Breakdown

This article contains information from the unofficial English translation patch for Gyakuten Kenji 2.

Owing to the lack of an official translation of the Japan-only Gyakuten Kenji 2, the information and names in this article come from the unofficial English translation patch known as Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth: Prosecutor's Path. More information on this can be found here. If you have personal experience with the item of media in question, you can help the Ace Attorney Wiki by improving on this article. Please heed the manual of style when adding information.

A breakdown is a special type of descent in the Ace Attorney series serving as the final transition of a character to some kind of defeated state. It typically involves a special, normally one-off animation, which can be quite long and over-the-top, especially in later games in the series, which can employ entire scenes. The most common type of breakdown is when a witness has run out of responses to the evidence and reasoning presented against their testimonies, though some breakdowns involve a non-witness experiencing an emotional breaking point similar to a witness breakdown. Breakdowns for culprits are particularly dramatic and serve to cap off the trial or argument process as the case is solved. Many culprit breakdowns are so over-the-top as to strain believability in them as literally occurring. In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice, The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney culprit breakdowns are preceded by the player character striking a finger-pointing pose, complete with camera movement for dramatic effect, while delivering one final line.

In the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, the breakdown animations for each character can be viewed in the Animation Studio. Unlike most other animations, breakdowns can only be viewed with the background of the scene from which they originated. For example, Olga Orly's breakdown can only be viewed with the Witness Stand (Present) background. They are also the only animations to feature any dialogue text, which matches the original scene exactly. When starting a breakdown animation, a message appears indicating its duration and warning the player that the animation cannot be cancelled once initiated.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Culprits

• Frank Sahwit — Hyperventilates and froths at the mouth before finally collapsing to the ground.
• Redd White — Lowers his head onto the witness stand, then rapidly lifts his head up in the air, screams, then suddenly slams his head down and twitches, possibly crying, face down on the stand.
• Dee Vasquez — Grimaces and clenches her pipe until it snaps in two, then quickly returns to her usual calm persona.
• Yanni Yogi — Falls over while shaking his fist. Later, when finally pinned for the murder of Robert Hammond, he suddenly transforms from his hunched and sleepy "Uncle" persona to his true self; upright and with a serious expression on his face, admitting defeat.
• Manfred von Karma — Pounds the desk, then screams while shouting the Edgeworth name as the events of the DL-6 Incident flash behind him. He then punctually bangs his head off the courtroom wall, pauses, then resumes much faster than before, all the while cursing the names of Miles Edgeworth and his father.
• Damon Gant — Starts laughing and clapping, starting slowly but gradually becoming faster and faster as he leans back, and slows down at the end of his breakdown. At his fastest, Gant is clapping once every 2 frames, or 30 times a second; this means that his animation is shifting on every single frame, which causes most emulators to lag, or if the emulator is using frame skipping, not every clap is shown.

Witnesses

• Cody Hackins — Suddenly bursts into tears.
• Jake Marshall — Tips his hat down and then screams "No" while his poncho billows behind him.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All

Culprits

• Richard Wellington — Pulls on his scarf so tightly that he begins to lose air until his face turns blue and he passes out.
• Mimi Miney — Removes her beret, opens her eyes, and wipes away her tears with the aforementioned beret.
• Acro — Tears suddenly begin to stream down his still-smiling face as he admits his guilt, not letting his calm persona be altered by the outcome of the trial.
• Matt Engarde — After being told he has been found guilty, he screams the word over and over, scratching his face multiple times, not wanting to let his perfect image be stained by the sentence. Alternatively, if he is told he is not guilty, he realizes he will be hunted down by Shelly de Killer the very moment he leaves the courthouse, and as such he begs for the guilty sentence, again scratching new scars into his face while repeatedly yelling "GUILTY!"

Others

• Regina Berry — Bursts into tears upon realizing that Acro's hatred for her over his brother's accident was what drove him to attempt to kill her, but instead kill her father by mistake.
• Franziska von Karma — Suddenly starts crying.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations

Culprits

• Dahlia Hawthorne — Unlike most culprits, she has two different breakdowns. For her first breakdown; when revealed to have killed Doug Swallow, she quietly calls out Mia Fey's name twice before screaming the third and final time and turns to glare at her with glowing, demonic eyes, while the butterflies that usually surround her burst into flames. Later in the game, while she is being exorcised from Maya Fey's body after being discovered as Dahlia and not her similar-looking twin sister, Iris, she puts her head down on the desk, while her ghostly spirit appears behind Maya's body, pale with crimson hair and holding her head and screaming. Her spirit then reappears with a demonic glint in her eye and her hair flowing out fire-like in every direction. A wave of blue fire suddenly engulfs her and ten balls of blue fire appear in the shape of a Magatama. After the Magatama has been shown, all the flames but the center one indicating the hole disappear, and the last remaining flame descends to the center of the screen while events of Dahlia's past play behind it. The final flame then disappears, and the barely conscious Maya Fey is seen standing at the witness stand, exhausted, before collapsing unconscious.
• Luke Atmey — Crosses his arms over his face while slowly rising up, then suddenly uncrosses his arms, laughs hysterically, while moving his head rapidly from side to side, and again begins to speak his verses very quickly. This happens twice, once when "revealed" to be Mask☆DeMasque and one when he's shown not to be DeMasque, but instead the murderer of Kane Bullard.
• Furio Tigre — Roars so loudly that the lights in the courtroom go out and images of the murder appear behind him, both Tigre and the events displayed only in black and white. When the light and color return to the scene, he stays frozen in place while the rest of the courtroom returns to normal.
• Godot — The screen around him slowly darkens, and suddenly, his visor explodes, and he recoils backwards screaming. Godot then returns to his normal self, and takes a sip of coffee, before a trickle of blood from his wound makes its way down his face from his visor as he confesses his guilt.

Witnesses

• Terry Fawles — After swallowing the poison in his hand, he begins coughing until a trickle of blood flows out of his mouth. After a while, he falls dead on the witness stand.

