Phoenix Wright

Recall Range: 2

Personality: Phoenix Wright is generally quite easy-going in his outlook. His relaxed and laid-back attitude usually leads to his friends leading him around or taking advantage of his good nature, usually by making him foot the bill of large celebratory meals. Wright can also be somewhat sarcastic, something he typically keeps to himself in the form of inner monologue. He can be especially sardonic and snarky towards people on occasion. This tends to manifest when dealing with the eccentric characters (including his friends), objects, and situations he comes across. Despite his usually relaxed attitude, he's rather a harsh critic when it comes to art, possibly due to his time as an art student, to the point of openly mocking his friends' art pieces on several occasions. Wright has repeatedly shown himself to be a loyal friend and lawyer who will refuse to back down once his mind is made up. Known for this trait even in childhood, it has been a valuable asset for him, especially as it has translated into his dedication to defending and believing in the innocence of his clients. Wright's loyalty is such that he has often ended up risking his career, and even his life, for his friends and clients on several occasions. For instance, he showed concern for the fate of his client in the trial that got him disbarred, even in the midst of allegations of fraud. Drew Misham, in particular, was intrigued by this, claiming that despite Wright being the center of the problem, he was the only one who had not made a commotion. On the other hand, Wright's loyalty has clouded his better judgment on a few occasions. In university, he went through great lengths to protect his girlfriend, Dahlia Hawthorne, during his own trial, based on their relationship. When his lawyer, Mia Fey, accused Hawthorne of poisoning Diego Armando and giving her bottle of poison to Wright disguised as a necklace, Wright refused to believe her and ate the necklace; fortunately for him, it had been emptied. Even after the trial, he would conclude that Hawthorne was "not the woman [he] was dating", which would later turn out to be literally true. Years later, he attempted to cross a burning bridge in an attempt to save Maya, whom he believed to be trapped on the other side with a killer. Despite Larry Butz begging him not to, Wright went as far as to push him out of the way to get to the bridge, which immediately broke, sending him plummeting down into the river below. Growth & maturation: In his university years, Wright was somewhat of a cry-baby and a little childish, bursting into tears when Mia got angry with him for lying during his testimony. His naivety manifested itself mostly in his relationship with Dahlia Hawthorne. His attitude at this time was somewhat comparable to that of his childhood friend Larry Butz, though the latter never really grew out of this behavior. Nonetheless, Wright was often considered the most mature out of all of his friends at the time. In his earlier years as a lawyer, even after he had built up a respectable reputation for himself, Wright often depended on his former boss and mentor, Mia Fey, for advice. Even in death, she was generally available to help, thanks to the spirit channeling abilities of Maya and Pearl. At one point, Wright's morals were challenged when he was forced to choose between defending a guilty client to save Maya Fey or letting her die to see justice through. Eventually, during the trial of Iris, Godot challenged him to argue his case without Mia's help, and Wright prevailed. Wright also ended up rather arrogant, underestimating Klavier Gavin due to the apparent gap in experience, and he paid for this by falling right into Gavin's trap, presenting evidence of questionable and unreliable origin, which — unknowing to him — was forged, resulting in his disbarment. In his early days of disbarment, he suffered from regret and despair, although that did not stop him from caring for Trucy, who had also lost her father. His morals were more flexible, almost to the point of him adopting an "end justifies the means" mentality at times, as was demonstrated by his use of forged evidence in the Shadi Smith murder trial. His rationale for this behavior was that he no longer had the responsibilities of a lawyer; moreover, people at the time thought he was a sham anyway, and so he had perhaps given up on caring what they thought of him. However, he still deeply cared about those close to him, and he maintained contact with old friends such as Ema Skye, Maya Fey, and Miles Edgeworth. He seemingly did not hold any grudge regarding the loss of his badge, as one might have expected, instead diligently continuing his investigation of the case that had gotten him disbarred. Since then, Wright has become calmer, more self-confident, more mature, and more resistant to intimidation by his opponents, such as Gaspen Payne and Simon Blackquill (or, at least, more resistant than his