History NightmareFuel / AceAttorney

[[folder: Dai Gyakuten Saiban]]

* The horrifying tales of the prosecutor Barok van Zeiks more than qualify. With every single case he prosecuted before the events of Case 3, each defendant, guilty or not, ended up dying, either by natural means (according to Sherlock Holmes) or by machinations set up by the BigBad. It's no wonder that he got the nickname "Death God of the Old Bailey" and practically every defense attorney in the UK was frightened by him.

[[folder: Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2020_06_05_155243.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:How do they make a goofy villain like White ''this'' frightening!?]]

* Case 2's VillainousBreakdown. The killer yells that they didn't do anything wrong, and the real bad guy is Sirhan Dogen the assassin, as images of him appear on a black background and his bell rings. The rings get more and more frequent, as she starts covering her ears (implying she's hearing the sound in her head, as we are), until they blur and turn into an ''emergency siren'' as she screams. In short, you're basically watching her SanitySlippage, caused by the imprisoned assassin repeatedly reminding her [[ParanoiaFuel he has agents who can go after her family at any time.]] Probably one of the most disturbing breakdowns in the series on a psychological level. You later find out [[PayEvilUntoEvil Dogen had a good reason for going after her]], but at the time you're led to believe he was doing it all ForTheEvulz, which makes you wish he ''was'' guilty.

* 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, [[FridgeHorror and is implied to have killed more people in the past, including his 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.

* How about the BigBad of all of ''[=AAI2=]''? [[MonsterClown Simon Keyes]] is one of the most fiendish final bosses in the franchise. Why? Because he was responsible for a majority of the murders in the game...and didn't lift a finger for any but the last. He was able to easily manipulate everyone, even getting Edgeworth into bailing him out of suspicion in Case 2. He had nearly everything under control, the only slip-up until Case 5 was his aforementioned issues in Case 2. The only reason he was even caught was due to an utter SpannerInTheWorks in Justine Courtney who brought the fake Huang to the roof on April 4th. Had she not done so, everyone would be none the wiser AND even if they had, he would have had no direct hands in any murder, and gotten away with EVERYTHING! The only bright spot is that all his targets were true AssholeVictims.

* Case 3 features a death by being locked inside a burning carriage and slowly burning to death. Even though the victim is the BigBad [[TheBadGuyWins who got away]] [[KarmaHoudini with his original crime]] that is '''not''' a pleasant way to go.
* The final villain's breakdown has them try break their cane on the witness stand and ''strangling Inspector Gregson with it while on the stand''.

** Related, Madame Rozaik, the wax sculptor's testimony in Case 3's trial, which involves her describing how hard it is to make a mould out of a dead body's face before Rigor Mortis sets in, in vivid detail. And she talks about it in a way that implies "The Professor" ''isn't the first dead body she's done this to.'' Not helped by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJQ1ye6xlyA her theme]] playing through this sequence.

** 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 labelling 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 judgement 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.

* 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/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''), 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]].

* 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-espaced 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.

** 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 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 panic attack from having to process it.
** Rayfa has a ''very'' realistic-looking panic attack while trying to conduct a seance for her father, hyperventilating and all. It's hard to watch, and it's also terrifying to imagine yourself in her situation.

** 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 dypsnea, 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 blood and it was hard for him to breathe but it also hurt for him to even breathe as he was dying.

** 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 gun point!

* Apollo nearly drowns. It's hard not to come out of that part feeling like Apollo did in 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 Ta'hrust have to resort to framing Maya for Ze'loht'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 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.

** 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 then try to channel them right afterwards (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.

* The portrayal of the "murder" of Robert Hammond in the beginning of the first Turnabout Goodbyes gives a very eerie atmosphere to it. With the dark night and leafless trees makes the murder lifted straight out of a horror movie.
* Redd White's NightmareFace when he kills Mia is quite unsettling, and doubles as a JumpScare.
* Manfred von Karma's depiction in the Turnabout Goodbyes episodes is far more chilling than the game counterpart. Here, he shows a great level intelligence and fear towards anyone who stands in his way. This is shown in greater detail with episode 10, in which instead of meeting Phoenix and Maya in the files room regarding the DL-6 incident and tasing them to get the evidence, he gets it right when Phoenix and Maya arrive, showing how well he knows about the clues that might lead to the murder of Robert Hammond. Lastly, when Karma taunts Phoenix about usage of evidence of court in the moment where the guilty verdict is given, he ends his taunt by calling him an amateur and, unlike the other episodes, where a dramatic pointing results in someone being blown away, Manfred does it by SLAMMING his fist on the table. The episodes make von Karma truly live up to his reputation as a "demon" prosecutor.