Others

• Winston Payne — Brings his arm up with a shocked expression on his face while his hair is blown away. At this, he screams about his 'beautiful hair' flying off.
• Viola Cadaverini — Has her head low like in her 'giggling' animation, but suddenly starts crying.
• Diego Armando — Grips his coffee mug so tightly that it shatters, causing his hand to bleed.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Culprits

• Kristoph Gavin — Like Dahlia, he has two breakdowns. For his first breakdown; when he was revealed to have killed Shadi Smith, he looks aside as the courtroom shakes around him. He then slowly raises his fist in the air while the courtroom continues to shake; the dishes and lobster Olga Orly was carrying in her disguise levitate behind him. Suddenly he slams his fist on the witness stand, making the levitating objects fall and the shaking cease. Finally, he clenches his fist on the stand. For his second breakdown; he learns that the court will be using a Jurist System designed by Phoenix Wright to deliver the verdict for his second murder, he hunches over the witness stand, his mouth twitching. He once again raises his fist, while the courtroom shakes, before slamming it onto the witness stand, clenching it just like the previous time. He releases his suppressed rage by crossing his arms in front of him, roaring Wright's name, and his glasses fly off while his hair billows above him. As he screams, he leans his head back and let go of his shoulders. He then tilts his head to the side and moves his hands back further. Afterwards, he hunches over on the stand, arms crossed, and glares with a manic look in his eyes while his normally well-kept hair is now disheveled and his tie sticking out, his face twitching even more than before. Finally, after a not guilty verdict was given for Vera Misham, Gavin cackles with his hand over his face and is taken away.
• Alita Tiala — When Justice reveals that Pal Meraktis tried to kill her, she screams while holding her head while the wings on the front of her dress flap wildly and feathers fly off. This is similar to her "damage" animation, but during her "breakdown," a drastically increased number of feathers fly off and the animation lasts much longer. It is the only breakdown to occur before a culprit has been fully exposed, rather than after, as Tiala does not react at all when Justice proves beyond any doubt that she killed Meraktis.
• Daryan Crescend — Starts calmly attempting to bargain with Machi Tobaye for his silence, making one bizarre offer after offer. He then calmly straightens his hair again, only to abruptly lose his cool and start desperately screaming for Machi not to talk, all the while flailing about madly with his pompadour slashing about like a sword. Afterwards, his hair is loose and disheveled, and he stands broken on the witness stand.

Witnesses

• Olga Orly — She has two breakdowns depending on her "personas," As a Russian waiter, she yells then slowly falls backwards, while her dishes and the lobster fall down in order onto the witnesses stand. Later, she drops her timid Russian guise, swiftly pulling off the coat and hat to reveal a pirate-themed costume. When finally defeated, she yells while her camera goes off and the dishes and lobster fall slowly behind her.
• Wesley Stickler — Freezes while his cape billows and the pages of his book turn as if he were being blown by a strong gust of wind. He then drops his book and collapses on the stand.
• Wocky Kitaki — Keeps down his attitude briefly while showing a concerned look on his face.

Others

• Winfred Kitaki — Raises his thick eyebrows revealing his eyes.
• Klavier Gavin — When first realizing that Vera Misham had made the counterfeit diary page which disbarred Phoenix Wright, he clenches his fist and then grips his head yelling. Later, when Kristoph has his second breakdown, he raises his head, having his bangs cover his eyes, before telling him that he's not needed anymore.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Culprits

• Jacques Portsman — Rapidly bites on the medal around his neck, causing golden dust to fall in the background. After a few seconds of this, it breaks off its chain and he swallows it. He then faints.
• Cammy Meele — When defeated, she pauses, blowing one bubble, then suddenly blows many bubbles which then repeatedly pop around her, barraging her. It is also notable that during the barrage, her Mr. Ifly teddy bear can be seen grabbing onto its captain's hat, presumably in order to prevent it flying off.
• Lance Amano — Abruptly shatters the handcuffs around his wrists and suddenly begins to sob tears, apologizing for both the fake kidnapping and the murder.
• "Calisto Yew"/"Shih-na" — Begins laughing even more hysterically than usual, rocking backwards and forwards, tears in her eyes. She then pulls a gun on Edgeworth and escapes. When discovered later on as Shih-na, she laughs in the same hysterical way as she did as "Calisto". When she is finally defeated, she spreads her arms wide and cackles madly with fangs appearing in her mouth.
• Quercus Alba — When finally defeated, he screams Edgeworth's name while his skin cracks and is blown away by a strong gust of wind. He then screams again with the wind blowing his medals and hair upwards and spots of light appear above his head, the sound of a falling tree playing in the background. He then suddenly collapses into a hunched old man with an almost mummified face, with no eyes visible.

Witnesses

• Zinc Lablanc — A steadily increasing gust of wind blows right at him which forces his lips back to reveal his gums, as if he were in a centrifuge used for high-G training. The wind increases until he is blown over.

Others

• Young Kay Faraday — She grasps her shirt, leans her head back, and begins to cry with tears streaming down her face.

