Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney/Headscratchers


 * Why did the under sketch of the paintings in 4-4 depict the cases that Justice worked on? This particular point, while being very mysterious (i.e. why, and how was Vera (or Drew) able to know the details of the crimes and redraw it), was never explained.
 * It was said that Drew Misham took an interest in Apollo after hearing about his connection to Phoenix.


 * Why did  in 4-3? Apollo's entire strategy was to
 * My guess is that they left other evidence behind them..
 * But ! He was a confirmed cocoon smuggler. In Borginia, cocoon smuggling is punishable by death. That is what the problem was. . What Apollo did was that he convinced . The defendant, in this situation, would confess and name the murderer to not get the death penalty.


 * In case 4-3, the stage tower is said at first to be 30 feet, then 20, and finally 15. Why the inconsistency?
 * Because the tower could move up and down, presumably.


 * In Apollo Justice case 3 (Turnabout Seranade) the characters regularly reaffirm that the murder weapon, a 45mm revolver, is so powerful that it would dislocate the shoulder of an adult of average build. How is it then, that someone as small as Machi is the prime suspect, when it should be pretty obvious that if he had fired the gun, the recoil would have done a lot more damage to damage to him?
 * It bugs me that this bugs everyone. They reaffirm just as often, if not more so, that an experienced shooter can easily go away unscathed. Thus, the Judge assumed that Machi was experienced, as he was the only one who could have conceivably committed the crime. What baffles me is that I'm the only one to notice this.
 * I noticed that as well, but I can't convince myself that experience would be worth anything whatsoever when the attacker has the body of a child. Even the real killer gets injured by using the weapon, and he's a fully trained and experienced member of the police.
 * Additionally, Prosecutor Gavin notes that the authorities want a suspect to be found and prosecuted quickly, due to the high-profile nature of the incident. He's aware that there are logical flaws in the case, but he isn't being given the time to investigate properly.
 * Ahm, what about the fact that to even get the gun in the first place, tiny Machi would have to wrestle it away from a highly trained Interpol agent that easily dwarfs him?
 * Also, Machi would have to bring the dead body of this Interpol agent on the stage, all by himself, in maybe 15 minutes. This Interpol agent was probably three time his size. How did they explain that?
 * Like someone said, the case is so high profile that the D.A.s are putting pressure on the cops and prosecutor's office to find and prosecute a suspect as soon as possible. The case has numerous logical flaws, as Gavin knows, but his bosses are rushing things too much to allow a full investigation. Since Machi is too scared to tell his side, the best Gavin can do is try to push Apollo to find the truth in the trial itself. Such politically-motivated railroading isn't without precedent in real life.
 * You'd think they'd try harder though. What looks worse - taking longer to find a suspect, or going ahead with a trial in which an 11 year old boy is being accused of killing a grown man three times his size? That's just asking to get your case thrown out. Politically motivated rail-roading generally involves an upside to the rail-roader.
 * Also, as a bit of fridge logic, think about the actual outcome of the case. "The D.A. pressured the police and prosecutors to find out who killed an Interpol agent, so they quickly placed blame on an eleven-year-old child who was believed to be legally blind. During the trial, though, a well-foreheaded defense attorney proved that it was in fact ." Would you have any faith in your police force after reading that?
 * Word of God says that the case was written based on the assumption that  but that ultimately they failed to make this clear in the game.


 * In Ace Attorney 4, where did everyone go? Not only is Phoenix left with only Ema -- a side character who appeared only once, and that was in the "postscript" game -- as support, none of the "old guard" appear in
 * The need to clear the decks was really that strong.
 * In JFA, Maya is revealed to have willingly cut herself off from the outside world for the sake of training. Now that, she'd almost be forced to take charge and do so again. She has more willpower than her bubbly personality gives her credit for; it's doubtful that she'd even have heard about it, despite living two hours out of town. However, she's the only one I can think of an excuse for...
 * Finally, at one point you can examine a stack of tapes belonging to Phoenix, and the dialogue states that these are "Steel Samurai", "Pink Princess", etc, and that Phoenix is being told to not only watch them but write reports on them. If that isn't Maya staying in contact with Phoenix, I don't know what is.
 * Also during the bits in the past we see, what would his friends be doing? I see no evidence to support the fact he's not hanging out with them in between those scenes, but we don't see that, we see his quest for justice which is more a personal thing and I can understand why he wouldn't bring anyone along for them except maybe Maya who as stated above is busy. Same as in the present, Phoenix is rarely in the office and we never see him when he's not on his "secret mission."
 * This Troper always believed (though a bit romantically) that Phoenix Wright figured something was way off, and so passed along a messege to everyone that they were not to interfere... Or something along those lines.
 * Just because we don't see them doesn't mean they aren't around - the game is from Apollo's perspective and Phoenix isn't exactly forthcoming about his past. Considering the nature of Phoenix's secret mission, I'm sure that Edgeworth was involved behind the scenes. (He was probably a mentor to Klavier too.)
 * And Gumshoe was there in trial, ya know.
 * And Gumshoe was there in trial, ya know.


