Awesome / Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

This page covers the sixth game: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice. Take moments specific to the first three games, Apollo Justice, the Investigations series, Dual Destinies, The Great Ace Attorney, or the 2016 anime to those pages, please.

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• In the animated prologue, when a man takes Maya hostage, Nahyuta shows up and gives the man a chance to lay down his knife and come quietly. He doesn't take it. The man lunges, and Nahyuta effortlessly dodges his attack and then one-shots him. Bad. Ass.
• Anything Dhurke does. But his most awesome feat is him delivering a Death Glare to Inga, after being shot 3 times in the chest, all just to save Maya.
• Maya took a lot more levels not in badassery, but how skillful a Spirit Medium she has become. Up to the point of Trials and Tribulations, she is more possessed by spirits rather than channeling them. Now, she can freely channel anyone's spirit into her body, and maintain said state for a couple of days. This is shown in Case 5, where she is the one who channels Dhurke to visit America to retrieve the Founder's Orb and visit Apollo. That's at least 2 days' worth of channeling.
• An offscreen one that is alluded to a few times over the course of the game: Edgeworth has been using his position as Chief Prosecutor to clean up the Prosecutor's Office and conduct a purge of corrupt prosecutors. This very likely involved those who cared more about finding a client guilty and establishing a "Win" record over finding the truth, including Gaspen Payne! This is even more awesome if you're familiar with Edgeworth's actions in Gyakuten Kenji 2.
  • Another one connected to this is the fact that Simon Blackquill was not purged by Edgeworth, and it’s implied that Klavier Gavin wasn’t either. Simon is still a prosecutor as of Case 4, and Klavier is alluded to as “Prosecutor” Gavin during Case 2.
  • In addition, Edgeworth reminisces during case 5 about firing Gaspen Payne due to his unscrupulous courtroom tactics. However, he does not mention letting Winston Payne go, making it very possible that Winston survived the purge that his younger brother did not. Just goes to show there are worse things than being mediocre and ineffectual when it comes to prosecuting. Then again, the Investigations games show that Edgeworth routinely forgets that Winston even exists, and is always astonished to find out that this pathetic-looking man he's never seen before is a prosecutor (when he appears in the Prosecutor's Office in the first game, Edgeworth assumes he's the janitor), so it's possible the only reason Winston escaped the purge is because Edgeworth didn't realize he was supposed to fire him.
  • Considering the previous game which was during a time known as "the dark age of law" it's not difficult to understand why he's doing it too.
• Just as it was with the previous game, the animation quality in this game is through the roof, but taken even further, with special animations used for certain, case-changing moments making the proceedings feel even more lively.

The Foreign Turnabout:

• Just the fact that Phoenix managed to win a Not Guilty verdict for the first time in 23 years in the Khura’in Kingdom courts counts as this. It’s so awesome that it gets broadcasted on international news in The Magical Turnabout, which is also how Apollo and Athena learn about it.
• The introduction to the case counts as well with it essentially being an Establishing Character Moment for the entire Khura'inese court. Ahlbi is declared guilty literally only a few minutes into the trial, the defence’s stand is empty and the Princess Rayfa declares that Ahlbi should be given the harshest penalty available while the Judge and the gallery all chant their agreement when suddenly… OBJECTION.
• When Phoenix is read the Defense Culpability Act - essentially anyone who supports criminals is considered just as guilty as the criminals themselves, and as a result if a Defendant is found guilty their Defense Attorney is given the same punishment - and warned that if he continues to defend Ahlbi he’ll be given the death penalty if Ahlbi is found guilty. While naturally hesitant to put his life on the line, Phoenix simply looks towards Ahlbi, remembers his own past and why he became a Defense Attorney in the first place, before proudly declaring that even if it means being subjected to the DC act he’ll continue to defend Ahlbi, all the while Objection 2016 plays in the background for the very first time.
  • Made even more awesome because of how much it stumps Gaspen. He was so sure that the threat to Phoenix's life would be more than enough to ensure he'd forfeit the case (thus feeding Gaspen's pride), failing to understand just how unshakable Phoenix's Crusading Lawyer principles are.
• So we all know that the judges make fair rulings once our cast steps in, right? Well, as it so happens, the Judge of this particular game decides in the first trial to go on with the investigation after Phoenix proves that the head priestess misinterpreted the events of the victim's last moments, despite the prosecution and the head priestess demanding he send Phoenix to jail. The awesome part? He tells the Head Priestess, a major part of their court, to follow the law or he'll have her removed! His Magistry may not be the sharpest, but he will uphold the law no matter what. Even better, he does have Rayfa removed and she has to be dragged kicking and screaming out of the courtroom.
  Rayfa: You would honestly entertain the idea that my Insight contains a contradiction?!
  Khura'in Judge: Truly, it is shocking. In the twenty-plus years since the DC Act went into effect, such a thing has never occured. To be honest...I didn't want to believe it, either. But with his life on the line, the defense pointed out an inconsistency. And it is our duty to scrutinize it to the satisfaction of the law.
  Rayfa: You dare go against the royal priestess, you...NON-BELIEVER?
  Khura'in Judge: No, my faith is as strong as ever. But I have a duty to make a fair ruling in this trial. If you insist on interfering with that process, Your Benevolence... I'm afraid I must request your removal from this courtroom, royal priestess or not.
• The way the Judge dismisses Rayfa from court is like seeing a parent taking away their daughter's cell phone. He's totally done with Rayfa's crap. Rayfa may be the Crown Princess, but in the courtroom, HE is in charge.
  Rayfa: I do not admit defeat! I won't!
  Khura'in Judge: Bailiff, please see Her Benevolence out.

The Magical Turnabout:

• When Apollo conclusively proves that Trucy is innocent, Nahyuta, furious, starts spouting his dogmatic Kura'inese beliefs regarding the inherent guilt of the accused and once again steps over the line with threats of divine retribution. But this time, Apollo's having none of it.
  Nahyuta: You and the accused are most certainly bound for hell!
  Apollo: Really? Ms. Wright and I? Because I'd think you're the one with a ticket there for trying to convict an innocent girl.
  Nahyuta: (Breakdown)◊
  • For context, Nahyuta had been constantly throwing personal insults to Apollo, Athena, and Trucy, telling them of the various punishments they would be receiving in hell for standing against him. At the end, Apollo finally reverses the situation and tells the obnoxious Jerkass Holier Than Thou prosecutor that HE'S the one going to hell for falsely accusing an innocent girl. And all Nahyuta can do is snap his beads.
• He's a terrible person and failed anyway, but you have to give Roger Retinz props for his plot. The man, with one devoted fan and one resentful rival, was able to concoct a very nearly perfect crime that would have very neatly destroyed Trucy completely without ever linking him anywhere near the crime scene, if it hadn't been for Bonny pointing Mr. Hat the wrong way and her quick thinking when covering for a mistake...
• One particular moment for Trucy during the later half of the trial; her reputation as a magician is at the lowest it's ever been thanks to Retinz's various smear campaigns, and thanks to a seemingly incriminating piece of evidence presented before the recess and several hecklers Retinz invited, she gets jeered and booed at when she takes the stand. What does she do? She puts on a smile and performs her sword-changing magic trick for the gallery. And it works, with the gallery (and the Judge) applauding the performance. The best part? This inspires Bonny to testify about the video footage!
  • The Judge also gets a moment that also crosses into a Heartwarming moment during the moment when members of the gallery were jeering at Trucy. The Judge quickly bangs his gavel for order and threatens to have them all thrown out of the courthouse before kindly asking Trucy to testify about her sword trick.
• Speaking of Bonny, she and her twin sister Betty pulling off their teleportation trick in court. Bonny appears at the defense desk, Betty at the prosecution, then both holding hands at the witness stand!
• He may be a villain, but Retinz turning into his true persona, The Great Mr. Reus, forgotten member of Troupe Gramarye, is actually pretty cool. Not only does he get his own theme (when previously he'd only had the generic "Odd People" leitmotif), but his gimmick within the troupe appears to have been fire, given he casually summons a fireball during some parts of his testimony.
  • On top of all that, he has what is widely agreed upon to be one of the best, if not the best, breakdowns in the entire franchise. The music combined with the incredibly smooth animation as the spotlights get brighter, and brighter on him which both reflect his status as a performer, and his crimes fully coming to light makes the entire scene incredible.
• Though he also goes on to defeat Phoenix in a civil case and subsequently topple Ga'ran's regime later in the game, it is this case that marks Apollo's full growth into a capable lawyer, rivaling Nick. In his debut game, Apollo always had Phoenix watching his back, and was going up against the most helpful prosecutor in the series, while in Dual Destinies he mostly played third fiddle to Nick and Athena. Come the Magical Turnabout, Trucy's accused of murder and the details of her contract with Roger threaten to bring about the complete dissolution of the Wright Anything Agency, with Nick unable to offer any meaningful help outside of encouraging words and Apollo facing off against his greatest opponent yet: Nahyuta. Nevertheless, not only does he expose the true killer, but as the player (but not he) knows, Apollo, as a Gramarye, gets to have the last laugh on Retinz by seeing through his illusions and exposing him as the murderer.
  • Phoenix goes a step further by actually acknowledging this in the game, congratulating Apollo over the phone and acknowledging that he's grown into a capable lawyer in his own right. It's a far cry from Phoenix's typical references to Apollo as being "loud" or "somewhat unreliable".
  • To further emphasize this point, in Apollo and Athena’s first two cases together, they were unable to break the prosecution’s argument on the first day of trial, and had to be bailed out by their client’s shenanigans to get another day. But Apollo didn’t have that luxury this time, he had to solve everything right then and there on the first day or lose everything. And, despite the impossible odds, he pulled it off. No wonder Phoenix was impressed.
• Before it was disrupted, the magic show itself. Incredible illusions framed around an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland filled with weaponized (in story) magic tricks? Yes PLEASE!

