Ace Attorney'' DS/[=3DS=] games, you can shout '''"Hold it!"''', '''"Objection!"''', '''"Take that!"''', '''"Gotcha!"''' (games that involve Apollo Justice) '''"Eureka!"''' (''Ace Attorney Investigations'') or even '''"Yes!"''' or '''"[='=]Scuse me!"''' (''The Great Ace Attorney'', [=3DS=]-only) without fear. But here, the moment you turn on the microphone button before the AwfulTruth, the silence becomes deafening with a sense of unease, [[NothingIsScarier making you afraid]] that you don't want to shout the two very words that come out of your mouth, but you ''know'' you reluctantly have to in order to progress further with the right evidence... and pray that the nightmare may pass without incident.
** Jove Justice's Divination Seance. Imagine being a parent who is caught in a fire with your baby, desperately trying to escape with you and your child's lives until you're floored by a blow to the head. You drop your child to the ground, and in your final moments desperately try to reach out to your baby before your vision goes dark and the fire consumes you, with your last thoughts being that your child is going to burn to death and there's nothing you can do about it. This was exactly what happened to Jove Justice during the last moments of his life.
* Apollo nearly drowns. It's hard not to come out of that part feeling like Apollo did at that moment because of the way it's written and the speed the dialogue appears at. It's hard not to feel like you yourself are drowning while it's going on, since the scene drags out and makes you feel a sense of desperation and fear like nothing before in the series. No matter how aware you are that they won't kill Apollo here, the scene is ''terrifying'' and, on a second play or when talking about it with someone who's not as far in the game as you, can stir up feelings of anxiety. This one part of the game is ''traumatic''.
* The FinalBoss is without a doubt the most frightening Ace Attorney villain yet. This is a woman who, out of petty jealousy, framed her sister's husband for murder, used her own niece as a blackmailing tool to keep her sister and nephew in line so she could legally kill them later, and left an infant to die in a fire without batting an eye. This is a woman who is responsible for Khura'in's downright toxic and putrid legal system which has killed many lawyers and innocent people alike and makes it impossible for those accused of a crime to have a shot in court, almost leading to 9-year-old Ahlbi's death as well as being the reason why Beh'leeb and Tahrust have to resort to framing Maya for Zeh'lot's accidental death. This is a woman who is not afraid of rewriting the laws in court to suit her needs, including making ''standing up to her'' punishable by death. This is Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in, a ruthless and sadistic dictator who comes dangerously close to getting away with all of her crimes if not for Apollo's quick thinking.
** The moment she reveals what she's ''[[TheCaligula really]]'' like. Forget the fact that she looks like some kind of EvilSorceress straight out of DarkFantasy. It's also at that point that she decides to reveal she's ''[[AxCrazy completely fucking insane]]'', changing the laws of Khura'in on a whim not only out of the desire to win the case to ''legally kill her own nephew'' but also out of raw sadism and mentally torturing her own family out of nothing but spite for her sister. Even the tone of her theme changes from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIVXfEHvI2s intimidating but regal]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXD2t8WLMWw discordant and shrill]], as if the music itself were slowly losing its mind.
** And if you needed proof of how [[AxCrazy frothing-at-the-mouth bloodthirsty]] she is, her ''[[EstablishingCharacterMoment second line]]'' as a prosecutor absolutely sells it.
--->'''Ga'ran:''' Woe to you, O enemies of Khura'in, for I shall personally slice, dice, and grind you up into hog feed!
** Let's not forget about her breakdown. She desperately tried to commune with the dead even when she knows she can't, and when she tried so hard and failed miserably she collapsed. When she woke up she was convinced that she was the Holy Mother whom she tried to channel. She essentially had a SanitySlippage.
* Case 5 has Maya being held hostage for several days. While this has happened before, this time she actually has to be hospitalized and put on an IV drip when she's recovered. One can only imagine how much distress Phoenix felt at having to go through this all over again. Sure, it's revealed she was rescued earlier than was first thought, but that doesn't make it any less horrifying.
** Speaking of flashbacks to 2-4, anyone suddenly start to have those when you realized that you are unknowingly condemning Maya to death with ease, just like Edgeworth? Or maybe you got those flashbacks earlier because you picked up on the fact that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Phoenix was not acting like himself]], and you went through all of that ''knowing'' why Phoenix would be acting so peculiar? It really doesn't help that, just like back then, his opponent, Apollo this time, has extremely good arguments that deftly shoot down his own just like Edgeworth's back then, while Phoenix's, by comparison, are weak and desperate and more than once, Apollo's skill forces Phoenix to play dirty, just like before.
* Dhurke's final request before expiring was for Maya to channel his spirit. He dies and Maya channels his spirit right then. Leaving aside how unnerving it must have been to watch someone die than try to channel them right afterward (Maya is only accustomed to channeling the deceased after some time had passed since their death), there's the matter that Dhurke was channeled right after he died, meaning the first thing he got to see was ''his own body'' lying on the ground, dead. Imagine having an out-of-body experience on an operating table but it's 100% real and you ''know'' that the only link you have left to the living world is the spirit medium channeling you at that moment. It's enough to drive a person mad but Dhurke perseveres on because he has UnfinishedBusiness.
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[[folder: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]]
* Perceiving in general. The creepy slower-than-usual music, the swirling background and the flickering eyeball at the bottom is usually enough to scare anyone off playing the game entirely. It's reminiscent of the final boss battle of ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}''.
** Apparently Apollo's eyes are bugging out completely as he stares down the witnesses with such intensity. Imagine how creepy that would be for anyone just watching him perceive something.
* Kristoph Gavin might be one of the scariest characters in the series. His reasons for destroying so many lives and getting Phoenix Wright disbarred was because [[EvilIsPetty he was fired from defending someone for losing a card game]]. Also, he is the only murderer in the series who actually could have gotten away with his crimes if it was not for the test of the jurist system, because there was not a single legal way to prove his guilt. He's just that intelligent and CrazyPrepared.
** Perceiving him is scary enough, but when you see his nervous habit--namely, his hand tensing and a combination of his finger bones and the scar on his hand forming a demonic face, you may need to take a break from the game and move on.
** His eyes. It doesn't help that they're hidden behind ScaryShinyGlasses when he testifies... After he has his second VillainousBreakdown, his eyes begin to look twitchy and unhinged, and they're staring murderously right at ''you''.
** His black Psyche-Locks. Assuming the player has played the previous Ace Attorney games, this is the first time you see anything like them, so they immediately stand out, a fact Phoenix himself notes. And what's more? Phoenix is right; '''you never unlock them''', because you ''can't''. He'll never tell the truth, and he'll do anything, ''anything'' to protect his secret, and will do it with infinite coldness. Poisoning adults, children, lying, murdering people in cold blood... he's actually done all of this. Just imagine what that sick bastard would have done to Trucy, Apollo and Phoenix had he got out free.
*** With the release of ''Dual Destinies'', we finally learn their true meaning: the desire to protect their secret is so deep, it goes beyond conscious desire and is hard etched into their psyche & unconscious mind. If brute force is used, they could potentially harm the person's heart/soul, but even so they are near impossible to break by conventional means. This means the answer to the question which brought them up, "Why did you kill Shadi Enigmar?", is so deeply ingrained in his self, it utterly consumed him and lead to his extreme actions.
** There's also the fact that beneath his calm, kind exterior, he's actually a raging narcissist and AttentionWhore who thinks only ''two'' things belong in the courtroom: "Me, and the law!" When Klavier brings up the experimental jurist system, Kristoph scoffs at the very idea of trials being overseen by a "mindless, emotional mob of irrational mouth-breathers". He thinks ''that highly'' of himself.
** His two {{Villainous Breakdown}}s when exposed: The first one has him angrily slamming his fist on the defendant/witness stand. But the second one, which is spectacular by ''Ace Attorney'' standards, happens after he learns that Phoenix Wright was responsible for creating the Jurist System - Kristoph is so angry that the very courtroom begins to shake, and he [[SkywardScream screams Phoenix's name]] as his hair blows upward. The next scene has him hunched over, his meticulously groomed hair an outright mess, with a snarling mouth and a seriously twitchy and unhinged DeathGlare as the courts and his own brother give him his verdict.
** And finally, when Vera is found innocent by the jury, Kristoph breaks down into an extremely creepy [[LaughingMad psychotic laugh]]. Apollo's words on the situation really serve to drive home how creepy Kristoph's laugh truly is.
--->'''Apollo:''' The record will show... that when the verdict was announced, special witness Kristoph Gavin... laughed. A laugh louder than any ever heard before... or since. A laugh that echoed in the halls of justice, lingering for what seemed like hours.
* The moment when Magnifi's diary is presented. When it showed up, this player felt a sinking feeling in his gut as he realized that this is the moment when Phoenix Wright's career is destroyed, that this was the only available option: present the obvious forgery, or lose. Truly a terrifying moment.
* Neither of them are nice people but [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/5/51/Pal_vs_Alita.png/revision/latest?cb=20180314030820 the image]] of Pal Meraktis trying to strangle Alita Tiala with a lamp cord is pretty cold since [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything it looks chillingly like domestic abuse]].
** Pal's [[NightmareFace demented facial expression]] in that picture does not help matters, nor does the fact that his face looks partly shadowed out. [[SarcasmMode Sweet dreams!]]
* During the MASON System simulation in the fourth case, a conversation becomes unnerving and creepy when the discussing party mention [[ParanoiaFuel feeling like they've been watched for some quite time]].
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** On an AdultFear level, Alba is a corrupt diplomat who is also the head of a major smuggling ring and uses his power to keep his name clear, whose dealings resulted in the death of an innocent witness and the catastrophic damage of the economy of an entire country with counterfeit bills. Scandalous ambassadors and other people in positions of political power who use their power to subvert justice unfortunately exist in real life. And worse still, many of them, like Alba, will stop at nothing to escape responsibility for what they've done.