 * When did Phoenix acquire the ability to transport evidence across space and time? In the last case of Apollo Justice,
 * In between the third and fourth games Phoenix received a Shout-Out from Haruhi Suzumiya. This Shout-Out must have been of such potency that it allowed a sliver of Haruhi's reality warping power to pass into Phoenix. .....OK, I've got nothing.
 * Phoenix has a few things going for him... one, he's a freaking badass. Two, he's become accustomed to weird crap happening around him. Three, a few of those things (like the ) could have been pieced together with the evidence at hand. In fact, I'd say that the only reason you HAVE to present the future one in that case is so.
 * OK, so how about when you talk to
 * It was probbably supposed to just be a simulation of Phoenix's logic as he investigated these things over several years. He's put these elements together in his mind; what you play isn't really what happened.
 * OK, so how did Phoenix learn
 * Simple enough: The jury doesn't have points in Spurious Logic.
 * The MASON system is not supposed to be an entirely accurate summation of Phoenix's memory in chronological order. He states at the start that it's to be played like a game, which is what it is - kind of a game allowing the jury to discover what happened instead of just infodumping. It is not chronologically accurate because it's easier to explain Phoenix's logic. The items are not taken back and forth from the future to the past, as this is not actually Phoenix's memory, it's a computer program.
 * Here's my theory. Long story short, any evidence we present that Phoenix shouldn't have he actually got elsewhere.


 * Related to the 'Where did Everybody go' entry for Apollo Justice above, how come after the
 * Actually, Phoenix states that
 * Maybe this is just me, but I read it more as
 * To be more precise, Still, kinda proves that
 * It's also heavily implied that once Phoenix actually lost his badge, he apparently gave up immediately trying to get it back (probably because no one would believe him). Since he wasn't terribly concerned with getting his lawyer credentials back, why would anyone else be? As far as getting him a job, he did get assigned a "secret mission" to  Considering he's not even a lawyer, that's a hefty burden; someone is most likely pulling strings behind the scenes.
 * Edgeworth must still have a prominent position - something tells me that he's the one pulling those strings. (Compare it to when he.
 * Edgeworth must still have a prominent position - something tells me that he's the one pulling those strings. (Compare it to when he.


 * At the end of Apollo Justice, Phoenix goes back to playing piano / cards. Question: why? It is obvious that he misses life as an attorney, and life as a poker player doesn't seem terribly profitable even with Trucy's magic shows and Apollo's detective work on the side. Sure, there is the whole disbarred thing, but I rather doubt that would still be in effect when.
 * I seem to remember reading an English-speaking player's comment/synopsis when the game first came out in Japan that mentioned Phoenix was going to try and get his badge back. Since this isn't mentioned in any other synopsis afterwards, I assumed whoever noted it must have made a mistake in translating it...but it seems a really strange mistake to make. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, or maybe just the logical assumption that Phoenix would retrieve his lawyer-hood. As to why....well, probably the same reason Phoenix was (arguably) given a completely altered personality in the AJ game -- the writers wanted the players to side with Apollo and not get too distracted by what Phoenix was up to.
 * He said he'd go back to playing cards for a while, but when talking about his future he did mention that he'd "maybe take the Bar exam again".
 * His specific wording was "Now that I've got some time on my hands, maybe I'll take [piano] lessons. Or maybe I'll take the Bar Exam...again." And then he laughs at the apparent humor.
 * Phoenix's character has always been one where he wants to be able to protect those closest to him. He became a lawyer for that reason specifically. Right now, he doesn't have to be a lawyer to do that, so he may well not try to get his badge back as long as he can still protect Trucy without it.
 * In Case 1,
 * It's been a while since I played through 4-1, but IIRC, Kind of like 2-2;
 * In fact, it's very much like 3-3, at the end.
 * In fact, it's very much like 3-3, at the end.


 * A certain famous magician mysteriously disappears. Several years later,
 * But even if nobody else recognizes her, Valant, of all people, should have.
 * It's possible that he did recognize her and he just didn't mention it, given how.
 * How was it that
 * He was wearing a hat? Marilyn Monroe and Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent also prove that.
 * But any composure change would have been nullified by.
 * It's been 7 years.
 * But any composure change would have been nullified by.
 * It's been 7 years.


 * Why is Romein
 * My best guess is that
 * Plus,.
 * The really confusing bit about that is that he names, when it would make a lot more sense to name.
 * He clearly said he didn't know who shot him.


