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characteroulette · 8 months

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A study on prosecutors -- (previous) (next)

Second, Franziska.

Franziska is a really, really interesting case. Not only is she someone who is coloured by our experiences with our two previous prosecutors (Edgeworth and Manfred), she's also the prosecutor we spend the least amount of time in trial against. Her debut game has her headlining only two of the four trials. She gets exactly one more trial in the next game and even then, it's a single day and not even against Phoenix. She has the least amount of time to make her impression on us, and so every single moment she's onscreen has to count.

And boy, do they ever make it count!

Gumshoe is, once again, our introduction to her presence. I find it a bit weird that they leave enough room for ambiguity on whether or not Manfred's kid is his son or something. Playing with the player's expectations, I guess? It's weird but I guess it's brushed over completely once Franziska is revealed, so it's not too much of a sticking point.

But then we meet her in court and she is as absolutely as much of a menace as advertised. She's as much in control of the proceedings as her father, using her whip instead of his iron fist, and focused wholly on perfection. You get a real bases on what growing up as Manfred's protege would be like from her mannerisms; she acts like a princess, like the only person in the room with any importance, and she wears it proudly. You can't help but admire how much of a bastard she presents herself as. She's willing to get in there and do the work herself rather than relying on anyone else; what a first impression to make.

This is, of course, helped along by her dubiously legal steps. She hides the existence of the second photo, she presents a completely illegal photo only to then claim that it's not actual evidence she's presenting. Her brazen display of dirty tactics is infuriating, it's a reflection on her father's own ruthlessness. It even puts into perspective Edgeworth's own ruthlessness, though he certainly never stepped this far past the line of legality. At least, the way he was presented to us, it never felt like he actually did anything illegal.

The key point, though, is that she makes us feel helpless. About as helpless as Manfred did (and maybe Edgeworth in 1-2, though your mileage may vary on that one). Our immediate response should be to treat her just as hostilely, to suspect her of falling to some sort of ruin just the same as her father.

But then, day two of the trial arrives. And instead of fighting tooth and nail, Franziska starts to go along for the ride.

You might not think anything of it at first. Phoenix certainly doesn't. She's still biting, still snapping and forcing you to prove every argument you throw out there. She isn't one to yield so easily, she demands perfection even when you're unravelling her supposedly perfect case. And yet, with each push, she gives in just enough to allow you footholds. She sees your logic and doesn't discount it. She even follows along, agrees with you as you piece together this mystery.

She's more willing to work with you than you ever expected considering her demeanour in that first trial day. She's just as interested in figuring out the whole truth as you are. It really surprised me, going back to this game and seeing just how willing she is to follow your working out the mystery. She's so agreeable that second day that it speaks of some knowledge, some spot of light in her that flares up in defiance of every method Manfred ever used. She's still too close to the line of illegal, she's still willing to get into some dirty methods herself, but she's not willfully blind to the truth. She's able to understand that what you're proposing makes sense.

She's still a child. She's barely an adult and it shows that she's in far less danger than Manfred or Edgeworth were to that looming darkness.

(Is it her inexperience? Is it her headstrong defiance of falling into the same trap her father did? No matter the reasoning, it makes her less of an antagonist than she should be seen as. It makes it clear that we can reach her, that she's not someone to condemn in the same way we did Manfred.)

We can't really begin to trust her. Not yet. She's a wild card, she's still threatening to crush us under her heel.

But she has more humanity by the end of this trial than Edgeworth or Manfred displayed at the end of their first appearances. And before we know it, we're susceptible to being endeared to her as someone we could form an allyship with.

Case three is kind of a mess overall, but I appreciate Franziska's presence in it keeping these crazy clowns on track. For the most part, at least. She whips even Phoenix into staying focused when Ben, Trilo, and Moe would force us into a detour. Perhaps it's a smart choice in contrasting her with these characters, as it makes her a lot more reasonable looking after her introduction. Yeah, she did something pretty illegal to prove Maya's spirit channelling technique, but she's also taking no nonsense from these clowns and it goes a long way towards me appreciating her presence here in this case. (Anything to get through this painful first day, really.) I really can't blame her for manipulating Moe's testimony because she would have to be crazy to let him explain to the court how he saw the culprit fly off into the sky.

And then we run into her at the crime scene during the investigation and her motivations become loud and clear.

There was a sort of suspicion from the beginning, of course. Phoenix and Maya both told her that seeking revenge for her father made no sense and each time she made no comment towards it. She simply brushed it off and continued on as if they never mentioned her father.

But here, she explains it's not for her father she's doing any of this. It's for Edgeworth.

Edgeworth, whom she believes can't be dead.

