Board 8 > Ranking all 90 characters in the AA popularity poll by if they deserve to win.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Spoilers for Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Dual Destinies, and Spirit of Justice beyond this point. They didn't actually sanitize the character list properly, so it's unavoidable.

In case you didn't know, there is a character popularity contest running for Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy right now, go here to check it out and to see the list of options you can vote for:

https://www.ace-attorney.com/aj-trilogy/en-us/topics/vote/

There are exactly 90 different entries here, and I will be ranking each one by how cool it would be if they got one of the top 3 spots. My criteria mostly boils down to these points:

Would the art they receive be good? Is there value in this character receiving new art?
Does this character deserve their due? Should they receive their five minutes of fame?
Would it at least be really, really funny if they won?

This is NOT a character ranking, which will become clear immediately. Although, of course, my opinions on the characters WILL impact the ranking. It's still a subjective list, obviously, just based on criteria that isn't merely personal preference for the characters themselves.

I'm still working on the list but I'll begin writeups shortly. I'm not going to spend more than one night on this, it'll be quick. I don't even know why I'm doing this I just thought it would be funny and I have to strike while the iron is hot.

ya go my nayna

i haven't even finished my first conversation with him, but i'm sure Paul is near the top

mike meekins for bottom

Tag

New Charley art please

NFUN posted...

i haven't even finished my first conversation with him, but i'm sure Paul is near the top

I'll avoid the big-time spoilers, by the way.

Lol of course there's a slot for Blackquill's hawk

Edit: Oh I didn't see Charley. Yeah there's your #1

Tag

Paratroopa1 posted...

Would it at least be really, really funny if they won?

This line is here for a reason.

1. Charley

this topic would have been. especially appealing to my 16 (or so) year old self who insisted on trying to draw every aa character no matter how unpleasant or ridiculous they were.

it went nowhere as you can imagine.

90. Phoenix Wright (DDSoJ)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/92438237.png

Obviously the worst character you could vote for in this poll, in my opinion. You're voting for Phoenix Wright in a Phoenix Wright character popularity poll? Come on, take this exercise at least a little bit seriously! Have a little bit of imagination! We ALREADY KNOW Phoenix Wright is the most popular character in the series except for possibly Edgeworth, we already have enough high quality art of Phoenix to last for a lifetime, Phoenix does not need any more accolades. He does not need this. He does not need this! And the worst part is, this isn't even his fucking trilogy! For the love of god, do not vote for Phoenix to win the APOLLO JUSTICE character popularity poll! If you disagree on this placement then we have FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT views on how this thing should go.

89. Sergeant Buff

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/1216ee73.png

Objectively an incorrect choice. Despite the fact that they said they were going to avoid spoilers, Armie Buff is RIGHT THERE, and voting for the drone that she pilots instead would just be an unforced error. They're doing Armie dirty here and splitting her vote! Don't let them get away with rigging this against her. If she wins, you'll probably get a nice illustration of the drone anyway.

88. Dr. Hickfield

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/2739b4ba.png

I... went back and forth on this one, I have to admit. Look, the contrarian in me does think it's FUNNY for the worst character in the series to win this poll based on an unnecessary cameo in AA4, but even I can't support this one. The problem with "Dr. Hickfield" is that they obviously thought this joke was much funnier than any of us did, and I cannot imagine the illustration for him being anything but cursed, in a bad way. There is no joy in the idea of him winning and taking one of the coveted art spots. There is no celebration, no real sense of whimsy, there is nothing but cynicism and spite in taking this path. We do not need to bring this evil into the world. We do not need to protest vote the cast of Ace Attorney in this way. Bury this man.

87. Widget

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6b87b7c8.png

I tried to think of the cool, contrarian viewpoint on how voting for Widget would actually be a based, awesome choice for best character, and I didn't come up with shit. Voting for a blue smiley face brings nothing to the table. He's not even really a joke character, the art here would just be boring and bad. This probably has the lowest ceiling of any possible pick.

