Due to some characters being Walking Spoilers, all spoilers will be unmarked. You have been warned.
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Phoenix Wright
- Artistic License – Law: Regardless of whether his client was guilty or not, Phoenix would never be able to turn against him in the middle of a trial in a real court of law, as this would violate the relationship a defendant and their attorney possess.
- Berserk Button: Do not update the autopsy report. Especially if you're Miles Edgeworth.
- Blue Is Heroic: He wears blue and is fighting for the truth, even if he lacks preperation.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: He gives one to Sebastian Debeste in the courtroom. He's also on the receiving end on one from Miles Edgeworth.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's quick to remind Maya that she'll eat herself to a heart attack if she stuffs herself with burgers.
- Final Boss: He is this to Miles Edgeworth, providing the final testimony in court.
- Friendly Enemy: He's this to Edgeworth. The two of them are good friends, but not unwilling to spar off against each other in court to prove who has the firmer argument if they need to.
- Hero Antagonist: Is this in the final act, where he faces off against Edgeworth in court. He's just doing his job, and turns against Mann when he realises he's the killer.
- Heroic BSoD: A comedic example. He has one when Edgeworth updates the autopsy report.
- Hope Spot: It seems like he's going to have a trivial case for once. Then Miles Edgeworth steps in and squashes that possibility once and for all.
- Idiot Ball: He's far more unprepared than usual and prone to making rash statements, as evidenced by his rather flimsy closing argument to Edgeworth in court.
- Player Character: He is this for the majority of the trial before the baton is passed onto Edgeworth for the final stretch.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: He turns on his client and concedes to Edgeworth's arguments when he realises that Mann is guilty of murder. This is despite the fact he was previously defending the guy.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: He comes unprepared to the trial so he has to make due with the nuggets of information he gathers during the testimonies. While this gets him far against an inexperienced opponent, his testimony is shattered by Miles Edgeworth who actually scouted the crime scene.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: He's finally given a prosecutor who has no skill whatsoever, allowing Wright to have a much needed ego boost. This is promptly crushed when Miles Edgeworth steps in and fixes the prosecution's mistakes.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: He's the only character that poses any challenge with his testimony whatsoever and stops the case from being a mere cakewalk, due to his bluffs serving him well. It doesn't save him from being obliterated by Edgeworth, yet it puts him a cut above the rest of the witnesses.
- Worf Had the Flu: One of the reasons he stumbles so much during the trial is because he has no idea what is going on, due to not have being briefed on the case beforehand.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: He has a similar reaction when he realises how woeful Debeste is in court.
Maya Fey
- Big Eater: She wants to eat her weight in burgers every day if given the chance.
- Deadpan Snarker: She quips that Leigh is bipolar due to the maid's mood swings and frequent change of tones throughout her testimony.
- Hope Spot: A comedic example. When it seems like the case is about to be wrapped up and she'll get the burgers she desires, Edgeworth steps in, exposes Mann's lies in court, and has him thrown in jail. She never gets her extra burgers.
- Running Gag: She wants a lifetime supply of burgers, which is why she was so excited to take Mann's case. This joke is repeated many times with several different variations, including in both Phoenix and Edgeworth's evidence pages. She's disappointed when the businessman is unable to supply these burgers due to his incarceration.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Burgers. She'll make sure to remind everyone of that.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: She shares this reaction along with Phoenix when witnessing Debeste's idiocy firsthand.
Judge
- Only Sane Man: He's the only character that acts like nothing is wrong, oblivious to the kangaroo court that is happening in front of him. This enables him to continue with the trial as usual instead of falling victim to the Idiot Ball being passed around by everyone else. Fortunately, Edgeworth steps in and provides a second scoop of sanity to the courtroom.
Sebastian Debeste
- Blatant Lies: His attempts to dismiss the fact that he called for a recess because he was crying hysterically due to having his arguments dismantled by Phoenix Wright are not very convincing, to say the least.
- Blue Is Heroic: Regardless of his effiency, it's safe to say he's trying to do the right thing, even if his mere presence makes the case more complicated.
