Phoenix: Difficult-looking memes stand in a formidable row. They mock me. I tried reading one and it made my head hurt. When I closed the tab, my phone slipped out of my hand. Then my foot hurt too.
General
- "OBJECTION!" ExplanationThe series' Character Catchphrase has gained great popularity, to the point where there's an objection generator
to get your objections out. Pretty much anytime you see Ace Attorney fans discussing things, this will pop up, usually in response to someone saying something contradictory. - Phoenix Wrong Explanationa subgenre of spoof videos on YouTube and Newgrounds that recreate scenes from various pieces of media (songs, movies, tv shows, etc.) using the character sprites from the games. For example.
- "Ah, a ladder." "It's just a stepladder." "What's the difference? They do the same thing, right? I think you should stick with the basic facts of the matter." ExplanationAt least once a game, a ladder appears and the current protagonist and their assistant will have a brief argument over classifying it as either a ladder or stepladder. It became part of an Ascended Meme in The Great Ace Attorney where the Achievement System awards a medal for triggering every arguement about ladders and stepladders (as well as shovels and spades).
- "Eat your hamburgers, Apollo" ExplanationTaken from this Awkward Zombie comic, it's a catch-all phrase representing the English localization's attempts to hide the series being set in Japan, this particular quote referencing the changing of Maya's Trademark Favorite Food from ramen to hamburgers. Has taken on a new life after The Great Ace Attorney was originally revealed and that it was taking place in Japan's Meiji period, making it practically impossible to keep up the pretense that the series is set in America and is about Americans.
- It's another great day in the beautiful city of Japanifornia. Explanation"Japanifornia" is the fan nickname of the city the games take place in, which despite having tons of Japanese culture, totally is Los Angeles, California.
- And the Yokai spirit apparently immigrated with them. ExplanationA particularly infamous case of location switching in case 5-2. The murder takes place in a traditional Japanese village founded by "Japanese immigrants" around a sacred cave in which a thousand-year-old yokai is sealed. Meaning they must have brought the yokai with them on the boat from Japan. Turns out the yokai isn't real, and it's just a use of superstition to stop anyone from stealing the village treasure, but still.
- "lol Objection!" Explanation A reference to the 'Ace Attorney in a Nutshell' videos by Mastermind6425 that you can watch here. Other variations are "lol update" and "lol perfection".
- Phoenix bequeaths to you... a Boot to the Head! Explanation A YouTube comedy video that gained more popularity than the original. The 3DS remaster◊ turned this into an Ascended Meme.
- And another for Franziska and Winston!Explanation A Running Gag in the skit is that Jenny and her wimpy husband Hank get a boot to the head for every person mentioned in Arthur's testament. Franziska plays Jenny, and Winston Payne plays the wimp.
- Gay Lawyers/Lawyer Husbands Explanation The blatant Homoerotic Subtext between Phoenix and Miles, to the point where it can be considered straight-up text, is often joked about by fans. In fact, WrightWorth is one of the most, if not the most, popular ships in the series. And saying they are Just Friends can qualify as a Berserk Button for most of the fanbase. Even Capcom themselves have taken notice of the ship and later games and adaptations of the first trilogy milk the romantic undertones between them for all their worth. Game Grumps most famously picked up on the gay undertones almost immediately and eventually wound up actively shipping them together, as seen here.
- Phoenix Wright and Elle Woods would be best friends Explanation The first trilogy is often compared to Legally Blonde as both media centre around the main character going to law school to chase after a man. And it's common to make "Is he Gay or European?" animatics about Miles Edgeworth.
- I YELL OBJECTION IN THE COURT SOMETIMES ExplanationMay be a parody of a line from Taio Cruz's "Dynamite".
- It's in the...UPDATED AUTOPSY REPORT. ExplanationOne of the most infamous examples of the series' Artistic License – Law comes in the first game's second case, where Edgeworth introduces an updated autopsy report to negate your contradiction IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRIAL.
- It's the safest place I know. ExplanationProsecutors in general just love to put vital evidence from the crime scene in their pocket/satchel/whatever and not present it to the court until the defense has argued its absence, "justifying" it with a line like the above. And then claim that this oversight makes the defense incompetent.