 * Why didn't Zak Think of all the misery that would have prevented.
 * Misplaced loyalty towards, perhaps?
 * He's a massive jerk? Gah! What a jerk!
 * You are quite adept at taking things out of context and twisting facts.
 * It's not his fault. Understanding his words is a two step process. Step 1: Read up on these six comics. SPOILERS WITHIN. Step 2: Consider that due to Memetic Mutation, this interpretation is often considered canon. Or at least hilarious.
 * It's not his fault that he completely ignored context and canon in favor of a memetic, yet wrong, interpretation of events? Right.
 * Being a jerk is one thing, but having no sense of self-preservation is another.
 * Sometimes, if you want to pull off truly awe-inspiring feats of douchebaggery, you need to put your life on the line. Zak was probably thinking,
 * To answer my own question, it was because if showing that page failed to clear him, then
 * That doesn't really make sense, though. The contents of the page would be on the record and copied into multiple case files -- of a rather high-profile case! -- so


 * Speaking of jerks, what is with everyone in the flashback trial of Zak? Did Phoenix, Klavier, and Gumshoe all take jackass pills that morning? Phoenix is unusually condescending towards Klavier, Klavier is being much more cocky than normal, and Gumshoe is being unprecedentedly arrogant towards Phoenix.
 * It bugs me that this bugs everyone. Phoenix has every right to be cocky. He just beat, closing the book on one of the biggest unfinished parts of his life in the process and finally surpassed his mentor as well. Plus, Klavier was a complete greenhorn. For the first time, Phoenix wasn't going up against some super-experienced prosecutor (yes, Godot had never prosecuted before, but he was by no means a newbie). Of course Phoenix would be a little cocky. Regarding Klavier, he's a seventeen-year-old rock star who managed to pass the bar. That's three years before Miles Edgeworth, who was famous for being a prosecuting prodigy. If he was acting humble, I'd declare that some pretty gross Character Derailment. As for Gumshoe... okay, I don't really have an explanation. Maybe he got a raise after State v. Iris and it went to his head?
 * Regarding the last one, Investigations takes place between the third game and this one, and it provides plenty of evidence that Gumshoe's salary continued to do nothing but plummet. Of course, that was made after this game. Perhaps the second installment will shed more light on things?
 * While you have a point about Phoenix, you'd think that would have given him a pretty big ego boost when Justice for All rolled around. So... maybe him being arrogant in the 4-4 flashback isn't as out of character as we thought, but still a bit so.
 * Phoenix has taken on plenty of prodigy prosecutors during his time, namely Edgeworth, Godot, and the von Karmas who are all presumably better than Klavier (and more experienced when Phoenix faced them). He's confident in his skills and I think mentions that Klavier is just the new "prodigy" that the prosecution office is selling. As stated, Klavier is a rock star who just got his first hit and is getting his ego boosted further by the fact that the prosecutor's office is praising him as a prodigy and putting him against Wright, probably the best defense attorney in the "US." Gumshoe didn't seem that cocky to me but rather more playfully edging Wright on. Wright is his rival in the courtroom (although they have worked on the same side many times) and Gumshoe wants to get his win.
 * As for Klavier, I think that the


 * Isn't Lamiroir meant to be  If that's the case, why was she unable to find
 * She woke up in Borginia with no memory of her past and magical knowledge of a language. There are bigger problems conceptually than her not knowing one English term.
 * But I've seen a documentary about a man who suddenly lost all memories of his own identity but could still speak English. That I can believe. What I can't believe is that  would remove memory of one term from her brain but leave the rest intact.
 * Memory loss comes in various forms and it is possible to forget only one thing or person while remembering everything else.
 * The obvious answer would be that that wasn't the only word she forgot, just the only one that came up in conversation.
 * My understanding was that coupled with ending up in Borginia made Borginian her "native tongue," and English her "second" language. A bit farfetched, yes, but this is Ace Attorney we're talking about.
 * She says that she doesn't know, so it is her "first" language.
 * What if Borginian was her first language anyway, and English her second? We don't know anything about her prior to her career with Troupe Gramayre. She could have been a Borginian immigrant anyway, in which case it would make sense that she'd default to Borginian when she wakes up with no memory, surrounded by people speaking Borginian.
 * Maybe she just didn't know what a ventilation shaft was? It is a pretty common thing, but I wouldn't put it past a native English speaker to be unfamiliar of that particular term.
 * Also consider that
 * Uh, it's not just one term she could not remember. She was also unable to name the grate as the place she heard it from, even though it would not have revealed the trick. In fact, it is possible to interpret it as a mild case of dysnomia.
 * I'm a native French speaker, but I spend all my time either on English forums or listening to English shows, and I often fumble with words in my native tongue that I know in English but can't remember in french until someone guesses right based on my description. And before someone asks, yes, I am otherwise entirely natural-sounding, there's just some words that I know I know but can't recall on the spot. I'd say Lamiroir doing the same can be excused considering she learned Borginian and probably wasn't exposed to English frequently.


