Characters / Ace Attorney: Witnesses and Other Characters - Justice For All

Ace Attorney | Main Character Sheet
Wright Anything Agency (Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice) | Defense Attorneys & Assistants | Main Prosecutors (Miles Edgeworth, Franziska von Karma) | Prosecutors & Judges | Law Enforcement | The Fey Clan | Troupe Gramarye | Kingdom of Khura'in
Witnesses and Other Characters (Original Game | JFA | T&T [Dahlia Hawthorne] | AJ | DD | SoJ | Manga | Anime | Novels | Theater) | Victims
Investigations (AAI | AAI2) | TGAA (Major | Minor)
PL vs. PWAA

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Ace Attorney's witnesses and other characters debuting in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All. There are spoilers for later installments as well as the original trilogy; read carefully!

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The Lost Turnabout (Ushinawareta Gyakuten)

Richard Wellington (Takamasa Moroheiya)

Voiced by (Japanese): Daisuke Kishio (anime)

Voiced by (English): Ricco Fajardo (anime)

"I am Richard Wellington, the "Drifting Virtuoso" with a Ph.D. in Drifting, as it were."

A wannabe university student (who claims he just hasn't found one up to his standards yet) who is very picky with words and a pompous jerk. He beans Phoenix over the head with a fire extinguisher and knocks him out.

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• Adaptational Late Appearance: His case, despite being the first one in the second game, is skipped altogether in the first anime season (which covers the first two games). The second season (covering Trials and Tribulations) has it as the premiere episode.
• Blind Without 'Em: He mistakenly says that a yellow baseball glove is a bunch of bananas. This is the hint to tell that he uses glasses.
• Cop Killer: Murdered police officer Dustin Prince. Dustin was actually off duty at the time, but he was still wearing his uniform, leading Wellington to assume he was there to arrest him and panic.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: His lack of judgement and rampant paranoia turned a simple good Samaritan encounter over a lost phone into copkilling and likely assault charges brought against him if Phoenix decided to press charges for getting hit on the head; since Maggey was with a fellow cop in uniform, and he thought the most rational decision was to kill said cop and frame his lover instead of just picking up the phone from them. Even worse, it's likely that the con-artist group he was part of that Phoenix uncovered will get investigated by the police because of him.
• Failed a Spot Check: It's implied that he didn't notice that the phone he was wiping had a bunch of numbers he didn't recognise, since it belonged to Phoenix.
• Felony Misdemeanor: He calls out Phoenix for checking the numbers on his phone, claiming that doing so is a crime worse than murder. Of course, it's probable that he's deliberately blowing things out of proportion as an excuse to make Phoenix look bad.
• Hate Sink: He's a thoroughly unpleasant person, not to mention a criminal who killed a police officer to keep his crimes under wrap. He also won't shut up about how "intelligent" he is, and constantly gloats about his sophistication, making him come across as a pretentious twerp.
• He Knows Too Much: His justification for killing Dustin Prince. Downplayed, in that Wellington is incredibly paranoid and was not making rational decisions at that point. It was also implied that Prince wouldn't have known that Wellington was part of the group of con artists the police were tracking down and that Prince was ultimately killed for no reason.
• Hiding the Handicap: Neglects to mention that he has bad eyesight until an error in his testimony prompts Phoenix to confront him about it.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Wellington's misplaced phone ends up doing him in, and his Toccata & Fugue ringtone acts as the final nail in his coffin.
• Hipster: And he's very obnoxious about it.
• Impoverished Patrician: Given his name, clothes, and attitude, he gives off the image of a boy who was clearly bound for success, but the fact that he's failed to get into college and has resorted to petty scam artistry shows just how desperate he's become to maintain his lifestyle.
• Improperly Paranoid: He assumes that Dustin Prince, as he was donning his police uniform, must have definitely inspected his phone and discovered he was a con artist, so he killed him, when Dustin hadn't even checked the phone.
• Insufferable Genius: He clearly thinks he is the smartest man in the room, in spite of being in a court of law and not having even enrolled in any college.
• Jerkass: The way he talks to everyone with disdain in 2-1 clearly demonstrates him as this. Payne is reluctant to call him to the stand because of his personality, only resorting to it after Phoenix proves that Dustin couldn't have written the dying message.
• Leitmotif: "Toccata and Fugue in D minor". It plays during the opening cinematic he appears in and his breakdown, and it serves as his ringtone.
• Meaningful Name: They're both just meant to sound pretentiously upper-crust, really. Also, "rich" and "well", and he's a dick.
• Motor Mouth: When he's nervous, he starts talking things that have nothing to do with the case (even with highlighted text!). Can be even worse about it than that old hag Oldbag.
• Obviously Evil: Seen beaning Phoenix in the head with a fire extinguisher with a sinister grin on his face right as you start the game. Right then, you can probably guess what his role in this case is...
• Preppy Name: Wellington is reference to The Duke of Wellington, making his name sound more British. His given name in Japanese, Takamasa, holds similar connotations of wealth.
• Public Domain Soundtrack: Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D Minor, which proves crucial for nailing the case since he stole Phoenix's cell phone thinking it to be his, which had evidence incriminating him.
• Rōnin: A subversion of the college-exam version. It's implied by his egotistical claim to be looking for a university that meets his standards that it's in fact him who doesn't measure up but is in denial about it.
• Scrolling Text: He occasionally starts doing long speeches in the witness stand without ever stopping, akin to Oldbag, if not even more so with his Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: He deliberately uses complicated words as he's Feigning Intelligence.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He's really full of himself despite being a small-time con artist.
• Smug Snake: Clearly thinks that an amnesiac Phoenix Wright can't prove that he's the murderer. Also, seems to be very confident even though all his testimonies fall apart.
• Starter Villain: The first murderer in Justice For All.
• Stupid Crooks: When confronted with a police officer who might have learned that he was a con artist, he immediately escalated to first-degree murder (of a cop, no less) and assault, turning what would've been a slap on the wrist into a possible death penalty. And after stealing Phoenix's phone, he apparently didn't even notice that the contacts list was full of people he didn't know.
• Villainous Breakdown: Pulls on his scarf so hard his face turns blue and he squeezes himself into loss of consciousness.

Reunion, and Turnabout (Saikai, soshite Gyakuten)

Ini Miney (Nodoka Hanaka)

Voiced by (Japanese): Natsue Sasamoto (anime)

Voiced by (English): Mikaela Krantz (anime)

"Um, so, like...A murder is that thing where, like, one person kills another, right?"

An air-headed occult freak that told Dr. Grey about the Kurain Channeling technique.

