Miles Edgeworth


 * "Edgeworth" redirects here; for the family itself, see Edgeworth (family). You may also be looking for the game Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth.

"Miles Edgeworth"

- It doesn't matter how many underhanded tricks a person uses... The truth will always find a way to make itself known. The only thing we can do is to fight with the knowledge we hold and everything we have. Erasing the paradoxes one by one... It's never easy... We claw and scratch for every inch. But we will always eventually reach that one single truth. This I promise you.

Miles Edgeworth is a Chief Prosecutor of the prosecutor's office in Los Angeles. During his first four years as a prosecutor, he had a perfect win record in trials owing to his willingness to do just about anything to get a guilty verdict for the defendant. His defeat in court at the hand of his childhood friend Phoenix Wright was the beginning of a series of seismic shifts in his attitude concerning his profession. He even quit twice, only to return each time with a fresh outlook on how he conducted his life. By the time of the Mask☆DeMasque trials, he had become an international prosecutor who had prosecuted in five other countries, as well as being known as the top prosecutor in his homeland. His goal as a prosecutor is to seek the truth above all else, and to use the power of the law to save people.

Early life
"Phoenix Wright"

- That's when I heard his father was a defense attorney. I remember, his eyes would shine when he talked about his father.

In early 2001, when Edgeworth was nine years old, someone stole his lunch money. The suspect at the time was fellow student Phoenix Wright, who had skipped P.E. that day due to a terrible cold. The next day, a class trial was held with Wright as the defendant. Everyone was shouting that Wright was the culprit, but both Edgeworth and Larry Butz, another classmate, stood up for him, saying that no one had any proof that he was responsible. The class trial ended and the three boys became almost inseparable friends. Edgeworth deduced that Butz was the thief, but admired the way the boy had stood up for Wright, so he let the issue go. Edgeworth would often talk with his friends about his father, famous criminal defense attorney Gregory Edgeworth, whom he idolized.

Miles was a very bright pupil and won awards in school for various activities such as golf competitions, writing essays, and playing the flute. Even back then, he hated the limelight and refuted all accolades and prizes he received. However, he broke down into tears when he failed at a task, such as his attempt at origami, and went to great lengths to ensure that his next attempt was successful.

DL-6 Incident

 * Main article: DL-6 Incident

Between December 2000 and December 2001, Miles would go to the District Court to see one of his father's trials. Gregory was arguing a case against the undefeated prosecutor Manfred von Karma. During the course of the trial, Gregory accused von Karma of forging evidence, and on December 28, 2001, proved that the prosecutor had coerced a confession from his client. Because of this, von Karma received his first and only penalty. However, von Karma still won and Gregory's client, Issei Tenkai, was declared guilty.

After court was adjourned, the Edgeworths went to exit the courthouse through an elevator, accompanied by bailiff Yanni Yogi. At approximately 2:00 p.m., an earthquake struck the courthouse and shut off the power, leaving Yogi and the Edgeworths trapped in the elevator with little oxygen. During the five-hour blackout, Yogi started to panic and attacked Gregory. Miles felt a pistol beneath his feet and threw it at the bailiff, hoping to stop him from possibly killing his father. A single gunshot rang out, and the young boy fell unconscious. The last thing he heard was a demonic scream that would haunt him for the next 15 years. He woke up inside a hospital; by that time, Gregory Edgeworth was dead, fatally shot in the heart by Yogi's pistol. Miles developed a deathly fear of earthquakes and elevators from the incident.

The police called upon a spirit medium, Misty Fey, to find the killer. She channeled Gregory, who accused Yogi of the murder. Yogi was subsequently put on trial, with Robert Hammond defending him. However, Yogi feigned temporary insanity and got a not guilty verdict. The insanity plea, however, ruined his reputation, with his fiancee committing suicide shortly after the incident. Meanwhile, media outlets found out about Misty Fey, and the resulting scandal ruined the reputation of her family. Miles subsequently developed a hatred for defense attorneys and spirit mediums, calling Misty Fey a "fraud".

Miles was then taken under the wing of Manfred von Karma, who took the boy back with him to Germany and trained him to become a ruthless prosecutor like himself. Through this, Miles met Manfred's young daughter Franziska, with whom he would develop a strong and shared sibling-like bond.

First investigation

 * Main article: Turnabout Reminiscence

After becoming a prosecutor at age 20, Miles Edgeworth returned to the United States with Manfred and Franziska to make his court debut. He got his chance when, during the trial of Mack Rell, the defendant accused the prosecutor, Byrne Faraday, of being the Great Thief Yatagarasu and ordering him to murder Deid Mann, the victim in the case. Edgeworth was scheduled to replace Faraday due to conflict of interest on Faraday's part, but before Edgeworth could begin his trial, both Faraday and Rell were killed during the recess. It was during the investigation of their murders that Edgeworth first met Byrne's daughter Kay Faraday, veteran detective Tyrell Badd, and rookie detective Dick Gumshoe, with the latter being a prime suspect for the murders. Badd dismissed Edgeworth at first, but the young prosecutor's logical prowess earned him Badd's respect in the end. Edgeworth eventually found that Calisto Yew, the defense attorney for the case, was the Yatagarasu and the true killer, but it turned out that she was also an agent of the smuggling ring that had ordered Mann's death. She escaped by shooting at Edgeworth, who avoided being killed only by Kay's timely intervention. Gumshoe was so impressed by Edgeworth that he swore to stick by the young prosecutor's side from that day forth, much to the latter's annoyance.

First trial

 * Main article: Turnabout Beginnings

After the previous false start, Edgeworth finally got his courtroom debut. His opponent was defense attorney Mia Fey, who was also new to the courtroom. His case was against Terry Fawles, who was accused of murdering Sergeant Valerie Hawthorne, a policewoman who had testified against Fawles five years prior to the case. Edgeworth's arrogance was especially evident in this trial, as would repeatedly refer to Fey's youth and inexperience, despite being inexperienced himself and even younger than her. At one point, he called her a bimbo without any major provocation. While Edgeworth has been known to use ad hominem attacks, he has never been nearly as derogatory toward a woman before or since.

