Alright, time for part two! If you haven’t read part one yet (titled ‘Phoenix’), you should read that first! It’ll tell you everything you need to know!
So, just as with the previous post, this is going to be spoiler heavy. As a rule of thumb, read this with the assumption that I’m going to be spoiling absolutely everything about the games. Heck, maybe I’ll spoil things from other stuff too, who knows? Okay, I won’t, but you really have to be careful with this stuff. I have ruined many games and shows for myself because I didn’t take the threat seriously. Anyways, on with the show!
As you may recall, last time we deduced that Phoenix is a codependent, meaning he depends on being depended on. In the first post, I went through his childhood (an educated guess at times), and explained the principles of codependency. Step two is seeing how this affects Phoenix as an adult. I’ll be looking at key points in Phoenix’s adulthood and explain why he did what he did. Seeing how this is a case study detailing Phoenix’s life, it only makes sense to keep going in chronological order. So we’ll begin with Feenie’s college days.
His relationship with ‘Dahlia’
Dahlia Hawthorne. Just saying that name will compel Ace Attorney fans to grab a Crucifix. She has displayed her talent for manipulation and deception several times, literally driving men insane with her games. Everyone who’s played Trials and Tribulations knows her story and how she met Phoenix.
Dahlia poisoned a defense attorney who was investigating a previous crime she had committed. She needed to dispose of the evidence before the police found the body, so she went to the courthouse library and found the perfect guy to sucker into doing her bidding, Phoenix Wright. However, Dahlia’s lack of forethought becomes apparent when she finds herself stuck in a relationship she has no interest in being in. She can’t just break up with him though, because he wears Dahlia’s incriminating evidence (a bottle necklace) as a badge of honor and won’t take it off for anything. So what other choice does she have than to get her twin sister to date the guy for her until she can get the necklace back?
The ‘only’ flaw in that plan is that her sister is incredibly sweet, making Phoenix love her even more. Eventually, Dahlia’s ex-boyfriend catches on to her game and tries to warn Phoenix of the danger he’s in. In order to keep her complex web of lies from completely unravelling, she kills her ex and gets Phoenix to cover for her. And he does everything in his power to keep his precious Dollie safe, taking drastic and completely irrational measures to cover for her.
Poor Feenie. He could not be any more head over heels in love with this girl. In his eyes, she is the most perfect creature in existence. Dollie is kind, innocent, and beautiful in every sense of the word. He is willing to flat out ignore any and all signs that this woman has been taking advantage of him their entire relationship. Even after Dahlia’s true nature has been revealed, and he finally admits that he was just covering for her, what does he say to Mia? “That wasn’t my Dollie.” Granted, several years later he found out that it really had been a different girl, but come on. At this point, that level of devotion is completely unwarranted. By now you’ve probably figured out why he acted the way he did. His co-dependent nature reveals itself again.
He makes it no secret that he loves his girlfriend, just look at his appearance. He wears a bright pink sweater with big red heart in the middle. If that doesn’t scream ‘my girlfriend bought this for me so I love it’, nothing does.
And of course, there’s the necklace. A ‘symbol of their love’. A glass bottle of poison wrapped around his neck by a chain. Pretty fitting, actually. And then of course there’s his actions in court. Arguably his most memorable act during his trial was eating the necklace to keep forensics from potentially finding any poison in the bottle. Let’s step back and analyze the situation for a moment. Mia is presenting to the court a very strong, and very convincing, argument that Dahlia isn’t as sweet and innocent as she appears. Being the supportive boyfriend he is, Phoenix goes against his attorney to defend her dignity. So Mia talks to him directly. She tells him, right to his face, that Dahlia doesn’t love him. And then she tells him she can prove it. If there was poison in that bottle, it would prove that she was just using him, and that Dahlia was guilty. So to protect his girlfriend, he eats the necklace. And that says a lot. Think about it.
If Phoenix really believed Dahlia was innocent, he shouldn’t have had any problem with testing the bottle for poison. Because if Dahlia was innocent, there wouldn’t be any poison to find. In fact, if they didn’t find any poison it would prove that Dahlia really did love him. But instead, he eats the necklace. Why not let forensics settle it once and for all? Because he doesn’t want to know. He’s not protecting Dahlia, he’s protecting himself.