Gyakuten Kenji 2

Culprits

• Horace Knightley — Bites down on his lip while spinning his gun faster than usual. He then starts tossing it back and forth before losing control and sending it up into the air, afterwards he starts spinning multiple random objects and throws them all up in the air (including a horseshoe, The Thinker, Mr. Ifly, a box of Samurai Dogs, a Blue Badger doll, and a hammer) which all land on his head, knocking him into his neck brace, before his gun lands on his head and finally knocks him out. Though it likely was for a comedic purpose, he is the only person to be struck with The Thinker and survive despite ironically dying soon after.
• Patricia Roland — Starts thinking about Sirhan Dogen and his theme plays. Then the prison alarm rings as she and her pet fox fluffs up in anger, and she proceeds to scream in horror. Her pet fox jumps off her neck, and her fur coat turns into a number of other foxes which similarly jump off, leaving her shivering, wearing a shirt designed to look like a prison outfit.
• Katherine Hall — When her attempt to murder Dane Gustavia is exposed, she holds one hand in front of her face, and sheds a tear. When Raymond Shields tells her that he shall defend her no matter what, she hides her face behind her fan, and reveals her face, crying comically exaggerated tears of joy.
• Dane Gustavia — Stays silent while his theme plays and starts to blow up the dough he's working with to a huge size, then carves it into a life-sized sculpture of himself by rapidly punching the statue with his bare fists, his punching becoming increasingly fast by the second. He examines his dough sculpture for a moment, then draws a baster and slices it in half, in a manner reminiscent of a samurai, which reveals its hollow insides.
• Blaise Debeste — His lighter sends up a huge plume of flame, burning his beard and hair clean off, revealing them to be fake and uncovering the burn mark on his chin from his earlier confrontation with his victim, Jill Crane. He then coughs out some smoke. When finally defeated in court by his own son, Sebastian Debeste, and Edgeworth, he screams his son's name while his lighter flares up like before and the screen fades to white.
• Simon Keyes — When taunted on how he's exactly like his birth father, Dane Gustavia, in terms of both methods and failures, he starts screaming with a shocked expression, just to suddenly stop and say, wickedly laughing, he was just kidding since they have no evidence to support their claim. When finally defeated, he protests as his animals begin to attack him fiercely as his leitmotif starts playing: first the birds strike his face while he was carrying a pair of rabbits, then Money the Monkey scratches his face, then the pig lets the cat jumps up by its nose and kicks Keyes' face, the squirrels pull strands of his hair apart so that a gorilla can punch his face, which sends him whirling until an elephant's trunk grabs the top of his head and pulls him off-screen as the sound of further brawling is heard.

Witnesses

• Di-Jun Huang (body double) — Roars mightily, letting all the air out of his body, leaving him flabby and disheveled.
• Jay Elbird — He reacts as though he were being punched, getting knocked back and forth until finally, as if a punch lands on his cheek in slow motion, his mouth guard (and some teeth) fly out. His bear, Rocky, jumps off him and he collapses.
• Frank Sahwit — Throws his toupée at Edgeworth. Unlike Wright, Edgeworth shows a shocked expression instead. He gets his toupée back after a couple of minutes.
• Karin Jenson and Bonnie Young — Jenson begins slapping Young's hair bun back and forth extremely fast, causing it to pop open, knocking Young's glasses off and sending Jenson falling to the floor.

Others

• Jeffrey Master — Starts crying while placing his hand on his chest.
• Kay Faraday — Puts her hands on her head and screams in agony as she starts to remember.
• Sebastian Debeste — Holds his head up and gets a determined expression, while still shedding a tear.

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Culprits

• Olivia Aldente — Yells out in fury and tries to chop off the head of the giant fish she has with a butcher knife. It dodges, spins, and knocks her to the ground with its tail.
• Darklaw — Clutches her head and writhes in denial as she starts to remember, while flashbacks of her past play behind her.

"Witches"

• Kira — Screams in horror and throws her flower basket high into the air. As the petals scatter all around and she continues to flail about, the basket comes back down and lands upside-down on her head, and she falls to the floor.
• Jean Greyerl — When she reads Newton Belduke's suicide note, she puts her hand to her mouth and fights back tears.

Witnesses

• Espella Cantabella — Clutches her head in pain, screams, and falls to the floor. Later, when she becomes overwhelmed by guilt over blaming herself for everyone's suffering, she attempts suicide by throwing herself off the Bell Tower. Her attempt is interrupted by Darklaw, resulting in the two both falling together, before being saved from hitting the ground by Luke Triton.

Others

• Flynch — Rears back in shock, causing his glasses to fly off his face. He scrabbles around desperately looking for them and slowly slides down beneath the prosecutors' bench out of sight.
• Ridelle Mystere — After Hershel Layton completes all of her puzzles, she rears back in disbelief, causing her to throw her book in the air along with her glasses being nudged above her eyes. Once the book lands, she looks around for her glasses, then looking for her book, both of which she does not find until after the breakdown, before finally covering up her eyes with both hands. This is the only breakdown that plays during the Professor Layton segments.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies

Culprits

• Ted Tonate — The music track "The Dark Age of the Law" plays as Tonate rants about how the bomb's time is running out and he can dismantle anything. He then bites and pulls the red wire on his model bomb repeatedly, eventually rearing back while his goggles extend to an absurd length. With his goggles still extended, he then snaps forward and smashes his extended goggles on the bomb, causing it to break with two seconds left. His goggles finally retract, but then overload, causing them to explode in his face. A screw from his exploded goggles falls onto his head, which causes him to fall too, and the model bomb reactivates and counts down to 0, announcing "GAME OVER - DISMANTLE ATTEMPT FAILED." This breakdown, particularly the part where Tonate's goggles exploded, has been repeated three times in the game via flashbacks.
• Florent L'Belle — Begins threatening to kill Apollo Justice just as he did Rex Kyubi (thus confessing to his crime in the process) while spraying himself with cologne uncontrollably until a cloud of it has formed around his head. When it dissipates, his hair has returned to its natural white color and all of his makeup has been removed, revealing his prematurely aged face. He then weakly answers a series of calls on his cell phones and finds out that a project of his has been canceled, he has lost his sponsors, has been fired as the mayor's aide, and that a $100 million stratospheric damages lawsuit has been filed against him. In response to the shocking revelations, he throws his notebook up into the air and collapses forward, laughing quietly to himself, saying he's "washed up" and "done".
• Aristotle Means — When defeated, he tries to pitifully bargain his way out of a prison sentence by writing various proposals of increasingly less lenient "alternate punishments" (such as a 30% pay cut, bathroom detail, or dismissal) on his blackboard, while the gallery boos and throws chalk and other random objects at him each time. On his fifth and final try, he gives up and attempts to write the word "Guilty"; after writing the first letter (the first 3 lines of 有, the kanji that makes up the first part of the word 有罪 (guilty), in the Japanese version), his teeth shatter under the immense pressure, and he collapses onto the floor along with the blackboard, leaving behind a large chalk cloud.
• Phantom — Upon finally being proven guilty, he looks around in fright after being objected to thrice. The background darkens as he pulls at his mask of Phoenix Wright and shouts to the hidden, unknown shooter that he hasn't lost yet. Unsure of his own identity, he begins removing mask after mask, starting with the other culprits (Ted Tonate, Florent L'Belle and Aristotle Means) as debris falls and covers each transition. Afterwards, he turns into several other characters, such as Damian Tenma, Hugh O'Conner, Solomon Starbuck, Aura Blackquill, Jinxie Tenma, and even Simon Blackquill, and begins repeatedly flashing through the identities of the aforementioned killers, suspects, witnesses, and attorneys, with no debris to cover his face this time, all the while questioning who he is now that he has lost his own identity behind his masks. He starts flipping through disguises faster and faster, until all that is left is the torn and terrified visage of Bobby Fulbright. The Phantom subsequently gets shot by an unseen sniper, and as he falls his mask is torn away, leaving his true face hidden only by the darkness after he collapses.
• Marlon Rimes — When defeated, the background darkens around Rimes and the ground starts to sway around, as if it were part of a rocking ship. Rain starts to pour down as Rimes is befuddled and the ground sways hard enough for him to drop his fish and support himself by holding onto the witness stand. Lightning and wind appear and Rimes starts to hold onto his pirate hat but the wind blows hard enough for the hat to blow away. Eventually, the floor rocks hard enough for Rimes to fall over after he desperately holds onto the witness stand. As the storm ends, Rimes is seen crouched under the witness stand and holding onto its bars as if it were a jail cell.