Edgeworth used other questionable tactics in the trial, including intentionally withholding information that would prove valuable to the defense, such as the true identity of the witness called "Melissa Foster", who was really Dahlia Hawthorne. The trial abruptly ended in disaster when Fawles committed suicide on the stand by ingesting poison. Edgeworth would later refer to it as his worst nightmare in court. Meanwhile, the witness and true culprit left the court with a devious smile on her face.

Rumors of fraud

 * Main article: SL-9 Incident
 * See also: Turnabout Sisters and Turnabout Memories

Over the next few years, rumors surrounding Edgeworth began to circulate, concerning under-the-table deals, fabricated evidence, and illegal investigations. Edgeworth came to be known as a "Demon Attorney" in local newspapers. His old friend Phoenix Wright caught wind of this and attempted to contact him, but he ignored Wright's attempts. Edgeworth built up a perfect win record, and convicted some high-profile cases, such as the assassin Ryōken Hōinbō.

In 2015, Edgeworth prosecuted against Joe Darke for the SL-9 Incident. Darke was accused of murdering Neil Marshall, who was to be the prosecutor against Darke for a series of other murders. Due to incriminating evidence, Darke was convicted, but rumors abounded of shady dealings concerning the evidence. With all but one of the detectives from the incident being fired or demoted, Edgeworth came under even more scrutiny from the public. As a result of the incident, Edgeworth came to know one of the detectives, Lana Skye, along with her younger sister Ema. After the incident, Lana became Chief Prosecutor. Edgeworth believed that Lana was looking out for him for the next two years.

First defeat

 * Main article: Turnabout Sisters

"Miles Edgeworth"

- I object! That was... objectionable!

Edgeworth maintained a perfect win record until he met Wright in court in 2016, with Maya Fey as the defendant accused of killing her older sister Mia. Later, a witness, Redd White, pinned the murder on Wright instead, and Wright defended himself in court against Edgeworth. Unlike most of Edgeworth's previous opponents, who would buckle under his intimidating tactics, Wright persevered and kept fighting. Still, Edgeworth did not relent, wanting to preserve his perfect win record. However, White eventually confessed to the murder, and Edgeworth was devastated.

Second defeat

 * Main article: Turnabout Samurai

Edgeworth and Wright faced off again in the trial of Will Powers for the murder of Jack Hammer. The trial introduced the elderly witness Wendy Oldbag, who instantly became smitten with Edgeworth, much to the latter's dismay. Edgeworth's dislike of the woman was such that he did not protest Wright's suggestion that Oldbag was the killer. On the second day of the trial, Powers's innocence became more certain with Wright exposing more contradictions in the witness testimonies; the judge subsequently asked Edgeworth to reconsider his position. By the third day of the trial, Edgeworth was having a crisis of conscience. He forced the final witness, Dee Vasquez, to testify about what she had done after finding the body. This allowed Wright to expose a final contradiction that implicated Vasquez as the real killer. After the trial, Edgeworth approached Wright, who thanked him for helping him. Edgeworth retorted that Wright had caused him to experience "unnecessary feelings" of "unease" and "uncertainty", and warned him never to show his face in front of him again.

The ghost of DL-6

 * Main article: Turnabout Goodbyes

"Miles Edgeworth"

- So, you've come to laugh at the fallen attorney? Then laugh, laugh! Well? Why aren't you laughing?

On Christmas Eve, Edgeworth received a letter from Robert Hammond to meet with him at Gourd Lake. The two men took a boat ride to the middle of the lake, until suddenly Hammond swore revenge on Edgeworth for ruining his life, and shot twice into the water. He then fell into the lake and swam away, leaving Edgeworth bewildered at what had just transpired, thinking the man had just committed suicide. In a daze, Edgeworth picked up the gun the man had left behind. When he went back to shore, he was arrested on suspicion of Hammond's murder, with the fingerprints he had just placed on the gun as evidence.

Wright found out about the arrest and offered to represent Edgeworth in court, but he refused. Wright investigated the crime anyway, along with a worried Detective Gumshoe. Wright saw that the case had a connection with the DL-6 Incident and Misty Fey, and he returned to Edgeworth. Impressed by his ability to gather information, Edgeworth admitted that he just did not want to get Wright involved in the case, but now that he was anyway, Edgeworth finally agreed to have Wright defend him. Edgeworth knew that Manfred, the prosecutor for the case, would not relent for his sake, as he would do anything for a guilty verdict.

Manfred's relentless tactics allowed him to take complete control of the trial, until Wright's co-counsel Maya Fey, whom Edgeworth had prosecuted months before, persistently pressed a witness, causing her to be arrested in contempt of court. This action allowed Wright to turn the case around to adjourn the trial, and Edgeworth paid Maya's bail in return. The next day, Larry Butz put another wrench into Manfred's plans by suddenly bursting in to testify. This allowed Wright to pinpoint the real location and time of the murder, accusing the old boat shop owner of killing Hammond in his boat shop and then posing as the defense attorney in the boat. The next day, Wright accused the man of being Yanni Yogi, out for revenge, and Yogi eventually confessed to his true identity and the murder. The judge declared Edgeworth not guilty.

However, Edgeworth raised an objection, not to the verdict itself but to the murder of his father, whom he thought he had killed during DL-6. Wright knew something wasn't right, and defended him in the subsequent trial, which was set up immediately due to the statute of limitations placing the deadline for solving the DL-6 case on that day. Wright pointed to Manfred as the real killer; Miles Edgeworth had actually shot the prosecutor's shoulder by accident through the elevator window, and then Manfred had killed the unconscious Gregory Edgeworth in his rage. Miles Edgeworth was declared not guilty for his father's murder, and Manfred von Karma was arrested. Wright, Edgeworth, and everyone else who had helped him, celebrated the victory - albeit rather awkwardly in Edgeworth's case - with Larry Butz finally admitting to have stolen Edgeworth's lunch money 15 years ago.

Conflicted

 * Main article: Rise from the Ashes

Months later, during the annual award ceremony for the prosecutor's office, Edgeworth received the King of Prosecutors trophy for that year. However, he scoffed at the commendation as a waste of a productive day, and saw the award as a trinket that would waste space on his shelf. Police chief Damon Gant later requested that Edgeworth transfer a piece of evidence. Edgeworth thought little of it at first, however his car soon became a crime scene. Detective Bruce Goodman was murdered, apparently using the knife stored in Edgeworth's car, and Lana Skye was accused of the crime. Edgeworth was assigned to prosecute the case, but there were rumors that he only took the case to get himself promoted to Chief Prosecutor.

