Lotta Hart

"Lotta Hart"

- What! Don't try to play stupid with me just 'cause you think I'm some country bumpkin! Yeah, I know how y'all Yanks think! "I say, those southern folks talk with that exaggerated drawl, why they must be dumb!" Well let me tell you, just because I might be dumb don't mean we all are!

Lotta Hart is a fiery-tempered photographer who appeared as a witness in several of Phoenix Wright's cases, with much of the photographic evidence in said cases coming from her.

Early life
According to her, Hart was born and raised in the "Heart of the Heartland". She was originally at college, but after believing to have taken a picture of a "yoofoh" (U.F.O.) in her sister's graduation photograph, she left college to become an "investigative photographer".

The hunt for Gourdy

 * Main article: Turnabout Goodbyes

"Lotta Hart"

- Second-rate shutterbugs trying to steal my scoop!



Phoenix Wright's first encounter with the fiery redhead was during the murder trial of Miles Edgeworth. She had heard about Gourdy and planned to capture a photograph of the beast. Going by an article in the local newspaper, Hart set up a camera on the shore of Gourd Lake that was set to respond to loud noises. She then pretended to be a college student taking photographs of meteor showers so as to throw off any "shutterbugs" that might try to steal her scoop.

Wright and Maya Fey came across the camera and Fey (in her typical do-without-thinking way) set off a party popper to activate the device. Hart soon arrived on the scene, absolutely furious that Fey had wasted precious film. However, after conversing with the two of them, she believed she may have observed the murder the previous night and also that her camera had been triggered twice that night. Hart told Wright about a photo she had taken of the lake showing the murder, and that she was going to make an enlarged version. She then went to the police station to act as a witness, and in doing so replaced the original witness the police were going to use.

Before the trial, Hart showed her photos to prosecutor Manfred von Karma, who instructed her to rehearse an intentionally vague account of the murder to not show the enlarged photograph in court. Wright took the defense's bench and could not break through Hart's testimony at first, but after an outburst by Fey, Hart let slip that she had not seen Edgeworth clearly. Wright eventually revealed Hart's real reason for being on the lake that night along with the fact that she hadn't actually witnessed the murder; she had just convinced herself she had. Wright also got Hart to show the enlarged photo, which presented enough doubt to extend the trial to another day.

Hart later apologized to Wright for her actions in court as she had gotten caught up in the moment, and promised to make it up to him with information. However, in return she wanted evidence either proving or disproving the existence of Gourdy. Wright eventually proved that "Gourdy" was in fact a stray Steel Samurai balloon. Disheartened, Hart revealed that the original witness was the boat shop owner and gave Wright a copy of the other photo taken that night. Although this photograph was only of the empty lake, it was the timestamp on it that revealed that Robert Hammond had been murdered before Edgeworth had arrived on the scene.

After Edgeworth was found innocent, Hart took a picture of the triumphant group and was shocked to find a ghost was in the picture. This ghost was Wright's deceased mentor: Mia Fey.

At Kurain Village

 * Main article: Reunion, and Turnabout

"Phoenix Wright"

- Lotta! At a time like this!?

"Lotta Hart"

- Times like this are perfect for snapping up shots!

The next time Wright encountered Hart was a year later in Kurain Village. She was a self-styled "paranormal photographer" and was in search of another big scoop. She was present outside Fey Manor's Channeling Chamber when Turner Grey was shot and dashed into the room with Wright to find what appeared to be a possessed Maya Fey covered in blood, with the dead body of Grey lying in his own blood. Hart quickly snapped a couple of photographs (despite protests from Wright) before being herded from the room by Morgan Fey.

Hart testified during Fey's trial for Grey's murder, with her temper clashing with that of prosecutor Franziska von Karma. Although Wright tried to find a contradiction in her testimony, he was forced to admit that, in her position, he would say the same. The first photograph was submitted as evidence and appeared to show Maya standing over Grey's corpse with a pistol in her hand.

With a little prodding from Mia Fey, Wright remembered that Hart had taken two photographs and that, like her father, Franziska had tried to conceal the presence of a second photograph by ordering Hart not to reveal it. Her plan failed and the second photograph was shown to the court.

Later on, Hart regretted helping out the prosecution and tried to avoid Wright, running away from him. As she ran, she yelled behind her for Wright to stay away as she was "a worthless piece of trash" and that if Wright laid eyes on her "they'll turn ta dust". Nonetheless, Wright wearily pursued her to the Side Room of Fey Manor. The room appeared to be empty, and so Wright searched the room only to get the fright of his life when Hart jumped out from inside a large box used to store clothes and fled once again. Although Wright attempted to chase her again, she managed to evade him this time. Hart did pass Pearl Fey during her escape and demanded that the little girl not look so accusingly at her, much to Pearl's confusion.

