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Post by Zorel on Dec 9, 2007 20:42:04 GMT -5
I'l be counting down every character in Phoenix Wright 1-3. And here we go. #83 - Ami Fey Well, technically she was a character. Every time you see her (the creepy statue for insance) she's CREEPY! I HATE HER! GAAAAH! #82 - Kane Bullard He has a cool daughter, but this guy is just plain creepy. *shivers* Warts of doom. #81 - Cindy Stone Well, she's the first person to die in the series, but she messed with Larry's heart. You can't do that. That's unforgivable. #80 - Robert Hammond Another wierd looking guy. Also, we learned that he's a jerk. I almost was glad he was dead. #79 - Missile Poor dog. He didn't do anything. He was neat though #78 - Jake Marshall I don't know what other people see in him, but I HATED this guy. Got on my nerves like no other. #77 - The Bellboy Little freak. And a pedifile at that. ugh.
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Post by KläsΘr on Dec 10, 2007 16:07:40 GMT -5
XD.. this is awesome.. Jake Marshall was annoying...
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 19:54:31 GMT -5
76.) Lotta Hart Oh hey another dead--wait, no, this one's alive. Some might find Lotta charming or entertaining. I absolutely can't stand her. She's ugly, her accent is annoying, and she's always cheerfully giving incorrect testimonies to **** over Phoenix and friends. And then never feels remorseful about it, either. Plus, she was in three damn cases. That's entirely two too many. In this case, dislike overrides apathy. 75.) Jack Hammer Another dead guy. I guess he had a bit more character than most and an awesome headband... but for an action movie star, he was killed (in self defense) by a tiny chain-smoking woman. That just shouldn't have happened. Failure, Jack Hammer. Failure indeed. 74.) Dustin Prince I guess he was a good guy, and every time I think about his death I sort of wince (breaking your neck like that just seems incredibly incredibly painful). But again, he's just a victim who never really did anything. 73.) Benjamin Woodman Another one of those cases where dislike overrules apathy. Ben annoyed the heck out of me, he's a creepy pedophile (31 year old lusting after a 16 year old through his puppet?) and he's just ugly. His puppet is cooler. Much cooler. Of course that's not saying much but still. 72.) Joe Darke I guess Darke was pretty... uh... something or other. He was a serial killer, though he sort of got his butt kicked by Neil Marshall. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, since Neil was cool. 71.) Doug Swallow British wannabees usually don't work too well unless he's alive >_> 70.) Bruto Cadaverini He's eeeeeevil. And creepy. And old with liver spots. But he's got an awesome granddaughter which is why he's even here. 69.) Glen Elg Lol his name is a palindrome He has a DBZ scouter--they try to fool you but that's what it is. Also, he won the lottery. And then got murdered. Sucks to be him. But he named his virus MC Bomber and that is an awesome name. 68.) Valerie Hawthorne Now we're getting into the victims/dead people that I can sort of sympathize with a bit more. I felt a bit bad for Valerie, mainly because of how Terry reacted to her. She did want to come clean after all the years... but she made the mistake of letting Dahlia know about that. So she got killed. I guess she's kind of cute, too. 67.) Russell Berry You know, I actually liked Russell a lot more than some of the other 2-3 cast. He seemed like a good guy, cared for his daughter and his employees a lot. Plus, he has an awesome moustache. The only problem is he had a kind of lame death. And he's dead, so he can't really be that high. 66.) Neil Marshall Being related to Jake Marshall gives you negative points. Also he apparently had an awesome fight scene with Joe Darke... only one that we didn't see. And he won the King of Prosecutors award, so he must have been pretty cool. Also, his death kinda sucked. 65.) Celeste Inpax I really felt bad for Celeste. More so because of what she meant to Adrian, one of my favorite characters. But she was just caught up in the vicious game between Juan and Matt, and used as a pawn. When she still at least had respect for Matt on a professional level and didn't sink him as she could have. And he ruined her life indirectly through Juan. I felt bad for her. Though to be fair she didn't have to kill herself (and then all but ruin Adrian's life through it).