- When You Update the Autopsy Report ExplanationOn June 14th, 2019 someone posted this video on YouTube of Edgeworth dancing with the title of "when you update the autopsy report." Since then it has been memed to high hell by the fandom and has been put everywhere from screencaps of the game to below YouTube videos pertaining to Edgeworth.
- The one time You Update the Autopsy Report. Explanation In The Great Ace Attorney, the Coroner Maria Gorey helps Ryunosuke by filling out the Time of Death to Inspector Tobias Gregson from it being deliberately blank under Mael Stronghart's orders to indeterminate because of the fish from his fish n' chips started to rot.
- Phoenix Wright went to law school. ExplanationThe fact that Phoenix can make some pretty amazing choices in court and has some frankly absurd gaps of knowledge in law (he only found out about evidence law in his FIFTH court case?) makes the idea of Phoenix actually making it through law school and passing the bar kind of a joke among fans. This is sometimes followed up with other jokes about how he actually majored in Liberal Arts before transferring to law, as revealed in flashbacks.
- They're like a gun's "fingerprints." Explanation Every time ballistic markings come up, the games explain them using the "fingerprints" comparison. People got tired of hearing the explanation, causing ballistic markings to become a joke in the fandom. It doesn't help that ballistic forensics, much like many "forensic" techniques, is much less reliable than this game portrays - "ballistic fingerprinting" is borderline pseudoscience and has come under increased scrutiny in recent years for lacking rigorous scientific foundations.
- U N M I S S A B L EExplanationIn early September 2018, Capcom announced an "unmissable" Ace Attorney Tokyo Game Show panel to be coming later that month. New main series games are usually revealed at TGS, making everyone naturally get hyped for one. When it came, all that was revealed was another port of the original trilogy. This time to PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam, which everyone saw coming at some point anyway (and Capcom had already announced the series coming to the Switch).
- On Tumblr, the fandom has a tendency to hijack posts with arguments between Phoenix and rival lawyers (represented with pictures of the characters in question). Here's an example, complete with a Lampshade Hanging on the phenomenon. One of the more famous examples being a very meta thread about the manga being in a law library.
- "You are not a clown. You are the entire circus" ExplanationFrom these two tweets◊ that realized the original statement, while never said in canon, was still something Edgeworth would totally drop on Phoenix during a court case. Its popularity quickly spread, as "clown" was and to some extent still is a fairly popular term for people acting foolish or embarrassing online. The meme also tends to get thrown around a bit in regards to Simon Keyes.
- "To your future career in the circus."ExplanationThe international release of The Great Ace Attorney made reference to the above mentioned clown meme by having main prosecutor Van Zieks say this line, which has become almost as memetic as its predecessor.
- Apollo's backstoriesExplanationApollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Dual Destinies, and Spirit of Justice each explore a part of Apollo's backstory, focusing on a different part of his past. While none of them conflict with one another and later expositions arguably help flesh him out, they aren't really connected to one another, leading to the fans joking about Apollo having multiple backstories instead of just one or speculating about him getting new ones in any game.
- Apollo is a manletExplanationSome dataminers had a look at the 3D games' models and discovered that due to scaling differences between characters, Apollo's model appears considerably shorter than his listed height of 5'5" (165 cm, which is already short in the US, but a bit below average in Japan). This discovery quickly led to jokes suggesting that his official height included his 5" long Idiot Hair, and that his actual height was 5'0" (around 154 cm), which would make him shorter than almost all of the games' adult cast. Fans had a field day with this, calling Apollo "short king" and photoshopping cast pictures so that he's much shorter.
- The Court is JammingExplanationIn mid-2021, an editing meme arose of each side of the court, be it the defense, prosecution, sidebar, judges, witnesses, or detectives performing their signature poses on repeat set to Yoko Oginome's "Dancing Hero (Eat You Up)", with the one thing they all have in common being the song's guitar riff being performed by Klavier. Multiple variations and subversions ensued throughout the rest of 2021.
