Miles Edgeworth Is Both Extremely Perceptive About Other People’s Intentions And Motivations, But Also

Iris is a personal fav for me!

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(Edited to adjust my argument).

I think RTFA confirming that Miles Edgeworth didn't intentionally forge evidence aligns with his established character in the first four cases. It does take away some audience interpretation but personally I'm fine with that.

First of all I don't think the rest of AA1 ever confirmed it one way or the other. There are a few instances where Phoenix thinks of Edgeworth as an evidence forger but it's not like Phoenix would know for sure either. (Do correct me, with specific lines please, if I'm wrong though).

But more importantly, if you only look at the first four cases of AA1 Edgeworth being an evidence forger doesn't make sense with his character. Why would a prosecutor forge evidence? Not including reasons like being blackmailed. 1) If they don't care (enough) about the truth (prioritizing things like success over it), or 2) if they truly believe the defendant is guilty and are desperate for a conviction (aka the reason Adrian Andrews forges evidence in 2-4).

Does Edgeworth care about the truth, before the start of his redemption arc at the end of 1-3?

Yes... kind of. I don't think he prioritizes the truth or consciously cares about it. As the "Demon Prosecutor", Edgeworth cares about justice, and achieving it through punishment. However, convicting the wrong person would not be justice to him. Which is what makes Edgeworth change sides to convict the right person in 1-3. So in that sense, he does care about the truth.

You could argue that Edgeworth had already lost once to Phoenix and thought "screw this, my perfect record is already gone, another loss wouldn't change that fact". But compare him to two characters who are actually obsessed with their perfect records. Manfred, a perfectionist control-freak, getting a penalty (not even losing!) unraveled him so much that he killed Gregory in the heat of the moment. Franziska after losing in 2-2 declares that: "That spirit channeling trial was a sham! I refuse to acknowledge its legitimacy! It did not count!" She doesn't even want to admit that she lost. Edgeworth, on the other hand, doesn't act like someone who truly prioritizes his win record over the truth.

Because Edgeworth didn't just let himself lose in 1-3, he made himself lose. He made Vasquez testify again. She would have gotten away if Edgeworth didn't say anything. And after the trial he tells the judge "Will Powers was innocent. That he should be found so is only natural… not a miracle."

Okay but if Edgeworth does care about the truth (to some extent), and believed that every defendant being guilty was the truth, he could have easily gone down the path of forging evidence to ensure the verdict reflected what he believed to be true. That leads me to my next question:

2. Does Edgeworth truly believe that every defendant he prosecutes is guilty?

Actually no. He says this in Turnabout Sisters: "Innocent"...? How can we know that? The guilty will always lie, to avoid being found out. There's no way to tell who is guilty and who is innocent! All that I can hope to do is get every defendant declared "guilty"! So I make that my policy.

Yeah I think that line speaks for itself.

Miles Edgeworth can't bring himself to consciously care about or prioritize the truth, but the moment it's presented in front of him he also can't bring himself to ignore it. He doesn't think it would be just to knowingly convict an innocent person, but he's so disillusioned and distrusting of people that he's lost faith in finding the truth.

So, he commits himself to getting guilty verdicts because he believes that's the best shot he has at enacting justice, even if he accidentally convicts innocent people from time to time.

And to me that aligns with his reaction to finding out he unknowingly used forged evidence in 1-5. Edgeworth was so disillusioned with finding the truth that he has accepted that some collateral damage would inevitably happen as a result of his mindset. However, because he still can't let go of his dedication to the truth, he wouldn't want to lie or rewrite the facts to achieve his verdicts.

I feel very strongly about Recipe for Turnabout, but I don’t think it’s a very good case. I just think it has so much potential to be amazing. 

Trials & Tribulations’ running themes are deception (personas and disguises) and the lengths people will go out of devotion (usually in romantic relationships but Bridge deals with familial). And there’s so much that could have been said about identity, self worth, and being so devoted to someone that you lie to yourself in Recipe.

