#dual destinies analysis

[velvees-archive]

Dual Destinies Spoilers (5-5)!

so what exactly did phoenix mean when he said he was sorry for everything he put edgeworth through?

a quick look at forums/reddit netted me the following interpretations:

he’s apologizing to edgeworth for ushering in the dark age of law and leaving him to deal with the aftermath

he’s apologizing for all the trouble edgeworth went through to help him get reinstated/vouching for the jurist system

neither of these feel quite right to me. the first point because phoenix says he's troubled miles for “eight years”, yet the dark age of law didn’t officially start until a year after he was disbarred (simon blackquill’s guilty verdict). this means the dark age would have only been in effect for seven years. also, shifting public opinion of the courts is edgeworth’s responsibility as the chief prosecutor, which he’d only been for about a year as of 5-5.

*granted, i wasn’t as locked in for dual destinies as i was for other entries in the franchise, so this could just be me not paying enough attention to when the dark age began.

i do think phoenix feels guilty for contributing to the public’s negative perception of the courts, so this interpretation still holds some merit, unlike the former half of the second interpretation, which doesn’t make sense at all. phoenix didn’t get confirmation edgeworth pulled some strings to get him reinstated until after 5-5’s resolution, when edgeworth openly admits it. the latter half is fine, but i don’t think it was specifically the jurist system he was referencing—one because “eight years” implies phoenix began work on the jurist system immediately after the gramarye trial and two because edgeworth’s response, “i’m sorry i wasn’t able to help you” contradicts the idea that phoenix's apology was related to his help with the jurist system.

so what is phoenix apologizing for? we know how terribly he was affected by losing his badge aka the focal point of his identity, which amplified his cageyness and bitterness tenfold. we know edgeworth was present in his life because he would fly phoenix and trucy out to europe while phoenix was disbarred. we also know from this dialogue that phoenix purposefully kept edgeworth from “helping” him (“nah. i was the one who made that decision”).

this leads me to believe the trouble he put edgeworth through was—on top of the agreeable parts of the two aforementioned interpretations—emotionally charged, angsty 7-year gap + lead up to his return anguish, wherein phoenix shut miles out and miles had to shove his way in, first trilogy phoenix style. and edgeworth’s apology, while seemingly related to phoenix’s badge, was also about him feeling like he hadn't done enough to aid phoenix during the lowest point in his life.

[overdressedcarp]

I've been thinking for a while about the optional Magatama dialogue in The Cosmic Turnabout where you can prompt Fulbright about what's bothering him, and for both of the wrong answers, he acts like you got it right, and actively leans into the bit. For example, if you suggest that he's exhausted by life, he agrees and claims he's thinking about quitting his job and going to space. (Honestly, mood.)

(AA 5-4 and 5-5 spoilers below the cut)

It's a good line on its own: funny, and definitely relatable. With 5-5's context, though, it brushes up against a deep-seated desire to disappear, to run away and start over, something the Phantom hasn't been at liberty to do in years. He's shackled to a seven-year-old assignment, strangled by loose ends that he can't tie off. For maybe the first time in his life, he has to wake up every day and live with the effects of his actions, made blisteringly real in the form of the people he hurt.

(Do I think he's walking around harboring deep, profound remorse for UR-1? Not really, no. But the self-protective lie of "my choices don't matter because I'm not really a person" only goes so far when you're clocking into work every day to hang out with the guy who's on death row because of you, who's grieving because of you, and suddenly you're the only person he trusts to hear about the monster that ruined his life, and you planned for this but you didn't plan for this and honestly at that point I'd want to quit my job and throw myself into the vast expanse of space, too.)

Also worth noting, during this entire scene, any time Fulbright goes to answer a question or make an assertion about himself, the tinted glasses go up like a shield. Eyes hidden, hand obscuring the lower half of his face. It's something he does pretty regularly throughout the game, but it's egregious here. My man is on the defensive and he's giving absolutely zero ground.

But the big thing for me is the other "wrong" option, where if you claim that Fulbright is troubled by love, the Phantom's knee-jerk "yes, and," response is to tell a story about a carp named Love who ate a bunch of goldfish because he put them all in the same tank.

In the moment it's supposed to be absurd and comical and one more example of how hapless this guy is, but in retrospect, it's kind of telling that when the Phantom tries to conceptualize love in relation to himself, the first piece of Fulbright-flavored bullshit that comes to mind is about a creature that brings pain and death through mere proximity, not out of malice, but out of nature. As though, subconsciously, he's fixated on the notion of a foreign element that's been dropped into an otherwise peaceful space. A fish that seems like it belongs there until it devours the others.

He really could have said anything—he could have made up a story about a bad breakup, or a really sad movie, or a family member who died. He could have jumped to talking about Blackquill, and how he's concerned for his emotional state given the nature of the current case. But instead, his mind instinctively gravitates to a Love that consumes everything around it: a Love defined by its capacity for violence. There was never a world where the carp could exist alongside the goldfish without hurting them.

And idk. I feel like if he wasn't feeling some kind of way about that, then it wouldn't be bleeding into his Olympic-level improv gymnastics routine to convince Phoenix that he doesn't have any secrets and you can put the supernatural lie detector away now, thanks.

[jinxedshapeshifter]

Analyzing Klavier's Behavior Because I Am Nothing If Not Predictable*

*But also I made this post at 2am and am determined to see it through

Alright so a few days ago I posted this reblog of a response to a post I made mentioning that Klavier's behavior that is so commonly poked at as "Klavier, there was a murder" could very well be a coping mechanism. As you'll know if you've read the essay I wrote on the parallels between Ryulock and Homumiko, I really like to analyze fictional characters. So I have decided to analyze Klavier Gavin's behavior throughout his appearances because there's implications in there that I think aren't talked about enough.

(Also important to note because I feel like it'll come up; this is all my interpretation of Klavier's behavior based on a combination of personal experience and just how I read his behavior. I am not going to claim my analysis to be objectively correct.)

Part 1: A Brief-ish Summary of Klavier's Canon Appearances

Klavier's only canon appearances are in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney and Turnabout Academy in Dual Destinies (which is a shame but that's not my point). In the latter, he's not acting as Prosecutor Gavin, he's acting as Rock God Klavier. I still think, for the sake of context, it's important to go over these appearances and how he acts during each one.

Turnabout Corner

Our first introduction to Klavier is in Turnabout Corner, the second episode of Apollo Justice. He's introduced as a cool, suave prosecutor that likes to throw his weight around a little (as indicated by him overriding the police and allowing Trucy and Apollo to investigate People Park), and it's easy to (correctly) assume pretty early on that he doesn't really care about giving information to the defense like every other prosecutor in the series (something that will come up later). In Turnabout Corner, we also learn about Klavier's status as a rockstar, and how he usually acts during court proceedings. Apollo's first impression, which carries over into Turnabout Serenade and is still part of how he sees Klavier into Dual Destinies, is that Klavier tends to not take things very seriously.

Turnabout Serenade

Turnabout Serenade is... interesting. We see a side of Klavier that he seems to want to keep under wraps at first — he's a perfectionist when it comes to his music, and his focus is on Daryan's missed cue, not the fact that a murder happened at his concert; notably, he's focused on Daryan's fuck-up, when he's not the only one who messed up during the concert. He comes off as irritable during investigation segments, seeming to put on a mask of his usual confident and carefree attitude when Apollo and Trucy show up.

This is also the first time Klavier starts to get honestly pretty mean when even the implication that something he didn't want to be true is true is suggested. The second Apollo implies LeTouse was murdered during the second set (which is when he first presents the igniter) Klavier gets mean ("Herr Forehead, don't destroy what little respect I have for you!" which implies he never had much respect for him in the first place, which I'd argue is not the case but I'll get into that later). We get into Daryan's testimony once it's made clear that Daryan's a suspect, and at that point he's less mean to Apollo and tearing into Daryan instead. Turnabout Serenade alone shows that Klavier's views of people can and will change on a dime.

Turnabout Succession (2019 section)

I'm gonna get it out of the way now, Klavier is a brat during the 2019 section of Turnabout Succession. This is relevant; he seems to have grown out of this by Turnabout Corner, but he's still prone to being a dick. Klavier's also much more egotistical during the 2019 section of Turnabout Succession; most notably, he brags about the success of The Gavinners multiple times during the trial (which Phoenix describes as an "utter lack of humility"). As a 24/25-year-old, he's not normally an egocentric asshole; this trait only really shows itself during times where he'd be stressed. Again, we'll get to that.

Turnabout Succession (responses to Kristoph's involvement)

The first reaction to Kristoph's involvement is when Vera mentions the commemorative stamp with Troupe Gramarye on it, and he gets intense about asking Vera about what the first forgery she made was. He actually scares Vera and concerns the judge:

And this is where he first breaks down. Trucy gets concerned, Apollo has to tell him to calm the fuck down because he's badgering the witness (at which point Klavier calls Phoenix Apollo's "soiled, sullied mentor"), and then Vera collapses from atroquinine poisoning and the trial ends. I cannot imagine what the next span of time before the trial continued was like for Klavier.