The Rite of Turnabout:

• The bailiff gets a moment of awesome completely by accident: by interrupting a guilty verdict and announcing a second murder, he makes your client Maya look even worse, but he also causes the judge to give you another day of investigation, which buys Phoenix the time he needs to solve the case later.
• Beh'leeb Inmee's escape. It's just been revealed that the person she killed was a member of the Secret Police and that she was only acting in self-defense, her husband committed suicide purely to save her life...then it turns out that one of the witnesses was faking amnesia all along and is her fellow in La Résistance. Cue the guards being completely flabbergasted as both of them give them the complete slip - and they improv'd the plan.
  • There's something awesome about how Beh'leeb tears off her widow's veil and uses her lipstick to bear the mark of Lady Kee'ra on her forehead as she declares to overthrow the current regime and bring forth a fair and just legal system so that no one could suffer the pain she and her husband had gone through.
• After years of players questioning why Maya's spirit channeling abilities have never been put to use as a tool in the courtroom, she finally uses them to channel the dead spirit of Tahrust Inmee so he may testify past the mortal coil.
• The gallery's reaction to Maya channeling Tahrust. In Khu'rain, channeling is considered to be a requirement of being the queen. To say that they were shocked that a foreigner was able to display spiritual power greater than their high priest Rayfa and rivaling their queen is an understatement to say the least. Made even better since everyone but Phoenix was highly skeptical that she could do it.
• In an indirect way, Tahrust Inmee's actions in this case, dubbed the 'DCA Tragedy' by the Khura'inese public, has led to people questioning the Ga'ran regime and the DC Act and inspired several others to join the Defiant Dragons to overthrow the corrupt status quo, as revealed in Turnabout Revolution. Looks like Tahrust's death wasn't in vain after all.
• When breaking Datz's Psyche-Locks, you have to overall prove that Phoenix is not so different from the Defiant Dragons. Like the armband depicting their logo that Datz is still wearing, Phoenix presents his version which depicts what he believes in: His attorney's badge.

