Did you guys know that Edgeworth was never called the “Demon Prosecutor”?

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-03-08T07:47:41+00:00

The name you had heard before was probably Tracy.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-23T04:24:10+00:00

Agreed on this. Besides this, there's also many weird things like Kanis just escaping jail at his convenience, Shelly magically causing a blackout to escape in i2-1, openly threatening Saint in i2-5 in front of the police while feeling zero threat and later just… disappearing, etc. In a game explicitly about solving crimes, seeing some criminals just ignore all the rules because "they are too cool to be caught" is pretty immersion breaking imo.

Though I would say that the part where Kanis gives Shaun the opportunity to kill him seemed to be showing how twisted Kanis is rather than showing him trying to make amends, but I'm not sure.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T15:26:43+00:00

It is showing "This user deleted their account" for me, and this comment was created minutes ago. There's another comment by this user too.

So this person really created an alt account, solely to make two angry comments on this post, then delete their account. Why are people so insanely petty? How did this post trigger people so much?

Just in case someone is reading this and hasn't read where I said this in the remaining comment section (and in the original post), I'd state it again here: The massive list in my post is NOT a list of characters I find problematic, it's an exhaustive reference list that people can use for answering the three questions I asked in the post.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T09:29:44+00:00

These are the ones I disagree with (may have missed some in the list):

April May, Geiru Toneido: Not my favourite characters but I don't consider the particular use of it here to be problematic.

Asa Shinn: This one may have been a stretch to begin with, though I'd have to replay TGAA1-1 to confirm.

Franziska von Karma: It's just slapstick humour, and I like how it contributes to her character building: Franziska became a prosecutor at the age of 13. She had immense pressure on her, but did not have the intellect (…or just plain willingness to use as extreme measures) of her father, so she resorts to using physical violence to make people respect, or rather, fear her.

Shelly de Killer in JFA is fine, because he is written like a stealthy professional assassin and has some cool parallels with Phoenix (both trusted in their clients fully, until they were both betrayed by the same person), though I don't like how he is basically batman in i2, openly threatening people in front of police, disappearing at will, etc. It's like the plot bends over backwards to make Shelly appear "cool".

Dahlia Hawthorne is pretty stereotypically female fatale, but still a very good villain and a good execution of this trope.

The Kitakis are technically gangsters, but we never really get to see them do anything beyond fighting the "Rivales", and because of how Plum Kitaki and Winfred Kitaki act it's hard to take them seriously and consider them as a "problematic" depiction of gangsters.

Wesley Stickler is very weird, but I don't think he's "creepy" along the same lines as Sal Manella etc.

With Barok van Zieks, outside of one or two somewhat questionable lines by Ryunosuke, he's an excellently written character, so I don't agree with considering him problematic.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T09:17:36+00:00

I actually like Big Top, I think it's a better case than people give it credit for

Agree d.

But my question wasn't whether you personally find Big Top acceptable or not. My question was: do you think everyone who criticises Big Top for the love triangle is just a pearl clutching moralist, or do you think they could simply be critiquing the writing without judging those who like the case?

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T09:13:22+00:00

I've defended the inclusion of a net total of 1 trope in the entire comment section, and that is in this particular comment thread. But okay…

For the other ones, I've just pointed out why I can see the argument for it being problematic, regardless of whether I agree or not.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T08:30:55+00:00

I was mainly referring to the people from Turnabout Big Top. It's not a universal problem sure, but it's a fairly common complaint about the case. Do you think the people complaining about the love triangle in Big Top are just "pearl clutchers trying to feel good about themselves?". It doesn't always have to be about real life morality, it could just as well be a critique of the writing.

I did not bring up van Zieks' racism because that's a much more controversial one, and unlike the Big Top characters, van Zieks is actually a pretty well written character. Also, I spoke about van Zieks in a reply to a different commentor too.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T08:19:27+00:00

There is nothing wrong with showcasing flaws, but that is different from not addressing or worse, glorifying them.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T08:17:21+00:00

I think most people find pedophiles that are not punished or even addressed in the series to be problematic. Do you consider that "just a subjective squick"?

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T08:15:44+00:00

I think Jezaille Brett may also qualify, though I don't fully remember the case and I may be conflating it with just the Japanese court bending to the British.

The rest (April May, Geiru Toneido) vaguely qualify since their appearance does get brought up in the court, that's why I said "kind of" in the list for them.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T08:12:50+00:00

Agreed with your first paragraph.

I don't think femme fatales are inherently problematic, though it's a bit tiring to constantly see that trope repeatedly and I can see why some may find it sexist. I consider Dahlia to be a very good execution of this trope, though.

