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Edward "Eddie" Fender is a defense attorney and senior partner at the Edgeworth and Co. Law Offices. He worked under the law firm's original owner, Gregory Edgeworth, and worked with him in the field during his investigation of the IS-7 Incident. When he met his former mentor's son, Miles Edgeworth, years later, he questioned Miles about his chosen path of being a prosecutor, rather than becoming a defense attorney like his father.
The IS-7 Incident[]
- Main articles: IS-7 Incident & Turnabout Legacy
In a photo with Gregory Edgeworth.
Fender was a student who worked part-time at the Edgeworth and Co. Law Offices while studying to be an attorney. In December 2000, Gregory Edgeworth invited Fender to work a case with him, in what would turn out to be their only case together, the IS-7 Incident. Edgeworth's client was the famous television chef Samson Tangaroa, who was accused of murdering fellow chef Artie Frost during a confectionery competition held at Tangaroa's mansion. During their investigation, Edgeworth and Fender met the infamous prosecutor Manfred von Karma, who was leading the police investigation. Von Karma saw the pair as mere pests and actively stifled their attempts to investigate.
During the investigation, the flavored ice sculptures that Frost had made for the competition disappeared. Tangaroa's assistant and adopted daughter, Judy Bound, claimed that she had accidentally melted them. Von Karma subsequently took her in for questioning, along with the other competition contestants, Carmelo Gusto and Delicia Scone. Meanwhile, Edgeworth discovered that, although the police claimed that the body of the victim was in their possession, it had really disappeared. Additionally, the victim was actually a famous sculptor who used the pseudonym of "Paul Halique" to sign his works.
In court, Edgeworth confronted von Karma about the disappearance of the body, but the prosecutor responded with a forged autopsy report. The trial lasted a year, until von Karma got Tangaroa to confess to being an accomplice to the murder. However, Edgeworth proved that the confession had been coerced; the detective in charge of the initial investigation, Ian Sideman, had threatened to indict Ms. Bound as being complicit in the crime. Although Edgeworth still lost the case, von Karma was penalized for the first time in his "perfect" career. After the trial, Gregory Edgeworth was murdered by an unknown assailant (which would be revealed fifteen years later to be von Karma) inside the courtroom elevator.
Fender subsequently took over the Edgeworth and Co. Law Offices. He tried to appeal Tangaroa's case, but although von Karma had left the case to a different prosecutor (having gone on the first, and only, vacation of his career after Edgeworth's death), the appeal failed due to a lack of new evidence pointing to a killer. Fender continued to visit Tangaroa regularly, and though he could not make it every day, Ms. Bound managed to do so. Meanwhile, Gregory's son Miles grew up, with von Karma himself molding him to become a ruthless prosecutor just like him. Due to this, Fender began to resent Miles for seemingly completely abandoning his father's path to follow instead in the footsteps of the man who stood against what he believed in.
A shaky reunion[]
Laguarde and Fender hugging.
Eighteen years after Gregory's murder, Fender returned from abroad and took on the case of the bodyguard Bronco Knight, who was accused of attempting to assassinate his employer, President Di-Jun Wang of Zheng Fa, as well as murdering the latter's head bodyguard, Bastian Rook. However, upon visiting the detention center, Knight was discovered to be missing. Fender entered the prison only to find his client dead, and Gregory's son Miles examining the crime scene with Dick Gumshoe and Kay Faraday. Meeting Miles for the first time in years, Fender reacted in a sarcastic and disdainful manner to Edgeworth (and even initially pretended to recognize him as Manfred von Karma), saying that the prosecutor had betrayed his father to follow the "von Karma way"; Fender continued with this passive-aggressive attitude all the while investigating alongside the group, up until they were removed from the investigation and forced to leave the premises by Verity Gavèlle and the replacement prosecutor, Eustace Winner, after which he parted ways in an unfriendly manner.
The next day, Miles, having heard from Gumshoe that Winner had indicted someone for Knight's murder, returned to the prison to see who the suspect was. The man, Simeon Saint, turned out to be a scared and meek person, seemingly incapable of ever doing such a thing, thusly leaving Miles very unconvinced on the direction the investigation was taking. Meanwhile, Fender had agreed to defend Saint and headed to the detention center again, and to his surprise, he encountered Miles in the corridor. Unwilling to interrupt his own investigation and let the truth remain undiscovered, Miles took the opportunity to ask permission to Fender to act as assistant, in order to continue investigating. While Fender initially replied that he did not take on assistants, and that he did not trust Miles, he in the end agreed to Miles's offer after Gumshoe and Faraday vouched for him, saying that he had forsaken his old ways that had been influenced by von Karma, with Fender willing to see if said change was genuine.