Edgeworth once again found himself facing Wright. Unlike previous trials, he concerned himself only with the truth, and picked out some contradictions in his own witness's testimony even before Wright could. Things became more complicated when Damon Gant appeared and informed the court that Bruce Goodman had been apparently murdered by Mike Meekins in the police department evidence room at the same time that the murder being discussed had occurred. The trial was adjourned to sort out this matter. Wright, accompanied by Lana's sister Ema, came to visit Edgeworth, who gave the younger Skye sister a fingerprinting set.

The next day, it was revealed that the other "murder" was not a murder at all, and the other "Goodman" was actually another detective from the SL-9 Incident, Jake Marshall, who was desperate to re-investigate the SL-9 case. Jake made Lana admit that evidence from the SL-9 case was forged, and Edgeworth subsequently came under fire again from the police department. Even though he never knew about the forgeries, he still said that he should have looked into the evidence for which he was responsible. He wrote a letter of resignation, unable to forgive himself for the career he had led, but he decided against it in the end and returned for the final trial day.

At this point, both Edgeworth and Wright suspected that Gant was the real killer, so Edgeworth offered to cooperate with Wright. Lana tried to get herself declared guilty, but Edgeworth ignored her confession and called Ema to the stand to ask her about the SL-9 Incident, as she had witnessed the murder. It turned out that Edgeworth had only gotten half of the evidence list, and Wright had found the other half in Gant's office. An argumentative struggle followed between Wright, Edgeworth, and Gant, and although Gant tried to implicate Ema as the killer in the SL-9 Incident, Wright came up with a clever trap to expose him as the real killer of both Goodman and Neil Marshall. Gant told Edgeworth that he was no different from himself, and that one day Edgeworth would understand why Gant had done what he had done. Nevertheless, he commented to the judge that "you can't go wrong" with Edgeworth and Wright around. This troubled Edgeworth; he still blamed himself for the results of the SL-9 case, and he feared he would become a lone vigilante like Gant.

Choosing "death"

 * Main article: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All

Distressed and confused by all that had happened to him, Edgeworth wrote an apparent suicide note reading, "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death." A bellboy discovered this note as Edgeworth left America to find out what being a prosecutor truly meant. The note led everyone to believe that Edgeworth really had committed suicide, and Wright ultimately decided that the Edgeworth he had known as a child had died long before, replaced by a coward who took his own life over a win record. Meanwhile, Franziska von Karma, having heard of the defeats of Edgeworth and her father at Wright's hands, returned to America, hoping to prove herself superior to Edgeworth by beating Wright in court.

In reality, Edgeworth had left America in an attempt to make sense of everything that had happened to him, and to figure out what being a prosecutor truly meant. He secretly helped with Gumshoe's investigation into the death of the Berry Big Circus ringmaster Russell Berry by phone, advising the detective to order a surprise search of Acro's room. Franziska, who was the prosecutor for the trial, conducted the actual search, but was furious when she found out that the search had inadvertently caused her to lose, although both Wright and Franziska were unaware of Edgeworth's involvement. After the trial, Edgeworth told Gumshoe not to be too harsh with Acro.

Return to America

 * Main article: Farewell, My Turnabout

"Miles Edgeworth"

- It's been a long time... Wright.

In March 2018, Edgeworth returned to Los Angeles and met Wright and Franziska, although neither was particularly happy to see him again. Although he initially planned to help Wright, Franziska was non-fatally shot the next day and had to be hospitalized, and Edgeworth took her place in court. Other than reliving the horror of Wendy Oldbag on the witness stand, Edgeworth had the trial under his complete control, while Wright seemed particularly desperate to pin the murder on Adrian Andrews. Andrews tried to plead silence, prompting Edgeworth to reveal Andrews's dependency problems with other women to get her to testify. After court was adjourned, Edgeworth noticed a card Andrews had absent-mindedly removed from the crime scene and recognized it as a calling card from an assassin called Shelly de Killer.

The truth was now clear: the defendant, Matt Engarde, had hired de Killer to assassinate the victim. Wright also told Edgeworth that de Killer was holding Maya Fey for ransom. Edgeworth agreed to help Wright, but in the meantime, it was now Wright's turn to figure out the true meaning of his career. De Killer was eventually discovered to have been staying at Engarde Mansion, but had already left with Maya by the time the police arrived.

As the the chase continued the next day, Edgeworth helped Wright stall the trial. Edgeworth eventually called de Killer as a witness by radio, but this backfired as the assassin claimed that Andrews had hired him. However, Franziska von Karma burst into the courtroom with evidence that allowed Wright to inform de Killer that Engarde had secretly recorded the assassination to later blackmail the assassin. De Killer swore a bloody vendetta against Engarde, who almost immediately confessed his crime to protect himself, and released Maya.

After Engarde's conviction, a confused Franziska left the country. Edgeworth met her at the airport and told her that he would not sympathize with her if she decided to quit her career. Edgeworth then left America himself to study international law. Ernest Amano, an old friend of Manfred von Karma, used his connections to finance Edgeworth's studies abroad.

Acting defense attorney

 * Main article: Bridge to the Turnabout

In February 2019, Wright discovered an apparent murder scene at Hazakura Temple, and fell into the nearby Eagle River while trying to cross a burning bridge to try to save Maya. Wright was taken to a hospital with a bad cold, but no major injuries. Edgeworth learned of this from Butz (although he was led to believe Wright's injures were much worse than they actually were) and chartered a private jet from Europe to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Once there, Wright gave him his magatama and attorney's badge. Edgeworth was asked to defend Iris in the murder of Elise Deauxnim in Wright's stead.

Edgeworth pulled some strings to have Franziska von Karma and the judge from his first court appearance appointed for the trial. This was done to prevent himself being recognized as a prosecutor in court. He then conducted an investigation of the Hazakura Temple area and, in doing so, he began to empathize with Wright and the hardships he had to endure. In court, Franziska tried to crush Edgeworth, but drawing inspiration from how Wright defended his clients, Edgeworth pressed on and drew out vital information from the witnesses until court was suspended. Despite experiencing the magatama for himself, Edgeworth continued to be generally skeptical of the supernatural powers of the Kurain tradition.