Turnabout Storyteller:

• Your client gets a moment of awesome when he provides a crucial piece of evidence to his own defense by distributing his food to everyone in the courtroom and proving that it doesn't smell like perfume. And he does this despite being drunk off his ass.
• Athena successfully deals with a first for her Mood Matrix: a witness's emotions go out of control and constantly switch from one extreme to another depending on the statement. Despite saying that she's never seen this before, Athena successfully solves the problem on the spot: it's because the witness has multiple personalities.
• At the end of the case, despite Nahyuta treating her like shit throughout, Athena finally earned his respect as a lawyer.
• The fact that Simon Blackquill is back is one for fans of his. But if we must get into more detail:
  • His entrance. Nahyuta has turned the entire gallery against Athena, and it seems like Athena is about to break down. Then, a single word cuts through the courtroom like the edge of a samurai's blade:
    Silence!
    [Cut to Simon at the defense's bench]
  • For almost the entire series, the prosecutor dealt verbal (and occasionally physical) abuse on the lawyer. Now that Simon Blackquill is on your side, the tables have turned. It is incredibly satisfying to finally see your opponent be on the receiving end of Simon's Razor Wind and snark. Of note is when Nahyuta throws his "Rosary of Agony" to constrict Athena, and Simon just cuts it in mid-air.
  • When Athena starts doubting Bucky, Simon suddenly has a fully 3D animated sequence where he moves towards Athena and picks her up by the collar to yell in her face for giving up on a client. It happens so suddenly and is so unusual for the series that it counted as a Jump Scare for a large number of players.
  • He's one of the few people not intimidated by Nahyuta, either acting indifferent to or straight up ignoring any of his usual Twilight Realm/Hell insults, and putting a stop to his attempt at turning the gallery against Athena.
  • He psychologically manipulates Uendo into talking to the court despite his earlier refusal to do so. This is despite that fact that Nahyuta had already seen through his attempt and even warned Uendo about what Simon was trying to do. Then he does it a second time to get Uendo to talk about his fourth personality Owen.

Turnabout Revolution:

• Armie Buff's parents both have their respective Offscreen Moment of Awesome. Her mother, when the two were trapped in a fire, kicked and leapt out of at least a 3rd-story window to escape while protecting her daughter with her body. While it ended up being a Heroic Sacrifice, it's hard to top that kind of Mama Bear. Archie Buff also solved one of the core secret's of the Founder's Orb and plotted to make sure that Paul Atishon doesn't get his hands on it. He did it by hiding it in the depths of the Kurian cave, which as Dhurke and Apollo found out, is connected to the ocean that would end drowning anyone who goes in too deep.
• Sgt. Buff gets a crowning moment of awesome when not only does Armie finally decides to suspend her "siege defense strategy" and come to the courtroom in person, it's thanks to her that you're able to expose Paul Atishon, as her testimony is crucial to proving that Paul Atishon was on the second floor and dropped the suitcase onto Professor Archie Buff's head.
• When Paul Atishon, after Apollo manages to corner him, demands that Phoenix do something since he was his lawyer, Phoenix agrees that his duty as a lawyer is to defend his clients... however he adds that he also has an equally important duty to uphold the truth and since they can't hold Maya over his head any more:
  Phoenix: I can't allow a murderer to walk away scot-free! Therefore, Mr. Atishon-Wimperson, I must resign as your attorney!
  • Ironically, Atishon gets a moment of awesome immediately afterward. He goes into a full-on panic attack, believing his presidential bid is ruined...and then after he calms down, he starts laughing before shooting back with a good point of his own. As short-lived as it is, it's still a pretty awesome moment for him.
    Atishon: No no no no noooo! D-Does this mean...I'm under arrest? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
    [there is a brief silence as he calms himself]
    Apollo: ...Well?
    Atishon: ...I have nothing to confess.
    Apollo: ...What?
    Atishon: I said, I have nothing to confess. I don't and I won't, especially to a plebeian like you! Besides, there's no truth to these allegations! I mean, look at the suitcase. You won't find a single print of mine on it!
    Apollo: That just means you wiped them off, taking care to only leave Mr. Are'bal's.
    Atishon: Heh heh heh. As many a great politician has said before me: no comment.
• That moment when Apollo solves the riddle of the Founder's Orb. He earns the right to prove it, brings out his lighter... and the crystal melts. That's when the "Dance of Devotion" song kicks in, and the hymn is belted out in all its glory as you not only unveil the truth, but the Holy Mother's face. All the better for the Dramatic Irony — you have one of the most precious items of an entire country at your fingertips.
• Phoenix's epic shut-down of Queen Ga'ran in regards to Rayfa:
  Ga'ran: (to Rayfa) Your mind has been poisoned by the Barbed One.
  Phoenix: It was an honor and a pleasure, Your Eminence.
• The revelation that Nahyuta is The Mole and the Only Sane Man in regards to the rest of Khura'in. Nobody suspected this, and he kept up the act for over five years.
  • The exact moment when Nahyuta realizes he doesn't need to keep the act up anymore, he throws off the glove bearing Ga'ran's spider motif on his right hand, revealing the symbol of the Defiant Dragons tattooed on his palm. He then says the following, fully voiced:
    Nahyuta: A dragon never yields.
  • When Nahyuta withdraws his false confession to Inga's murder so the true killer, Ga'ran, will be convicted for it, she threatens to invoke the DC Act to have Nahyuta convicted with her, since his false confession was technically done in her defense, in an attempt to get Apollo to back down. Nahyuta assures Apollo that he would gladly die if it meant taking Ga'ran down with him. Fortunately, Apollo manages to Take a Third Option.
• The anime based on the franchise portrays decisive objections as some sort of blowing wind attacks, as if to demonstrate the power of logic itself. Normally this is done against one person. In the game, however, Apollo does it against not just Queen Ga'ran, but also her guards, who were holding him at gunpoint. All just to convince everyone of how the Queen is not just the murderer but also incapable of channeling spirits and therefore unfit to rule. This makes the Villainous Breakdown and Laser-Guided Karma very satisfying.
  • Extra awesome points go to Apollo, for using Ga'ran's heart's desire - the Founder's Orb - to cement the conviction. By giving her what she wanted, he proved she was unable to use it, thus invalidating her claim to the throne.
  • Related to above, the biggest crowning moment of the franchise has to be that from all the final bosses that ranged from an undefeated prosecutor, the corrupt chief of police, a sociopathic child star, a famed attorney, the ambassador of a nation and secret leader of a smuggling ring, to an international spy with no emotions, you manage to convict the RULER OF A NATION OF MURDER! And it's not Phoenix who does this impossible feat, it's Apollo himself! Now there might be a good reason why the game is called Spirit of Justice.