 * OK, in the second case of Apollo Justice, Apollo says to Trucy that because of a case (case 5 of game 1) of Phoenix's that he read, he always checks the exhaust pipes of cars, to see if there's anything in there. However, if he knows the case so well, why, when he meets Ema Skye, does he not recognize the name? Even if he doesn't remember that she was a, he should at least remember that the defendant for that case was Lana Skye, and make the connection!
 * Maybe he only read the things pertaining to the investigation itself, as a sort of 'How To Find Clues' guide, and didn't pay much attention to the actual people involved. Or he just has a bad memory. Or both.
 * Alternatively, maybe it's just a coincidence that there's a case in a previous game that matches this description, and he's actually referring to something else.
 * Or Ema's name was withheld from the public because she was a minor.


 * In flashback case, why didn't Phoenix
 * Because it would be impossible to prove that.
 * It probably wouldn't have done him any good anyway. Whether he knew the evidence was forged or not, it was an irresponsible act to introduce it as evidence when his full knowledge of its provenance was "A girl in a magician's costume handed it to me in the hallway", one that would cost a real-world lawyer his license for sure.


 * In case 2, one of the big twists is that  Yet wouldn't this have left a bullet hole in  . They spend so much time debating where the murderer must've stood to kill the doctor, yet (when factoring in the entry wound) it should've been clear before the trial even began!


 * At the end of 4-4, Phoenix simply tells the jurors to vote "Innocent" or "Guilty",  Juror 6 is then revealed to be.
 * Not quite. At the end of 4-3, After this vote,
 * Besides, it's not like nobody knew at this point that she was blind. Phoenix could have briefed her on how it worked beforehand.
 * Going back to the implications of the first rebuttal,.
 * The MASON system in Apollo Justice.
 * It's for decoration. A callback to Phoenix's days. That's all it probably is.
 * Also, that's just how.


 * Case 4-3.
 * I guess so, unless
 * It's been a while since I played, but I'm pretty sure that would work, even if they'd be a bit reluctant to do so.


 * This isn't so much a beef with the games as it is with a Headscratchers complaint. In Apollo Justice, with the MASON system, people complain that using  in the 'present' to break Vera's Psychlock in the 'past' doesn't make sense. It appears everyone has forgotten that it's more-or-less a simulation of Phoenix's investigation and a tool to figure out the logic behind the investigation. The   was most likely seen at Phoenix's disbarment and/or during his 'friendship' with  . The future, the evidence is collected in the cell to show why it's important, and the one that Phoenix used against Vera was hers. As for the photo and the , that is more up to debate, but odds are that Phoenix just found a file photo of Thalassa. As for why he was carrying it about? Perhaps he knew of the performance rights after all (no one said that the inner monologues were strictly Phoenix's or his at all).
 * Also, you can examine areas with the MASON system just as you can without it, and is clearly visible on the table in Drew Studio. When you examine it, Drew spazzes and tells you not to touch it because it's Vera's and she will get very angry if you do. It doesn't take too much of a leap of faith to connect the "good luck charm" with, even without knowing that . And the problem of using ? An identical one is sitting right there on the table. Phoenix could've used  to break her psyche-lock when he did the investigating for real.


 * Considering the fact that Ema Skye's hobbyist forensics are constantly turning up evidence that the actual forensics team completely missed, how did she fail to become a crime scene tech? Hell, you'd think they'd let her in just because she gets better toys from magazines than they get as professionals. "You can be a CSI, but you have to buy your own luminol."
 * Probably as a joke, or...her methods might be considered to be unconventional to the police force.
 * It's explained that she was about to become a crime scene tech, but she failed the examination.
 * Knowing her For Science! attitude towards investigations, it's possible Ema failed the test on procedural grounds. There's no doubt Ema's got talent, but she's gets so eager to play with a new toy that she blows off orders and common sense until she comes down.


 * In 4-4, which is just as full of this as 3-5, how did know so much about the case? He was in solitary confinement, and even though he does get some news from the outside world, Spark Brushel said (or at least implied) several times that nobody had taken Drew Misham's death to press yet. I know  The fact itself that he knew so much about the case when he testified should have been proof enough to point the finger of justice at him.
 * Well, the game does imply that Kristoph may not be completely normal. I mean, he's been stalking everyone from the time of that case. Even Zak, whom no one could find. Even when he was in jail, everyone felt as though Kristoph had their eyes on him or her.
 * "Many things pass by my desk, and I have nothing to do but read". I believe he says this when you visit him in solitary. In other words, he's using his influence to get info on the case the same way he used it to get such a nice prison cell.


 * It's a casual thing to suggest asking the Borginian government to give a cocoon up to test residue from burning it, but completely impossible for a major politician to ask for one when the news shows he has legitimate need.
 * Who says the Borginians "gave up" a cocoon? They could have burned it while it was in Borginia. Then, they could have either sent the residue (if the residue cannot be used to make the ) or described it in detail.