Witnesses

• Jinxie Tenma — Keeps jolting herself back until her platter breaks. After her father is declared not guilty, she drops her guard and smiles peacefully.
• Damian Tenma — The seal on his forehead suddenly flies off, his eyes turns completely white, he raises his arms and acts as if he was Tenma Taro.
• Myriam Scuttlebutt — Throws her box upwards in surprise but manages to catch it in time to conceal her face. Pencils, protractors, and scissors fall out of the box and when her laptop falls, she throws her box in surprise and notices her face is now shown. She quickly covers her face until her box falls and covers her.
• Hugh O'Conner — Reminisce about his, Robin Newman and Juniper Woods's friendship. After his friends shows their "proofs of friendship", he unbottons his collar showing his own. Realizing that they always saw him as a friend, he burst in tears and screams. Hugh's breakdown is different than the others, since it happens during an animated cutscene.
• Solomon Starbuck — Panics and accidentally activates his parachute, a strong gust of wind blowing him to the ceiling.
• Yuri Cosmos — Becomes dizzy and falls for a short moment then smashes and breaks the main button on his mini scooter; which malfunctions and causing it to zoom back and forth, crashing him around the courtroom, his stars flying all around him. After a while, he crashes though the main door, leaving an outlined hole of himself. The judge then sends the baliff on their "steed" to go after him. It should be noted that, despite not being a culprit, Cosmos has the major breakdown of The Cosmic Turnabout. This is due to the fact that the episode ends without revealing the culprit, and the case continues into Turnabout for Tomorrow.
• Norma DePlume — Starts to sweat as the camera zooms into her face. The camera progressively zooms out and a gust of wind suddenly blows around her. The buttons of her coat pop off, and her top starts to flop open with the camera mercifully cutting to face her back from afar. The scene cuts to an exasperated Phoenix internally remarking about the wardrobe malfunction and the judge pounding his gavel and begging for her to cover up.
• Herman Crab — When accused of trying to kill Orla Shipley, he becomes completely enraged and starts kicking the witness stand with his right foot, scaring the courtroom.

Others

• Gaspen Payne — Suddenly becomes shocked and runs out of the courtroom. This happens twice; once after Ted Tonate threatens the court with his model bomb and once when he finds out that Edgeworth wishes to see him during the end credits.
• Athena Cykes — Whenever visualizing events from her childhood, Widget turns black as she stumbles back with her hands in front of her. Afterwards she looks down at the defense bench and cradles her arms around her, falling into a mental breakdown. After Aura Blackquill accuses her of her mother's murder, Widget darkens as she holds her hands over her ears, screaming and trembling in horror. After Simon Blackquill reveals the truth about what happened during the UR-1 Incident, she yells "NOOOOO!" and shakes her upper body in denial. Later in the Defendant Lobby after her verdict, she thanks Blackquill while letting out her tears with a smile.
• Aura Blackquill — While remotely controlling Clonco, her head flies up in surprise, detaching from her robot body. Her hands reach blindly for it until it lands back onto her neck. Later, when meeting with Simon in the Defendant Lobby and seeing him thank her sincerely for what she did, Aura looks away and holds her hand near her chest, holding back her crying.

The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures

Culprits

• Jezaille Brett — Firsts she bites and tugs at her domino mask. As Naruhodo points at her, she recoils, incredulous at having been bested by a Japanese. The swan on her hat suddenly comes to life, pulling her right and left, throwing little yellow chicks and one grey chick all over the courtroom as everyone watches in bemusement. Finally, her swan lifts her up into the air as she takes an angelic pose.
• Nikolina Pavlova — When the truth is finally revealed, she blows out in shock, screaming, and passes out. In the very end, she lowers her head into her hands and cries with regret.
• Magnus McGilded — When the possibility is laid open that McGilded is the murderer, he becomes enraged, wearing a twisted expression and pounding the witness bench so hard that he scares the other witnesses. At the end of the trial, after receiving his unjustified not guilty verdict, he laughs maniacally, slowly clapping his hands while the courtroom breaks out in anger and confusion.
• Joan Garrideb — Drops her dishes in shock as she screams an apology, then faints. Her husband John attempts to catch her as she did for him in his breakdown, but she proves too heavy and they fall over backwards.
• Ashley Graydon and Tobias Gregson — When Gregson finally concedes and admits to protecting and creating a false testimony for Graydon in exchange for the music disks, the latter becomes completely enraged and breaks his cane onto the witness stand, using it in an attempt to strangle the inspector who "betrayed" him, who spits out a chip afterwards. As Graydon confesses, his lowered head is lifted, showing his sad expression for his father's death.

