Damage

A damage animation is an animation displayed typically displayed by a protagonist, witness or rival when a flaw or contradiction in their testimony or argument is pointed out. Unlike breakdowns, damage animations are short and usually occur multiple times within a trial, often in rapid succession.

A list of damage animations in the Ace Attorney series follows.

Recurring

 * Phoenix Wright &mdash; His eyes briefly appear to become completely white as his mouth gapes in shock.
 * Athena Cykes &mdash; Squeezes her face with both palms.
 * Simon Blackquill &mdash; Appears to be slashed as though by an invisible sword.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

 * Lana Skye &mdash; Bites down on her thumb so hard that she draws blood.
 * Damon Gant &mdash; Becomes "electrified" as if he had been struck by lightning. Notably, his damage animation is rather long and is used in a manner similar to how a breakdown animation is normally used; however, his actual breakdown animation occurs later.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All

 * Richard Wellington &mdash; Pulls on his scarf.
 * Mimi Miney &mdash; Pulls her beret over her head, causing an impression of her face to appear through the fabric.
 * Benjamin Woodman &mdash; The head and limbs of his puppet "Trilo Quist" fly off.
 * Adrian Andrews &mdash; Her glasses shatter, after which she quickly produces a new pair and replaces them.
 * Shelly de Killer &mdash; His radio transceiver explodes.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

 * Phoenix Wright (as a college student) &mdash; Bursts into tears.
 * Dahlia Hawthorne &mdash; While alive, she appears to be blown by a strong gust of wind which causes her parasol to flip inside out. While being channeled by Maya Fey and disguised as Iris in Bridge to the Turnabout, her damage animation is similar, but lacking the parasol.
 * Godot &mdash; Spits out his coffee.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

 * Olga Orly &mdash; In her "Russian waitress" persona, she throws her dishes upwards, then quickly moves her tray from one side to another to catch them as they fall down.
 * Alita Tiala &mdash; Bites down on her nails, then grabs her head with both hands and screams in shock as feathers fly off of the front of her dress. Her breakdown is a much longer version of her damage animation.
 * Lamiroir &mdash; Her veil flips over, covering her eyes and making the character on the veil resemble a question mark.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies

 * Juniper Woods &mdash; Pulls on her pigtails as she normally does when distressed, then accidentally lets go, causing them to hit her in the eyes. Her eyes then appear as two "X"s.
 * Ted Tonate &mdash; Moves backwards while accidentally typing gibberish on his speech syntheziser, then slumps forward with his goggles extended.
 * Florent L'Belle &mdash; Accidentally sprays himself in the eyes with perfume.
 * Myriam Scuttlebutt &mdash; Various objects such as pencils and triangles fall from inside her box, which she then grabs with both hands. Her damage animation is similar to her breakdown, but her laptop does not fall and she does not throw the box upwards in shock.
 * Robin Newman &mdash; Faints in an overly dramatic manner.
 * Hugh O'Conner &mdash; Briefly lets go of his bow, which hits him in the side of the head.
 * Aristotle Means &mdash; Leans backwards onto his blackboard, which wobbles and hits him in the back of the head.
 * Solomon Starbuck &mdash; Grabs his neck in panic as his oxygen tank begins to leak.
 * Yuri Cosmos &mdash; Continually spins on his scooter.
 * Norma DePlume &mdash; Her skirt billows as if a strong wind were blowing from below, and she grabs it to avoid being exposed.
 * Marlon Rimes &mdash; Blood gushes from the bite scars on his shoulders.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice

 * Pees'lubn Andistan'dhin &mdash; One of his dahmalan's strings snaps, hitting him in the face.
 * Bonny de Famme & Betty de Famme &mdash; Appear to be caught in a gust of wind which flips their umbrellas inside out. Their damage animations are somewhat similar to Dahlia Hawthorne's.
 * Roger Retinz &mdash; Pulls his cape over his face.
 * Datz Are'bal &mdash; Strikes a pose while standing on one foot and making a comically exaggerated expression.
 * Tahrust Inmee &mdash; His spirit briefly comes out of Maya Fey's body.
 * Geiru Toneido &mdash; When in her "cutesy" persona, the round red balloon she is holding pops. After she switches to her aggressive persona, she bites down too hard on her balloon sword, and it pops, causing the rubber to get stuck over her mouth.
 * Uendo Toneido &mdash; Spits out his tea.
 * Paul Atishon &mdash; Grabs tightly onto his nameplate with both hands while showing a shocked expression, then examines the nameplate in horror as he notices it is damaged.
 * Ellen Wyatt &mdash; Throws her wedding bouquet upwards, and it falls onto her face. Notably, her damage animation is also consistently used as the transition from her calm persona to her panicked persona.
 * Sorin Sprocket &mdash; Accidentally stabs his own thumb with his pen.