 * If the cocoons can't leave Borginia, what exactly stops the victims from going to Borginia for treatment?
 * I think that there's nothing to stop it, but it's because of that there are so few people outside Borginia who know the power of the cocoon. Lamiroir doesn't know why it was banned for smuggling outside of the country when she's supposedly citizen of Borginia; if a citizen doesn't know much, what do you expect of foreigners?
 * So no doctor would know?
 * A doctor would, but John Q. Averageguy wouldn't. Also, even if the doctor mentioned it, Borginia is supposedly somewhere in northern Europe, so perhaps not a lot of people would be able to afford going there. Finally, it's mentioned that the minister's son is the first case of incuritis in America - perhaps it was only diagnosed in a later stage and they can't move the minister's son anymore, therefore requiring someone to get  to him.
 * In addition to the public being generally clueless about the cocoons, we don't know much about incuritis. Perhaps incuritis afflicts the body so badly that leaving the country has a chance of mortality around the same as the doctors deciding to have a competition of "who can knock off the most body parts with an oxygen tank".


 * Why was Lamiroir considered an appropriate jurist in the final case? I mean, leaving aside that, which wasn't common knowledge, there's still the fact that she has very close ties to one of Apollo's previous cases and was very much sympathetic to him. Did no one besides Phoenix vet the jurists? Anyone else should have picked up on that bias in about three seconds. Even she was questioning whether she was qualified to serve!
 * I'm more concerned that a foreign celebrity in our country for a tour was chosen for the jury. Doesn't seem right to recruit tourists and foreign visitors to serve jury duty.
 * It's shown that, she could perfectly well be from whatever country this game is set (Japan, US, etc).
 * Lamoir herself asks to talk to Phoenix and says something like: "...it says in the Jurist handbook that "no jurists may be connected to the case". Phoenix replies by saying something like: "I've checked all your backgrounds. None of you were involved in the investigation or bring up of the case." This is what the ACTUAL American Jury system states. It doesn't matter if a jurist is connected to one of the lawyers or anything presides being involved in the ACTUAL INVESTIGATION. In other words, the only rule saying that a person can't be a jury member is if they were involved in the case on trial, not the lawyers or anything else.
 * It's possible that Phoenix was able to prove that she was without revealing to members of the legal system that.


 * Case 4-3. You prove that the pianist is playing with only one hand by using the video. However, Klavier, who would know the sheet music well, says that it would be possible to play the song with only one hand, meaning the part in question does not have to have both hands playing at that part, making it impossible to conclusively say that he pressed the switch at that moment. Klavier realizes that the bass clef portion is missing only after the video is presented as evidence, which is illogical since he should have known that it was missing while listening to the playback unless the part pointed out only has the treble clef portion playing. Since there apparently is only one hand playing during the part in question, there is no proof that the pianist did press the switch.
 * First off, it's the top part (treble clef) that's missing. Second, he very easily could have been paying close attention that time. As for 'knowing the sheet music', from the dialog it seemed to me that the piano part was supposed to be improvised, and Klavier gave Machi directions to play "in the background" or something; so he didn't know specifically what Machi would play (and remember Lamiroir wrote the music, not Klavier). The basic point, I think, is that the feel of the music, as it were, clearly drops out at the point for no reason, especially put into context of the same spot earlier.


 * How was Phoenix allowed to adopt Trucy? He had just lost his job (no income), was proven to be an Amoral Attorney (bad role model), and was presumably single (no female role model for a growing girl).
 * It's been a while since I played, but suppose that off-screen Zak gave a sealed envelope to Phoenix and told him not to open it until after the trial. Said letter naming Phoenix as Trucy's legal guardian. Not sure if this would work in reality, but it wouldn't be the first time the law system in Ace Attorney made its own rules.


 * Wait a minute. Aside from Klavier, the Gavinners weren't performing during Lamiroir's big number, right? So how did none of them hear the gunshots during her performance? The song was sedate, and their dressing room was next door!
 * It's possible that they were watching the performance instead of hanging out in the dressing room. Hey, it's a once-in-a-lifetime occurence and I'd want to stick around to see it too. Although, if that's the case, why did ?
 * Not too sure about this, but who says the Gavinners weren't performing during Lamiroir's big number? Maybe what they meant in the games texts is that they weren't on the spotlight, but if you think about it... During the "Guilty Love" performance shown in the mix machine there are five instruments playing (main guitar (Gavin), second guitar (Daryan), bass, synth and drums). In Lamiroir's performance there are five instruments as well (Gavin, Lamiroir, Machi, bass and drums). Assuming that bass and drums in Lamiroir's performance are the same people that in Guilty Love (why would you hire random people if it can be perfectly be played by them?) that would leave only Daryan and synth guy as suspects. But Synth guy didn't show up during any part of the case.


 * Apollo finds a switch in the piano. It ignites a device under the couch in the dressing room, most likely to trigger a few small explosives. Yet we're meant to believe that
 * Yes, but that leaves a hole.
 * How about this: As to what happened to, why could  have not  until such a time as , which also gives a perfect opportunity to ?
 * How about this: As to what happened to, why could  have not  until such a time as , which also gives a perfect opportunity to ?