It's a brilliant moment, really, tying her in a sibling rivalry sort of dance with our previous rival turned ally. It really informs how her mannerisms and her approach to trials can be so similar and yet so different to Manfred's. How she can be so obsessed with perfection and yet allow us to figure out the truth to each case. She's a perfect blend of both of them and suddenly she's the little sister, the one left behind, the one chasing after something that no longer really exists.

It's almost tragic, really. I started liking her in this moment; understanding a character can go a long way towards endearing you to them.

The second day of the trial is much the same as the second day of case 2's. Franziska is far too willing to allow us to theorise on what happened, challenging us enough to make us prove what we're saying. Her incredulousness at the reveal of the actual method of murder is warranted, but she can do nothing else but acquiesce to the truth of it all.

She's a sore loser. Another flaw in her perfect veneer. Where as in the second trial it was infuriating, this time it's enough to make you feel sorry for her. Someone overstepped her authority, she shot herself in the foot by figuring out the truth and trapping the true culprit in an unwinnable scenario. It was Edgeworth pulling some strings, but she still went right along with it, convinced she was absolutely right.

Thus, we come to the final case of her debut.

It should have been suspicious, looking back, how much of her we saw during the initial investigation. She's running herself to overdrive in order to win this case. Her previous two losses sting far too much; she's willing to fire Gumshoe for it, to charge recklessly ahead, to make a deal that could have killed a woman just to get her victory. Her complicated relationship with Edgeworth comes out in full force with his appearance and oof there is so much good stuff there with him and Phoenix in this scene. (As an aside, I really love how this case portrays Phoenix barely holding himself back from having a panic attack when Maya is kidnapped. It's so good how it portrays his vision going, how it portrays him freezing up, how he can barely hold himself together. Chef's kiss, delicious, I love it, that's got nothing to do with Franziska's character portrayal lol.) She is continually running away from us in this investigation and it shows how doggedly she's working on setting up all her pieces just to topple us.

And, hey! You know the quickest way to endear us to someone we're nearly convinced on? Just have them get shot!

In all seriousness, it is a shocking moment, hearing that De Killer's "gift" to us was having her shot. It sets up an immediate reversal of roles; yes, we never planned for this, we didn't even ask for this, but we're the ones employing the barely legal tactics now. We're the ones who have some dirty methods clinging to the backs of our minds in our efforts to win at all costs.

Being cast in the same light as she was in that second trial is another great moment of understanding. Suddenly, you can't fully blame her for what she does. Condemning her would mean condemning ourselves, even when the circumstances are vastly different. At least, that's certainly how I felt. I can't blame her for her illegal tactics when I'm out here with a gun to my head. It's the same sort of pressure, isn't it? To be hounded by an perfectionist who accepts only victory. To be hounded by an assassin with a noose around our girl's neck.

Clearly, Phoenix also understands this on some level. Otherwise, why would he take her flowers when going to visit her in the hospital? (Phoenix is such a kind person he's even willing to make nice to someone who whipped him into unconsciousness. Another point towards endearing Franziska to us, really.)

The ending of this case and Franziska's big damn hero moment really seal the deal. She comes in at the last second with everything we need both to prove Engarde's guilt and save Maya from De Killer. Her inability to understand our joy afterwards also speaks of a want for growth, a want to chase this light we've shown her, but her headstrong nature won't allow it. Her conversation with Edgeworth at the airport really seals the deal, too. She's become our ally, whether she wanted to or not.

Honestly, I think she's all the more fascinating for her stalwart refusal to admit that she's as endeared to us as we are to her. She's the type of character I've grown to love writing, so she definitely made her impression on me with this.

Her appearance in the next game is such a triumph, too. She's the same headstrong, defiant wild card, but she's accepted her position as our ally. She speaks of crushing Phoenix, of finally having her chance to battle against him and Edgeworth, yet it's undeniable how much fun she's having while we walk around with her. It's undeniable how she's working with Edgeworth in the same manner she did on the second day of her trials when fighting Edgeworth in court. She's here and she's going to make it our problem in an affectionate way.

Anyway yeah I love Franziska she's such a fun character.

#Momo writes stuff #Ace Attorney #Franziska von Karma #Essay time for Momo #Anyway I wanted to write this but went on a 2k Edgeworth rant lol #I LOVE FRANZISKA SO MUCH #SHE'S A FUCKING TERROR CHILD #I am a big fan of terror gals #Clearly lol #Here's my 2k words Franziska rant lol #She's so much fun believe me pls #JFA spoilers #Some spoilers #Character analysis be like #Literary analysis be like #Literary analysis brain goes brrrrr

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