Witnesses

• Iyesa Nosa — His baby son Aido starts to fiercely stretch his mustache. As he is contorting in pain, he screams out "Clippety-clop, clippety-clop" repeatedly as Aido imitates a horse rider. Eventually, Nosa's spine cracks. He reels forward, slinging his son onto the witness stand as both do a salute. From there on Iyesa's mustache is always twisted.
• Roly Beate — Looks up, and breaks into tears.

Others

• Taketsuchi Auchi — Kazuma Asogi draws his katana and slices the chonmage on the top of Auchi's hair, making it fall over into a haircut similar to Winston Payne's, his descendant, in Turnabout Trump.
• John Garrideb — Calmly places his teacup and saucer on his wife Joan's plate, stands carefully, and then passes out in shock as he acknowledges Sholmes' deductions. Joan in turn catches him before he hits the ground.
• Gina Lestrade — After receiving her not guilty verdict in her trial, she takes off her hat, wiping the tears in her eyes, and then gives Ryunosuke Naruhodo a smile, thanking him.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice

Culprits

• Pees'lubn Andistan'dhin — Once defeated, he plays a solo on his dahmalan while the loudspeakers behind him are on maximum volume. Then he raises his dahmalan, unplugging it from the loudspeakers, smashes them with the instrument, and, screaming, breaks it upon the witness stand, after which a broken piece of the dahmalan flies up in the air. It lands on his head, and he soon collapses.
• Roger Retinz — When defeated, after flipping a coin, he begins a theatrical performance, the background a red curtain, a spotlight shining on him. He reveals masks of Troupe Gramarye members under his cape, proceeding to burn each one in turn. When he attempts to burn a mask of Trucy Wright, he accidentally reveals a Mr. Reus mask instead. Shocked, he hides it and reveals another mask, only to find that it is, yet again, a mask of his true identity, albeit now bloodied. He shakes it off after it giggles at him, and he becomes scared. After he insists that he has done nothing wrong, multiple spotlights shine on him, blinding him, after which he collapses.
• Tahrust Inmee and Beh'leeb Inmee — Tahrust screams after his wife confesses to the accidental killing of Puhray Zeh'lot. Later, as Beh'leeb exorcises Tahrust from Maya's body, he gives her a nod and a smile as he departs. Beh'leeb then holds the Magatama of Parting close to her chest, bids farewell to her husband, and silently cries.
• Geiru Toneido — When she is defeated, her balloons start popping in succession, starting with the cake, followed by the cat, the sword, the dog, her hat, and her red nose. Finally, she pulls up her suspenders and screams, snapping them down as they pop her breasts, which turn out to be balloons. The screen fades to white and returns to the courtroom to reveal that she, now crying, has removed her wig, revealing her natural hair and the bandage from the head wound she was hiding.
• Paul Atishon — Sweats nervously while holding his nameplate, but he stops once the scene changes to a television scene. Four henchmen show up, and he sees that a bar representing the number of votes for him has increased enough to ensure his election. Once he confirms it with the henchmen, he and his henchmen cheer happily, but he soon learns from an announcement that his electoral win has been taken away because of murder charges. The henchmen quickly disappear, the scene now back in the courtroom, and he shows confusion before falling into a black pit and screaming for his grandfather. He is then shown at the stand once more, frozen in a comical "falling" motion, his nameplate shattering to pieces. The screen turns black, and then the sound of his collapse is heard.
• Ga'ran Sigatar Khura'in — After she is accused and then challenged by Apollo Justice to channel the Holy Mother, the guards in the courtroom are blown away while Ga'ran reels back in shock. She then tries to perform the Dance of Devotion to channel the Holy Mother while the guards encourage her, only for it to fail. Her guards realize that she really has no spiritual powers of her own, so they aim their rifles at her. She pleads with them saying she was warming up and attempts the channeling again in Khura'inese, only for it to backfire, knock her unconscious, and cause her to fall backward into the Pool of Souls. She then lies on the pool, defeated.
• Pierce Nichody — When he is defeated, the background turns into an electrocardiogram, showing a steady pulse. He resumes the operation on his mech, spilling some of the oil on one of his gloves and his surgical mask, likening it to cutting an artery. He throws away his monocle and continues as he asks for his equipment, only to realize nobody is here to help him. Frantically, he throws away his mask and resumes the operation. While doing so, the background changes to the last moments of Selena Sprocket, and the mech falls off the stand. While he despairs over having failed to save his fiancée, his heartbeat becomes progressively faster until a flat line is shown. Nichody, clutching his chest, falls. Later, as he confesses, Selena's pocket watch starts working again to his surprise and he sadly holds it close to his chest.