Think about what Mia’s doing. To him, she’s a villain badmouthing the girl he loves and making him think about things he doesn’t want to think about. She’s forcing him to face reality, to confront any doubts he may have ever had. Deep down, he knows Mia is right. But he refuses to accept it. In his mind, he’s thinking “No, Dollie is perfect. Dollie is life. I have to believe in her or I have nothing. I love her. So I have believe in her. Otherwise I’m betraying her. And no one would ever forgive me if I betrayed someone I loved. I’d be worthless.” He feels guilty for even thinking Dahlia might not be perfect. He doesn’t want to hear it. And then to make matters worse for him, Mia presents a way to get physical evidence that Dahlia was just using him. Words he could ignore, but it’s a lot harder to deny physical evidence right in front of him. And if there really was poison in the bottle, that would be it. Just like that, he’d have no choice but to admit the truth, that the foundation of his love was a complete lie. And he cracks.
Then things calm down. With the necklace irretrievable, that’s it. Mia’s case is finished, she can’t prove anything. Payne, being Payne, takes the opportunity to give her an A for effort. “Sorry things didn’t work out for you. But good job. You did everything you could, it’s sweet how much you believed in your client.”
And then, just before the judge can pass his verdict, Phoenix chimes in yet again. And what does he do? He gives Mia the lead that lets her take Dahlia down once and for all. Why did he do it though? After everything he’d done to keep Dahlia out of the line of fire, he ropes her back in again. Look at what he’s saying. “I’m sorry, Ms. Fey. I feel like I let you down.” “There’s something I forgot to tell you.” “Dollie was there….” Only then he turns around and says “Ms. Fey, tell them! Tell them Dollie is innocent!”
At this point, it seems like Nick has decided to stop making sense. This poor guy is confused. You can’t blame him though. He just ate a piece of glass. Poison or not, that could’ve killed him. He’s risking his life for Dahlia. He’s being the most dedicated boyfriend on Earth right now, and yet…. No one’s impressed. The people in the stands must think he’s a complete nutcase, both the judge and Payne are prepared to sentence him to death. The only person that’s been on his side this whole ordeal has been Mia. And now, he’s let her down. The one thing he’s tried to avoid his entire life is disappointing someone, and that’s what he did. Not only that, but Mia was trying to help him. Just like Edgeworth had.
But it was for Dahlia, and anything was worth it for Dahlia, right? Except maybe now he’s not so sure. The necklace was gone, but the doubts in the back of his mind wouldn’t go away. Not to mention Dahlia hasn’t said one word in his defense the entire trial. And then there was that moment when he saw Dahlia with Doug’s body. He’s starting to realize how much trouble he’s caused, and he wants to make up for it. So he tells Mia about that thing he “forgot”. (You know, like a little kid that ‘forgot’ he wasn’t allowed to draw on the walls or take candy without asking.) But he stills wants to believe that Dahlia is innocent. He wants for there to be some other way to explain what he saw, so that he could get rid of the doubts once and for all. “Tell them Dollie is innocent!” No, what he means is: “Tell me Dollie is innocent!”
Except she wasn’t. Dahlia Hawthorne was a serial killer, and if Doug hadn’t stepped in, Phoenix would’ve been another name on her list of victims. That’s a lot to take in. But there was a silver lining.
Mia Fey
If it weren’t for the trademark hairstyle, you almost couldn’t tell that College Phoenix and Lawyer Phoenix are the same person. It’s like Magikarp evolving into Gyrados. (Even the color schemes kind of match. Huh. Just realized that as I was editing.) The obvious reason for this dramatic change is his mentor. Mia Fey was always a good hearted, strong willed woman. A good role model for anyone. Especially for Phoenix. By taking him under her wing, she changed his life. As a teacher and a friend. Phoenix owed Mia his life, but she never asked for anything in return. She even continued to help him. Just like when Miles saved him, and became his best friend. Chances are he felt bad about it in the beginning, and looked for ways to make it up to her, but over time Mia’s self confidence rubbed off on him.