- When in doubt, present the badge.ExplanationYour attorney's badge is always the first piece of evidence you have in any case. In Investigation segments, you can present it to people to prove you're an attorney, and many suspects have something unique to say about that. Thus, the fandom has concluded that you should always present the badge when you're stuck, even when it's clearly not the answer. It is actually canon that attorneys love to show off their badges to everyone. Also, sometimes you really do need to present your badge.
- Maya Fey has been accused of murder. Again.ExplanationMaya Fey, Phoenix's co-counsel, has been accused of murder and put on trial in nearly every entry of the series in which she makes an appearance, resulting in jokes that Maya can't do anything without implicating herself of a crime. These jokes grew in frequency after the release of Doobus Goobus's 2021 video "Ace Attorney for people who haven't played it".
- Apollo is the new main character.ExplanationApollo's increasing story relevance starting with his debut game has caused fans to jokingly state that he's officially usurped Phoenix as the franchise's main character, a sentiment that only skyrocketed following Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice being announced alongside Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney as being part of the Apollo Justice Trilogy.
- "Look at this photograph." ExplanationPhoenix and co. present a lot of photographic evidence throughout the series, usually saying some variation on this phrase as they do. It is very common for english-speaking fans and let's-players to draw comparisons to "Photograph" by Nickelback.
- Court-appointed Weirdgirl assistant.Explanation The series tradition of protagonists' having a quirky young female assistant is often joked about as a discrete role. Adding on to this, many like to group the likes of Raymond working under Gregory and Phoenix working under Mia as qualified 'Weirdgirls'.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
- Damon Gant is a rapist. ExplanationGant's uncanny thousand-yard stare and uncomfortably cheery demeanor, coupled with the fact that he's the murderer of case 1-5 and a Manipulative Bastard to boot, have earned him the reputation of a sexual predator. It doesn't help that he's an older man who's always inviting the young 'uns to go swimming with him and that he gives everyone a cutesy nickname derived from their surnames. Ema being visibly traumatized after leaving his office during the case also gives off vibes of a sexual assault victim, and it's revealed he threatened something if she didn't stay quiet; those who buy into the meme seriously suspect he may have groped her and threatened to do more if she didn't stay quiet.
- YOUR FATHER DIED LIKE A DOG AND SO WILL YOU ExplanationAnother Hiimdaisy comic, in which another episode is added to Miles' traumatic childhood.
- "Good luck to Phoenix Wright defending in his first trial today." (and numerous variants)ExplanationThe games came out in the 00's and were set a little over the decade in the future, with the first trial starting on August 3rd, 2016.
- There's also the fact that Capcom released this video on the day Mia died.
- I'd like to cross-examine the parrot. ExplanationAn infamous scene from 1-4 in which Phoenix does exactly that. Although it's been surpassed somewhat by Serial Escalation, it's often taken as a prime example of how crazy the series can be.
- "Almost Christmas" means it wasn't Christmas! ExplanationA popular line by Phoenix in Case 1-4 after Larry Butz admits he was listening to a DJ on a Christmas radio show who announced that it was "almost Christmas!", which was a vital part of the case since Larry heard a gunshot around the time the DJ said that right before midnight, throwing the court's assumptions at the time completely out over gunfire. Fans always post a screenshot or video of Phoenix saying the above line around December 24th every year before Christmas.
- "...Merry Christmas." Explanation From the same case, the culprit points a gun at the screen and says the line to taunt Edgeworth. Fans also post that screenshot around December 25th every year.
- Redd White is a JoJo character.ExplanationBeing as flashy as he is along with having an extravagant hairstyle and rather bulky figure, many people have noted how Redd White wouldn't look too out of place in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. His Engrish in the Ace Attorney (2016) only helped to strengthen the comparisons.
- "Von Karma, no!"Explanation (Spoilers!)During one of RTGame's streams of case 4 of the first Ace Attorney game, RT noticed the many, many absurd things that Manfred von Karma is able plan around and successfully put the situation in his favor, leading to him, and later his community, joking that later events in the series were actually orchestrated by von Karma.
- "Von [word that rhymes with Karma], no!"Explanation Same as the above, but Karma is swapped out for another word to fit the situation and make a pun.