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• Adaptational Deviation: The anime, while maintaining her ditzy nature, removes her frequent use of 'like' as a Verbal Tic.
• Adaptational Heroism: In the anime, she didn't want to kill Grey, just fake the channelling in order to preserve her secret identity. Morgan Fey blackmailed her into committing murder, by threatening to expose said secret if she didn't comply with her plot.
• Anti-Villain: Her motivations are decently sympathetic, but she did get fourteen people killed through malpractice. The game leaves it up to the player whether her claim that Grey was responsible for it holds any water.
• Berserk Button: Disrespecting foreign sports cars causes her to go into a furious rant. Her reaction to Phoenix talking negatively about them is the first hint of her true identity.
• Beneath the Mask: As part of her impersonating Ini she acts like a carefree and clueless airhead. In reality she's both sad and angry due to a combination of the act she has to keep up plus a deep feeling of guilt over the malpractice incident and the car accident resulting in her sister's death. How she really feels inside is only partly revealed once she confessed to her crime at the end of the chapter.
• Biting the Handkerchief: Her nervous gesture has her biting her hat. That's hardly the most brutal thing she does with her hat throughout.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She hides behind a façade of blissful ditziness, but her true personality is much more cunning.
• Coup de Grâce: After stabbing Dr. Grey with a knife he actually survived and tried to shoot her. He missed her and in return Mimi quickly disarmed him and finished him with a shot in the forehead.
• Dancing with Myself: Her idle animation has her doing a silly looking dance with her arms that actually goes relatively well with the investigation theme that's usually playing when talking to her.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Involved in a terrible car accident, along with her sister, who died in the flames. Of course, her life earlier was destroyed already by the malpractice accident, which she was likely guilty for.
• Dark Secret: Her motive for killing Dr. Grey, in the game that is. She is actually Mimi Miney and impersonates her dead sister Ini who is the one that died in the car accident.
• Dead All Along: The real Ini Miney died in the car crash from before the case started. The "Ini" you've spent the whole case talking to is her sister, Mimi, who survived, but was mistaken for Ini and had facial reconstruction surgery done accordingly.
• The Ditz: When the player first meets her, she comes across as a complete airhead. When she gets scared or wants to show off, the facade slips.
• Epiphanic Prison: A really spoiler-y example. In order to escape the consequences of what happened at the Grey Clinic and killing her younger sister in a fiery crash, Mimi took over her identity. But her younger sister was a ditzy art student who loved the occult, something Mimi herself considered "mumbo-jumbo." She was then forced to keep up the facade for years lest she be discovered, and it's implied this experience made her angry and miserable. Fittingly for the trope, when Grey's channeling could've revealed the truth, she fought tooth and nail to prevent it from coming out, even resorting to murder, despite knowing she'd be just as miserable if she'd succeeded in the end. While Phoenix Wright exposing her plot does leave her crying on the stand and sends her to prison for murder, it also finally frees her to be herself for the first time in a long time, and she seems oddly at peace.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Mimi has shown to have genuinely loved her sister Ini, only opting for a Dead Person Impersonation since it was the only way to escape being Mimi after not only being responsible for the malpractice, but ended up losing the real Ini in the car crash.
• Eyes Always Shut: Ini's eyes always appear to be closed, emphasizing her ditzy nature. She only opens them when she feels she has the upper hand against Phoenix or when she's too frustrated to keep up the act, and opening them reveals her close resemblance to Mimi, and therefore that they're the same person.
• Fiery Redhead: Played with. Mimi's red hair seems to complement her fiery personality, since she has frequent temper tantrums once her façade starts to break. However, she's naturally a brunette.
• Flat-Earth Atheist: She only resorts to murder because she believes her true identity would be exposed by the channeling ritual. After confessing, she exclaims her hatred for the paranormal after having to keep up her charade as Ini for so long, then dismisses the Kurain Channeling as "mumbo-jumbo".
• Framing the Guilty Party: An odd case, as she claims it was her sister Mimi's vengeful spirit who killed Turner Grey... when "Ini" was actually Mimi, who everyone thought was dead.
• Genuine Imposter: A very, very roundabout example. As Ini, she claims that her sister's vengeful spirit killed Turner Gray in revenge for working her to death. This is only half-false; Mimi Miney did kill Gray, while disguised as Maya, who was supposed to be channeling Mimi's spirit.. all while Mimi was impersonating Ini.
• Graceful Loser: Once she's beaten, she confesses everything and holds some of her dignity.
• Hidden Buxom: She certainly doesn't look it in her normal outfit. But, when dressed as Maya she has quite nice cleavage◊.
• Idiot Hair: Underneath her hat. The real Ini didn't have it, so the CGs of her outside the burning car are foreshadowing it's Mimi and not Ini that survived.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: She still could have desperately fought on against Phoenix while being cross-examined but since she was already extremely cornered she instead chose to confess to the murder.
• Like Is, Like, a Comma: That's her Verbal Tic, and it adds to the "airheaded Valley Girl" image.
• Magic Plastic Surgery: Mimi and Ini were in a car accident that disfigured the former and killed the latter. However, the doctors mistook the two and reconstructed Ini's face on Mimi's body, thus enabling her to impersonate her sister.
• Mellow Fellow: Is extremely carefree, calm and casual though the fact she can't really grasp the seriouness of the situation she's finding herself in might have something to do with that. Which is acutally invoked by her as part of her Ini persona.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Her excuse for killing fourteen people through medical malpractice. She claims that Dr. Gray overworked her to the point that she slipped up, and blames him for the incident.
• Never My Fault: She shows very little regret or angst over the malpractice incident, or over the car wreck that killed her sister - both of which she caused. She refuses to accept any blame, instead shifting it all onto Gray and claiming that it was his fault for overworking her. When Phoenix implies that she killed Gray in revenge for the car wreck, she outright laughs the idea off, and claims she has no interest in any such revenge. She's not kidding, either, since her real motive - by her own admission - was to stop her switcheroo with Ini from being revealed.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Done in order to cast the suspicions off herself, but apparently also to impersonate her not-too-bright sister.
• Punny Name: Ini Miney's name is based on a children's rhyme: Eeny, meeny, miney, mo. Her real name, Mimi, derives from mimicry, referencing how she is impersonating her sister.
• Signature Headgear: She wears a white beret, which gets utterly abused and wrecked over the course of the case to symbolize her growing instability, yet always seems to return to its original shape.
• "Silly Me" Gesture: She taps her hat while making a very tiny and very adorable, childlike grin.
• Smug Smiler: When she's confident and feeling like she has the upper hand against Phoenix while in court her grin is anything but adorable.
• Stepford Smiler: Smiles all the time but the more she gets cornered the more you see her sadness and anger that she tries to hide.
• Surgical Impersonation: Though not intentional. Following a car accident, the doctors mistook Mimi Miney for her sister Ini, and the latter's driving license was the only reference they had to reconstruct her face. After the procedure, Mimi adopted her sister's identity, enabling her to avoid investigations for the malpractice incidents she caused as a nurse.
• Sympathetic Murderer: In the anime, where the murder was planned by Morgan Fey, and she was blackmailed into going along with it.
• Trauma Conga Line: Shortly after her sister had her life destroyed following a medical malpractice incident that killed fourteen patients, the two of them got into a car wreck that killed Mimi and left Ini disfigured so badly they had to reconstruct her face. Turns out that her perspective on things was even more personal, because she IS Mimi.
• Tsurime Eyes: She usually has her Eyes Always Shut, but when she loses her composure, she opens them and the player gets a tell that she is actually Mimi Mimey, whose profile picture in the court record shows uniquely sharp Tsurime Eyes.
• Warm-Up Boss: Is the first person you encouter that has a Psyche-Lock.
• Vague Age: Mimi's actual age is unknown. Her listed age of 21 is actually how old Ini would've been if she were still alive.
• Valley Girl: Says "like" a lot, is ditzy, is seemingly unable to function by herself — pretty much a checklist. She's actually just Obfuscating Stupidity, although it's implied that this could be the real Ini's actual personality.
• Verbal Tic: Like, she says "like" so much that, like, it gets a bit, like, irritating, like, you know? She drops it when she's under pressure, and when delivering her Wham Line.
• Villainous Breakdown: Largely averted, unusually for the series. While she does get feisty when cornered, when she's caught she just tears up and confesses to the crime, with no designated breakdown animation. The anime however makes her explode in the court, referring to the car crash.
• Villain Has a Point: At the very least, even if Dr. Grey is also right about her involvement in the malpractice, overworking her may not have helped matters, either.
• Watch the Paint Job: Her imported sports car, which she had waited a year to get, was completely wrecked almost immediately after she got it.
• Walking Spoiler: It's impossible to talk very much about her without spoiling the biggest twist of the case she's involved with.
• Wham Line: She is normally ditzy, but delivers a line before the final day of the trial that denotes she knows a lot more than she lets on: "Ha ha ha. It seems simple, doesn't it? But, it would be very hard to catch me. Actually, I'd say impossible. ... I'm going to serve you a slice of humble pie! I hope you enjoy it."
• Wild Take: Whenever she's contradicted or whipped, she pulls her hat down so far over her head that her face temporarily seems to make a ghostly impression through the hat.

Turnabout Big Top (Gyakuten Circus)

Maximillion Galactica

Voiced by (Japanese): Shinya Hamazoe (anime)

Voiced by (English): Aaron Roberts (anime)

"Ab-so-lute-ly FABULOUS!"

His real name is Billy Bob Johns (Kouhei Yamada), and he's a famous magician under the employ of the Berry Big Circus; his biggest trick is flying around. Cue the murder of the circus ringmaster whose assailant leaves no footprints in the snow. He's actually a country bumpkin.

