Tear Jerker / Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

Even the people who never frown eventually break down.

"Wh-Who... What... ...was I even fighting for?"

— Apollo Justice

Even after 15 years, Ace Attorney hasn't forgotten how to bring tears to its fans.

Take moments specific to the Phoenix arc, Apollo Justice, Dual Destinies, Investigations, or the 2016 anime to those pages, please.

All spoilers are unmarked!

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The Foreign Turnabout

• Ahlbi has an utterly horrific experience over the course of the trial. He's accused of theft and murder, nearly sentenced to death and finds out that the man he admired was actually a thief who threatened him with a weapon.
• The circumstances surrounding Paht Rohl's death. Desperate to help his family, Paht resorted planning out the theft of a valuable artifact he was assigned to guard, only to find out somebody else had beaten him to the punch that day. While trying to adapt and just pawn off the box the Founder's Orb was in, he finds himself forced to threaten an eight-year-old child that he clearly cared for, even expressing his hopes that Ahlbi's life would turn out far better than his would before his eventual death at the hands of the thief who beat him to the Founder's Orb.
• When it seems as though Phoenix will be unable to prove Ahlbi's innocence, and will be executed along with him, he begins to despair, all but certain that he and his client will die and he'll never see Maya again.

The Magical Turnabout

• As seen in the image for this page, your first interview with Trucy Wright in the Detention Center for her supposed murder of Mr. Reus has her sobbing. Words can't describe on how upsetting this scene is, especially coming from a cheery character like Trucy.
  • Everything Trucy endures during this case is horrible. It's bad enough that she's been accused of murder and fears that she really may have killed the victim by accident. On top of that, there's Retinz gleefully using his status a major figure in television to turn her trial into a media circus, encouraging the whole country to see her as guilty before said trial starts and filling the gallery with "fans" who jeer at her and call for the death penalty. Her friends, Apollo and Athena, are also thrown under the bus just for associating with her. The prosecutor tells her repeatedly that she's going to hell for a crime she didn't commit. She learns during the trial that her fellow magicians planned a cruel prank to mess up her debut show. And she finds out that Retinz tricked her into signing a contract that puts her father's law agency in jeopardy, and he taunts her about it after his crimes have been fully exposed. All of this, and Trucy is only seventeen years old. Yet she still manages to keep a brave face throughout most of the ordeal.
  • This is the scene that's used as the tutorial for Apollo's perception ability in this game. What is the statement that triggers Trucy's lying tell as she moves her eyes nervously?
  Trucy: Don't worry! I'm fine! I need to stay strong for my fans!
• At the beginning of the first trial, when Ema is called to testify, she goes on record to say that she believes in Trucy. Initially, she refuses to testify. Cue a passive-aggressive Nahyuta warning her to testify or else she will be punished. Her Snackoo animation changes accordingly from stressed to depressed. See for yourself!
  Ema: *angry* MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH
  Ema: *animation shifts to sadness* CHEW CHEW CHEW...
  • It's particularly painful when you find out that Prosecutor Sahdmadhi was pressuring Ema Skye with the possibility of forensics "job reassignment" if she continued to support Trucy. Considering that she just passed her exam and spent at least six years to get her dream job, Ema was not in a good position.
• Apollo's Survival Mantra of "I'm fine!" before the start of the first trial, when it's clear that the pressure is getting to him and he's nowhere near fine. Couple that with Trucy and Athena's visibly worried reactions about him rather than brushing off his concerns, and the whole scene becomes hard to watch.
  Apollo: I'm fine...I'm fine...I'm Apollo Justice, and I'm fine! {Trucy jumps back, alarmed}
  Athena: If you say so, Apollo...
  • It gets worse when you realize that Athena talking about Nahyuta's ability to direct the karma of the trial to prep Apollo isn't what makes his nerves worse—he simply registers that he'll have to stay on his toes if he wants to win. Then he remembers how Phoenix entrusted him with Trucy and the Agency, and believes in him, and that's what pressures him to keep repeating his Madness Mantra.
• The fate of the victim: Manov Mistree became a fan of the original Great Mr. Reus and gained a passion for performing magic tricks, even to the point of becoming Reus's student and adopting the moniker, only to have his career and life cut short in the name of the original Reus's revenge. It's no small wonder Trucy gives the culprit a "The Reason You Suck" Speech on the fact he doesn't know what it means to be a magician.