Witnesses

• Ahlbi Ur'gaid — Grips his bag so hard that his dog Shah'do shoots out of it, while part of the bag's cloth slams in his face, resulting in him having a slight bruise and 'X' at the eyes. After this, Shah'do falls on his head.
• Betty de Famme — When exposed, she calls out Bonny to perform an impromptu magic show. She teleports away from the stand before the lights turn off. Spotlights appear on the defense's and prosecutor's benches, revealing Bonny (who waves at the gallery) and Betty (who seductively crosses her legs) respectively, before teleporting away. Both of them appear back at the witness stand, and the gallery cheers.
• Uendo Toneido — After getting drunk, he staggers around, each of his three main alters passing out, as symbolized by his hair fans' falling out, until he completely passes out. He pulls himself back up to reveal his fourth hidden alter, Owen. After Cykes points out that Owen remembers that the killer was wearing his favorite perfume, he passes out, falling off the pillows he was sitting on.
• Armie Buff — As she undergoes a therapy session, she becomes so distressed she has her drone steal Widget from Athena in order to stop it. As the judge orders her to submit to the session, she steals his gavel and convenes a "military tribunal". A fight subsequently breaks out between the bailiff and Cykes against the drone in order to retrieve the items as the drone unloads its arsenal of non-lethal gattling guns and missiles on them. After being helped by Cykes in regaining her lost confidence, she shuts off her drone and enters the courtroom on her wheelchair. After the trial, she stands from her wheelchair and stays on her feet.
• Rayfa Padma Khura'in — The first time she attempts to summon Inga Karkhuul Khura'in's last vision, the stress that Ga'ran puts her under and her own grief cause her to have a panic attack. She pants heavily before fainting.
• Maya Fey — Cries while smiling when telling Apollo about Dhurke's final moments.
• Amara Sigatar Khura'in — After Apollo Justice proves her presence in the tomb, she opens her eyes and screams, tears and pink petals flying from her. Later, after Justice proves that she has been masquerading as Ga'ran, she holds her fingers around the mandala on her dress, flames appearing gradually before it shatters and reveals the burn scar on her chest from her assassination attempt. Finally, before she can admit to the whole truth, a gunshot is heard, fired by one of Ga'ran's royal guards in a bid to silence her; she sweats nervously and then jumps in shock, a bloodstain appearing on her stomach from the bullet's entry wound. She then falls to the ground and passes out.
• Nahyuta Sahdmadhi — Whenever he has no more arguments for his prosecution case, he struggles to keep his stretched beads in control before they snap as he shows a pained expression in slow motion. The beads suspended in air suddenly start slamming on his face until he is sent flying backwards.
• Sorin Sprocket — After finding out that his memories were being tampered with, he nervously thumbs through his notebook. He screams, and the pressure on his back air tanks goes up, their wings popping out, causing him to lift off before he falls back down and collapses.

Others

• Gaspen Payne — Rears back in shock, causing his crown and toupée to fall off, revealing his completely bald head.
• Trucy Wright — When Apollo declares he will prove her innocence, she cries openly in front of him and thanks him for believing in her.
• Bucky Whet — When it's revealed that Taifu Toneido was holding onto the deed to Whet Soba for good reasons, his hairstyle comes undone, causing his hair to hang over his face like a bunch of wet noodles.
• Apollo Justice — When he finds out that Dhurke Sahdmadhi has been dead all along, he raises his head with his eyes shut, slams his forehead on the defense bench in despair, and screams "No!". Afterward, he holds himself slightly above the defense's bench with his two hair pieces falling in front of him, distraught. Memories of himself with Dhurke play on a dark screen as Apollo wonders what he was fighting for.
• Inga Karkhuul Khura'in — After shooting Dhurke three times and missing his fourth shot, he tries to fire a fifth bullet, but his gun clicks, empty. Inga suddenly gains a scared expression, dropping his stamp from his mouth. He walks back two steps, calling the still-living Dhurke a freak before turning around and running away.
• Ellen Wyatt — After Sorin Sprocket accuses her of murder, she drops her bouquet and stares with a betrayed expression and blank eyes.

The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve

Culprits

• Raiten Menimemo — When exposed, he swings his camera around his head wildly as he rants and raves against the Japanese Empire, until Rei Membami grabs his arm and stops him. She and "Ryutaro Naruhodo" proceed to toss him high into the air - the pair then stand side-by-side in a fighting stance, having executed their "Ryutaro Takedown" on him.
• Olive Green — When accused of attempting to murder Shamspeare, Green falls down, taking her easel down with and on her. Later, after explaining her reasoning for attempting to murder Shamspeare, she puts her hands together, smiling and about to cry, and bows towards Naruhodo after a conversation with him.
• William Shamspeare — When exposed as Duncan Ross' killer, confetti bursts from his chest, and a jewel on his chest is knocked off, and he proceeds to comically stumble left to right on the witness stand. Each time he comes to each end of the bench, he poses before another burst of confetti catches him off-guard and knocks another jewel off. He then jumps into the air, striking a final pose before another burst sends him flying to the ground and knocks off his remaining jewels. He then stands still at the witness stand, without his hat, admitting his guilt, making it clear it was completely unintentional.
• Courtney Sithe — Slams down on the witness stand, grimacing. She then bows her head in despair.
• Seishiro Jigoku — Grips the bench with both hands and begins to shake violently, remembering his own trial after the Professor Killings. In the same manner as what he did in the trial of Genshin Asogi, he raises both hands and rapidly slams downwards, smashing the bench entirely. The remaining pieces of the broken stand fly up into the air. Jigoku slowly looks upwards from his hunched stance and snaps into a defeated state, looking as though he was handcuffed.
• Mael Stronghart — When first cornered after Klint's will exposes him as his blackmailer, he stands up from the judge's bench, opening his arms outwards and screaming. After a pause, he claps, beginning slowly but gradually increasing the pace. Later, once Herlock Sholmes reveals he showed the whole trial to Queen Victoria, he continually strikes the judge's bench with his cane calling for adjournment of the trial until it snaps in half, at which point he topples over his bench, onto the empty juror's benches, and then to the courtroom's floor - this triggers six guilty "votes", which collect into the black scale. The sudden weight of the flares causes the scales to tip, then detach, and fall towards Stronghart with a small explosion. As Stronghart begins to pick himself up, the scales make another move towards him, lighting an enormous fire behind him. He screams as the courtroom burns.

Witnesses

• Gotts — Suddenly bursts out crying and throws a tantrum.
• Enoch Drebber — Spreads his arms over his head then collapses, swaying robotically.
• Fabien de Rousseau — Throws his arms up in the air in desperation yelling that Tobias Gregson is not the man he held hostage.
• Daley Vigil — As Hugh Boone, Fabien de Rousseau and Peppino de Rossi hold him down by his arms as the court bailiffs force him out of his disguise. After remembering everything about the Professor case, the screen smashes like a window (representing his suicide attempt), he screams as his eyes roll back into his head, falling onto the floor.
• Barok van Zieks — When Naruhodo reveals Klint van Zieks as the true Professor, Barok quickly grabs his face and screams.