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• Accent Slip-Up: Once the gravity of the situation dawns on him, he immediately begins frantically speaking in a country bumpkin accent, revealing himself to actually be a hillbilly. Once you calm him down, he slips back into his normal, sparkly way of speaking.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the anime, while he still clubs Ben with a bottle and is called to the victim's office because of that, his salary discussion was that he wanted to split it between everyone else, rather than ask for a raise. He also helps Phoenix guess how the true killer could've performed the murder based on the collected clues.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Despite his arrogance, Max did genuinely care about his fellow performers and genuinely wanted them to become successful. However, the only people who saw this in him and saw him as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold instead of a Jerkass were Acro, Regina, and the Ringmaster Russell Berry. Moe and Ben hate his guts and insult him on a regular basis.
• Author Appeal: Series creator Shu Takumi is a huge fan of magic tricks, and specifically created the character of Max because of his fondness for the practice.
• Awesome Mc Cool Name: His stage name is one at any rate. Even the Judge prefers to use the stage name to refer to the defendant at the trial.
• Camp Straight: Oh, so very much. He'd be the campiest of Camp Gay... except he's madly in love with Regina. He also acts very flirtatious with Maya and initially blows off Phoenix, until he is made to realize the trouble he's in and that they're there to help. After that, he's just as flirtatiously camp with Phoenix.
• Catchphrase:
  • "Fabulous!"
  • Calling his friends "[his] sweeties."
• The Dandy: His get-up is so flamboyant it's probably visible from space.
• Early-Bird Cameo: In the anime, he appears in a newspaper ad before his debut episode.
• Ephebophile: He's 21 and is infatuated with Regina Berry, a sixteen year old girl. It's noteworthy that such a relationship would be illegal in America and heavily looked down upon in Japan.
• Facial Markings: He has big purple stars on one cheek.
• The Ghost: He's mentioned in Investigations 2 as the head of the Magician's division of the new Berry Big Circus and appears on a flyer, but doesn't appear in person.
• Grievous Bottley Harm: To Ben, the night of the murder. Fortunately, Soft Glass was in effect.
• Hayseed Name: Billy Bob Johns. A well-kept secret, it's not clear if any of his co-workers even know. Kouhei Yamada has the same connotation.
• Insufferable Genius: His flamboyant, arrogant demeanor makes him very disliked among his colleagues, but even the ones who really can't stand him won't deny that he's an incredibly talented magician who gave the circus a much needed boost in popularity.
• It's All About Me: Discussed. Max acts like he's the latest and greatest thing in circus-based showbiz, with an ego to match; his fellow performers largely loathe him for this attitude. On the other hand, they can't deny that Max is fully able to live up to his own hype, and that without him the circus would have closed down a long time ago; this makes his claims that he's the star of the show entirely correct.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • After the absurdity regarding Moe's testimony on how he supposedly left the scene of the crime and that his trademark hat was left there, he points out that it means his cape and white roses should've been found there as well. He's right about the latter two going missing, since the real murderer destroyed them after discovering they latched onto the murder weapon.
  • His own reason for belittling the circus for their acts was to encourage them to try better since he correctly pointed out that their acts were stale, but due to poor communication and his gloating, naturally no one saw his reasoning.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He acts arrogant and conceited, but only to make his circus mates strive to become better.
• Just Here for Godzilla: invoked His flying magic act is the main reason why people come to see the Berry Big Circus.
• Karma Houdini: He did start a fight with Ben and Trilo in the cafeteria with a bottle as his weapon, and got into no trouble as a result. However, the Judge does acknowledge that this could be settled in a seperate matter if Ben chooses to pursue this.
• Large Ham: Both onstage and in person.
• Narcissist: A rare benign example. Max is incredibly vain, pompous, and self obsessed, trying to be the center of attention at all times. Despite this, he's not that a bad person, just an extremely arrogant one.
• Meaningful Appearance: His hat is purple silk and has a peacock feather in it. Absolutely fabulous and one of a kind.
• Running Gag: He introduces one that spans over the entire series. When presenting the wrong evidence to him, he believes Phoenix wants him to make it disappear. Other magicians, such as Trucy, would do the same.
• Small Name, Big Ego: In his own words, Max is kind of a big deal in the magic world, but the trope really comes into play in how he considers the Big Berry Circus to be a one-man show with just a bunch of out-of-date, bit-player extras. In truth, he just wishes they'd try harder.
• Something about a Rose: White roses on the front of his cape are one of his iconic accessories.
• Stage Magician: A very famous one, complete with reluctance to explain how his tricks work. The closest he gets is a vague acknowledgement that he can't actually fly and uses wires to make himself appear to be floating in private consultation with Phoenix, which is more than a lot of later magicians in the franchise are willing to give even their lawyers.
• Stage Names: His real name is very hick-ish: Billy Bob Johns in English, Kohei Yamada in Japanese.
  Phoenix: (Yikes! The poor guy's got three first names!)
• Trademark Favorite Food: Milk. He needs it to calm his nerves before each performance.
• Two First Names: Three, counting his middle name.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: In some instances, it doesn't even look like he's wearing pants. Just a jacket and makeup.
• Your Makeup Is Running: When he cries, his makeup runs and a fake eyelash falls off.

Moe (Tommy)

Voiced by (Japanese): Takeshi Uchida (anime)

Voiced by (English): Sonny Strait (anime)

"Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha!"

Real name Lawrence Curls (Matsuo Tomida), he's a stoogey clown working at the Berry Big Circus and old friend of the ringmaster. He's the witness of Russell's murder. Despite his wisecracking antics, he's actually one of the most level-headed members of the circus.

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• Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Averted, in the same vein as "Director Hotti" from the previous case. Moe is - in spite of his rather abrasive behavior - actually very cooperative. He even introduces several pieces of evidence that you would have otherwise missed, with next to no prompting.
• Butt-Monkey: He gets the business from the Judge and Franziska in a way no other witness does. He's one of the only people who the Judge actually outright insults.
• Character Tic: It's the only way to know which statements are safe to press - if he's smiling, that statement will piss off the Judge.
• Cruel to Be Kind: He brings Regina to the last day of the trial to get her to see the truth of her father's death and the pain her Innocently Insensitive actions caused Acro and Bat, recognizing that her father's attempts to hide her from painful truths is both harmful to her and a large part of all the tragedy to begin with.
• Demoted to Extra: Unlike the game, the anime severely reduces the time he has on the stand. In fact, it is so reduced that the episode itself isn't a whole trial but half a trial and half investigation.
• Emotional Regression: When pushed to the limit by Phoenix in court, he snaps at the Judge and starts behaving rather childishly out of stress.
• Expressive Accessory: The mouth on his hat matches his.
• The Ghost: He's mentioned in Investigations 2 as still part of the Berry Big Circus as its new ringmaster, but doesn't appear in person.
• Hidden Depths: Suffice it to say that he's much more than the hopeless clown he first appears to be.
  • Moe is smarter and more mature than one might deduce from his usual demeanor. In particular, he seems to figure out the real killer of case 2-3 on his own, and before everyone else save for Phoenix and Maya.
  • While he may make for a pretty awful clown, he actually is talented at a lot of other things; in particular he's implied to act as the main cook for the circus performers and does a pretty good job of it, and from what we later find out in the second Investigations game he made a pretty good ringmaster after he took over the position from the deceased Russell Berry.
• Honorary Uncle: To Regina, something which really comes out in wake of his close friend Russel's death.
• Hurricane of Puns: Most of his dialogue, even on the witness stand.
• The Hyena: That above annoying laugh comes out so much that the Judge starts hitting Phoenix with penalties if he presses Moe for no reason.
• Kitsch Collection: His collection of clown costumes from around the world.
• The Klutz: His routine involves a lot of pratfalls, so practice for it has ended up breaking a lot of props in his room as well, he caused the hole in his ceiling with a pogo-stick accident.
• Laughing at Your Own Jokes: He does this after every joke he tells. He outright admits that he does it because nobody else will laugh.
• Married to the Job: Apparently, his wife left him over it, taking their daughter Larina with her. Moe apparently still sends them money, since he references working to support a family.
• Mouthful of Pi: *Whip crack!* "Do you like pi? I love pi! 3.141592... (continue for almost two lines of text)! Tasty!"
• No Indoor Voice: He makes Phoenix want some earplugs.
• Non-Ironic Clown: Fitting, given his work at the circus.
• Only Sane Man: He seems to be the sanest surviving circus member, despite his goofiness. Maybe this will make him more suited to the position of Ringmaster.
• Pungeon Master: He and Maya enjoy trading jokes. Unfortunately, he sometimes has trouble turning it off...
• Punny Name: Larry, Curly, and Moe. Meanwhile, Tommy and Matsu are a popular Japanese comedy duo.
• Rank Up: By the end of his case and Investigations 2, he's now the ringmaster.
• Sad Clown: He's a failure as a comedian, and his life isn't going too great. According to him, not a soul has laughed at his jokes in ten years. He's also estranged from his wife and daughter, but he still supports them financially. The anime also establishes that he was very good friends with the victim and both promised to take the circus to the top.
  Phoenix: It's true what they say about the tears of a clown...
• Scrolling Text: Frequently speaks very rapidly after Franziska gives him A Taste of the Lash.
• Shout-Out: He recites lines that spoof The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The A-Team after being whipped a couple of times. His English name, Lawrence "Moe" Curls, is a shout-out - as noted under Punny Name - to the inimitable Three Stooges.
• Signature Laugh: "Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha!"
• Talkative Loon: English version only — in addition to the Mouthful of Pi mentioned above, he also recites the openings of The Fresh Clown of Bel Air and The C-Team. In both versions, however, be careful how much you press him: The Judge will make you feel the pain if he thinks you're wasting the court's time talking with Moe. The C-Team stuff though was partly him stalling while he tried to sort his thoughts after Phoenix points out a contradiction to his statements.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Carrots. He eats several a day as part of his act.