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 19:57:25 GMT -5
64.) Bruce Goodman
He was a good man ;_;
No, seriously. Bruce seemed like an interesting character, and I felt bad for him--he was a good detective who was never happy with the (admittedly sketchy) result of the SL-9 incident. He asked his boss to reopen the investigation. And then the boss murders him.
Poor Goodman.
63.) Bat
I also felt bad for him, since he seemed like a nice enough guy. But to be fair it was sort of stupid to do what he did. LEON'D.
62.) Trilo
Better than Ben. Still annoying as.......I dont know o.o
61.) Dr Hotti
Augh Hotti. He also is one who I really don't like. But he has one or two somewhat amusing moments which make him better than, say, Lotta or Ben.
60.) Juan Corrida
It was hard to feel sympathetic towards Juan, but the way it sounded it was really him who just got caught up in Matt's game. But he's still a jerk, it's still his fault Celeste killed herself... but he's more interesting than some simply by virtue of being in the Matt/Adrian/Celeste/Him mess.
Plus he nailed Adrian.
59.) Mimi Miney
(The serious personality) you know? I... really just didn't like her. She was sort of sympathetic, I guess. But I didn't like 2-2 much at all, and while the whole Ini = Mimi thing was a good twist, I didn't like her.
58.) Turner Grey
GET GLASSES THAT FIT! He was pretty funny other than that though.
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:02:44 GMT -5
57.) Morgan Fey
She was a pretty creepy villian. Was......she still is! >_> She cares too much about Pearl though. Some stories in 3-5 make you feel a little symphathetic for her.....but she's still eveil o.o
56.) Dee Vasquez
A bit more interesting, simply because it's one of the only murders I can think of in the entire series that was a legitimate accident and done in self-defense. Plus, Edgey teaming up with Phoenix during her cross-examination was awesome.
55.) Polly
Yay for cross examining the parrot! Simply one of the greatest moments in PW history included this parrot. Win.
54.) Gregory Edgeworth
I think this is the highest dead guy on the list. Gregory Edgeworth is A.) Edgeworth's father, B.) based off of Atticus Finch, and C.) the only person ever to get Manfred von Karma penalized.
Ergo, Gregory Edgeworth is ****ing awesome.
53.) Frank Sahwit
I don't know why he's this high. He really shouldn't be this high. He threw a toupee into Nick's face and 1-1 is still entertaining. But he shouldn't be this high. I guess I don't hate him like I do some, but come to think of it he should be below Polly. Oh well. Just imagine he's below Polly.
52.) Sal Manella
L337 5P34K... made this guy funny. Otherwise he just disturbs the heck out of me.
51.) Victor Kudo
Old Seedy! This guy was annoying at times, but it was hilarious pulling out Maya and making her bring Mia out so the guy would talk. lawl
50.) April May The feminine body brings out certain.......oh forget it. She's a sex crazed villian! <3?
49.) Acro
Maybe I'll get some flak for having this guy as low on the list as he is. I did not like Acro much, if at all. He was all right before you found out the truth, and his unflappable nature is interesting... but when you consider what he stands for? He tried to murder a 16-year-old girl because she was too naive instead of, uh, TALKING to her about it (let alone one that his beloved brother loved, and the daughter of the man who took him in and was like a father figure to him). Did Acro not think that Russell--who he claimed to love like a father--wouldn't be torn apart by Regina's death? Or Bat, if he woke up?
Ugh. Such awful motives.
48.) Lisa Basil
I liked Lisa. She's funny. Just her way of speaking and everything is sort of cute and amusing. Too little of a role, though.
47.) Cody Hackins
lawl, fanboys. His cross examination in 1-3 was pretty sweet though o.o Stupid trading card part though >.>
46.) Regina Berry
Speaking of Regina...
She was cute. I liked the cute. And I liked the sort of innuendo that she and Maya had, lulz (okay maybe not really). She was sort of stupid, though, but mainly made up for it with the cute.
