Characters / Ace Attorney: Franziska von Karma

Ace Attorney | Main Character Sheet
Wright Anything Agency (Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice) | Defense Attorneys & Assistants | Main Prosecutors (Miles Edgeworth, Franziska von Karma) | Prosecutors & Judges | Law Enforcement | The Fey Clan | Troupe Gramarye | Kingdom of Khura'in
Witnesses and Other Characters (Original Game | JFA | T&T [Dahlia Hawthorne] | AJ | DD | SoJ | Manga | Anime | Novels | Theater) | Victims
Investigations (AAI | AAI2) | TGAA (Major | Minor)
PL vs. PWAA

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Franziska von Karma (Mei Karuma)

Voiced by (Japanese): Yukari Suwabe (OT), Miyuki Sawashiro (trailers, drama CDs), Saori Yumiba (anime)

Voiced by (English): Janet Hsu (OT), Jessica Peterson (anime)

Debut: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All

^{Click here to see her at age 13}

"A fool's fool fools fools who foolishly accept the foolishness of a fool's fool."

Main prosecutor of the second game, she is the daughter of Manfred von Karma and fellow prosecutorial student to him alongside Miles Edgeworth (whom she refers to as her "little brother" despite being seven years his junior). Franziska is regarded as a prosecuting genius — she became a prosecutor at the age of 13 and her win record in her homeland of Germany is spotless. She intends to bring her brand of prosecution to meet Phoenix Wright in court. Franziska is an extreme perfectionist and rarely seen without her trademark whip, which she uses to intimidate and punish those around her.

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A-H

• Abusive Dad: Manfred was not a very good dad. This is first alluded to at the end of 2-4, when she confesses that she's felt like she had to compete with Miles Edgeworth for her father's love and attention. In Investigations, we see both Manfred von Karma's verbal abuse of Miles Edgeworth (right in front of Franziska, too, which she is visibly uncomfortable with) and his disregard for Franziska herself. To earn his attention, Franziska offers to compete with Miles in investigating a crime scene at thirteen. And he allows this, and bullies the detective in charge into allowing it too. Needless to say, this doesn't go well. Franziska later recognizes this same situation for Sebastian and proceeds to do her best to help and support him despite her normally abrasive nature.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the anime, she strikes her whip near rather than at witnesses. Some of her Amoral Attorney moments are removed, such as her concealing Lotta's photo.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Some of the Adaptation Expansion in the anime includes scenes implying that Edgeworth was legally adopted by Manfred von Karma after the DL-6 Incident, making him and Franziska actual adopted siblings, whereas the games only ever have him address them his mentor and mentor’s daughter and Franziska only calls him "little brother" (in the English localization) as an expression of seniority under Manfred’s tutelage.
• Added Alliterative Appeal: A lot of her strings of insults have this, like "Foolish fools with foolishly foolish ambitions.", or "whimpering whining wuss of a witness".
• Animal Motifs: Horses, which are used to point out her proud, haughty, reckless, and wild nature. Godot particularly is fond of calling her a "wild mare" (something Miles also called her), a filly, his "equestrian angel", etc. As a young teenager, she carries a riding crop and her outfit resembles riding gear (particularly her breeches and boots).
• Annoying Younger Sibling: To Edgeworth at times. Mainly in Turnabout Reminiscence
• Armor-Piercing Question: Receives one from Phoenix in Farewell.
  Phoenix: Victory is yours? Is that all this means to you..?
• Avenging the Villain: When she first appears, Franziska states that her motivation for wanting to defeat Phoenix is for "revenge", which Phoenix assumes means she wants to avenge the defeat of her father. This is not the case: her actual goal is to get revenge on Edgeworth by surpassing him, which she thinks she can do by defeating Phoenix.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Defied. She is the youngest of the Von Karmas and is the youngest prosecutor in the original trilogy, but she refuses to act like it — instead, she's got an abrasive, cold personality. She even refers to Edgeworth as her younger brother despite being seven years his junior.
• Back for the Finale: She returns as prosecutor for part of the final case in Trials and Tribulations.
• Badass Adorable: In spite of her tough and stern behaviour, she is actually a pretty cute young lady. Especially the few times she cries.
• Bad Boss: Poor Gumshoe is treated by Franziska far worse than every other person that mistreated him combined, especially in Justice for All.