* We all know how scary Ini (actually Mimi) is when she starts to show her true colors, but in the Anime version, we can get to hear her nasty demeanor towards the defense and it's quite unnerving to listen her threatening voice in the latter half.
* 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 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 demeanour, it also gives her a more sympathetic P.O.V..
* Matt Engarde's reveal of his true self is even creepier in the anime. Why? Because he does it while [[EvilLaugh giving out a very disturbing laughter]] that can be unnerving for many people, especially that the original material wasn't voiced. It also shows that this is pretty much a nightmare in-life to Phoenix, because at this point, he was begging that Engarde being the culprit was a lie, he wanted to believe in the goodness of his client... until that reveal slams him down that he's working for an evil bastard this time.

** 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.

* 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, [[FridgeHorror and is implied to have killed more people in the past, including his 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]]''. It sounds practically demonic. 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.

** 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 dypsnea, 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 it hurt for him to even breathe as he was dying.

** 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 dypsnea, it probably hurt for him to even breathe until he died.

--> Forum 90, a Japanese anti-death penalty group, conducted a survey of 900 ex-judges. Over 80 percent believed, that under the current system, miscarriages of justice were inevitable. Take the case of Toshikazu Sugaya. He matched the profile and blood type of a child murderer, but the police lacked any evidence. "They barged in and told me to sit down," recalls Sugaya. "Then they kept saying, 'You killed that kid, didn't you?' I said 'No, no,' but they didn't believe me." After a 13 hour interrogation without food, water, or a lawyer, Sugaya confessed.

** The worst thing? These things are all more or less TruthInTelevision when it comes to the [[https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_253/7530-Phoenix-Wright-s-Objection legal system of Japan]]. It has a scary reputation of having one of the highest conviction rates of all legal systems, regardless if the one who is convicted was actually guilty of the crime or not. A story in the link tells about a innocent man who was basically forced into confessing he murdered children, and spent years in prison as a result until a DNA test way later would fully prove his innocence. While this is eerily reminiscent of the in-universe case of Simon Blackquill, it is all the more creepy that this is real and it is something still happening in our world.

* The moment Maya reveals that she found the bullet that killed Gregory Edgeworth hidden in Manfred von Karma's office gives a close-up on von Karma's [[NightmareFace face]]: his irises have shrunken and his gums start showing as he clutches his shoulder, where the second DL-6 bullet is located]]. His eyes keep bugging out all the time, and then he lets out the scream that haunted Edgeworth for 15 years. The moment in his testimony when he describes picking up Yanni Yogi's pistol is just as unsettling. His voice gets all raspy and he mimics holding a pistol with both hands as he says that he "knew it was destiny". As he gets off the witness stand he looks frail, barely kept standing by his walking cane that is shattered by Phoenix's outburst.
* Morgan Fey's sprite where her pupils seem to be missing are adapted in this version into GlowingEyesOfDoom. There's also a more sinister air surrounding her this time around, and the calm demeanor as she talks to Ini (Mimi) about getting her off the hook]] is enough to send shivers down your spine. let alone when she chillingly talks to a portrait of Misty Fey.

* Matt Engarde's reveal of his true self is even creepier in the anime. Why? Because he does it while [[EvilLaugh giving out a very disturbing laughter]] that can be unnerving for many people. It also shows that this is pretty much a nightmare in-life to Phoenix, because at this point, he was begging that Engarde being the culprit was a lie, he wanted to believe in the goodness of his client... until that reveal slams him down that he's working for an evil bastard this time.