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:06:13 GMT -5
45.) Penny Nichols
Cute. Penny is really really cute. (And I think she'd be cute in a relationship with Will, uh >_>). But other than being cute and being all MY POKEYMANZ LET ME SHOW YOU THEM she doesn't actually DO anything in the case.
44.) Angel Starr
I will never forgive her for that testimony in 1-5. Screw you, lunchlady. And stop shoving your food in my face!
She's hot, though.
43.) Richard Wellington
Amusing enough. Sort of annoying, but he has some funny lines. And he really loves large bananas.
His breakdown is hilarious, though.
42.) Yanni Yogi
May be this high solely because of Zarla. Oh well. Yanni amused me when playing 1-4, when he was acting all senile (and he is the REASON for the aforementioned cross-examination of Polly, so...) and being all "Keith!" to Phoenix. But then when you see him as the serious old man who'd been pretending to be insane for fifteen years and basically had his life ruined by DL-6 just as much as Edgeworth had? It really made him a lot more sympathetic, even if he was the man who killed Robert Hammond.
Hammond had it coming.
41.) Wendy Oldbag
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT.
That, and crushing on Edgey (and Juan and Jack) are all Oldbag is good for. She's funny at times but I sort of get sick of her. But then she can be amusing... I think she's probably too high, though.
40.) Max Galactica
Too fabulous to be any lower, and I guess I didn't hate him as much as I did some others from 2-3, but he... I think he's the lowest defendant on the list, and I really didn't care about him.
FABULOUS, Max!
39.) Jean Armstrong
Gayest yet most amusing guy in the series. And he's French. o.o
38.) Ini Miney
Like, uh, could you, like, maybe, like, speak a bit, like, quicker?
Ini was funny. And I like her animations with the pizza-hat. She was also sort of cute. But that's all I can really say about her other than "way to go, Mimi, your concept of your sister is a total airhead." To be fair, maybe she really was.
37.) Mike Meekins
I may also be influenced by the gyakusai_rp's Meekins, who is also hilarious. But Mike was amusing, sort of ...amusing in a weird sort of way, and one of the most pathetically funny characters I've seen in a videogame in a very long time. I liked him, but turn off your bloody loudspeaker.
36.) Marvin Grossberg
Wins points for being funny in 3-1. Loses points for talking about his buttocks constantly in the same case. All in all... I guess I like him? Well enough, anyway. A man connected to Godot and Mia Fey as partners can't be too bad!
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:10:27 GMT -5
35.) Redd White Lol Redd White of Bluecorp. Being fabulous long before Max or Jean. I do wish that he'd been a bigger villain, though. For someone who murdered Mia and all but ruined Grossberg--and it was implied that he'd ruined a bunch more lives--it should have been a lot more significant taking him down than just reading a list of names. Which is part of the reason the 1-2 ending kind of sucks. 34.) Bikini She was sort of endearing in an auntie/grandmother sort of way. Her constant talking about how she was sexy and everything sort of... was a bit "ehhh." I really do like her testimony in 3-5, though, for reasons others have said--she's a normal, honest woman who isn't trying to lie or hide a secret for once, but simply didn't see what she thinks she saw. It's refreshing and just a simple, solid cross-examination. But mainly she's just really nice. 33.) Elise Deauxnim Awesome theme song. And Pearl was all over her and her story-book-ness. Also, she's the highest dead person on the list. o.o Oh, and you'll never expect the secret of this lady. 32.) Desiree DeLite Dessie! She's... well, she's fun, she's hot, and she's married to the adorable Ron which makes her adorable by default. Seriously, the DeLites are an adorable couple and there should be more fanart of them. Why isn't there? But other than that she doesn't do much... but I still like her anyway. 31.) Terry Fawles I felt REALLY REALLY REALLY bad for this guy. He thought he was in love but he got manipulated and eventually lost his life. v_v he was also very intimidating 30.) Lana Skye Lana was interesting enough, especially for being a defendant who didn't want your help at all. Once you found out it was because she was protecting Ema, though? Well, that made her a lot more likable, even through the coldness. Still, her smiling is creepy. Though the picture of younger-Lana and younger-Ema is cute. 29.) Moe I think Moe was the only character from 2-3 I really liked. He was annoying, yeah, but he was also one of the only characters you could really sympathize with. Especially with how his best friend had just been killed, but he was still trying to deal with it through laughter. It's silly, but I genuinely liked Moe, awful awful jokes aside. 28.) Judge's Brother He's the Judge's brother. Why is he Canadian if the other judge isn't? Still, his magnificent playoff beard and the fact that he's basically the awesome Judge except Canadian put him fairly far down the list. Plus, the moment where you run into the other courtroom in 3-2 and he's all "Who're these hosers!?" made me crack the **** up. 27.) Shelly de Killer Bad***, cool, sort of evil--but with his own morals. Shelly was a great secondary "villain" in 2-4, and the fact that he's the lowest-appearing character from this case on this list (other than the dead people) just tells you how awesome 2-4 is. He made you genuinely fear for Maya's life in a way that 3-5 didn't, he had a nifty theme song, and because of him you cross-examined a radio. What's not to like?