Once Kristoph actually takes the stand, Klavier's quite quiet for a while, aside from defending Kristoph when you press certain statements (and even then, Kristoph will not hesitate to talk over Klavier). Apollo even mentions that Klavier's acting different, and decides it's because Kristoph's in the courtroom. Klavier gets so upset that he can't even function properly, which Kristoph blames on Apollo ("My, my. You've upset my poor brother to the point of uselessness."). Klavier does eventually snap out of it and accuses Kristoph of bluffing, and the rest of the trial he works with Apollo to convince the jurists that Kristoph is behind Drew and Vera's poisoning, not Vera (although he does tell Apollo he's leaving the case if he can't prove Kristoph is behind forging the evidence in the Zak Gramarye case).

Klavier's behavior in the 2026 sections of Turnabout Succession very much remind me of 17-year-old Klavier, and his breakdown sprite does not help this (which I've also done an analysis on. Parts of that analysis will be relevant later). Again, this will come up later.

Turnabout Academy

I personally think Klavier's behavior in Turnabout Academy is also similar to his behavior when he was 17, although in the complete opposite direction from Turnabout Succession. Looking at Klavier's behavior in Turnabout Succession's 2019 section vs his behavior during Turnabout Academy, I am immediately struck by similarities. Notably, Klavier exhibits some degree of inflated self-confidence (he calls his own voice "godlike" if you present the tape recorder to him, tells Apollo and Athena to find the Gavinners banner, leading Athena to wonder if he just wants his banner back, claims the burnt fragments of the Gavinners banner is a "challenge directed at [Klavier] and Gavinners fans everywhere"), which leads him to put down Apollo specifically (telling Apollo that the role of a fledgling lawyer is one he was "born to play," calling Apollo a wet blanket, "That feigned swagger does not suit you in the least," probably jokingly accusing Apollo of destroying the statues of Klavier and Phoenix).

It's all behavior that feels like it should come from 17-year-old Klavier, not 25-year-old Klavier, at least not under most circumstances.

Part 2: A Slightly More In-Depth Analysis of Klavier's Behavior

Klavier's behavior, notably, changes depending on the circumstances he's in. I think it's important to figure out what the baseline for adult Klavier's behavior is before we go any further however.

I, personally, think the baseline for Klavier's behavior is most clear in Turnabout Corner. He doesn't have any personal involvement in the case beyond Apollo getting Kristoph thrown in prison, and he's pretty chill the entire case. It feels like, at the very least, he's adhering to his rock god persona (and I don't think it's a stretch to assume that's at least partially what he's like when he's not masking anything). Turnabout Corner serving as the baseline for Klavier's behavior also makes sense from a writing standpoint. So, I'm going to use Turnabout Corner as a baseline for Klavier's behavior. Now that we have that out of the way, let's analyze Klavier's behavior.

Part 2.1: Turnabout Serenade

So, first of all, let's look at the transition from Turnabout Corner to Turnabout Serenade. Klavier's having fun, he's at a concert and performing with someone he looks up to and admires. Then, tragedy strikes. A murder happens during the third set. The pianist for the second set is arrested. Daryan missed a cue he shouldn't have missed. This is the first time Klavier is aggressive. It's the first time we see perfectionist Klavier. The second Apollo and Trucy show up, he starts acting like he did during Turnabout Corner. To be completely clear, I do think he was genuinely happy to see them. I don't think his behavioral change when Apollo and Trucy show up is entirely a front. At worst, he's pretending everything's fine by acting like he normally would. Two explanations I can think of for this:

Maybe he just doesn't want Trucy and Apollo to see him like that.

Maybe he doesn't actually care how Trucy and Apollo see him, and he pretends everything's fine by instinct.

Additionally, this is the first time we truly see the extent of how egocentric Klavier can get. He opts to completely ignore the fact that a murder happened at his concert and instead focuses on Daryan's missed cue. That's what we see, at least.

By the end of the case we find out that missed cue was crucial evidence. That missed cue had implications for the entire incident. It's also implied in Turnabout Corner that Klavier is always multiple steps ahead, and in Turnabout Academy he suggests that the missing Gavinners banner is relevant to the case, and it ends up being crucial to the case. Exactly like Daryan's missed cue.

I don't think Klavier was just being an egocentric asshole here. I think he knew that the missed cue was somehow relevant, especially if he noticed Lamiroir and Machi's mistakes during the second set. If he did notice the mistakes Lamiroir and Machi made, then noticed Daryan's missed cue, I don't doubt he'd think they were somehow related. The one thing saving him was that the entire case, both the defense's side and the prosecution's side, hinged on the murder taking place during the third set, so he gets fucking mean when it's implied the murder might've happened during the second set, because there goes any plausible denial. Once Apollo suggests the murder happened during the second set, Daryan's alibi goes out the window, and he becomes their prime suspect. Basically, Klavier's aggression in Turnabout Serenade, and potentially how set on figuring out Daryan's missed cue he was, was very likely him getting defensive.

Part 2.2: Turnabout Succession

Not gonna talk about the 2019 section of Turnabout Succession much here. Klavier's behavior in Turnabout Succession is very much like his behavior in Turnabout Corner. That is, until Kristoph is made a suspect in Drew Misham's murder.

Klavier's pretty much the same as he was in Turnabout Corner for most of the first trial of Turnabout Succession. He's enjoying himself (a fact Apollo and Trucy mention), he's having fun teasing Spark Brushel a bit.

And then Vera brings up the commemorative stamp with Troupe Gramarye on it. As I mentioned above, he gets so intense about finding out what Vera's first forgery was that he scares Vera, concerns the judge, concerns Trucy, and has Apollo telling him to calm the fuck down because he's badgering the witness. Even taking 17-year-old Klavier into account, that's incredibly out of character for him. 17-year-old Klav was a bit mean to witnesses, sure, but he never badgered them. This exact moment is where, upon replaying AJ:AA, I was like "holy shit, you can pinpoint exactly where and when Klavier realizes Kristoph's involved in this."

During the next trial day, he's out of character on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, by which I mean he's too quiet. Klavier's usually talkative and flamboyant. He likes to test Apollo and Apollo's theories. He likes getting under Apollo's skin. But the second Kristoph's on the witness stand we don't get any of that. He's just quiet and he lets Kristoph talk over him. Kristoph's presence is enough to make him uncharacteristically quiet (which makes me wonder what the fuck their history is, especially with Klavier's "Spinning out of whose control? Mine? ...Or yours?" line after Kristoph says he's spinning out of control and the fact that what triggers Kristoph saying that in the first place is Klavier saying "Let's clean out the family closet" and Kristoph claims Klavier's going to say something he'll regret, but that's a different post for a different time). Klavier eventually gets so desperate for proof that Kristoph killed Drew and tried to kill Vera that he literally begs Apollo to prove it. Once Klavier has seen evidence that would indicate that Kristoph is guilty of Drew's murder, he's mostly back to his normal self.

Part 2.3: Turnabout Academy

Turnabout Academy is interesting because Klavier's behavior still feels off but you aren't playing as Apollo; you're playing as Athena, who doesn't know what Klavier is usually like. Klavier's a lot nicer to Athena than he is to Apollo (he is still a bit mean to Athena at points, just to be clear). I personally think it's because Klavier knows Apollo but doesn't know Athena well, but that's just an assumption, I don't think there's really evidence to support it.

Anyway, Klavier's behavior during Turnabout Academy feels pretty similar to when he was 17 in my opinion. He is brutal with Apollo. Klavier:

Tells Apollo that the role of a fledgling defense attorney is one he "was born to play"

Calls Apollo a wet blanket

Calls Apollo a stick in the mud

Accuses Apollo of destroying the statues of Klavier and Phoenix TWICE (probably jokingly but that's still mean, Klavier. This is also, notably, reflective of Klavier accusing Apollo of setting his guitar on fire in Turnabout Serenade)

17-year-old Klavier, while he doesn't target anyone specifically, is a fucking brat. He's irritating and he likes harassing people (like how 17-year-old Klavier was ever allowed in a court of law is beyond me. Granted this is the same court system that let an 18-year-old with a whip prosecute cases but I digress). In some of 17-year-old Klav's dialogue, we also get a taste of just how egocentric he could get at 17. Some of 17-year-old Klavier's lines in the 2019 section of Turnabout Succession that had me like "wow, never has a more irritating 17-year-old existed":

"Herr Detective, this is my stage. Can the antics."

"And I haven't proven anything yet, beyond my good looks, and startling record sales."

"...Would you hold me accountable for a mistake made in my youth?" "That was just this morning!" "...I am still young."