After the trial, Edgeworth turned the role of defense attorney back over to Wright and instead assisted in the police investigation, with Gumshoe soon finding the murder weapon. Iris's similarity to the witness Dahlia Hawthorne in Edgeworth's first case drove him to re-investigate the old case, but he was unconvinced that Hawthorne had anything to do with Deauxnim's death, since she had already been executed for murder. Meanwhile, Maya Fey was apparently locked inside the Inner Temple. Iris was called to remove this lock with Edgeworth guarding her, but during this process, an earthquake shook the area and Edgeworth's fear caused him to faint. This gave Iris an opening to disappear, leaving five locks on the door to the Inner Temple. Iris was later found and she began once again to break the five locks. Wright got Iris a not guilty verdict in court the following day.

Turbulence

 * Main article: Turnabout Airlines

After another month abroad, Edgeworth set off from Borginia back to Los Angeles on iFly Airlines Flight I-390 on March 12. During the flight, Edgeworth fainted as the plane entered into some turbulence. He woke up and opened the elevator in the plane to find the corpse of fellow passenger Akbey Hicks. Flight attendant Rhoda Teneiro discovered a shocked Edgeworth holding Hicks's wallet, and he thus became the prime suspect. After convincing Teneiro that he was innocent, he gained permission from the plane's captain to investigate the murder under Teneiro's supervision until the plane touched down at Hope Springs Airport, where he met Gumshoe and Franziska.

Franziska told Edgeworth that she was working with Interpol to combat an international smuggling ring, and that Hicks was an Interpol agent who had been investigating Flight I-390. As the blame shifted to Teneiro, Edgeworth eventually investigated the plane's cargo hold as the true scene of the crime. He found that the valuable Alif Red statue had been switched with a fake and eventually concluded that another flight attendant, Cammy Meele, was a member of the smuggling ring, and that Hicks's snooping had forced her to kill him in a panic.

Kidnapping

 * Main article: The Kidnapped Turnabout

The next day, Edgeworth found himself delivering ransom money to Gatewater Land, where Ernest Amano's son Lance had been kidnapped. Unfortunately, he was briefly captured himself, but Kay Faraday, now much older, found and released him. Meanwhile, Interpol Agent Shi-Long Lang took over the investigation of the kidnapping, and the Criminal Affairs Department was assigned to help him, so Kay filled Gumshoe's role as Edgeworth's investigative partner. It eventually turned out that the kidnapping had been staged and that one of the "kidnappers" had been killed. When Lance fell under suspicion as the killer, Ernest stepped in and tried to obstruct the investigation by buying the haunted house, the scene of the crime. However, with the help of Kay's Little Thief device, Edgeworth revealed the truth behind the murder and the kidnapping, and both Amanos were arrested. Lang revealed that Ernest had been his real target all along, for he was involved with the smuggling ring.

Deadly office visit

 * Main article: Turnabout Visitor

That night, Edgeworth returned to his office to find the body of detective Buddy Faith. He briefly encountered a mysterious gunman, who fled after the discovery. Officers soon arrived at the scene and Edgeworth started investigating with Gumshoe, only to find that court records from the KG-8 Incident, an incident that was related to his very first investigation, had been taken. Edgeworth eventually discovered that the real killer was Buddy's partner, prosecutor Jacques Portsman, who had attempted to steal a video from Edgeworth's office. A black raven card was also found, which Edgeworth and Gumshoe recognized as the mark of the Yatagarasu.

The smuggling ring

 * Main article: Turnabout Ablaze

"Miles Edgeworth"

- The reason for my eagerness is my want to pursue the truth, and my want to believe in the strength of those who use the power of the law for good. As someone who has chosen to live my life as a prosecutor... that is my new creed.

The next day, a Yatagarasu card appeared at the joint Allebahstian and Babahlese embassy, indicating that the Yatagarasu had returned and was about to strike the embassies during a goodwill event. Edgeworth, Kay, and Gumshoe attended the event in anticipation, and eventually several incidents occurred: the Babahlese Embassy experienced two fires; Manny Coachen was stabbed to death; the Yatagarasu's shadow appeared in the Allebahstian Embassy's rose garden; and a thief was killed in Allebahstian Ambassador Quercus Alba's office. Edgeworth gave himself the legal privilege to investigate these incidents by placing himself under Franziska's command, effectively making him a part of Interpol's investigation of the incidents.

Edgeworth eventually found himself confronting Shi-Long Lang's top subordinate, Shih-na, who turned out to be the woman previously calling herself "Calisto Yew", and discovered that she had assisted in the murders by setting the fires. It also turned out that the Yatagarasu had really been a three-person operation also consisting of Tyrell Badd and Byrne Faraday, though "Yew" had been a mole working for the smuggling ring the entire time. Badd then revealed that he had been the mysterious gunman in his office the previous day, gave Edgeworth the stolen KG-8 evidence that the detective had taken from Ernest Amano, and handed over the directives card that had ordered Coachen to kill Cece Yew. Though this evidence from Badd was illegal, Edgeworth decided that this apparent limitation of the law was humanly imposed, and that he would have to go beyond it to arrest the mastermind behind the killings and the smuggling ring. Edgeworth and Lang confronted Alba, who invoked his right as an ambassador to stand trial in his own country. In response, Lang called the imperial household of Allebahst and used the evidence that Edgeworth had found to convince the household to strip Alba of his ambassadorship. After a long and grueling argument, and with the help of Gumshoe, Kay, Larry Butz, and Wendy Oldbag, Edgeworth finally took down the leader of the smuggling ring and brought him before the American courts to pay for his crimes.