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:12:17 GMT -5
26.) Maggey Byrde
Just saying this right now: Gumshoe/Maggey = one of the cutest couples in the game. She was mean to him in 3-3, but I mean it was sort of understandable at the time--she though he'd betrayed her in giving the testimony that he gave, and in some ways she's right. Yeah, it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but she's only human. She's cute, she's entertaining with her bad luck, and she's just really good-hearted and likable. Plus, she and Gumshoe make, like I said, an incredibly cute couple.
25.) Ema Skye
Poor man's Maya. Still, she was a decent assistant, and I liked her enough during the case. Her faith in her sister was sort of touching, even when Lana was insisting she was guilty. She helped with the nifty 1-5 specific features, which was cool, and her whole Edgey-fangirling thing was... amusing, I guess. Even so, she's no Maya.
24.) Violetta Cadaverini
Violetta! Violetta was one of the reasons 3-3 was good, and... well, for being so creepy and sort of almost-pseudo-evil, Violetta managed to actually be a rather sympathetic character. She wanted to think that Furio actually cared about her for her sake instead of doing it out of terror of her grandfather... but Viola also knew that that wasn't the case. Plus, she made examining Tender Lender have this genuine air of both "creepy" and "this is awesome."
Hee... hee... hee...
23.) Furio "The Tiger" Tigre
It'd be a crime to have these two too far apart. 3-3 had its issues, but villain wasn't one of them. Tigre has one of the best themes in the entire series (Especially the Jazz Soul version), is both intimidating and hilarious (especially with the CARDBOARD BADGE YEAH)... and has the whole relationship with Violetta going on. The final cross-examination in 3-3 is just fun, and it's mainly because of Tigre. Also because of the method with which you finally take him down.
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:14:06 GMT -5
22.) Winston Payne
Payne's amusing. Amusing in the extent of his patheticness, yes. But he's just entertaining in general, even if his OBJEEECHTIONNN! is sort of one of the more ear-splitting sounds in the game. He's just always sort of funny to go against, even if he's never really a threat. ROOKIE CRUSHAAA Payne was also quite entertaining to go up against, and the whole "My haiiiiiiiirrrr!" bit was just... y-yeah. Poor Payne had his spirit broken by Mia D:
Of course, he's made attempts to regrow it. And he's apparently taken a page from Dahlia's book with the hairstyle. Hooray for Winston Payne.
21.) Luke Atmey
Just to prove that I can, I won't use the word "Zvarri!" in this writeup at all. Well, other than that one time just now. Atmey's a really entertaining character, the writing for him is absolutely brilliant (props on the "Waiting for Godot" reference, especially). Atmey's just sort of... incredibly amusing to go against. He's got some great animations, but mainly it's just the writing and the way he speaks that's hilarious and completely awesome. (If you get into the whole thing of what his name means and how he's basically seeking attention it sort of makes him a bit more sympathetic, but also a bit more straight up pathetic in general)
My only thing with him is that for as "brilliant" as he is, he... barely fights back. At all. He just sort of lets you nail him--and not on the first time, since he was trying to do that, but the second time when you were getting him for Bullard's murder as well.