If Furio Tigre's impersonation of Phoenix was actually really good (and not played off as a joke), it could have done so much to explore Phoenix's identity surrounding being a defense attorney. I mean think about it, Phoenix lives for other people, he doesn’t seem to know what to do with himself when he’s alone, and became a defense attorney to save people. And Furio Tigre ripped that away from him by pretending to be him and getting an innocent person locked up. Everyone thought Tigre was Phoenix. Maggey thought he failed her. It feels straight out of one of Phoenix's worst nightmares. Seriously, why is this plot point only used for laughs?

Viola Cadaverini is probably the most intriguing new character in 3-3 but she’s completely brushed aside. She's a perfect parallel to Phoenix himself. Viola tries to convince herself that Tigre truly loves her, rather than confront the truth that he is paying for her bills and being so kind to her because he's terrified of her mafia boss grandfather. To the point where she stays by his side and becomes an accomplice to his crime. Similarly, Phoenix believed that Dahlia truly loved him. And while Phoenix wasn’t a willing accomplice to Dahlia’s crime, he still hid evidence for her and ate the necklace out of belief in her.

The game itself even acknowledges this connection briefly.

This is what Phoenix thinks after breaking Viola’s psyche-locks. He was scared of her at first but now he sympathizes with her and is filled with new determination to take Tigre down. Phoenix chooses the drink the espresso she prepared, effectively trusting her not to poison him too.

Also side note: Phoenix is really sensitive to betrayal. And it’s really interesting that he seems to hate it because it’s cowardly. Phoenix seems to hate the deception involved in poisoning and betrayal. He’s is terrified of his believing in someone so much, only to be hurt and left alone. (… eyes Phoenix’s reaction to Edgeworth’s note). Yeah it definitely stems from Dahlia.

Now imagine if Viola was the defendant instead of Maggey. That would mean Tigre, the person she convinced herself truly loved her, disguised himself in order to use her as the scapegoat for his crime. Does that sound familiar? Phoenix would probably be scared of Viola at first too. Maybe she reminds him of Dahlia. But slowly come to trust her.

Viola as the defendant would also continue T&T's pattern of guilty or questionable defendants (Ron DeLite being Mask DeMasque, Terry Fawles being in a relationship with 14 y/o Dahlia, and Iris being an accomplice). No case after 2-4 ever critiques Phoenix's misbeliefs as a defense attorney again (that being an attorney is not about saving people but fighting for them, and they everyone deserves a proper defense). But 3-3 could have done that, because Viola was still an accomplice and would have to go to jail for that. Phoenix could have continued to learn that he doesn't have to save everyone, that he has to fight for them and for the truth.

Do you see my vision? Do you see the potential? Recipe for Turnabout could have been a top tier case.

Oh and here's my collection of Recipe's most... memorable quotes. (Aka why is 3-3 like that??)

This!! Especially the point about Miles becoming a prosecutor. In the original trilogy, he only ever cites DL-6 and his disillusionment with the system as the reason and he never grapples with it as something forced onto him by Manfred post AA1.

fanon rant.

i love fanon concepts but i hate how much they antagonize manfred.

phoenix tried to contact miles via letters, but he never responded? that's actually extremely interesting! the reason he didn't respond was because manfred had burnt letters phoenix sent? nowhere close to what happened in canon text.

franziska taught miles all the ropes of being a von karma, had him follow in her footsteps steps, and helped him fit in with the family? YES!!! I LOVE THAT!!! franziska did this because she knew miles wouldn't have survived the "abuse" from manfred otherwise? now you're just reaching.

miles became a prosecutor following his father's death because he felt betrayed by the system? that's actually canon! manfred was the main reason for this change and had groomed miles into believing all defense attorneys are untrustworthy and did this as a final "fuck you" to gregory? he literally has nothing to gain from that.

fanon concepts have great potential, especially when they build on canon, but i hate when they wildly reach at things that don't exist. headcanons are supposed to build on canon, and if not, acting like they are canon is just weird.