• The Baroness: Whip-wielding ice queen. Interestingly, while plenty of other males find her Baroness nature sexy and enticing, Phoenix (and Gumshoe) mostly just find her scary as hell, with the latter begging for mercy of the financial kind.
• The Beautiful Elite: The von Karma family obsession with perfection extends to appearances and lifestyle, and Franziska is no exception.
• Beneath the Mask: A good amount of her attitude is just posturing and mimicking of her father. The real Franziska is a highly intelligent, hardworking young woman desperate to prove herself and save her pride, not a confident, cold-hearted Jerkass like her father.
• Berserk Button: Can't stand lying witnesses. Lotta Hart particularly triggers this big time just by appearing in front of Franziska; likely prompted by her lying in court during Miles Edgeworth's trial. She did actually ask a witness to withhold information from the court a couple of times, but every time it's not at her prompting, the witness quickly learns the taste of her whip, even if their lies were in her favor.
• Big Bad: She is effectively the closest to an overarching antagonist that Justice for All has, and her motive is revenge that would be achieved by defeating Phoenix Wright because she blamed Phoenix for causing Miles Edgeworth to disappear even though the real culprit for that was Damon Gant, and she planned to achieve her vengeance by defeating the lawyer that Miles Edgeworth was unable to defeat. She is ultimately unable to prosecute during the final case as a result of having the Make Way for the New Villains trope invoked. Her motive was crushed at the end of that case because Edgeworth finally defeated Phoenix in that case with some help from Phoenix himself after Phoenix managed to find a way to break the Blackmail that the guilty defendant and main villain in that case had over him.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • She is one of the heroes of "Farewell, My Turnabout," going out of her way to find and retrieve evidence just in time to prevent a miscarriage of justice. If not for her, Maya would be dead or an innocent woman would be sentenced to death while one of the murderers who was on trial would have gone free.
  • Played straight AND played with in Investigations 2: She arrives in the fourth case to provide Edgeworth with an updated autopsy report, only for Edgeworth to inform her that they had already figured out as much. It is however her position as an Interpol Agent that lets her investigate as a prosecutor beyond Blaise's influence. In the final case Gumshoe informs Edgeworth that it was only due to Franziska's position and insistence that they were able to recover the SS-5 incident files that quickly, earning him a good whipping from her, and her a silent "Thank you" from Edgeworth.
• Big Sister Instinct: Very prominently towards Miles Edgeworth, whom she calls her 'little brother', despite their 7 years of age difference in the other direction. Although she does tend to deny it to his face. Also noticeable towards Pearl, Kay Faraday, Sebastian Debeste... even Phoenix Wright in 3-5. Once you see past her Jerkass facade, her protectiveness is actually one of her more prominent character traits.
• Broken Ace: Despite being a successful, relentless prosecutor, Franziska has very little emotional maturity, besides being competitive to the point of ridiculousness. The second game's epilogue also implies that she never quite felt like she earned her father's love.
• Broken Pedestal: It's very clear by Investigations 2 that the pedestal Franziska held her father and his ideals on has crumbled, since she actively avoids directly referring to him, except where Sebastian is concerned, and even then, she doesn't often say "my Papa" like she used to. The one time she does, it's because she's in shock from learning exactly what caused the black mark on his record all those years ago. On the rare occasions where she does refer to her father, it is without the pride she used to always use when talking about him, usually indirectly comparing him to Sebastian's father.
  Kay: That person... he really loves his father, doesn't he...?
  Franziska: However... one must be able to accept the mistakes of their father... However much they may look up to them...
• Cassandra Truth: Aggressively Defied in her first appearance: spirit channeling is real in this series' universe, and Franziska von Karma bases her case on this fact, even if she has to present illegal evidence to prove it.
• Character Development: Not nearly to the extent of Edgeworth, though she does evolve from a seemingly one-note female Jerkass to a more complex Type A Tsundere, with the "dere" side more prominent than before by the time of the second Investigations game.
• Character Tic: Shares her father's habit of folding her arms and grasping at her sleeve. Considering she gets shot in the shoulder, just like her father, it's ironic in a fashion.