* 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, [[FridgeHorror and is implied to have killed more people in the past, including his 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 ''combined''. It sounds practically demonic. 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.
** His determination to get Kay falsely convicted for Jill Crane's murder is extremely disturbing, especially when he shows up to an at-the-time self-resigned and imprisoned Edgeworth during his DarkestHour and ''makes a mockery of his logic and search for the truth right to his face'', claiming that because Blaise is the one on top, he can do as he pleases and have his actions remain just and absolute. He even enunciates Kay's "guilt" so strongly later on in the case that it is [[PunctuatedForEmphasis emphasized the same way as the series' dreaded guilty verdicts]].
* How about the BigBad of all of [=AAI2=]? [[MonsterClown Simon Keyes]] is one of the most fiendish final bosses in the franchise. Why? Because he was responsible for a majority of the murders in the game...and didn't lift a finger for any but the last. He was able to easily manipulate everyone, even getting Edgeworth into bailing him out of suspicion in Case 2. He had nearly everything under control, the only slip-up until Case 5 was his aforementioned issues in Case 2. The only reason he was even caught was due to an utter SpannerInTheWorks in Justine Courtney who brought the fake Huang to the roof on April 4th. Had she not done so, everyone would be none the wiser AND even if they had, he would have had no direct hands in any murder, and gotten away with EVERYTHING! The only bright spot is that all his targets were true AssholeVictims.
** And, unlike every other villain, he actually accomplished everything he intended 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 friend, and likely be an amazing assassin himself when 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 get you to willingly murder someone else. And yet he's sympathetic...

* From ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'', ladies and gentlemen, we give you [[{{BlackEyesOfEvil}} the Proto Badger (pictured)]]. Whether he's [[EnemyRisingBehind ever-so-slowly sneaking up behind you]], a sword in hand or popping out of the ground staring directly at the player, this azure abomination will frighten the pants off of you, more than any murder in this game. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NVJjIYSGf4 Pleasant dreams indeed...]] It doesn't help that at the time, the Proto Badger was acting like a corpse. And this game came out in 2009 while Five Nights at Freddy’s was not conceptualized until 2014, that’s right the Proto Badger Existed before Five Nights at Freddy’s was even a thing.
* In the intro to case three, Edgeworth gets attacked by a person with a sword in a Proto Badger suit with empty eyes. The Proto Badger is just generally pretty creepy. The empty, black, soulless eyes, the permanent grin...

** And finally, when Vera is found innocent by the jury, Kristoph breaks down into [[http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac105/matlin90/Kristoph_Laugh_zpsbe9c69b5.gif?t=1393342996 an extremely creepy]] [[LaughingMad psychotic laugh]].

* 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 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-espaced 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 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.

* 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 will need to take a break from the game and move on.

*** 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]].

* Case 2's VillainousBreakdown. The killer yells that they didn't do anything wrong, and the real bad guy is Sirhan Dogen the assassin, as images of him appear on a black background and his bell rings. The rings get more and more frequent, as she starts covering her ears (implying she's hearing the sound in her head, as we are), until they blur and turn into an ''emergency siren'' as she screams. In short, you're basically watching her SanitySlippage, caused by the imprisoned assassin repeatedly reminding her [[ParanoiaFuel he has agents who can go after her family at any time.]] Probably one of the most disturbing breakdowns in the series on a psychological level.]] You later find out [[PayEvilUntoEvil Dogen had a good reason for going after her]], but at the time you're led to believe he was doing it all ForTheEvulz, which makes you wish he ''was'' guilty.

* 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.

* 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!]]

** 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.

** 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.

[[caption-width-right:350:How do they make a goofy villain like White, THIS frightening]]

* Redd White]]'s NightmareFace when he kills Mia is quite unsettling, and doubles as a JumpScare.

* 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 ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''), 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]].

* How about the BigBad of all of [=AAI2=]? [[MonsterClown Simon Keyes]] is one of the most fiendish final bosses in the franchise. Why? Because he was responsible for a majority of the murders in the game...and didn't lift a finger for any but the last. He was able to easily manipulate everyone, even getting Edgeworth into bailing him out of suspicion in Case 2. He had nearly everything under control, the only slip-up until Case 5 was his aforementioned issues in Case 2. The only reason he was even caught was due to an utter SpannerInTheWorks in Justine Courtney who brought the fake Huang to the roof on April 4th. Had she not done so, everyone would be none the wiser AND even if they had, he would have had no direct hands in any murder. The only bright spot is that all his targets were true AssholeVictims.