Justice for All
Trials and Tribulations
- Godot can't see Redd WhiteExplanation (spoilers)Godot is blind, and has to see with a special visor that cannot distinguish between red and white — this is first demonstrated and foreshadowed when Phoenix points out ketchup stains on a waitress uniform in Case 3-3, which Godot cannot see as the ketchup got on the white part of the apron. Redd White's Punny Name therefore becomes Hilarious in Hindsight. It's also a play on the fact that Godot refused to acknowledge White as being responsible for Mia Fey's death, pinning the blame solely on Phoenix instead.
- Godot is Cyclops. BEHOLD! OPTIC BLAST!!ExplanationThanks to his visor resembling Cyclops's, comparisons between the two (including allegations that Godot can fire Optic Blasts) have been frequent. The fans ran away with this one, to the point that's it practically meta. Even the Anime has Phoenix make a comment about it, and is initially scared of Godot for this reason.
- The Forbidden Hospital Scene ExplanationAfter Phoenix falls off the bridge in Case 3-5, Edgeworth visits him in the hospital, where Phoenix lends him his badge and magatama so Edgeworth can defend Iris. This happens off-screen - hence it being 'forbidden' - sparking much speculation (and fanfiction) about how the conversation might have gone down. After fourteen years, the anime finally filled in the gap.
Apollo Justice
- Zak Gramarye is a jerk. ExplanationThe title of a series of Hiimdaisy comics, which pokes fun at how much of a terrible person Zak is.
- Hobo Phoenix/Hobohodo/Naruhobo. ExplanationThe Fan Nickname for Phoenix in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, in which he dresses like a hobo.
- "Oh, I assure you it's quite based."ExplanationOriginal context of the quote is Phoenix retorting against Kristoph's accusation of baseless conjecture. The word "based" has taken on new meaning in the 2020's, giving this one line new life for a different purpose.
Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
- Quercus Alba is evolving! ExplanationIn Ace Attorney Investigations, when the frail old man Quercus Alba suddenly reveals his true nature◊, people likened it to a Pokémon evolving.
- Miles Edgeworth: Ass AttorneyExplanationScreenshots of Edgeworth's dialogue with the text cut off to make it look like he's talking about asses. Although the meme has bled over to other characters and words, the original form is the most popular. Several examples can be seen here
- DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY! Explanation (spoilers!)An infamous plot point in Turnabout Ablaze has Quercus Alba outright abuse this to try and dodge being brought to justice by Edgeworth, which was one of the reasons why his questioning can take up to an hour. Eventually, Shi-Long Lang has enough of this and contacts his superiors to get it revoked.
- I Can't Defeat Tree Man ExplanationQuercus Alba, who resembles a tree in appearance (and is named after one), is known for being legendarily tough to crack. He's such a Marathon Boss that there's a save point between rounds of his testimony. Thus, people adapted the popular song about another That One Boss, "I Can't Defeat Air Man", to be about him.
- AHBJEKSHAWN Explanation (Spoilers!) Quercus Alba's English Objection! soundclip sounds utterly ridiculous, inspiring many fans to make jokes about it.
- Kay Faraday's selfiesExplanationThe first case of Investigations 2 features a selfie taken by Kay as important evidence due to what was captured in the background. This led to edits of Kay taking selfies at inappropriate times, such as at the scene of a natural disaster or violent crime.
Dual Destinies
- Simon is a weeaboo.ExplanationThanks to the localization, Simon's ronin/samurai motif didn't exactly translate well, and instead of coming across as archaic and edgy like in the Japanese version, he seems overly obsessed with Japanese culture in the English version (though still quite edgy).
- Klavier is a German weeaboo.ExplanationAfter one of the localizers revealed on her blog that Klavier isn't actually German but rather only studied there, many fans started humorously accusing Klavier of this as well. May have gotten some acknowledgement in Spirit of Justice when he is referred to as a "europhile."
- IN JUSTICE WE TRUST!ExplanationBobby Fulbright's catchphrase from the fifth game, which he screams every time he shows up.
- INJUSTICE WE TRUST!Explanation (Spoilers!)The game's main twist is that Bobby Fulbright was killed by the Big Bad long before the game started, and said Big Bad impersonated him the whole time. Fans have mutated Fulbright's catchphrase into this as a result.
