Breakdown

The breakdown is a special, normally one-off, animation that occurs when a witness (usually the true culprit of a case) realizes that he or she has been defeated. Such animations are normally quite long and over-the-top, especially in the later games. Other breakdowns are present for non-culprits, for example Lana Skye. Breakdowns are not to be confused with the "damage" animations which occur when a witness is briefly shocked, but soon recovers. "Damage" animations, unlike breakdowns, occur frequently and often in quick succession, such as Trilo Quist's limbs exploding and firing across the courtroom, which occurs multiple times during his Cross Examination.

Villains

 * Frank Sahwit - Suddenly grabs his toupée and throws it at Phoenix Wright's face, which then slides off in a comical fashion to reveal Wright's not-too-impressed facial expression. After Sahwit is revealed as the true murderer, he begins to hyperventilate, then froths at the mouth and collapses.


 * Redd White - Lowers his head onto the witness stand, then rapidly lifts his head up in the air, screams, then suddenly slams his head down and twitches on the stand.


 * Dee Vasquez - Grimaces and clenches her pipe until it snaps in two.


 * Yanni Yogi - Suddenly goes from his hunched and sleepy "Uncle" persona to his true self; upright and with a serious expression on his face.


 * Manfred von Karma - Pounds the desk and roars while the events of the DL-6 Incident play rapidly behind him. He then bangs his head off the courtroom wall, pauses, then resumes much faster than before.


 * Damon Gant - Starts laughing and clapping, starting slowly but gradually becoming faster and faster as he leans back. At his fastest, Gant is clapping once every 2 frames, or 30 times a second; this means that his animation is shifting on every single frame, which causes most emulators to lag.

Witnesses

 * April May - Crosses her arms over her face while she roars and the hearts on her blouse spins rapidly. She then suddenly uncrosses her arms, causing her breasts to bounce a few times.


 * Cody Hackins - Bursts into tears.


 * Jake Marshall - Acts as if he's been shot by placing one of his hands on his chest and reaching out with his other arm, while his poncho billows around him and he yells "NOOOOOO!!!" He then stands panting at the witness stand with his hand still on his chest.
 * Lana Skye - Bites her finger so hard that it starts bleeding.

Villains

 * Richard Wellington - When he was accused of murder, he laughs insanely while alternating between messing up his hair with his hands and squishing his face. After he was found as the real murderer, he pulls on his scarf so tightly that he begins to lose air until his face turns blue and he passes out.
 * Mimi Miney - Removes her beret, opens her eyes, and wipes away her tears.
 * Acro - Tears suddenly begin to stream down his still-smiling face.
 * Matt Engarde - Scratches new scars into his face while repeatedly yelling "GUILTY!"

Witnesses

 * Adrian Andrews - Flinches as her glasses break then reaches into her pocket for a new pair. Crosses her arms over her chest defensively and cries out "NOOOOoo!"

Others

 * Regina Berry - Bursts into tears.
 * Franziska von Karma - Suddenly starts crying.

Villains

 * Dahlia Hawthorne - When revealed to have killed Doug Swallow, she screams Mia Fey's name and turns to glare at her with demonic eyes, while the butterflies that usually surround her burst into flames. Later on, while she is being exorcised from Maya Fey's body, she puts her head down on the desk, while her spirit appears behind her, pale with crimson hair and also holding her head and screaming. Her spirit then reappears with a demonic glint in her eye and her red hair flowing out fire-like in every direction behind her. A wave of blue fire suddenly engulfs her and ten balls of blue fire appear in the shape of a Magatama, while scenes from her crime plots appear behind her.


 * Luke Atmey - Crosses his arms over his face while slowly rising up, then suddenly uncrosses his arms, laughs hysterically, while moving his head rapidly from side to side, and again begins to speak his verses very quickly.


 * Furio Tigre - Roars so loudly that the lights in the courtroom go out and images of the murder appear behind him. He then stays frozen in place for a long time.


 * Godot - His visor explodes and he recoils backwards. A trickle of blood then goes down his face.