 * I'm surprised that such a blatant contradiction hasn't come up yet. So, Zak decides to . Why? Because he's able to see his "true nature" through poker, or at least during the game. Fair enough, considering all the rest I'm supposed to buy in Apollo Justice, that's pretty dang logical. Yet, when Zak plays Phoenix years later,, what does he do? So, what was that you were saying about "true nature" Zak, you hypocrite?
 * Yeah, Zak is a jerk, we know it...but to be fair, he didn't actually cheat the game, he put up a situation in which the outcome out the game wasn't that he would win, but to make it look as if Phoenix was the one that had cheated, which would ruin his reputation, and put him out of a job and wouldn't have any money to keep raising his adopted daughter...that was much worse than hypocrisy.
 * The MASON System in 4-4 showing Phoenix and Zak to be fairly good buddies tells me that it's probably a case of Unfortunate Implications that the writers didn't fully think through... But those are still some pretty damn unfortunate implications.


 * In Turnabout Corner,
 * It was mentioned during the trial that.
 * Also, he has a sign in front of his clinic that says "Three shots for the price of one!". Doesn't sound like a guy who really went through medical school.


 * When you present the nail polish to Vera, her lock breaks with her saying "I promised I wouldn't tell". She doesn't, so why does the lock break, showing she's ready to tell her secret when she isn't? Considering her personality, those locks should have been.
 * are mentioned as having a great deal of cold despair about them. Vera hasn't developed anywhere near that level of hopelessness.
 * She promised she wouldn't tell anyone what her good-luck charm was, because doing so would spoil the charm.
 * There are plenty of times in games 2 and 3 of the Phoenix Wright trilogy when people's psyche-locks break without the person actually revealing everything, or when people with much more to hide than 12 year old Vera did have psyche-locks that aren't.


 * Is the point of the Jurist System to raise the standards that are required for conviction, or lower them? Because it seemed like in case 3, the point being made was that  is obviously the killer, but because the legal system is faulty, he can't be convicted except by  . However, in the final case, you never see whether or not   is convicted by a jury, all you do see is that Vera is acquitted by one. The thing is that Ace Attorney's legal system is not flawed because it's too difficult to convict the guilty, it's because it's too easy to convict the innocent. You'd think that the reason why Apollo would've been getting up in arms in case 3 is not that   is too hard to convict, but that Machi is too hard to acquit even though he's such an improbable suspect.
 * Why would  need to be convicted by a jury when he was already convicted earlier? In any case, I believe the Jurist System was created because it was too easy to get the innocent sent to jail.
 * The two problems - too easy to convict the innocent, too hard to convict the guilty - are inextricably linked. Some cases in the series go as far as saying outright that no matter how conclusively you prove the defendant's innocence, if you don't identify and prove the real culprit, the defendant will be found guilty anyway. Cases where it's said "nobody will find him/her Not Guilty, not now" are a departure from the core logic of the game's setting, and don't seem to be thought through.
 * It still isn't too hard to convict the guilty. Seriously, given what we know about this court system, how often do you suppose a guilty suspect manages to get himself declared not guilty? It's merely too hard to convict guilty people who have framed someone else, due to the difficulty of "turning the case around" from the initial suspect. All of this said, Apollo definitely ranted from the wrong angle at the end of case 3. In fact, his rant was on the Wall Banger page for a while before the section was cleaned up. (Only in Ace Attorney can the idea of a jurist system not only be supported for its ability to find people guilty without decisive evidence, but also be primarily backed for this reason by defense attorneys instead of prosecutors.)
 * The court also has absurdly high standards of evidence required to convict anyone other than the defendant. If you doubt this, check up on 2-1, when the Judge says that if Phoenix can't prove the witness's motive the defendant will be found guilty even though the only piece of evidence the prosecution still has that could implicate her implicates the witness just as much. So basically, as the Judge puts it: "Common citizens have something called common sense" which is otherwise completely absent from the court.

"Apollo:"
 * Where was Apollo when
 * Perhaps ? Though this means Apollo would have to have.
 * But then shouldn't Apollo know who is and that Trucy is ?
 * There is evidence that Apollo recognizes on some level. Think back to what he thinks when he meets  during :


 * ...suggesting that there's a faint degree of familiarity, say, if he'd . As for Trucy, well, if happened when they were both relatively young, then ...
 * This troper was confused by the entire idea that, so I looked back in the game. Here is the story:
 * This troper agrees with this theory, mostly because
 * And also, even if Apollo . But he doesn't.


 * How did Lamiroir wake up in Borginia when the group was probably in America/Japan during the rehearsal?


 * In "Turnabout Trump", why doesn't Apollo's bracelet react to 's Twitchy Eye?
 * Probably because his distress is so obvious at eye-twitching levels that he doesn't need the bracelet to make him aware of it.