"I would hope the defense refrains from its customarily broad, sweeping accusations."

"...Truly, there's no substitute for experience. Nothing blinds one to the truth so effectively."

I can 100% see some of those lines also coming from Turnabout Academy Klavier. That then begs the question; if Klavier had evolved past acting like this by the age of 24, why is he back to acting like that by the age of 25?

Simple; it's very likely the same reason his behavior was the way it was in Turnabout Serenade. Constance Courte had personal significance to Klavier and quite literally shaped how Klavier prosecutes cases. Klavier says this himself; "She may have taught the judge course, but she had a huge impact on me. She was fond of saying, 'The end is only justified through proper means.' She wouldn't tolerate dishonesty and always revered what was right beyond all else." From the beginning of the case, it's had more personal significance than any of the cases Klavier prosecuted (while other cases did have personal significance to him, it was only ever clear near the end of the trial).

The thing about Turnabout Academy is that, in terms of Klavier's role in the story, it is incredibly similar to Turnabout Serenade. Here's a list of similarities just to show what I mean:

Both cases involve Klavier having Apollo and the individual he's investigating with figure out something that doesn't seem to be significant to the case but is actually crucial evidence (Daryan's missed cue in Turnabout Serenade and the Gavinners banner in Turnabout Academy)

Both have personal significance to Klavier in some way (Daryan was the culprit of Turnabout Serenade and his mentor is the victim of Turnabout Academy)

You would not be blamed for saying "Klavier there was a MURDER" every time he shows up in both cases

Klavier's roles in Turnabout Serenade and Turnabout Academy are similar enough to me that it caught my attention almost immediately (in fact, I tagged the screenshot I posted of Klavier telling Apollo and Athena to look for the Gavinners banner as "turnabout serenade ass behavior"). That also means that his behavior is similar in both cases; the primary difference, in my opinion at least, is that Klavier's more intense and mean in Turnabout Academy (which was obvious to be quite quickly).

Part 2.4: Klavier's Shifting View of Kristoph

(This isn't important I just wanted to bring it up)

It's made pretty clear in Turnabout Succession's 2019 section that Klavier has a positive view of Kristoph. Klavier takes Kristoph at his word that Phoenix is going to present forged evidence and keeps him anonymous when he mentions that he gave him the tip that Phoenix would present forged evidence. He was excited to go against him in court (which just makes the fact that Kristoph forged evidence to beat him a lot more sad), something he even acknowledges when it's made clear that Kristoph forged the diary page that got Phoenix disbarred ("...Kristoph! We were supposed to face each other in that trial! A fair fight, brother to brother! I deserved that much! You let me borrow the victim's belongings... ...You showed me all your research on the case!").

We can literally watch this crumble during Turnabout Succession. He knows Kristoph is a good defense attorney; when Apollo first meets Klavier in court, Klavier says that he's prosecuting the case because he wanted to see the true strength of "the little boy who bested" Kristoph, which at the very least implies he respects Kristoph's skills as a defense attorney. That's completely crumbled by the end of Turnabout Succession, with Klavier literally telling Kristoph "You're not needed anymore." It's honestly really sad to watch too. It makes you wonder what was going through his head during that span of time during Vera's trial where Klavier's just not as talkative as he usually is and Kristoph's on the witness stand.

(To be clear, I think Klavier knew Kristoph was a piece of shit before Turnabout Succession. I don't think Kristoph's emotional abuse of Klavier started during Turnabout Succession, and I very much think Klavier knew that Kristoph was a piece of shit because of it. However, I don't really think he would've expected anything that came out during Turnabout Succession, which is why he reacts how he does. I also think it would be safe to assume that either Kristoph only started emotionally abusing Klavier after Zak's trial or Klavier realized that's what he was doing after Zak's trial, due to Klavier's attitude toward Kristoph holding the implication that if Kristoph was actively being abusive at that point in time, Klavier didn't realize it)

Part 3: What We Can Conclude About Klavier Based On This Information

I've mentioned it before (in fact it's in the Klavier breakdown animation analysis I linked earlier in the post), but Klavier's behavior comes off as him not having been able to properly grow up, whether because he became a celebrity when he was 17 or for some other reason. It's like he regresses back to 17 during traumatic situations, or possibly has some sort of relapse if we assume he got mental health treatment between the 2019 section of Turnabout Succession and the start of Turnabout Corner, and his behavior supports that, which is fucking heartbreaking. It's like he's putting on a mask of maturity because he was forced to. By who? Could be anyone. He could've felt obligated to do it by his status as an international celebrity. He could've been pressured into it by the Gavinners' record label (assuming they weren't indie). Kristoph could've pressured him into it because Klavier had eyes on his every action on a global scale. He could've experienced some kind of psychological trauma that caused it. There are so many potential explanations here and they're all fucking heartbreaking.

Part 4: Conclusion

So. 3.3k words later. This is longer than my Ryulock/Homumiko essay. Anyway, conclusion: I don't think Klavier's ever been flanderized. I think people are misreading his primary trauma response (that being, some form of regression or relapse). He's not even the only person this happens to in the series (*stares at Athena*), it's just not obvious with Klavier if you don't consider ALL his behavior together, including his behavior when he's 17 because that's really what explains his behavior in my opinion. Klavier's behavior isn't easily explainable in a nearly 3.5k word essay without knowing how he was at 17.

And yes, you could argue that this is all coincidence. You could argue that none of this was intentional, especially when you consider how Ace Attorney is written. Someone who goes into Dual Destinies without playing Apollo Justice first won't get the additional context required to recognize the full extent of Klavier's behavior.

I would beg to differ however. Some of Phoenix's bitchiness from Apollo Justice is still present in Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, and I very much think that was intentional. Apollo's behavior in 5-4 and 5-5 are very much indicative of him having trust issues as a result of everything that happened with Kristoph and that's a hill I'll die on. Simon still acts the same as he did in prison, likely as a result of either trauma, habit, or both.

If you think Ace Attorney doesn't reference past games in characters' behavior, you're underestimating Ace Attorney's writing. I absolutely think Klavier's behavior in Turnabout Academy and his behavior in Turnabout Serenade are meant to be reflective of each other. I'd be genuinely surprised if that's not an intentional parallel and if it doesn't indicate something about Klavier's response to traumatic events. Even worse, I am quite sure that Kristoph has put him down over this. Hell, you could argue that his comment about Klavier being stressed to the point of uselessness is him putting Klavier down for how he copes with trauma. It explains why he was so quiet while Kristoph was on the witness stand, actually.

I also don't think Klavier's as egocentric and quite as much of a perfectionist as he lets on. I think it's part of what I referred to earlier as Klavier relapsing. I very much think he might've been like that at 17, but much like his other behavior at 17 it feels like he grew out of it, and he has a tendency to fall back into it during traumatic situations, whether it's as a defense mechanism or just how his brain responds to trauma.

Essentially this causes traumatic situations for Klavier to turn into him bottling everything up, which comes across to other people (including anyone who decides to play Apollo Justice and Dual Destinies) as irritability. This happens to me too; I'm prone to emotional overreaction but I've gotten to a point where I tend to bottle it up instead of doing literally anything else.

Capcom, please for the love of the Holy Mother give Klavier therapy.

[river-fisher]

Have you ever wanted to have all of Bobby Fulbright's dialogue and related scenes at your fingertips, with all of his sprites alongside it?! Well, boy, do I have the thing for you! Introducing:

Bobby Fulbright's dialogue transcript!

This bad boy is a google document where I have lovingly transcribed everything related to Fulbright in Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies! Everything was done by hand to make sure that it's as accurate as can be!

It comes with its very own Sprite graph, to ensure efficiency! (Each sprite he uses to emote is labeled with a number!)

Each case is organized via a document tab chronologically!

And, of course, every word that is coloured in game, is coloured here as well!

As you can see, each character's dialogue is marked with their initials to make it easier to type out as well!

The document access is edited, so that you could leave comments wherever you want, so if I have made a mistake or missed something Fulbright related, do tell me! Otherwise, just have fun!

And, one final tidbit: Coming soon to the graph page, I plan to make some statistic graphs on how often Fulbright uses each sprite per case and in total, as well as a general section for any quirky phrases he uses!!