NO HATE TO THOSE WHO ENJOY THESE FANON CONCEPTS!!! NO HATE TO ABUSIVE MANFRED ENJOYERS!!! but you HAVE to understand that the headcanons and fanon you enjoy is simply that: a headcanon and fanon.

you are allowed to enjoy whatever you want, i just don't like being driven out of fandom spaces (which actually happened recently) because i don't think manfred von karma is a villain for things he didn't do.

manfred is a villain, there is no ignoring that, but he's a villain for murdering two innocent men, tasing two innocent people, and participating in the toxicity of the justice system, not because of fanon.

i don't want to start controversy, which is something i cannot believe i'm saying when im simply expressing an opinion, but i just felt really annoyed at it this morning. if you want to tell me why i'm "wrong" please do it respectfully, otherwise i'm not going to hear you out. i'm not here to change the minds of anyone who enjoys these concepts, i am just pointing out inconsistencies with these concepts and canon.

writing around feelings

imo the absence of a feeling in writing is more powerful than directly describing it. people comment about how i do this a lot in writing so i thought i’d share what i mean and how i do it

so basically i’m trying to articulate a feeling without actually acknowledging it in the writing. when people avoid a thought or a feeling they don’t give it a name. it’s like touching around a bruise, you feel a little around it but avoid fully touching it because it hurts. that’s what i mean

in practice i think i have a couple ways of doing this:

1/ does, doesn’t, would, could: even if a character doesn’t take an action or acknowledge a feeling, the possibility is there in the story and i like drawing attention to that, it addresses the periphery of an emotion in an interesting and internal way, examples:

Erik raises the visor of his helmet. A soft summer breeze hits his face, catching on the sweat and cooling him ever so slightly. He feels Istvan’s eyes on him but doesn’t meet them.

Ryunosuke faces forward, letting his hand drop from the hilt of the sword. He takes a short breath. He tries not to focus on the dust.

2/ flat description of actions: you can describe an action without describing the emotion attached to it. i feel this is more impactful than doing both at the same time, or just choosing to focus on an emotion. there is emotion in the action, the reader can decide which one, examples:

“Kate,” he says, a little too sharply. “Be very careful there. Be very careful.” His hands are shaking again. He crosses his arms and shoves his hands under his armpits.

His computer gives a soft chime. An email. A new lead, but the stories are safe and tame, nothing like the danger he was used to. He shakes his wrists again, warding off carpal tunnel for another day. Another chime sounds. He looks out the window again.

3/ bury emotion in metaphor: this one i do constantly, i’ll just go off on a tangent about something else and the emotion will come through, kind of like how a character will try to distract themselves when faced with an emotion they don’t quite know how to process, example:

Sunlight trickles in through the dense tree cover, like water. A ray touches Hans’s golden hair. Henry watches the light play on the yellow strands. His hair is combed back but a few strands fall onto his forehead, pushed around by some invisible wind. They could be harp strings, or silk threads. Something delicate and fine. Another ray of sunlight falls over Hans’s hair and it seems almost to glow.

He unclenches his hands one finger at a time. The stress of muscles tensing no longer exists, not here, but the ghost of tension still lingers, the memory of it, over his knuckles and in his wrists. He wishes he could just have this. Just the pain in his joints of holding onto something too tightly for too long.

Intro Post ✧

I'm revamping my intro post because it's been a few months since I started this blog and some things have changed.

Hello! My name is Jen and welcome to my fandom blog :) Feel free to DM me to talk about any of my interests!

I'll mainly be posting analysis/meta about whatever my main obsession is...

Ace Attorney ⚖️

Favorite characters: (1) Miles Edgeworth, (2) Phoenix Wright, (3) Franziska von Karma, (4) Manfred von Karma

Favorite ships: (1) Miles/Phoenix (Mitsunaru), (2) Manfred/Gregory (Shingou)

Favorite game: Justice for All <3

I am also a fan of over-villainized/neglected characters, like: Franziska von Karma, Manfred von Karma, Dahlia Hawthorne, Larry Butz, Viola Cadaverini.