• Chekhov's Gag: She plants a tracking device on Gumshoe for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on him and to get the opportunity to whip him as soon as possible. This is initially shown as something on the long list of things that cements Gumshoe's Butt-Monkey status as well as Franziska's hostility. It comes into play when Gumshoe steals evidence from Shelley's second hideout in order to get it to Phoenix as soon as possible in an attempt to save Maya, but he crashes his car and breaks his phone in the process. Franziska manages to find him and deliver the evidence just in time.
• Child Prodigy: Became a prosecutor at the age of 13.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Develops a mild case of this when she's assisting Phoenix during case 3-5, making the sort of bizarre comments expected from an assistant character in the franchise. Especially jarring considering her usual behavior. It's possibly justifiable in that she's in a very traditionally Japanese locale for that case and was unfamiliar with the culture and customs of such a setting.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Compared to Edgeworth, who's calm and calculated, she's younger, female, and more outwardly emotional.
• Curtains Match the Window: Teal hair and teal eyes. She also wears light blue lipstick.
• Daddy's Little Villain: At first, she is as much an Amoral Attorney as her father. Then, after Character Development kicks in, she becomes a valuable ally to Phoenix.
• Deadpan Snarker: If she's not stinging people with her whip, odds are that she will with her words.
• Defeat Means Friendship: While she never becomes Phoenix's friend, when she appears in the last case of Trials and Tribulations, she does lend a hand to Phoenix, and is a bit less hostile towards him.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Starts as a female Jerkass, ends up a Type A Tsundere.
• Demoted to Extra: Her role in the sequel of Investigations has largely been toned down and she takes a much more passive role. She does however support Edgeworth using her position as both a prosecutor and Interpol Agent, by taking over and stalling Patricia Roland's trial, bringing down Blaise Debeste with Judge Courtney and Edgeworth and providing Edgeworth and Lang with the SS-5 case files.
• Department of Redundancy Department: Her constant repetition of the word 'fool' often falls into this.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Neither the Judge nor his brother are protected from Franziska's whips. Though neither penalizes her for whipping them.
• The Dog Bites Back: One of her whipping frenzies struck Matt Engarde. Matt had her shot through Shelly de Killer, so he deserved it.
• Double Standard:
  • Despite being willing to whip women in her first appearance, in subsequent installments she usually goes for the nearest male (Played for Laughs, of course) whenever a female is irritating her. Taken to its logical conclusion in the second case in Investigations, who Edgeworth wonders why Cammy Meele, who's asleep literally half of her first Testimony, isn't being bombarded by her whip (it's possible Franziska realized that Cammy being "asleep" was an act). You can press these two statements, but Franziska will whip Gumshoe instead.
  • In Investigations 2 there is one woman that triggers enough rage within Franziska that she breaks her double standard and immediately starts whipping her on sight: Lotta.
• Endearingly Dorky: She isn't immune to moments of awkwardness, once she starts to defrost. Though, her moments are much subtler than the others. At one point in Case 3-5, she asks Phoenix (in a completely sincere tone, based on his inner commentary when he answers her) if there used to be a lively port town along a river... which is at the bottom of a deep canyon in the mountains. Phoenix notes in the same case that "she's so openly hostile, it's almost cute", which implies that at this point, she's actively trying to be as tsun tsun as possible. She's strongly implied to have a severe Inferiority Superiority Complex thanks to her father and "little brother", and once you see Beneath the Mask to that insecure side, she's a slightly awkward young girl with a poor understanding of emotions, something even The Stoic Miles understands.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Refuses to whip children or old people (the Judge and his brother excepted).
  • In Investigations 2, she has no patience for Sebastian's foolishness, but even she's appalled when Sebastian's father Blaise not only insults him but reveals that Sebastian never earned the honors he's so proud of in order to break him.
• Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy: Commonly does when introducing herself. She also does it when she makes a point in court, the same way Edgeworth bows under those circumstances.
• Full-Name Basis:
  • To the point that everyone else present starts doing the same, whether by accident or to call her out on it.
    Edgeworth: Calling everyone by their full name... Can't you do something about that habit of yours?
  • Then there's this bit of hypocrisy at its finest.
    von Karma: How naive of you.
    Phoenix: But it's a bit strange, don't you think? ...Franziska von Karma.
    von Karma: Listen, Phoenix Wright! It's impertinent to call someone by their full name!
    Phoenix: I was only copying you.
• Germanic Depressives: She shows anger (a lot) and fear, though she almost never shows genuine sadness or happiness (not "Ha-ha, I crushed you" happy, normal happy).
• Germanic Efficiency: Like Edgeworth, she can get a lot done when she puts her mind to it. This has led to Interpol hiring her as an investigative consultant, where she seems more at home than in court.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Not even the judge is immune from her whip.
• Hanging Judge: Her role in Investigations, removed from the courts, has her play this role more than an Amoral Attorney.
• Heel Realization: Part of why she almost quits being a prosecutor at the end of Justice For All is because she realizes how wrong her attitude and methods have been, but doesn't believe that she can change her ways while still serving as a prosecutor. Edgeworth talks her out of this decision.
• High-Class Gloves: Her fancy outfit includes black gloves.
• Honor Before Reason: On two separate occasions in Reunion, and Turnabout, Franziska has the trial continue when a guilty verdict is about to be given, believing that the case can't truly be "perfect" unless she crushes every argument Phoenix comes up with.
• Hot-Blooded: The trait Acro claims she has in common with Phoenix. He doesn't appear to be wrong, considering how Franziska can't stand lying witnesses and tends to do her best to find the truth in the moment only to regret it later.
• Humanizing Tears: She spends the entirety of Justice For All acting abrasive and proud, but cries in front of Edgeworth at the very end of the game.
• Hypocrite: A very, very prominent trait, up to the point of defying her own Berserk Button sometimes: it's clear she genuinely hates lying witnesses with a passion, but that doesn't stop her from fixing testimonies when she's sure it doesn't make her case wrong. She also asks Phoenix "when did I ever bring up my Papa's name" despite mentioning being a von Karma and therefore always perfect about every other sentence; this can be interpreted, though, as her already refusing to acknowledge her father sharing her same name by the time of Justice For All. Most hilariously, she chides Phoenix for using her full name as it is 'impertinent' despite it being her own Verbal Tic. Phoenix even Lampshades this. Even has a rare positive example, where in the first game what she practices is actually much better than what she preaches.

I-Z

• Iconic Item: Her whip, which she uses to punish "fools". It gains a symbolic function at the end of Justice for All and as a teenager she carried a short riding crop instead (since she was kind of short for a whip).
• Improbable Age: While most legal experts in the series fall under this trope to some degree, Franziska is the most egregious example as she started her prosecuting career at the tender age of thirteen.
• Inadequate Inheritor: She's always concerned about living up to the von Karma name.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Deep down she has a crippling sense of dread that she's unworthy of the von Karma name, despite the massively egotistical personality she exhibits.
• Informed Ability: For a supposed prosecuting ace, Franziska sometimes shows some shoddy handling of witnesses and is prone to breaking down worse than her father or Edgeworth ever do. Edgeworth genuinely seems much more competent when he's on the prosecutor's desk. At the very least, once her control of the trial starts wavering, she's more quick to go into a Villainous Breakdown than her father or her "little brother". Justified, as even though she's had to work hard to get her position, she's still the daughter of a legendary prosecutor who, as Investigations demonstrates, was definitely behind her career's early start, and people likely cut her a lot of slack for her father's sake. Beside that, she really does work hard; she even claims the crown of the only prosecutor in the series to ever arrest a guilty suspect in a case that Phoenix takes.
• Innocently Insensitive: With Edgeworth. Constantly throwing around the name of the man that killed his father then framed him for two murders, including said father with praise of all things, in his face is pretty much a dick move in itself. Talking as though she expects him to continue following the family creed is just cruel. Luckily for her, Edgeworth isn't one to show emotions. But it is clear, especially in Investigations, that her words do strike a nerve.
• Insistent Terminology:
  • In Investigations she lets Edgeworth have access to the crime scene (which is under her jurisdiction) as her subordinate. Despite him doing all of the actual work with only minor input from her, she still insists that she's running the investigation. Because he's her subordinate.
  • More generally, she insists that Edgeworth is her little brother, even though he's both taller and older^note and, outside of the anime continuity, not actually adopted by her father.
• Insult of Endearment: The way she calls Gumshoe "Scruffy" can come off as rather affectionate in the later games she appears in.
• Interpol Special Agent: In Investigations, where she's operating as a consultant of sorts to help follow the trail of the Zheng Fa smuggling operation. She becomes involved in the plot of the game when her agency contact is murdered on his flight from Borginia.