* From ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'', ladies and gentlemen, we give you [[{{BlackEyesOfEvil}} the Proto Badger (pictured)]]. Whether he's [[EnemyRisingBehind ever-so-slowly sneaking up behind you]], a sword in hand or popping out of the ground staring directly at the player, this azure abomination will frighten the pants off of you, more than any murder in this game. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NVJjIYSGf4 Pleasant dreams indeed...]] It doesn't help that at the time, the Proto Badger was acting like a corpse.

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

* A special mention must go to the film, where you're treated to the scene of [[spoiler:Yanni Yogi burning off his fingerprints in acid]].

** The police system isn't trustworthy either. For at least two years, the corrupt Chief of Police kept the Chief Prosecutor under his thumb via blackmail and (it's strongly implied) used her to fire or depose anyone he disliked, even if it meant forging evidence. (Edgeworth in particular nearly goes into a HeroicBSOD when he realizes that he scored at least one conviction on false evidence.) Before them, we had [[spoiler:Blase Debeste, an AmoralAttorney as bad as they come, as the Chief Prosecutor]]. Then in ''Dual Destinies'', the BigBad kills and replaces a detective, with no one the wiser; Phoenix and Edgeworth only discover him because Edgeworth was running a long game to expose the spy.

* [[spoiler:Kristoph Gavin]] might be one of the scariest characters in the series. His reasons for destroying so many lives [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler: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.

** His eyes. It doesn't help that they're [[spoiler:hidden behind ScaryShinyGlasses]] when he testifies... [[spoiler: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. [[spoiler: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: [[spoiler:the desire to protect their secret is so deep, it goes beyond concious desire and is hard etched into their psyche & unconcious 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 convential means]]. This means the answer to the question which brought them up, [[spoiler:"Why did you kill Shadi Enigmar?"]], is [[spoiler: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!" [[spoiler: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: [[spoiler: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 gives him his verdict]].
** And finally, [[spoiler:when Vera is found innocent by the jury]], [[spoiler:Kristoph]] breaks down into [[http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac105/matlin90/Kristoph_Laugh_zpsbe9c69b5.gif?t=1393342996 an extremely creepy]] [[LaughingMad psychotic laugh]].
*** Apollo's words on the situation really serve to drive home how creepy [[spoiler:Kristoph's]] laugh truly is.
-->'''Apollo:''' The record will show... that when the verdict was announced, special witness [[spoiler: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.
* [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler: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.

* During the [[spoiler: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]].

* Case 4: [[spoiler:Calisto pointing a gun at Edgeworth]]. In a series where the player character is rarely put under threat of death by another character, this can make the player's heart jump. To make things worse, [[spoiler:Calisto shoots, and Edgeworth barely dodges it.]]

* Case 5: That [[spoiler:Shih-na is a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything psychopath]]]].[[note]]Okay, yeah, it reminds us of ''[[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry them]].[[/note]]''. In addition, the [[LaughingMad psychotic laughter]] and SlasherSmile involved in that VillainousBreakdown, and the lopsided PsychoticSmirk that increasingly replaces her normal expression as time goes on just gets more and more unsettling.
* [[spoiler:Quercus Alba]] gets his own '''Objection!''' clip, despite [[spoiler:not being an attorney]]. It is fairly harsh on the ears, and the fact that it's an audible Objection shows you just how powerful he is within the context of the law.
** On an AdultFear level, [[spoiler: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 catastrphic 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.]]
** There's also [[spoiler:Quercus Alba's]] breakdown, where his skin begins to chip away and is blown off, leaving only his mummified-looking husk.

* In Case 1, Edgeworth, Kay, and Gumshoe are inside an enclosed space with [[spoiler:Shelly de Killer]] and a hostage. Then the lights go out... He doesn't kill anyone, but it's abundantly clear that he ''could''. Easily.