- Butt-Monkey: He exists to be laughed at by Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, and the player due to his utter ineptitude as a prosecutor.
- Cringe Comedy: What most of his "deductions" boil down to. It's a miracle that Phoenix and Maya were able to keep a straight face as he made a mockery out of the legal system by humiliating himself as he made jarringly obvious blunders.
- The Ditz: He's well meaning, but utterly incompetent.
- Epic Fail: Let's see. He spilled juice on the autopsy report, appeared an hour early, forgot to inform himself about the trial he was prosecuting, relied on Dick Gumshoe to brief him about said trial, dismissed him for no reason before docking his pay due to a misunderstanding on what being ruthless meant, forgot to bring any witnesses in, broke into tears when Phoenix countered his points, and worst of all, he didn't even show up at the correct trial. Shelly De Killer, a dangerous assassin, was declared not guilty due to this mishap.
- Good Is Dumb: He's on the side of justice, yet is an absolute moron who only passed the bar exam due to Blaise Debeste's bribery.
- Hero Antagonist: He's this to Phoenix Wright, trying to do his job, yet making things more difficult due to his absolute idiocy.
- Insane Troll Logic: What all his arguments are at their core. They have no grounding in reality, are utterly stupid, and are easy to tear apart and dissect. There's less examples of Sebastian not falling into this trope than there are of him abusing it relentlessly.
- Insufferable Imbecile: He has no idea why nobody acknowledges his genius, failing to realise this is because he has none.
- Ironic Name: Sebastian's last name is a play on the best. He's far from the best, especially in this trial.
- Joke Character: This guy makes Winston Payne seem like Manfred Von Karma in terms of skill.
- Kick the Dog: He cuts Dick Gumshoe's salary for the dumbest reason imaginable, just because he thought it would make him seem ruthless. His justification was that everyone else did it, so he might as well do it also.
- The Klutz: He ruined all the evidence by spilling juice on it before the trial started. This sets the stage for his peformance during the trial.
- Prone to Tears: He breaks into hysterics when things don't go his way in court. This is all the time.
- Red Is Heroic: He may be dumb as a bag of rocks, but his heart is in the right place, as he really does want to see that justice is served.
- Refuge in Audacity: His deductions are so mind-numbingly idiotic that it's a wonder he wasn't disbarred halfway during his opening argument for his utter incompetence.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: He suspects that Stephanie Mann was killed due to a marital dispute. He's right, but the evidence he has to back it up is completely wrong, causing this line of questioning to be dismissed until Edgeworth takes over from him.
- Small Name, Big Ego: He's shocked Phoenix Wright doesn't recognise him, despite the fact that he's done absolutely nothing noteworthy at this point.
- Warmup Boss: He's the first opposing lawyer you go up against, posing far less of a challenge than Phoenix Wright does later on. He also helps set the tone for the chapter, being utterly unprepared and providing a flimsy testimony with more contradictions than accurate facts.
Dick Gumshoe
- Butt-Monkey: His salary is cut for no reason during the trial. Poor Gumshoe's not even shocked at this point.
- The Ditz: He's not very bright, though he's a genius compared to Debeste.
- Good Is Dumb: He's not very capable at his job, though he's eager to please and willing to help reach a fair verdict, even if he's incapable of bringing one without extensive prodding.
- Nice Guy: Even if he's not the most well informed, he's trying his best to do his job as well as possible while showing nothing but kindness to those around him. Unfortunately,this does not save his salary from being cut.
Rich Mann
- Awful Wedded Life: His marriage with Stephanie had fallen apart and was likely always on bad terms, as shown by how quick he was to murder his own wife.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He seems like a friendly and generous man. He's anything but this.
- Eviler than Thou: He's much more conniving and ruthless than Leigh, showing no remorse for his crimes and being far more greedy and detestable.
- Evil Redhead: He's got orange hair, and is a murderer.
- Eye Scream: One of his eyes is missing, though this is never explained why.