I hope this proves useful to anyone who needs it, and In justice we trust! o7

[papyrusgayfont]

one thing that I’ve only recently realized that I kinda hate about Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice is how the parts of the game like the Psyche Locks and the Percieving and the Mood Matrix are handled

like the psyche locks in the 2D games have penalties for getting things wrong, Pearl is like “make sure not to present the wrong thing to someone, or else you’ll get hurt, and you’ll damage your soul”, so it gives you some kind of consequence for messing up, and it makes you think a little more about what might be the right piece of evidence to present

the psyche locks could also just happen at any time, like you could get a psyche lock, and maybe you’ll have all the right evidence you need right then and there, but for most of them you’ll get to a statement where you don’t have anything that fits, so you need to back out and go and investigate some more to get what you need

but in the 3D games, they only happen after you have all the evidence you need, and they’re WAYYYY too easy, there’s no consequences for getting things wrong anymore; really, if you truly didn’t give a fuck, you could just go down the list of evidence and present stuff until you got it right lol. and all of the statements are SO obvious, you barely have to think on any of them. and again, you just have everything you need from the get go, you don’t get to examine any of the areas to find what you might need. which for Dual Destinies I kinda get, since you don’t get to examine any of the areas in that game for some reason? but like, they could’ve let you do that for Spirit of Justice, but idk,

Apollo’s Perceive mechanic is also kinda like this, where in his game you had to find the statement in the witness’ testimony where you might find their habit, and then sometimes you would have to present some evidence to them to counter their claims, and you would get a penalty if you got it wrong. but in the 3D games, they just give you the statement you need when you’re talking to someone, no thinking required there, all you need to do is find their tell, and when you present evidence to them, again, you get no penalties, which makes them a lot easier than they were before

as for Athena’s Mood Matrix, most of the time it’s just too easy. again, there’s no penalties for getting anything wrong, and most of the time it’s pretty obvious what emotion you’re supposed to choose. it’s not a bad mechanic, I liked it a lot tbh, it just wasn’t really challenging like, at all lol

It just feels like when the games became 3D, the difficulty level dropped by quite a bit, like there are still a lot of moments where you do have to actually think about something and look over something carefully but, at the same time, there’s a lot of hand holding tbh, and I kinda don’t love that lol

I just hope that if that’s an Ace Attorney 7 (with Athena as the main please Capcom please please please) and any of these mechanics come back, they’ll bring back the penalties for them and up the difficulty

[sunbedo]

!!!!!! BIG DUAL DESTINIES AA5 SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!!!!! SCROLL QUICKLY TO AVOID SPOILING YOURSELF IF NEEDED!!!!!!!!

UGHHGGGGGGHHH im watching someone play through the cosmic turnabout and like. during the first investigation they make a point to be like 'wooowww detective fulbright is being super cooporative its weirdddd like hes almost a different person. lmao.' and im SO MAD. its such a good setup for him being replaced but then theyre like. 'noooo hes been dead for like ten years or somwthign woahhhh what!!!!!!!!' LIKE. CHOOSING SHOCK VALUE OVER GOOD WRITING. If we've just been talking to the phantom the whole time what the fuck was that bit with the shoes during the monsterous turnabout???????? its either like. a. the phantom was worried about playing fulbright's character. like. for whom????? none of us knew what he was really like??? and it couldve easily gone unnoticed??????? or b. they really just fucking didnt notice. terrifying international superspy murderer. okay

"its to make sure that we know that this is definitely someone else!!" okay? edgeworth shows up and is like we found bobby fulbright in an abandoned warehouse or some shit and all dna and everything matches. woah that guy on the stand is definitely not detective fulbright. "its to show just how horrifying the phantom really is!!" okay???? so maybe they found him like tortured and ab/used and shit. and then its still really horrifying because we actually!!! know!!!!!!!!! fulbright!!!!!!!!!!! and how goofy and kind he is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow this guy is a really actively serious threat and a fucked up evil person. and now the player wants them dead for hurting this golden retriever of a man so badly. "but isnt it so fucked up that this great and super kind guy you've been talking to this entire game is actually dead??!?!?" yeah sure but once again we. dont. know. the real goddamn fulbright!!!!!!!! we dont know what he was actually like and the phantom couldve been portraying him completely differently!!!! sure a few lines of dialog tell us hes a good man. but other than that all we have to go off of is the phantom's act!!! people dont think about it that deeply and take the phantom's portrayal at face value but like?????? come on dude

and if you still want that sweet angst over him being dead, what if when they find him hes almost dead. like the phantom meant to actually kill him (because of how horrible they are!!!! its the same effect!!!!!!!) and it adds a new layer of tension during the trial after that because hes on death's door! is he gonna pull through??? will the phantom win in the sick twisted way of taking yet another life, but this time it's worse because we ACTUALLY. KNEW. HIM. and how good of a person he is??????? and its way more angst in the way of characters cause like Simon has someone actually close to him to potentially mourn! again! because of the phantom!

and if you still want the betrayal factor, i got that too! maybe the real fulbright was being threatened into being an informant for the phantom!!! or was even accidentally giving away information somehow, which still gives him consequences for the 'betrayal' while also being a 'fulbright being stupid' moment at the same time. just this time it's a whole lot worse because it put actual lives at stake and Clay got killed. boom! angst!!

[characteroulette]

I was gonna structure this better but I think these rants express my point pretty well. (Spoilers ahead for aai games and DD)

Here's something that's been niggling at me since I realised it --

Possibly one of the biggest flaws in the new series writer's finales are that they have 2 climaxes. I think that's Trials and Tribulations' fault (it's ALWAYS T&T'S FAULT) (although T&T is the closest example I can think of as to why this happens), but it's also just an issue and I hope SOJ helped him learn to stop doing that.

Like, in T&T, the whole finale climax is when you exorcise Dahlia. Calling Godot out after that is technically part of the falling action / resolution, but I can see how it can be mistaken for a second climax since like, people care a lot about Godot

(none of the other Shu Takumi AA games do this as far as I can think of. They all have very clear climax points and then everything else is falling action)

Compare to the aai games, DD, and SoJ, all of which have 2 climaxes in their finales. Aai1 has the whole Calisto Yew capture (works as a climax), then the climax of catching the leader of the smuggling ring (can't be called falling action because it takes another goddamn 5 hours to catch this man). Then aai2 has the Sebastian standing up to his dad as the first climax, then the whole mastermind thing as the second climax (same problem as aai1 as well, can't be called falling action because it takes another like 5 hours to get there) (and these are both treated as climax and very much not the same as the whole Maya testimony to catch Godot. Like that is very much falling action and has a different feel than these other two things.)

Like sure the smuggling ring has a whole throughline for the entire game, meanwhile Calisto Yew was only brought up in case 4 of 5, but she actually gets better buildup than the smuggling ring?? Probably because of the emotional investment ties she has not just to Kay, but to Edgeworth and Franziska and Badd as well! (And Gumshoe haha)

It's insane how much more I am invested in Calisto Yew than like, the smuggling ring. Or the Phantom, who has basically the same thing in DD (and with somehow LESS buildup despite being a part of the game's story from the first case!!) (…retroactively since the first case, but y'know. DD is a fucking mess hahaha)

Tangent: I have so many gripes with the Phantom, from taking an actually fun and likeable character (Fulbright) and making him the LEAST INTERESTING THING when he could have been cool (master of disguise!! Seamlessly emulates literally anyone imaginable!! Very little emotions!! That's such a cool concept I can't believe y'all fucking wasted it!!) and never actually building him up so that he's an actual presence

He's technically in the story from the first case, but only because. He's the one that detonated the bomb

If case 5-1 didn't happen in-between 5-4 like it did, then he wouldn't be there until 5-4 and it'd SUCK (okay technically he's there since 5-2 because. Fulbright. But Fulbright is straight up a different character from the Phantom so. I don't want to count it.)

It feels like the Phantom replaces Fulbright in 5-4 because of how little they paid attention to placing any hint that he was the Phantom all along. Ugh. As Verse keeps saying, they should have killed Gumshoe, for real

And it's not like this writer does a bad job at Gumshoe!! Gumshoe is one of the better parts of the aai games!! (He has rocks for brains but he's endearingly stupid XD )

Anyway. Back to the whole two climaxes dilemma.

In DD it's the whole Athena and Blackquill thing as the first Climax, then catching the Phantom is the second. This one is interesting because it's two breakdowns in the same case / trial segment, which does happen in DGS! But in DGS it has more time between them and, again, are treated differently on the story timeline feel. DGS has rising peaks and moments of calm that add to the rising action leading to the climax, whereas in DD these are both treated as bombastic climaxes without much differentiation between them. At least, that's how it feels to me?

And then SoJ just straight up has two separate trials in its finale case (which aren't even like 3-2 or 6-3 in which one trial leads into the other) and does better about having two climaxes, but I think all the peaks in the rising action are oddly paced and it has a satisfying ending but the journey to get there is a bit muddled. It doesn't exactly feel like it has two climaxes at least, showing that there has been improvement here, but it's still very messy.

I really hope the writer for AA7 at least learns from all this so we don't keep having this problem. It's funny how much we take writing fanfiction for granted and then see how much skill it actually takes to write something that feels like someone else's characters.

[doctordragon]

Agh I know it's been said a million times but dd klavier makes me sooo mad because of how the plot literally takes away some of what made his character so interesting in AJ

In AJ, the world wants Klavier to fulfil his role as a prosecutor and keep up his personal image by any means necessary. He was mentored by kristoph, who focused far more on personal gain when instructing his mentees.