* Case 2's VillainousBreakdown. [[spoiler:The killer yells that they didn't do anything wrong, and the real bad guy is Sirhan Dogen the assassin, as images of him appear on a black background and his bell rings. The rings get more and more frequent, as she starts covering her ears (implying she's hearing the sound in her head, as we are), until they blur and turn into an ''emergency siren'' as she screams. In short, you're basically watching her SanitySlippage, caused by the imprisoned assassin repeatedly reminding her [[ParanoiaFuel he has agents who can go after her family at any time.]] Probably one of the most disturbing breakdowns in the series on a psychological level.]] You later find out [[spoiler:[[PayEvilUntoEvil Dogen had a good reason for going after her]], but at the time you're led to believe he was doing it all ForTheEvulz, which makes you wish he ''was'' guilty.]]
** How about the first time you encounter Dogen in person? Between the creepy music and the fact that he looks like he's looking at you ''despite being blind'', some players find him to be something of a jump scare.

* In the 5th case, [[spoiler:14-year-old Simon Keyes's drawing of what he witnessed happened in SS-5. Especially at how he draws Sirhan Dogen the assassin.]]
** In general the setting of the SS-5 Incident is unsettling. [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:murder of the president]] was covered up so thoroughly in the aftermath gives you a chilling look at how influential and vile [[spoiler:Blaise Debeste]] is.
* [[spoiler: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... [[spoiler: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 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, [[FridgeHorror and is implied to have killed more people in the past, including his 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 ''combined''. It sounds practically demonic. He also [[spoiler: gave Von Karma the only penalty during his entire career which sent DL-6 incident in motion, making him the GreaterScopeVillain in the ''entire'' series.]]
* How about the BigBad of all of [=AAI2=]? [[spoiler:[[MonsterClown Simon Keyes]] is one of the most fiendish final bosses in the franchise. Why? Because he was responsible for a majority of the murders in the game...and didn't lift a finger for any but the last. He was able to easily manipulate everyone, even getting Edgeworth into bailing him out of suspicion in Case 2. He had nearly everything under control, the only slip-up until Case 5 was his aforementioned issues in Case 2. The only reason he was even caught was due to an utter SpannerInTheWorks in Justine Courtney who brought the fake Huang to the roof on April 4th. Had she not done so, everyone would be none the wiser AND even if they had, he would have had no direct hands in any murder. The only bright spot is that all his targets were true AssholeVictims.]]
* Despite being an overall sympathetic figure, [[spoiler: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.
* Something about amnesiac [[spoiler:[[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140209153303/aceattorney/images/e/e6/K-Breakdown.gif Kay]]]] clutching her head and screaming without any sound to go with it (other than the usual 'beep-de-beep' effects) is unnerving (since the visualization is less like memories returning and more like being haunted by demonic voices that won't leave her head). Even the [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140209153157/aceattorney/images/c/c0/K-Idle6.gif idle version]] with her grit teeth and erratic, eye-twitching stare is unusually derranged for this series.

* The real murder method of the first case: [[spoiler:a rare poison that is absorbed through the bloodstream. It works by causing total body paralysis, including breathing, resulting in death by suffocation as the victim [[AndIMustScream is helpless to do anything, unable to call out or get any help as they slowly die]]. This poison is totally unknown in the game's version of Japan, making the cause of death completley untracable there, were it not for a SpannerInTheWorks. Made even worse by the fact that the first case's victim is John Watson himself. And even worse? [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curare This poison is REAL, and its effects in the game are no exaggeration.]]]]
* The horrifying tales of the prosecutor Barok van Zeiks more than qualify. With every single case he prosecuted before the events of Case 3, each defendant, guilty or not, ended up dying, [[spoiler:either by natural means (according to Sherlock Holmes) or by machinations set up by the BigBad]]. It's no wonder that he got the nickname "Death God of the Old Bailey" and practically every defense attorney in the UK was frightened by him.
* Case 3 features a death by [[spoiler:being locked inside a burning carriage and slowly burning to death.]] Even though the victim [[spoiler:is the BigBad [[TheBadGuyWins who got away]] [[KarmaHoudini with his original crime]]]] that is '''not''' a pleasant way to go.