The Rite of Turnabout

• The truth. Beh'leeb only killed Puh'ray/Rheel Neh'mu in accidental self-defense because she was found out by him in the revolutionary's secret base, and he threatened to kill her. To quote, she had to kill a person whom she thought as a son because said person was about to kill her for being part of the revolutionary army. Tahrust found out about this and made it look like it was Maya who killed him, and later then committed suicide and again made it as if he had been murdered by Maya all just to save his pregnant wife from persecution because the law demanded that, if a person is found guilty, those who support him would be found equally guilty. Remember, one piece of the evidence is a picture of the four of them happily having a meal like a family, and it is broken all just because of one law. Made even more heart wrenching is the final goodbye between Beh'leeb and Tahrust, who is channeled by Maya during the trial.
  • It's even more heartwrenching for fans of Rayfa, who just had her entire worldview upturned and spat on, but that pales to the Awful Truth: Her parents are terrible people. She's devastated.
  • Phoenix proves she did it in self-defence without even really trying. It was just kind of something that he proved along the way, so that kind of made Tahrust's death... almost unnecessary.
    • In fact, Phoenix says that he would have defended Beh'leeb if Tahrust had sought him. But even as a rebel he could not trust her life to a lawyer and decided to take a more reliable (but much more painful) route.
  • The case's equivalent of a Breakdown might be one of the saddest in the series. It's time to exorcise Tahrust's spirit, and Rayfa lets Beh'leeb do the honors. She hold out the Magatama to him, with a heart-wrenching expression on her face, as he smiles and leaves Maya's body. The Magatama's glow fades and we get a close-up on her face as she cries and bids her husband a final farewell.
    • And a while earlier, Tahrust screaming in despair after his wife confesses. Why? Because at that exact point he knew he died for nothing.
• It's relatively minor compared to everything else, but this game's ladder vs. stepladder argument is pretty sad, switching Phoenix and Maya's usual roles to show Maya moving on from her childish nature and Phoenix being reluctant to accept it:
  Maya: Sorry, I guess I've outgrown that stepladder argument we always have...
  Phoenix: I think you mean "ladder," Maya.
• Beh'leeb Inmee carries a photo of her dead husband, talks to it as if it were actually him, and even holds it up in front of her face to talk to other people as him. This is mostly Played for Laughs, but it also gives the impression that she's going mad with grief.
• The end of the first trial day: There is nothing you can do about the argument that Nahyuta points out. He fully anticipated this result and although Maya is innocent unfortunately due to lack of information and evidence, she and Phoenix Wright (though the DC Act) are found Guilty. Just before they pass judgement, the Bailiff interrupts to point out another victim and that Maya is the suspect of THAT murder as well.

Turnabout Storyteller

• While the case is mostly silly comedic relief, the fact that five-year-old Owen basically witnessed his grandfather figure's murder is heart-wrenching. Athena's comments about the emotions she can hear behind what he says don't help either, especially if the player also lost a grandparent at that age.
• Even through her own jealousy, Geiru finally seemed to realise that what she did was wrong and completely horrible, and just.. breaks down about it. Made even worse when the whole case was built upon a terrible, awful misunderstanding that could've been avoided if Taifu actually talked to her about his motives. Simon sums up the tragedy of the whole thing in three words:
  Simon: Geiru, you idiot.
• A minor one but it's painful when Nahyuta turns the entire court against Athena. Due to her hypersensitivity to others' emotions this hits her much harder then it would most people (compare her reaction here to Phoenix's reaction to a similar situation in Farewell, My Turnabout) and the poor girl seems to be on the verge of her despair animation. Thankfully Blackquill's there to pull her out of it before it gets that bad.