  • The way that Apollo does the above is pretty awesome as well. There have been some pretty amazing bluffs in the series, but it's hard to top coming up with a perfectly reasonable negation of a ruler's claim to power on the spot. And with the use of logic, it turns out that the negation is completely right! Phoenix clearly taught him well!
  • A mention should go to the Royal Guards as well. Throughout their time on screen, they've been presented as unthinking fanboys, and one even sabotages the case out of sheer devotion to Ga'ran. So it's all the more remarkable that, when Ga'ran is forced into trying to channel the Holy Mother, cheered on by her guards, the instant it becomes apparent she's a fraud, there are no words, no deliberation, no muttering, just the sound of every gun being readied at once and suddenly her entire Fan Club is willing to destroy her.
  • Another way Apollo corners the Queen? When confronted with the accusation, she asks for a lawyer. Apollo fires back by saying that there are no lawyers thanks to a law she passed, then says it's time to cease this insanity, deliberately bringing up the fact that she said this to him a while back.
• There's something satisfying in facing off against THE Phoenix Wright, the Turnabout Terror and Comeback King himself. Even if the circumstances for why you're up against him aren't that great. It also crosses over into funny since you might suddenly and completely understand why the prosecution loves to see Nick flounder. His reactions are surprisingly more entertaining when it's not happening to you. Unfortunately, he's also a lot more competent than you'd think. You actually can't tell when he's bluffing, which he was actually doing the entire time, kind of making you wonder how on earth he's memetic for it.
  • It's also one for Apollo. He manages to beat the Phoenix Wright who has had an almost perfect record for his entire career. The only other person to permanently defeat him in a court case was Edgeworth! Granted, both times Phoenix was blackmailed into defending the guilty party and Phoenix did intentionally lose the first of these two cases, but still.
  • What's also awesome is the fact that, as the trial progresses, Phoenix is the one clearly floundering far more often. Apollo's presentations are quick, direct, and powerful.
    • It does make sense however, since Phoenix, Apollo and Athena are all great at uncovering the truth. As opposed to the final case of Justice For All, Phoenix KNOWS his client is in the wrong from the start. So the reason for all his floundering is him trying to think up lies rather than trying to seek the truth.
• Rayfa's resolve in the final trial to face her father's death by performing the Divination Séance and getting out from under Queen Ga'ran's thumb.
  • Also, Rayfa's final Divination Séance, using Apollo's father's memories. Her insight is calm, based purely on what is shown, and her statements are trying to be as unbiased as possible. It's a far cry from the brat we saw at the beginning, and proof that Khura'in's justice system has a hope.
• In the credits, Maya has evidently become the true and proper Master of Kurain.
• While it ultimately turns out to be a subversion (as things are not what they seem), Inga's POV of his final moments are this, especially once you find out that he killed Dhurke. Imagine that you are attending to your own business thinking everything is under control, when suddenly you're stabbed in the back and you collapse to the floor, your final sight being your arch-enemy, the man you KNOW you shot several times with large enough rounds to kill any mortal, just casually standing in front of you with the knife. Sure, it turns out that Inga only THOUGHT it was Dhurke delivering his vengeance, but after everything we've learned about Inga, it is incredibly satisfying to know Inga died thinking that was what happened.
  • While we're on the topic, the flashback where Dhurke gets shot (as told by Maya) is pretty awesome too.
    Dhurke: Heh. Did you really think a peashooter like that... [Dragon's Glare] ...could kill a dragon?!
    Inga: [visibly terrified] W-W-Waddaya, some kinda freak?! N-Nuts to this! [runs away as fast as he can]
  • Also, when Inga uses his voice distorter to talk to Phoenix about Maya, Dhurke borrows Phoenix's cell phone and talks to Inga, making him turn off voice distortion and getting him surprised. This doubles as a Rewatch Bonus when Inga is surprised that he thought he killed Dhurke.
• Dhurke's rescue of Apollo in the cave as it fills up with water, also doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
  • Turns out to be one also for Maya, as she is the one channelling Dhurke during that moment.
  • Heck, just throw in Maya's effort in channelling Dhurke for roughly three days as this too. The only reason she stopped is because she was forced out of it, and all she suffers from it was exhaustion for a day. All for Apollo's and the revolution's sake.