Fake assassination attempt

 * Main article: Turnabout Target

A week later, on March 25, Teikun Ō, the president of Zheng Fa, held an event at Gourd Lake to thank the United States for bringing down the crime syndicate that had ravaged his country for years. However, the event became an investigation of an assassination, and the Chief Prosecutor called Edgeworth to the task. The president tried to hand the investigation over to the Zheng Fa police, but Shelly de Killer held bodyguard Manosuke Naitō hostage with a knife and coerced him into letting Edgeworth into the president's plane, where bodyguard Gai Tojiro had been murdered. De Killer had indeed been hired to assassinate the president, but he had not been responsible for any of the events of that day. Edgeworth went on to prove that the assassination attempt had been faked, and that Naitō had killed his fellow bodyguard out of jealousy.

The Prosecutorial Investigation Committee

 * Main article: Gyakuten Kenji 2

Defense attorney's assistant

 * Main article: The Imprisoned Turnabout

On March 27, Edgeworth visited the detention center to see Naitō, only to find that he had been murdered. He tried to investigate the crime, but the Prosecutorial Investigation Committee (P.I.C.) had other plans. Judge Hakari Mikagami was sent to hand over Edgeworth's investigative authority to Yumihiko Ichiyanagi, claiming that Edgeworth had stepped out of line by boarding the president's plane and ordering a search of the president's officials. Edgeworth suspected that the incident was being tampered with, and to this end, he resolved to act as an assistant to Naitō's intended attorney, Tateyuki Shigaraki, who was a former assistant of his father and the current owner of Edgeworth Law Offices. Shigaraki refused this offer at first, but Gumshoe and Faraday convinced him that Edgeworth had abandoned Manfred von Karma's teachings.

Mikagami and Ichiyanagi accused Sōta Sarushiro, an animal trainer working for the Berry Big Circus and Naitō's childhood friend, and Shigaraki took on Sarushiro's defense. The next two days had Edgeworth encounter an incarcerated Ryōken Hōinbō and endure repeated threats by Mikagami to take away his badge. However, in the end, Edgeworth found prison director Marī Miwa responsible for the crime, and she was arrested. Shigaraki realized that Edgeworth really had changed, and offered him a position in Edgeworth Law Offices as a defense attorney.

Gregory's last case

 * Main article: The Inherited Turnabout

On April 2, Shigaraki invited Edgeworth to the Zodiac Art Gallery, which featured alleged replicas of frozen sherbet sculptures that had gone missing during Gregory's last case, the IS-7 Incident. There, Yutaka Kazami, a witnesses from the IS-7 Incident, fell victim to a poison gas trap, though he survived. Later, the body of the victim from IS-7 was found in the lobby fountain. It became clear that the poison gas incident was connected to the IS-7 Incident. Using information from that incident as well as his own logic, Edgeworth discovered that the person behind the attempted poisoning was gallery director Tsukasa Oyashiki, who wanted to catch the true culprit behind the IS-7 Incident. Kazami was confronted and, though the statute of limitations was supposed to prevent him from being arrested, additional stipulations allowed the time limit to be extended. Part of this extension was due to the fact that Tenkai had been convicted as an accomplice, exposing a contradiction in the law that Shigaraki would have to deal with in Tenkai's retrial.

Resignation

 * Main article: The Forgotten Turnabout

On April 5, Faraday was found injured in the Big Tower, suffering from severe amnesia. She was accused of murdering Tsubasa Kagome in the P.I.C. meeting room, with Bansai Ichiyanagi, the chair of the P.I.C., threatening Edgeworth's badge if he continued to resist the Committee and protect Faraday. This was the last straw for Edgeworth, who resigned knowing that his position as a prosecutor was stopping him from confronting the P.I.C. Edgeworth conducted an investigation with Shigaraki and Faraday in secret, eventually finding a hidden storage room for evidence being sold off in a black market auction. However, they were eventually caught, and both Edgeworth and Faraday were arrested.

The next day, Mikagami visited Edgeworth to find out his motives behind his actions. Bansai Ichiyanagi also visited him, and Edgeworth took this opportunity to get Bansai to admit that he had manipulated the case to have Faraday arrested. Later, Edgeworth was called to the meeting room for a hearing on his status as a prosecutor. Edgeworth used this opportunity to accuse Bansai of Kagome's murder. With the help of Mikagami, who soon turned against her superior, Edgeworth managed to prove that Bansai was behind both the illegal auction and Kagome's murder. Faraday regained her memories after the arrest, and recalled she had been drugged and abducted from Gourd Lake to the top of the Big Tower by an unknown assailant. Still, Edgeworth suspected that there was someone else in the shadows, manipulating the case.

Edgeworth's path

 * Main article: The Grand Turnabout

"Miles Edgeworth"

- Even until his last moments, my father ran along his own path. I, too, shall advance along mine, accompanied by my somewhat boisterous comrades. As long as they are by my side, I can walk forward without hesitation on this new path as a prosecutor.

Edgeworth had hardly left the Big Tower when he was thrust into a series of events orchestrated by both Bansai and a certain other mastermind. President Ō was assassinated for real; moreover, Miwa's trial took a turn for the worse when Yumihiko and the evidence against the defendant went missing, and Mikagami's son Shimon Aizawa was kidnapped by Bansai's lackeys to force her to acquit Miwa. Edgeworth set off to find both Aizawa and Yumihiko while Franziska took over the prosecutor's bench and stalled for time with Shigaraki, who had taken Miwa's case. Luckily, both Aizawa and Yumihiko were eventually found with the help of Faraday and Gumshoe. Yumihiko found some of the evidence in a garbage dump, which his father had thrown away to protect Miwa. Edgeworth helped Yumihiko gain the courage that he needed to figure out his own path in life, and the latter chose to continue as a prosecutor and to confront his criminal father.

With Bansai's machinations finally thwarted, Edgeworth turned his attention to the president's assassination. An argument with Shi-Long Lang revealed that the murder was connected to the SS-5 Incident 12 years ago, in which the president had been kidnapped and a witness had been murdered. With the help of Faraday's Little Thief, they recreated the orphanage where the incident had occurred, which had been where the Big Tower now stood. Using the case files that Bansai had previously sealed, as well as evidence that had been kept by Lang's father, Edgeworth was able to solve the case. It was revealed that the president had really been assassinated by Ryōken Hōinbō on that day, and the "president" who had just been killed in front of the Big Tower was a body double who had hired the assassin and conspired with Bansai and Miwa. The investigation also revealed the existence of a boy who had witnessed everything but had gone into hiding after being interrogated by Miwa. This boy turned out to be Sōta Sarushiro, who, as revenge, had manipulated Miwa and Bansai into murdering Naitō and Kagome so that they would be arrested for their crimes.