Turnabout Revolution

• Meeting Sgt. Buff quickly becomes one when Surprisingly Realistic Outcome occurs and she breaks down and cries over the loss of her parents, especially since she lost both of them within a span of six months. Even through the drone, the pain is visible.
• Dhurke comes to visit Apollo, acting jolly and ignoring his curt dismissals of him. Finally, he explains why he came: He believes Nahyuta has lost his way and wants Apollo to help him. When asked why, Dhurke says he needs to help his son because "that's what a father should do." Apollo bitterly thinks to himself:
  Apollo: (I wouldn't know.)
• Apollo nearly drowns. It's as terrifying as it is heartbreaking, since he's all alone. And his last thought is to wonder why Dhurke never came back for him...
• The Reveal of Dhurke's death. Apollo has to prove a suspect disappeared from a closed chamber by channeling. Since only Dhurke and Maya were found alive in the room, and Maya is pretty much alive, Apollo comes to the conclusion that the Dhurke they met after the murder was dead all along. Considering everyone's reactions such as Phoenix and Nahyuta when Apollo realizes this was the truth into solving the mystery it's pretty hard to blame them when Dhurke was the only person who could have died. At first, he doesn't want to believe it. But after the judge calls for another thorough search of the murder scene, Ema reluctantly reports that Dhurke's body was found laid to rest in a sarcophagus. This causes a severe breakdown to both Apollo and Nahyuta — Apollo because Dhurke was his adoptive father; Nahyuta because he was his biological father. Apollo starts shouting "Please let my theory be wrong!" and bangs his head on the desk when the Awful Truth is confirmed. He even goes into a BSOD and starts questioning why he became an attorney in the first place. It manages to surpass his previous low point from Dual Destinies, where Clay was dead and he couldn't stop wondering if Athena did it.
  • What's more heartbreaking is that Dual Destinies shows us Apollo is extraordinarily good at hiding his emotions. Athena's reaction following Apollo's minor snap when he took his leave implies that she couldn't hear his emotions until then. Which considering his reaction in this game, means he might have actually still been reigning himself in at that time. Apollo doesn't like to show how he really feels, aside from his thinly-veiled dislike of Klavier and his "unprofessionalism" (unless you believe he's jealous, but considering his personality, it seems more likely he hates Klavier based on Klavier's inability to be professional). So to see Apollo, who actively tries to be the Consummate Professional and, considering he never talks about himself at work and is by far the most distant with his coworkers, has shades of thinking Being Personal Isn't Professional, display that level of emotion at work is crushing.
  • Speaking of Dual Destinies... That moment when you realize that Turnabout Revolution happens a mere five months after The Cosmic Turnabout. Basically Apollo lost two people close to him within a span of exactly five months and a day. Poor guy.
  • Maya also deserves a mention here. After Apollo confirms the Awful Truth, we get a picture of Dhurke's final moments, with him bleeding to death while Maya is forced to watch, trying to break her ropes while tearfully begging Dhurke not to die. It's more heart-wrenching when you consider that she's also experienced losing a long-lost parent.
• As if Case 5 weren't soul-crushing enough based on just what's right above this, no matter how many times you wanted to strangle Nahyuta with his braid or shove those prayer beads down his throat every time he called you "putrid" or told you to just give up, Case 5 was pretty rough on the guy.
  • And of course, it's revealed that he's completely undeserving of Ga'ran's bullying and cruel treatment, he having only done all that to protect his mother and sister from Ga'ran, and that he actually respected Apollo. Give the poor guy a hug already.
• Dhurke's marriage to Amara. By his account, they were Happily Married, but as the case progresses it's clear their relationship was a lot more complicated... and neither truly realized each-other's doubts. Amara genuinely believed that Dhurke really did try to assassinate her, but still went along with him because a part of her couldn't stop loving him. Then it turns out the channeled Dhurke suspected her of killing Inga, but he still loved her to the point that he lied to protect her. It gets even worse once the truth about 23 years ago comes out: turns out Ga'ran was the one behind the assassination attempt on Amara, and while she staged it so she wouldn't die, she framed Dhurke for it and used that to emotionally manipulate her sister into believing her husband was dangerous. In other words, Amara's suspicious of the man she loved were a giant lie spun by her sister just so she could usurp the throne, and she never knew.
  • 23 years ago Dhurke Sahdmadhi was accused of assassinating the Good Legitimate Queen Amara by the Now Evil False Queen Ga'ran and he was forced to flee to avoid a wrongful conviction and execution, 23 years later during the present, his foster son Apollo Justice manages to prove Dhurke Sahdmadhi innocent of both the false assassination charge and the murder of Late Justice Minister Inga and get the False Evil Queen Ga'ran overthrown arrested and maybe sentenced for death for her attempted assassination of her sister, murdering Jove Justice and Minister Inga, blasphemy for ascending to the throne and writing and passing laws without spiritual powers needed to channel spirits. But the truth of his innocence is not proven until the middle of his trial when we learn he was shot and killed by Justice Minister Inga all for being a thorn in his side for too long merely three days earlier. It is sad that Dhurke Sahdmadhi did not live long enough to see his innocence and revolution realized with his own two earthly eyes. A mere three days too late for that to happen. Instead he can only witness it from the Twilight Realm. The not guilty verdict, since he is now dead, merely means his soul was found not guilty for both attempts and can finally rest in peace in the Twilight Realm now that Apollo cleared his name, saved Amara, Nahyuta and Rayfa, overthrew Evil False Queen Ga'ran and helped finish the roadwork for the revolution to change Khura'in's legal system for the better.