Turnabout Time Traveler:

• Simply the classic Phoenix Wright vs Miles Edgeworth action from start to finish. Phoenix even has Maya as an assistant again like old times.
  Judge: Seeing so many familiar faces gathered together like this... I feel as though I'm at a grand reunion.
• Edgeworth stepping up to prosecute the case is quietly impressive, given that the powerful Sprocket family was doing all they could to keep it from going to trial. Everyone in the Prosecutor's Office refused to take the case, except him. Granted, he doesn't seem to want more work on top of what he's already got, and he's in a foul mood the entire time, but when a witness (the real murderer) tries to strong-arm him into taking an easy Guilty verdict, Edgeworth shuts him down.
  Edgeworth: …Quiet, witness. I have no interest in "victory." All I care about... is the truth. One that we can only arrive at through further deliberation.
  • Similarly, said murderer tries to coerce the Judge mid-trial with what's implied to be bribery or threats due to his ties to the Sprocket family. The Judge's reaction? He isn't impressed. He also reminds him that no amount of money or connections will cause him to do anyone's bidding.
• Sorin climbs a precarious ledge to save the love of his life, all while suffering a stab wound to the gut. How's that for the Power of Love?
  • Need context? Gloomsbury is this close to shoving Ellen off the edge of the balcony of a moored airship, and Sorin is aware that the only known way to their location would take too long since he needs to take two slow elevator rides in a "U" path where Ellen would be dead by the time he gets there. So what does he do? Break outside through the emergency exit and shimmy on a small ledge in the middle of a raging storm while still suffering from a stab wound which kept making him pass out due to blood loss, and knocks out Gloomsbury with the Time Keeper, a steampunk/clockpunk equivalent of a figurative wedding cake crossed with a solid-metal clock. This, along with Larry's antics retroactively obliterated Pierce's revenge plot.
• At one point during the trial, Phoenix has to figure out what was written in a book before the page it was written on was torn out. Anyone who played Apollo Justice will know this is the exact same scenario Phoenix was in before he was disbarred. Only this time, he succeeds in proving what was written by using fingerprint powder to find the indentations on the other page. Looks like Phoenix learned from his biggest mistake.
  • Just an additional tidbit, Godot indirectly contributed to Phoenix's disbarment. To elaborate, Godot forced Phoenix to handle the final Trials & Tribulations case by himself which he succeeded in doing so. Impressive, no doubt, and Phoenix definitely had to stand up by himself one day. However, because of that, Phoenix in a sense had been doing things alone ever since, Maya nowhere to be seen in that infamous case and Ema Skye was not present either for scientific purposes so it probably went to his head, based on how Phoenix acted towards Klavier, thinking that he can easily defeat Klavier in court too simply because he defeated the infamous, legendary Manfred von Karma for instance. Phoenix definitely learned from his biggest mistake indeed.
• Phoenix indicts the true culprit of the murder, Pierce Nichody, who despite being less monstrous than the series' Final Bosses becomes almost as unbearable and arrogant as them, ceaselessly insulting and threatening Nick, Edgey, and the Judge. Except for once, all three members of the court tell the particularly abrasive suspect to just shut the hell up as he continues ranting.
• Larry in general. While he's still the lovable loser we know him as, he's now a renowned picture book author thanks to "Franzy's Whippity-Whip Trip", which means that the whip-loving prosecutor who attacked him into unconsciousness during a trial when asked to introduce himself has allowed him to use her likeness. He also has a nice side-business doing wedding signs, which got him into the whole mess of the case in the first place when he was hired for Sorin and Ellen's wedding. His antics end up saving Phoenix and his client's asses a bunch of times through the whole case:
  • After his unsuccessful attempt to sneak into the reception got him locked in a cabin by security, Larry sees what he thinks is a pterodactyl flying outside (actually a broken sign) and sketches one crucial piece of evidence. Note that even though it was a piece of a park map board being hurled along by a raging storm, Larry was still able to spot it and interpret it in his own classic mindset. This helps Phoenix prove that the airship was docked during the wedding, explaining how Sorin managed to perform a death-defying stunt to save Ellen.
  • He then manages to break out and sneak a few photos of a few locations. When this matter comes up in court, he BLINDSIDES Edgeworth with the photos, which proves where the victim's body got into a lantern and a discrepancy between the reception occurrences, which uncovers that it was hosted twice.
  • Further elaborating on Larry presenting the pictures: Edgeworth has just forced Phoenix to admit he has no evidence for his claim, when Larry stops him in his tracks, presents evidence while pointing his finger, the Pursuit theme starts playing and the whole courtroom loses it. That's right: Larry, a mere comic relief witness, pulled off a Moment of Awesome that is usually only done by the lawyers!
    Larry: You want evidence? I've got your evidence right here!
  • After replacing a broken lantern with a new one from the hold, Larry unknowingly forced Pierce to improvise since Sorin's rescue of Ellen from Gloomsbury had Pierce hide the unconscious accomplice in a bull lantern, which Larry picked by sheer accident and ignorance. Thanks to this, Phoenix manages to uncover Pierce's entire revenge plot.
    • A little Fridge Horror though means that Larry is kind of unwittingly responsible for Gloomsbury dying, as had he swapped in the correct lantern or left it alone, Gloomsbury likely wouldn't have been killed, seeing as he would have come to in the hold and likely gone up to the reception for help, meaning Pierce couldn't panic and kill him during the wedding without witnesses. Then again, it took the events of the trial for Pierce to realize how pointless his desire for revenge was, so in a way, Larry may have prevented Pierce from making another attempt on Ellen's life.