Later, while Wright was pondering over the involvement of the Miney sisters in the case, he heard what he thought was a mosquito buzzing in his ear. This turned out to be Hart trying to attract his attention. She apologised for her actions in court and offered all the information she had for free. Hart told Wright that if Maya wasn't the culprit, then it would only be Ini Miney and informed him about her hospitalisation half a year earlier. She gave Wright the address of the Hotti Clinic, where Ini was hospitalised, saying that the reason she hadn't checked it out for herself was that it was too much effort. Upon his return from the clinic, Hart informed Wright that Morgan that she had gone with the police as she had something to tell them. She also told Wright about how Morgan had lost the position of Master to her younger sister Misty, forcing her family to become a powerless branch family.

Luckily for Wright, the information he obtained from Hart and the clinic proved vital to his case, as it lead to his discovery that "Ini" was actually Mimi Miney and the true murderer of Dr. Grey, with help from Morgan Fey. The fact that the clothing box that Hart had hidden in was large enough to hide a grown (although not particularly mature) woman also proved to be vital to the investigation, as it turned out to have been used in the murder plot to transport a drugged Maya Fey.

Hart's experience of the incident made her decide to change her job from "paranormal photographer" to "tabloid photographer" shortly afterwards.

Tabloid work

 * Main article: Farewell, My Turnabout

"Lotta Hart"

- You sure you went to school, City Boy? Wherever Lotta Hart goes, there's a story to be found! A big scoop to be had!

Lotta Hart appeared at the Gatewater Imperial Hotel during the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix in order to get a tabloid scoop on the scandal between Adrian Andrews and Juan Corrida. She wrote a note saying that Matt Engarde had made Adrian Andrews get close to Juan Corrida keep an eye on him (as they were rivals). Wendy Oldbag, a security guard at the hotel, stole Hart's camera, and used it to take a picture of the Nickel Samurai (really Adrian Andrews) leaving the crime scene. Corrida was murdered shortly after the Grand Prix, and the photos on Hart's camera were initially used as evidence against Engarde. Wright took Engarde's case but eventually found out that he really had done the deed.

Hart congratulated Wright after the trial. She also bought a $1600 camera and put Wright's name on the bill.

The Yatagarasu

 * Main article: Turnabout Ablaze

Hart was spotted by Miles Edgeworth and Kay Faraday during a Steel Samurai show at an embassy. Edgeworth vaguely remembered her but avoided interacting with her due to a feeling that talking to her would be very unpleasant for him. She later took a photo of the Yatagarasu apparently flying above the rose garden in the embassy.

The black market auction

 * Main article: The Forgotten Turnabout

Three weeks after the Yatagarasu incident, Mikiko Hayami clued Hart in on a black market evidence auction going on at the Big Tower. Hart learned of a secret 51st floor above the Prosecutorial Investigation Committee meeting room, accessible only through a hatch and ladder on the viewing platform at the top of the tower. The two decided to work together on this scoop; Hart would infiltrate the 51st floor, while Hayami would use a wiretapping device to intercept wireless communications. Hart found a storeroom of various pieces of evidence on display, and tried to hide inside a costume trunk, but it was locked, so she hid behind the Alif Red statue instead. Hart witnessed eleven auction participants enter one by one; each would take a mask equipped with a voice changer, and then take a lift to the meeting room below, where the auction would be held. Hart then peered into the meeting room through the space between the lift and the floor to watch the auction unfold.

During the auction, one of the participants won a Borumosu Doll, and Hart quickly returned to her hiding place as the winner entered the storeroom with the auction conductor. Hart heard one of them talking about wanting to exact revenge, then heard a piercing scream, causing Hart to freeze. Eventually, she mustered the courage to take a peek, and witnessed an extraordinary sight: a figure in a red raincoat heading to the roof, the left hand bloodied, while a titanic eye peered through a window next to the ladder. Hart managed to take a photo of this incident.

Hart then looked into the meeting room again, and counted that there were still eleven participants, as if the crime that she had just witnessed had never happened. In fact, the only difference she could see was that the auctioneer no longer had the gavel they had being using earlier. Hart then returned behind the Alif Red, and suddenly heard a loud noise, causing her to faint. The next thing she knew, Miles Edgeworth, Kay Faraday, Tateyuki Shigaraki, and Ema Skye had discovered the storeroom, where they soon found her.

The four new intruders were investigating the murder of Tsubasa Kagome, as well as an incident that had caused Faraday to lose her memory. Edgeworth grilled Hart until she revealed what she had witnessed. She testified about the incident the following day, during a P.I.C. hearing for Edgeworth. It turned out that the loud noise that Hart had heard had come from Faraday herself, who had stumbled and fallen through the hatch after seeing Kagome's body on the roof; the hooded figure that Hart had seen. Moreover, Kagome had been replaced in the auction after her murder by an unwilling co-conspirator blackmailed into helping the auction conductor, and the replacement had been made easily due to the mask and her similar physique. These events allowed Edgeworth to expose P.I.C. chair Bansai Ichiyanagi as both Kagome's killer and the auction conductor.