20.) Shoe
Greatest animal evar. Seriously. SHOE!
TOP 20 TIME!
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:19:40 GMT -5
19.) Damon Gant ... Been swimming, lately? Gant is a great villain just because of how intimidating he is. The whole stare thing, the fact that he shuts you down before you can practically get an "OBJECTION!" out, the fact that he was actually fairly clever about doing what he did during SL-9 and then afterwards? Gant was an excellent puppetmaster, and the whole "I am the Chief of Police, I reserve my right to not testify" thing... facing Gant made up for the problems early on in 1-5, and he was a fantastic villain. Plus, his design is great, he has arguably the single greatest pose in the entire series with his LIGHTNING-STRUCK breakdown, and he has a... cool theme, I guess. Not my favorite, but it fits the character. Mainly, he just makes everybody else his *****. Until Phoenix does it to him, and that's immensely satisfying 18.) Ron DeLite YAY! Ron was awesome. I loved him to death. He was the only defendant I TRULY cared about (cept Maya). He's hilarious too! "I guess that's all for Ron.... or maybe not" Yes. Very much, Ronnie. 17.) Will Powers Now for somebody completely different! Will is probably as far from Damon Gant as you can get. He's shy, he's insecure, and he's probably the only character more puppy-like than Gumshoe in the entire series. But still... Will manages to be one of the most endearing side characters in the series, and one of the few people I genuinely wanted to defend because I liked him so much. So in 1-3 there was sort of a personal investment, because I actually wanted to find Will innocent, rather than just going through the motions. Plus, he's the Steel Samurai. That in itself is worth like 50 points. 16.) Manfred von Karma Oh, Manfred. A certain someone might have dethroned you from the position of "PW's final boss," but they didn't have to face you in the courtroom. Manfred is the best prosecutor in the series. His daughter, Edgeworth, Godot... none of them compare to the ironclad "holy ****" that is Manfred von Karma. Self-sustaining objections, the fingersnap of doom, his "I am the Devil" Objection. Manfred defines perfection in the court, and because of that is probably the most genuinely intimidating character in the series. (In a way, it sort of makes his daughter a bit more sympathetic, because she is trying to live up to an ideal that she never CAN--Manfred is beyond every other lawyer in the world of the games, bar none) He's intimidating, evil, brilliant, and one of the few villains to actually deliver bodily harm to Phoenix in the form of DON'T TASE ME, BRO! Taking him down is one of the best moments in the series, and truly, truly satisfying. However, he's not higher because... while he's an amazing final boss, that's all he is. That's all he really COULD be, to be fair--if they'd tried to reuse him, it would have gotten old quite fast. And he's not really much of a character beyond that... but that's okay, because as a prosecutor and enemy he's amazing. 15.) Iris Iris is... one of the more interesting characters in the series, I think. Yes, she's cute and she's nice and everything, which is why she--like Will--was one of the defendants I had a personal interest in freeing. But once you get into the meat of her character, she's surprisingly interesting, and far from the bland "sweet and perfectly nice" character some people see her as. Beyond that, her relationship with her sister is actually really interesting. Iris... clearly does a lot for Dahlia, and clearly loves her even when Dahlia doesn't entirely return that affection. Iris is a great character and a great defendant. 14.) Mia Fey Oh, Mia. In the first two games... you went from likable to annoying, really, really fast. Especially in 2-4. Jesus Christ, Mia, your sister's life is on the line, you could at least step in to do a bit more than just cluck your tongue and go "There's a contradiction here, Wright!" Plus, they brought Mia back a bit more often than they really should have. It should have been a meaningful thing, not just "oh hey here's Mia again." But maybe that's being a bit too picky. However, PW3 is the reason that I like Mia so much and that she's this high. Seeing Mia young and energetic, ready to believe in her client? It's really intriguing and compelling seeing how she learned some of the things she later passes on to Phoenix. In 3-1, yes, but especially in 3-4 seeing how Mia isn't ready to give up when even Diego is all "Okay, show's over, let's go have some coffee ". Seeing Mia young and fiery is just cool, and that's why I end up liking her so much
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:22:49 GMT -5
13.) Larry Butz
Oh Larry. You delightful dork.