86. Ellen Wyatt

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c5bf52f6.png

I make no secret about the fact that I don't like 6-DLC very much, and the utter blandness of Ellen Wyatt as a character is definitely part of it. She's pretty, but that's about all she has going for her, and the fact that she's pretty means the art of her won't at least be funny or creative to make up for it. What would we even want to see of Ellen, anyway? Ellen on her honeymoon? Ellen in the next five years of her loveless marriage to a steampunk nerd before a messy divorce? We don't need to see any of this. There's no good angle for Ellen, but she doesn't suffice as a good joke vote either.

We'd get more of Ellen ironing Sorin's underwear

Following the Sergeant Buff logic, Widget art would also come for free if Athena wins.

It'd be kinda funny to have a new art of Widget without Athena I guess, but that's a stretch.

85. Pierce Nichody

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7be18e41.png

Uggghhhh this guy's just such a loser. He's got such a generic design for some kind of steampunk butler and there's nothing you can really do with him. I don't even have anything to say about this one. He's just *barely* more interesting than Ellen.

84. Ted Tonate

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c137b36c.png

I'm actually kind of a Ted Tonate liker, but the problem here is that there's absolutely no blood to squeeze out of this stone whatsoever. He already has an absolutely lovely illustration in-game of him holding a bomb and looking crazy and I don't really think you're going to top that for a character who's already pretty one-note. Voting for him wouldn't really be a joke funny enough to be worth it.

83. Florent L'Belle

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/52c0ec1b.png

Uh... I dunno, I guess you could do some kinda Joker reference with this guy? It'd be extremely passe by this point. There's not a whole lot else to say about L'Belle, he's a pretty unappealing character with an unappealing gimmick, he's not winning this poll and we don't need to see the results of him winning.

82. Wesley Stickler

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6e520a3c.png

Well, at least I have an angle for this guy; Wesley Stickler, in a science lab, doing studies on Trucy's magic panties to see how they work. Do we need to see this? No! Should you vote to see it happen? No!!!!!!!!!!!!!

81. Sorin Sprocket

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a10d07ce.png

Much like the rest of the cast of 6-6, this guy also sucks, but AT LEAST he has a jetpack.

Paratroopa1 posted...

this guy also sucks, but AT LEAST he has a jetpack.

I have no memory of that.

Panties?! Again?!

Anagram posted...

I have no memory of that.

He actually utilitizes it on a couple of occasions!

I can respect DD/SOJ Phoenix in last.

Since I'll never have another time to bring this up again, there's a few lines after your first contradiction on Tonate where he goes "oops my bad" with this really smug smile. I think about that all the time, especially during certain work conversations.

I remember less about 6-6 than any other case in this trilogy.

Tag

I can understand putting Phoenix in last, but what I can't understand is why you didn't put Edgeworth right after him for the same reasons.

if charley isn't #1 the ranking isn't real

Also, I have to say that it's disappointing that Hotti/Hickfield got in this poll from a cameo but Gumshoe didn't. I guess even Capcom knows how much of a mistake that appearance was.

Mewtwo59 posted...

I can understand putting Phoenix in last, but what I can't understand is why you didn't put Edgeworth right after him for the same reasons.

You can never have enough smoldering older Edgeworth

Although some of these major characters got new artwork in AJT, which is probably another argument against them winning.

Leonhart4 posted...

Although some of these major characters got new artwork in AJT, which is probably another argument against them winning.

I actually didn't know this was a thing, so just assume that I was totally unaware of this for this ranking, because I was. This WOULD affect my ranking otherwise.

Some of it is pretty great, too!

There's even a wild artwork of a Dual Destinies fighter select screen once you complete all the cases in that game

Not sure what you get for beating SOJ yet though. Not done with it.

80. Bucky Whet

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7e982fe9.png

I only put Bucky Whet this high to scare the 6-4 haters. The best part is, you probably didn't even notice he escaped the bottom 10, because there's like at least three other characters that you're probably more upset about. Anyway, while I wouldn't mind seeing how things are going at the Whet Noodle, Bucky is both a pretty bad character and isn't even the best owner of a noodle shop on this list, so safe to say he's pretty bottom-tier.

79. Big Wins (Winfred Kitaki)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/654fab99.png

A big win for Winfred Kitaki? Sure... why not? We're outta the F tier options at this point. I actually like the Kitakis as a whole, but Winfred seems like the least cool option to me. He seems pretty serious about going straight and narrow, so his art can't be *too* cool. I'll get to the others later.