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** On an AdultFear level, Alba is a corrupt diplomat who is also the head of a major smuggling ring and uses his power to keep his name clear, whose dealings resulted in the death of an innocent witness and the catastrophic damage of the economy of an entire country with counterfeit bills. Scandalous ambassadors and other people in positions of political power who use their power to subvert justice unfortunately exist in real life. And worse still, many of them, like Alba, will stop at nothing to escape responsibility for what they've done.



** Jove Justice's Divination Seance is a huge example of AdultFear. Imagine being a parent who is caught in a fire with your baby, desperately trying to escape with you and your child's lives until you're floored by a blow to the head. You drop your child to the ground, and in your final moments desperately try to reach out to your baby before your vision goes dark and the fire consumes you, with your last thoughts being that your child is going to burn to death and there's nothing you can do about it. This was exactly what happened to Jove Justice during the last moments of his life.

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** Jove Justice's Divination Seance is a huge example of AdultFear.Seance. Imagine being a parent who is caught in a fire with your baby, desperately trying to escape with you and your child's lives until you're floored by a blow to the head. You drop your child to the ground, and in your final moments desperately try to reach out to your baby before your vision goes dark and the fire consumes you, with your last thoughts being that your child is going to burn to death and there's nothing you can do about it. This was exactly what happened to Jove Justice during the last moments of his life.

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