Miles Edgeworth

Recall Range: 2

Personality: Edgeworth is usually calm and level-headed, but is typically seen as a snob due to his cold, ruthless, and generally aloof nature. He has a certain lack of social skills and tact, making him very insecure and awkward around others, including being rather resistant to having his picture taken. Being taught as a child to glare at people who looked at him, this habit continued as an adult, unwittingly intimidating others, even to quirky degrees such as glaring at security cameras, statues, people sleeping with their eyes open, and even his own reflection. He also has difficulties with some names, referring to the Global Studios mascot "Mr. Monkey" as "Mrs. Monkey", calling Psyche-Locks "Psycholocks", calling Little Thief "Mr. Thief", misremembering the "Alif Red" statue as the "Alfred Statue", and referring to the robot Ponco by the name "Panko", despite the latter's numerous attempts at correcting him. Edgeworth dislikes the limelight and often tries to credit other people or circumstances for his accomplishments, and sees no value in awards or trophies. He hates showing his weaknesses, and resists other people's attempts to get involved with his problems. Although generally loath to admit it, he cares deeply for his friends, going to great lengths to assist them, as far as chartering a private jet on short notice to help Wright. Though he often insists that Gumshoe and Faraday are little more than nuisances to him, they form a formidable team, and he greatly appreciates and respects their presence and assistance. Nonetheless, he is not always aware that he comes off as cruel or condescending, or even that he is glaring at someone. The DL-6 Incident left him with debilitating phobias of earthquakes and elevators, as well as suffering recurring nightmares about the incident, and the thought that he might have been the killer haunted him for 15 long years. However, although the nightmares ceased to occur after the incident was resolved, Edgeworth's fear of earthquakes and elevators remained. While he can withstand brief usages of elevators, his reaction to earthquakes, or similar effects such as air turbulence, is much more severe, and can range from shortness of breath to sobbing and curling up into a ball or even fainting. Such reactions are involuntary and stem from what had happened during the DL-6 Incident. He is known to have a fear of heights, and when faced with situations where he would have to leave ground level (e.g., retrieving books off of a high shelf), he will often have others take on the task instead. This fear does not come from the DL-6 incident, however, as Wright is aware of it from their days in school together before the incident. He may also have an allergy to pollen. It's also said that he likes cows. A very logic-oriented person, Edgeworth's initial reaction to supernatural phenomena is skepticism. He initially dismissed Wright's magatama as rubbish before using it himself, and even then he still does not like to rely on paranormal means. He did once bear a rather strong grudge against the Kurain Channeling Technique, believing it and its practicioners to be nothing but frauds due to the role it played in the aftermath of his father's death, but after witnessing its effects in court he seems to have improved his opinion of it. Similarly, he cannot understand romantic love and anything related to it, planning to live his life unwed. Investigative and courtroom philosophy: In the courtroom, Edgeworth usually has the trial precisely planned out, normally ensuring his victory. Because of this, he tends to become easily ruffled with anything that does not conform to his plan. In particular, he tries to stick to standard courtroom proceedings, trying to make the witnesses state their names and professions, although he regularly has a great deal of difficulty with this task due to the often rather eccentric characters called as witnesses in his cases. Ultimately, Edgeworth's approach toward his job is different from Wright's, in that Edgeworth is more focused on calmly using logic and letting the rightful consequences for wrongful suspects come about naturally from the truth. Before facing Wright in court, Edgeworth had a perfect win record. Following in his mentor's footsteps, he was relentless in his in-court tactics, doing almost anything to maintain this record. Despite this, he still maintained a sort of moral code and never intentionally used forged evidence. His rationale for his ruthlessness was that he could not possibly know with certainty whether any defendant was guilty or not. He despised criminals, so getting every defendant declared guilty was his way of guaranteeing that the criminals he encountered got what they deserved. Ultimately, however, he was driven by his selfish desire to win. Edgeworth's encounters with Wright changed him radically, challenging his notions of what being a prosecutor meant. Edgeworth decided that his win record no longer mattered and that instead what was important was the truth. Edgeworth underwent further changes to his outlook during his investigations into the smuggling ring and his confrontations with the Committee for Prosecutorial Excellence. He realized that the truth was more important than the law, and that the law would have to change if it prevented the truth from coming to light. Thanks to the influence of his friends and allies, Edgeworth has developed a strong sense of right and wrong. However, Edgeworth's determination to find the truth is difficult to stop. At one point, he callously revealed the background of a witness to get her to testify. He has also become a valuable ally to Wright, challenging him in one of his darkest and most vulnerable moments, and agreeing to defend a case for him when he was incapacitated. Edgeworth has even joined in on cross-examinations against his own witnesses, teaming up with the defending attorney in order to pry the truth from the witness. Edgeworth has also drawn inspiration from Wright's audacity in hopeless situations in several of his own tight spots. Admirers Although Edgeworth has expressed disinterest in marriage, he nonetheless has a good number of romantic and semi-romantic admirers and is generally regarded as a "pretty-boy" (as Shi-Long Lang used to call him) with all that this entails. One admirer whom he encounters particularly often is Wendy Oldbag, who calls him "Edgey-poo" and other unwanted pet names. Bikini also found Edgeworth "handsome" and forgave him easily. Rhoda Teneiro and Lauren Paups were attracted to him, though Edgeworth was largely, if not entirely, unaware of this. Ema Skye has also expressed some amount of interest in him, such as daydreaming about him working upon visiting his