 * Why did Alita hire Apollo? Yes, we know her stated reason: she wanted  and thought Apollo was  . But consider these facts: 1) Either due to misunderstanding or desired G-cred, Wocky was already admitting to the crime. 2) According to the first game, most defense attorneys don't take clients that they believe are guilty. 3) Also according to the first game, such a client would be given to a state-appointed attorney, which is practically equivalent to an automatic guilty verdict. Basically, she could have sat around and done nothing and he would have been found guilty anyway, and she would have saved money in the process. Or did she think the Kitakis would have otherwise hired a corrupt attorney to rig the trial in his favor?
 * Exactly, if she hadn't acted then the Kitakis themselves would have gone and got a competent attorney for their son, she couldn't just do nothing.


 * What are Snackoos? Are they savory, are they sweet, are they crunchy, are they chocolate? WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY?!
 * They are fried dough covered in chocolate, that somehow make good projectiles.
 * Technically, they're karintou: sweet crunchy quasi-cylindrical snacks with a strong visual/auditory resemblance to thumb-sized pumpernickel pretzel sticks, though without any white crystals of salt/sugar embedded in the surface. Karintou normally get their caramelized color and taste from dark brown sugar, but apparently there are some versions made with chocolate.


 * Considering Trucy's father is Zak Gramarye, why is she not the slightest bit tan? I don't get how she could possibly be that pale.
 * She takes after her mom?
 * It's also possible that Zak has an acquired tan.


 * What exactly is trying to accomplish during the last trial day of 4-4? I mean,
 * He probably knew that Phoenix had figured out his role in
 * It's mentioned earlier in this case that he is still well-respected by his former peers, many of whom have a hard time accepting
 * Plus, in Investigations 2, doesn't show up as accomplice, and he gets ? This would seem to imply that, so it's possible that


 * In case 4, you are unable to use the letter from Misham to prove, because it's just a copy created by Phoenix. Why was it not possible to obtain the real letter?
 * By that point, should have most likely destroyed the letter already, it'd be futile to try to get the original by then.
 * Except that he already has stated that his mail is read before it gets to him. That there isn't a record of mail coming from Drew Misham to his cell is nothing short of gross negligence. Granted, given the conditions he lives in, this probably isn't surprising.


 * Where did Phoenix get the idea to become a piano player, especially if he can't play a lick? Yes, there is a piano in the office (covered in magic supplies), but why would he choose to try and advertise himself as one? Did Trucy persuade him? Was he just that desperate? (This also raises another question... Was Mia also a piano player, or was it simply left in the office?)
 * His piano playing job is just a cover, he is a professional poker player that attracts clients and gambles to the Borscht Bowl Club.
 * He can play a little, so I guess he once took lessons (maybe as a kid) and wasn't that good at it but he thought that would be a good idea for his gambling side job.


 * Why does
 * Maybe it's just because he's a dandy to the end.


 * In Case 4-2, it is established that the reason the Kitakis are going clean is because . However, they didn't even KNOW How is it possible, therefore, for their business to do a complete u-turn (and gradually) to  when they have only known about it for a couple of days, particularly since the motive of, and that happened 6 months ago?
 * Odds are that they knew, but couldn't hide this knowledge from when the results of the checkup (most likely done to see if anything else was wrong) came out.
 * It may be hard to find a  who can handle a case like that (and take time to come up with enough clean money to pay for it), but you'd think that they would have gotten the   much earlier if they had known. On the other hand, while this may contradict some in-game dialogue, it's possible that they went clean because of the injury itself ("the gangster life did this to you") and the need for  just reinforced that decision.


 * Part of the evidence in the first case here was that Phoenix's fingerprints were on the bottle. And they were upside down so he couldn't have just been handling it normally. But my question is, when you're holding the neck of the bottle, how exactly would you be holding it that it looks upside down?
 * The opening video for the case shows exactly how the bottle was held, but I'll explain anyway. Usually when one holds a bottle by the neck, the bottle is right-side up and is held with the index finger closest to the cork (pointing upwards) and the pinky closest to the base (pointing downwards). Phoenix grabbed the neck of a bottle that was below him, so he held it the opposite way: his index finger closest to the base (pointing down) and his pinky was closest to the cork (pointing up), which would create the exact same pattern of fingerprints as if he was holding it upside-down.


 * In Case 3, why does nobody think it odd that ? At least, given, it's highly unlikely that , no matter what his conspirator said, so !
 * Well, at the time the body was discovered, and they were too busy trying to find the body to pay much attention to what was doing, probably. Though I still have no idea why this didn't occur to anyone later on in the case...


 * What's the deal with Are they ever broken? When I played through 4-4 and finished the MASON System part, I realized I never had a chance to break them. Was I supposed to? I mean, these things are new and were never in the Phoenix arc, and yet here they are and are never mentioned again.
 * The whole point of the is that they can't be broken, or at least
 * Any discussion of why the psyche-locks are  is going to have to involve some speculation. In any case, the game doesn't even let you  and the person in question arguably guards his secrets more tightly than any other character, so the most common interpretation can be be supported.