Even after his own meeting Saint, Fender had not gathered much information about the case, as the timid man did not reveal much about himself, not even to his own lawyer. Because of this, it was not until later on that Fender learned that he was a circus performer who had done a show at the prison. Nonetheless, the "defense team" of Fender, Miles, and Faraday (Gumshoe having been forced to return to his post and work alongside Gavèlle and Winner) eventually came to expose the true culprit: the prison director, Fifi Laguarde. Through this process, Fender found that Miles had really changed his ways, and was now serious about finding the truth and saving people. As such, he offered the young prosecutor a place in the Edgeworth and Co. Law Offices as a defense attorney. Realizing that it would be some time before Miles Edgeworth would come upon a decision, Fender decided to not further pressure him, saying he would wait for his answer for his proposal when Miles was ready.
IS-7 resolution[]
Fender muses on the IS-7 Incident.
A few days later, Fender found that Ms. Bound had bought Tangaroa's mansion and was converting it into the Zodiac Hall, with the intention of featuring various works by Paul Halique, including alleged replicas of his flavored ice sculptures from the IS-7 Incident. Wondering what this all meant, Fender took advantage of this opportunity to take Miles with him to Gregory's last crime scene to talk about the IS-7 Incident. However, during his retelling of events, Carmelo Gusto, who had also come to visit, succumbed to a poison gas trap inside one of the sculptures. Even more dramatically, the body of Artie Frost, missing for all those years, suddenly turned up in the gallery's fountain.
Fender began to suspect that these events had been part of a plan by Ms. Bound to expose the truth behind the IS-7 Incident and find the real culprit. It was eventually discovered that the body had been hidden inside one of the flavored ice sculptures, and that Ms. Bound had stolen them, not knowing until buying the mansion that the body was hidden inside. Fender and Miles eventually proved that Gusto was indeed the killer and that the statute of limitations on the incident had not expired for him. Thus, the IS-7 Incident was finally solved. Fender went on to ask Ms. Bound if he could defend her in court, to which she tearfully agreed.
Murder at the Bigg Building[]
On April 5, 2019, news quickly spread of a murder at the Bigg Building. Fender knew that Miles was due to have a hearing with the Committee for Prosecutorial Excellence there, and hurried to Edgeworth's office, where he found him looking for Faraday. Faraday was currently suffering from amnesia and was being blamed for the murder of Rosie Ringer, and Miles had relinquished his badge trying to protect her. The two decided to investigate the murder and the cause of Faraday's amnesia, which led to the discovery of a secret black market auction of police evidence.
The Chair of the Committee for Prosecutorial Excellence, Excelsius Winner, tried to twist the truth, and even had Miles imprisoned, but during the latter's hearing, everything came to light. Excelsius was the auction conductor and had killed Ringer to prevent her from taking revenge on him for a past crime. As a result of this, Eustace, Excelsius' son, ran away. As Eustace was supposed to prosecute Laguarde's trial and Ringer was supposed to be her defense attorney, Fender agreed to take over the defense, while Franziska von Karma acted as the prosecutor.
Laguarde's trial[]
The following day, the trial of Fifi Laguarde began. However, all of the evidence for the case, including the murder weapon, was missing, and Gavèlle hastily tried to end the trial in a not guilty verdict. Miles discovered that Gavèlle's adopted son, Shaun Fenn, had been seemingly kidnapped by Excelsius' cronies in order to coerce Gavèlle into acquitting Laguarde. Fender and Franziska stalled the trial as Miles found both Eustace and Fenn, as well as a connection between Excelsius and Laguarde. Fender called Excelsius to the stand and continued to stall until Miles and Eustace arrived. Eustace took over the prosecutor's bench and confronted his father about his crimes, eventually proving that he had tried to dispose of the evidence against Laguarde.
Once the trial was settled, Miles and Shi-Long Lang investigated the murder of President Wang, who had been found dead earlier that day in a Global Studios filming lot beside the Bigg Building. Meanwhile, Fender and Franziska investigated the connection between Excelsius and Laguarde further, and found that Excelsius had been in charge of the SS-5 Incident 12 years prior. It was eventually discovered that the president had in fact been killed during the SS-5 Incident, and the one who had just been murdered was a body double who had conspired with Excelsius and Laguarde to replace the president. This led to Miles confronting and arresting the mastermind that had killed the fake president and orchestrated the murders of Knight and Ringer, which turned out to be Simeon Saint, in truth a very different person from his meek façade, being instead a calculating, resentful manipulator.
Two days later, Miles communicated to Fender his decision to continue as a prosecutor, and to use his position to fight the contradictions and abuses from which the law and people suffered. Fender saw the same determination in the younger Edgeworth that Gregory had, and wished him well on his new path.
Personality[]
| Eddie Fender |
| Huh? Oh, this room? "Non, non", dude. What do YOU know about it? I'll give you three choices: |
| Miles Edgeworth |
| Is it... a classroom? |
| Eddie Fender |
| What, like they tied the Broncster up in here to teach him a lesson!? Check out those powers of deduction! A pat on the head for our genius prosecutor! |
| Eddie Fender |
| Now, let's see what the answer key has to say, shall we? Oh no! You got it wrong! This is actually... a workshop! |
| Miles Edgeworth |
| ............ (...So all the options he gave me were wrong. How infantile.) |
As a teenager.
As an adult.