--> '''[[spoiler:Crogley]]:''' YOOOOOOOOU TRAITOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!

* The Masked Man's true {{Leitmotif}} is a downright disturbing DarkReprise of [[spoiler: Asougi Kazuma's theme]]. Listen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqvbDq8PHIU here]]. (Beware of major spoilers)
* In the second case, after you reveal that [[spoiler: William Petenshy is an escaped convict desperately trying to get into a death-row inmate's old apartment to find a treasure he was promised]], the normally comical character ''[[https://youtu.be/mX3sRpbynrk?t=39m37s suddenly becomes a deranged lunatic]]'' (spoilers in the link, obviously). Made worse by [[spoiler:his being in some of his normal poses, but now sporting a ''really'' disturbing [[TheUnSmile Un-Smile]] and accompanied by slightly off-key sound effects. The unsettling music doesn't help either. Even the jurors are horrified in-universe!]]
* [[spoiler:Genshin Asougi's death, at first glance. Imagine being sentenced to death by hanging, said execution getting botched, having a metal mask placed over your head, being placed in a sealed coffin, and after how many hours pass by, when you come to and try to come out of your coffin, you get shot out of nowhere. As it turns out, the seemingly-botched execution was planned, but it's still a terrifying thought.]]
** Related, Madame Rozaik, the wax sculptor's testimony in Case 3's trial, which involves her describing how hard it is to make a mould out of a dead body's face before Rigor Mortis sets in, in vivid detail. And she talks about it in a way that implies [[spoiler: The Professor]] ''isn't the first dead body she's done this to.'' Not helped by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJQ1ye6xlyA her theme]] playing through this sequence.
* The entire premise of the game's backstory. [[spoiler: Someone relatively high-up in the British judicial system caught a SerialKiller in the act and blackmailed him into becoming his personal hitman, using him to [[KlingonPromotion kill his way to the top]]. Then, he coerces several key figures in both Britain and Japan into a massive conspiracy cleaning up every loose end. Part of this involved setting up Van Zieks' "Death God" reputation by killing everyone he prosecuted, another part involved taking advantage of international extradition treaties to assassinate key targets without fear of retribution. At least part of ''both countries' governments'' were in on this.]] ParanoiaFuel sets in when you find out [[spoiler: ''the Japanese judge'', someone you probably never suspected for a moment, is a killer working for the BigBad.]] Imagine being caught in the middle of all this.

** 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? [[spoiler: Labyrinthia is a fake city [[EveryoneLives with no actual casualties]].]] Khura'in is far worse because of its government ever since [[spoiler: [[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 this created an infamous reputation that created the "Courts of Despair".

** 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 [[spoiler: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 labelling 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 judgement 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.

* Case 2 brings us [[spoiler: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: [[spoiler: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 ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''), 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. [[spoiler: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? [[spoiler: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. [[spoiler: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... [[spoiler:and inevitably being [[TapOnTheHead knocked out]] and waking up [[AloneWithThePsycho in an old, dilapidated room with the recently-espaced 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 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 whos bad side you do ''not'' want to be on.]] The whole situation makes the rest of the investigation ''extremely'' tense [[spoiler: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. [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:Inga]]'s last moments is downright ''haunting'' before Apollo can make sense of it. [[spoiler:It isn't too bad to start with, until Inga is stabbed in the back. Seeing "'''Pain'''" flash up on 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 panic attack from having to process it.]]
** Rayfa has a ''very'' realistic-looking panic attack while trying to conduct a seance for [[spoiler:her father]], hyperventilating and all. It's hard to watch, and it's also terrifying to imagine yourself in her situation.
** [[spoiler: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.]]
** One witness late into the trial has a "damage" animation that's practically a JumpScare. [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:she's actually not evil]], or it could've gotten even worse.
** The last moments of the trial deserve special mention. [[spoiler: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 gun point!]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7jv1ticnf0 The low, droning music track]] that plays when you have to present TheReveal that [[spoiler: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 contradition is, but ''desperately'' don't want to believe it. And instead of a '''Take That''' when you present it, you get a ScareChord.
** [[spoiler:Jove Justice]]'s Divination Seance is a huge example of AdultFear. [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:nearly drowns]]. It's hard not to come out of that part feeling like Apollo did in that moment because of the way it's written and the speed the dialogue appears at. It's hard not to feel [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler: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. [[spoiler: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 Ta'hrust have to resort to framing Maya for Ze'loht'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.]]
** [[spoiler: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 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.]]
** Let's not forget about her [[spoiler:breakdown]]. [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:had a SanitySlippage]].
* Case 5 has [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:2-4]], anyone suddenly start to have those when you realized that you [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Phoenix was not acting like himself]]]], and you went through all of that ''knowing'' why [[spoiler:Phoenix would be acting so peculiar]]? It really doesn't help that, just like back then, [[spoiler:his opponent, Apollo this time,]] has extremely good arguments that deftly shoot down his own [[spoiler:just like Edgeworth's back then]], while [[spoiler:Phoenix's by comparison]] are weak and desperate and more than once, [[spoiler:Apollo's]] skill forces [[spoiler:Phoenix]] to play dirty, [[spoiler:just like before]].
* Dhurke's [[spoiler: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 then try to channel them right afterwards (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.