I can't really say why I like Larry so much, I just kind of do. To me, he rounds out the Phoenix+Edgeworth dynamic as the third member of the trio, and is sort of a complete counterweight to Edgeworth. He's just silly and dumb and likable. The only problem is that he didn't show up in PW2, where he could have continued to be silly and dumb and lovable. He's just sort of a slacker dork who for some reason you can't help but love.
...yeah, short writeup for Larry.
12.) Pearl Fey
Some don't like Pearly. I say screw 'em. Pearls is adorable and one of the few cases I can think of where they pull off the 'little kid' character and do it right. I was initially worried that Pearl would be one of those "precocious child" types that would replace Maya throughout PW2, and that she'd be annoying as ****. I was pleasantly surprised on the latter part, because Pearls is awesome.
She's cute, she has some funny/entertaining moments, and yet she's got a decent amount of depth beyond all that. I found it interesting how, as Maya explained in 3-2, the reason she's all "omg Maya and Phoenix twoo wub 4 evar" is because, since her father ran out on her mother she's sort of worried that Phoenix will do the same to Maya and leave them. Phoenix and the two Fey girls are a great little patchwork family and this is part of the reason.
Mainly, she's just really fun and sweet, especially in how she cares about her cousin. I loved Pearly in 2-4, particularly the parts with her and Gumshoe (Gumshoe + kids = super awwwww). I wish we'd gotten to see more of her in 3-5, but 3-5 was so awesome that I really can't ask for more and she was perfectly fine there... in particular the scene where she completely owns Franziska is great (lol Franziska is topped by the Feys. Emotionally, that is).
Pearls is wonderful and screw you if you don't think so!
10.) Dahlia Hawthorne
To put it simply--if the Phoenix Wright trilogy has a "final boss," Dahlia is it. She's manipulative, cunning, evil as hell, and sort of redefines the concept of "evil *****." No villain in the series has quite the record she does. Dahlia is tremendously well-executed (lol) as a villain, being the primary adversary in not one but three cases. In 3-1 you get a glimpse of her true nature (and her death glare is still one of the more "holy ****" animations in the series). The way she manipulates pretty much everybody around her, the way she doesn't hesitate to carelessly throw away people who claim to love her? Dahlia is unquestionably evil, and the writers pull her off so damn well. However, unlike Engarde, Gant or Manfred von Karma (the other great villains in the series), there's actually shown to be some reason behind Dahlia's actions. She's certainly sociopathic, yes, but we get the feeling that she almost feels justified in doing the things she does due to the way her father treated her, her sister, and her mother. Dahlia's relationship with Iris, too, is rather interesting--it sometimes seems that Dahlia almost cares for Iris in a twisted sort of way; she allows Iris to try and get the necklace back from Phoenix for six months, etc etc. But even though she's got some character behind them to make her a bit deeper as a villain, she's mainly just a fantastic adversary and probably the best in the entire AA series bar none... or at least my favorite.
Top 10 Time
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:24:51 GMT -5
9.) Matt Engarde
Matt Engarde. It isn't until you really look back on it that you realize how fantastic a villain he is. The only reason he's down at 9 is because I love the characters above him that much more--any other series and he'd be top 3 material hands down. When you start 2-4 and you're all "Oh hey this is my client? He's sort of a flake. Stop calling me 'dude,' dude." Matt's sort of likable, but sort of annoying. And then things just start building up one by one, there's more and more stuff going on...