78. Ponco

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/51658792.png

Ponco's cute, I guess, and it could be cute to see her all happy and stuff as the space center tour guide, but is this really the character I'm going to advocate giving a vote to?

77. Captain Jack "Shipshape" Shipley

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7b8953e3.png

I can't say I would MIND seeing art of this guy in his heyday as an actor at the aquarium, but the idea of him winning instead of all the alive people working there is super weird and bums me out? It sucks that he died but we left the aquarium in a good place - no need to reflect on the past with this guy instead of focusing on the aquarium's future.

76. Jinxie Tenma

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6acfd2c6.png

I absolutely don't hate Jinxie one bit, so it feels downright mean to rank her this low, especially since she's a side character who could use some love. I just feel like she's a low ceiling pick. She's nobody's favorite and I have no good art hooks for her. Maybe depict her as a big wrestling fan? That'd be pretty cute I guess?

You'd probably get Jinxie fangirling out over her dad as a wrestler if Damian won anyway, so yeah, she's the lesser of the two Tenmas in this situation.

Big Wins too low. The bar for AA4 characters is rock bottom but at least he vaults over it no problem.

Also I guess Jack Shipley's nickname was "Shipshape" or some equivalent thereof in the Japanese version because they never call him that in the English version

Yeah, I'm listing each entry by the exact name they're given on the poll, so some of the names are pretty funny. I don't think they ever call him Shipshape either. They do call it the Shipshape Aquarium, right?

Yeah, that is the name of the aquarium.

Tag

I'm disappointed they didn't put Inga's full name so you'd have to scroll down 15 lines to see the next row after him.

75. Machi Tobaye

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/73b0c64f.png

Machi did nothing wrong! No matter what you think of 4-3, whether you think it's the worst case in the series or you actually realize the truth that it's actually the best case in its game, it's not Machi's fault that the game put him at the center of a murder mystery that makes no fundamental sense. Machi's an underrated character and I'll stand by him, but that said, yeah, there isn't really much upside to getting more art of Machi. Maybe we can get art showing how he actually could have fired the goddamn pistol.

74. Clonco

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c7d49f4b.png

Yeah Clonco is an utterly terrible choice out of all the available options in this poll, but unlike Ponco he does have a MURDER ROBOT MODE and I think that could be really fun to see illustrated, why not?

73. Clay Terran

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/37c7c1a9.png

I'm giving this guy a little bit of extra credit because he's an Apollo-centric character, and this is Apollo's freaking game, so it does actually make a modicum of sense to give Clay Terran some new art featuring him and Apollo. Do I think it's the best character to get art of, or that he would be a particularly compelling choice to win a popularity contest? No not really, but at least we're starting to get somewhere here.

72. The Great Mr. Reus

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/365f0108.png

I would say "wrong guy, idiot", but since we're spoiler-free and they won't depict the REAL Mr. Reus, this is your best shot if you want to see the Great Mr. Reus performing his magic act for... some reason! The main value in this is the meta-narrative of the hilarity of him somehow winning instead of any of the Gramarye family, and yeah I do kinda vibe with this as a lowkey good joke vote.

71. Larry Butz

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c89a1d2d.png

SIIIIIIGH. Look, it's not that I don't like Larry, or that I wasn't happy to see him return in this game. It's just that he's kinda only here on name value alone, on the value of being an OG character, and the lack of development in anything other than his art skills in 6-DLC was kind of a bummer. Larry wouldn't be a terrible choice for illustration, but he shouldn't win this poll. Let's get some new blood in here, or at least some old blood that feels new again.

Artwork of Larry in the style of Larry would be pretty neat to see, but not cool enough that he should be one of the top 3.

Great ranking so far, nothing I object to.

70. Aura Blackquill

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5c68ec66.png

Is this one a hot take? I dunno. She gets points for having a cool design and being a semi-important character, but nothing else about her really inspires much more than a half-hearted shrug from me. Out of all the characters who are kinda important in this trilogy she just seems like she wouldn't be a very interesting one to revisit. Like, an illustration of her would be totally fine, but it's wasted potential imo.

