Iris


 * For other characters called Iris, please see Iris (disambiguation).

"Iris"

- I... I've committed some sins. Sins that I need to pay for.

Sister Iris was a shrine maiden at Hazakura Temple who was put on trial for the murder of Elise Deauxnim. Although she is of Fey lineage, she has no known spiritual powers, much like her twin sister Dahlia Hawthorne. She usually wore a demon-warding hood and traditional acolyte dress of the Fey clan, although she gave the hood to Wright as a gift shortly after reuniting with him.

The abandoned twin
Iris was born to the then-upcoming Master of the Fey clan, Morgan Fey, and a wealthy jeweler. When Morgan's sister Misty became the Master instead, the father was very displeased, as the Master had great political influence, so he left with Iris and her twin sister Dahlia. He remarried with another woman who had a daughter, Valerie Hawthorne from a previous marriage. Believing that two girls were enough, and partly through Dahlia's suggestions, the father sent Iris to Hazakura Temple, where the head nun, Sister Bikini, raised her.

Kidnapping plot

 * Main article: Turnabout Beginnings

One day, Dahlia convinced Iris to conspire in a fake kidnapping involving her, Valerie and Terry Fawles to steal a jewel from her father. However, Iris never showed up, as she was too frightened to help. It is unknown what her planned role in the kidnapping was, though Iris confirmed herself years later that she was, indeed, supposed to be involved in it. Since she had refused to assist her in her plot, Dahlia would later refer to her twin as a traitor and backstabber.

Relationship with Phoenix Wright
Five years later, Dahlia poisoned a defense attorney during an investigation and gave her bottle of poison to Phoenix Wright disguised as a necklace. As Dahlia was still under suspicion for the poisoning, and not wanting to give her sister another sin to answer for, Iris suggested to pose as her and to feign a relationship with Wright to retrieve the poisoned bottle so he would not get involved. However, Wright, convinced that the necklace was a love gift from Dahlia, began to show the necklace to everybody he met, refusing to return the necklace. She would make him mini omelettes, knitted him a pink sweater, and had lunch with him everyday. After eight months, Iris had really fallen in love with Wright and had developed a strong loyalty to him; she could not deprive him of the necklace he loved. Becoming impatient, Dahlia decided to kill Wright by poisoning his cold medicine; she did not inform Iris of this, suspecting her feelings towards Wright and fearing that she would intervene if she knew. Dahlia ended up killing another student instead and quickly framed Wright for the murder.

Dahlia's plan failed; defense attorney Mia Fey exposed her as the real killer and she was sentenced to death. Iris subsequently returned to Hazakura Temple, and would not see Wright again for a long time.

Usurping plot

 * Main article: Bridge to the Turnabout

Five years after Wright's acquittal, Morgan found out that her daughter Pearl had signed up Maya Fey, Misty's daughter, for Hazakura Temple's Special Course for spiritual training. She hatched a plot with Dahlia, whose execution date was nearing, to kill Maya. Morgan instructed Pearl to channel Dahlia during Maya's visit, at which point Dahlia would then kill Maya. However, Godot got word of this plot; in order to protect Maya, Godot contacted Misty and Iris. While Godot and Misty would prevent Pearl's channeling, Iris would play the role of backup. During the visit to Hazakura Temple, Wright had accompanied Maya and Pearl in order to investigate Iris's uncanny resemblance to Dahlia after seeing her in the Oh! Cult! magazine. Although she claimed otherwise, Iris let slip that she already knew who Wright was, but could not bring herself to admit the truth to him.

As a result of circumstance, Misty was forced to summon Dahlia so that Pearl could not. Before Dahlia could kill Maya, Godot killed Dahlia with Misty's sword-cane, killing Misty in the process. Godot contacted Iris on her cellphone, engaging her help in covering up the crime scene. After Iris helped Godot move Misty's corpse over the Eagle River chasm, she moved the body to Hazakura Temple's courtyard and plunged the Shichishito into it to obfuscate the murder wound. Bikini witnessed this, leading to Iris being arrested for Misty's murder.

