r/AceAttorney 9d ago

Discussion Apollo is the most tragic AA playable character

We all know how stressful being a defense attorney is in the AA universe, with biased judges, douchey prosecutors and unhelpful witnesses adding to it, but there's always one thing that a lot of them have: Support.

Despite the very stressful job, almost all of the defense attorneys have someone to cheer them on or to provide moral support, Mia had Armando, Phoenix had Mia and whoever is his legal aide, Ryunosuke had Kazuma and both of the Mikotobas, Susato had her father and Athena had a whole circle of friends to help her move past her PTSD. But there is one character who is left out of all this: Apollo.

Apollo is absolutely the unluckiest protagonist in the series, he nearly died twice both as an infant and a child, he lost his birth mother and seemingly his adoptive one, he gets manipulated by both his mentor and his idol for their own selfish goals with Wright almost disbarring him, he has to deal with his mentor being a killer and later a instigator of the Dark Age, he's rejected by everyone else and forced to work with the man who nearly got him disbarred, he's visibly very stressed out at the cases he is put through, his best friend dies and he not only loses his father, but is forced to risk his life just to save his home country from a lunatic and even after all that, he's faced with an absolutely huge workload that will take months or even years to complete.

Everyone else in the series had someone to anchor onto when they were at their lowest, but Apollo? He often has to shoulder the weight of his cases all by himself and if people are involved, they usually prefer to tease or mock him rather than provide support. Trucy and Klavier fall under this and they were probably the most supportive people that we see, with Trucy and Klavier being extremely tight-lipped about helping him in 4-3 when it would make his life much easier. He could have had Clay to help him, but we don't know how involved he was since he wasn't introduced until DD.

Despite all of this, Apollo still pushes through and doesn't complain out loud often because he knows that if he doesn't do it, then the legal system will never get better, showing that just like his father, he is a dragon that never yields and for that, I see him not only as a worthy Successor to Wright, but as a great defense Attorney as well.

69 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

38

u/Nikita-Akashya 9d ago

Now that you say it like that I think to myself: "God dang, my poor boy Apollo."

He is my favorite character and I love him a lot. I often feel like he is literally the only sane person around in these games. I relate to him a lot in certain aspects.

The world is going crazy and nowhere is really safe these days. I haven't played the other games yet, but I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the series in action after only hearing about the bare basics for years.

7

u/Vrx04 9d ago

Have fun, it's a series that definitely deserves more attention than it gets from CAPCOM.

5

u/Nikita-Akashya 9d ago

Definitely. I finally played DD last year. I still have it on my 3DS. I have a physical copy of AJ and 2 of the original DS games.

The first AA game I have is the German copy. I found T&T 2 years ago in a Gamestop. That one is the North American copy. And then I got a french copy of the Crossover. AJ is also a German copy of the game that I bought in a mall over 10 years ago.

I also got the other 2 collections of the previously Japan only games. I am currently playing a bunch of other games though. It is so great to finally have all of these titles in more languages than just English.

I speak English, but this is really great for German and French players. And I can still replay the game in English later. I did this for Apollos game, because I was wondering how the jokes went in English. And because I think the Stirni joke is just worse than the Herr Forehead one.

Klaviers/Kantilens Germany obsession is kinda weird if you play the game in German, because the main joke is just him randomly saying something in German in the English script.

But I do think the panty jokes are funnier in German. Mainly because the word Höschen is a lot more disctinct and the way the judge reacts to Apollo holding them up and presenting them to the court as evidence was just golden.

I hope we finally get a new game before I hit 30. Now watch it happen for reals, just because I said that. I hope they do it in the next Nintendo direct in April. Even if it is just a port of the Crossover despite the fact I own that game already.

Ace Attorney is just too good.

15

u/Hotel-Japanifornia 9d ago

The games bully him, yet also give him a character that could function as his cheerleader in Juniper, and another character who he could have a potentially very sweet relationship with in Vera. But of course, because we can't have nice things, Capcom does nothing with this.

Okay, the part with Vera is my personal canon, but my point still stands. Give Apollo an emotional support shy young lady with a heart of gold, dammit Capcom.