• It Runs in the Family: She's basically a female mirror image of her father at first, before more character development establishes the nuances to how and why she became that way — something her father never gets.
• Jerkass Ball: She gets an even bigger one than usual in case 3-5 when she whips Phoenix while he's still suffering from a cold.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Initially tries her best to not show it, but if you know what you're looking for, her facade is seen crumbling as early as the beginning of Farewell:
    Phoenix: Victory is yours? Is that all this means to you..?
    von Karma: Wh-What..!?
    von Karma: ... H-Hmph!
    von Karma: Come, Scruff-face! The investigation briefing is about to begin.
    von Karma: This isn't over yet... I swear on my family's honor!
    von Karma: [throws a wad of paper at Phoenix, which turns out to be a signed autograph he needs to get information out of Wendy Oldbag]
  • Very evident in case 3-5, where she glares at Phoenix to be nice to Sister Bikini and yells at him for making Pearls cry, despite both of these having caused her quite a bit of grief. Combine this with Investigations and her taking care of Adrian Andrews, and it looks like Franziska has a soft spot for women in general, with several very harsh exceptions like Lotta Hart (and it's quite entertaining to consider why Franziska might have so much of a grudge against personally Lotta...)
• Karma Houdini: (No pun intended.)
  • She regularly commits assault with her whip, but is never punished for it, due to Rule of Funny.
  • On a more serious note, she actually got away with many dirty (or at least ethically questionable) actions, such as presenting an illegally obtained piece of evidence and manipulating witnesses. She might or might not have gotten penalties for that, though.
  • However, she does eventually get shot in the shoulder — just like her father — by Shelly de Killer, though she manages to recover fairly quickly.
• Leitmotif: A variation of "Triumphant Return". She shares the variation with her father in Investigations.
• Licking the Blade: She did lick a whip in her original designs in development. She doesn't do this in the actual game.
• Like Brother and Sister: With Edgeworth; justified as they were raised together. She calls him her "little brother" even though it's not true in any sense of the word.
• Made of Iron: She gets shot in the shoulder by Shelly DeKiller and is back on her feet in a day or two.
• Meaningful Name: "Mei" means "darkness". Franziska von Karma literally means "Free of Bad Karma", fitting as she eventually starts to grow past her father's toxic influence.
• Minion with an F in Evil: Even from the beginning, her attempts at living up to her father's legacy made her a Well-Intentioned Extremist at worst; as much as she tries to adopt her father's coldhearted demeanor, she really does care too much about doing the right thing to be a full-on Amoral Attorney. Even though she's already functionally disowned her father by the time of her first appearance, she's still obviously recovering from the Broken Pedestal she had him on and the pressure of his name value, and her defrosting has to do with her adjusting to the realization that his way of life just isn't for her.
• The Napoleon: She's about 5'3" as an adult (and much shorter at age 13), but it's really not good for your health if you call attention to that.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Towards the end of case 2-3, she launches a surprise search on the murderer's living spaces and takes the murderer (not exposed yet) into custody, stating that a von Karma leaves nothing to chance. She does this to prove that the murder weapon isn't hiding there, and to deny Phoenix the chance to search for it. This forces the wheelchair-bound murderer to hide the murder weapon (a bust) under his wheelchair and carry it with him to the police station, only to be exposed carrying the murder weapon in the middle of court by Phoenix Wright. After the reveal, the murderer actually commends Franziska for trapping them like this. It's implied that Edgeworth gave her a tip (likely through Gumshoe) to launch that surprise search.
• No Social Skills: The cold, steely mask Franziska wears hides how awkward she really is after a life of being ignored by her only parental figure. She's utterly out of her element when put outside of the courtroom, and her Hair-Trigger Temper and tendency to jump straight to her whip when angry both indicate some serious trouble regulating her emotions.
• No Sympathy: Doesn't refrain from whipping Mimi Miney even after she crosses the Despair Event Horizon over her sister's death by Cynicism Catalyst. Also continues to whip Phoenix even when he is suffering from a bad cold.
• Noodle Incident: In the manga it isn't entirely known just what kind of favor she owed her friend in order to fill in at Thong Fortunetelling and be given the moniker of Madame Lovetap (and, had the murder not occurred when it did, Phoenix would have been her customer!).
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Having been raised in Germany all her life, Franziska's German accent is conspicuous only by its distinct absence. Notable for the fact that of all people, Edgeworth can be noted for having an English one, heard best when he says "Take that!"
• Not So Above It All: Despite her efforts of putting on a no-nonsense face, Franziska is sometimes just as prone to silliness and immaturity as the rest of the cast. For example, there's her sincere belief in Trials & Tribulations that Hazakura Temple once held a port...in the mountains.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • With Sebastian Debeste with Investigations 2, something that she herself seems to recognize and even mellow out to the boy afterwards. Both have a Broken Pedestal towards their fathers and have to look for their own paths now, while accepting that their fathers, no matter how much they look up to them, are actually very bad people. When he shows up in court during "The Grand Turnabout" she gladly hands over the case to him and states she'll be watching his performance from the gallery.
  • In Case 2-3, Acro states that Phoenix and Franziska are actually very much alike. Phoenix dismisses this suggestion outright, although they take Edgeworth's disappearance pretty much the same way.
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Not a very big leap, but she's a teenager going up against a 25-year old.
• Only a Flesh Wound: She gets shot in the shoulder by de Killer and only gets slowed down by one day. She looks 100% fine (no bandages or signs of weakness/shock) when she barges in for her Big Damn Heroes moment and when asked about her injury her answer is basically "Oh, that. Recovery in hospitals is for losers." This is another parallel with her father, who was also shot and refused treatment, though Manfred von Karma's reasons were much less altruistic than hers. In the Ace Attorney anime, she shows up wearing bandages on her arm where she was shot, but still gives the same "recovery is for losers" answer.
• Out of Focus: She and Gumshoe are the only two main characters from the original trilogy not to appear in the present day events of the post-timeskip games.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: To Phoenix, though Edgeworth'll do in a pinch since he's the one Franziska wants to be superior to.
• The Perfectionist: She claims that until Phoenix Wright gives up, she will happily let him continue fighting and she will fight back, to win the perfect battle. Her current witness, Ini Miney, reacts like you would expect.
• Persecuting Prosecutor: Claims to be this in the first game she appears in, apparently to continue her father's legacy. She doesn't quite live up to her own hype, though, with one of the Establishing Character Moments being her whipping the judge to allow Phoenix to continue his cross-examination (and while in-game Phoenix attributes it to her overconfidence, that's immediately before he discovers she'd been concealing evidence and gives her a well-deserved penalty, which she couldn't have seen coming). Phoenix doesn't ever appear to notice this, but he wouldn't have gotten away with either claiming Pearl didn't see Ini without any proof or even calling Pearl to the stand, or cross-examining Ini about the model of her sister's sports car from half a year ago on Edgeworth's watch without getting him onboard beforehand. In every case, Franziska does everything she can and some things she technically can't to nail the real guilty party, even if she's not happy when it leads to her losing the case. Completely gone by the time of Investigations 2; she even explains that she's not taking sides, and the only side she's on is the truth.
  Franziska: I'm on nobody's side, Scruffy. When searching for the truth, it's best not to take sides.
• Pet the Dog:
  • She won't whip children or the elderly (except for the Judge and his Canadian brother). Phoenix also remarks that she seems genuinely hurt and possibly remorseful after Pearl chews her out for being a "mean lady".
  • In case 5 of Trials and Tribulations, Franziska spends the majority of her time outside the courtroom working inside the Training Hall to rescue Maya, who was presumed to have been trapped inside for days in the freezing cold with no food and water. This is a notable moment, considering that she is volunteering to rescue someone who she would look down upon, and especially on a day where she could have easily chosen to instead confront her nemesis Phoenix Wright in court again.
  • She also seems genuinely worried when Edgeworth mentions that Phoenix fell off the Dusky Bridge.
  • In case 4 of Investigations, she shows concern for Kay, relating to her on the fact both her fathers were respected prosecutors, and also admits she wouldn't know what to do without her father, and on the game overall she sometimes shows concern for Edgeworth, even dropping the Full-Name Basis with him when she's not angry or exalted.
  • Also in case 4 of Investigations 2 she was appalled by Blaise's treatment of Sebastian, and in the ending, seems concerned about Sebastian, since both of them are trying to live up to their fathers.