office as a teenager. She generally views Edgeworth as the ideal prosecutor, or at least far superior to Klavier Gavin, whom she perceived as a "glimmerous fop". Edgeworth's oblivious pretty-boy nature has been the subject of teasing at times. Detective Gumshoe has commented on Edgeworth's apparent ignorance of his own appeal to women, prompting the latter to remark, "D-Do I really inspire this sort of frothing desire from the female masses?" Even Franziska has referred to him in such terms as "little brother" (despite her being much younger) and "cute little subordinate". Home & office life: Being a very successful prosecutor who was raised by another very successful prosecutor, Edgeworth is quite well-off. He drives a red sports car to work (which appears to be an imported Alfa Romeo GTV) and it is insinuated that he lives in a mansion, and this shows in his high-class tendencies. Edgeworth is fond of drinking tea and playing chess; he frequently has tea delivered to him from the Gatewater Hotel and has a chessboard set up in his office. Edgeworth even sometimes visualizes his interrogations as chess games. His chessboard is unusual in that, rather than the traditional black and white game pieces, Edgeworth's chess set is red and blue. While examining Edgeworth's office during the Bruce Goodman murder investigation, Wright noticed that the red knights on the chessboard were all carrying swords with pointy "edges" while the blue pawns had "spiky hair" - a subtle reference to Wright and Edgeworth's courtroom rivalry, though Wright quickly dismissed the thought. Edgeworth has mentioned to Kay Faraday that he is able to play both the piano and flute. Steel Samurai: Although he generally doesn't like to admit it, Edgeworth is an avid Steel Samurai fan, even displaying a Steel Samurai figure in his office despite not being a fan of the sender, and seeming to know quite a bit about the show. Despite acknowledging that it is a show meant for children, he enjoys the series's plot and high production values. When Will Powers, the actor who played the Steel Samurai, was acquitted of murder, Edgeworth told Powers that he was a fan of his work, although Wright believed that he was lying. During one of his flights back home, he was secretly reading a Steel Samurai manga hidden between the pages of one of his law books. The nature of his admiration for the show became less subtle during the Allebahstian and Babahlese Embassy goodwill event, in which he got an autograph from the Steel Samurai. He was crushed when he found out that it was Butz under the helmet, later shouting at him, "You will never be the true Steel Samurai!" along with contemptuously crumpling the autograph Larry gave him before throwing it away. While investigating the event, Edgeworth revealed a rather extensive knowledge of The Steel Samurai, for which Franziska von Karma was all too eager to mock him. During his battle of wits against Quercus Alba, analogies were repeatedly made between Alba and the Evil Magistrate, the Steel Samurai's arch-nemesis. Edgeworth did not resent the implication that he was the "Steel Samurai" of the analogy. Eventually, when Alba insisted that he remained in the theater to watch the full duration of the show - claiming to be an avid fan - Edgeworth angrily told Alba off, declaring that he would never acknowledge Alba as a Steel Samurai fan. Edgeworth's interest in the Steel Samurai was once again demonstrated during his trip to Khura'in. After watching an episode of The Plumed Punisher: Warrior of Neo Twilight Realm, he reacted with disgust, comparing it unfavorably to the Steel Samurai and considering the show's theme song a ripoff due to their obvious similarities. Name: Japanese - Reiji Mitsurugi (御剣 怜侍): "Reiji" (怜侍), his Japanese given name, is a combination of "clever" (怜悧) and "samurai" (侍). The samurai kanji is pronounced with the on'yomi ji. "Mitsurugi" (御剣) contains the kanji for "sword" (剣), coming from the image of Edgeworth as a sharp prosecutor. English - Miles Edgeworth: "Miles" comes from the Latin word for "soldier", which may be a reference to the character's formal demeanor. It is also the name of a knight in Arthurian legend, so it may be a reference to either his love of chess or the English counterpart to a samurai (knight). "Edgeworth" is likely intended to reference the sword theme in the character's original Japanese surname, the sharp minds of both Gregory and Miles Edgeworth, and their "worthiness" as opponents for Manfred von Karma and Phoenix Wright, respectively. He is occasionally referred to as "Edgey", a play-off of his English last name, which quite literally means "tense, nervous, or irritable". This may refer to his sharp nature, as he is often seen as angry or moody by others. Design: Miles has grey eyes and dark greyish-brown hair with prominent fringes. His hair is styled neatly with a cowlick on the back of his head like his father, Gregory, had. During the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy and most of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection games, he wears a red suit with a black waistcoat, black shoes, and a white jabot tied around his neck (the jabot is consistently called a cravat in the games). The younger Miles has a slightly fancier suit, with a blue and gold waistcoat, black cuffs on the sleeves, and gold decals on the lapels. It bears a strong resemblance to Manfred von Karma's suit design. Miles would also mimic several of Manfred's gestures such as folding his arms and wagging his finger back and forth in a similar condescending manner. In later eras, this suit can be seen framed in his office during Rise From The Ashes and Turnabout Visitor, in which he mentions that it was a gift from his late mentor Manfred von Karma. The older Edgeworth in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice went through many iterations. In the first design, he had large frills that went down to his thighs. In other designs, he had grown facial hair. In the end, Edgeworth retained an "elegant" look, with rolled back sleeves and vest, as well as sporting a longer coat and a pair of glasses, which make him appear more like his late father. Miscellaneous: Edgeworth is one of two characters, the other being Apollo Justice, to have successfully defeated Phoenix Wright in court, though in both cases Wright was being blackmailed into pursuing an unjust verdict with Maya Fey's life at stake. He despises gossip. Partially because of Wendy Oldbag's frequent floral gifts, Edgeworth has picked up quite a bit of knowledge about flowers, such as the name of various species and their meaning in the language of flowers, unlike Wright who initially can only discern between tulips and sunflowers, and later on also roses.