Benjamin Woodman and Trilo Quist (Ben Kozumi and Rilo)

Voiced by (Japanese): Yutaka Furukawa (anime)

Voiced by (English): Jeff Johnson (anime)

"Let me lay it all out for you... The pay sucks... The clown sucks... And my partner has his hand up my pants."

— Trilo Quist

Ben is a ventriloquist of the Berry Big Circus, and Trilo is his puppet. Ben doesn't do a lot of talking, and does a lot of stuttering. Trilo, in contrast, is loud, offensive, and an all-around Jerkass, who also intends to propose to Regina.

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• Companion Cube: Trilo serves as an emotional crutch for Ben, and a close friend to Regina.
• Demonic Dummy: More of a Jerkass than supernatural. Ben must be repressing a lot by how badly Trilo acts.
• Demoted to Extra: The anime greatly diminishes their roles by having Phoenix interrogate them both in the span of 2 minutes outside the courtroom, which in turn makes them unnecessary to call in court as witnesses. They also lose more screen time in general compared to the others. He, however, helps Phoenix during his court demonstration on how the crime occurred by playing Acro.
• Dirty Old Man: Ben is attracted to Regina. When you find out that he is 31, and Regina is 16, it certainly takes him out of Butt-Monkey territory and into something more creepy and gross.
• Ephebophile: Ben is in love with Regina, a girl almost half his age, being sixteen during Justice for all.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you look at his lips when Trilo is talking, you can see them slightly move.
• The Ghost: In Investigations 2, Ben is mentioned as part of the Ventriloquist division of the Berry Big Circus, but doesn't appear in person.
• Jerkass: Trilo. Especially the way he treats Max and Moe the clown. He even doesn't seem to care that his boss, The Ringmaster was killed.
• Punny Name: A puppeteer named Woodman? Also, the obvious "Ben & Trilo Quist".
• Sanity Slippage: Ben's sanity is... debatable. There's at least one instance where you can hear Ben arguing with Trilo when there's nobody around to see him putting on his act. This may just be deep-immersion practice, but it does make you wonder, given how crazy Trilo is.
• Shrinking Violet: Can't speak well except through Trilo.
• Speech Impediment: Ben stutters if he's not speaking through a dummy.
• Split Personality: Ben is meek and mild. Trilo is brash and abrasive. Standard fare for an act, right? But things get weird when you consider that Trilo wants to marry Regina, but Ben claims not to like her very much.
• Sweat Drop: Ben, always. More of an example of "realistic" nervous sweat than a cartoonish one.
• Ventriloquism: Their routine even includes singing. Regina even thinks of Trilo as "a tenor that works for the circus," rather than as a dummy. If you watch Ben while Trilo is talking, you can see his mouth moving slightly.
• Your Head A-Splode: Their "surprised" reaction involves Trilo exploding. Of course, Trilo appears just fine later.

Acro

Voiced by (Japanese): Takayuki Nakatsukasa (anime)

Voiced by (English): Clifford Chapin (anime)

"I mainly perform on the tightrope or the flying trapeze. But nowadays... All I perform in is my wheelchair."

His real name is Ken Dingling (Daisuke Kinoshita), and he's the elder of the two acrobat brothers of the Berry Big Circus. Acro's legs were damaged beyond repair in an accident and he can no longer stand.

---

• Anti-Villain: Ultimately what he wanted to do was to get back at the girl he felt was responsible for his brother's coma. To do this, he hatches a murder plot against her that ends up killing his beloved father figure, the Ringmaster.
• Beneath Suspicion:
  • How's a man in a wheelchair going to sneak around and swipe things? He isn't. But his pet monkey, on the other hand...
  • He's just about the only person in the Berry Big Circus apart from Regina who doesn't have a grudge against Max. And yet he's the true culprit behind the Ringmaster's murder, albeit by accident, and went through having Max take the fall, also albeit by complete coincidence, just so that he can stick around to see his brother Bat once more.
• Beware the Nice Ones: While a large part of his personality is a facade, it's suggested that his niceness, for the most part, is not. Phoenix even comments on how it makes going after him in the cross examination more difficult. Even while he's in court, he's nothing but utterly cordial to Phoenix, tending to present his arguments in a cool and collected manner while other witnesses (especially the true culprits) become increasingly hostile.
• Career-Ending Injury: The injury that put him in a wheelchair was this, considering he can no longer pull off acrobatic stunts. He suggests that he might be able to walk again someday, but says his days as an acrobat are behind him.
• Death Glare: The only sign you get that you've successfully put any pressure on him.
• Deus Angst Machina: A single day's misfortune cost him his brother, his legs, his career, and eventually, his father-figure and his freedom.
• Disney Creatures of the Farce: The birds that always follow him occasionally attack Phoenix in court. The only outward sign the player gets of his emotional turmoil is when his birds fly away, and his skill with animals let him use his monkey to prepare for the murder.
• Dissonant Serenity: When Phoenix Wright presses him.
  "HOLD IT!"
  Phoenix Wright: Your room is on the third floor, right?
  Acro: Yes.
  Phoenix: And you said that you were resting in bed.
  Acro: That is correct.
  Phoenix: But you were still able to hear a sound from outside?
  Acro: I was indeed.
  Phoenix: (inner monologue) Pressing Acro doesn't seem to get results...
  • Franziska describes Acro as being so calm it's scary. Of course, Phoenix does not agree as one of Acro's birds is pecking him at that moment...
• Driven to Suicide: Averted, though he really thought about it.
• Evil Cripple: He is the culprit of the case and is wheelchair-bound.
• Expressive Accessory: His birds fly off or attack Phoenix when he gets angered or when he's put under pressure.
• Friend to All Living Things: He's got three birds perching on his wheelchair.
• Graceful Loser: Congratulates Franziska for putting pressure on him, and Phoenix for exposing him.
• Heel Realization: When the Judge asks if he's a victim, he says he's nothing but a murderer. The anime has him reject Regina's request to be imprisoned in his stead, saying that he's the only one responsible.
• How Did You Know? I Didn't: He assumes that Phoenix and Franziska were working together and came up with a Batman Gambit via the surprise raid on his room, forcing him to take the murder weapon with him. However, the conclusion happened by chance, and it was actually Edgeworth's idea.
• Jerkass to One: While he's polite to most people, even Phoenix after being accused of murder, Acro noticeably dislikes Regina. Surprisingly, he's less hostile toward Max than most of his fellow performers were, and didn't intend to frame him for the crime.
• Manly Tears: During his Villainous Breakdown.
• Murder by Mistake: Regina was his intended target, but he ended up killing her father instead.
• Nerves of Steel: Moe notes that these are a requirement of being a good aerialist, and Acro was an excellent one. This is what makes him so difficult to break on the stand, since he never starts to break down or panic like most witnesses or criminals do after being presented with evidence or good guesswork. Ultimately, it's this do-or-die attitude that causes Phoenix to realize that Acro would be daring enough to carry the true murder weapon on his person to avoid it being discovered by the police.
• Parental Abandonment: He and his brother didn't run away to the circus; their parents ran away and they had nowhere else to go.
• Punny Name: "Dingling" is probably a combination of "Ringling" and "dangling", and Kinoshita is a Japanese circus. Add his and his brother’s names together and you get "Acrobat."
• Somebody Doesn't Love Raymond:
  • Inverted when it comes to Max. While Acro admits Max has a number of ego problems, he doesn't hold much of a grudge against him, unlike Moe or Ben. Max being implicated for the murder was all just a freaky combination of coincidences and Acro only went with it for the sake of remaining by his brother's side.
  • Played straight when it comes to Regina. Her role in putting his brother into a coma and her insensitivity when it came to the whole subject is what caused Acro to snap and attempt to murder her, only to end up killing her father by mistake instead.
• Stepford Smiler: He doesn't outwardly show all the emotions inside of him, instead holding to the same bland, non-committal expression.
• Stupid Crooks: The main reason his plan to kill Regina failed was because he addressed his call-out letter "to the murderer". Regina doesn't believe she murdered anyone, so she assumed the letter wasn't for her and ignored it. You'd think Acro would have seen this coming, seeing as how Regina's ignorance regarding Bat's situation is his entire motive for wanting to kill her in the first place.
• Sympathetic Murderer: The man he killed was like a father to him, and he was so upset upon discovering that he had killed him instead that he even contemplated suicide. Of course, this does not absolve him from intentionally trying to kill Regina and then framing an innocent Maximillion Galactica for the crime. At the same time though, it's not hard to see how he eventually snapped. His only brother was caught in a brutal accident that Regina inadvertently caused, and when Bat fell into a coma (that he likely won't ever wake up from, due to extensive brain damage) she treated it like it wasn't a big deal at all, referring to him as just "a star in the sky." He even says that he didn't harbor any malice towards her because of the accident, but it was just her extreme flippancy about it, all while doting on Acro and reading to Bat like there was nothing wrong. Acro didn't intentionally frame Max, either. Max's bust was incidentally stolen by Money, Max's cloak got caught on the murder weapon by accident, and other witnesses happened to see it and accused Max. Granted, he went along with the story anyways, but not out of malice. He was afraid of what would happen to Bat if he were to wake up from his coma without Acro being there, so he doesn't fess up to the murder until he's exposed. He also apologizes to Max after he's exposed.
• Tears of Remorse: Breaks down after he's found out and thinks he's nothing but a murderer.
• Tragic Villain: He wanted to be there for his brother, even when he accidentally killed the Ringmaster.
• Villainous Breakdown: Downplayed. While he does technically break down, it's nowhere near the exaggerated and comedic level of any other breakdown in the series: Acro simply closes his eyes and softly cries, tears streaming from both his eyes, accompanied with a Tearful Smile as he admits to his guilt.
• Walking Spoiler: Given that he doesn't show up until the latter half of "Turnabout Big Top", it's very difficult to talk about Acro without giving away the cases big twists.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: One of the few Sympathetic Murderers in the series and only framed Max because he wanted to be there for his brother.