  • Another sad one is that 15-17 years ago in 2012-2013 Dhurke left Apollo behind in America to protect him from persecution he would have faced if he was still in Khura'in for being Dhurke's foster son. Now 15-17 years in the present when he sees Dhurke again, he learns later that Dhurke was already killed 3 days ago by Inga. The last time Apollo saw Dhurke 15-17 years ago in 2012-2013 was the last time Apollo ever saw Dhurke alive.
• Apollo's biological father, Jove, was killed in a fire trying to save his infant son. He died before he could do so, and so died not knowing his son made it out alive. You get to watch the whole horrible event, but it's mercifully short, since you only have to cite one location twice in the entire seance.
• There's something very... off about the first part of the fifth case. Then you learn you're basically playing the part of Edgeworth in Farewell, My Turnabout during the first half of the trial- Nick is being blackmailed into aiding a slimeball of a human being with Maya's life on the line. Except this time, Nick is fighting all alone. And it really shows, too, how much of a toll it takes on him.
• Rayfa gradually falling apart over the course of the game. She may be an arrogant Bratty Half-Pint, but she genuinely wants to be the best queen and princess she can be, and it's hard to watch her repeatedly fail to live up to her own standards, which is only compounded her family issues. It culminates in her having a full-scale nervous breakdown when trying to perform a Divination Seance on her father, and collapsing into a sobbing mess in the middle of court after Ga'ran badgers her, bemoaning the fact that Khura'in is going to have such a failure for a queen. Rapidly becomes heartwarming, however, when everyone not Ga'ran in the courtroom chips in to convince her she isn't worthless.
  • Rayfa's breakdown hits especially hard when contrasted to her fainting spells in previous cases. When you finally break her insights in earlier cases, she melodramatically faints while yelling some variety of This Cannot Be!. After trying to do the Divination Seance for her father, she's going pale, gasping for breath, incapable of forming words, and then passes out. It's borderline terrifying to see.
  • There's a particularly piquant moment where Phoenix overhears her crying in another room and hesitates to go in (even though he needs to as part of his investigation) because it reminds him of his own daughter Trucy. It's hard to know which of them to hug first.
  • Then there is the application of the whole truth involving her family. Throughout this trial: she lost both of her fathers (and in a horrible twist in fate the adoptive father killed her biological father), nearly lost her biological mother and brother, the person who instigated the entire tragedy that led to this trial is her adopted mother, and is technically being held hostage by said adopted mother; all of this in a matter of days. You think Sarge/Armie had it bad, Rayfa's situation was worse in comparison.
  • There's a moment where, during investigation, Rayfa watches as Apollo finds evidence in Inga's safe... which has the combination set to Rayfa's birthday, and among the contents is a photo of her and a birthday letter she made for him when she was a little girl. She doesn't say a word, but it's painfully obvious that she's tackling with an excruciatingly painful trifecta of information: 1: Her father was a monster. 2: Her father is dead. 3: Her father genuinely loved her with all of his heart.
• Apollo's decision to stay in Khura'in.
• If you think about Apollo's parents, there is definitely some Fridge Sadness when you realize that Thalassa had to live with her husband and child disappearing. While she likely suspected their deaths in a fire, she never got a confirmation (as the body was never positively identified), and had to live with the fact until she lost her memory years later...
  • If you think about Apollo himself, he lost 3 fathers. His biological father whom he never got to know was killed in an arson caused by Ga'ran, his stepfather whom he didn't even know was his stepfather was killed by Kristoph, and there is his foster father Dhurke who is killed by Inga.
• In a combination of this and Fridge Horror, think about Thalassa's reaction to seeing Jove's picture at the end of the game. She says, "It's been so long..." and one will realize that not only did she forget about him when she lost her memory, but very likely had nothing in the way of mementos for her time with him. Not because of anything on her part due to the accident, but most likely everything from her past before the accident was hidden/destroyed by Magnifi!
• Like "Turnabout for Tomorrow" in Dual Destinies, there are multiple bad endings for this case in particular:
  • Fail the civil trial? The guilty plaintiff obtains the Founder's Orb and the revolution dies with it. As a result, Apollo and Phoenix's business relationship becomes terribly strained.
  • Fail immediately after the reveal of Dhurke's death? The revolution dies and the late founder of the Defiant Dragons is found guilty of both the assassination attempt and Inga's death.
  • Fail after Amara falsely confesses to Inga's murderer? Dhurke is acquitted from the charge of murdering Inga, but is still found guilty of Amara's assassination attempt, thus ending the revolution. Amara is subsequently tried and found guilty of Inga's murder in Dhurke's place.
  • Fail to successfully pin Garan to Inga's murder after Nahyuta's revival? Dhurke is no longer found guilty of the assassination and Inga's death, but the corrupt Garan regime is still active and Apollo is fighting in the revolution, possibly leading to his own death. In addition, Phoenix is never mentioned in this ending. His final fate is left unknown.

