Phoenix Wright is a defense attorney and the main character of the franchise, and the protagonist in all games in the main series, except for Apollo Justice.
Mia Fey :Voiced by (English): Christina Katano (
AA3); When designing the fourth episode of
Trials and Tribulations, Takumi wanted Mia to face off against Edgeworth, but experienced complications due to both having not lost a case before. He ultimately decided to have defendant Terry Fawles die during court in order for the trial to end without a verdict in order to deal with this. Mia was designed by Tatsurō Iwamoto, who originally conceived her as an older man wearing a geta. They decided to change this after determining that too many of the characters were old men, causing them to change Phoenix's mentor character to be a young woman. The original old man design was repurposed for the Judge's design. When designing Maya in
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, the game's character artist, Takuro Fuse, considered making her resemble Mia now that she is grown up, ultimately coming up with a design that felt similar to Mia's while attempting to not lose Maya's charm. The theme song for Maya and Mia, "Turnabout Sisters Ballad," was originally written to be cheerier, but once Mia's death was written, the song was changed by adding a semitonal chord shift to the main part of the song to express sadness. Mia Fey has received generally positive reception.
Dengeki writer Ayana felt that her words to Phoenix, to reverse his way of thinking, resonated with her, feeling that being able to change one's way of thinking was a valuable quality in all walks of life.
Eurogamer writer Jay Castello, while discussing their desire to become a lawyer as a teenager, stated that Mia was the character who drove this desire. They called her "compassionate, dedicated, and hyper-competent," and that she was the kind of person they aspired to be. Fellow
Eurogamer writer John Walker called her a "wonderful" character, enjoying her presence in the game while expressing that he had a lot of affection for her as a female video game character.
Game Revolution writer Joe Dodson discussed her sexuality, particularly noting that her breasts were particularly large and commenting on how weird it is that she can possess Pearl, an eight-year-old, giving her breasts.
Nintendo Life writer Kate Gray also commented on Mia's design when channeled by Pearl, calling it creepy. On Mia's character, she felt that Mia's death was meant to teach players not to take anything for granted, comparing this scene to a later case where Phoenix's client turns out to be guilty. She felt that this twist was written with the idea that you'd grown complacent. On Mia, she discussed whether Mia falls under the
women in refrigerators writing trope, where women are killed, abused, or otherwise harmed as a motivation for the player or protagonist. She argued that while she fit this trope, she doesn't "stay in the fridge," stating that she remains "strong, powerful, and utterly unfazed by her own murder," as well as a superior lawyer to Phoenix.
Miles Edgeworth is Phoenix Wright's long-time friend and first rival in the court room. He is temporarily playable in
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations and the main player character in
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and ''
Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit''. As a child, Edgeworth aspired to become a defense attorney, following in his father Gregory Edgeworth's footsteps. When they were children, Edgeworth successfully defended Phoenix in a classroom trial, where Phoenix was accused of stealing lunch money from Edgeworth himself. However, upon witnessing his father's death and watching in horror as the suspected murderer was let free, he gained a hatred for criminals and began studying to be a prosecutor, learning tactics from his mentor
Manfred von Karma to always get a "guilty" verdict. This later earned him the name "demon prosecutor". Miles had not lost a case he was involved with until his first trial against Phoenix, after which he felt a need to defeat Phoenix. By the end of the first game, Miles would undergo some self-reflection, and eventually cast aside his traumas to become a more well-rounded and just prosecutor, instead of just chasing guilty verdicts. Edgeworth's spin-off game
Ace Attorney Investigations was originally going to star
Ema Skye, another character from the series, but due to fan response, they went with Miles Edgeworth, a more popular character. The decision for
Investigations to star Edgeworth specifically was partially driven by fan request.
Maya Fey is a spirit medium and the younger sister of Phoenix's boss,
Mia Fey. Maya is introduced in
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, in which she is accused of her sister's murder and defended by Phoenix. She becomes his legal assistant and investigates cases with him in the first three
Ace Attorney games. Maya cheerily banters with Phoenix during investigations, She does not appear in the fourth and fifth games, but returns in the sixth, reuniting with Phoenix in Khura'in as she prepares to complete her channeling training. Maya also appears in other franchise media: the manga,
film,
anime series, and the spin-off games including the
Professor Layton crossover Maya, alongside Phoenix, also makes
cameo appearances in several games across other genres.