understudies and the judge). Wright has also become more eccentric and laid-back over the years, as well developing the habit of telling (mostly bad) jokes and occasionally giving cryptic advice, which at times irritates Apollo Justice. He also laughs more, and not as nervously as he did before. He no longer underestimates his younger opponents as he did against Klavier. However, his more excitable side from his earlier years as a lawyer sometimes rises back to the surface, especially in the midst of a pressure-filled trial. His internal monologue also reveals that he has retained his private sardonic nature. Likes & dislikes: Wright has claimed that he watches Kids' Masterpiece Theatre every Sunday. Although he has repeatedly professed indifference towards the Samurai franchise, Wright's ringtone is the Steel Samurai theme tune, and he seems to be somewhat knowledgeable of the franchise in general. This could be explained by Wright having worked on two cases involving the franchise and having two friends who are huge fans of it. Wright is an unabashed meat eater and has claimed that the only sea creatures he likes are the ones he can eat. With that being said, Wright is not as burger crazy as his assistant Maya, instead claiming to be more of "a grilled chicken sandwich man”. Over the years, Wright has developed a taste for grape juice, and was known to drink it near-constantly during his disbarment period. Blue is his favorite color, with his trademark suit being the most obvious manifestation of this. Wright does not own a car or have a driver's license. He appears to use taxis and cycling as his main mode of transportation; he shares this trait with his pupil, Apollo Justice, while his ancestor, Ryunosuke Naruhodo, was actually afraid of using bicycles after a bad experience and preferred the use of public transportation. Phoenix has expressed a distaste for electric bikes in a few different occasions, as he find them a lazier alternative to regular bikes. Wright has a blue bar phone that he has apparently kept throughout his law career; its battery is held in place by a piece of tape. Wright claims to be poor at math, and when he encounters any form of advanced technology, he can only really regurgitate the information fed to him by others. Wright is afraid of heights. He supposedly once took Trucy to an amusement park once and rode a roller coaster, only to begin to panic and object to the ride while on it. However, this fear is not particularly strong, and he has been shown to handle it better than others, being able to even override it in situations like Maya being trapped on the other side of Dusky Bridge, unlike Apollo or Ryunosuke, whose fear of heights seems to be on the stronger side. Wright stated that he is "not really into smoking" after examining a gold lighter on the table in Marvin Grossberg's office. Wright stated that apples are one of his favorite fruits. Despite nominally making it his main profession for seven years, Wright has been noted to be an exceptionally lousy pianist. The piano at his office is not allowed to be used due to the neighbours complaining. Relationship with Trucy: Phoenix and Trucy have a very close father-daughter relationship. He is extremely caring and protective of her, and, in turn, Trucy is very caring of her father. For the first two weeks after Phoenix was disbarred, he felt that his life was ruined, and he started to act even more sardonically than usual when the loss of his badge was brought up. Phoenix has stated that Trucy helped him make it through his disbarment period, referring to her as his light. He always carries a locket with him with Trucy's picture in it, wearing it around his neck while disbarred and in his breast pocket after his return to the courtroom. Phoenix tends not to worry too much about Trucy, understanding that she is more than capable of handling herself and that she has Justice and Cykes to depend on if she needs help. However, he did note he should more carefully watch what sort of magic she does after she proved herself to be proficient with throwing knives and often denies her requests to help with investigations due to her needing to focus on her schoolwork. However, his more protective side was understandably more visible after she was held hostage by Aura Blackquill, leaving him scared about what was going to happen to his daughter. As soon as he learned that Trucy had been arrested for murder, Phoenix frantically tried to get hold of Justice and Cykes, as he was out of the country at the time and thus unable to help her himself. However, he did calm down once they informed him they were taking her case and would save her. After the case, he called them back and after hearing that Trucy got a not guilty verdict, was immensely relieved to know she was safe. He did show surprise and exasperation when he saw she had joined Edgeworth on his flight to see them in Khur'ain, especially in Edgeworth's lack of awareness that his