Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney/Tear Jerker

"In my world, the color red doesn't exist. These must be...my tears."

—Godot, Trials and Tribulations case 5

Take moments specific to Apollo Justice or Investigations to those pages, please.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

• Even the first games had its moment. Remember Lana, everyone's favorite Defrosting Ice Queen? Surely this troper wasn't the only one who got misty eyed when she finally smiled. "It's been a long time, your honor."
  • This troper teared up when Lana and Ema hugged at the end. Their relationship was so touching throughout the entire case.
• And earlier in that case, as the realization hits as to exactly what the evidence in Gant's safe implicates, and why Lana has acted the way she has: Neil Marshall appears not to have been killed by Joe Darke at all, but in a tragic accident was pushed to his death by her own sister. Lana has spent two years taking the fall for Gant to protect her sister from this knowledge. And then Phoenix has to make the accusation in court to prove Lana innocent. I just... no. Of course, it all turns out to be a plot by the real murderer, Damon Gant, to gain control over the Prosecutor's Office. Exposing Gant as the real murderer is very satisfying.
  • Also, when Ema tells you that she became a budding scientific investigator to give the police lots of evidence so Lana wouldn't have to forge it. D'awwww...
  • Oh, that's not even half of it about SL-9. There's a reason everybody remembers the case with a mix of sadness and anger. Ultimately, it caused the deaths of two good police officers and send several people into prison or at least caused them to loose their jobs, which most of them seemed to be greatly dedicated to. Not to mention all the emotional suffering it caused for all the various participants. What this troper thinks, though, is the worst case of Fridge Tragedy, is about Damon Gant. As much as he's an evil manipulative bastard with a stare of death, it's noticeable that, after his big breakdown, he doesn't act like a sore looser at all. Plus, he once WAS the ace of the police force. The judge also remembers him as a different person. While he doesn't get any Freudian Excuse, just the implication that Gant may actually be a bit of a Fallen Hero makes the thing a whole lot sadder because the reasons he went evil are so simple, pointless and banal. This gives the whole thing a feel that it all could've been avoided so easily...
• There is also the death of Mia Fey in the first game.
  • On a related note, in the new web musical being made for Ace Attorney, one of the songs ("I'll Be There") turns a funny moment into a pretty sad one. In the game, Maya tells Nick about the note Mia left for him, which says to take care of Phoenix if anything happens to Mia. Phoenix is puzzled, but then Maya laughs and states that Mia meant the office. For the musical, though, this troper almost sheds a tear or two whenever he hears the dialogue about the note, because the music at that point is really depressing and Maya and Phoenix sound so heartbroken :(
• I started to tear up after realizing that the attorney Mia wanted Maya to go if she got into trouble wasn't Grossberg, but Diego Armando.
  • But Diego was already in a coma at that point, and Mia knew it. This possibly makes it even sadder, in that she almost certainly would have wanted to leave Maya in Diego's care, but she can't.
• In the first game's second case, when Maya's accused, you have the choice between defending her or leaving her to a different defense attorney. If you're sadistic enough to choose "No way, Sister!" or whatever it is, Phoenix gets a vision as to what would happen: the other attorney would lose the case (perhaps on purpose) and Maya would be executed, and Phoenix would wonder for the rest of his life about his decision. We then pick up from after the choice, where Phoenix decides to defend her.
• How can no one have mentioned Edgeworth yet? In Turnabout Goodbyes (Case 1-4), when you see him in the Detention Center, the first time he holds his arm and looks away with that extremely troubled look on his face is really quite sad. Up to that point, pretty much the only emotions he has shown are boredom, smug confidence, and anger. Also he believes that he killed his own father. The guilt has haunted him for 15 years, as has a nightmare that he has EVERY NIGHT. And when he initially tries to refuse Phoenix's help... this troper choked up, thinking, "dammit, Edgeworth! Let me help you!" When he says to Wright "I was the true criminal of DL-6. I killed my father." that was just too sad. Especially when you play it a second time, and you know that he's not responsible after all. And, in Rise from the Ashes (Case 1-5) when Edgeworth is considering resigning, even though the forged evidence he used wasn't his fault, and he had no idea. "I've always made my own decisions about what I can or cannot do... Forgiving myself is something I cannot do." And in Case 3-5 after his phobia of earthquakes causes him to pass out and lose track of the suspect he had been escorting his reaction is heartbreaking: "If only I was stronger." With his conscience and tendency to feel responsible for things he did unintentionally you can be sure he's really suffering. He's really quite a tragic character.
  • What really gets me is this one piece of dialogue in case 1-4, when he's discussing the nightmare:

Maya: But...it's just a dream, right?
Edgeworth: That thought has been the only thing keeping me sane for these past fifteen years. But what if I'm wrong? What if it was real?

• • The only thing stopping him from breaking down for good was the fact that he could convince himself that his dream was just a dream. Just hink about that for a moment.
• Yanni Yogi's story. He was the suspect in the DL-6 incident, where Edgeworth's father was killed. Hammond, his lawyer and a man who cared not for his defendents, ordered him to fake brain damage in order to win the case. Following his orders, Yogi lost his job, his social life, and his fiancee, who committed suicide. All he could do was sit in hatred for 15 years, with nothing but a parrot by his side. For a crime he didn't even commit! Needless to say, I find him to be the series' most sympathetic murderer (that wasn't a main character).
• The classroom trial, doubles as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming for Edgeworth and Larry.
• The first game's credit's theme has a feeling of "The show's over, but there's more to come!" 1-5 has a spy-like feel to it. Justice For All has a moving piece. Then there's the credits theme to Trials and Tribulations, which will hopefully make you feel (mostly) satisfied with the Phoenix Wright trilogy.
• The third case isn't exactly memorable in the tear department, but it got this troper really darn close on how it affected all those involved. Will Powers? Framed by his best friend simply because he was satisfied entertaining children. Jack Hammer? Brought down from a famous actor to a villain in a children's action show. Cody Hakins? A kid being forced to testify that his hero actually died. In front of him. Wendy Oldbag? Willing to assault a photographer for having incriminating evidence against Jack. Really, just a sad bunch of mis-happenings.
  • This Troper always felt that Cody's scene was underplayed. Think about it: This seven year old kid had to watch his childhood hero die. The poor kid could not handle that, and made something up in his mind. He then was forced into facing it by Phoenix in front of a court, bursting into tears. Imagine being seven years old and watching Superman die in front of you. Or Optimus Prime. Yet after his confession he isn't even mentioned again.
  • This Troper completely hates Wendy Oldbag but when she decides to stop being annoying for a few minutes and explains what happened to Jack Hammer all those years ago, it brought this troper to tears.
    • In Turnabout Musical I was looking at the characters and saw that Wendy Oldbag had a song called 'the way things were', just the name made me sob, I found out that this isn't what the song is about though but it seems to be what the reprise is about...
• Detective Gumshoe, having gone through a lengthy series of pay-cuts throughout the game, feels betrayed in 1-5, when allowing Phoenix and Ema into Gant's office gets him fired. The guy never gets a break, despite doing everything he possibly can to support the prosecution and catch criminals.
• No mention for the scene in 1-4, after Phoenix and Maya get tased? When Maya says she wishes she hadn't woken up at all after giving a short speech about why she sucks? This tropette, who didn't really like Maya, promptly wanted to reach into the screen and give her a hug (After she got done wiping her tears off her DS, though.). Coming from someone who didn't even blink when Miles Edgeworth was talking about how he thought he killed his father.
• The 'final photo' of Turnabout Goodbyes. Not just because it has the main cast of the game- Phoenix, Maya, Edgeworth, Gumshoe, Larry and even Mia in spirit form, but particularly, Edgeworth's face. For the first time in the game, he's smiling. Not the trollish smirk kind he does in court, but actually smiling. Plus with the 'FREEDOM' banner...it's heartwarming enough to make this Troper to take a bit of a breather.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All