So when klavier CHOOSES to be good and chooses to seek justice, that has meaning. The point is no one ever taught him what it's like to be good - he had to discover it for himself! He had to seek out Apollo for guidance!

And then DD ruins that compelling aspect of his character by saying he was good all along because he had a good mentor. It's just so infuriating.

[trivorowo]

Heck it, with the apollo justice trilogy on the horizon, I'm going to throw my hat into the ring. With how much hay is said about how each of them are mostly standalone due to how they were handled, I'm gonna argue that at the very least there was an theme/arc for Apollo. One of building trust.

SPOILERS FOR APOLLO JUSTICE, DUAL DESTINIES, AND SPIRIT OF JUSTICE.

So right off the bat we have Apollo Justice. In case 1, we see Apollo as this bright eyed lawyer, nervous but determined to defend his client and impress his boss in his first trial (Sound familiar?).

Of course, everything goes to pot. Compared to the easygoing first time round for Mr Wright, this is the polar opposite. Kristoph gets accused, Wright forges evidence to convict him, all the while Apollo is a mere pawn in Wright's plan. Apollo is of course appalled at the end, his entire world broken by to him, a washed up ex attorney.

Of course, with that same washed up attorney his only lifeline, he begrudgingly starts working for the Wright anything agency. It is crucial at this point to note that Apollo from this point onwards, he never works with Wright in a legal setting. Sure, he'll take cases from him, but never do they directly work together.

In cases 2 and 3, we see that first broken layer of trust begin to slowly rebuild, as well as his own confidence as an attorney. He still holds a more pessimistic view compared to other spiky haired lawyers, but he persists. His second case, though first conceived by the killer as a way to get away, ultimately lands in a first happy ending, albeit with much more effort than Wrights(albeit with less ghosts). Case three holds a similar factor of trust. Apollo hears the victims dying words, and uses that to base his initial investigation, holding on that he can trust everyone is telling as much truth as possible. With how case 3 pans out, everyone is hiding something from Apollo, even his defendant, but despite that, he suceeds, but making his defendant trust in him back enough to make him testify against the killer.

One factor of this is the fact we have a more mellowed out prosecutor in Klavier Gavin. The prosecutors are usually framed as a foil to the defense, and in this case, with Apollo's pessimism, what better way to counter it with a flirty, and guiding hand?

Case 4 holds some character development...but kinda off screen. After we have all the facts through the mason system, we are told that Apollo has been clued in by Wright about his true plan. With it, and the Jury, he can topple the devil that is Kristoph. I think it would've been a interesting take to show Wright telling Apollo all of this rather than just tell he did, as it would've allowed us the audience to see Apollo's reaction to the truth, and with it some of his trust in wright restored.

So ends Apollo Justice, with him ending in a somewhat better position than he started with, with new hope for the future

Then comes Dual Destinies. (As a refresher this game has cases in non chronological order, going 23415)

We start (chronologically) with case 2. This introduced us properly to best girl Athena Cykes. Interestingly enough, she too is a foil to Apollo akin to how Klavier was in the AJ, juxtaposing his still pessimistic outlook. This still helps him build trust by helping the rookie, and vice versa. In this case as well we see Wright wearing a suit for the first time (chronologically, at least. I know case 1 has his big return but in terms of Apollo and other characters, this is the first time.) Apollo remarks at this point about how much of a change it is after being so used to his depressed dad look from before, hinting that Apollo might believe he is past his deceptive ways, and to the player as well.

That is, until case 3. At this point in time, the player is controlling Athena and Wright is present as the two of them discover the body. Wright suggests they examine the body before reporting it to the police. This is framed as a necessity due to the 'dark age of law' and possible tampering, but I find it fascinating that only out of sight from Apollo does Wright do something that harkens back to his AJ days.

Then, the entirety of the space trilogy, cases 4, 1 and 5.

Within this, Apollo has a sudden case of edgelord-itis

Apollo has a conflict that arises within him. During the investigation, he suspects Athena, with her unable to answer him properly due to her childhood trauma. As such, he has to cover his eye, his ability to perceive, his one ace, in order to bury his doubts. But it isn't enough. He starts to copy the mannerisms and sayings of Kristoph, the first source of distrust, to counter his own perceived lack of trust between him and everyone else. Of course in the end, that trust is mended, with a ceremonial removal of the cloth covering his eye.

At this point, all three are working together, which might sound like it contradicts my previous statement about Wright and Apollo working together, but on closer inspection, it is an exception that proves the rule. At this point, it is a joint effort in order to demask and take down the phantom, and so the three are not working as individuals, but as a group, with Wright in the lead.

So ends dual destinies, with a hurdle of new trust broken and restored, with Apollo gaining a new ally on the same level as him.

Now comes Spirit of Justice. I'll only be talking about cases 2 and 5, as this game is a bit of a split protag mess.

Case 2 has Apollo finally acting in an all too familiar situation of defending an assistant. As such, this is a relatively standard trial (well, as standard as it could be) with not much to add, except for one part in the trial, where Apollo has to find the contradiction within Trucy's sword trick, leading a moment of distrust, but that is quickly resolved.

Case 5 is where things get interesting. To start off, the first half. As much as people rag on this by having Maya be kidnapped again, is still find it an interesting and fun courtroom case. Within any of the games, you were never directly against Wright until now. With his own tactics that you've seen countless times before now used against you, it feels more impactful, especially with you as Apollo. You can feel a sense of that somewhat cards held close Wright from AJ. This time however, Apollo is steadfast, and is able to take Wright down in his own game.

(As an aside, one way I would've maybe changed this to better flesh out this part would be to change Wright's motive to siding with Atishon. One idea could be simply money. Maybe hint throughout the game, especially with his trip to see Maya and Trucy's show most likely costing him a lot, he might've been more inclined to help, under his paternal instincts to protect his new found family. Or, it could've been as a deal for information on a case very personal to him)

The courtroom part of the second half is then where this comes full circle. For the first time since the start of the trilogy, Apollo is defending, and Wright is providing co-counsel. This concludes the arc, with Apollo finally accepting the help of the man who laid bare the truth in his own quest for vengeance.

[weaselytedious]

This obviously begs the question of what Phoenix meant HERE, as he's the only one who got the name wrong...

Current theories include:

A) He just got the name mixed up! Perhaps Herlock Sholmes isn't as well-known in Japan-Slash-America at this time, or perhaps he just got confused in the heat of the moment.

B) He's actually referencing Arséne Lupin's Sherlock Holmes, which changed the name from Herlock Sholmes for copyright reasons.

C) A series of confusing copyright laws led to the Herlock Sholmes books needing to be changed to Sherlock Holmes at some point during the past 100 years, meaning that Phoenix was correct at the time. This was resolved during the 8 years after the Phoenix Wright trilogy takes place, and the stories have now been restored to the original Herlock Sholmes name and title.

D) Sherlock Holmes DOES exist in the Ace Attorney universe as a fictional detective from a series of books written by Arthur Conan Doyle. He is entirely seperate and unrelated to Herlock Sholmes, who was a real person with a series of semi- biographical novels written by Iris Wilson. Phoenix is actually referencing the former.

In the Apollo Trilogy remaster, they changed this tiny Sherlock Holmes reference in Dual Destinies to "Herlock" instead, to stay consistent with The Great Ace Attorney's Herlock Sholmes!

(Original 3DS version)

[cherryzlem]

Thoughts about Klavier and Apollo's respective relationship with Kristoph and how it could (and should) have had much more impact on both of them after his trial(s):

I see in some klapollo fic that the two of them tend to share a more or less strong connexion over the fact that they both knew Kristoph on a personnal and professionnal level. To make it short they both looked up to Kristoph, as a boss and as an older brother, and, I cannot stress this enough, the betrayal and the heartbreak they should have felt knowing he was a murderer and a manipulator was definetly skipped, even ignored in the games (the most we got as in-game evidence of Kristoph's influence was Apollo paraphrasing him in Dual Destinies, and that is NOTHING compared to what it could have been). So I'm going to make it up to you all with this analysis of their respective relationships with him.

Starting with Apollo. First all you need to know before we start looking at what kind of relationship he had with his mentor, is that Apollo definetly doesn't have a high self-esteem and that that is something that can easily be played with.

Kristoph definetly had some kind of impact on Apollo, that just makes sense given he literally taught him how to be a defense attorney, but the thing is that Kristoph is a manipulator (and a damn competent one at that, we'll go back to that) and if he hadn't been sent to prison who knows what he could have done of our beloved Apollo ? Kristoph is the kind of manipulator that breaks people, the way he did with Phoenix.

Personally i think it's very unlikely that Kristoph was planning to make Apollo do any really traumatizing things, but in Apollo's place i couldn't help but wonder "what if i had ended up like him?" And THAT is what we could have gotten in the games, because paraphrasing Kristoph with a good old "Evidence is everything" is not enough to show how much he could have changed Apollo if he had been given the chance.

