Every Ace Attorney Defendant Ranked

As an Ace Attorney defense lawyer, it’s up to Phoenix and friends to put their complete trust in their clients until the bitter end. Needless to say, some clients are more worth defending than others.

I’ll be ranking all thirty-three defendants in the series. It’s worth noting that I’m only ranking them based on their performance in their relevant case – i.e. I won’t take recurring characters’ scenes in other cases into account.

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Rot In Jail

Needless to say, I regret taking this guy’s case.

33 – Max Galactica (Turnabout Big Top)

I’m tempted to say there’s not one good thing about “Turnabout Big Top”. The murder is underwhelming. The music is grating. The characters are some of the worst we’ve ever seen. And, as an extension of that last point, Max Galactica is the worst defendant in the series.

Did he do the crime? Well, no, but he did a lot of other very bad things. Pining after an underage girl being at the forefront of his sins. The whole “every member of the circus loves Regina” subplot is horrible, and I hate Max both in his magician persona and his true country bumpkin self.

Undefendable

The moment I finished defending these people, I forgot all about them.

32 – Machi Tobaye (Turnabout Serenade)

It was while replaying “Turnabout Serenade” for my Ace Attorney Deep Dive that I was reminded of how nonsensical Machi Tobaye was as a suspect.

In no universe should this boy have been considered the murderer. He’s small and weak, blind (but not really), and he doesn’t speak the local language. All things that the culprit of “Turnabout Serenade” probably needed to be.

Poor logic and writing aside, Machi is such a nothing character. He lies to Apollo the whole time, and his smile at the end is one of the least satisfying “troubled character is now content” tropes I’ve ever seen.

31 – Bucky Whet (Turnabout Storyteller)

A defendant so boring and forgettable that I couldn’t even find a YouTube thumbnail with him in. Clearly nobody cares about Bucky Whet.

It doesn’t help that he’s in one of the shortest, worst, most inconsequential cases – you see him for a couple of scenes and he doesn’t make an impact.

30 – Damian Tenma (The Monstrous Turnabout)

“The Monstrous Turnabout” is already one of the most mundane and lacking cases in the series, so having a one-note defendant like Damian Tenma doesn’t help.

The fatherly love angle works much better with characters like Dhurke in “Spirit Of Justice”, and Tenma pretending to be a yokai is incredibly cringe.

29 – Soseki Natsume (The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro / Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro)

Soseki Natsume seems to be a bit of a marmite character – players either love him or despise him. I fall into the latter category.

I groaned whenever he came on screen in either of the Great Ace Attorney games. He’s a bundle of energy, sure, but it’s the kind of grating, persistent, anxiety-ridden energy that wears you down.

I Saved You. You’re Welcome.

These guys should count their lucky stars that someone came to their rescue. They’re innocent, sure, but I didn’t care if they went to jail or not.

28 – Wocky Kitaki (Turnabout Corner)

Some defendants are so ungrateful for the aid that you can’t help but wonder why the attorney even bothers in the first place.

Wocky Kitaki is still a young boy who needs to learn the errors of his ways, but his mafioso personality could be overbearing at times.

27 – Juniper Woods (Turnabout Countdown / Turnabout Academy)

Juniper Woods was the defendant for two cases in “Dual Destinies” and she was the most forgettable character in both.

The most interesting part about her is the friends surrounding her. Her care for Athena, Robin and Hugh are the highlights of her appearances … but she herself is as captivating as dried paint.

26 – Terry Fawles (Turnabout Beginnings)

Terry Fawles was actually quite a hard defendant to rank. On the one hand, his death scene is one of the saddest and most impactful moments in any Ace Attorney trial.

… On the other hand, he dated an underage girl. Yikes.

25 – Albhi Urgaid (The Foreign Turnabout)

A timid, defenceless boy who Phoenix has to save at the start of “Spirit Of Justice”. It could’ve literally been anyone in that defendant’s chair.

Albhi is joyous and energetic outside of court, I guess, but he doesn’t do much in “The Foreign Turnabout” other than sulk and despair.

24 – Datz Are’Bal (Turnabout Revolution)

I love Datz. He’s one of my favourite side characters in “Spirit Of Justice” and he always added some comedic relief to heavy scenes.

In “Turnabout Revolution”, however, he doesn’t do much (specifically when he’s behind bars in the first Civil Trial). Apollo and company are far more interested in finding the Founders Orb and giving Paul Atishon his just desserts than rescuing Datz from his custody.

23 – Rei Membami (The Adventure of the Blossoming Attorney)

I’m glad Susato was dead-set on clearing her best friend’s name, but I can’t say I had the same conviction.