• Though many loathe the case, the end of Turnabout Big Top where Acro bursts into tears during his Motive Rant almost made me do the same.
  • It's just unfair when you want to throttle the defendant and give the murderer a hug. I cannot be the only one who would have preferred to lose that case.
    • You're definitely not the only one who would've preferred to lose. Whenever I think about that case, I nearly cry.
    • Your Mileage May Vary- Though the defendant is highly annoying, the fact the murder was trying to kill a sixteen-year girl for something that wasn't her fault, and ended up murdering his adoptive father instead definitely did not gain him any sympathy in my view. That and the fact he tries to get an innocent person convicted.
    • I agree about the last part, but how was it not her fault? Acro and Bat would not have been injured if she hadn't played a stupid prank at the worst possible time, and the fact that she doesn't acknowledge her responsibility for this until it's too late does not help.
  • I cried the first time I thought about the victim, Russel Berry. His wife died, he was a single father to Regina, adopted Acro and Bat, treated the whole circus like his family, and was an all-around good man. Then he died accidentally, and he wasn't even the intended victim. There's currently a lump in my throat just from typing that.
• Although it's not as heartwrenching as some of the other moments described here, Accusing the Witness takes a decidedly non-comedic turn in the fourth case of the second game, where you are forced to accuse Adrian Andrews, who by this point is woobie-tastic, just to buy time. If that's not bad enough, you know full well that you're buying time to defend a bastard so magnificent that he produced a glass of cognac from Hammerspace just to swirl it in your face as he taunts you - and when I say "you," I mean it sounds like he's taunting the player for being unable to do anything to thwart his plan. If that's not bad enough, the game also forces you to press the button yourself, a la the end of Metal Gear Solid 3, to increase your complicity that much more. I never thought I would agonize so hard about a "choice" in a strictly linear game without multiple endings.
  • Worse yet, the gallery boos at you for daring to defend someone who is by now obviously guilty. You're already in deep shit, and the crowd ganging up on you just makes it worse.
    • Think indicting Adrian Andrews is tear-jerkingly terrible enough? Play through it a second time, when you know how everything goes down and have to go through it all anyway.
  • Also, in the middle of this stressful case, you're on the verge of rescuing Maya and making everything that follows unnecessary, only to discover that you're too late and the villain has made his getaway. All that's left is a message from Maya, bravely telling you to forget about her safety and get the scumbag convicted. And as you're reading it, Maya's face appears on the screen in a visual voiceover, and the slow version of her theme starts up...
  • And Adrian Andrews' and Celeste Inpax's tragic past is one big tearjerker: after being discarded like a napkin by Matt, Celeste fell in love with Juan... and Matt, asshole that he is, told him all about his former relationship with Celeste so he'd abandon her over his neverending feud with Matt, driving her to suicide. The shock was so great that Adrian tried to kill herself as well. You've got to wonder what it's like to be the manager of the nasty bully that led to your mentor's suicide.
  • The Bad Ending is just heartbreaking if you ignore the typo.
    • Or have a version which had corrected it.
    • To summarize the Bad Ending: If Phoenix Wright failed to pick the one evidence (the videotape) and witness (Shelly de Killer) to convince Matt Enguarde a Guilty verdict, the judge would find Matt Enguarde Not Guilty. Although Maya Fey is no longer a hostage, Phoenix Wright never sees her again, Adrian Andrews later gets tried and found Guilty, and this failure is eating Phoenix so much that he quits being a lawyer. The Miracle Never Happen.
  • Case 4 is not only full of tears, but SO MUCH nerves. Just playing through the first trial, knowing you have to finish it in a day, and then failing to do so, we get to see Wright's head-in-hands sprite for the first time, and it's just soul-crushing, because you know just how freaked out and worried he is for Maya... and the first time he gets called by De Killer and finds out she's kidnapped, he TOTALLY freaks out, almost passes out, is willing to pay anything... I can just imagine him screaming at the phone every time he gets a call. Poor Phoenix.
• In Justice For All, it is pretty hard to feel sorry for Mimi Miney as most of her story can quickly be considered Narm However, This troper thought about it, and realized in a second playing that there isn't really anything that tells you that Mimi actually wanted to do all that. She fell asleep while driving because of being exploited by Dr. Grey?? True, it was an accident. She said she took her purse and got of the car as fast as she could?? True, though with the panic she could as well had taken Ini's. Dr. Hotti said that they used her car licence photo to reconstruct her face?? True, but he also said that the car license was burnt with the rest of the car. The doctors could perfectly have made a terrible mistake. And finally, did she took the place of her sister?? Yes she did. But she had no other choice. And it's not like she liked, either. She breaks up in tears when saying how much she hates her life, how much she hates the occult and how sorry she is for everything. And being a whole year doing something you hate, without being able to complain because you're meant to love it?? No wonder she promised revenge against Grey. And actually didn't break her promise.
  • And the death of Ini Miney, a little airhead but pure sister of her? Nobody can reject that it isn't sad at all.
• If Phoenix holds his head down on the defense bench, you know someone's heart just got strangled. In 2-4, the case comes to an end on the first day before Phoenix could get a complete acquittal. Phoenix sits there, even when the judge has left the court, believing Maya to be murdered.
• When Maya is arrested in Case 2-2 for the murder of Dr. Grey, she's convinced that she is the one who killed him, and emphatically tells Phoenix that he can't take her case, because she's a murderer and he'll lose. Phoenix tells her "Stop it!", making it clear that he will not abandon her. That's when she breaks down into tears.