Witnesses

 * Young Phoenix Wright - Bawls childishly.


 * Jean Armstrong - Screams while the rose he was holding explodes in a shower of petals.


 * Terry Fawles - After swallowing the poison in his hand, he begins coughing until a trickle of blood flows out of his mouth. After a while, he falls dead on the witness stand.

Others

 * Winston Payne - Brings his arm up with a shocked expression on his face while his hair is blown away.


 * Diego Armando - Grips his coffee mug so tightly that it shatters, making his hand bleed.

Villains

 * Kristoph Gavin - When revealed to have killed Shadi Smith, he slowly raises his fist in the air while the courtroom shakes and the dishes and lobster Olga Orly was carrying in her disguise levitate behind him. Suddenly he slams his fist on the witness stand and the levitating objects fall. Later, when his second murder is found out, he once again raises his fist, while the courtroom shakes, before slamming it onto the witness stand. He then crosses his arms in front of him, screams, his glasses fly off and his hair billows above him. He then leans over the stand, arms crossed and glares with a manic look in his eyes while his normally well-kept hair is now dishevelled. Later, after an innocent verdict was given for Vera Misham, Gavin laughs insanely with his hand over his face, and is taken away.


 * Alita Tiala - Screams while holding her head while the wings on the front of her dress flap wildly and feathers fly off. This is also her "damage" animation, but during her "breakdown" a drastically increased number of feathers fly off and the animation lasts much longer.


 * Daryan Crescend - Flails about madly, his pompadour slashing about like a sword.

Witnesses

 * Olga Orly - Yells then slowly falls backwards, while her dishes and the lobster fall down in order onto the witnesses stand. Later, she pulls off her disguise to reveal her true identity. When finally defeated, she yells while her camera goes off and the dishes and lobster fall slowly behind her.


 * Wesley Stickler - Freezes while his cape billows and the pages of his book turn as if he is being blown by a strong gust of wind. He then drops his book and collapses on the stand.


 * Wocky Kitaki - Keeps down his attitude briefly while having a concerned look on his face.


 * Valant Gramarye - Screams, then freezes whilst flowers and miniature flags pop out of his staff, rabbits appear on each shoulder and doves fly out from under his cape. Notably, his younger self produces two rabbits and five doves whilst his older self only produces one rabbit and one dove.

Villains

 * Jacques Portsman - Rapidly bites on the medal around his neck, causing golden dust to fall in the background. After a few seconds of this, it breaks off and he swallows it. He then faints.


 * Cammy Meele - When Edgeworth begins to figure out her involvement, she drops her usual sleepy act, pushing her long hair behind her ears and begins to blow bubbles. When defeated, she blows many bubbles which then repeatedly barrage her.


 * Lance Amano - Breaks his handcuffs then begins to cry massive tears.


 * Calisto Yew - Begins laughing even more hysterically than usual, rocking backwards and forwards. She then pulls a gun on Edgeworth. Later, when confronted as Shih-na she laughs in the same hysterical way as before. When she is finally defeated, she spreads her arms wide and cackles madly with fangs in her mouth.


 * Quercus Alba - When forced to drop his defenseless old man persona, he rises up to his full height and breaks his staff into pieces. When finally defeated, he screams Edgeworth's name while his skin cracks and is blown away by a strong gust of wind. He then screams again with the wind blowing his medals and hair upwards and spots of light appear above his head, the sound of a falling tree playing in the background. He then suddenly collapses into a hunched old man with an almost mummified face.

Witnesses

 * Zinc Lablanc - A steadily increasing gust of wind blows right at him which forces his lips back to reveal his gums, as if he was in a centrifuge used for high-G training. The wind increases until he is blown over.

Others

 * Young Kay Faraday - She grasps her shirt, leans her head back, and begins to cry with tears streaming down her face and her mouth wide open.