Edgeworth then confronted Sarushiro in the circus, who cast off his meek persona to reveal his true self, the cunning mastermind behind the events of the past two weeks. A complicated argument ensued in which Edgeworth connected the mastermind to the kidnappings of Faraday and Aizawa, as well as the various recent manipulated murders and the killing of the body double. Sarushiro was a bitter man bent on revenge because no one other than Hōinbō had helped him during his life, and the legal system had become corrupted by Bansai. When Sarushiro was defeated, de Killer arrived to kill his client for deceiving him about the true identity of his target. However, Hōinbō asked de Killer to spare Sarushiro, and both of them were instead imprisoned while de Killer escaped again. Afterward, Edgeworth resolved to continue as a prosecutor, and save people like Sarushiro by confronting the contradictions in the law. With that, Mikagami gave him his badge back and Edgeworth was a prosecutor once more.

Aftermath
Edgeworth continued to study and prosecute abroad for the next seven years. Meanwhile, weeks after Edgeworth regained his badge, Wright lost his, being disbarred for presenting forged evidence during a trial. A year later, rookie prosecutor Simon Blackquill was convicted of murdering Metis Cykes, in what would become known as the UR-1 Incident. These two events helped to spark the so-called dark age of the law, in which doing anything to win became the norm, and the public lost faith in the court system. Edgeworth resolved to fix this issue, but nothing could be done about it until October 2026, when Wright was exonerated due to the revelation that the forged evidence had been planted on him. Edgeworth's promotion to Chief Prosecutor shortly afterward put him in the perfect position to clean up the corruption with Wright's help.

End to the dark age of the law

 * Main article: Turnabout for Tomorrow

"Miles Edgeworth"

- I trust you've been well, Wright.

Believing that Blackquill was also innocent of his crime, Edgeworth had him prosecute cases, despite still being imprisoned and on death row, in order to draw out the real criminal behind the UR-1 Incident. Edgeworth also sought Wright's assistance, and helped ensure that he regained his badge without any problems. At some point, he got to know Wright's adopted daughter Trucy, whom he saw squeeze herself into a small box during one of her magic show performances, and seemed to have gotten to know Pearl Fey better, as shown by his referring to her as "Pearls", which is Wright's nickname for her.

Initially, these efforts did not seem to do anything, and time was running out as Blackquill was scheduled to be executed in December 2027. However, as the deadline neared, a bombing incident and murder occurred at the Cosmos Space Center, and Athena Cykes, one of Wright's employees, was eventually indicted. The day before the execution date, Blackquill's sister Aura held the visitors of the Cosmos Space Center hostage, demanding that the police hand over Cykes. Aura believed that Cykes was the true culprit behind the UR-1 Incident, and Wright offered to hold a retrial for that incident.

Aura had Edgeworth take the case, and he and Wright were allowed to investigate the robotics lab of the Space Center, where the murder had occurred. Edgeworth then fought opposite his old rival in the ruins of Courtroom No. 4, indicting Cykes for the murder. It seemed that the truth was firmly on Edgeworth's side as he refuted every point that Wright raised up. To Edgeworth's dismay, Simon attempted to stop the trial by insisting that he was the killer, but Wright refuted Simon's testimony, causing Athena to confess that she had stabbed Metis Cykes, her mother and the victim in the UR-1 Incident. In the end, Wright managed to demonstrate that Athena had actually stabbed the real killer, an international spy known only as the "phantom", proving both her and Simon innocent of the charge. The phantom also turned out to be responsible for the Space Center bombing, and Wright identified Bobby Fulbright, a detective who had been placed in charge of watching over Simon, as this mysterious character.

Edgeworth declared Simon a free man, unlocked his shackles, and permitted him to take over as prosecutor to help take down the phantom. Edgeworth conducted an investigation on Fulbright and the UR-1 Incident, which revealed that the detective had been deceased for a year, making the man everyone knew as "Bobby Fulbright" an impostor. The phantom tried to claim that he was an undercover agent, but Wright managed to prove that he was indeed the phantom, and he was finally arrested. In the wake of this arrest, the corruption in the prosecutor's office fully came to light, including the questionable tactics of Gaspen Payne. Edgeworth thanked Wright for helping to bring the dark age of the law to an end.

Khura'in and time travel

 * Main articles: Turnabout Revolution and Turnabout Time Traveler

With the ensuing cleanup of the prosecutor's office leaving it understaffed, Edgeworth reached out to Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, an international prosecutor from Khura'in, who was travelling to the country. Edgeworth would later travel to Khura'in with Wright, Justice, Cykes, and Dhurke Sahdmadhi, with his position as Chief Prosecutor granting the group the permission they needed to perform their needed investigations.

A few months later, Edgeworth once again faced Wright in court, albeit this time with Maya Fey as the defense attorney's assistant for the first time in nine years. Larry Butz also made an appearance by taking the stand as a witness.

Personality
"Dick Gumshoe"

- ... Y'know... I don't know what to believe anymore. Sure, Mr. Edgeworth's human like you or me. Still... I get the feeling that if he'd done something wrong, he wouldn't go hiding it. That's just the kind of guy he is. Why can't anyone else see that?

Edgeworth is usually calm and level-headed, but is typically seen as a snob due to his cold, ruthless, and generally aloof nature. He has a certain lack of social skills and tact, making him very insecure and awkward around others. In fact, he was taught as a child to glare at people who looked at him, unwittingly intimidating them. He also has difficulties with some names, referring to the Global Studios mascot "Mr. Monkey" as "Mrs. Monkey", calling Psyche-Locks "Psycholocks", and referring to the robot Ponco by the name "Panko", despite the latter's numerous attempts at correcting him. Edgeworth dislikes the limelight and often tries to credit other people or circumstances for his accomplishments, and sees no value in awards or trophies. He hates showing his weaknesses, and resists other people's attempts to get involved with his problems.

Although generally loath to admit it, he cares deeply for his friends, going to great lengths to assist them. Though he often insists that Gumshoe and Faraday are little more than nuisances to him, they form a formidable team, and he greatly appreciates and respects their presence and assistance. Nonetheless, he is not always aware that he comes off as cruel or condescending, or even that he is glaring at someone.