Maya: ...
Maya: ...Help me...
Maya: Nick, help me... I'm scared...

• At the end of Justice for All, when Franziska breaks down in tears after Edgeworth returns her whip. The whole fourth piece of evidence really touched this troper, too. Having a piano remix of the ending theme just made the moment so sad, this troper wanted to put the game down and bawl.
• This troper got horribly depressed when he went to Matt's house in 2-4 and immediately recognized the locked door with the cat door in the bottom that Maya saw when she broke out of the basement. Maya's two rooms away and there's nothing you can do about it.
• Simply this line from Edgeworth, where the entire screen has gone black and all you can see is his sprite and the text box:

Edgeworth: And if you don't...you cannot change the ending of this story.

It doesn't seem like he's talking to Phoenix, but rather you, the player. It's your decision now. You're the one who has to save Maya's life for Phoenix and get Matt Engarde convicted. YOU must change the outcome of this story if you want a happy ending. I don't particularly know why, but that line made me go 'Woah'...

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

• While the last two cases of Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations have a number of tragic moments, only one line caused this troper to put down the DS for a few minutes... both times he played through it. "I'm the assistant manager at Wright & Co. Law Offices." The next few lines weren't even necessary.
  • To elaborate, this is the profession stated by Maya on the witness stand after finding out about the death of her mother. Note the complete lack of the phrase "spirit medium".
• The end of Game 3 Case 4 in which Terry Fawles kills himself.

Fawles: Mister... Armando... Thanks for... the... coffee...