suitcase was heavier due to Trucy hiding within. Phoenix has voiced his concern about Trucy's choice of magic props, namely her "magic panties", especially since her magic shows involve her displaying said panties to strangers. However, he claims that he does not want to say anything regarding the issue to her, partly because he has let her get away with it for so long that he does not wish to spoil her fun, but also because he does not want to waste the "expensive panties" he brought for her. Reputation & legacy: Wright was well known for his bluffing tactics and his unwavering determination in the courtroom, both of which he inherited from Mia Fey. Wright would stubbornly cling onto anything that could help his case, such as an inconsistency between the evidence and the claims of the prosecution and/or the witness or a seemingly insignificant clue. Wright would often not know where his logic was going and would make a story up and back it up with evidence or logic as requested as he went along. Nonetheless, depending on how much attention he paid to the court record, his version of the murder would usually turn out to be true eventually. Wright has also used tactics that would be considered bizarre by many (such as cross-examining animals), but which have regardless eventually led him to the truth in his cases. Wright has also occasionally tricked witnesses into implicating themselves for the crime in question. Wright was also known for the clever lines he delivered while making his stand, though one was stolen off of Mia Fey. However, such tactics have given Wright somewhat of a poor reputation among some of his enemies, such as Kristoph Gavin and Furio Tigre. Gavin has gone so far as to call Wright "a second-rate attorney”. Nonetheless, he was generally renowned for winning seemingly unwinnable cases. Wright's disbarment tarnished this reputation, with the media being quick to call him a "crooked attorney", but regardless, he and even his law firm have been referred to as "legendary" in certain circles, even in the criminal underworld. The judicial system was apparently forgiving enough to allow Wright to head the Jurist System Simulated Court Committee, even giving him the power to choose the case, jurors, defense attorney, courtroom, and even the judge used for the trial. Due to his uncanny ability to turn cases around, he is referred to as "The Turnabout Terror" in some circles. Wright was at one point known as the "undefeated defense attorney" by some people, including Ema Skye, up until he eventually suffered his first defeat. Despite this, his record was still considered impressive since most defense attorneys would struggle to get a single win in their entire careers. In Khura'in, Wright became known as the Fighting Phoenix due to being the first defense attorney to appear in court in many years and win two murder trials despite the supposed infallibility of the Insights. Wright Way Lunch Angel Starr named one of her lunches in honor of Wright called the "Wright Way Lunch". Apparently, the top tastes as bitter as defeat but the bottom is as sweet as victory; Starr has suggested to "be careful not to eat it backward". According to Starr, it is popular with kids around exam time due to its turnabout theme. Physical trauma: Wright has endured a large amount of physical trauma. He is often viewed by others as incredibly lucky for surviving some of his experiences, and hardy for taking the physical abuse he experiences in court so well. He has chewed and swallowed a necklace made of metal and glass that also potentially contained small traces of a fatal poison, with no ill repercussions afterwards. He has been physically assaulted by a murderer, almost taken out by mobsters, shocked by a 600,000 volt stun gun, hit over the head with a fire extinguisher (with temporary amnesia as the only consequence), had a tiger (playfully) jump on him, roughed up by a thieving monkey (potentially twice), punched and slapped surprisingly hard (causing in at least one occasion unconsciousness, and in another a nosebleed) by an 8-year old kid in multiple occasions, was (playfully) hit on the head with a ceremonial Shichishito (hard enough to bend it a little further than it was before), and had a near-deadly encounter with a loan shark. He also once fell from a 40-foot cliff into a fast-flowing river - one notorious for washing its victims away, never to be seen again - in the middle of winter while being also out of breath following a 15-minute run, only to escape with a fever that just left him bedridden for two nights. Shortly after, Wright was somewhat forced to go through Hazakura Temple's Special Course all the way to the end, a grueling nightly training session consisting of sitting on a block of ice while chanting a spell 30,000 times, all while being showered in freezing cold water. In court, Wright has had a toupee thrown at his face, been frequently whipped, pecked by birds, had seeds thrown at him, and