* 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[[spoiler:, and later Phoenix himself,]] murdering [[spoiler:Mia.]]

* [[spoiler:Redd White]]'s NightmareFace when he [[spoiler:kills Mia]] is quite unsettling, and doubles as a JumpScare.
* Manfred von Karma's depiction in the Turnabout Goodbyes episodes is far more chilling than the game counterpart. Here, he shows a great level intelligence and fear towards anyone who stands in his way. This is shown in greater detail with episode 10, in which instead of meeting Phoenix and Maya in the files room regarding the DL-6 incident and tasing them to get the evidence, he gets it right when Phoenix and Maya arrive, showing how well he knows about the clues that might lead to the murder of Robert Hammond. Lastly, when Karma taunts Phoenix about usage of evidence of court in the moment where the guilty verdict is given, he ends his taunt by calling him an amateur and, unlike the other episodes, where a dramatic pointing results in someone being blown away, Manfred does it by SLAMMING his fist on the table. The episodes make von Karma truly live up to his reputation has a "demon" prosecutor.

* The moment Maya reveals that she found [[spoiler:the bullet that killed Gregory Edgeworth]] hidden in [[spoiler:Manfred von Karma's office]] gives a close-up on [[spoiler:von Karma]]'s [[NightmareFace face]]: his irises have shrunken and his gums start showing as he [[spoiler:clutches his shoulder, where the second DL-6 bullet is located]]. His eyes keep bugging out all the time, and then he [[spoiler:lets out the scream that haunted Edgeworth for 15 years]]. The moment in his testimony when he describes [[spoiler:picking up Yanni Yogi's pistol]] is just as unsettling. His voice gets all raspy and he mimics holding a pistol with both hands as he says that he "knew it was destiny". As he gets off the witness stand he looks frail, [[spoiler:barely kept standing by his walking cane that is shattered by Phoenix's outburst]].
* Morgan Fey's sprite where her pupils seem to be missing are adapted in this version into GlowingEyesOfDoom. There's also a more sinister air surrounding her this time around, and the calm demeanor as she [[spoiler:talks to Ini (Mimi) about getting her off the hook]] is enough to send shivers down your spine. let alone when she chillingly talks to [[spoiler:a portrait of Misty Fey]].
* We all know how scary Ini [[spoiler:actually Mimi]] is when she starts to show her true colors, but in the Anime version, we can get to hear her nasty demeanor towards the defense and it's quite unnerving to listen her threatening voice in the latter half.

* Matt Engarde's reveal of his true self is even more creepier in the anime. Why? Because he does it while [[EvilLaugh giving out a very disturbing laughter]] that can be unnerving for many people. It also shows that this is pretty much a nightmare in-life to Phoenix, because at this point, he was begging that Engarde being the culprit was a lie, he wanted to believe in the goodness of his client... until that reveal slams him down that he's working for an evil bastard this time.

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