The DL-6 Incident left him with a fear of earthquakes and elevators, as well as suffering recurring nightmares about the incident, and the thought that he might have been the killer haunted him for 15 long years. However, although the nightmares ceased to occur after the incident was resolved, Edgeworth's fear of earthquakes and elevators remained. His reaction to earthquakes, or similar effects such as air turbulence, range from shortness of breath to sobbing and curling up into a ball or even fainting. Such reactions are involuntary and stem from what had happened during the DL-6 Incident.

He may have an allergy to pollen.

Investigative and courtroom philosophy
"Miles Edgeworth"

- However. In retrospect, it would have been better had we not met. Thanks to you, I am saddled with unnecessary... feelings.

"Phoenix Wright"

- Unnecessary feelings?

"Miles Edgeworth"

- Yes. Unease... and uncertainty.

"Phoenix Wright"

- Aren't those kind of necessary?

In the courtroom, Edgeworth usually has the trial precisely planned out, normally ensuring his victory. Because of this, he tends to become easily ruffled with anything that does not conform to his plan. In particular, he tries to stick to standard courtroom proceedings, trying to make the witnesses state their names and professions, although he regularly has a great deal of difficulty with this task due to the often rather eccentric characters called as witnesses in his cases. Ultimately, Edgeworth's approach toward his job is different from Wright's, in that Edgeworth is more focused on calmly using logic and letting the rightful consequences for wrongful suspects come about naturally from the truth.

Before facing Wright in court, Edgeworth had a perfect win record. Following in his mentor's footsteps, he was relentless in his in-court tactics, doing almost anything to maintain this record. Despite this, he still maintained a sort of moral code and never intentionally used forged evidence. His rationale for his ruthlessness was that he could not possibly know with certainty whether any defendant was guilty or not. He despised criminals, so getting every defendant declared guilty was his way of guaranteeing that the criminals he encountered got what they deserved. Ultimately, however, he was driven by his selfish desire to win.

Edgeworth's encounters with Phoenix Wright changed him radically, challenging his notions of what being a prosecutor meant. Edgeworth decided that his win record no longer mattered and that instead what was important was the truth. Edgeworth underwent further changes to his outlook during his investigations into the smuggling ring and his confrontations with the P.I.C. He realized that the truth was more important than the law, and that the law would have to change if it prevented the truth from coming to light. Thanks to the influence of his friends and allies, Edgeworth has developed a strong sense of right and wrong.

However, Edgeworth's determination to find the truth is difficult to stop. At one point, he callously revealed the background of a witness to get her to testify. He has also become a valuable ally to Wright, challenging him in one of his darkest and most vulnerable moments, and agreeing to take a case for him when he was incapacitated. Edgeworth has even joined in on cross-examinations against his own witnesses, teaming up with the defending attorney in order to pry the truth from the witness. Edgeworth has also drawn inspiration from Wright's audacity in hopeless situations in several of his own tight spots.

Admirers
Although Edgeworth has expressed disinterest in marriage, he nonetheless has a good number of admirers. One admirer whom he encounters particularly often is Wendy Oldbag, who calls him "Edgey-poo" and other unwanted pet names. Bikini also found Edgeworth "handsome" and forgave him easily. Rhoda Teneiro and Lauren Paups were attracted to him, though Edgeworth was largely, if not entirely, unaware of this. Indeed, Detective Gumshoe has commented on Edgeworth's apparent ignorance of his own appeal to women, prompting Edgeworth to remark, "D-Do I really inspire this sort of frothing desire from the female masses?" Shi-Long Lang occasionally referred to Edgeworth as "pretty-boy", and Franziska once called him her cute little subordinate, though both were used sarcastically. Ema Skye also has some amount of interest in him, and was known to compare Klavier Gavin unfavorably to Edgeworth.

Home and office life
Being a very successful prosecutor who was raised by another very successful prosecutor, Edgeworth is quite well-off. He drives a red sports car to work (which appears to be an imported Alfa Romeo GTV) and it is insinuated that he lives in a mansion, and this shows in his high-class tendencies.

Edgeworth is fond of drinking tea and playing chess; he frequently has tea delivered to him from the Gatewater Hotel and has a chessboard set up in his office. Edgeworth even sometimes visualizes his interrogations as chess games. His chessboard is unusual in that, rather than the traditional black and white game pieces, Edgeworth's chess set is red and blue. While examining Edgeworth's office during the Bruce Goodman murder investigation, Phoenix Wright noticed that the red knights on the chessboard were all carrying swords with pointy "edges" while the blue pawns had "spiky hair" - a subtle reference to Wright and Edgeworth's courtroom rivalry, though Wright quickly dismissed the thought.

Steel Samurai
Although he generally doesn't like to admit it, Edgeworth is an avid Steel Samurai fan, even displaying a Steel Samurai figure in his office despite not being a fan of the sender, and seeming to know quite a bit about the show. Despite acknowledging that it is a show meant for children, he enjoys the series's plot and high production values. When Will Powers, the actor who played the Steel Samurai, was acquitted of murder, Edgeworth told Powers that he was a fan of his work, although Wright believed that he was lying. During one of his flights back home, he was secretly reading a Steel Samurai manga hidden between the pages of one of his law books.

The nature of his admiration for the show became less subtle during the Allebahstian and Babahlese Embassy goodwill event, in which he got an autograph from the Steel Samurai. He was crushed when he found out that it was Butz under the helmet, later shouting at him, "You will never be the true Steel Samurai!" While investigating the event, Edgeworth revealed a rather extensive knowledge of The Steel Samurai, for which Franziska von Karma was all too eager to mock him. During his battle of wits against Quercus Alba, analogies were repeatedly made between Alba and the Evil Magistrate, the Steel Samurai's arch-nemesis. Edgeworth did not resent the implication that he was the "Steel Samurai" of the analogy. Eventually, when Alba insisted that he remained in the theater to watch the full duration of the show - claiming to be an avid fan - Edgeworth angrily told Alba off, declaring that he would never acknowledge Alba as a Steel Samurai fan.