  • It's implied she let Larry base at least part of "Franzy's Whippity-Whip Trip" on her, and this book has brought him some modicum of success by Spirit of Justice.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: In Episode 15, the Judge objects to her using a whip in court, prompting her to whip and respond with, "It. Will be. No problem. At all."
• Punctuated Pounding:
  Franziska: ...Miles Edgeworth... The courthouse is to be kept pristine at all times!
  Edgeworth: *gets whipped* Nnghooooh! I-It wasn't me that dropped food on the ground!
  Franziska: The courthouse! *whip* Must be! *whip* Kept clean! *whip*
  Edgeworth: Nnnghooooooh!
• Put on a Bus: She hasn't had a presence in the series since Investigations 2, and no one in the main cast with a connection to her namedrops her or explains what she's been up to since then.
• Rage Quit:
  • Her first loss to Phoenix causes her to angrily whip him into unconsciousness.
  • Happens again in 3-5, where she whips the witness, Larry, into unconsciousness instead.
• Self-Serving Memory: In Trials and Tribulations, she boasts to Phoenix that she has never lost a case, nor will Phoenix ever be able to beat her in court. Phoenix notes to himself that both of these are untrue, and that he's unsure whether she has a self-serving memory or she genuinely forgot.
• Small Name, Big Ego:
  • She may a teen prosecuting prodigy, but she seems to be under the impression that her defeating a small time defense attorney (albeit one who ended the winning streaks of two undefeated prosecutors) is enough to make national...no wait, global news. On top of that, she seems under the impression that she's already world-famous thanks to having gone five years undefeated — an achievement to be sure, but not quite as awesome as she makes it sound considering that Winston Payne actually went two years longer before experiencing his first defeat.
  • She acts like this even at the age of 13, proudly proclaiming her family name and her soon-to-be status as world's youngest prosecutor. Callisto Yew snarks that until she actually is a prosecutor, she's just some brat with a whip.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's not the series' only female prosecutor, but she is (so far) the only woman among the primary prosecutors of the main series games.
• Sophisticated as Hell: On one hand, Franziska tends to be overly formal, such as calling people by their full names - even her own "little brother" Miles. However, she also often lapses into incoherent insults when agitated, periodically switches registers in the courtroom to sound like the teenager she is ('But is the bust really all that shiny?' is one such quote) and constantly invents new nicknames for Gumshoe (Scruffy, Trenchcoat McScruffFace, etc).
• Sore Loser: See Rage Quit above. She takes winning and losing so seriously that she'll physically assault those who bring her defeat.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She was created to replace Edgeworth once it was clear he was a popular character and deserved more of a role than "the prosecutor that Phoenix always beats." Every game since then has had a different main prosecutor, although Franziska resembles her predecessor the most — like Edgeworth, she's a haughty, cold prodigy. Justified, as they were raised and trained by the same man.
• Teen Genius: Not only is she eighteen in her debut game, but she became a prosecutor at age THIRTEEN.
• Thinking Tic: Franziska crosses her arms and squeezes her upper arm in her thinking animation.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In the Investigations games. While not losing her hardened edge, she shows her soft side with much more frequency than she did before.
• Trademark Favorite Food: In the anime, it's heavily implied to be pancakes; given that she badgered her father all the way to Lordly Tailor just to eat some.
• Triumphant Reprise: In Investigations, she shares the "Triumphant Return" theme with Edgeworth. The way it plays as she arrives mirrors quite closely to the way it did for Edgeworth in Justice For All, as both arrive as allies rather than enemies (albeit still antagonists). (She has her own remix compared to him, sharing the same melody with different instrumentation)
• Tsundere: Her "tsun" side comes up most of the time, and her "dere" side comes when she feels vulnerable or takes pity on someone helpless. To quote Phoenix:
  Phoenix: She's so openly hostile, it's almost kinda cute.
• Verbal Tic:
  • She uses the words "fool", "foolish", or "foolishly" at least three times every sentence.
  Edgeworth: (We got your point about three "foolishes" back, Franziska...)
  • In the Japanese releases, she sprinkles her more anger-charged statements with "Baka."
  • Calls everyone by either full name or made-up nickname, no in-between. Doesn't like it when others turn it right back on her.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Of the second game. In Investigations, she's also one of the first Rebuttal opponents whose logical flaws are not readily apparent.