 * This may be a bit picky, but something bugged me when we met Eldoon. The guy says that he used to serve Phoenix and his assistant 'back in his lawyer days,' but then later, during the investigation, he reveals that he's only been doing the noodle stand thing for, what, a year? Unless he's using the MASON System to time-travel like a salt-broth-wielding Time Lord, I think not.
 * I thought he said Phoenix frequented his father's shop.


 * I know that the real reason was to Hand Wave the Stupidity Is the Only Option moment, but was there really a plausible reason to ? There was a perfectly solid case to be made out of "" without ever needing for . It's likely that ?
 * At this point, the diary was the decisive evidence in Klavier's favor. It would have been useless to just say that "a page has been ripped out," because Klavier could easily counter that by saying there's no way to prove when the page was torn out, or what it was torn out for. The only way Phoenix could swing it back his way was by showing decisive evidence of his own, basically, "what was on that torn diary page."
 * Klavier's argument was basically "this is the last thing he wrote, and the fact that it's the last thing he wrote speaks volumes". When you consider that the most obvious thing to write would be the recipient of the rights, and that at that point in the case, both magicians would have equal motive depending on what happened at that meeting, the fact that the page couldn't be found wouldn't establish either one's guilt.


 * Why didn't  ever try to defend himself by saying something along the lines of "you can't prove when the firecrackers went off?" Yeah, we know who has an alibi for which time period and that  . You'd think   (and maybe Klavier) would have insisted that there wasn't enough proof regarding which noises were fake and which were real.
 * Given how Romein was shot in the shoulder and apparently took quite a while to actually die, you could argue that he had to have shot during the second act, or else he'd have a better chance of living (as he'd be discovered right after being shot and could get medical attention). And if he had to have been shot in the second act in order to die during the third act, then trying to make something up about the fireworks wouldn't have worked out.


 * How exactly was  gold-digging scheme supposed to work?


 * Why did  confess to   in court? Apollo says, "confessing to the small crime to avoid the big one, eh," but there's no reason that confessing to that helped. I can see why the culprit had a hard time avoiding confessing to   since that had already been proven, but confessing to the   didn't appear to be necessary and didn't help explain anything suspicious that had been brought up yet. My only guess is that the culprit expected that Apollo would figure out who was responsible for   and figured it was better to beat him to it.
 * I kind of figured that


 * How did  reproduce the diary page exactly, down to the torn side which Phoenix calls "a perfect match" to the tear in Magnifi's diary? It's pretty hard to rip a straight line down a piece of paper, let alone copy an uneven, random one in a diary you've never seen before.
 * presumably showed her either the diary itself or a photograph of it. I think she even says that she was given the diary. She could have used scissors to reproduce the cut's exact shape, or made some kind of outline of it. In any case, it's implied that she's a prodigy.


 * On the risk of being petty, but it bugged me ever since I replayed 4-4, how did the police ever come to the conclusion that Vera poisoned the RIM of the coffee mug? I mean, apart from the whole atroquinine-is-slow-acting contradiction, they (or at least, Ema) only found only a small stain of atroquinine residue on the rim of the mug in question. However, if I'd ever poison the rim of a coffee mug, I'd put the poison all over the rim to ensure that my victim would get the poison inside their body, and not just a small piece and hope that my victim would put their lips exactly over there. You would think at least someone involved with the investigation would have came up with this.
 * Consider case 3-3's coffee mug stain and it's not an unreasonable conclusion. They believe the culprit is Vera, and if the mug has exactly one handle, she would know which side Drew would drink from based on which hand he would use to pick it up, and given that she lives with him, of course she would know this. If she -was- the culprit it wouldn't even matter if he switched it up on her because he still wouldn't discover the poison on the other end of the cup, so she could just try again if it came to it.
 * Makes sense, but even if Drew usually picked the cup up with the same hand, he'd still have to put his mouth on that exact spot. Yes, Vera probably wouldn't have to have (theoretically) put atroquinine on the whole rim, but still a bit more on whichever side she thinks he'd drink out of.


 * In a conversation with Ema in 4-2, she mentions that the reason she came back to America to take the exam to become a forensic scientist was that "Mr. Wright and his people" helped her years ago. It makes me wonder who is Ema talking about when she says "his people"? By the time the player gets to 1-5,  and there doesn't seem to be anyone else working in the Wright & Co Law Offices. So who is she talking about? Gumshoe?
 * Well, given how chummy Phoenix is with Gumshoe and Edgeworth, maybe she meant them? Other than that, I don't have much of an idea either, though.


 * During 4-1, why didn't  simply tell everyone that
 * Because then Phoenix or Apollo would probably demand that needs to show that . And Phoenix going "You have no proof" seemed to work well enough in.


 * In 4-4, Klavier freaks out when he realizes that . Okay. Understandable. But given how, in that case,, and a good chunk of what triggered Klavier's freak out was the fact that , shouldn't Klavier have felt uncomfortable ? Now, granted, it's been a little while since I've played 4-4, so I don't remember exactly how the scene went, but... at the very least, why didn't they seem to recognize each other?