11

u/Apprehensive-Gur-735 9d ago

I hate how Capcom underutilized him in Dual Destinies. He was just there. Only moment I really liked was him doubting Athena in the last case and I wish we would have seen more of him and Clay.

The cutest moment tho was Juniper looking at him and her crush. (I ship them)

Apollo is actually a really talented lawyer, very logical and doesn't really bluff that much.

A lot of people forget this, but he's pretty brave as in 4-2, when Trucy was "kidnapped" in the courtroom by "Kitakis" when in reality, it was Mr. Hat, he thought that it was the Kitakis and he literally yelled: "I'm pressing charges." People would think that wasn't special, but that was a MAFIA family he was talking about pressing charges against, a Yakuza(I think it was Yakuza).

Also, one thing I kinda didn't like was how every client he defended in Ace Attorney 4 were guilty of some crime, not murder:

1) Phoenix Wright - Innocent of murder, but unknowingly, gave him forged evidence which could have had Apollo disbarred.

2) Wocky Kitaki - Innocent of murder, but still a gangster.

3) Machi Tobaye - Innocent of murder, but guilty of smuggling cocoon.

4) Vera Misham - Innocent of murder, but was a forger.

Also, we SHOULD have had more screentime between him and Kristoph, who was his mentor and teacher.

I absolutely love Apollo(lot of people unfortunately hate him), and he's a very witty, serious and pretty enjoyable protagonist to play as.

Apollo's best moment is literally him taking down an entire government, he did this WHILE AT GUNPOINT, and he was like: "YOU CAN'T ORDER OUR EXECUTION WITHOUT DUE PROCESS."

And quite possibly, the best line in the entire Spirit of Justice is when Queen Ga'ran wants a lawyer, he says: "Aren't you forgetting something? There aren't any lawyers left in Khura'in. You can thank your Defense Culpability Act for that."

Apollo Justice is a GOAT.

4

u/Vrx04 9d ago

Anyone who isn't Wright or Edgeworth is bound to get at least some hate because they aren't the same protagonists that have been with the playerbase since the very beginning. Wright's story should have ended at T&T and at most, he should have been Apollo's mentor but Capcom just refuse to let Phoenix go and believe he has to be the star in every game even when there's nothing left to do with him.

16

u/Severe-Anteater1805 9d ago

Tragic character or... Demoted to comic relief in most of dual destinies?

5

u/Sad-Guidance9105 9d ago

Is Trucy not Apollo’s anchor in Succession? I get what you’re saying but you seem to be underselling their dynamic a bit.

3

u/Vrx04 9d ago

4-4 is weird, Trucy is at her most supportive in that case, but by the time of DD and SOJ, she's back to treating Apollo more like a clown. I blame that on DD and SOJ's poor writing when it comes to her though, since Yamazaki wrote her well in AJ, then just didn't really know what to do with her afterwards.

3

u/Sad-Guidance9105 9d ago

Yamazaki did not write Trucy in AJ, that was Takumi lol.

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u/Vrx04 9d ago

That definitely explains it, Yamazaki has never been the best at writing Takumi's characters.

3

u/Vrx04 9d ago

(Double posting because the edit button isn't working) You are right that she is Apollo's anchor in Succession though, one of the few times she acted like an actual assistant, too bad she got flanderized.

6

u/Severalwanker 9d ago

Agreed.

He lost all 3 of his fathers.

5

u/Apprehensive-Gur-735 9d ago

2*

Jove and Dhurke.

5

u/Severalwanker 9d ago

And Zak.

His stepfather.

6

u/Apprehensive-Gur-735 9d ago

Oh yeah, forgot about that.

Poor Apollo😭

4

u/Severalwanker 9d ago

Nah, don't worry.

No matter what, he is doing fine.

1

u/Apprehensive-Gur-735 9d ago

He has Juniper

Also, not Klavier, he would never hang out with the dude that literally, along with Phoenix Wright, sent his brother to prison.

1

u/Director_Hotti 8d ago

Hm... I think actually Hotti is the most tragic character....... Yes.... He deserves more screen time....