had numerous cups of boiling hot/cold coffee thrown at his face. After being disbarred, he was punched by Apollo Justice in the face, showing little to no reaction to it, and later hit by a speeding vehicle and thrown thirty feet head-first into a telephone pole but, somehow, walked away from the latter with just a sprained ankle. Unfortunately, the situation did not much improve after recovering his attorney's badge: he had tiny pieces of his hair sliced off, had his arm squeezed by thrown prayer beads, threw his back so badly he passed out from the pain for an entire day, was knocked unconscious and was then threatened with a machete, faced the possibility of execution three times (including on-the-spot execution via guns trained on him), was bonked on the head repeatedly with a royal staff, and later also punched, by an enraged Rayfa, and had paper airplanes thrown at him. Wright also has begun to suffer from chronic back pain problems, complaining about his discomfort on multiple occasions. Miscellaneous: Wright only knows the names of three different floral plants: sunflowers, tulips, and, later on, roses. This is a personality trait he picked up from his ancestor. By contrast, his old friend and rival Edgeworth has an extensive knowledge about flowers. Wright has terrible handwriting, which was remarked upon when he tried to write a name while connecting dots on a jar and when reproducing the text of a letter. Name: Japanese - Ryūichi Naruhodō (成歩堂 龍一): "Ryūichi" (龍一) originated from Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本龍一), a Japanese composer, singer, writer, and actor. It initially had no other particular significance until Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations introduced a character named Furio Tigre (芝九蔵 虎之助, Shibakuzō Toranosuke) — "Ryūichi" alludes to the dragon, while "Toranosuke" alludes to the tiger. The two animals are said to be natural enemies in Eastern mythology. This is referenced in-game by Tigre's jacket design, which bears the image of a tiger biting down on the neck of a dragon. "Naruhodō" (成歩堂) comes from the Japanese expression "naruhodo" (なるほど), which roughly translates as "I see", "I understand", or "indeed". It is usually used to agree with other people's ideas. Shu Takumi likes "naruhodo" because it is a commonly used word whose origins and etymology are unknown. When choosing it as the basis for the surname, Takumi also wanted to emphasize the most important aspect of mystery fiction, the realization that would make one say, "I see." English - Phoenix Wright: "Wright" is based on his Japanese surname. Alexander O. Smith felt that this was the only surname that would fit, due to how often it was used in jokes such as "Isn't that right, Wright?". He also viewed the surname as self-deprecating humor, so that Wright could say something bold like, "Yeah, right, I got it!" even though he does not actually get it. During Turnabout Memories, Wright introduces himself to Mia as being "Wright... Like the flying brothers", referring to the Wright brothers. "Phoenix" is a reference to the mythological bird known for rising from the ashes of its own death. The team considered the name Phoenix but did not include it in their initial proposals due to feeling that it sounded too unique and did not lend itself naturally to a nickname. When the other names were rejected, however, Phoenix was finally proposed, and Capcom accepted, pairing it with the nickname "Nick". Development: Wright is known for his unique spiky hairstyle, which he claims is natural. This has prompted various nicknames over the years, many of them disparaging (e.g., "Barbed Head" by Rayfa Padma Khura'in). His eye color is currently depicted as dark blue, but this has varied between different artwork and in-game assets. Background speculation Shu Takumi imagined that Wright was raised in an ordinary family in something like a public housing apartment, and that he rents an apartment and uses public bathhouses. He also imagined him as an assistant to a manga artist. Wright was originally studying art to become a Shakespearean actor and even possibly move to England, explaining his exaggerated animations. However, this aspiration was shelved on that fateful day when he read about Edgeworth in a newspaper. He also believes that a poor image fits Wright, especially in contrast to the rich Edgeworth. Original designs: During the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, Wright typically wears a blue suit, a red or China pink tie, and black shoes (wore dark brown shoes in T&T artwork only), with his attorney's badge pinned to his suit jacket lapel. During Turnabout Memories, he wears jeans, a red scarf, and blue striped shoes with his initials on them, along with a pink sweater that Iris knitted for him, which also includes his initials. Wright was designed to be the player's avatar, and so was made without a clear-cut personality or a detailed history outside the games so that