69. Amara Sigatar Khura'in

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/68e41006.png

I really can't even fathom why she's on this list. (6-5 spoilers) I mean, if we're avoiding spoiler characters, her very presence on this list is pretty much a spoiler, and it would just be strange to give her any kind of art considering this. She's a fine character who has plenty of art potential but she's getting docked major points for this issue. At least we could get some kind of confirmation that she's even fucking alive. Yeah I know she's in the credits roll but come on.

68. Myriam Scuttlebutt

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/36d753e8.png

Haha, sure, why not Myriam Scuttlebutt? You only see her outside of her box for a second in the game, and honest to god I don't know if I've ever seen any key art of her at all, so this is kind of a funny option. You could do worse.

67. Little Plum (Plum Kitaki)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/059f7470.png

I think we're all sleeping on Plum Kitaki just a little bit. You see the way she draws her sword on you with that threatening look? Plum definitely knows how to handle a weapon and she's almost certainly some kind of actual badass. There's potential here! Yeah, yeah, she's a totally nothing side character but she's not the worst totally nothing side character you could pick.

66. Puhray Zeh'lot

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9a8b4662.png

So like, here's the thing about this guy, right? He's apparently a member of Inga's secret police and he's like actually some kind of badass assassin who dresses up as Lady Keera and kills people? Puhray Zeh'lot... maybe kind of actually rules? Yeah yeah he's a goon working for an evil government but I stan a cool crossdressing assassin and we don't get to see much of him so you know, hey! By the way, everyone's talking about Gumshoe being missing and stuff but why is the poll so inconsistent as far as which victims were included? We got this guy and some other victims who never appear or say a line but some other random fuckos are missing, like Candice Arme, Paht Rohl, Archie Buff, etc. Not that any of them matter, it's just weird and it bothers me.

Paratroopa1 posted...

Uh... I dunno, I guess you could do some kinda Joker reference with this guy? It'd be extremely passe by this point. There's not a whole lot else to say about L'Belle, he's a pretty unappealing character with an unappealing gimmick, he's not winning this poll and we don't need to see the results of him winning.

L'Belle I think has taken permanent residence in my head because of a certain youtube video, but uh
I dunno, he's funny

65. Norma DePlume

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/719d1acf.png

Okay, okay, hear me out. Norma DePlume as Marilyn Monroe. Okay, I'm being told that I'm the only one who thinks this idea is funny or good. Norma DePlume is a character who I think is overlooked as being pretty funny, so I ranked her as high as I felt I could reasonably get away with. Come on, you have to admit that ballot-stuffing Norma DePlume would be very, very funny.

64. Ahlbi Ur'gaid

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a8037b65.png

I don't have much to say about Ahlbi! He's a perfectly fine character and not much else. You could depict him in the bustling city streets in Khura'in and it'd be a pretty good illustration. His ceiling is solidly middle of the pack though, I can't think of any good reason or joke reason to have him much higher.

63. Alita Tiala

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a3460c4c.png

I do have a soft spot for this bad bitch, but aside from that there's not TOO much you can do with her - she's one of the most subdued characters in the series. I feel in my heart that an illustration of her looking snide could be pretty dope, but not that interesting. As far as "bad bitches" go, there's some better options.

62. Geiru Toneido

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e6c437e0.png

Like this one! Yeah, it's fanservice, but it's still serviceable. Geiru's a fun character with a pretty good design and that's enough to earn at least some points here. Plus, 6-4 rules and you're wrong for hating it.

61. Drew Misham

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c1695897.png

The idea of Drew winning over his cute and obviously much more popular daughter is extremely funny, enough to make him a worthy joke candidate, in my opinion, but if I squint hard enough I can see the outline of a pretty cool illustration here - Drew Misham in a dusty, smoky studio, scratching out an illustration of poker cards onto a canvas, a haunted look in his eyes. There's SOMETHING there, at least!

60. Pearl Fey

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f79e060b.png

It would be at least kind of cool to see more art of Pearl as an adult, but as I'm saying that I'm realizing that this carries the unfortunate implication of "I want to see more art of Pearl now that she's old enough to be sexualized" which uh, shit, I didn't mean that! Uh, look, let's just leave it at "there's better options." I love Pearl, but she's barely in this trilogy, let's let someone else have a turn.

