Miles Edgeworth

Miles Edgeworth is an esteemed prosecutor and an old friend of Phoenix Wright. After he became a prosecutor, he prosecuted a case against Wright; he was a ruthless man who would do anything to get a guilty verdict for the defendant. Later, however, Edgeworth became a defendant being represented by his "enemy", Wright. After prosecuting in one more case, Edgeworth left the prosecutor's office to find out what being a prosecutor really meant. He later returned and, by the time of The Stolen Turnabout, had become known as the top prosecutor in America. He also traveled abroad to study international law, prosecuting in five other countries.

Early life
In early 2001, when Edgeworth was nine years old, Larry Butz 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 Butz stood up for him, saying that no one had proof that he had stolen the lunch money. The class trial ended and the three boys became almost inseparable friends. Edgeworth would often talk with his friends about his father, famous criminal defense attorney Gregory Edgeworth, whom he idolized.

DL-6 Incident

 * Main article: DL-6 Incident

On December 28, Miles went to the District Court to see one of his father's trials. Gregory was arguing a case against Manfred von Karma. During the course of the trial, Gregory managed to prove that von Karma had forged evidence. As a result of this accusation, von Karma received his first and last penalty. However, von Karma still won and Gregory's client 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 15 years. By the time the police had found them, Gregory was dead, fatally shot in the heart with Yogi's pistol. Edgeworth developed a deathly fear of earthquakes 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 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, 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 practice. Edgeworth 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 trained him to become a prosecutor. Through this, Miles met Manfred's young daughter Franziska, with whom he shared a strong sibling bond.

First case

 * Main article: Turnabout Beginnings

Edgeworth became a prosecutor at the age of 20 and was considered a genius. His first case was against rookie 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 him five years prior to the case. Edgeworth used cunning tactics such as withholding information that would prove valuable to the defense (e.g. a witness's real identity). Fawles eventually died of poison that he drank, abruptly ending the trial. Edgeworth would later refer to it to Wright as his worst nightmare in court. Meanwhile, the witness, Dahlia Hawthorne, left the court with a smile on her face.

The case also saw Edgeworth's first meeting with detective Dick Gumshoe in court, and they would maintain a working relationship.

Rumors of fraud

 * Main article: SL-9 Incident

Later, Edgeworth prosecuted a case against Joe Darke during 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 that ultimately would turn out to be forged, Darke was convicted, but there were rumors surrounding Edgeworth concerning fabricated evidence and illegal investigations. Edgeworth came to be known as the "Demon Attorney".

First defeat

 * Main article: Turnabout Sisters

Miles Edgeworth maintained a perfect win record until he met his old friend Phoenix Wright in court in 2016, with Maya Fey as the defendant accused of killing her sister Mia Fey. Later, a witness, Redd White, pinned the murder on Wright instead, and Wright defended himself in court against Edgeworth. 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 witness Wendy Oldbag, who instantly fell in love with Edgeworth, much to the latter's dismay. Edgeworth became unrattled and 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 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" and warned him never to show his face in front of him again.

Accused of murder

 * Main article: Turnabout Goodbyes

On Christmas Eve, Edgeworth received a letter from Hammond to meet with him at Gourd Lake. They took a boat ride to the middle of the lake, and then Hammond, who was really Yogi in disguise, swore revenge on Edgeworth for ruining his life, and shot twice into the air. He then fell into the lake and swam away, leaving Edgeworth bewildered at what had just transpired. When he went back to shore, he was arrested on suspicion of Hammond's murder.

Wright found out about the arrest and offered to represent Edgeworth in court, but he refused. Wright investigated the crime, anyway, along with 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 involved, Edgeworth agreed to have Wright defend him.

The prosecutor for the case was Manfred von Karma, Edgeworth's adoptive father and mentor. However, Edgeworth knew that von Karma would not relent for his sake, as he would do anything for a guilty verdict.

SL-9 resolution

 * Main article: Rise from the Ashes

Disappearance and return

 * 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." He then left America to find out what being a prosecutor truly meant. His note left Wright to believe that Edgeworth really had committed suicide, and Wright decided that the Edgeworth he had known as a child had died long before, replaced by a coward who committed suicide over a win record.