Pearl Fey :Voiced by (English):
Alexis Tipton (anime) Pearl returns in
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations, seeing the Sacred Urn she had previously broken displayed at a department store, before it is stolen by the infamous thief Mask☆DeMasque, a.k.a.
Ron DeLite. After Phoenix clears Ron of both his true theft charges and untrue murder charges, Ron's wife
Desirée hugs him, leading to Pearl, having just arrived on the scene, knocking Phoenix out, after mistakenly believing him to have been
cheating on Maya. Sometime later, after visiting her mother in prison and travelling with Phoenix and Maya to a mountain retreat, Pearl is tricked by her mother into attempting to channel her deceased half-sister
Dahlia Hawthorne to have her kill Maya, only to be saved by her aunt,
Misty Fey, who had disappeared many years prior, and Mia's former boyfriend
Godot, who had been rendered
comatose many years prior. Later, while Pearl's other half-sister
Iris is accused of Misty's murder, Pearl confronts
Franziska von Karma over her poor treatment of Maya, rendering her
speechless, before once again channeling Mia to help Phoenix in court. In the aftermath of the trial, Pearl returns to the temple in tears to clean up
gravy she had spilled on Misty's portrait; Phoenix and Maya then catch up with her, reassuring her that she is not to blame for the events that occurred. Pearl does not make a physical appearance in the series' fourth entry; however, she is briefly referenced in dialogue by Phoenix in
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. By
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies, set eight years after
Trials and Tribulations, Pearl is a high school student, regularly keeping in touch with Phoenix and his legally adopted daughter
Trucy Wright, who sees her as her "big sister." After Phoenix's new protégé
Athena Cykes is arrested, Pearl visits Phoenix on her regular route to clean his office and deliver him a letter from Maya, before accompanying him in proving Athena innocent of her mother's murder, and comforts Athena after Phoenix breaks the black Psyche-Locks on her subconscious mind, representing
repressed memories of secrets. In the game's DLC case, set several months earlier, Pearl is visiting Shipshape Aquarium with her
summer camp before being questioned by police after the aquarium's owner is apparently murdered. Subsequently, Pearl runs into Phoenix and Athena, introducing herself to the latter before recharging Phoenix's
magatama, it having finally run out of spiritual energy after she had first charged it for him upon meeting him nine years prior. After an
orca and subsequently their trainer are accused of the murder, Pearl assists Phoenix and Athena in their investigation, retrieving forensics equipment Phoenix had previously received from
Ema Skye. Months after the trial's conclusion (the death having been proven to be accidental in nature), Pearl revisits the aquarium with Phoenix, Athena, Trucy, and
Apollo Justice. In
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, Pearl briefly appears in Kurain Village after Apollo visits it with his deceased adoptive father
Dhurke Sahdmadhi (channeled by Maya), providing them with directions to a cave they were searching for. After Maya finally returns from her medium studies in the Kingdom of Khura'in, she is greeted by Pearl, who unsuccessfully pitches the concept of allowing
clothing stores to set up in the town. In the non-canon DLC case
Asinine Attorney, Pearl appears on vacation in the Kingdom of Khu'rain, briefly impersonating royal priestess
Rayfa Padma Khura'in to prevent them from being kidnapped. Outside of the main
Ace Attorney series, Pearl makes a brief
cameo appearance in the
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth spin-off title, also appearing in several other Capcom titles, including as an unlockable costume in
We Love Golf! and as a collectible card in
Teppen: Ace vs. The People. Pearl has appeared in other media adaptations of
Ace Attorney. She is a recurring character in the
Ace Attorney manga series published by
Kodansha Comics, and in a stage play based on the case Farewell, My Turnabout, portrayed by Shiyū Urushibara with
understudy Yūna Takano. Pearl also appears in the
Ace Attorney anime series, which adapts the events of the original trilogy. Initially, Pearl would have been a snooty rival of Maya exclusive to one case and of the same age as her, but an unknown designer suggested Pearl be younger than Maya as it would have been more dramatic. When Takumi attempted to write a little girl character, he found her to be surprisingly cute and decided to include her in more than the second case. :Voiced by (Japanese):
Masami Iwasaki is a homicide detective of the local police department. Despite his occupation, he is a clumsy and forgetful man who is largely seen as incompetent by the prosecutors, frequently resulting in his salary being lowered. As a result, he lives in poor circumstances. Despite this, he is a friendly man who is determined to find the killer and is fiercely loyal to Miles Edgeworth, and eventually comes to be a trusted ally of Phoenix Wright as well.