Farewell, My Turnabout (Saraba, Gyakuten)

Matt Engarde (Shingo Otoro) — All Spoilers Unmarked

Voiced by (Japanese): Yasuaki Takumi (anime)

Voiced by (English): Dave Trosko (anime)

Played by: Yûji Abe (film)

"Hold on a sec. I'm gonna ask my manager, OK?"

Actor of the Nickel Samurai, and the fierce rival of Juan Corrida. He's slow-witted, and relies on his manager/producer/et al. for advice via the cell phone he wears like a wristwatch. However, that's all a façade. He's actually a full-blown sociopath who doesn't trust anyone and is the true Big Bad of this case, hiring Shelly de Killer to assassinate Juan Corrida.

---

• Achievements in Ignorance: Matt is the first person to No-Sell Phoenix's Magatama by using Exact Words, even though he has no idea what Phoenix is carrying or what it does.
• Adaptational Intelligence: In the anime, he's a bit better about hiding his true personality in the later stages of the trial, particularly after the Judge's "The Reason You Suck" Speech. Nevertheless, he still makes his fatal mistake of blackmailing de Killer... but even then he plays the trope straight, as he does try to fix it in the anime by denying it before it's too late.
• Adaptation Name Change: A slight case in the English version of the anime. His name is given as Matthew Engarde, with "Matt" being a stage name.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Slightly. In the original Japanese (and English anime), when his true nature is revealed, Matt talks in a rough, cocky manner making him come across as an arrogant thug or gangster. In the English version he talks in a more pseudo-polite, condescending manner and comes across more as a scheming mastermind (likely inspired by his wine glass).
• Adaptational Villainy: In the stage play. In the games and anime, he merely told an awful truth and made Juan destroy his relationship with Celeste. In the play, Matt ordered Celeste to be sexually assaulted. While he was an abuser, nothing in the games suggested he was responsible for rape.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
  • Despite claiming to trust no one and not rely on anyone, he's reduced to pathetically whimpering, "Help me..." by the end, in all its delicious irony.
  • It gets better. If Phoenix chooses the "Not Guilty" verdict, Matt says he will be killed if he goes free and repeatedly begs the judge to declare him guilty.
• Alternate Catchphrase Inflection: When he's defeated, he undergoes a Madness Mantra, repeating the word "Guilty!" over and over, no matter what position Phoenix Wright takes once Engarde's leverage is thoroughly removed. It's either his reaction to his reputation being tarnished after it being so squeaky-clean, or pleading to be tried as Guilty to avoid being hunted down by the assassin he attempted to blackmail and betray.
• Animal Motifs: Has a subtle, but strong association with cats, from his attitude (manipulating others via Obfuscating Stupidity, a common cat stereotype), to bearing claw marks over his hidden eye that are implied to be self-inflicted, and owning a pet cat himself. When exposed as De Killer's client, he even states that "All I'm guilty of is taking a catnap in my room."
• Arc Villain: He's the true villain of this case, the Final Boss, one of the three most dangerous villains in the game and the client of another of these three. If he had any remote connection to the previous cases, he would be a true Big Bad.
• Asshole Victim: After all that he's done to screw over everyone, his life is cut short by Phoenix warning Shelly de Killer that Matt has blackmail against him, voiding their contract and trust. He'll either be killed by Shelly the moment he steps out of the courtroom with a "Not Guilty" verdict, or spend the rest of his life in prison. Unless Shelly breaks into jail early for the latter or Matt gets a death penalty (though both of those pretty much count as the rest of his life anyways).
• Bad Boss: He emotionally abused his manager and tried to blackmail his assassin.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work:
  • In the anime adaptation, the video he made to blackmail de Killer is shown in the courtroom and now the law enforcement can find him more easily.
  • Also on the receiving end, as Phoenix has to turn Shelly on him to get him convicted.
• Bait-and-Switch Boss: He turns out to be the Final Boss, but forces you to fight Miles Edgeworth as a fake Final Boss though his underling before The Reveal, and then forces you to continue to fight Edgeworth after he is revealed to not be the Final Boss.
• Beauty Is Bad: One of the most conventionally attractive-looking characters in the game (before his reveal, anyway,) and the most despicable.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Matt Engarde is willing to orchestrate a kidnapping and blackmail his lawyer and his assassin in order to obtain a "not guilty" verdict. He can be granted one, right after his treachery is revealed to the assassin he blackmailed.
• Big Word Shout: Exclusive to the anime is his desperate cry of Please Wait! (Matte kure!), used in place of his unvoiced "Hold It!" from the game, at the start of his Villainous Breakdown.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Appears to be a laid-back, cheerful Surfer Dude, but beneath it all he's a self-serving, manipulative monster.
• Broken Pedestal: To Maya Fey. She goes from talking often about him to being ready to die if it means him getting punished.
• Bullying a Dragon: It really was a bad idea to provoke a master assassin.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Short of proudly and openly calling himself evil, he fulfills every aspect of the trope after The Reveal.
• Character Catchphrase: "Hold on a sec. I'm gonna ask [x], OK?"
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He screws himself over that way when he tries backstabbing his own assassin.
• Classic Villain: A Greed/Pride style villain, who wears a spiky red and white jacket with a High Collar of Doom and has a giant scar over his left eye, who deceives Phoenix into believing he is truly innocent until that's no longer necessary, at which point he turns the Evil Gloating up to eleven. Phoenix's ordeal in Farewell, My Turnabout helps him decide what it truly means to be a lawyer, similar to the journey Edgeworth had after the resolution of DL-6. Unlike Phoenix, Engarde believes in absolutely no one but himself, which ultimately brings him down when he attempts to blackmail Shelly de Killer, leading to the assassin swearing bloody vengeance upon him; with no way out, Engarde completely breaks down, begging for the guilty verdict.
• Consummate Liar: Matt Engarde has an excellent poker face and is extremely good at keeping up a facade. What ultimately exposes his true self is his ego and stupidity.
• Continuity Cameo: Matt shows up briefly during The Stinger of the film.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To previous Final Boss Manfred Von Karma. Both are well-respected public figures who are initially under no suspicion from the player, with the audience's attention being directed towards patsies with alliterative names - Yanni Yogi and Adrian Andrews, and have the flaw of not knowing when to stop being evil. However, Manfred Von Karma is an incredibly manipulative, cunning adversary who limited his crimes to one other person, had revenge as motive, only confesses once it's clear that the jig is 100% up, and faces his defeat with a measure of dignity. Engarde, meanwhile, is a chessmaster who is using several different people as pawns in his game, has defending his publicity as a motive, admits what he's done to Phoenix's face well ahead of his ultimate downfall, and goes out with an absolutely spectacular bang, having a face-tearing meltdown in front of the entire court and bawling like a baby. For bonus points, his color scheme is red, and Manfred's is blue.
• Crocodile Tears: In the anime, when Phoenix initially asks if he killed Juan, Matt gets emotional, insisting that the two had a healthy rivalry and that he's devastated that despite playing a hero on TV, he couldn't save his own friend in real life. Of course, it's all a lie, likely added because the Psyche-locks were Adapted Out.
• Cruel Mercy: You have the option to get him his "Not Guilty" verdict — at the moment he least wants it. Hell, you might enjoy Phoenix flexing his own Smug Snake tendencies as he pleads for it, just because you know what'll happen to Matt.
• Deceptive Disciple: Will Powers was Matt Engarde's mentor. Matt Engarde turned out to be completely evil.
• Depraved Kids' Show Host: He's the main star of a popular children's series, and he's totally despicable.
• Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: His plan was within striking distance of working: by using de Killer for the dirty work, framing Adrian, and extorting Phoenix into delivering a spirited defense, he would almost definitely have gotten away with it... had he not decided to try blackmailing de Killer. Once that plan comes out, the entire scheme crumbles.