• • This is the moment that caused this troper to shout, "NO!!" a bit louder than is usually admissable at 2 am...
  • The worst part is why he did it: Dahlia, bitch that she is, manipulated Terry into making a suicide pact should they cease to have faith in each other... all just to get away with murder. It's pretty much her Moral Event Horizon.
  • This particular troper had to take a break after that case and take a few minutes to think his life over...
• This troper had never cried at a handheld game before this one. Along with the above incidents, what really killed her was in the last part of 3-5 at the sudden, awful realization of what really happened at Hazakura as soon as Maya says she saw a man in the darkness. This troper wibbled helplessly as Godot carries on the trial to convict himself and finally, really burst into tears at the big reveal of Godot's past. "I hope you remember... my name is Diego Armando." Then they throw the tears of blood at you.
• It can take some work to put the pieces together, but seeing hints at how much Mia and Diego loved each other throughout the third game can really get to this troper; particularly Godot's seemingly silly line, "by the way, I've tried salt in my coffee. It tastes terrible," then you see the context in 3-4 when Mia is crying and Diego says "relax, kitten, your tears are getting my coffee salty."
  • On that note, This Troper had to set her DS down to control herself while playing case 3-4 when she realized that Diego was the person that Mia had picked up some of her advice she gave to Phoenix before she died. ("A lawyer is someone who always smiles, no matter how bad it gets") That, and seeing Godot say something in case 3-2 that the Judge had said in 3-4 ("To err is human, to forgive, divine.") Maybe that one's a bit of a stretch, since it is a common phrase, but I don't find it to be a coincidence that he remembered that line for so long.
• Don't forget Iris confessing that she, not Dahlia, was the one whom Phoenix dated for six months. Does Phoenix, having been deceived all that time, react with anger? No - instead, he tells her, "You are the person I thought you were. I never stopped believing in you even after Dahlia tried to poison me." Iris isn't the only one who can barely hold back her tears.
  • Don ´t forget the response of Iris: "Thank you", with tears in her eyes
    • Only made better by this line being the exact cue for the Trial theme to start.
• Also, the whole scene involving the Master's talisman in the end. Also a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.

Phoenix: "She'll always be with me, until the day I die", huh...
Maya: ...?
Phoenix: There's a rule or something all Masters are to follow, isn't there? To never take the charm off until the day you die... .
Pearl: Th-That's the Master's Talisman...
Phoenix: The thing that Misty kept by her heart and would never take off...
Phoenix: It wasn't the container that was important. Rather, it was the contents.
The talisman is opened to reveal something inside
Bikini: Th-That's...!
Pearl: A photo?
Maya: Ah...!
Maya: M...
Maya: ...Mother...
The photo is revealed to be a childhood photo of Maya as a toddler, and Mia as a kid, trying to fix the broken sacred urn, with Maya bawling to one side and Mia with a shocked look on her face at getting caught red handed. The revelation that Misty carried this around with her for her whole life just brought tears to my eyes.

• Oh dear God, this line from Franziska:

Franziska: *WHIP CRACK* Still as much of a softie as ever, Phoenix Wright.

And the scene that followed, with Turnabout Sisters' Ballad playing once more and with the whole 'Maya Fey is much stronger than we think' and telling Franziska who Maya is being strong for.

• And just when you think the game's going to let up, the ending credits include a shot of Mia, Misty, and Diego looking happy together... in heaven, it is heavily implied. I thought I'd run out of tears long before then. I was wrong.
  • Also a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, even more so when you realize that it's a shot of Larry's sketchbook.
• I actually love the sketch as a whole. it has every main character of the Ace Attorney series up to that point, plus Maggey and Misty. Phoenix, Maya, Pearl, Edgeworth, Gumshoe, Franziska, Maggey, Mia, Godot and Misty. And every single one of them have an expression that simply says 'Peace at last...' You know that this is the end of the Phoenix trilogy. You look at that photo, you're reminded of what you played through, and you can now move on to Apollo Justice.
• For me, it was 3-3, making Viola Cavaderini confess that she knows the man she claims to love may not feel anything for her. I'm sorry, but making that slightly creepy, ghostly looking girl cry...god damn you, Furio Tigre. You and your siezure inducing breakdown
  • What makes it worse is that her crying animation is the exact same one used for her creepy laughter. It makes you wonder if all those times, she was just trying to hold back tears...
• Case 3-5, at the very end. (Paraphrasing a bit.) Godot/Diego: You'd do well to remember this. The only time a lawyer can cry is when it's all over. Don't forget that he evidently started crying just moments before, and that he mentioned something along these lines to Mia (or was it Phoenix?) earlier in the game.
• In 3-5, Phoenix, after risking his life to try and save Maya and hoping the police can rescue her, is told by Dahlia that she killed her.