This is the point where Phoenix is putting his life together, with a goal and everything. Becoming a lawyer wasn’t just about finding Edgeworth or making Mia proud, it was for himself too. He really wanted to be a lawyer, so that he could be the kind of person he wanted to be. While he never truly let go of his pathological need to help people, he put it to good use and his self worth took a turn for the better. All because of Mia. Even when she died, Mia continued to be a source of strength for him. You can see this change happen as the trilogy progresses. Phoenix is a nervous wreck his first trial. He can’t even remember the victim’s name, despite reading the case description extensively. Of course, it was his first trial and nervous jitters are kind of a tradition for new attorneys. Second case and onwards he made sure to never make that kind of mistake again.
Another interesting thing to note is how he interacts with his friends. When we first meet Larry, Phoenix is very understanding of Larry’s erratic behavior and describes him as one of his greatest friends. And when we see Phoenix interact with Edgeworth it’s plain to see how desperate he is to make some kind of connection with his old friend. He defends both of them in court as a way of paying them back for defending him in fourth grade. But after the first game, there’s a dramatic change in how Phoenix treats his friends.
These are snapshots of how Phoenix introduced Larry in his trilogy. As you can see, Larry went from being introduced as his BFF to a guy he knew. And after the first game, he’s shown to be just as frustrated with Larry’s immaturity as everyone else. Clearly he’s not as anxious about preserving their friendship as he used to be. He even got angry at Edgeworth for leaving after he saved his life. The debt has been paid. Phoenix is now able to take charge and speak his mind. He still deeply cares about his friends, and would probably still do anything for them, but not because he owes them anything. Simply because it’s the right thing to do.
Throughout all his trials, he’s relied on Mia’s teachings and his own philosophy as a lawyer to defend his clients and seek out the truth. The law was his path to self discovery. By helping people in trouble, he was able to establish his own concept of right and wrong independent from what other people told him to think. Phoenix’s trilogy features his golden years, he’s in his prime. Eventually, he even works up the nerve to handle a case completely on his own. But we all know how that went…
Naruhobo’s sketchy behavior
Anyone else not recognize him like this? Because my jaw dropped. So, obviously losing his badge shook him up a little bit. Unemployment is a scary thing for everyone. It’s actually been scientifically proven to affect people’s mental and even physical health. Not very shocking news, of course, as it’s only natural that someone with a well-paying job could afford better health care than someone with no job at all, but you also have to factor in the stress. Namely the effects of cortisol, dubbed the Stress Hormone. (Real quick for those who don’t know. Hormones are chemicals in your brain that affects thinks like mood and behavior. If you’ve ever been a teenager you’ve probably been told your hormones were acting up).
Studies have shown that on average, unemployed men are more stressed than employed men. I know what you’re thinking, “Financial stress causes stress? This is groundbreaking!” That was my first thought too. What was really interesting though was the effects of that stress. You see, stress is defined as failure to respond appropriately to threats. This reaction brings on cortisol, which prompts you to act. Cortisol is the chemical in your brain responsible for anxiousness and is the chief driving force of your ‘fight or flight’ instincts. Your heart beats faster, you’re more likely to make snap judgements, and your energy levels spike up. In certain situations, stress can be good for you. Say you’re being mugged, that’s pretty stressful. So your cortisol levels spike up and you do whatever you think is best for your survival; whether it’s fighting the mugger off, running away, or sacrificing your wallet. This would be an example of eustress, which is defined as short term stress that can be utilized to aid survival.
Long term stress (known as distress), however, can be very damaging to your mind and body. With long term stress, which is unfortunately quite common today, there’s no outlet. You can’t punch your SATs, or run away from your unemployment. If handled improperly, the effects of stress build up and can lead to high blood pressure, anxiety disorders, depression, the list goes on. But when we see our former lawyer seven years after his disbarment, he’s not too bad. A little rough around the edges maybe, but perfectly healthy save the ‘grape juice’ addiction. Of course, for the sake of being concise, I’m just summarizing all of this. There are several factors that go into determining how a person will handle unemployment and how stress effects them. But let’s think about how it would affect someone like Phoenix.