Others

• Taketsuchi Auchi — In a manner of Seppuku, he takes a knife and, after reciting a death poem with tearful hesitation, cuts off the strand of hair on his forehead and lets it blow away as the courtroom holds a moment of silence.
• Kazuma Asogi — When he sees the Professor unmasked, he clutches his head screaming as his memories are restored, and removes his cloak, revealing his hair. He then removes his face mask, revealing his true self. Later on, when Stronghart attempts to use a loophole to end Barok van Zieks's trial prematurely, he has both fists on the prosector's bench and slams his right hand then screams.
• Iris Wilson — When it's revealed that she tried to hide the fact that she stole Klint van Zieks's autopsy report, she apologetically bursts into tears.

Anime

Culprits

• Frank Sahwit — While cornered the first time, he screams and grips the collar of his jacket. The second time, a gust of wind from Wright makes him stagger and lose his toupée. After his guilt is finally proven, he froths at the mouth while losing the little left of his hair, and collapses.
• Redd White — Screams in the air, hands and head raised, and then slams his head on the desk three times, all this screaming 'WHAT!?' ('NO!?' in the English Dub). After reading Mia's note, he screams at the air to prevent Mia from talking, drop his head on the desk and confesses.
• Dee Vasquez — After having her crimes revealed, she drops her head in despair. After Wright ask her if she did it, she raises her head and confesses. Her breakdown is the first to be highly different from the one in game.
• Yanni Yogi — Similar to the game, but he doesn't shout before falling asleep. The second time, he simply stands up from his chair, dropping his facade and confesses.
• Manfred von Karma — Grips his shoulder and screams. He tries to snap his fingers, but slips. After confessing, his cane snaps in two and he falls to his knees.
• Mimi Miney — Pulls her beret so hard over her face that it tears, summoning an explosion around her. After a bit, she raises her head with a smirk and reveals her true identity.
• Acro — He raises his head and cries with his eyes closed, like in game.
• Shelly de Killer — His radio breaks not permanently like in his 'damage' animation in game. After ending his contract with Matt Engarde, his radio breaks for real.
• Matt Engarde — His breakdown is the same as the game (scratching his face multiple times) but happens twice. The first when Wright tells him he's done for, and then after he pleads a guilty verdict. The only difference is that after his second breakdown, he faints.
• Richard Wellington — He still pulls his scarf tight that he passes out, but his face doesn't turn as blue.
• Luke Atmey — Although his fake breakdown is the same, his real breakdown has him slam his fist on the stand in anger and slump to the floor.
• Goldy Gerwitz — Her hair turns upward like the horns of a bull then she screams in anger while ripping off her necklace.
• Furio Tigre — Tigre screams and looks as if he exploded, then he turns white and falls back.
• Tristan Turnbull — Screams, then the electronic device on his glasses explodes off. He falls down and the device hits him lightly on the head.
• Dahlia Hawthorne — Both of her breakdowns in the anime adaptation have Dahlia do the same breakdowns, except with a ghostly, purple aura.
• Godot — Similar to the game, but his visor has a visible blue spark before it explodes.

Witnesses

• April May — Her breakdown is the same as the game (crossing her arms and screaming and revealing an aggressive face). The only difference being that only one of her buttons is reversed.
• Wendy Oldbag — Bites into a handkerchief and screams, producing very high-pitched sounds that makes the other people cover their ears.
• Terry Fawles — Instead of dying immediately after falling down on the stand, he falls down into Mia's arms and dies.

Others

• Cody Hackins — Interrupts the trial stating that those so called 'rules of society' are messed up. He then burst into tears and starts shouting how the Steel Samurai can't be the culprit, while the bailiffs try to restrain him. In all this, his hat falls.
• Regina Berry and Moe — Before Acro is arrested, she interrupts the trial and burst out crying, begging that they arrest her instead of him. Moe then intervenes saying that the reason that Acro tried to get away with murder was because Bat is still alive and starts crying as well. Regina then promises that she will be by Bat's side until he wakes up.
• Winston Payne — The cause of his hair flying off is the wind that comes from Mia's pointing. Later, during his first trial with Wright, he screams and bangs his fists onto the prosecutor's bench.
• Diego Armando — His hand was not shown to be bleeding.

Uses in other games

• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 — Phoenix Wright's Level 3 hyper combo, "Ace Attorney", has him accuse his opponent of committing a crime, which causes them to have a breakdown. Here, the opponent is stunned by Phoenix's finger point, is zapped by lightning akin to Damon Gant's damage animation as they are presented with evidence and finally collapse as an explosion goes off behind them.
• Project X Zone 2 — During one chapter, Phoenix confronts Saya, the main antagonist, and manages to reveal her true intentions. Saya lets out a loud scream whilst showing her shocked pose, akin to a breakdown, before coyly asking if that's how people normally respond. A similar conversation happens later between Phoenix and The Shadow, from Space Channel 5, although Shadow does not make a reaction after his "breakdown".

Gallery

Sprite gallery

• PW: AA
• PW: AA - JFA
• PW: AA - T&T
• AJ: AA
• PW: AA - DD
• PW: AA - SoJ
• AAI: ME
• GK2
• TGAA: A
• TGAA2: R
• PL vs. PW: AA

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Frank Sahwit's breakdown.

April May's breakdown.

Redd White's breakdown.

Cody Hackins's breakdown.

Dee Vasquez's breakdown.

Yanni Yogi's breakdown.

First part of Manfred von Karma's breakdown.

Second part of Manfred von Karma's breakdown.

Third part of Manfred von Karma's breakdown.

First part of Damon Gant's breakdown.

Second part of Damon Gant's breakdown.

Third part of Damon Gant's breakdown.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All

Richard Wellington begins to break down.

First part of Richard Wellington's breakdown.

Second part of Richard Wellington's breakdown.

Mimi Miney's breakdown.

Acro's breakdown.

Regina Berry cries.

Phoenix Wright's breakdown.