Turnabout Time Traveler

• The true nature of Sorin's ability to "time travel": Anterograde amnesia. Any new memories he makes are forgotten whenever he goes to sleep, essentially sending him "back in time" to the moment he first got amnesia. And the worst of it is, the most recent thing that he can remember every time he wakes up is the car accident that gave it to him... and killed his sister.
• The reveal that Sorin was responsible for the car accident that lead to his sister's death. As if having a beloved family member's death always fresh in your mind like it had just happened yesterday wasn't bad enough, imagine being the one who caused it.
• While what he did was horrible, it's not hard to understand how much pain Pierce felt. His fiancé, Selena, was fatally injured in an accident that was caused by her brother, Sorin. Even though Selena's injuries were more serious, she requested that Pierce save her brother first. He complied, and while he succeeded in saving Sorin, Selena ended up dying. Being unable to save the person you love, while the person who was accidentally responsible for her death is set to live a happy, successful life, would feel unbearable to anyone. Even Phoenix feels bad for him.
  Phoenix: (Pierce Nichody... Another inconsolable time traveler... who lived in time that stood still...)
  • To twist the knife further, Pierce's Breakdown has him relive the final moments of Selena's death as he fails to save her on the operating table, growing increasingly unhinged as he tears into the FXR-UPR. Most breakdowns in the series are either played for comedy or just for dramatic effect; his is one of the few to be actually sad. His lines as he nears the end of the breakdown get especially tragic.
    "I can fix anything! Repair anything! So you have to get better! You have to live! You must!"
  • Likewise, even Dumas can suddenly go from Asshole Victim to Jerkass Woobie once you learn his motive: revenge over being The Scapegoat for causing Selena's accident and consequently having his life ruined — not unlike Jack Hammer and Yanni Yogi from the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
  • The moment when the watch starts ticking again...
    "I see now, Selena... What I did... was wrong..."
• Ellen's face when Sorin says she's the only person who could have done it. She starts crying, but not her usual Ocular Gushers. She keeps her poise, grace, and neat appearance, but she's visibly hurt by this to the point of having Dull Eyes of Unhappiness and looking like only a shell of her former self as she is almost completely shattered inside. It's not helped by Edgeworth's ruthlessness to her (though he at least gets scolded by the Judge for this). Sorin also later says it's mostly because of Edgeworth and Pierce taking advantage of Sorin's amnesia (unintentionally on Edgeworth's part) that he ever thought Ellen did it in the first place.
  • Revealing Sorin's diary was tampered with causes Sorin to outright panic, paging through each entry and practically begging to know if they were his own memories or if they were fabricated. Imagine that: The one source of consistency in one's life after amnesia, and he can't even trust that anymore.

General

• The sheer amount of hatred in the first two cases can be depressing, to the point the game doesn't even feel like an Ace Attorney game at the darkest moments. People are openly calling for the death penalty of a nine-year old kid in the first case (whose only reaction is fear and quietly confiding in the dog he smuggled into the court room) and Trucy, the lovable and sweet assistant girl from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, in the second. The second case in particular drives this home because of how personal it can feel if you played the fourth game (since you got to know and spend all that time with Trucy and now all these strangers want her head). Spiteful treatment of the defense attorney is par for the course in Ace Attorney (and in that regard a lot of the attorney abuse this time feels much colder because of how vindictive the prosecution's words are, instead of over-the-top antics like whipping the defense) but this is the first time in the series that so much abuse has been directed at the defendant and it can be heart-wrenching.
• Maya's 28 at this point in the series. She's outlived Mia by a year.

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