• Didn't Think This Through: His planned blackmailing of de Killer, a skilled Professional Killer with a strict code of trust between himself and his clients. Even if he's paranoid and thinks that he himself might get blackmailed, it never occurs to him that once de Killer finds out, he might get furious and vow to kill him in revenge.
• Dirty Coward: When the professional killer he hired, Shelly De Killer is notified by Phoenix that Engarde's planning to blackmail him behind his back with his own recorded video of the killing and swears to kill him, Engarde immediately sweats in anxiety and if you make Phoenix give him the 'not guilty' verdict, he will scream his fucking ass out to the judge demanding a 'guilty' verdict to stay in jail and guarantee self-protection from De Killer which will not even happen according to the 'where they are now' credit scene.
• The Ditz: He's kind of a flake and calls his manager about everything, suggesting he can't decide anything for himself. However, it's actually Obfuscating Stupidity, in fact he doesn't trust anyone.
• Duality Motif: His bangs represent two different sides of his personality. When his bangs are covering the right side of his face, he acts like a happy-go-lucky Surfer Dude who can be pretty slow at times. But when he slicks his hair back, he reveals his true self; a Manipulative Bastard who believes people are only there to be used and thrown away.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Probably the only positive thing one could say about Matt is that he does care for his cat, Shoe.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Well, more like "Evil Cannot Comprehend Evil Virtues", but yes—the ultimate cause for his failure seems to be that he couldn't simply trust that de Killer would be a man of his word, and decided to blackmail him instead as insurance. Ironically, this only incurs the man's wrath instead.
• Evil Counterpart: To Will Powers. Both are the stars of popular "Samurai" TV shows who end up suspected for murder; Will is a completely innocent (and even a little naive) Nice Guy with the Face of a Thug who worries what people think of him, while Matt is a handsome sociopath who cares about absolutely no one besides himself.
• Evil Is Hammy: He's not very subtle after The Reveal, though it's a colder variety of ham. Whoever was writing him clearly had fun.
• Evil Is Petty: After he's revealed to be a despicable bastard behind his 'friendly' facade. Adrian tells Phoenix that Engarde is indirectly responsible for her mentor, Celeste's death. How and why? Celeste, who used to be Engarde's manager and girlfriend before he threw her away out of boredom, went on to meet Corrida as his new manager and girlfriend. The two planned to be engaged, but as soon Engarde became aware of it, he told Corrida about his former affair with her, only to spite him and fuel their petty rivalry, and Corrida called off their engagement due to his childish pride. Being cast aside with no warning twice by men she loved, Celeste killed herself.
• Eviler than Thou:
  • Pulls one at Juan Corrida. Both use very dirty tricks to upstage each other and drive an innocent woman to suicide during said tricks, but Matt is the one who gets Juan killed.
  • Attempts one to Shelly de Killer. While he does prove to be more evil than the assassin, that backfires horribly.
• Evil Laugh: Has a Psyche-Lock-breaking one during The Reveal in the Anime.
• Exact Words: When Phoenix questions him about his case, he denies killing anyone and this doesn't produce any Psyche-Locks. Technically he was telling the truth since the hitman he hired did it, something he lampshades after being called out by Pearl.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Of the "playing with the audience" variety. Once he drops the Surfer Dude act, he sweeps his hair back, exposing his scarred face, and unveils his true personality.
• Expository Pronoun: Uses the gentle boku, but in katakana to make it seem 'ruder'. He switches to the confident ore once the cat's out of the bag. This was not retained in the English version, because it'd be pretty much impossible to do so.
• Facial Horror: Engarde claws up his own face multiple times throughout his Villainous Breakdown. Even beforehand, the scar over his right eye is massive.
• Fangs Are Evil: Upon showing his true nature, his cuspids suddenly become visible when he speaks, contrast from before when his tooth line was all smooth.
• Fatal Flaw: His own cynical dismissal of trust and the Chronic Backstabbing Disorder ensuing from this proves to be his downfall, as he goes so far as to machinates a plan to blackmail his hired assassin with a videotape of the assassination, solely out of disbelief that even a Noble Demon like de Killer could be truly loyal and sticks to his word. This allows Phoenix to recover said evidence and show it to de Killer, and upon realizing this, the genuinely honorable assassin swears revenge on Engarde for not honoring his rules and trust, leaving Engarde to break into a cold sweat and demand the 'Guilty' verdict for the protection of a jail cell. If he had been able to just take de Killer at his word, his entire plan would have went off without a hitch.
• Faux Affably Evil: When Engarde reveals his true colors, he still speaks with a polite, jovial but with a streak of condescending attitude towards Phoenix as he smugly brags about getting off scot-free when he secures a 'not guilty' verdict by having De Killer take Maya hostage.
• Final Boss: Of Justice For All. He is the true culprit and mastermind of the final case, and his Psyche-Lock segment functions like a boss compared to the rest gameplay-wise.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: His Psyche-Lock segment has the most locks in the game by a mile, and unlike with Wendy Oldbag, you legitimately need to get through each and every one of them individually. Get past them, and he'll show his true colors.
• For the Evulz: He dumped Celeste Inpax for basically no reason, leaving her heartbroken, and then told Juan about his prior relationship with her, causing Juan to dump her and driving her to suicide.
• A Glass of Chianti: Whips one out to swirl oh-so-evilly after The Reveal... while in prison, no less.
• Gold Digger: A handsome young man who only shows attraction to women when they can help boost his career. He has no problem dumping them when they're no longer useful to him.
• Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Combined with Good Scars, Evil Scars, Engarde's visible left eye changes from adorably round to maliciously sharp even before he combs his hair seconds after his secret is out, showing his scarred right eye.
• Good Lawyers, Good Clients: The single biggest aversion in the series, at least in the modern era. He's a sociopathic murderer who threatens the heroic Phoenix Wright into defending him in court.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Of the good ol' fashioned evil variety. The fringe hides the scars, and you don't know he has them until he reveals himself.
• Hate Sink: Easily one of the most hated characters in the Ace Attorney franchise. He uses people for his own means, even causing his ex-girlfriend to kill herself to score a point against his rival. He also hires an assassin to do his dirty work, as he is too cowardly to kill someone himself, and manipulates his lawyer and assassin into doing his bidding, seeing them as nothing but objects for his own ambitions. Even when he pretends to be innocent, he is so obnoxious and self-absorbed that he already fits into the role as a loathsome client before his reveal. When his plan is exposed, he becomes even more odious, taunting Phoenix about Maya's situation, insulting Celeste and Adrian, and gloating about himself just because he can. He's such an asshole that Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright actually team up together to take him down, even with Franziska's (who opposes both lawyers) help, with Phoenix even going as far as to celebrate if he gets a guilty verdict. Keep in mind that Phoenix has not lost a case before this.
• The Hedonist: Matt likes cars, alcohol, motorbikes and women almost as much as he likes himself.
• He Really Can Act: In-universe. From the moment you meet him, you'll be wondering how this guy could possibly be keeping up such a high-profile acting career when he seems incapable of making any of his own decisions and totally unaware of the world around him. Then you reach The Reveal, and it becomes clear that Engarde is actually very good at acting - everything you thought you knew about him was a facade. Except his acting skills. He even comments on how putting on a sugary-sweet facade will make people swallow anything you tell them ( a technique that the villain from Trials and Tribulations would also milk for what it's worth).
  • Taken a step further in the anime when he earnestly tells Phoenix that he saw Juan as a friend and that they had a Friendly Rivalry. He sounds genuinely shaken by Juan's death, if only for a moment. And then Phoenix finds out about the assassin the next day...