Rei Membami is a first case defendant so she doesn’t get much screen-time. It’s clear she likes Susato … a lot … but she doesn’t do anything aside from beating up the true culprit.

22 – Maggey Byrde (The Lost Turnabout / Recipe For Turnabout)

Like Maya, Maggey Byrde is one of those characters who you can always assume is the defendant of the case. There’s a one in ten chance she gets put on trial for murder after leaving the house.

She does next to nothing in “The Lost Turnabout” other than act as a sort of tutorial voice, but in “Recipe For Turnabout” she has a lot more going on. She’s a little annoying, sure, but her relationship with Gumshoe is very endearing.

Worth Defending

I’m glad a lawyer came to these defendants’ aid.

21 – Ellen Wyatt (Turnabout Time-Traveller)

Even though Ellen Wyatt was the defendant in a one-off bonus case, I was surprised by how effective she was.

What should’ve been a cliché and soppy story of love ended up being touching and very romantic.

20 – Solomon Starbuck (The Cosmic Turnabout)

Solomon Starbuck is a “wrong place, wrong time” sort of defendant. To make matters worse, he gets overshadowed twice – first by a dead man and then by the defendant of the following case.

He’s still a great goofball, though, but I always felt that Apollo cared for avenging Clay Terran far more than defending this guy.

19 – Vera Misham (Turnabout Succession)

One of the quietest defendants we’ve seen. When Vera Misham did speak, however, it always turned the case on its head.

She’s at the centre of a huge forgery scandal, and she even gets poisoned at the mid-point … which does unfortunately mean she’s not present for a large chunk of her case.

18 – Larry Butz (The First Turnabout)

Is it controversial to say Larry got worse and more unbearable as a character over time? Because when I look back on his debut appearance in the very first case, he wasn’t all that bad. Quite charming, even.

He set the precedent for weird defendants who make defending them a chore, but his friendship with Phoenix added some stakes and levity to courtroom proceedings.

17 – Iris Hawthorne (Bridge to the Turnabout)

There’s a lot going on in “Bridge to the Turnabout” – so much so that Iris Hawthorne becomes an afterthought at some points.

Her relationship to Dahlia and Phoenix are the most exciting and mysterious things about her, as otherwise she has a quiet and tame personality.

16 – Ryunosuke Naruhodo (The Adventure of the Great Departure)

Alright, calm down. I know this is a low ranking for one of the best characters in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles – the main character, no less. But remember that I’m ranking him purely on his stint as a defendant.

Ryunosuke was a very timid and underprepared lawyer in his very first case, but that can be excused as he was also his own defendant. All things considered, he did well not to implode under pressure.

… But I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t overshadowed by Kasuma in his first appearance.

15 – Orla Shipley / Sasha Buckler (Turnabout Reclaimed)

Is having an orca as the defendant a gimmick? Absolutely, but it’s the kind of absurdity that fits perfectly in the Ace Attorney series.

Sasha Buckler is definitely the more orthodox of the two defendants, but both of them are bubbly and silly characters that make “Turnabout Reclaimed” a brighter experience.

Don’t Worry, I’ll Save You!

These were some great defendants. In many ways, they made the case’s lawyer reconsider what it meant to be an attorney.

14 – Athena Cykes (Turnabout For Tomorrow)

It came as quite a shock when Athena was singled out as the likely culprit at the end of “The Cosmic Turnabout”, and we got all of our answers to her backstory in “Turnabout For Tomorrow”.

The trauma surrounding her childhood and her mother’s death was handled so well – this was one of the most haunting defendant lore drops in the series.

13 – Phoenix Wright (Turnabout Memories / Turnabout Trump)

Of all the characters to be defendants in two or more cases, Phoenix Wright’s appearances are by far the most varied. He’s fundamentally a different guy in both instances – noteably taking place before and after his famous stint in the Original Trilogy.

In “Turnabout Memories”, he’s a far cry from the Phoenix we’ll get to know. He’s a snotty kid with his priorities in all the wrong places, and his misplaced trust in Dahlia could’ve gotten him killed if it wasn’t for Mia’s professionalism.

The Phoenix in “Turnabout Trump” is also a far cry from the lawyer we know and love – this time because he’s not a lawyer at all. The years have not been kind to the series protagonist, and his shrewd, almost manipulative older “hobo” persona is jarring yet utterly intriguing.

12 – Maya Fey (Turnabout Sisters / Reunion, and Turnabout / The Rite of Turnabout)

Maya Fey is the only character in the series to be a defendant in three cases (if you don’t count how Maggey Byrde was accused in the first Investigations game). Is anyone surprised she holds that title?

She’s an incredibly vulnerable girl in “Turnabout Sisters”, grieving for her sister Mia. In “Reunion, and Turnabout” her vulnerabilities hit even harder – we’ve grown to love this plucky young girl, so to see her suffering so much is tough.