it would be easy for the player to relate with him. Shu Takumi has intentionally refused to establish details irrelevant to the games, such as birth dates, blood types, or favorite foods. This is why Phoenix Wright's bedroom only makes a brief appearance at the beginning of Turnabout Samurai, and even then, only in pitch darkness. In the original trilogy of games, his often-sarcastic inner monologues are meant to be like Takumi's own thoughts on the situations being presented in the games. He was given his distinctive "spiky hairstyle" in order to provide him with a unique look. It also serves to give Wright a distinctive silhouette. In official art for the original Game Boy Advance release, Wright has brown eyes, with his eyes appearing black in-game. However, in the official art created for the DS release onwards, he has blue eyes. His eyes are black in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy HD and the current Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy on 3DS, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch & Steam. His hair seems to have grown more spikes as he has matured. During Turnabout Memories, his first chronological appearance, he has three spikes of hair on each side; during the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, he has four; and from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies onward, he has five. The difference between the Turnabout Memories and present-day Trilogy designs was to add a distinction between the stages of Wright's life. Additionally, his college student design has his initials ("P" and "W") as part of the design on his shoes in his full-body official art. In the games' Japanese scripts, almost all characters address Wright by his surname or a corruption of it. In Japanese parlance, one's first name is only used by family members, lovers, and extremely close friends. In Wright's case, however, even close friends like Larry Butz and Maya Fey still use his surname. The only characters in the entire series to call him by his first name are Dahlia Hawthorne/Iris (while they were dating), Desirée DeLite, Sasha Buckler, and Ponco. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney: During Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Wright wears a dark hooded jacket, black pants, sandals, and a blue hat with the word "Papa" in pink; pinned on the hat is a yellow pin with a shocked face, identical to the one worn by Ema Skye. Inside said pin is a hidden camera. He also keeps a locket with Trucy's picture in it around his neck. After he regains his badge, he dons a suit similar to his old one, albeit with the addition of a light blue waistcoat and the locket in his breast pocket. Takumi envisioned Wright as drinking and gambling for real, but others pushed back on this due to the game being potentially played by children. Takumi himself also found it more difficult than he had expected to handle such themes in the story. It was relatively simple to change the concept so that Wright simply enjoys grape juice, but it took a long time to adjust the gambling concept before it was finalized as playing poker purely competitively with only pride on the line. Of the five defendants in the game, Wright is the only one defended by Justice to not face the possibility of death during the course of his trial. The beanie hat was later retired, and can now be spotted in the office. Veteran attorney: The initial concept for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies was Wright's return to law. However, it was felt that his story arc had been fully explored in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations, and so his role was instead changed to that of the "newbie chief" of the Wright Anything Agency. His new character design had to be similar to his appearance in Trials and Tribulations, while at the same time showing how the flow of time had changed him. Many potential designs were put forward, including versions that had glasses, wore his pendant around his neck, wore a sweater hand knitted by Trucy, or had a small goatee. It was decided that it was important that he should be well-dressed in a suit, but even the design of said suit had many variations. In the end, the game's art director Takuro Fuse settled on making him a little older looking, altering his suit design slightly, and allowing a single lock of his hair to hang in front. The lock of hair was meant to add a little wildness to his design, while the addition of a waistcoat and pendant are meant to give an additional air of maturity. The balance between his face and expressions was also tweaked in the illustrations and 3D models for the game. The game's scenario director, Takeshi Yamazaki, felt that Wright is the embodiment of the "revival" theme of Dual Destinies. The main clothing color themes of Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice, and Athena Cykes are the three primary colors (blue, red, and yellow, respectively).