And finally, Apollo spent probably a lot of time with Kristoph, learning from him and looking up to him. Kristoph likes to seem friendly and approachable so that people can trust him and that definetly worked on Apollo aswell, so the betrayal he must have felt when he found out Kristoph to be such a horrible person, the heartbreak that his mentor was nothing more than a liar, it must have been unbearable (AND THE GAMES DON'T DIVE DEEP ENOUGH INTO APOLLO'S EMOTIONS GODDAMMIT).

But whatever Apollo felt after that revelation can in no way compare to what Klavier felt.

Get this, Klavier and Kristoph are brothers, meaning they definetly spent most of their childhood together. They lived in the same house, they probably went to the same school and they spent loads of time together. Klavier definetly loved his brother, he trusted him and admired him the way one admires their older siblings, and he learned he had been manipulated by him. Klavier was used by his brother in order to get Phoenix Wright disbarred and then 7 years later he was framed as a murderer. I also saw mentioned somewhere that Kristoph had the false evidence ready before Phoenix took his place at the Gramarye trial which very much implies that Kristoph was planning to CHEAT in order to beat Klavier during his first trial, that just feels so so fucked up. It's hard to really know for sure if Kristoph actually cared about Klavier but planning to cheat in order to show his little brother that he's just better than him is a good indicator as to what Kristoph thought of Klavier.

In the games, Klavier is never, ever, shown to be affected by Kristoph's actions and that is such a missed opportunity. Sure, the games aren't about him, but still, even just a simple "how are you feeling after all of that ?" Would've already been a little bit better than just forgetting about Klavier's emotions I believe.

Finally, just a little thought but how do you think Klavier feels when he realises how much he looks like his brother ? Somewhere during the 7 year gap he even started styling his hair like Kristoph, do you think it was because he admired him so much he wanted to look like him ? Or maybe to feel closer to his brother ? Why, god, why didn't he change his hairstyle in Dual Destinies ? Was it because he's just still too attached to his brother to let go of the memory of him ? Was it out of spite, to show Kristoph he could cope with the resemblance he shares with his him ?

That's all I got on that subject, that was a long one but god I needed to get all of this down because it just felt so unfair for Apollo and Klavier to be treated like that 😭

[overdressedcarp]

Dual Destinies spoilers, read at your own risk

Realistically I know that hindsight should make Bobby Fulbright's early-case appearances sadder or more sinister, but whenever I go back and watch those scenes it's so much funnier knowing that this overenthusiastic goober is a trained spy living under the looming threat of imprisonment or assassination if they don't fully commit to the bit.

Do we mourn the loss of OG Bobby? Yes, always. But seeing the Phantom put their whole (debatably unfeeling) chest into becoming a himbo is peak comedy to me. Life-or-death performance of their career, and the role is an overly earnest, easily distracted goofball who literally goes 👉👈 when people are mean to him.

They're onstage, under the spotlights, dancing for their survival, and the guy they're impersonating isn't even cool. Even if he is more of a person than they've ever had the chance to be, before.

It's even funnier in light of the fact that, for all the gravitas and imposing threat Blackquill ascribes to them, the Phantom is honestly kind of a mess in their own right, at least from HAT-1 onward? They have been trying for seven years to get rid of the evidence that they were stabbed in the hand by an eleven-year-old and that they have a flat affect in phone calls, and they've killed multiple people and blown up multiple buildings about it, and they just keep making more problems for themself. They are a failwife cosplaying a malewife while they desperately try to manipulate-mansplain-manslaughter their way out of impending death. 10/10, no notes.

[jinxedshapeshifter]

Masterlist of My Analytical Ace Attorney Essays (including shorter posts that probably don't qualify as essays)

Figured I'd make it easier on people who are interested in these things lol

the promised Ryulock/Homumiko essay [1776 words] - The first Ace Attorney essay I posted. While I was playing The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (specifically Twisted Karma and His Last Bow and The Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo), I was struck by numerous parallels between Sholmes's dynamic with Ryunosuke and his dynamic with Yujin. This led to a desire to analyze the two dynamics and point out similarities between them, because I was genuinely sad that it wasn't talked about a lot.

Analysis of Klavier's hairstyle between his 17 year old design and his 24 year old design [422 words] - An analysis I did after noticing that Klavier's hair when he's 17 doesn't look cleanly cut. It's a little less objective than my other analysis posts and is also a bit more speculative, but it's still something I think is interesting.

Analysis of Kristoph's treatment of Apollo during Turnabout Trump [592 words] - An analysis I did while I was working through my second replay of Turnabout Trump, during which I noticed Kristoph treats Apollo eerily like an attack dog. I also briefly speculated on Kristoph's motive for mentoring Apollo in the first place.

Analyzing Klavier's Behavior Because I Am Nothing If Not Predictable [3952 words] - An analysis I did on Klavier's behavior across both Apollo Justice and Dual Destinies because I thought Klavier's behavior in Dual Destinies could be explained without saying he's mischaracterized during Turnabout Academy. This is the longest analysis I've written to date, and the one I spent the longest on (although that's because I kept getting distracted while I was working on it lol).

mini Eustace Winner analysis (anyone who follows me and has seen the essays I've posted probably saw this coming) [479 words] - An analysis I did after finishing the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection because I didn't really like how TVTropes and the Ace Attorney wiki talk about Eustace's intelligence (yes, I'm serious). Basically, I noticed as I was playing the last two episodes of Prosecutor's Gambit that Eustace isn't nearly as dumb as the game would lead you to believe, and what seemed like low intelligence was a result of Excelsius manipulating and gaslighting him into thinking he was an idiot to make him dependent on other people. I plan on doing a longer version of this analysis because Eustace deserves it.

Why Kristoph Gavin Is Like That: An Essay [3636 words] - An analysis I did to explain why Kristoph is Like That. "Why is he like that" and "I want to study him in a lab" seem to be common sentiments around Kristoph, so I thought it'd be fun to analyze him to answer the question of why he is how he is.

Analysis/ramble on Kristoph potentially gaslighting Apollo [391 words] - An analysis I did after noticing Kristoph and Apollo's dynamic has some red flags? Shall we say? Which I actually only really realized because I was researching workplace gaslighting.

Analysis/ramble on Apollo's behavior and attitude toward Athena in Dual Destinies [369 words] - An analysis I did after realizing Apollo's behavior in Dual Destinies could very well be a trauma response and it very well could have been intentional on the writers' part.

I also have some more of these planned (because they're fun to write and think about, fight me) and a Ryunosuke one in my drafts. Please keep in mind that all of these are my personal interpretations of the characters based on how I interpreted them while I was playing, how I grew to interpret them after either replaying the games or thinking for a while, and explanations that make sense to me personally. You don't have to agree with them, and it's perfectly fine if your interpretations are different (just be nice about it if you do disagree with a conclusion I come to). I just like sharing my Thoughts on media I'm interested in via analysis lol.

[river-fisher]

The Real Bobby Fulbright and Morality

Hey hey! I am back with yet another analysis post, this time focusing on Fulbright's morality! I often see fanon interpretations of him - that are super fun! - but I also feel like they focus on the positive aspects of his personality and avoid the darker ones, so I will be rambling about that under the cut! Enjoy B)

Before we get into specific examples, it is worth pointing out that this analysis is based off of:

The theory that Dual Destinies didn't originally have the phantom as the main villain.

That the phantom was included later in the story after several chapters were already finished.

The theory that Dual Destinies was going to deal with darker themes before it got altered.

Now, although I have more detailed arguments on why I believe in these points, this post is not about that (Though if anyone wants to hear my thoughts about it, I'd love to yap about that in another post ^^). In a nutshell, Fulbright's behaviour changes in between cases, in a way that suggests that his character was revamped. I believe that Fulbright was originally written without the phantom in mind.

Thus! While his character might've had his purpose shifted, if my belief is correct, then The Monstrous Turnabout - the first case with Fulbright - is the most accurate glimpse into what the real Bobby Fulbright was like. Yes, we are meta analysing it up in this house!

Via the assumption that The Monstrous Turnabout has the original idea for the real Fulbright, we can make some interpretations of what he's like, despite the canon saying it was the phantom impersonating him! ^^

So, onto actual examples (lovingly chosen from my transcript) and analysis!

Starting off strong, we first meet Fulbright with him wanting to arrest Apollo and Athena. Yes, there is the potential reasoning of "disturbing a crime scene", but the lawyers had only just gotten there. They had done nothing wrong. That is unlawful arrest! Them coming to the crime scene had several explanations, and yet Fulbright won't even hear them out:

[???] “Hey, who are you and what are you doing here? This is a crime scene!”

[AJ] “And who are YOU? Are you with the police?”