However, Edgeworth helped with Gumshoe's investigation of the death of Russell Berry, advising him to order a surprise search of Acro's room. Prosecutor Franziska von Karma, who had conducted the actual search, was furious when she found out that the search had inadvertently caused her to lose, though she was unaware of Edgeworth's involvement.

Later, Edgeworth returned to Los Angeles, finally having figured out the meaning of his profession. He met a startled Wright and von Karma, both of whom did not take his reappearance very well. He looked over the case in which both were involved and gave Wright some information about the case, since he was not acting as the prosecutor for the case. The next day, however, von Karma was shot and had to be hospitalized; Edgeworth prosecuted in her stead for the trial.

During the one-year period after Engarde's conviction, Edgeworth left America again to study international law.

Acting defense attorney

 * Main article: Bridge to the Turnabout

One year after Engarde's conviction, Edgeworth received a frantic phone call from Larry Butz, telling him to return quickly to Los Angeles. After discovering an apparent murder scene at Hazakura Temple, Wright had fallen into the nearby Eagle River while trying to cross a burning bridge to try to save Maya Fey; he had been taken to a hospital with a bad cold but no major injuries. When Edgeworth met Wright, Wright gave him his magatama and his badge; he wanted Edgeworth to defend Iris in the murder of Elise Deauxnim in his stead.

Godot was to prosecute, but he was missing, so Edgeworth pulled some strings to Prosecutor Franziska von Karma and the judge from his first case for the trial and then conducted an investigation of the Hazakura Temple area. In doing so, he began to empathize with Wright and the hardships he had to confront. In court, von Karma tried to crush Edgeworth, but drawing inspiration from how Wright defended his clients, Edgeworth pressed on and drew out much info from the witnesses until court was suspended.

After the trial, he returned the reins to Phoenix Wright and assisted in the police investigation, getting Gumshoe to find the murder weapon. Iris's similarity in appearance from Edgeworth's first case drove him to re-investigate that case, bringing back memories from the "nightmare" trial that had ended with suicide. However, he was unconvinced that Dahlia Hawthorne, who Iris resembled, had anything to do with Deauxnim's death.

Maya Fey was apparently trapped in the Inner Temple, a temple used to train spirit mediums who visited Hazakura Temple, with a trick lock. Iris was called to remove this lock with Edgeworth guarding her, but during this process, an earthquake shook the area and Iris disappeared, leaving five locks on the door to the Inner Temple. Iris was later found and she began to try to break the five locks.

Wright and the police soon discovered a garden near the Inner Temple, the true scene of the crime. Edgeworth and Wright discussed the crime there. Wright had a suspicion that Dahlia Hawthorne was somehow involved with the case, but Edgeworth informed her that Hawthorne had been executed for murder, so she could not have been involved.

Wright got Iris a not guilty verdict in court the following day. Edgeworth came to Wright's defendant lobby to congratulate him.

Return to American prosecution

 * Main article: Ace Attorney Investigations

After a long trip overseas, Edgeworth returned to his office in America, accompanied by Gumshoe, to find the body of a detective.

Personality

 * It was suggested by director Takumi that Edgeworth has a "large" dog named Pesu.


 * Edgeworth suffers from seismophobia, a fear of earthquakes most likely brought about because of the horrible memory of the DL-6 Incident.

Name
Edgeworth may come from "edge of a sword", just like his Japanese name "Mitsurugi" (御剣), which contains the kanji of sword. "Reiji" (怜侍) comes from the kanji of "cleverness".

Miscellaneous
Edgeworth has a terrible problem of trying to make the witnesses state their names and professions. This has been shown quite a few times, and one of them who didn't state their name properly was Jake Marshall. He also has a few admirers, the main one being Wendy Oldbag, who even made up a nickname, Edgey-poo. Bikini also calls Edgeworth 'handsome' and forgives him easily because he looks good to her.

Development
In Edgeworth's original design, he was going to be a 36 year old veteran prosecutor, but the staff decided that was not interesting enough as a rival. When Takumi saw the second Edgeworth version, he was struck with inspiration and created the back story between him and Wright.