- foreshadowing: He mocks Sebastian's ineptitude, claiming it'll make it far easier for Phoenix to get a not guilty verdict. This is the first peek into his cruel and selfish mindest and a hint of what is to come.
- Faux Affably Evil: He puts up a generous and friendly facade, yet is actually a greedy and selfish murderer.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He wears glasses and is an extremely evil man.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a scar over his left eye and is a murderer.
- greed: He murders his wife rather than pay her alimony, due to his excessive frugal behavior.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His own knife is what does him in at the end, due to him being stabbed by his wife in self defense before he killed her.
- Hope Spot: An example where this is given to a villain. He's being defended by one of the country's best lawyers and being prosecuted by a stupid teenager, making it almost certain he'll be acquitted. Then Miles Edgeworth enters the court....
- Murder Is the Best Solution: He seems to think so. His wife can't beg to differ due to being dead, though it's clear that she would if she was able to.
- Light Is Not Good: He wears light blue and is far more amoral than he appears.
- Oh, Crap!: He breaks into a sweat when he realises that Edgeworth is taking over as the prosecutor.
- Punny Name: Rich man. He's very wealthy.
- The Reveal: He's actually his wife's killer, despite being Phoenix's client.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: He does this occasionaly, even before his crime is revealed. This becomes far more frequent when his true colours are revealed.
- The Scrooge: He's very frugal, something he even admits. This is one of the reasons he murders his wife.
- Til Murder Do Us Part: He sees killing his wife as a better alternative than divorcing her.
- The Unfought: He's never directly faced during the trial.
- Villainous Breakdown: He breaks into sweat and starts screaming once the final piece of evidence is presented to him.
- Walking Spoiler: The reveal that he's the culprit changes things entirely. It also shows that not everybody that Phoenix defends is innocent.
- Would Hit a Girl: He'd murder one, even.
Stephanie Mann
- The Alcoholic: Implied. She drinks wine frequently, ordering a new bottle almost every half hour.
- Awful Wedded Life: This is probably the reason why she was seeking a divorce. Her being killed by her soon to be ex-husband all but confirms this possibility.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: She fends off a knife-wielding Leigh using only a wine bottle before being murdered by her husband who she fought off with the same knife that almost killed her.
- Flat Character: Nothing is known about her, other than she was seeking a divorce, she was able to put up a fight against her attacker, and that she liked wine.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: She is stabbed by a suit of armor that is in her room, after almost being stabbed to death with a knife.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: She is on the recieving end of this, due to Rich not wanting to pay her an alimony.
- Posthumous Character: She's dead before the start of the chapter.
- Til Murder Do Us Part: This is unfortunately how her marriage with Rich ends.
Leigh Vine
- Affably Evil: Unlike her employer, her friendliness seems genuine. It doesn't change that she robbed and attempted to murder someone.
- Anti-Villain: She tried to kill someone after they witnessed her in the midst of a robbery, yet this was partially due to their mistreatment of her as well as her desperation due to getting paid very little. She's also highly remorseful, in a stark contrast to Rich who is highly unsympathetic.
- Bad Liar: She is terrible at lying, inadvertedly helping solve the case by providing evidence that nobody else previously knew about. Her testimony is her hammering the nails into her coffin, with Phoenix Wright gently pushing her down the right path to enable her to do so.
- Big "NO!": She shouts one during her breakdown.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's far more conniving and greedy than she originally seems.
- The Butler Did It: A female example as well as a mild subversion. She attacked the victim, but didn't kill her, despite believing she did.
- Cassandra Truth: She's actually correct in accusing Rich Mann of being the killer, even if this was just a ploy to deflect blame from herself.
- Cleavage Window: Her shirt is rather open and revealing, taking a page out of the Mia Fey playbook. No wonder Rich didn't believe her to be professional in her manner of presenting herself.
- Disc-One Final Boss: She's taken down about two thirds during the chapter, but isn't the killer or main antagonist of the trial. Once she's out of the picture, Rich Mann becomes the main antagonist.