Shu Takumi claims he had barely any backstory written for Gumshoe. Instead, Gumshoe's personality and character "fell into place" after deciding on having "pal" at the end of each of his sentences, with some being added as the story went on, such as the salary cutting gag. The red pencil behind his left ear is a holdover from when he would have horse racing as his hobby. The rookie version of Gumshoe that appears in
Trials and Tribulations would have originally been significantly different in terms of design, with him only having one hair spike and his tie neatly tied tight. In the final game, he only has a new coat to differentiate himself.
Franziska von Karma :Voiced by (English): Janet Hsu (
AA2-
AAI2); Jessica Peterson (anime) Saori Yumiba (anime) is a
prosecuting attorney and the daughter of
Manfred von Karma. Franziska first appears in
Justice for All as an antagonist to protagonist
Phoenix Wright, specifically in the second episode. She is a prodigy prosecuting attorney, becoming an attorney in Germany at the age of 13, going undefeated until she was 18. She seeks to get revenge on Phoenix, who presumes this to be because he defeated her father, Manfred von Karma. She is typically seen holding a whip and using it on others, in and out of court. She tends to use the word "fool" to describe others, and has a cold personality. Phoenix defeats her in two trials, causing her great frustration. In the original Japanese version of the game, she lived in the United States rather than Germany.
Ema Skye :Voiced by (English):
Erica LindbeckVoiced by (Japanese):
Marina Inoue is the younger sister of Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye and has hopes of becoming a
scientific investigator. She first approaches
Phoenix's office to obtain a defense attorney for her sister, Lana. Though he ignored most of the cases he received during
Maya's two-month absence, he took Ema's due to her resemblance to Maya in personality and appearance. The kanji for her Japanese surname,
Hōzuki, translates to "treasured moon" or "jeweled moon". She was included in the video game
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney due to the developers' desire to bring back some familiar faces to it, where she became a homicide detective after failing to qualify for her dream job. As a result, she became moodier and addicted to a chocolate treat called "Snackoos." In
Spirit of Justice, she finally passed the test to become a forensic investigator and lightens up.
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth was originally to star Ema Skye, but due to the response from the fanbase, they chose to replace her with Miles Edgeworth, who was a much more popular character. :Voiced by (English):
Kent Williams (anime)
Ben Hiura (anime) The unnamed presides over the vast majority of trials shown in the Ace Attorney series. He is a naïve older man whose age and poor hearing lead to him misunderstanding statements in court. He will penalize the defense if they present incorrect evidence, at times even increasing the severity of the penalty. If the player incurs too many penalties, the game will end and their client will typically be found guilty. He is easily swayed by arguments, which both the defense and prosecution will use to their advantage. In spite of his foibles, he is said to always hand down the correct verdict, earning him the nickname, "The Great Judgini." While this is true in his onscreen trials, it is usually thanks to the attorneys rather than himself. He has a younger brother, also a judge, who behaves similarly and uses Canadian slang. The Judge is a fixture of the Ace Attorney series, appearing in every mainline game, being the only character except for Phoenix to do so. Even in the spinoff games where he does not appear (such as
The Great Ace Attorney), there is often a counterpart to him with a similar design and appearance. Originally, the Judge would not have appeared in the nightmare Phoenix has during the events of
Justice for All, with it being a demon inspired by
Devil May Cry 1. Orion Acaba (
AA5-
AA6)Voiced by (Japanese): Kōtarō Ogiwara (
AA4);
KENN (
AA5-
AA6) is the main protagonist in
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney and is a major playable character in
Dual Destinies and
Spirit of Justice. He is a defense attorney and was Phoenix Wright's understudy in the three games in which he appears. He was born in 2003 to Jove Justice and Thalassa Gramarye (thus also being Trucy Wright's biological half-brother), though after the former's death in 2005, he was adopted by Dhurke Sahdmadhi, a defense attorney at the time, and was raised alongside Sahdmadhi's son Nahyuta in the Kingdom of Khura'in. In 2012, Justice was sent to a boarding school in America, where he met his best friend Clay Terran, an aspiring astronaut. In April 2026, he defended his first client, Phoenix Wright, in court under the supervision of his mentor Kristoph Gavin; however, this trial ended in Gavin's conviction as the true perpetrator of the crime. Two months later, he joins the Wright Talent Agency, which is then renamed the Wright Anything Agency, and defends three more clients against his former mentor's brother, prosecutor Klavier Gavin. While defending the last of these clients, Justice proves that Kristoph Gavin was behind the forgery that led to Wright's disbarment, allowing Wright to retake the bar exam and become a defense attorney again in July 2027. In December 2027, his best friend, , is murdered at the Cosmos Space Center. Suspicious of his coworker, Athena Cykes, Justice temporarily leaves the agency in order to investigate the murder alone. However, after Wright proves Cykes's innocence in court and identifies the true culprit (who is immediately shot by an unidentified sniper), Justice resumes work at the agency. In April 2028, he meets Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, who is now a prosecutor, for the first time in fifteen years. Justice successfully defends Trucy Wright against Sahdmadhi; however, one month later, after successfully defending Dhurke Sahdmadhi in a civil case against Phoenix Wright, he returns to Khura'in and is once again reunited with the prosecutor. There, he successfully defends his foster father against two counts of murder. However, during the trial, he learns that Dhurke was actually murdered himself just days prior, and was being channeled by Maya Fey in the intervening time. The trial results in Queen Ga'ran's deposition, and Justice decides to stay in Khura'in to run Dhurke's old law office, now known as the Justice Law Offices.