• He-Man Woman Hater: Matt doesn't have a particularly high view of women, using them to promote his image. His actions against Celeste Inpax and Adrian Andrews are far more sadistic and vindictive, further suggesting this. While he also was cruel to Juan Corrida, Celeste and Adrian were entirely innocent unlike him.
• Hiding Behind Your Bangs: His bangs cover a set of vicious scars over his eye as well as his hidden evilness.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He becomes the next target of de Killer, whom he hired, because of his backstabbing ways. In a theatrical version Shelly is present in the court and shoots him.
• Ironic Echo: Remember that speech Matt gave Phoenix about how he isn't weak like Adrian Andrews and that he depends on nobody? It's contrasted quite a bit by what he says once his own attitude towards de Killer is exposed in court.
  Matt: Help me...
• Irony: How he's taken down is ironic in several ways.
  • His unwillingness to trust anyone leads him to take insane precautions against getting found out. This is what screws him over in the end.
  • He himself gets a Sadistic Choice after his assassin forces one upon Phoenix; it's either go to jail (and possibly get the death penalty) or go free... so de Killer can track him down.
  • He mocks Adrian's weak-willed nature and how he depends on no one. He ends up breaking down and begging for help once de Killer is shown the blackmail.
  • The entire set-up he and De Killer put Phoenix through is doubly ironic, because if they hadn't kidnapped Maya, she almost certainly would have badgered Phoenix into taking the case on anyways, most likely giving them everything they wanted; without Franziska's removal from the case, Phoenix quite likely would have unwittingly gotten Adrian Andrews found guilty of the murder without anyone ever knowing the truth about Engarde and De Killer.
• It's All About Me: He's a full-blown sociopath who truly doesn't give a damn about anyone else and sees nothing wrong with using people then throwing them away. Hell, even his initials are M.E!
• Karma Houdini: In the bad ending. While everyone learns about him driving Celeste to suicide, he gets acquitted of murder, without provoking Shelly's wrath.
• Knight of Cerebus: Averts this when he pretends to be naïve and innocent. However, he plays it straight after he reveals his true face and terrifying actions.
• Laser-Guided Karma: If you choose the right evidence to get him into his Sadistic Choice, it'll be all too satisfying to see this douchebag break into a cold sweat. For an extra dose of karma, he can only be beaten because of his attempts to blackmail everyone, even a master assassin.
• Leitmotif: The second game's "Investigation ~ Middle 2002," despite not given his name directly, is widely considered to be this for him. "Investigation ~ Core 2002" is his theme after he reveals himself, and is a very threatening one.
• Madness Mantra: When he cracks: "Guiltyguiltyguiltyguiltyguiltyguilty..." (repeat ad infinitum)
• Manipulative Bastard: Managed to get an assassin to kill his rival, forced a certain defense attorney to take his case by having his best friend kidnapped, and nearly pinned the entire crime on poor Adrian Andrews. Also, he drove Celeste to suicide in a subtle way and got good publicity by putting a facade.
• Master Actor: An Oscar winner, can pretend to be a hero in television and a good person in real life. He is actually evil.
• Meaningful Name:
  • 'Matt' comes from 'Matthew', meaning 'Gift from God', which is fitting seen his self-absorbed personality. 'Engarde' suits the extreme lengths he will go to in order to protect his public image.
  • His original name (真悟) means "true self". It's a pretty big hint to the Japanese player.
• Metaphorically True: Matt's claim that he did not kill anyone. This is technically the truth as Matt merely hired an assassin to kill Juan Corrida, which is the reason no psyche-locks appear when first asked if he killed Corrida. Contrast it with when Phoenix starts asking him about Shelly de Killer, and psyche-locks do appear.
• Morton's Fork: Ends up receiving one of these in the end - either admit his guilt and probably get the death penalty, or go free and definitely get killed by de Killer. He chooses the former.
• Narcissist: Matt is manipulative, hedonistic, self absorbed and sees people as pawns for his own schemes.
• Nice Character, Mean Actor: Although he has a reputation as a nice guy and plays the heroic Nickel Samurai, he is more evil than the assassin he hired.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: In what may be one of the most ironic moments of the game, Matt's downfall is spearheaded by his cat meowing during an audio recording by Maya. This alerts Gumshoe to the fact that Maya is being held hostage in his house, proving Engarde is connected to the kidnapping beyond a shadow of a doubt. Keep in mind that Matt's only redeeming quality is his genuine love for Shoe and that sending Phoenix to check on Shoe, an unnecessarily alturistic request, is what put the first nail in his coffin.
• Non-Action Big Bad: He doesn't even kill Juan himself and has de Killer ensure that Phoenix finds him innocent. Justified for that second half since he's in jail at the time. He also doesn't directly confront Phoenix because he is his client.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He's not as dumb as he lets on. He just keeps up his public image as a good-looking airhead. He's really a sociopath underneath the ditzy attitude. In fact, his only big mistake, the video tape, comes from his paranoia and he would have won without it.
• Obviously Evil: Once his true personality is revealed, he drops any and all pretense and begins gloating to Phoenix's face. He does this while swirling a glass of Cognac in his hand, in prison!
• Off on a Technicality: Wright can potentially declare Engarde's innocence after revealing that he didn't directly kill Corrida. Engarde ends up begging for a guilty verdict to save himself from being assassinated by a betrayed de Killer.
• Oh, Crap!: In the anime, he lets out a gasp of fear when Edgeworth mentions how de Killer detests traitors most of all. The moment that de Killer mentions that he now has a new target, his legs start to shake.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: If Phoenix shows him Celeste Inpax's profile immediately after obtaining it, he immediately drops the airheaded persona he's been adopting to sternly tell Phoenix to tell out of his private affairs before leaving.
• Pet the Dog: At one point he asks you to go to his house and feed his cat, Shoe. This doesn't factor into his murder plot at all, he genuinely just wants his cat fed. Shoe seems to be the only creature that Matt cares about besides himself.
• Prefer Jail to the Protagonist: While de Killer isn't a hero, he actually has principles, unlike Engarde, and Engarde would rather go to prison than be killed by de Killer.
• Pretty Boy: He's rather pretty. He even admits as much.
• Psychological Projection: He uses a camera to film de Killer for blackmail material. The idea that de Killer wouldn't have done the same if their roles were reversed doesn't cross his mind.
• Psychotic Smirk: Sports a nasty one when he outs himself as the killer.
• Punny Name:
  • En garde, since he's the Nickel Samurai and is always in a "duel" with Juan Corrida. Also, he's always on guard and people should also be around him.
  • "Otoro" is a pun on "outlaw".
  • His initials spell the word "me", alluding to how he cares for nobody except himself.
• Pyrrhic Victory: In the bad ending, he managed to literally get away with murder, but as of the bad ending, everyone knows what kind of person he is now, which is what he had Juan killed in the first place to prevent. In the good ending, he can still be declared innocent, but the threat of Shelly forces him to plead guilty.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: In the stage play, Engarde becomes even more loathsome, as he's responsible for Celeste Inpax's Rape by Proxy.
• The Reveal: "Hold on a sec. I'm gonna consult myself, OK?"
• Reverse Relationship Reveal: When the player controls Maya attempting to escape, the door with a cat door that's later seen in Engarde's home would imply that de Killer is masquerading as his own butler, working under his master's nose, and trying to force Wright to give Engarde an innocent verdict for his own gains. When Engarde shows his true colors, however, Engarde is the one manipulating de Killer, having recorded him murdering Juan and using that as leverage against de Killer for his own gain.
• Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: He's a successful actor and star who happens to have a very poor concept of money management, to the point where he'd probably lose his fortune if it weren't for his manager.
• Right-Hand Cat: Fond of his pet cat, Shoe.
• Rule of Symbolism: After doing everything in his power to protect his self-image at the expense of everyone around him, Engarde goes out literally and figurtively destroying his own face.
• Running Gag: He repeatedly calls up certain people to consult about various matters. It stops being funny when he consults himself and reveals his true colors.