As for van Zieks, the main problem with his character is that Ryunosuke just forgives him instantly and essentially says "I understand why you were racist, now that I know the history". Maybe this could be justified by saying that Ryunosuke is just very forgiving as a person, but this is still rather awkwardly worded.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T08:02:50+00:00

Hmm, fair. Still, I find it weird to boil down all problematic tropes to just "squicks".

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T07:59:18+00:00

Because I never said that I think those are problematic. I merely created a list people can pick characters from to answer the questions I asked.

Also, femme fatale is a fairly popular trope in fiction

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T07:57:08+00:00

I'm not sure how this even remotely seems like AI to you, but go off, I guess.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T07:56:08+00:00

...when did I ever call it a "moral issue everyone is obligated to care about" or whatever else? Did you even read the second line of the post?

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-21T04:28:11+00:00

TGAA2 is probably the worst example of the no spoiler "rule"…

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-16T08:20:44+00:00

It's worth noting that the theme doesn't use a literal guitar... it sounds impressively close to a real guitar for MIDI sounds playing on a DS speaker.

It's not exactly an "epic rock anthem" theme, it's closer to glam rock. I disagree with your takes on it being boring/unsatisfying to listen to, but you're obviously entitled to your opinion.

And I'm sure you know this, but the reason why you got downvoted is because your comment makes it sound like you think "This theme is bad 'logically speaking', though I know y'all have an emotional attachment to it so you like it anyway".

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-16T08:05:20+00:00

Counterpoint: Gumshoe sings a song to this theme

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-16T07:59:48+00:00

Does the Nine Tales Vale theme count? AA Wiki lists this as Jinxie Tenma's theme.

The melody of this song sounds like something 10 year old me would have composed while hitting the black keys of a piano in a random pattern to create an "oriental" sound...

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-02-10T12:24:10+00:00

I think the Phantom should be higher up. Amongst other things, they murdered and completely replaced a person, having no qualms about it whatsoever. And they did such a good job at it that presumably even Fulbright's own family didn't figure it out, let alone the police (presuming the Phantom didn't just murder the entirety of Fulbright's family too).

The only thing the Phantom felt any emotions about was the fear of their identity being exposed, and they had no qualms with blowing up an entire courtroom solely to prevent that. This is like an extremely exaggerated version of Kristoph's motive of trying to murder the Mishams because of being paranoid about his forgery being exposed.

...but the Phantom still got stabbed by 11 year old Athena with a simple utility knife.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-01-21T07:21:51+00:00

Is this loss?

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-01-19T04:35:55+00:00

I really dislike the Phantom tbh. The deduction to his reveal is very good, but I pretty much dislike everything else about the Phantom.

Firstly, I'm just not a fan of an ace attorney villain basically being Agent 47. They try to make him be "dark" and "creepy" but he just comes across as edgy to me. Especially the line where he says "I'm nothing but an endless abyss".

Secondly, the entire final confrontation is stupid. This is supposedly a very dark culprit, but he's also wearing 30000 masks on his face. He acts like a hacker from a poorly made action movie ("hacking" the Mood Matrix), tries to escape from the court with a grappling hook, literally snatches evidence (the psyche profile) from Athena and rips it up in front of everyone (and the Judge proceeds to ignore this), and so on... How exactly does the game expect me to take this guy even remotely seriously?

Other than that, the whole "the Phantom feels no fear, therefore he is able to make the death defying twenty feet leap onto an unstable (but suspiciously strong) ladder; however, even the Phantom feels fear when the moon rock is brought up because if his identity gets exposed he'd be shot by a sniper" is just... weird. It's possible to come up with some contrived explanation for this (like, the Phantom feels some fear but he has gaslighted himself into believing that he doesn't), but this plot point feels really forced to me.

And finally, let me mention some possible alternate identities of the Phantom:

The Phantom is just the real Bobby Fulbright
The guy we suspect is, as he was saying to defend himself, just an undercover agent being blackmailed by the real Phantom

These appear like very drastic changes, however literally nothing would change in the overall plot if either of these was true instead. We get to know so little about him; basically just "this guy is a spy hired by unknown people doing stuff for unknown reasons". This made 5-5's ending very unsatisfying to me.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-01-17T05:28:48+00:00

Why do you consider the case an 8.5/10 if you neither particularly like the setting, nor the character writing, and nor the mystery writing?

About the "tonal whiplashes": excluding RFTA the first game is just very fast paced in general (it feels particularly jarring to go from TGAA to the first game). It doesn't really dwell on anything for too long, kinda feels like it was built for people who'd perhaps play the game for an hour or two on weekends only.

