Winston Payne

"Phoenix Wright"

- ... This person... I haven't got a clue...  He seems to know me, but maybe he's mistaking me for someone else...?

Winston Payne is a prosecutor often called the "Rookie Killer" due to his tendency to defeat novice defense attorneys. He was the first opponent of Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice and the second opponent of Mia Fey.

Law career
According to Payne, he once had a seven-year winning streak. If true this means he held a perfect record for longer than both Miles Edgeworth and Franziska von Karma. At some point before the murder of Byrne Faraday, Payne entered into, and won, a competition to name the hot dogs in the courthouse's vending machine.

Breakdown

 * Main article: Turnabout Memories

"Winston Payne"

- I can't believe a veteran like me has to spend his time baby-sitting a new defense lawyer.

When Payne met Mia Fey on her second foray into the courtroom, he thought little of her, telling her it would all be over soon. When he brought his witness to the stand, he told Fey that he had such faith in his witnesses that he would be willing to die for them. However, Fey proved to be much more competent than he had expected. The witness turned out to be the real culprit; she had tried to kill the defendant, Phoenix Wright, by poisoning his cold medicine. Payne refused to give up, but Fey told him to stay true to his word and eat the medicine to show that Fey was wrong. At this, Payne lost all of his confidence (and his hair) from shock. He would never fully recover.

Loss to another rookie

 * Main article: The First Turnabout

Three years later, Payne met Wright in another murder trial, this time as a lawyer fresh out of school. Like his mentor Fey before him, Wright quickly exposed Payne's witness as the real killer. Later, he would cheekily remark that he taught Wright everything he knew.

Another loss to Wright

 * Main article: The Lost Turnabout

Payne faced Wright in another murder trial, but Wright had lost his memory due to a run-in with Payne's witness prior to the trial. Payne was eager to defeat his new nemesis, and even had an advantage with Wright's memory loss. Nonetheless, with the help of his client, Wright was able to pull off another victory, once again exposing the witness as the real killer. Even when Wright later regained his memory, he couldn't remember Payne at all.

Foiled again

 * Main article: The Stolen Turnabout

A year later, Payne prosecuted for the trial of Luke Atmey, who Phoenix Wright had previously implicated as the infamous thief Mask☆DeMasque. He was moving toward an easy win, but Wright burst into the courtroom, claiming that Atmey was not Mask☆DeMasque but the killer of Kane Bullard, CEO of KB Security. Wright's accusation succeeded, which by the double jeopardy law also caused a not guilty verdict for the charge of theft.

False victory

 * Main article: Recipe for Turnabout

Two months later, Payne faced Wright again in court and finally won. However, Wright had performed unusually badly during that trial, and indeed, he turned out to be an imposter. The real Wright appealed the case and won against Godot.

Murder in the prosecutor's office

 * Main article: Turnabout Visitor

Payne was spotted watching the police investigation of the murder of a detective, standing in the 12th Floor Hallway of the prosecutor's office, behind the crime scene tape. Miles Edgeworth, who was helping with the investigation, since it had occurred in his own office, spotted the veteran prosecutor. Payne knew who Edgeworth was, and even told the younger prosecutor that his door was always open if he needed any help. Edgeworth graciously thanked him for the offer but secretly had absolutely no idea who the "Rookie Killer" was. Later, when detective Dick Gumshoe offhandedly mentioned Payne as not being a particularly impressive man, Edgeworth still had no idea who the detective was talking about, thinking he was instead referring to the janitor.

Another rookie

 * Main article: Turnabout Trump

Seven years later, Wright became a suspect in another murder trial, and a new attorney, Apollo Justice, represented him. By this time, Payne had donned a new hairstyle, managing to regrow some of his hair. However, Justice, with the guidance of his mentor Kristoph Gavin and Wright, implicated Payne's witness as a potential suspect. Wright then began to suggest that a fourth person, one other than him, the witness and the victim, had entered the crime scene and committed the murder. Eventually, Gavin was exposed as this fourth person. As the trial had mostly been a debate between Gavin and Wright, Payne wondered whether he had done anything.

Personality
"Winston Payne"

- This... This is insane! What about me!? Don't I get to prosecute anyone!?

Payne is overconfident but easy to rattle. He has some problems with articulating his arguments clearly in court. He used to be more confident and arrogant prior to his run-in with Mia Fey, taking every opportunity to taunt her and her inexperience. He also had a full head of hair to complement his arrogant attitude. He still has an exaggerated sense of his own importance, stating that he taught Wright everything he knows and offering advice to the far-more-intelligent and skilled Edgeworth.

He appears to view Wright as his rival and desperately wishes to defeat him in court, however Wright didn't appear to recall the "Rookie Killer" at all during Byrde's trial, even after he had recovered from his temporary amnesia. Despite this, Wright did seem to recognise Payne when on trial eight years later. Even fellow prosecutors, such as Edgeworth, seem to have a hard time remembering him.

Winston Payne has a wife, but the only information that has been given about her is during his trial against Mia Fey, in which he talked about love being "a mysterious thing" and that "if you were to look at my wife for example, you might all be shocked!" The judge agreed that seeing her had been a "truly, truly shocking" moment. He has also mentioned a daughter, but even less is known about her.

Name

 * His English name is a pun on the expression "winced in pain".


 * The name "Auchi" (亜内) is a Japanese romanization of the English word "ouch".


 * In French, a "boulet" is someone who always does things incorrectly.

Note
In each Ace Attorney game to date, he has acted as the prosecutor for the first episode, and made an appearance in the one exception.

Development

 * In original drafts of Turnabout Sisters, Payne was a defense attorney representing Wright against Miles Edgeworth (the original 37 year-old version).


 * It is claimed he was named after a dentist of one of the staff members.


 * For his appearance in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, a number of different hairstyles were considered but the chosen one was used to represent the 7 years that had passed.


 * Winston Payne is one of only four characters to appear in all Ace Attorney games to date (the other three being the judge, Dick Gumshoe and Phoenix Wright).