Edgeworth's interest in the Steel Samurai was once again demonstrated during his trip to Khura'in. After watching an episode of The Plumed Punisher: Warrior of Neo Twilight Realm, he reacted with disgust, comparing it unfavorably to the Steel Samurai and considering the show's theme song a ripoff due to their obvious similarities.

Name

 * His Japanese surname "Mitsurugi" (御剣) contains the kanji for "sword"; this may be a reference to both Gregory and Miles Edgeworth having sharp minds.
 * "Reiji" (怜侍), his Japanese given name, comes from the kanji for "cleverness".
 * The name "Miles" comes from the Latin word for "soldier", which may be a reference to the character's formal demeanor.
 * The English surname "Edgeworth" is likely intended to reference the sword theme in the character's original Japanese surname, the sharp minds of both Gregory and Miles Edgeworth, and their "worthiness" as opponents for Manfred von Karma and Phoenix Wright, respectively.
 * His given name is "Benjamin" in the French localization, which is derived from the Hebrew for "son of my right [hand]" (i.e., "my favoured son"); this may be intended to reference the fame and success he garnered as a prosecutor. "Benjamin" is also a French noun meaning "the youngest individual of a group", possibly alluding to his status as young, but skilled, prosecutor.
 * "Hunter", his French surname, is likely a reference to the offensive role that being a prosecutor entails.

Development

 * Edgeworth was originally going to be a 36-year-old veteran prosecutor, but the staff decided that this was not interesting enough as a rival. When Shu Takumi saw the second version of the character, he was struck with inspiration and created the backstory between him and Wright. The backstory and its resolution were intended to depict the kind of intense bond of friendship that two men could share, though Takumi has wondered whether that is what fans really got out of their relationship.
 * The younger Miles Edgeworth's suit bears a strong resemblance to Manfred von Karma's suit design. He would also mimic several of von Karma's gestures such as folding his arms and wagging his finger back and forth in a similar condescending manner. This is likely intended to show the veteran prosecutor's influence on him.
 * The older Edgeworth in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies went through many iterations. In the first design, he had large frills that went down to his thighs. In other designs, he had grown facial hair. In the end, Edgeworth retained an "elegant" look, with rolled back sleeves and vest, as well as sporting a longer coat and a pair of glasses, which make him appear more like his late father.
 * As well as being the only playable prosecutor in the Ace Attorney series to date, Edgeworth is the only prosecutor so far to have voice clips for "Take that!" In fact, he and Hershel Layton are the only protagonists in the series to date who are not defense attorneys.
 * In the Gyakuten Saiban Fanbook, released in 2005 just before the release of Gyakuten Saiban Yomigaeru Gyakuten (the Nintendo DS release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney), Shu Takmui jokingly suggested a couple of (unofficial) background ideas for Edgeworth, including owing a very large dog with white frills on its collar called Pess, to which Edgeworth has a deep emotional attachment. Takumi also suggested that Edgeworth listens to Trot (a genre of Korean pop music originating in the early 1900s), that he and the von Karmas would sing "My Way" at karaoke whenever they won a trial, and that he has an old housekeeper at his fancy apartment who used to work for the von Karmas.

Character shift
According to Shu Takumi, Edgeworth was difficult to develop as a character compared to Wright. Edgeworth's character really came together once Takumi decided he would be rich. In the original game, Takumi designed Edgeworth to be an unlikable and tragic character, which is seen in Manfred von Karma raising him to be a prosecutor and then prosecuting him for murder, just to have his revenge against Gregory Edgeworth. Although initially writing him with no weaknesses, after the first game, when Takumi saw a comic by Kumiko Suekane depicting Edgeworth liking the Steel Samurai, he decided that a more likeable Edgeworth would be "cuter", and so Edgeworth was fleshed out into the valuable friend and ally seen in Farewell, My Turnabout and Bridge to the Turnabout.

Other media

 * Both Wright and Edgeworth make a cameo appearance in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, namely during She-Hulk's ending. In said ending, Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk's alter-ego) becomes the host of a courtroom reality series entitled "Jen's Justice", which co-stars Wright and Edgeworth. When she accidentally smashes the judge's bench with her gavel, both lawyers can be seen hugging each other in fear. The ending can be seen here.
 * In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Wright has a number of alternative costumes he can wear, the color schemes of which are all references to other characters. One of the choices is based on the color scheme of Edgeworth's outfit. Edgeworth also appears, along with Franziska von Karma and Godot, as cards in the game's "Heroes and Heralds Mode". Wright's post-victory line to Firebrand ("You may be a demon, but at least you're not a Demon Prosecutor. I've met enough of those for a lifetime!") references Edgeworth's "Demon Attorney" nickname.
 * Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright, Mia Fey, and Franziska von Karma are all featured as Character Cards in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS.
 * In the crossover title Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Edgeworth makes a cameo appearance during the epilogue, where he is seen facing off against Wright in court after he and Maya return to Los Angeles from their exchange to London. He also appears in the special episode Fire Festival, in which he visits Labyrinthia after winning a competition run by Labrelum Inc. Wright will also occasionally mention Edgeworth if he fails to solve one of the in-game puzzles.
 * Edgeworth makes a name-only cameo in Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki, with a woman telling a policeman that "Prosecutor Edgeworth" stated there wasn't enough evidence to incriminate an assassin called Geki, who was subsequently set free. The respective panel can be seen here.
 * Near the end of the episode "Remote Island Syndrome Part 2" of the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the mannerisms of a few of the characters mirror those of the sprites of some Ace Attorney characters. The scene in question is when Haruhi Suzumiya confronts the other characters with the truth about a "murder" that had taken place. Itsuki Koizumi performs the same overly dramatic bow and head shake that Edgeworth does and Haruhi herself uses his one-handed table slam. The scene can be viewed subbed here or dubbed here.
 * Edgeworth makes an appearance as a non-playable character in the Nintendo 3DS Sega/Bandai Namco/Capcom crossover game Project X Zone 2, with Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey also appearing in the game as a playable solo unit. He first appears in Chapter 31, "Turnabout Dance", having been summoned to be the prosecution for a trial at Ryugu Castle. He later appears during the ending at Demitri's castle, as he had been asked to be the judge of a footrace.