• Sadistic Choice:
  • The basic premise of his case: Win, and you let him get away with murder while making Adrian take the fall for it. Lose, and Maya dies.
  • You turn the tables on him if you convince de Killer to break his contract with Engarde: the end result is still the same. Say he's guilty, and he breaks down because... well, he's guilty. Not to mention the fact that he could very well receive the death penalty. Say he's not guilty, and he breaks down, demanding to be sent to jail, instead of being free and ready to be killed by a pissed-off assassin that he betrayed (and even then, there is still no saying that de Killer can't break into jail and kill him.)
• Satanic Archetype: Downplayed: While he has no supernatural capabilities that would make him similar to Lucifer, he sure shares several similarities with him: First of all, he puts up the façade of being a beloved hero in a kids' show, almost an angel to some. His color scheme is Red and White, two colors in stark contrast with each other, that represent many of Matt and The Morning Star's attributes: He is proud, arrogant, raging and selfish. The fact that his vanity borders a god complex and that he is an absurdly evil handsome young man further drives the point of him being a demonic being with an angelic look home. As if this wasn't enough, the thought of defending him in court gives Phoenix Wright his recurring nightmare the night before the trial: the giant judge, possibly representing God himself, smiting him for having to prove the "Prince of Evil" himself innocent.
• Self-Harm: At the end of the case, Engarde cracks on the stand and covers his face in bloody scratches. Considering that Villainous Breakdowns in the Ace Attorney franchise are often related to a character's quirks or gimmicks, the hideous scars on the right side of his face were likely self-inflicted.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: Pearl asks him why he did something so wrong, and he says, "Because I'm a grownup and I can."
• Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: His lack of trust in others is what's ultimately brings his own downfall. He blackmails both Phoenix Wright (who would probably have defended him anyway because Maya is a huge fan of his) and Shelley De Killer (who was extremely loyal to him) because he can't trust anyone which causes the former to realize that they're being played and the latter to seek vengeance on Matt.
• Slasher Smile: Wears one on his face after The Reveal of him being the client of Shelly de Killer and by extension, the true murderer of Juan Corrida.
• Slave to PR: Like every other celebrity. The reason why his every move is calculated is because he can't let his reputation get tarnished, up to and including killing Corrida when he was planning to ruin his image.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The only Final Boss to have no role outside of his case, he even has Shelly do most of the job for him. He is also the catalyst of the Character Development for Phoenix, culiminates that of Edgeworth and shatters the myth of good defense attorneys and bad prosecutors. Phoenix learns what it means to be a lawyer thanks to his guilt. As a result, he still deserved to be the Final Boss.
• Smug Snake: Acts nice to everyone, but he couldn't care less about anyone besides himself and his beautiful public image. When his true personality is revealed, he's nothing but smug to Phoenix about having Maya hostage. While he is a good schemer, he is not a Magnificent Bastard due to one fatal mistake.
• The Sociopath: It's implied that the reason (besides the one covered under Exact Words) that his lie didn't trigger a Psyche-Lock response is that he genuinely doesn't believe hiring someone to dispose of your rival counts as murder any more than hiring an exterminator to deal with vermin, showing how little he regards those around him. Remember that the Magatama detects fear/guilt locked away in people’s hearts. If there wasn't any guilt to begin with...
  "People are simply things to be used. Used and thrown away."
• Stupid Evil: After his true colors are revealed to Phoenix, he gloats to him about his own insurance against de Killer via the camera he hid in the stuffed bear, since he now has footage of Corrida's murder that he can use as insurance and to potentially control de Killer in the future. Him telling Phoenix all this combined with de Killer's hatred of being betrayed also contributes to his downfall when his blackmail video is brought to light to all parties. If he had simply remained quiet, it would've been more likely that he'd get away scot-free as intended. He's also stupid enough to have someone held hostage in his own home.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: While breaking his Psyche-Locks, you can select "you're a hero of justice" as the answer to how Matt knows de Killer. Phoenix will then suggest that Matt used the hidden camera to film de Killer so that he could catch him and bring him to justice. Matt reacts accordingly.
• Surfer Dude: He's got the Verbal Tic, but it is unknown if he likes surfing. He certainly loves motorbikes, though. It's an act anyway.
• Third-Person Person: Very briefly slips into this before The Reveal, telling Phoenix it's time to meet "him". Why is never explained, and he never does it again after that.
• Too Clever by Half: He is smart enough to know assassins usually aren't trustworthy and will blackmail their clients. If he didn't know that, he would have never done the lethal mistake of planning to blackmail de Killer.
• Too Dumb to Live: Sure, Matt. Blackmail the assassin you hired to gain leverage against them. An assassin so effective that the police have never been able to track them down and who values trust and loyalty between himself and his client more than anything. See how that works out for you.
• Two-Faced: Perhaps more literally than usual. His happy-go-lucky facade has hair covering half his face but his real self pulls the hair back, revealing some disturbing scars, and is a completely different person.
• Uncertain Doom: Never seen again after "Farewell, My Turnabout"; now, since he ended that case on the wrong end of a master assassin's Roaring Rampage of Revenge, one could assume the worst.
• The Unfought: While he's the case's villain, you don't cross-examine or otherwise directly confront him in court as he's the defendant and still technically your client.
  • But there is a hard Psyche-Lock segment where you confront him out of court.
  • He is still a tough opponent though, exactly because he is your client through blackmail. Until you break it, you are stuck with him.
• Verbal Tic: Like, I don't know what tic you're talking about, dude!
• Villain Ball: A very egregious example. He has an ending where he wins, can put a good facade, has a way to defend himself from many possible setbacks... and also makes a fatal mistake, making a video to blackmail de Killer. To put things in perspective, this video causes him all of his major setbacks but one.
• Villainous Breakdown: Suffers this when de Killer turns on him; he repeatedly claws at his own face, basically shredding his skin to pieces.
• Villains Want Mercy: Matt desperately pleads the judge to declare him guilty in fear of death at the hands of de Killer. He would rather live the rest of his life behind bars than face de Killer's wrath for blackmailing him.
  Engarde: P-Please wait... If... If I get a not guilty... I'll... I'll be... killed...
• Villain with Good Publicity: Is seen as a nice person by the media and his fans, who are mostly kids. He has Juan killed to make sure he stays that way.
• Villain Respect: Says that he's impressed by Adrian trying to frame him and that he didn't think he had it in her.
• Walking Spoiler: Matt's true personality is one of the biggest twists in the entire franchise, to the point all discussions regarding the character invariably end with spoilers about the game's final case.
• Weak Boss, Strong Underlings: Matt has a lot of social power as a wealthy celebrity and a skilled schemer, but in the end, he's a civilian with no combat training. He makes up for it by hiring Shelly de Killer, a professional assassin and one of the strongest characters in the series.
• Wham Line: Matt says the following line as he prepares to unveil his true personality.
  Engarde: Hold on a sec. I'm gonna consult myself, OK?
• Wham Shot: Two, on the second day of investigation. The first is when five Psyche-Locks appear over him, the most of any character in Justice For All, and the second comes after the above line when he slicks his bangs back to reveal the massive scars on the right side of his face, once you've broken said Psyche-Locks.
• Zero-Effort Boss: He's this after Phoenix tells Shelly de Killer about the video camera. At this point, Engarde doesn't have any more leverage against Phoenix and can't control his former assassin. The player can choose to declare him innocent or guilty, and both options lead to him ripping his face up and getting sent to jail.

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