Villains

 * Manosuke Naitō - Bites down on his lip while spinning his gun faster than usual. He then starts tossing it back and forth before losing control and sending it up into the air, whereupon it dislodges something in the ceiling, causing various debris (including The Thinker, Mr. Ifly, a box of Samurai Dogs, and Blue Badger doll) to land on his head, knocking him into his neck brace, before his gun lands on his head and knocks him out. Though it likely was for a comedic purpose, he is the only person to be struck with The Thinker and survive.


 * Marī Miwa - She and her pet fox fluff up in anger, then both scream in horror. Her pet jumps off her neck, and her fur coat turns into a number of foxes which similarly jump off, leaving her shivering in a prison outfit.


 * Yutaka Kazami - Stays silent while his theme plays and starts to blow up the dough he's working with to a huge size, then carves it into a sculpture of himself by rapidly punching the statue with his bare fists. He examines it for a moment, then draws a baster and slices it in half, in a manner reminiscent of a samurai.


 * Bansai Ichiyanagi - His lighter sends up a huge plume of flame, burning his beard and hair clean off, revealing them to be fake and uncovering the burn mark on his chin from his earlier confrontation with Tsubasa Kagome. He then coughs out some smoke. When finally defeated in court by Yumihiko and Edgeworth, he screams his son's name while his lighter flares up like before and the screen fades to white.


 * Sōta Sarushiro - Protests as his animals begin to attack him fiercely as his leitmotif starts playing: first the birds strike his face while he was carrying a pair of rabbits, then Money the Monkey scratches his face, then the pig lets the cat jumps up by its nose and kicks Sarushiro's face, the squirrels pull strands of his hair apart so that a gorilla can punch his face, which sends him whirling until an elephant's trunk grabs the top of his head and pulls him off-screen as the sound of further brawling is heard.

Witnesses

 * "Teikun Ō" - Roars mightily, letting all the air out of his body, leaving him flabby and disheveled.


 * Frank Sahwit - Throws his toupee at Edgeworth. Unlike Wright, Edgeworth shows a shocked expression instead. He got his toupee back after a couple of minutes.


 * Shūji Orinaka - When one of his pieces in Logic Chess is destroyed, he removes the chains he wears. Later on, he reacts as though he's being punched, getting knocked back and forth until finally his mouth guard (and some teeth) fly out. His bear Mark jumps off him and he collapses.


 * Tsukasa Oyashiki - Reaches a hand up dramatically and cries a single tear.


 * Tōko Mutō and Otome Itami - Mutō begins slapping Itami's hair bun back and forth extremely fast, causing it to pop open, knocking Itami's glasses off and Mutō to the floor.

Others

 * Kay Faraday - Puts her hands on her head and screams in agony as she starts to remember.


 * Issei Tenkai - Starts crying while placing his hand on his chest.