Trucy Wright :Voiced by (English):
Kira BucklandVoiced by (Japanese):
Chieko Higuchi , born , is Phoenix Wright's adoptive daughter, introduced in
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. She is a stage magician and accompanies Apollo on his investigations.
Athena Cykes :Voiced by (English):
Wendee LeeVoiced by (Japanese):
Hiro Shimono is the protagonist of the
Great Ace Attorney games. He is an ancestor of Phoenix Wright who lived in Japan during the
Meiji Era. His first brush with law was as a student of Yumei University when he was accused of murdering a
British professor. Although not initially a law student, he traveled to Great Britain in an effort to learn from their legal system. Like his descendant, he believes his goal as a lawyer is to find out the truth of any given case. Ash Parrish of
Kotaku stated that they were satisfied that the ideals sowed by Ryunosuke would later be reaped by Phoenix Wright, who then passed it down to Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes. Parrish did believe, however, that the game would improve had Herlock Sholmes and Ryunosuke Naruhodo had been cut in favor of Susato Mikotoba and Iris Wilson. Malindy Hetfeld at
Eurogamer found that there was not much to learn about him and that he was rather passive, attributing this to him having only Sholmes and Susato to bounce off of.
Susato Mikotoba :Voiced by (English): Rina Takasaki She often finds helpful information within a book she carries around. Following the events of
Adventures, Susato returns to Japan and becomes a lawyer in spite of a ban on women practicing law in the country, adopting the
male persona of in order to defend her best friend, . In contrast to a majority of assistants in the series, Susato is actually more knowledgeable on law than her older attorney counterpart, having studied the subject from a young age.
Herlock Sholmes :Voiced by (English): Bradley Clarkson Sholmes is also roommates with Naruhodo and Susato during their stay in Great Britain, with them occupying the attic in his flat. Ash Parrish of
Kotaku would "welcome his complete removal", believing him to be an ungreat detective who requires the assistance of Ryunosuke to solve all of his mistakes.
Iris Wilson :Voiced by (English):
Claire Morgan Barok van Zieks :Voiced by (English): Robert Vernon He is notably bigoted towards the Japanese, though he grows to respect Ryunosuke during their many trials against each other. van Zieks's racism drew ire from
The Escapist, and ended up irritated that the game "almost [implies] that van Zieks’s racism is understandable because he believed Genshin Asogi killed his older brother."
Kotaku attributed van Zieks' racism to a wider reoccuring theme of such, which overall was believed to be a bad decision.
Adventure Gamers stated that he "proves to be a most elegant and worthy opponent".
Kazuma Asogi :Voiced by (English): Ben DeeryVoiced by (Japanese):
Yūichi Nakamura is Ryunosuke's best friend and a certified lawyer in Japan, having successfully passed their bar exam. He acts as Ryunosuke's co-counsel when he is tried for murder in Japan. He is wise and charismatic, and can always be seen with his katana. He invites Ryunosuke to accompany him on a trip to Great Britain to study their legal system. Unfortunately, an incident aboard the ship they traveled on results in his presumed death. However, he later resurfaces in England, studying to be a prosecutor, eventually serving as such in the final trial of
Resolve. ==Others==