Monster sightings?

 * Main article: The Grand Turnabout

After Kagome's case was resolved, a transceiver was heard from inside the warehouse, and Hart accompanied Edgeworth and Faraday once more as they sought it out. The person on the other end was the assassin Shelly de Killer, who told Edgeworth about a mastermind who had been pulling the strings behind the case that the prosecutor had just solved. Soon after, the trio left the building and were accosted by Penny Nichols, who had found the body of Zheng Fa president Teikun Ō at a nearby lot, where Global Studios was filming the movie The Great Monster Borumosu vs Gourdy. There were three peculiarly-shaped holes in the concrete around the crime scene, with the president being found in one of them, prompting Hart to believe that the film monster Borumosu had stepped on the president. Excited at this opportunity for a major scoop, Hart furiously took pictures while Edgeworth investigated the scene.

Eventually, Hart learned that Nichols had seen Shimon Aizawa, one of the actors, talking to a scaly creature resembling Gourdy. Hart later left in pursuit of Shi-Long Lang, the official investigator of the case, believing that he would have a better gasp on what was happening than Edgeworth. Unable to glean any information from him, she returned to the Big Tower entrance to meet up with Hayami and learn that she, too, had obtained "evidence" of Borumosu. She had intercepted the sound of flames being spewed, which she believed came from Borumosu. The duo confronted the Global Studios crew, trying to get them to admit that they were hiding the presence of real monsters. Unfortunately for both of them, Edgeworth revealed that their "monster" flames and eye had been nothing more than a Berry Big Circus balloon that Sōta Sarushiro had commandeered, the "footprints" came from Bansai Ichiyanagi trying to dig something up, and the "Gourdy" Nichols had seen was actually just a camera crane covered with a waterproof sheet that she had mistaken for the monster due to her failing eyesight. Although initially disheartened, Hart accompanied Edgeworth, Hayami, and the others to the circus to confront Sarushiro. Edgeworth went on to prove that Sarushiro was the mastermind behind all the events he had recently encountered, and so the latter was arrested for his crimes.

Personality
"Lotta Hart"

- I-I didn't mean anything bad! I know I can be a little mean, but I ain't evil!

"Phoenix Wright"

- (Well, at least she knows herself...)



Hart is fierce and loud, but well-meaning. She defends her secrets ferociously, but she is always willing to help Wright and Edgeworth, just not for free. Hart is often single-minded in the pursuit of her goals and gets aggravated if she thinks people are mocking her or her homeland. Nonetheless, it is easy to get her to spill information once she calms down, or when acquaintances such as Mikiko Hayami are brought up. Although she was a paranormal photographer at one point, she is "really bad when it comes to blood and ghosts and stuff"; leaping into situations without forethought is another character trait of hers. Hart also had a habit of changing her job each time Wright met her, although it usually incorporated her photography abilities.

Hart has a strong southern accent. Because of this, many people have a problem understanding what she is saying. This is also because she has a habit of shortening sentences into short phrases that she has invented, such as saying, "Reckon course!" which means, "Ya reckon? Of course I did!" Her accent and manner of speech have made some people think negatively of her, such as Franziska von Karma and Morgan Fey, the latter even believing her to be from a different country altogether. Nonetheless, with some effort, she is able to speak without her accent (or, in her words, "talk Yank").

Name

 * Her Japanese surname, "Oosawagi", means "clamour" or "uproar".


 * "Lotta Hart" is a play on "a lot of heart", which refers to her well-meaning nature. There have been a few times in which her name has been used for a play on words. Wright once stated that she was in a whole "Lotta" trouble, as Lotta often hides information from him. When Wright encounters her again after a year, one of the options for remembering her name is "Lotta Hair", in reference to her afro.


 * Her full French name is a play on "elle va causer (des) soucis", which means "she'll be trouble".

Development

 * Hart was the designer's idea of a stereotypical person from Osaka. Apparently the developers in the Osaka Capcom offices did not appreciate the implication that people from Osaka are cheapskates.


 * The dialect of Osaka is a favorite with Japanese authors, manga, and anime artists for representing a character somewhat "different" from the norm. To keep this "difference" in dubbed anime, characters are often given the Southern United States accent instead. This is most likely the origin of Hart's style of speech.

References to popular culture

 * In the French version of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All, she at one point comments on Morgan Fey's behavior by saying, "Je veux être calife à la place du calife" ("I want to be Caliph instead of the Caliph"). This is a reference to the catchphrase of the titular character of the French comics series Iznogoud, who is constantly trying to usurp the Caliph to whom he is second-in-command (thus mirroring Morgan Fey's lust for power). The phrase has even entered everyday French for referring to over-ambitious people who want to become the boss.