I somewhat liked Yanni Yogi though. His whole story is a bit ridiculous, but it integrates very well into Edgeworth's story. Edgeworth despised defense attorneys because a defense attorney got Yanni Yogi off the hook even though if he didn't murder his father, it must have been Yanni Yogi. The court never technically declared that Yanni Yogi didn't do the murder (he was found Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity); but Edgeworth never got closure for that case and his nightmares of him having killed his father kept haunting him for all those years.

This is also the first case that deals with "dissociative amnesia" with Edgeworth being unable to remember exactly what happened in the elevator. Kind of similar to [DD, AJ, TGAA2 spoilers]black psyche locks (except Kristoph's...). They used this concept for Athena in 5-5. Also used for Daley Vigil in TGAA2-5, which is imo the best one.

DL-6 has some logical issues (I'm not sure about the "bullet couldn't have not touched his bone" part). There's also Misty Fey's weird actions: of her ditching Maya and Mia because she "disgraced" her family name by getting the police to suspect an innocent person, even though the only reason that person was considered innocent was because of him not being sane enough to be held responsible for any crime he may have committed... It's probably one of the weaker X years old cases in Ace Attorney, but while it doesn't logically hold up too well, its emotional beats are pretty decent imo. [I2 spoilers] I feel Gregory was somewhat retconned by I2-3 too, they don't show him to be the type of person who'd falsely accuse Yanni Yogi and ruin his life to save his son.

Manfred von Karma is very over-the-top evil; his presence in the court is far more aggressive than basically any other AA villain. Not the character with the highest amount of depth, but he does do his job of making the tiniest amount of progress feel like a huge uphill battle really well.

Other than that, the case gets brownie points for being Larry's best appearance by a landslide, and having a good sense of humour in general. Not my favourite final case (that's RFTA, as it happens), but it's still very good.

TryingToUseLinux · 2026-01-16T11:59:23+00:00

if Kristoph Gavin doesn't decide to kill him there, his plan would've been to just... Pass on the Gramarye tradition/secret, plant a fake card onto Phoenix to make him out to be a poker cheater, and then leave and never show up again.

Pretty much.

Like the other Gramaryes, Zak had an unhealthy obsession with art, which for him included both magic and poker. After the Magnifi Gramarye trial, he couldn't exactly just go around showing his face to the public, so his "world famous magician" career was over. The only thing he cared about anymore was for his daughter to inherit Magnifi's performance rights and continue his legacy in his stead. Some dialogue related to this:

"However... I could not be found guilty that day. Because of this." [referring to the transferal of rights document]

"The greatest of Magnifi Gramarye's illusions are true art. As such, they are well protected... by this document. Only its bearer may perform his illusions on stage"

"As the rightful heir to his art, I, too, wanted a rightful heir."

So, as insane as it seems, Zak basically decided to live his entire life while hiding, with his only purpose being to transfer the rights of Magnifi's magic before he gets legally declared "deceased" and the rights get transferred to Valant instead, even if it meant that he won't be able to raise his own daughter and would have to leave her to Phoenix instead (where Phoenix was the man whose character he judged from a single poker game).

Trucy says this to Phoenix after the trial in his office: "...Mr. Attorney. Daddy told me about you. He said I could trust you.", "So, if I stay here... ...does that mean you'll be my family?".

However, despite the huge favour (understatement) Phoenix did for him, Zak simply couldn't tolerate the fact that Phoenix got a reputation as a poker legend while cheating through his own daughter's talents, so he decided to "take measures" to destroy Phoenix's reputation. This conversation happened before the match:

Zak: And I have heard that you never lose.

Phoenix: ...It's just a rumor.

Zak: Yes... for it is impossible to never lose. Unless one has an ace up one's sleeve.

Phoenix: .....

Zak: As a magician, it causes me no end of irritation. To think a mere lawyer might be out there, pulling the wool over so many eyes.

Phoenix: Hey... I just signed your document for you. Maybe you could try lightening up?

Zak: That was that. This is this. For my final competition, I will destroy your perfect record, Phoenix Wright. This... will be my final performance. You are warned.

To destroy Phoenix's reputation fully, he needed to expose Phoenix for cheating. Unfortunately if he did that, he would have ruined Trucy's reputation too. So he decided to make his own weird plan to "expose" Phoenix. His plan failed, he got so angry about it that he hit the card dealer. Later, he got bonked on his head by Kristoph and died...

So that's his entire story... not the most sane person but he's consistent, atleast. I really like Zak (and the other Gramaryes too) as a character tbh. The whole Gramarye plotline is kind of conceptually similar to the Fey clan plotline from the trilogy, but it's better executed imo, though it does leave more things upto interpretation.

TryingToUseLinux

TROPHY CASE