During the investigation, Iris met Miles Edgeworth, who was temporarily acting as her attorney in place of Wright, who was recovering after falling into the Eagle River. Edgeworth recognized that Iris had a secret regarding Wright and encouraged her to tell him the truth; in exchange, he would fight in her defense as best as he could.

The next day, Wright took over as Iris's attorney and began his investigation. He found that Maya was locked inside the Inner Temple with a trick lock; Iris was summoned to try to break the lock systematically, with Edgeworth watching over her. Later, an earthquake struck the area; while Iris had broken the lock, she found Dahlia (being channeled by Maya), who switched places with her and locked her in with five trick locks.

In court, Dahlia, pretending to be Iris, tried to implicate Maya as the killer, not knowing that Maya was channeling her. Wright eventually figured out that she was Dahlia and that Maya had been channeling her; overcome with fury for her failure to kill Maya, she left Maya's body. The real Iris was eventually released from her prison and declared not guilty after Wright exposed Godot as the killer. However, she would still be tried for her actions as an accomplice due to her involvement in covering up the murder.

At this point, Iris revealed that she was the "Dahlia" that Wright had dated, and that she had begun to develop genuine feelings for him during this time. Upon knowing this, Wright admitted that "Dahlia" was truly the person he thought she was; after Dahlia's execution, Wright had all but lost faith in her, but now realized he had been involved with a good person for those eight months. Iris tearfully thanked him.

Later, Wright, Pearl and others visited Iris in the detention center, much to her delight. Wright showed some lingering feelings for her (he had his eyes on her the whole time), but Pearl slapped him for what she saw as disloyalty to Maya, giving him a nosebleed, which, in turn, caused Iris to show concern.

Personality
In terms of personality, Iris is everything that Dahlia merely pretended to be. She is very meek and polite, to the point that it is very easy for others to manipulate her, especially if that other person is her twin sister, whom Iris pitied and defended despite her crimes. Iris even respects Dahlia's self-confidence and endurance, but sees very little good in herself for haphazardly assisting in Dahlia's schemes. Iris nurtures strong feelings for Wright, but is hesitant to reveal them due to having deceived him previously. Her feelings for him were so strong that she was willing to protect him from Dahlia at any cost, even if it meant Dahlia's life or her own. She is easily embarrassed and intimidated, such as when Larry Butz "blackmailed" her as an act of "love", and remained ignorant until Edgeworth explained Butz's true intentions. This caused her to blush even while inside the detention center and about to stand trial for murder. Iris is quick to take the blame for others' misfortunes, specifically the deception of Wright, which motivated her to banish herself to Hazakura Temple as penance. However, in the end Wright stood up for her and convinced her that she was not a bad person in the end, and she tearfully thanked him.

Name

 * Her name, in all language versions, comes from the iris, a kind of flower. Her twin sister Dahlia is also named after a flower. In the language of flowers, the iris flower symbolizes good news and luck. Its three upright petals represent faith, valor, and wisdom.
 * In Greek Mythology, Iris was a goddess who was the personification of the rainbow and a messenger of the gods; she would travel via a rainbow and, by acting as a messenger, serve as a link between humanity and the gods. The Ace Attorney Iris could be viewed as a link of sorts herself, with her appearance in Bridge to the Turnabout solving several mysteries. Alternatively, her role as a nun would perform a similar role to the goddess'; acting as a link between humanity and the supernatural.
 * Since she is only known as "Sister Iris", her surname is unknown. It could be "Fey" after her mother, or "Hawthorne" after her father, despite him abandoning her.
 * Iris is the only human character in the series outside of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney who is referred to using her first name only, and never her last name.

Development

 * Iris and Dahlia were given different hair colors according to what the developers felt suited their characters best.
 * Each member of the Fey clan wears orbs on necklaces, which represent her training's progress. Presumably due to her inexperience, Iris only has two.