Being a lawyer is who he is. It’s what gave his life purpose and direction. And then he made a mistake that cost him everything. He said it himself, he was in a pretty bad place after that. He can’t handle his failure. He starts drinking, ahem, grape juice to numb the pain. But he doesn’t give up. He gets a new job even. He has to, because he has a daughter to take care of. After his disbarment, his codependent nature comes through again. He puts his pain on the backburner to look after Trucy. It makes sense that he’d feel responsible for her predicament, her absent father was his client when he ran off. So he did the noble thing and took her in. This is a good example of healthy codependency, a parent putting his needs aside to focus on his child. Some might not consider the alcoh- grape juice drinking poker player to be a model father, but one can’t argue that the magician prodigy turned out just fine. He kept a roof over her head and supported her aspirations wholeheartedly. While Apollo often silently mocked him for his lax parenting style, and we all agreed with him, he kept Trucy on the right track. She, in turn, motivated him to keep going. She supported him, never called him a failure for his mistake. And it saved him.
However, the old Phoenix is gone. When Apollo meets Phoenix, he’s secretive, manipulative, and his strong, definitive sense of right and wrong has become a little more ambiguous. Forging evidence is wrong…. Except for when he does it. Where does this come from? Did losing his badge shake him up that much? Well, in a sense, yes. But it wasn’t just losing his badge. It was the way he lost it.
Kristoph Gavin
The most insane, twisted, psychotic man in the Ace Attorney universe. He stabbed everyone he ever met in the back. Vera, Apollo, his own brother…. And Phoenix. Kristoph gave Phoenix the forged evidence that would cost him his career using Trucy. Being the ‘always believe in your client’ kind of guy he is, he takes the evidence without a second thought. And uses it.
Playing the game, it drove me insane when I had no choice but to present that diary page. I knew it fake. Because it’s a game and I knew the story and all that, yes, but there were red flags everywhere for Phoenix. Trucy told him that ‘they said to give this to the old boy in the blue suit with the spiky hair’. When this sort of thing happens, one’s reaction might be to ask questions. Like who are they? What is this thing? Why would someone give me this? Why would they have a little girl give it to me instead of handing it to me themselves? Unless you’re Phoenix, in which case your reaction is “Um, thanks. Guess I’ll just hang on to it for now.”
Despite being much more confident and capable now, he’s still trusting to a fault. Trusting people is what made him the great lawyer he is. He’s believed in murder suspects, why would he ever distrust an eight year old girl of all people? And when he saw an opportunity to present this odd piece of evidence, he uses it. He doesn’t think anyone would deceive him. Surely someone was just trying to help him defend his client. But nope. It was sabotage. The evidence was fake, and it was going to cost him his badge. Before he even gets a chance to process this, his client turns on him too and makes himself disappear. This damages Phoenix’s credibility even further, and shows that Shadi Enigmar never really had any faith in his lawyer to begin with. He had an escape plan all along, just in case the trial didn’t go well. Later, Phoenix faces judgement for his mistake and his license to practice law is revoked by a nearly unanimous vote. Everyone had turned their backs on him.
As a codependent, he takes trust very seriously. On the flip side, he also takes betrayal very personally. Remember, this is a guy that swallowed glass because he didn’t want to believe his girlfriend had just been using him. And through his experience as a lawyer, he built up a sense of self worth and security. He helped people, gained their trust and respect. He could tell himself “I’m a good guy, I can make a difference in people’s lives. I don’t need to depend on any one person, lots of people have my back just like I have theirs.” And then life spat in his face. He makes one mistake and just like that, his client abandons him, the Bar Association abandons him, and he’s left all alone in what used to be his law office.
Except maybe there’s hope. He has Trucy now, and there was one lawyer that took his side. One, single lawyer that didn’t vote to have his badge taken away, Kristoph Gavin. Maybe the law world hadn’t completely forsaken him after all. Maybe there was a chance to redeem himself even. A chance to find the truth of the case. So he befriends Kristoph and keeps investigating his case, only to come to conclusion that the very man that took his side was the one that doomed in to the chopping block in the first place. Kristoph, who had been Enigmar’s first lawyer, had the evidence forged so that he could win the case. But then the magician fired him. So he set up a trap to get the new lawyer disbarred. Out of spite.
This is the final straw for Phoenix. The one he thought was a friend had been lying to him the whole time. He had set up a trap to ruin the life of a man he hadn’t even known at the time, all because he was let go by one client. His faith in people, and in himself, has completely shattered. His mission changes from redemption to revenge. Trucy, the other one that was left out in the cold because of the incident, becomes his light. She needs him, and he needs her too. If Trucy hadn’t been there, Phoenix’s life would’ve taken a much darker path. I personally imagine it being very similar to the Bad Ending of Farewell, my Turnabout.
