#i love how almost blink-and-youll-miss-it her characterization is

[battybiologist]

Playing the Original Trilogy Ace Attorney games back to back, it really struck me as early as 2-2 how much Franziska is very bad at the whole "Demon Prosecutor" schtick

What made Edgeworth so tough isn't just how he would run logic circles around you, but also because he shut down every line of inquiry that was not directly related to the case and substantiated with hard evidence. His one weakness was that he still followed the due proceedings of court and the Judge's rulings without a fuss. And, you know, that he still had morals

Manfred von Karma is on a whole other level. He's even more ruthless than Edgeworth, but he's also so intimidating that he essentially takes over as judge in the beginning, and his moral compass was surgically removed because it hurt his shoulder.

But Franziska, while she also controls the social dynamics of the court, lets so much shit fly that Edgeworth would not. If he was the prosecutor, he would have needed hard evidence that Pearl was in the Winding Path, and he definitely wouldn't have let him badger Ini about the sports car she drove all those years ago.

Hell, Edgeworth's most common dirty tactic in the first game is concluding a cross-examination before you can squeeze the info out of the witness. And just in 2-2, Franziska lets, and sometimes forces, the cross-examinations to continue, even when said cross-examination reveals she was concealing evidence.

Even Winston Payne, the jobber prosecutor par excellence, is more ruthless than her IIRC, as in he tried to conclude a trial early before Phoenix could finish his reasoning, whereas the Judge literally tried to declare Maya guilty and Franziska objected

You could interpret this behaviour in many ways. In fact, Phoenix even gives us his own: he thinks she's being arrogant, à la "hit me with your best shot". It would track, as she's been pretty arrogant up until now, but I think it's a little shallow.

My own interpretation goes a little deeper into Franziska's character: We know Franziska has been raised by Manfred "my card PIN is 0001 because I'm number 1" von Karma to believe perfection is the ultimate goal. She HATES lying witnesses, but is perfectly fine with "preparing" testimonies. She's the most volatile and youngest prosecutor to date. Lastly, she felt pressure to live up to the von Karma name all her life, but when her father died, she was more concerned with Edgeworth's presumed death than it

My conclusion: Franziska's truest desire pre-character development is to win fair and square, but because she associates her father with victory, she forces herself to emulate him and tries to play dirty. All of her Manfred-like tactics are done outside of court, where she would be able to think it over, letting her conditioning kick in. But in the thick of legal battle, especially facing Phoenix Wright, who thrives on hectic trials, she would let her heart decide what to do.

#justice for all spoilers #ace attorney #franziska von karma #pwaa spoilers #jfa spoilers #phoenix wright ace attorney spoilers #ace attorney original trilogy spoilers #ace attorney spoilers #i love how almost blink-and-youll-miss-it her characterization is