• Weapon Jr.: Her riding crop from case 4 in Investigations. It's painful, but also adorable in a way.
• Weirdness Censor: Notably Averted, or even Defied in her first appearance, as she is one of the only two people in the series who notices and actively acknowledges Mia Fey's presence in court.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Defied in her first appearance: though she holds the same values towards court as her father, none of her motivation is driven by her father's downfall in the first game to salvage the von Karma name and gain the respect of her father (rather she is intrigued by facing someone in court who could best Miles Edgeworth, whose reputation rivaled her own in their homeland). However, in the flashback case in Investigations, it is evident that she actually does seek her father's approval.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: In the first case she appears in, she conceals some evidence, which Phoenix takes to be her Establishing Character Moment. The main problem the concealed evidence brought up, though, was the existence of supernatural in the series, which Franziska did not have any legal evidence to prove in court, despite it being well known to both Phoenix and the player to be real. She did have some illegal evidence, though, which she proceeded to show the court despite it being likely to get her into even deeper trouble. The evidence turned out to also contain yet another contradiction, but it really does look like Franziska hadn't noticed that one until Phoenix pointed it out.
• What Were You Thinking?: In "Turnabout Big Top", should Phoenix accuse the Judge of hiding the bust that was murder weapon, this is her reaction:
  Franziska: ...You had to think about whether it was a good idea to say that!?
• Whip of Dominance: Franziska is an Amoral Attorney who constantly carries a whip with her, which she uses on anyone who provokes her wrath and matches her tough, abrasive, and icy personality. She uses her whip even inside the courtroom and, when the judge protests, she even whips him into compliance and she gets away with it only due to Rule of Funny. The absurdity of this behavior becomes a Running Gag, to the point that when she's seen as a teenager it reveals she wielded a riding crop in the same manner. Her favorite victims are Phoenix and Gumshoe — she seems to consider it almost affectionate, by the end, never mind that that thing hurts — only eight-year-old Pearl Fey (which probably would have killed any possible sympathy for her), paralyzed-from-the-waist-down Acro, middle-aged (and not the picture of health) Sister Bikini, Godot (who simply shamed her into compliance), and Detective Badd (who swayed out of the way) manage to escape unscathed. Shi-Long Lang caught the whip when Frannie first tried to use it on him, but fell victim to it later in the case.
• The Worf Effect: For most of Justice For All, Franziska is an aggressive, overbearing, abusive presence; she routinely whips the tar out of everybody in the courtroom, even the Judge, and gets away with it. When the tension is beginning to ramp up in 2-4, however, she's ambushed and shot by DeKiller. The only reason she lives is because he had no reason to outright kill her - he just wanted her out of Phoenix's way. This is right around the point where DeKiller's true identity as an infamous, widely-feared assassin is properly revealed, and what he did to Franziska serves to cement his credentials.
• Worf Had the Flu: Her two subsequent losses to Phoenix in the second game make her status as a legendary Teen Genius look like something of an Informed Attribute; however, if you look closer, those two cases are a lot more complex and convoluted than most other cases Phoenix ever takes. The only reason he found the truth in 2-2 where Franziska couldn't was his personal connection to the family, and in 2-3 his investigation was ahead of hers thanks to literally supernatural means. The only moment in which he actually overtakes her is figuring out where the murder weapon is, which she takes hard as she's clearly not used to not being the smartest person in the room.
• Worthy Opponent: Appears to view Phoenix as this from the very beginning, even taking him on his word for some things in the first case they work together.
• Would Hurt a Child: In the anime, Franziska almost whips Pearl when she intimidates Pearl and Phoenix in her introduction by cracking her whip on the wall mere inches between them◊. Averted every other occasion, though.
• You Fool!: She utters variations of this at almost every turn.
  Franziska: (from Turnabout Prophecy, with a smug grin on her face) I already knew you were a fool, but now that I see your foolish foolishness again, I remember just how much of a foolish fool you really are. In fact, I think you may have foolishly upgraded your foolishness!
  Phoenix: Erk...
• Younger than She Looks: She's 18 in her debut game. Maya even lampshades how even though they're the same age, Fransizka's attitude makes her look older than she is, especially when compared to Maya's more childish behavior.

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*WHIP!!*

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