But because the little magic girl was there, instead we got Hobo Nick. Betrayed, bitter, manipulating, but he hasn’t completely lost his way. He’s certainly fallen from grace though, as Apollo came to realize. The relationship between the two protagonists is an interesting one. They don’t seem to be all that close. Even after Phoenix gets his badge back, there’s an obvious disconnection between the two. Which brings me to my next topic.
Why he ignores Apollo and cares so much for Athena
For his entire law career, Phoenix relied on a woman. Mia was his mentor, a strong, independent woman who saved him from execution. When Mia died unexpectedly, Maya took her place by his side. She supplied him a different kind of support, she encouraged him in addition to being a literal gateway between him and his departed mentor. And then there was Pearl, a sweet little girl who could brighten anyone’s day with her innocence. When Maya was kidnapped, he had to stay strong for Pearl. She made him feel strong, probably made him feel more like an adult. Then came Trucy, his daughter. Once again, he had someone to be strong for in the face of despair. In return, she gave him a reason to keep going. It’s clear that women have always had a special place in his heart. Even before he became a lawyer, he was willing to die for his girlfriend. That turned out to be a bad idea, of course, but his devotion is remarkable. It’s reasonable to assume that when he met Athena, he associated a lot of those past feelings of love and nurturing with her. It’s also been hinted that the two have a bit of a past, but so far there haven’t been many details on their first meeting. All we know is that when Athena joined the Agency, there was an instant bond between her and her boss.
Then there’s Apollo. Now these two never fight, but Apollo certainly rebelled against him in the beginning. They had a rough start, in part because Phoenix wasn’t his best self when they first met. He was focused on Kristoph and settling a grudge. The greenhorn ended up getting caught in the crossfire, which he did not appreciate. Over time, they seem to smooth things over as Apollo comes to learn more about Phoenix’s goals, but we never see them connect the way Phoenix connected with Maya or Pearl. Even when Phoenix gets his badge back and seems to have it all together again, he kind of ignores Apollo. It’s not that he doesn’t care about him, though. And it’s not just because Apollo’s a boy either. You could make the argument that his gender does influence Phoenix’s attitude towards Apollo, in fact that was my original plan, there’s another difference I noticed between Apollo and the girls.
Apollo’s an adult. Maya was a 17 year old girl who got into all kinds of trouble, Pearl was a little girl who couldn’t read, Trucy was an orphan girl with no one else to turn to, and Athena was fresh out of grad school. When Phoenix first met him, Apollo was 22, had already passed the bar exam, and assisted Kristoph with several cases. In Phoenix’s eyes, Apollo had come to him preassembled. He would help the boy out when he needed it, but he trusted that his new lawyer didn’t need him to hold his hand. Maybe he remembers wanting to be treated more like an adult himself when he was Apollo’s age. Apollo is a grown man who can take of himself and doesn’t need a mentor anymore. Is that truly the case though? We’ll look into that next time.
As you can see, there is much more to Phoenix Wright than meets the eye. But with a little digging, even his most bizarre actions can be explained. He’s a truly fascinating character, and researching for this project renewed my love for him. Honestly, I could’ve kept going with this, there are so many little details about his personality I could’ve talked about, but I chose to stop here because I didn’t want to make this too long. I already had to split it into two posts as it is. If you ever replay these games, you might notice those little details yourself. If you think I left out something important (maybe you think Apollo’s gender influences Phoenix more than his age. I myself wonder that. I might bring it back into my analysis of Apollo. Or edit this post if that sounds better), or if you think I made a mistake anywhere, let me know in the comments section. And if you want to see the materials I used for this, look no further than the bottom of the page!
Thanks for watching, I hope you liked it!
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-introverts-corner/201305/why-extroverts-are-so-needy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1646287/
http://www.whatiscodependency.com/7-parenting-essentials/
http://humanisticcenter.com/when-love-bites-the-awkward-dance-of-codependency/
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/co-dependency
https://ncadd.org/about-addiction/family-history-and-genetics
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