“The Rite of Turnabout” stopped Maya from ranking much higher, however. By this point a murder charge is barely an inconvenience for her. I never felt any true stakes, and she’s nowhere near as cornered as in her other two defendant appearances.

11 – Trucy Wright (The Magical Turnabout)

Like Maya in “Reunion, and Turnabout”, it was quite the juxtaposition to see the vibrant and joyous Trucy be put in such a challenging situation in “The Magical Turnabout”.

We’d never seen this scared and worried side of her before. If anything, this case finally made her seem like a real human being rather than a cartoonish little girl.

10 – Albert Harebrayne (The Return of the Great Departed Soul)

I absolutely love “The Return of the Great Departed Soul”. It’s a case that excels in every department – including its defendant.

Albert Harebrayne is a scientist who is passionate about his life’s work, and he’s crushed to see his work belittled and used for ill. Usually we make the defendant’s life better by the time the trial ends, but this is one of the few times where a defendant will never be the same after their ordeal. The harsh truths are what made his character and arc so compelling.

9 – Will Powers (Turnabout Samurai)

I surprised myself by putting Will Powers so high up on the list. I guess he’s my guilty pleasure defendant.

You’d expect him to be tough and gruff, but he’s a loveable goofball at his core. He’s just a great guy who gets caught up in someone else’s schemes – the exact type of person who Phoenix strives to protect.

8 – Gina Lestrade (The Adventure of the Unspeakable Story)

Up until “The Adventure of the Unspeakable Story” we don’t know much about Gina beyond the fact she’s a young thief and trickster. That made defending her a tough sell, but it was worth it by the end.

She’s a scared girl who’s trying to make ends meet, and she gets in over her head. Her long-overdue smile at the end of the trial made me a happy lawyer.

7 – Ron DeLite (The Stolen Turnabout)

Ron DeLite is a little crybaby weirdo who has no friends and puts himself in danger unnecessarily. I’d protect this little nugget of goodness with my life.

At first he’s whiney and loud … and that doesn’t change by the end. What does change, however, is my appreciation of him – he’s a huge personality and that’s exactly what this series should champion.

Worthy Of The Badge

These defendants deserved the best lawyers in the world.

6 – Dhurke Sahdmadhi (Turnabout Revolution)

Dhurke did more from beyond the grave than any other dad in the history of Ace Attorney.

He rocked up, he acted like an absolute badass, and then he left in one of the saddest and most shocking death scenes in the series. He’s one of those great characters that you’d choose to rally behind – both in a revolution and in a family.

5 – Lana Skye (Rise from the Ashes)

We’ve seen some defendants claim to be the culprit either because they were mistaken or they didn’t want the truth to come out, but no defendant ever seemed as conflicted as Lana Skye.

She asserts her guilt at every step of the way, and once the “truth” comes out about her sister – and then that truth is revealed to be a fabrication from Damon Gant – she can finally smile again.

4 – Magnus McGilded (The Adventure of the Runaway Room)

Only twice in the series is the player forced to defend a man who turns out to be guilty after all, and both times the betrayal stings.

Magnus McGilded is Ryunosuke’s first client in Britain, and little did he (or us, the player) know he was defending a monster. His personality turns on a dime once facts turn against him, and he’s the only defendant in the series to get away with his crime … for a few hours, at least.

3 – Barok van Zieks (Twisted Karma and His Last Bow / The Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo)

You may think it would be cheap to have the protagonist’s rival prosecutor be the final case’s defendant for the second time in the series, but Barok van Zieks turn from antagonist to friend in need worked just as well the second time around.

His standoffish demeanour and discrimination against Ryonosuke are put to the ultimate test, and his renewed faith in Ryonosuke feels completely earned by the end.

2 – Miles Edgeworth (Turnabout Goodbyes)

The first Phoenix Wright game has a lot of twists that feel like second nature by this point – like Mia’s death or von Karma being the culprit – but I’ll never forget that panned frame where it’s revealed to be Edgeworth on that boat.

It’s a crash course in enemy-to-ally storytelling, and yet they couldn’t have written it any better. By the end of this case, Edgeworth goes from courtroom rival to best character in the series.

1 – Matt Engarde (Farewell, My Turnabout)

Was Matt Engarde a “good” defendant? No. Of everyone in the series (apart from Max Galactica), this is the guy who I imagine Phoenix regrets defending the most.

But as a character, Matt Engarde served the narrative the best. His guilt makes Phoenix challenge everything he knows about being an attorney – Phoenix fundamentally changes as a person after “Farewell, My Turnabout”, and that’s in no small part due to Engarde’s delightfully evil performance.

Aaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: