Iris

"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.

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 Fey 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. 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.

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. After six 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 executed. Iris subsequently returned to Hazakura Temple, and would not see Wright again for five years.

Usurping plot

 * Main article: Bridge to the Turnabout

Five years later, Godot, Iris and Misty Fey learned of a plot by Dahlia and Morgan to kill Maya Fey. Morgan instructed her daughter Pearl Fey to channel Dahlia, who would kill Maya. Godot had Misty channel Dahlia instead; Godot would then restrain Dahlia and stop her from killing Maya. However, Godot was forced to "kill" Dahlia with Misty's sword-cane, which killed Misty. Iris then moved the body to Hazakura Temple's courtyard and plunged the Shichishito into it. Bikini witnessed this, and Iris became the main suspect in Deauxnim's murder.

During the investigation, Iris told Miles Edgeworth, who was to act temporarily for Phoenix Wright as her attorney, that she had a secret to tell Wright after the trial. However, she did not reveal the secret to Edgeworth.

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 grief 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.

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 realised he had been involved with a good person for those six months. Iris tearfully thanked him.

Later, Wright, Pearl and others visited Iris in the detention center. 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.

Personality
In terms of personality, Iris is everything that Dahlia merely pretended to be. She is very kind, 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 nurtures strong feelings for Wright, but is hesitant to reveal them due to having deceived him previously. She usually wears a demon-warding hood and traditional acolyte dress of the Fey clan.

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's; acting as a link between humanity and the supernatural.


 * The name "Iris" could also be a reference to the character with the same name in the Mega Man franchise, which is another Capcom video game series. The two characters share not only a common name, but also that they both have a twin sibling (Colonel in the case of the Mega Man Iris).


 * 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 character in the series who is referred to using her first name only, and never her last name, likely to keep Iris's relationship with Dahlia Hawthorne a secret until the appropriate time.

Development

 * Iris and Dahlia were given different hair colors according to what the developers felt suited their characters best.


 * The orbs on her necklace represent her progress in her training. She only has two.