And then comes the psyche-lock. In a series that sort of defines itself by awesome moments, and does these awesome moments extremely well... the moment Matt Engarde reveals his true self to you still gives me chills and is probably in the top three moments in the entire series, if not the single best one. He's manipulative, he's evil, and he would have succeeded if he hadn't tried to be a bit more manipulative than was entirely good for him. Plus, it took Gumshoe, Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Franziska all working together to even have a shot at bringing him down.
I may be a bit biased because I'm in the fandom, but I also really like what you can do with the guy just by knowing his true nature. Seemingly innocuous lines and moments just become creepy as HECK
He destroyed Celeste, destroyed Juan, and almost destroyed Adrian. Matt Engarde is one evil son-of-a-*****... but really, he's more of a Magnificent jerk than anything else.
8.) The Judge
Oh, Udgey.
Really, I don't think there could be a better person to preside over the trials... in the PW-universe, anyway. He'd sort of not work in a more realistic version of court. Evidently Capcom agrees with this, because the only other Judge we see in the series is his brother--who's basically him, only Canadian.
He's got some of the best lines in the game, and in many ways the Judge single-handedly makes the PW court experience, right up there with the music and OBJECTION!s and everything else. Granted, it'd be nice if he learned the concept of "reasonable doubt" so that we wouldn't, say, have moments where he still finds, say, Lana guilty of murder even though we're not even talking about that particular case anymore and have already established her innocence in the matter, but then it wouldn't quite be the PW series.
He's flaky and borderline senile, but you can't really imagine the PW courtroom experience without him. And he's hilarious to boot. So even though he might not have the character depth some in the series have.
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:25:28 GMT -5
7.) Maya Fey
Maya, Phoenix's faithful sidekick. I mentioned earlier that I really do love the patchwork family dynamic of Phoenix and the Fey girls, and in many ways Maya is the glue that holds it together. Really, the relationship between Phoenix and Maya is one of my favorite relationships in probably all of videogaming, and I really do like that the writers establish that the two are hugely important to one another--perhaps even the most important in each others' respective lives... but it's a strictly platonic friendship/sibling relationship, and they don't just fall into the trap of "lol he loves her!!!11"
Maya is amusing and cute, and I really do love the banter she and Phoenix have while investigating or while in the courtroom. They tease each other like siblings do, and it's amusing and sort of makes her character a lot more endearing to me. She and Phoenix are very much a straight man / comic duo, and that's part of the reason that the investigation scenes are at least somewhat interesting... at least to me.
A common criticism leveled at Maya is that she's immature, but I don't really think I agree with that. Yes, she has childish interests and can be a bit whimsical or carefree, but I don't think that necessarily equates to immaturity. Like we see in 2-4 and PW3, Maya's pretty resilient even when going through quite a bit of stress, and remains so because she knows Pearl is depending on her to stay strong. On the one hand, I feel that this sort of robs us of the chance to see her actually develop some as a character, but on the other I think it really is interesting and kind of sweet. But yeah, I don't really see her as emotionally "immature" despite having some childish tastes (and hell, Edgey likes the Steel Samurai too, so...).
To me, the interaction between Phoenix and Maya kind of makes the game what it is in a number of ways, and Maya in general is just a fun, likable character.
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:26:30 GMT -5
6.) Adrian Andrews
From an emotionally impacting standpoint, I think that 2-4 is the best case in the entire series... 3-5 is made of huge amounts of epic and win, but doesn't quite hit you on an emotional level the same way 2-4 does. And a large amount of the impact it has is because of this character right here.
Adrian is by far my favorite non-main character in the entire series, bar none... as, uh, you might expect by virtue of her being this high on the list. She has an interesting backstory that ties into the whole Juan/Matt/Celeste quagmire of hatred, rivalry and awesome. She's fairly complex emotionally, and it's really interesting to compare and contrast her with Engarde; how they both have a mask in front of their true personality. However, while Engarde puts on a flaky front to mask his sociopathic inner self, Adrian's cold, collected exterior is a shell to hide her codependency and inner vulnerability.