59. Datz Are'bal

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/52b2af4b.png

Dat's our ball! This feels like a really low ranking, because I like Datz, but the more I thought about it, the more everyone on this list either outclasses him as a character, would have a cooler illustration, or would just be much funnier to see win. Datz is kind of C-tier on all of these fronts, and this is roughly in the ranking where I'd consider the C-tier to start: every character here on out is either good or would be really funny to see win.

58. Aristotle Means

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7359a980.png

No spoilers, so I dunno if they'll give us the better version of this guy, which docks him some points - plus, Dual Destinies already did this guy a hell of a lot of justice, he doesn't need a new illustration that badly. He would be the funniest character to ballot-stuff - the ends justify the means, after all.

57. Yuri Cosmos

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8ffd3050.png

Consistently funny character whose space theme lends him to decent illustration potential. I have surprisingly little to say about him. I want to see him riding his segway into spaaaaaace.

56. Solomon "Sol" Starbuck

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/095c7327.png

Bullshit, they never called him Sol in the game. Anyway, similar boat as Yuri, except he can ACTUALLY go to space, which makes for some cool illustration potential.

55. Shah'do

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/03c57a39.png

Can you pet the dog? No. Can you vote for the dog? Yes. Should you vote for the dog? I dunno, I think the other animal options are better to be honest. Shah'do's no Missile. He is still a dog, though, and there is a high floor to that.

54. Nayna

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f224f5bb.png

If you ask me, Nayna has some pretty serious drip going for her, and that alone gives her overlooked illustration potential, which is enough to give her some points in this ranking. I just think it's funny to describe an old woman as having 'drip.'

53. Bobby Fulbright

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d1286e59.png

In justice we trust! Look, they're not going to do anything spoilery with Bobby Fulbright that would actually make his art REALLY COOL, so he takes a pretty big penalty for that. Art of the Phantom? Cool. Art of Bobby Fulbright? Feels like a pass, to me.

52. The Amazing Mr. Hat

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fcbebbc1.png

Hey look everybody, it's the amazing Mr. Hat! He truly is amazing! So amazing, that he got fourth billing in this entire character list, as one of the trilogy's most prominent characters! Solid joke vote, but tt's a little TOO obvious a joke vote to truly have the highest comedy potential, in my opinion. I have other ideas.

51. Miles Edgeworth

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/4f23abfd.png

Yeah yeah yeah, I know. Like I said with Phoenix at #90, it kinda sucks that Edgeworth probably WILL take top 3 in this poll even though this is very much not his trilogy and he's only barely in it. That sets a ceiling on how high I'm willing to rank him. But... BUUUUUUUT... it's the glasses, man. The raw sexual charisma of Edgeworth's hot dad glasses bring me to my fucking knees. Edgeworth is so unbelievably hot and I absolutely could use more art of smoldering professor Edgeworth over here. I would be completely incapable of complaining about this. Gimme. Gimme hot Edgeworth art. We're probably gonna actually get this one, so yeah. Boring pick but the upside is hot dad Edgeworth.

Paratroopa1 posted...

62. Geiru Toneido

Like this one! Yeah, it's fanservice, but it's still serviceable. Geiru's a fun character with a pretty good design and that's enough to earn at least some points here. Plus, 6-4 rules and you're wrong for hating it.

Objectively this would be the funniest winner possible though

Geiru would've had a shot at the top 3 had they run this poll a year ago (or whenever that Geiru animation that blew up was new)

I might be missing something here

I think they actually do refer to Starbuck as "Sol" at one point (it's part of his name pun at any rate). Just about everyone refers to him as Starbuck, but I do think they literally call him Solomon "Sol" Starbuck once (maybe when they're talking about the movie they made about him? It might have even been on the poster or something). At the very least, it didn't strike me as immediately wrong like "Shipshape" did!

I went through the same thought process honestly. "Phoenix and Edgeworth would be boring choices... actually never mind I'd be fine with art of dilf glasses Edgeworth"

I thought I was gonna knock this out in one night btw but it's probably gonna take two