Ace Attorney Wiki:Manual of style

This article lists some guidelines for making complete articles that are consistent with other articles of the same type. Our main goal is to make articles that are complete with all significant information on the subject of each article. We hope that fulfillment of this goal will allow this wiki to become a complete, comprehensive and independent resource on the Ace Attorney series.

Perspective
The perspective of writing in articles generally falls into two categories: "in-universe" and "out-of-universe". An article or section written in an "in-universe" perspective presents itself as if a person from within the Ace Attorney universe wrote it. An article or section in an "out-of-universe" perspective is presented from outside the AA universe, as if the author knows that AA is fictional. Consider the following:


 * In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, Phoenix is framed for the murder of Doug Swallow, who is a former lover of his girlfriend Dahlia Hawthorne.

The above is written "out-of-universe". The term "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations" is a "real world" term. The sentence is also written in the present tense, as someone describing a fictional plot. In addition, the main character is referred to by his first name, implying a personal connection from a fan of a fictional game.

If one wanted to write the above example from an "in-universe" perspective, one might try the following:


 *  In his third year, Wright was framed for the murder of Doug Swallow, who had been a former lover of his girlfriend Dahlia Hawthorne. 

This becomes the following:


 * In his third year, Wright was framed for the murder of Doug Swallow, who had been a former lover of his girlfriend Dahlia Hawthorne.

Ace Attorney Wiki is a fan wiki. As such, articles concerning subjects that are inside the Ace Attorney universe should be written from an in-universe perspective, in contrast to articles in Wikipedia. More specifically, these articles should be written from the perspective of someone living at the end of the latest released game, namely Oct. 9, 2026. The articles should ideally be presented like historical accounts, like files in an online court record.

However, articles on subjects that are explicitly outside the AA universe, such as the games themselves, should be written in an out-of-universe perspective. Sections that are outside of the universe, such as name origin sections, may also be written in an out-of-universe perspective.

More on IU style
In-universe articles should in the past tense. For example:


 * Mia Fey is quite nervous about this case. This is her second time in court, the first occurring a year before and resulting in a traumatic experience for her.

This would be inappropriate since the event that the sentence refers to has since happened. It would be better as follows:


 * Mia Fey was quite nervous about this case. This was her second time in court, the first occurring a year before and resulting in a traumatic experience for her.

In general, people should be referred to by their full names upon initial mention and then by their family names in all other instances. Referring to people by their given names introduces bias in favor of "main characters" and "major characters", which are out-of-universe concepts.

Not appropriate:
 * In the defendant lobby, Mia Fey was very nervous. She met with her client Terry Fawles, who insisted that he was innocent. [...] Terry admitted that she was the reason he had escaped and that he had met with her on that day. However, Terry told Mia that when he left, she had still been alive.

Appropriate:
 * In the defendant lobby, Mia Fey was very nervous. She met with her client Terry Fawles, who insisted that he was innocent. [...] Fawles admitted that she was the reason he had escaped and that he had met with her on that day. However, Fawles told Fey that when he left, she had still been alive.

Exceptions include instances in which multiple people have the same family name. In this case, given names may be used to avoid ambiguity.

Speculation
Speculation may come from a few sources.

Speculations may be conclusions derived from non-canon assumptions. The Ace Attorney Wiki is not the place to record or discuss non-canon conclusions.

Speculations may also be conclusions derived from canon factoids that are in dispute. For example, plot conflicts between two or more Ace Attorney products would be cause for a disputed fact. These conflicts should be recorded and given context in the out-of-universe sections of articles. If possible, in-universe sections should make general statements that give no preference to the disputed options.

Arguably, the largest sources of speculation are unknown factors. The Ace Attorney developers cannot account for every single question that could possibly come up in the universe they have created. For example, many characters and organizations have large "gaps" in their histories because information is often given in a minimalistic "need-to-know" basis.

Articles should not note where the out-of-universe knowledge is lacking. This is to avoid judging which "unknowns" are more important, and to make a more coherent article-writing strategy. As a general rule, invest time and energy into recording everything known, and invest none into noting the things that are not known. Another way of looking at it is that concentrating on the things known saves time and energy since there are fewer of them.

Images
Please see the Help:Images page for information.

Links
It isn't necessary to link an article more than once per paragraph.

Characters
In short, character articles should read like bibliographies of actual people.

It is imperative that, at the beginning of each character article's code, Template:Character be implemented properly' with all of the fields filled with the proper information if possible. More information on how to do this is in the template's page.

A character article should begin with a general description of the subject. This is generally called the lead section. The description should include the subject's name (in bold) and perhaps a very brief summary of what makes the character noteworthy. A mention of the subject's appearances in episodes may also be made here. Consider the following example:


 * Phoenix Wright is a professional poker player who was instrumental in implementing the Jurist System into the Ace Attorney universe. He was a renowned defense attorney who was famous for turning hopeless cases around.

Info should also be presented in the appropriate tense. In the above example, Phoenix Wright was a lawyer and is currently a professional poker player. In articles about people who have been convicted for murder, it is assumed that these people are dead, info on them would be presented entirely in past tense (other than in out-of-universe sections).

A short quotation giving a general "feel" for the character may precede the description. Preferably, quotations should come from in-universe sources. In general, quotations should not come from an unofficial source.

A "Personality" section should immediately follow the lead section. Immediately following this should be an in universe biography, split into appropriately titled sections ("Early life", "Career", etc.) detailing the character's life and actions in roughly chronological order.

Following the biography, it may be appropriate to have additional out-of-universe sections, not limited to the following:


 * Voice cast
 * Name origins
 * Notes/Misc/Trivia

Episodes and cases
In short, articles of episodes and other cases should read like real historical accounts.

It is imperative that, at the beginning of each episode/case article's code, Template:CaseData be implemented properly' with all of the fields filled with the proper information if possible. More information on how to do this is in the template's page.

It is also imperative that Template:Episodes be implemented at the end of each episode/case article, which can be done by typing in. The template itself should also be updated with the episode or case in the row labeled by the name of the game or other medium in which the episode or case appears.

An episode article should begin with a general description of the subject. This is generally called the lead section. The description should include the subject's full title (in bold) and perhaps a very brief summary of the noteworthy aspects of the episode or case. The lead section is generally written in an out-of-universe style to accommodate for the information that is to be presented in it. Consider the following example:


 * Episode 1: Turnabout Memories is the first episode of the video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations. It takes place five years prior to The Stolen Turnabout; the player assumes the role of Mia Fey in her second court trial, set to defend Phoenix Wright in the murder of Doug Swallow. Dahlia Hawthorne debuts in this case. Like all first cases in the series to date, there is no investigation stage, only a court trial.

A short quotation giving a general "feel" for the episode or case may precede the description. Preferably, quotations should come from in-universe sources. In general, quotations should not come from an unofficial source.

Following the lead section should be an account of the events in the episode or case in chronological order and in past tense. This account may begin with an out-of-universe description of the prologue (the movie that inaugurates each episode), and then the rest of the account should be divided into sections by date, which should then be subdivided into "Investigation" and "Trial" sections, if appropriate. The "ending" of an episode, which refers to events that occur after the final verdict is given, should be in its own section named "Aftermath" or "Epilogue" or something similar. "Aftermath" may be more appropriate for non-playable cases like the DL-6 Incident.

It may be appropriate to have additional out-of-universe sections at the end. For example, Rise from the Ashes has a section detailing its many references to other cases in the Phoenix Wright trilogy.

Other articles
Other in-universe articles often have very little information to go with, so a short description is usually enough. Ideally, a detailed history should be given if it is reasonably doable (e.g. Fey clan, MASON System, Solitary Cell 13).

More on Trivia and Notes
Articles may include a section to point out the relationship the subject may have with an out-of-universe object. Please use common sense and use points that are notable.