2-4 is great because of how it completely subverts the PW norm, particularly on the second day. But even on the end of the first day, things start to go a bit haywire. You're all ready to point out Adrian as the true murderer, when she starts breaking down--but unlike typical breakdowns, she begins to plead with you and insists she didn't do it. And that's the first indication that something isn't entirely right here (well aside from the whole kidnapping and making you promise to find Engarde innocent).
Then when you really learn about Adrian's codependency, how Matt and Juan both acted to take from her the most important person in her life, how she despises both of them with a passion but acted close to them (as Matt's manager and Juan's lover) for Celeste's sake? You can't help but feel for her, especially since it turns out that though she "framed" Matt, he was guilty in a sense.
And then it leads into day 2 of the trial, where in order to save Maya's life you're forced to continue to accuse Adrian of the murder--when you know she's innocent. You push her to the breaking point, where she's pleading with you to stop... and the fact that 2-4 looks like it's going to come down to a choice between two innocent lives (before Franziska's intervention) is part of what makes it great. If Phoenix lets the truth come out, the person closest to him will die. Otherwise, a sociopath walks free and an innocent woman takes the fall for it.
But really, I just wanted to hug the poor girl during the case. And it was rewarding to see her happy in the end, free from the Matt/Juan/Celeste triangle at last. Though she was a bit player in 3-2, it was great to just see her out of prison and doing well for herself... plus, when she gets to her real self she's sort of spastic and adorable in that dorky sort of way.
Adrian is by far one of my favorite characters in the series, and the only reason she isn't higher is because she's only in these two cases.
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Post by Zorel on Dec 10, 2007 20:28:26 GMT -5
5.) Franziska von Karma
Franziska von Karma. Hm. I really don't know where to start on her.
So, 1-4 had Manfred von Karma. The perfect prosecutor, one heck of a final boss, intimidating as all crap. And then you beat him... so in 2-2 when you find out that his successor, a prodigy who'd been prosecuting overseas since she was thirteen years old is pissed off about it and coming to get you? Well, that was at first a "oh ****" moment for me. But I was also a little bit disappointed, because the whole "beat the big bad, but OH NOES HERE COMES HIS VENGEANCE-SEEKING SUCCESSOR WHO IS BETTER THAN HE IS!!!" trope is a bit overdone.
Only... then you find out through the next two cases that this isn't the case at all with Franziska. She isn't there in America to get vengeance for her father at all, for one thing. For another? She's not even as good as he is. Franziska is clever and crafty, sure, and a decent prosecutor--but her cheap tricks aren't as good as her father was, she gets rattled much more easily, and she's far from his equal. (Which is a good thing, honestly--it would have dulled the impact Manfred really did have). Franziska is living her life trying to live up to this impossible ideal set up by her father... and she's failing to do so.
For that matter, she didn't even come to America to avenge her father as Phoenix (and the player) initially think. There are two reasons Franziska is in America. The first... is to prove herself. Phoenix Wright is the man who beat the other two "Von Karma" prosecutors, Edgeworth and her father. If she can beat Phoenix, she proves herself as their equal, if not their better. Secondly, she comes for Edgeworth--after hearing of how he lost his perfect record and then fled? She knows he isn't dead, and says as much to Phoenix--and we learn in 2-3 and later 2-4 how she came for him. He had fallen from the Von Karma way and disgraced the name, and she came there to set him back on track.
Only... she fails in both of these goals. Phoenix tarnishes her record as he did Edgeworth and Manfred. And when she finally meets Edgeworth again in 2-4, not only does he not need her help at all, he's found his own path... and now she's the one who needs him. Franziska, who'd been raised her entire life as a prosecutor? Her entire existence had been to be a successor to her father and the Von Karma name, and she cannot understand how Edgeworth or Phoenix can accept a loss in court like that. So she's ready to give up once and for all, until Edgeworth shows up and tells her that she's better than that, and he knows she's better than that. If she's going to give up, than this is where they part ways once and for all.
That's what finally breaks Franziska, but she vows that she will catch up to him some day. She'll take his lesson to heart--that the Von Karma way is not the only way, or even the best way.
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