Villains

 * Ted Tonate - Bites and pulls the red wire on his model bomb repeatedly, and he eventually rears back and his goggles extend to absurd lengths. With his goggles still extended, he then snaps forwards and smashes his jaw on the bomb, causing it to break with two seconds left. His goggles finally retract, but then overload, causing them to explode in his face. He falls, and the bomb counts down to 0, announcing "GAME OVER - DISARMING FAILED".
 * Shuuichi Biyouin - Shakes his head back and forth as he sprays himself with perfume faster and faster until a cloud of it has formed around his head. When it dissipates, his hair has returned to its natural white color and his skin color returns to its less fairer color. He then weakly answers a series of calls on his cell phones and finds out about his massive debts. In response to the shocking revelation, he throws his notebook up into the air and collapses forward.
 * Shinji Ichiro - Starts to write multiple intentionally more lenient "alternate punishments" to the very long prison sentence he would otherwise receive, such as getting his salary reduced for example, with the audience reacting negatively towards each suggestion. Ichiro tries to write another word, possibly to signify him admitting his guilt as his left hand tries to stop his other hand writing the word, but breaks his teeth under immense pressure and collapses towards his chalkboard.
 * Phantom - Looks around in fright after being objected to thrice. The background darkens as he pulls his mask of Phoenix Wright and turns into the other culprits (Ted Tonate, Shuuichi Biyouin and Shinji Ichiro) as debris falls and covers his face. Afterwards, he turns into several other characters, such as Rei Shizuya and Taiyou Hoshinari, and repeatedly transforms his face into the aforementioned killers, suspects and attorneys, with no debris to cover his face this time. Phantom finally turns into Bobby Fulbright's torn face and subsequently gets shot by an unknown shooter. Phantom falls and takes off his mask, leaving his face hidden by the dark after he collapses.
 * Ikuya Itsuka - When realizing he is cornered, Itsuka grabs the barrel he holds and gulps down its contents. He tosses away the barrel and briefly wipes his mouth. Itsuka then suddenly gets buffer, causing his shirt to rip, his blue cap to fly away and his ID card hanging on his chain to flip to its other side. Itsuka gets out his pirate hat and wears it and gets out a giant fish to hold with his left hand. When defeated, the background darkens around Itsuka and the ground starts to sway around, as if it were part of a rocking ship. Rain starts to come down as Itsuka is befuddled and the ground sways hard enough for him to drop his fish and support himself by holding onto the witness stand. Lightning and wind appear and Itsuka starts to hold onto his pirate hat but the wind blows hard enough for the hat to blow away. Eventually, the floor rocks hard enough for Itsuka to fall over. As the storm ends, Itsuka crouches under the witness stand and hold onto its bars as if it were a jail cell.

Witnesses

 * Myriam Scuttlebutt - Throws her box upwards in surprise but manages to catch it in time to conceal her face. Numerous items fall out of the box and when her PC falls, she throws her box in surprise and notices her face is now shown. She quickly covers her face until her box falls and covers her.
 * Chishio Atsui - Removes her chest harness, showing that her breasts are no longer compressed by the harness, and surprises everyone in the courtroom by confessing to really being a girl from the beginning.
 * Uchuu Oogawara - Becomes dizzy and fall for a short moment then accidentally smashes and breaks the main button on his mini scooter, causing it to go back and forth, crashing him around the courtroom until he finally crashes though the main door, leaving a outlined hole of himself.
 * Reika Uratori - Starts to sweat and the camera zooms into her face. The camera progressively zooms out and a gust of wind suddenly blows around her. The buttons of her coat pop out, causing her flabbiness to show and leaves her distraught.

Others

 * Gaspen Payne - Goes into a shocked expression then runs out of the courtroom.
 * Athena Cykes - Similar to Phoenix Wright's breakdown, she looks down at the defense bench and cradles her arms around her in fear. Later, after Simon Blackquill reveals the truth about what happened, she lets out a scream and shakes her upper body in denial.
 * Simon Blackquill - When it was revealed that he lied in court about encountering Athena Cykes, he flinches, puts his left hand on his chest and his right on the witness stand while saying "Damn it!" and starts breathing heavily, similar to his damage animation.

Villains

 * Olive Ardente - Yells out in fury and tries to chop off the head of the giant fish she has with a butcher knife. It dodges, spins, and knocks her to the ground with its tail.


 * Madalla - Screams in horror and throws her flower basket high into the air. As the petals scatter all around and she continues to flail about, the basket comes back down and lands upside-down on her head, and she falls to the floor.


 * Patras Algery - Puts her hand to her mouth and fights back tears.


 * Jordolla - Clutches her head and shakes in denial as she starts to remember.

Witnesses

 * Mahoney Catalucia - Clutches her head in pain, screams, and falls to the floor.

Others

 * Prosecutor Bartley - Rears back in shock, causing his glasses to fly off his face. He scrabbles around desperately looking for them and slowly slides down beneath the prosecutors' bench out of sight.

Recurring breakdowns

 * Frank Sahwit - Tears his toupee off and throws it at the person confronting him.


 * Phoenix Wright - Lowers his head onto the defense stand and holds his head with both hands in despair.
 * Pearl Fey - Bursts into tears.
 * Simon Blackquill - Breaks his shackles.