Character

The Judge

裁判長

The Judge (裁判長 Saibanchō) is the same character during the majority of the Ace Attorney games. He rules on objections, examines the evidence, and calls on witnesses to take the stand. He is easily swayed by other people's opinions and feelings (which apparently resulted in him getting the nickname "Judge Fickle" according to the first case of Trials and Tribulations), and can also be quite clueless at times, requiring either the prosecution or defense to explain the facts. It is claimed that he has never gotten the verdict wrong and has been dubbed "The Great Judgini" as a result. Damon Gant seems to be friends with him, calling him "Udgey" and mentioning them going swimming and playing golf together. He claims he was called "The Great Poker-Head of Courtroom No.3" in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, but Apollo reckons he means poker-face. The regular Judge has a brother, who is also a judge in the same district and appears in cases 2, 4 and 5 of Trials and Tribulations; his brother has a blonde beard and speaks with a Canadian accent in the English localization. The Judge also seems to have difficulty understanding, or possibly hearing the other characters, and often mistakes things Phoenix and Apollo say in the courtroom, and often remaining on the subject for some time. For example, in Justice for All Phoenix presents a bandana as evidence in the game's third episode, but The Judge mishears the evidence's description and begins calling it a banana. Even despite Phoenix re-explaining the evidence to him, he still continues with the banana idea, thinking that the bandana is banana scented. Apollo has no better luck, and ends up explaining extremely simple things to the Judge, such as nail polish or digital cameras. During the fourth case of Ace Attorney Investigations, the Judge is questioned as a witness to corroborate Detective Gumshoe's claim that he was standing in the hallway when the incident takes place. While not physically appearing in Ace Attorney Investigations 2, Edgeworth makes reference to the Judge during a conversation with Hakari Mikagami. No one in the series knows the Judge's real name as he is always addressed as "Your Honor" in court. Wright obtains one of his business cards during the course of a trial in Justice for All', but is unable to read the signature if the card is examined. The Judge made an appearance in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in one of Phoenix's Hyper Combos. In Spirit of Justice, the Judge in Khura'in bears a strong resemblance to the Judge in Los Angeles, but no direct relation is mentioned.