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Blue Badger
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Phoenix Wright
The Blue Badger! Mascot of the police force! Defender of truth, guardian of proof!

The Blue Badger is the mascot of the Los Angeles police department. It was created by the chief detective of the Criminal Affairs Department.

History[]

Beginnings[]

Main article: Turnabout Goodbyes

The chief detective first conceived of the Blue Badger and made a Blue Badger doll some time before Miles Edgeworth's murder trial, having taken inspiration from a design in a sketch a child witness had drawn of a crime scene. An early design later became the Proto Badger. A Blue Badger doll was displayed inside the Criminal Affairs Department for visitors such as Phoenix Wright to see, with the chief hoping that the Police Department would adopt it as its mascot. Despite the doubts of visitors, including Wright, about the idea, it gained approval among the police force.

Dancing panel[]

Main article: Rise from the Ashes
Dick Gumshoe
It's battery-powered, so it can go anywhere! There's no switch, so it just dance dance dances until the batteries die!
Ema Skye
Poor Blue Badger... fated to dance until he drops.
Sprite-bluebadger

"I think it's supposed to be dancing..."

Enthusiastic about the Blue Badger, Detective Dick Gumshoe collaborated with the chief detective to design a large painted wooden panel version of the Blue Badger that would dance. Gumshoe made this panel himself. Mike Meekins left it in the Police Department's evidence room after being in charge of its protection. Its presence both obscured and created vital clues in a video recording of the apparent murder of Bruce Goodman, which turned out to be a scuffle between a disguised Jake Marshall and a bewildered Mike Meekins. The completed Blue Badger was later placed at the front of Police Headquarters. After the resolution of the aforementioned murder case, the dancing Blue Badger was seen to stop dancing and collapse; the panel's ultimate fate is unknown.

The Pink Badger[]

Main article: Recipe for Turnabout

By the beginning of 2019, the Blue Badger had been fully adopted as the Police Department's mascot, and the chief detective had created a female version called the Pink Badger. The two were handcuffed together, in what its creator said was an allegory for marriage.

Gatewater Land[]

The Gatewater Group adopted the Blue Badger and his friends as a main attraction of their theme park, Gatewater Land, as a show of gratitude for the police department's role in solving various cases related to their properties (despite it being Phoenix Wright who had actually solved the cases in question). Park employees wore costumes of the Blue Badger and the Pink Badger, as well as their antagonist the Bad Badger and the "original" Proto Badger. There was an ongoing contest in the park where people could try to find all four Badgers. A show occurred regularly in which the Blue, Pink and Proto Badgers attempted to stop the Bad Badger from fulfilling his evil plans; this is the only time in which the Bad Badger actually appeared, making it difficult for people to win the Badger-hunting contest. One Blue Badger was placed in the haunted house; there was a large mirror next to two openings, giving the illusion that the Badger was disappearing.

A replica of the original Blue Badger dancing panel could be seen on display at the entrance to the theme park, although this version did not dance, or indeed move in any way.

Popularity[]

Dick Gumshoe
You know what I think about sometimes? What kind of life would I have if I hadn't joined the Homicide Division. [...] Me as a traffic cop. Me as a detention officer. Me as the Blue Badger...

Among the Blue Badger's fans are Maya Fey, Pearl Fey, and Trucy Wright, all thinking that it was cute. Kay Faraday, on the other hand, has said that she thought of it as evil, despite knowing of the Bad Badger. Most other people regard it as slightly creepy. Despite this, the Blue Badger has become somewhat of a franchise, with Badger T-shirts being seen in people's possession from time to time. For example, Wocky Kitaki wears a Bad Badger T-shirt, and Maggey Byrde is seen wearing a Blue Badger hoodie while off duty and a Blue Badger T-shirt during her time as a security guard.

The Blue Badger is also the mascot for the Gavinners; it is often used in promotional items and events for them, as well as on some of their guitars. There is also a sticker of the Blue Badger on one of their instrument cases.

The user interface of the fingerprint analysis device used by Detective Ema Skye in 2028 features an icon in the shape of the Blue Badger's head.

Name[]

  • Japanese - Taiho-kun (タイホくん):
    • "Taiho" translates as "arrest".
  • English - Blue Badger:
    • While the Blue Badger seems not to resemble a real-life badger at all, it is likely that "Badger" was chosen for the alliteration and the presence of the word "badge" within it. The name may also possibly be a reference to the "The Blue Bomber", a nickname of the titular character from the Mega Man video game series; this theory is somewhat supported by the Proto Badger having a similar name to Proto Man, another character in the Mega Man series.
  • French - Lutin bleu:
  • Italian - Sbirrotto:
    • "Sbirrotto" is derived from the Italian word "sbirro", a colloquial (and sometimes offensive) term for a police officer, with the addition of the diminutive suffix ‑otto, which evokes tenderness and/or familiarity. It could be roughly translated as "Little Cop".

Unofficial[]

  • Brazilian Portuguese - Guardinha Azul:[1]
    • Inspired by the English name, with "azul" meaning "blue". "Guardinha" is also the diminutive of "guarda" (guard).

Development[]

Pip-kun

Pipo-kun, the Tokyo Police mascot.

  • The Blue Badger was likely inspired by "Pipo-kun", the Tokyo Police mascot. It even has an antenna on its head that resembles the three points coming out of the Blue Badger's own head. Both mascots also wear a belt and sash.
  • At one point during the development of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, there were plans for a Blue Badger costume as DLC.[2]

References[]

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