- DARK AGE OF THE LAWWWWWExplanationYet another repeated phrase, this time in Dual Destinies, to describe the state of legal distrust and trickery after Phoenix's disbarment and Blackquill's conviction. Used so often that it's become a joke in itself.
Spirit of Justice
- Where's Apollo? ExplanationAfter Ace Attorney 6 was formerly announced with Phoenix as the main protagonist, the fandom was rife with people questioning where Apollo was, given he was officially stated to be the most popular character in polls. It got so heated that, when the game was at TGS 2015, the trailer was identical to the version shown when the game was announced... except, at the very end, Apollo was shown. He is also the main protagonist of the game though that is not apparent at first glance.
- "Oof! That's going in the cringe reel for sure."ExplanationRoger Retinz's line after Apollo flubs the catchphrase recording he's given has been used in response to anything considered cringeworthy, akin to the "*Snap* Yep. This one's going in my cringe compilation" meme from the Shrek fandom.
- Roger Retinz's flipbook that he pulls out while using his camcorder has been the source of many edits to have it read memetic phrases, such as "AMOGUS".
- "A dragon never yields."ExplanationThe Character Catchphrase and Badass Creed of rebel leader, Apollo's surrogate father, and Memetic Badass Dhurke Sahdmadhi. Has also been used for silly things like Dhurke getting in a car accident because he wouldn't follow a Yield sign◊.
- Clussy FeverExplanationFollowing a parody animation by speedoru that featured the character Geiru Toneido, people started talking about her heavily and even used a term said by Edgeworth within said parody when they bring her up.
The Great Ace Attorney
- Herlock SholmesExplanationA data leak suffered by Capcom in November 2020 led to rumors of an English release of the DGS games. Included in the supposedly leaked documents is a screenshot◊ with Sherlock Holmes's name changed to Herlock Sholmes. Fans immediately ran away with this blatant case of Writing Around Trademarks, which actually originated with Maurice Leblanc’s Arsène Lupin books. This was made even better by the fact that when a localization was officially announced, it turned out his name really is Herlock Sholmes. It helps that Sholmes as a whole is hilarious.
- The notoriously litigious Wilson estate.ExplanationIn Turnabout Samurai, Phoenix acclaims himself as "Sherlock Holmes II, baby!" after a deduction. This has often been jokingly explained as Iris Wilson's (who wrote the stories in lieu of Arthur Conan Doyle in TGAAC) descendants being aggressively protective of the Adventures of Herlock Sholmes copyright in 2016, meaning Phoenix is actually referencing an in-universe adaptation.
- Van Zieks' leg slamExplanationBarok van Zieks in The Great Ace Attorney has got two desk slam animations. The standard hand one, and a memorable leg version where he lifts his left leg and slams his foot on the table (all while holding a chalice of wine), which according to the concept art originated from his older brother Klint. This absolute over-the-top desk slam (an Ace Attorney staple), combined with Van Zieks' serious nature, caught on with fans quite well, with some even seeing it as a parody of the desk slam concept.
Anime
- WHATCHA NAAAAAAYME?! ExplanationIn the anime, Redd White says quite a few lines in Engrish, like the Japanese version. The very first one, ''WHATCHA NAAAYME?", one quickly became famous. Other popular lines include "YES, WE CAN!" and "GOODBAI FOREVUH!"
- The lawyers are airbenders!ExplanationWhile, the over-the-top dramatic objections and finger-pointing was already a staple of the series, the Ace Attorney (2016) decided to add extra oomph to most such scenes by making the dramatic objections and finger-pointing cause gusts of Dramatic Wind, often powerful enough to make people, or random courtroom objects, fall over. This scene is an example of such. Fans noted the obvious similarity to mystical wind powers wielded by "airbenders" in Avatar: The Last Airbender resulting in the joke that airbending is taught in law schools as part of the basic curriculum.
Maya: Look, a meme!
Phoenix: That's an inside joke.
Maya: So? What's the difference? You need to stop judging things based on narrow-minded cultural assumptions, Nick!
Phoenix: (I feel like we've had this conversation before. But with ladders.)