[???] “I asked first! Who are YOU and what are you doing here?! On second thought... I’m placing you under arrest for disturbing a crime scene!”

He prioritizes lunch over actual, genuine justice here, not even bothering to hear them out. He only changes his tune after finding out that they're lawyers. Even then, he doesn't allow them to investigate. Though that is what all Ace Attorney detectives do, I think the subtle threat that comes afterwards is important.

[AJ] “Ack! Under arrest?! B-B-But...”

[???] “Save it for the boys back at HQ! Now, come quietly or else! I don’t want to be late for lunch!”

Yes, he never pulls out a gun in the series (besides attempting to do so in Turnabout for Tomorrow as the phantom), but I believe that the inherent threat and power that Fulbright holds in this situation is worth mentioning. Apollo's assumption that Fulbright could pull out a gun is also quite telling in my opinion. Fulbright is a cop at the end of the day.

[BF] “Cease and desist at once, or you’ll have to deal with my little friend here!” { Hand goes to his holster }

[AJ] “Ack!” (Yikes! Is he reaching for his...?!)

[BF] “In justice we trust!” { Shows badge }

[AJ] “...!” (Phew, it’s just his badge.)

[BF] “This door simply will not open! We’ve tried and tried, but it won’t budge! It’s an essential part of the culture found in this manor, so we can’t blow it up either!”

The next concerning aspect I've found, is the seemingly normalized use of excessive force. The only reason they're not blowing up the door is because of its cultural significance. That is insane! It can be argued that it's not Fulbright's decision, however, the lack of reaction from everyone involved signifies to me that this is the norm.

With this moment, I wish to point out Fulbright's black & white thinking. I acknowledge that this is consistent for all detectives in the series, but it is a piece of characterization that is very important - Fulbright is very quick to call Tenma a villain, evil, a fiend. Thinking that someone is guilty and thinking that someone is evil are quite different imo.

[AJ] “So you still think Mayor Tenma is responsible?”

[BF] “That’s right! Damian Tenma is an evil fiend who must be banished from this world! Now, take my hand and together we will defeat this evil!”

[BF] “I won’t fall for that, you shameless rascal! I only help good little boys and girls!”

In general, Fulbright tends to think in an us vs them mentality - the people he likes are good, while the ones he dislikes are bad. He helps good people and puts away bad people. In a sense, yes, that's what a cop is supposed to do.

[BF] “Ha ha! My investigations are as thorough as they are foolproof, or my name isn’t Fulbright! I vow to resign immediately if I ever make a false arrest!”

However, this line paints a grim picture. Fulbright implies that he has never made a false arrest. That is statistically impossible, and implies that he has not only made false arrests before, he has also managed to get them convicted! The fact that the first time we meet him, he tries to arrest us only amplifies this point!

[BF] “What?! Are you questioning my sense of justice?!”

When he is confronted with an argument against his beliefs, he hides behind justice. In a way, he hides behind his badge, the very item that allows him to make the decisions on who is being painted as guilty, and who is not. In fact, he doesn't even question his beliefs.

[BF] “Prosecutor Blackquill! We’ve had enough of your hijinks! The foundation of justice is fair play, and you are in serious violation of that!”

And finally, the so-called 'jolts of justice'. I've seen arguments in the past claiming that the real Bobby Fulbright would never use electrical shocks on Blackquill. I politely disagree. Considering all the previous examples, I think it aligns with his behavioural patterns and is the epitome of his morality.

And thus, I would like to briefly propose my personally crafted theory about Dual Destinies: The game was originally going to delve into darker themes, and Fulbright's corruption was at the center of that.

Yes, Fulbright believes in justice, in good and bad. He has good intentions. But at the end of the day, he is a cop that holds power over others and justifies his wrongdoings with... well, justice. So long as he believes that he is doing the right thing, he is willing to reach for extremes.

I think this is often missed due to Fulbright's comical mess ups and overall cheery and charming demeanour. The characters don't really react to his more... extreme decisions either.

Consider a world where the phantom was not the main twist of the series, but some aspects remained. Such as... The tampering with evidence... Abusing police position to cover up a crime... Framing innocent suspects... It fits into the previously showcased negative traits of his.

Ergo, the real Bobby Fulbright might not be as justice-driven as many may believe. There are many details that tend to get overlooked when it comes to him, especially in fanon. Which is fine and good! It is comforting to think of a policeman that does his job properly. However, I also find this darker side absolutely fascinating and worthy of discussion.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this silly analysis post! Do feel free to argue or ask questions, I love a good debate and I love yapping <3

[theblueprincess590]

Duality of the Heart-An analysis of KH2

The number 2 is a major recurring motif in Kingdom Hearts 2 with the game introducing duel wielding keyblades, visiting all the disney worlds twice, Mulan’s dual identities, 2 magical genies in Agrabah, 2 Jafars, 2 “Santas”, The trinity Trio having 2 forms in Halloween Town, the Two Coliseums in Olympus, a past and present version of Disney Castle,  the game having 2 stories, 2 Soras, 2 Kairis, 2 Ansems, 2 Twilight Towns, Fighting Demyx Twice, Axel wielding twin Chakrams, Xigbar using two guns, Xemnas wielding 2 swords, and the final battle being a two on one fight. It would be a mistake however to assume the motif is just here because the game is called Kingdom Hearts 2, No the number 2 is a Major motif in KH2 because one of the game’s central themes is Duality. Kingdom Hearts 2 is a video game where in order for the character to win they must achieve a sense of duality whether it be between a Somebody and his Nobody or between Light and Darkness. 

The first example of someone successfully achieving duality in KH2 would be Mulan. At the beginning of her story Mulan is hiding both her true identity and femininity with the false identity of Ping. She failed to bring honor to her family through the role as a Noble woman so she attempts to restore her family’s honor by living out the role of a Soldier, of a man. The Land of Dragons is a world governed by rules and tradition placing everyone in a single role and rejecting those that do not fit them. By repressing her feminine traits and only relying on her masculine traits in order to fit a single role Mulan has created an internal imbalance within herself making her weaker, Shown though the gameplay with her weak stats and lack of Ability while disguised as a man. It is only after Mulan stops trying to fulfill the roles others have made for her and sheds the false identity of Ping that Mulan is able to achieve her true strength unlocking all her abilities and finally becoming Sora’s Peer in the form of their new limit Red Rocket. And it was thanks to the support of the Trinity Trio that Mulan was able to break free from the traditions of her world that were preventing from reaching true duality As they are outsides from her world and thus are not bond to the same rules allowing them to stand by her even when her country rejects her. By achieving true duality of the self Mulan was able to save both her country and her family's honor all while defying the traditions of her world that were keeping her from being happy. 

Antlantica is an interesting inverse of Land of Dragons where instead of being about an unbalanced world preventing someone from reaching duality it is instead about an Unbalanced person of power stopping his world from reaching duality.  Atlantica is world of 2, a world of the Sea and a world of land yet there is no unity between them. The 2 halves of the world are cut off from each other in total isolation. And this is because of King Triton, who uses his great power to enforce rules that keep them apart. King Triton is the authority figure of Atlantica and thus has the power to enforce his rules on the world but King Triton is a stubborn man with a heart entangled in his own biases and prejudices. Triton hates the surface world and its people so he keeps his kingdom cut off from it not only hurting the world but his daughter Aerial. So as if by the will of destiny Aerial has fallen in love with a human from the surface world, the two of them meant to create a bridge between their homes  that will restore their world’s duality. But Triton’s reject of the duality creates further conflict in his world as he inadvertently drives Aeril to become Ursalla’s pawn in her schemes to steal his powers, leading both his kingdom and the surface world to the brink of ruin, And it only saved thanks to the efforts of the outsiders that helped had him before, Sora Donald, and Goofy. In the end it was not King Triton who saved Atlantica from his archenemy but rather the Trinity Trio who allied themselves with Aerial’s Lover Prince Eric that struck the final blow to Ursual. Unlike King Triton these 3 Musketeers were able to recognize What was best for both Atlantica and Aerial. And only when the truth is laid before King Triton does he at last abandon the prejudice that was suffocating his heart and Allow his world reach to duality through the union of Land and Sea, the Union of Ariel and Eric.

We’ve seen the beauty that comes forth when a person or a world achieves Duality but what of the misery is brought about when someone fails to achieve duality? Pete is the game’s first example of what happens to someone when they refuse duality. Pete’s lack of a duality is represented by his inability to balance his past and future. Pete longs for the good old days when he was a simple Ship Captain sailing the seas in his steamboat with his first mate. He longs for the days when he and Mickey were still friends. But Pete will never admit that last part, he’s far too prideful so Pete ultimately rejects his past for the sake of his future. He tries to change the past by stealing his old Steam Boat and the cornerstone of light so that Maleficent can take over Disney Castle in the future but in doing so he comes into Conflict with his past self who is still mostly a good person. By trying to change his past Pete is effectively betraying it, rejecting duality and failing this second chance he has been given by the universe leading to his ultimate despair. Pete not only fails to change the past losing to both the Trinity Trio and His past self but is permanently cut off from the Timeless River, the Past is lost to him forever leaving him only with his miserable present. 