- Expy: A sympathetic redheaded thief with a habit of muttering to herself. Her personality and mannerisms bring Ron Delite to mind while her appearance brings Dessiree Delite to mind.
- Evil Redhead: Something she shares in common with her employer. She's less villainous than he is, yet still is a thief and an attempted murderer.
- Framing the Guilty Party: She accuses Rich Mann of murder, though this is to deflect the blame from herself. Ironically, she's actually correct, even if she had no idea that she was framing Stephanie's real killer during her questioning.
- Graceful Loser: Once her crimes are revealed, she accepts that she's been caught and offers a full confession. She also seems to show remorse over her actions and doesn't put up a fight when she's taken to jail.
- Greed: Just like her employer, she is driven by her desire to obtain wealth, though this is due to her getting paid very little.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: She is able to identify the owner of the supposed murder weapon as well as claiming that Stephanie made a call to the police, two things she would be completely unaware of if she wasn't in the room during the time of the crime.
- Mood-Swinger: She jumps between moods in the blink of an eye, mainly due to being nervous about how she presents herself to the court. It unnerves Maya and Phoenix instead of endearing her to them.
- Motor Mouth: She's very talkative, speaking in long sentences in quick succession until someone shuts her up. Most of her dialogue involves her muttering to herself about her insecurities involving how she is presented to the rest of the courtroom.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's rather attractive, buxom, with most of her breasts visible, and she wears a short skirt. She was clearly designed to be easy on the eyes.
- Punny Name: She's a live in maid. She even lampshades it herself.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Or sympathetic attempted murderer. She stole some money from her employers and tried to stab Stephanie when she walked in on her, though she did this due to being paid a paltry sum and the attack was out of panic rather than malice. It paints a stark contrast between her and her employer later on.
- Villainous Breakdown: She starts shaking her head, causing her bangs to flap all over the place.
Miles Edgeworth
- Big Damn Heroes: He bursts into the courtroom before Rich Mann is acquitted for the murder he committed.
- Call-Back: He updates the autopsy report mid-trial a second time in the series, something that Phoenix Wright is desperate to prevent.
- Crazy-Prepared: He got DNA testing and luminol testing on the crime scene and investigated the room fully, knowing all the ins and outs of the case by the time he enters the courtroom.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: He gives a verbal equivalent to Phoenix Wright in the courtroom.
- Double Standard: He's not penalised for his mistakes, despite Phoenix Wright being held accountable for all his missteps.
- Friendly Enemy: He's this to Phoenix Wright. The two are good friends who just so happen to be on the opposite sides of the bench.
- Only Sane Man: He shares this role with the Judge, not falling victim to the utter lunacy that has taken over the courtroom.
- Player Character: He's this for the last segment of the trial, fixing all the mistakes that Sebastian somehow made during the trial.
- Red Is Heroic: He wears magenta, and steps into the courtroom to save the day.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: He's able to easily dismantle Phoenix's shoddy arguments, due to actually have had the liberty of examining the crime scene.
- Walking Spoiler: His appearance swerves the tone and outcome of the trial.
Shelly De Killer
- Artistic License – Law: How he was able to have a trial without a prosecutor is anyone's guess.
- The Bad Guy Wins: He gets away with his crimes once again, something that he seems to be rather pleased about.
- The Cameo: He only appears during the end of the trial, as a side gag.
- Karma Houdini: He once again gets away with all his crimes, due to Sebastian Debeste not showing up to prosecute him.
- Miscarriage of Justice: What he was being arrested for, he was likely guilty of doing. Him getting off scot free feels lie a massive injustice, escpecially when his numerous crimes are taken into account.
- Mythology Gag: This is the second time in Gizmological's games that he's gotten a not guilty despite his status as a Professional Killer.
- Professional Killer: It's his job, after all.
- The Unreveal: What he was being arrested for is never stated.
Canadian Judge
- The Cameo: He only appears in the ending as part of a gag.
- Miscarriage of Justice: He gives a not guilty verdict to Shelly De Killer, even though De Killer is a feared assassin. In all fairness, Canadian Judge had no way of knowing this.