My AA related tags:

#jen's aa rambles (just me ranting or gushing about ace attorney)

#jen's aa analysis (actually formatted analysis/meta/arguments about ace attorney)

Other Interests :)

Typology! mainly MBTI (cognitive functions!!) and enneagram

The Legend of Korra (Kuvira, Baatar jr, Baavira)

Avatar The Last Airbender (Azula, Katara)

Genshin Impact (Kujou Sara, Arlecchino, Raiden Shogun)

Other fandoms I'm in (feel free to talk to me about these but I doubt I will post anything about them in the near future): Kpop (but mainly Dreamcatcher), The Hunger Games, Divergent, Six of Crows.

Phoenix is the one good at performing and Miles is the authentic one, right? It doesn’t fit them 100% of course, but I cannot see it the other way around.

Phoenix is an “insufferable emotionalist”, yes, and his emotional reactions are very genuine. But when he’s expressing emotions it’s almost always about other people; saving other people, believing in other people. When it comes to his personal issues, he is a closed book. He never says a word about Miles’s disappearance or Dahlia’s betrayal to anyone. Phoenix might not have multiple masks but he’s the one who took this piece of advice from Mia to heart: “for a lawyer, the worst of times are when you have to force your biggest smiles”. That’s his performance: the defender, the savior.

Phoenix is so driven by his attachments to other people that it feels like he doesn’t have an identity outside of it. He became a lawyer for Miles, twice. He pretty much only takes cases because Maya drags him to or one of his friends is the defendant. He doesn't function well when he's alone. You can't tell me he has a stable sense of self.

Miles suppresses his emotions, yes, and in the first game has a crisis over who he was as a prosecutor. But he doesn't perform. He holds himself to personal standards of perfection and doesn't care as much what other people think of him. And he's always authentic in his morals. He always tries to do what he thinks is the right thing, even during his "Demon Prosecutor" days. He thought getting every defendant a "guilty" verdict was the only way to get justice. It's the truth that makes him change his ways. It's pursuing the truth that becomes his main motivation. And isn't that the definition of authenticity?

Miles also 100% does see through Phoenix: "We aren't some sort of heroes. We're only human, you and I". Miles sees past Phoenix's performance. I think he might be the only person to ever address it.

Phoenix Wright is not the excruciatingly authentic and bright sunshine. He is the mirrorball who only shines so brightly because he reflects everyone else’s light.

But it's mutual. They see through each other. And that is probably my favorite part of wrightworth.

What I really want is a case where Phoenix's client is truly guilty of the crime they’re being accused of and there isn’t anyone blackmailing him to get an acquittal.

Farewell My Turnabout is the only case where a guilty verdict is the good ending and the only case that challenged Phoenix’s entire worldview. (Correct me if I'm wrong though because I haven't played the Apollo Justice trilogy). I wouldn't change anything about that case but I still think another case could have been taken further. Because 2-4, at the end of the day, is still about saving someone; it's about the value of trust and partnership in fighting for the truth because that is what will save someone.

But I want a case where there really isn’t anyone who can be or needs to be saved. Phoenix’s client is guilty, and there are no kidnapped loved ones or anyone forcing him to get a verdict either way. Even better if the defendant is a sympathetic killer like Acro. And there is no huge impossible decision/moral dilemma about who to save, it’s just realizing that doing the right thing means accepting a loss.

I always found it ironic that Edgeworth taking a loss in the name of truth is seen as an important sign of his redemption, but Phoenix almost never does the same thing. I know Phoenix gets to choose his cases and Miles doesn't but it just seems kind of hypocritical to me.

And I still want the case to have a happy ending because Phoenix still helped his client by giving them a proper defense. I don’t want Phoenix to come out of this demoralized. I just really need a case to finally hammer home to Phoenix that he should not be hinging his entire worth and motivation for being a defense attorney on if he can save people (because clearly 2-4 did not do that).