And A similar fate might have befallen Sora as well if he did not come to reach a duality of his own with his Other.

In order for Sora to become a complete being again he needs Roxas to return to him. The Nobody must return to the Sanctuary of the heart. However Roxas only returns to Sora reluctantly, The situation ultimately forced on him by the will of the Worlds in the form of Diz meaning Roxas’s acceptance of his fate was ultimately half hearted. And So a true Duality between Sora and Roxas was not achieved, their reunion ultimately Unstable. Roxas' emotions would constantly pop up over the events of KH2, his anger and memories over taking Sora’s from time to time making the kind hearted boy more aggressive and antagonistic than usual, as if Roxas was trying to take Sora over. Sora on the hand was no better in this relationship. Throughout the adventure he would intentionally or not reject Roxas’s existence, failing to notice the boy's presence within his own heart Sora would simply react with confusion every time Roxas name was brought up, dismissing the Organization's genuine attempts to reach out to Roxas as cruel mind games. Sora was given all the clues to Roxas’s existence yet made no effort to acknowledge him, always prioritizing his own existence over his Other. Ultimately this incomplete Duality  would reach a boiling point with Axel’s Death. Refusing to accept the fact that Axel would sacrifice himself for Sora’s sake and his Somebody’s continual denial of his existence, Roxas at last rebelled. Dragging Sora down into his own heart, the two would clash on top of Sora's Station of awakening. Duality failed, the two boys of the Sky were unable to accept one another so they would force each other to acknowledge them through the only thing they both understood, the Crossing of Keyblades. Roxas would unleash all his anger onto Sora, his strikes rapid and full of righteous fury, as if to share his own pain with Sora. Whereas Sora would rely on guard taking on all of Roxas blows rather than striking back showing at last a willingness to acknowledge Roxas and take on his pain. Then there was the trading of Oathkeeper and Oblivion throughout the fight, the keyblades remaining loyal to both boys as undeniable proof of their shared power and connection. Yet despite Sora making the first steps to understand his Nobody Roxas would continue to reject Sora. Roxas could only see Sora as the source of his suffering and thus could not comprehend why Sora was always chosen over himself, especially by his best friend. That is until he gazes upon Sora’s Station of Awakening one last time and sees why it has to be Sora. The stained glass window bares the faces of Sora’s closest friends showing that sora has kept them not only close to his chest but has made them the very pillars of his heart allowing him to be connected to them forever more even when the worlds themselves tear them apart. Sora accepted the pain of separation and thus allowed his heart and bonds to grow stronger whereas Roxas is desperate to avoid the pain of separation at all cost ultimately cutting himself off from his friends in hopes of avoiding the inevitable pain but all this does is hurt Roxas’s friends making his heart weaker, leading to his defeat. Roxas realizes that Sora possesses a Strength he lacks, a strength he can only achieve when he accepts the kindness of Sora’s heart and their connection. And so he does that by finally acknowledges Sora as a “Good Other” allowing the two of them to achieve closest thing they can to a true duality symbolized by the KeyBlade Two Becomes One which represents the bond between Sora and Roxas, Final Form a manifestation of the union of their powers, and Sora at last being open to the truth of Roxas’s existence when Riku tells Sora who Roxas is. The two have yet to achieve a true duality as Roxas has yet to become his own free person but at least now the Somebody and Nobody have at last embarked together on the path towards true duality.     

To finish off this exploration of duality we must discuss how this theme relates back to the conflict between Light and Darkness that defines the series. In KH 1 it was established that Light and Darkness are natural enemies, that their conflict is one not just of the heart but of reality itself. Yet it is only in KH2  where we see the consequences of this conflict. Light in KH represents Creation and Healing, after all it is the light that created the hearts, Kingdom Hearts itself being the original light that all hearts are born from. The iconic cure spells use Light to heal our heroes, and even the offensive light spells often involve the creation of a hard light construct. Then we have Darkness which represents corruption. The heartless are ravenous monsters that consume the hearts of all men yet they do not destroy the hearts rather they corrupt them transforming them into new heartless that will repeat the cycle. The same goes for the worlds that fall to darkness. They may at first appear to be destroyed by the darkness but that is merely a misconception rather they too are corrupted by the darkness used as the building blocks to create a new world in the form of “End of The World”, an abomination that mirrors the emblem heartless themselves but a living world nonetheless. Light and Darkness are not destroyers rather they are the key pieces of DNA that make up reality in KH, both needed for the sake of existence meaning that it is only when they clash that destruction is brought about. Duality between Light and Darkness is needed for the universe to remain stable yet the two refuse to coexist their very natures compelling them to fight like two twins that disagree on the nature of their birth. The conflict between light and darkness in KH is not a noble fight between good and evil but rather just another senseless conflict that is instigated by the selfish ambitions of men, after all the Emblem Heartless would not exist without the twisted experiments of Apprentice Xehanort. And with this truth unveiled KH2 reveals to Sora and the Player the third core element of the universe, one that like Light and darkness is Eternal. Nothingness Is what is left when light and Darkness clash, the end result of their failure to achieve duality. It is less prevalent than its two brothers but make no mistake Nothingness is just as powerful and Dangerous as light and darkness. Nothing represents destruction and rot most likely because it is not born from the heart like Light and darkness but rather is the decay that is left behind when the heart disappears. Is it rotten sickness that festers in all that are cast away to the Inbetween, tearing them apart bit by bit from the inside stripping them of everything until they too become Nothing. It is without a doubt the greatest threat to the heart and thus it is the responsibility of light and darkness to defeat this threat. Through Sora and Riku Light and Darkness put aside their differences and fight side by side. The two knights that once opposed each other now joined together in friendship once more with their limit, Eternal session being the ultimate representation of this duality as we see light and darkness work together  in tandem to create something truly Beautiful. This is why it must be Sora and Riku who defeat Xemnas for he is the ultimate Nobody. Not just representing the nothingness in terms of power but in ideals, Xemnas is an empty shell of man who rejects everything the heart stands for all while shallowly claiming to understand it. He manipulates people through empty words and instigates chaos and destruction for his own ends. He not only cares for nothing but is nothing. That is why in the final fight he is so desperate to turn Sora and Riku against each other, because it is only in times of conflict that he holds any real power. But of course Sora and Riku ignore Xemnas’s hollow lies and strike him down together for they know the truth, light and darkness are not meant to be enemies but rather brothers who represent the true duality of the heart.

[phantommarigold]

gritting my teeth Kristoph Gavin has so much unexplored potential and at the same time it's great! Because it leaves a mystery and a lot of room for thought and analysis. If the franchise ended at AJ:AA/aa4 his narrative would really be perfect. But then AA:DD/aa5 and AA:SoJ/aa6 came out and he never gets metioned again. Like he never existed, like the impact he made on everyone from phoenix through apollo and klavier and even trucy! And it just makes it kind of shallow. He went to jail and we forgot about him?

Like sure Apollo turned on Kristoph with almost no hesitation- but that's because Apollo will do anything to uncover the truth, that's just Who He Is. That doesn't deny the fact that Kristoph was a respected and successful attorney who probably was good teacher and mentor for Apollo, and I ask, where's the inner conflict? And if not that, an explanation on why it's not there?

What about Phoenix who had a strange friendship with suspicion and distrust ingrained at the core of it with Kristoph? That was whole seven years they were playing a game with each other and hell, neither of them planned on ending it during turnabout trump! Phoenix asking Kristoph to defend him wasn't some trick or mindgame, and Kristoph's initial plan wasn't to get Phoenix convicted! He wanted to indict Orly and walk away with it.

And don't get me started on Klavier. We all saw how he acted during turnabout succession and then it's. Never mentioned again. Klavier is kind of like Apollo, he wants to seek the truth no matter how unpleasant it may be, but Apollo barely hesitated. Klavier was clearly trying to not believe it for a long time. For seven years actually. But after AJ:AA? Not a single line spared for him.

And one thing I'll give to Dual Destinies is the parallels between Apollo and Kristoph during the whole plot surrounding Clay Terran:

This? This is great. Ace Attorney always did a great job portraying similarities between characters through the sprites/body language.

And ynnow it's just, a real fucking shame because of course Kristoph Gavin isn't a morally good character, but he's a damn well written one! But it seems people writing games past AJ:AA didn't care about him.

(....okay so I just want to say I am writing this at 3am and it's kind of hard to find resources on the wiki cuz the internet is shittt at this hour and my brain is only half working so. I might've missed a lot of stuff that actually referenced Kristoph and I might just not remember. If anything I said here was wrong please feel free to correct me in the tags or add onto the post, thanks.)