Shelly de Killer (walkie-talkie)

Matt Engarde's breakdown.

Franziska von Karma cries.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations

Dahlia Hawthorne's first breakdown.

Winston Payne's breakdown.

First part of Luke Atmey's breakdown.

Second part of Luke Atmey's breakdown.

First part of Furio Tigre's breakdown.

Second part of Furio Tigre's breakdown.

Terry Fawles's breakdown.

Diego Armando breaks his mug.

First part of Dahlia Hawthorne's second breakdown.

Second part of Dahlia Hawthorne's second breakdown.

Third part of Dahlia Hawthorne's second breakdown.

Fourth part of Dahlia Hawthorne's second breakdown.

Fifth part of Dahlia Hawthorne's second breakdown.

Godot's breakdown.

Godot bleeds.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

A disguised Olga Orly's breakdown.

The true Olga Orly's breakdown.

Kristoph Gavin's first breakdown.

First part of Wesley Sticker's breakdown.

Second part of Wesley Stickler's breakdown.

Alita Tiala's breakdown.

Wocky Kitaki shows concern.

Daryan Crescend's breakdown.

Kristoph Gavin slamming desk

Kristoph Gavin's second breakdown

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies

Apollo collapsing

Ted Tonate's breakdown.

Jinxie Tenma breaking her tray.

Florent L'Belle's first part of breakdown

Florent L'Belle's second part of breakdown

Florent L'Belle's third part of breakdown

Florent L'Belle defeated after his breakdown.

Myriam Scuttlebutt accidentally reveals her face.

First part of Aristotle Means's breakdown.

Second part of Aristotle Means's breakdown.

Solomon Starbuck's breakdown.

Yuri Cosmos loosing control of his scooter.

Athena Cykes traumatized on the bench

Athena Cykes remembering

Athena Cykes

Athena Cykes/talking

Athena Cykes/Breaking down into tears

Athena Cykes crying

Athena Cykes crying/talking

Themis Legal Academy uniform

Phantom is terrified.

Norma DePlume's breakdown.

HermanCrab

Marlon Rimes' breakdown

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice

Trucy Wright cries.

Nahyuta Sahdmadhi knocks himself out.

Phoenix Wright

Tahrust Inmee while being channeled by Maya.

Geiru Toneido

Geiru Toneido crying.

Paul Atishon's broken.

Rayfa's breakdown after performing the Divination Séance.

Apollo Justice slams his forehead on the defense's bench in despair.

Maya explains about Dhurke's final moments to Justice when crying.

Amara Sigatar Khura'in

Nichody talking while holding Selena Sprockets pocket watch.

Clasping the watch.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Jacques Portsman's breakdown.

Zinc Lablanc's breakdown.

Cammy Meele's breakdown.

First part of Lance Amano's breakdown.

Second part of Lance Amano's breakdown.

Third part of Lance Amano's breakdown.

Young Kay Faraday cries.

First part of Calisto Yew's breakdown.

Second part of Calisto Yew's breakdown.

Shih-na's first breakdown.

Shih-na's second breakdown.

Quercus Alba's breakdown.

Gyakuten Kenji 2

"Di-Jun Huang's" breakdown.

First part of Horace Knightley's breakdown.

Second part of Horace Knightley's breakdown.

Frank Sahwit prepares to throw his toupee at Edgeworth.

Frank Sahwit throws his toupee at Edgeworth.

Jay Elbird's breakdown.

Patricia Roland's breakdown.

Katherine Hall's breakdown.

Dane Gustavia's breakdown.

Katherine Hall cries.

Jeffrey Master cries.

Karin Jenson's and Bonnie Young's breakdown.

Blaise Debeste's breakdown.

Kay Faraday regaining her memories.

Sebastian Debeste's breakdown.

Simon Keyes' breakdown.

The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures

Iyesa Nosa

Taketsuchi Auchi's first breakdown.

"Grimesby Roylott's" breakdown

First part of Nikolina Pavlova's breakdown

Second part of Nikolina Pavlova's breakdown

Magnus McGilded slamming stand

McGilded panting

McGilded looking up angry

McGilded laughing and clapping.

Roly Beate.

Joan Garrideb.

Ashley Graydon choking Tobias Gregson.

The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve

Raiten Menimemo

Raiten Menimemo (short version)

Olive Green happy

Enoch Drebber

Courtney Sithe

Sithe defeated

Daley Vigil part 1

Daley Vigil part 2

Iris Wilson (part 1)

Iris Wilson (part 2)

Kazuma Asogi (part 1)

Kazuma Asogi (part 2)

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Olivia Aldente's breakdown.

Flynch's breakdown.

Video gallery

Ace Attorney Breakdowns - 2016 Edition

Every breakdown up to Spirit of Justice (GK2's are from the fan translation). Disclaimer: Some of the breakdowns in this video are not considered breakdowns on the Ace Attorney Wiki.

-MAJOR SPOIL- Every Breakdown throughout the Dai Gyakuten Saiban series (1 & 2)

All breakdowns from Dai Gyakuten Saiban 1 & 2.

Ace Attorney Trilogy HD - All Breakdowns

Every breakdown shown in the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (2019).

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - All Breakdowns

Every breakdown shown in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles.

Ace Attorney Investigations HD - All Breakdowns

Every breakdown shown in Ace Attorney Investigations HD (iOS & Android).

All press-breakdowns (spoilers) in apollo justice - apollo justice- ace attorney trilogy -

Every breakdown shown in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney) Disclaimer: Some of the breakdowns in this video are not considered breakdowns in the wiki.

All breakdowns (spoilers!) in dual destinies - apollo justice- ace attorney trilogy -

Every breakdown shown in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies) Disclaimer: Some of the breakdowns in this video are not considered breakdowns in the wiki.

All breakdowns-damage (spoilers!) in spirit of justice - apollo justice- ace attorney trilogy -

Every breakdown shown in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice) Disclaimer: Some of the breakdowns in this video are not considered breakdowns in the wiki.