As a teenager, Fender stuttered a lot and was easily scared. He was very open about his feelings, particularly his adoration towards Gregory and Tangaroa. He had a habit of eating the pages on his notepad to "remember" the notes that he wrote.
The adult Fender is far more playful, confident, and laid-back, and often uses sarcasm and jokes when dealing with others. He has developed the habit of hedging his answers and suggestions, and never quite showing his full hand, as evidenced in a discussion with Miles Edgeworth over chess, in which he lies and claims he isn't capable at the game, to which Miles retorts that he has never been able to defeat him. His paper-eating habit is gone, instead replaced with a desire to ask people (normally women) for hugs, which he claims to have picked up from his time overseas. The only one seen to take him up on his offer was Fifi Laguarde, who followed up with a kiss as well, much to Fender's shock. He is less easily frightened than he used to be, though the dog Helmut still managed to send him running. Despite his laid-back demeanour, however, Fender has a passion for the truth, a sharp mind, and a fierce loyalty towards his clients.
Fender held great respect towards Gregory, even going so far as to copy his former mentor's way of bowing to others. His initially scornful attitude towards Miles was born out of this respect, as he felt that the younger Edgeworth had abandoned his father's path to follow in the footsteps of the man who had killed him. However, upon getting to know the now adult Miles, Fender soon realised that he was far more like Gregory Edgeworth than Manfred von Karma, and began treating him as an ally. Fender gives "reports" to Gregory by talking to an old photo of Gregory and Fender from the IS-7 investigation.
Unlike other defense attorneys, such as Phoenix Wright, many of Fender's known and intended clients have been guilty as charged. His reasoning behind defending such individuals is apparently due to having compassion towards their plight and working to help them receive a less harsh verdict.
Name[]
- Japanese - Tateyuki Shigaraki (信楽 盾之):
- Fender shares the first kanji of his Japanese surname with the first kanji of Gregory's Japanese given name, "shin" (信), which means "trust". The second kanji 楽 comes from the word "tanoshii" (楽しい), meaning "fun". The full name is a reference to Shigaraki ware.[1]
- His Japanese given name contains the kanji for "shield" (盾), forming a pair with the Edgeworths' Japanese surname "Mitsurugi", which contains the kanji for "sword".[1]
- English - Edward "Eddie" Fender:
- His English name is a pun on "a defender" and is meant to reflect his laid-back personality while still being a name that could be taken seriously in most contexts, while also calling back to his Japanese name.[2]
- French - Frédéric "Freddie" Lapointe:
- His French surname is likely a play on the iconic pointing pose associated mostly with defense attorneys throughout the Ace Attorney series.
Unofficial[]
- English - Raymond "Ray" Shields:
- "Raymond" is a given name originating from the Proto-Germanic words for "advice" (ragin) and "protector" (mund), and could be a reference to the actor Raymond Burr, who played defense attorney Perry Mason in the TV adaptation of Erle Stanley Gardner's detective stories about said character. Raymond Shields also refers to himself as just "Ray", which could refer to a "ray of light". "Shields" is likely meant to have the same meaning as his Japanese name.
- Fender's nickname of "Ray Shields" may also be a reference to the sci-fi 'force field' of the same name, thus, again, alluding to his job as a defense attorney and possibly even nodding to his seemingly geeky nature.
- Raymond gives himself the nickname "Uncle Ray".
- French - Maxime "Max" Fisher:
- "Maxime" is a given name that was often given to first-born children, chosen to parallel Miles Edgeworth's French given name "Benjamin" which means "the youngest individual of a group". "Fisher" complements the Edgeworths' French surname, "Hunter".
- Maxime gives himself the nickname "Tonton Max", meaning "Uncle Max".
- Brazilian Portuguese (Unofficial) - Leandro Escudo
Development[]
- Gregory Edgeworth's trenchcoat and the hat Eddie Fender wore as a teenager can be seen hanging on a coat rack during the opening cutscene of Turnabout Legacy. This seems to imply that the adult Fender's hat is Gregory's old hat, though the two hats are slightly different in that Fender's has a bow on the left side.
- Though he acts as an ally for much of Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit, Fender is never formally declared a partner by the game, as he mostly observes the protagonists in action rather than actively following them while they investigate.
- Fender (particularly his younger self) is the favorite character introduced in Prosecutor's Gambit of art director Tatsuro Iwamoto.[3]
- The jacket Fender was wearing when he was younger is emblazoned on the sleeves with a stylized version of the Jammin' Ninja's face.
- Fender is one of only two defense attorneys seen in-game to not openly wear their attorney's badge, with the other being Diego Armando. Fender, however, allegedly occasionally wears his attorney's badge on his winter coat when he wants to make an impression.
- Following the events of Turnabout for the Ages, Fender is the second defense attorney in the series to suffer an onscreen loss that wasn't later overturned, following Phoenix Wright.
- In the Japanese release of Prosecutor's Gambit, Fender has recently returned from America and has picked up some American traits. The reason he frequently uses finger quotes is that the Japanese team held a misconception that the gesture was used to emphasize words or phrases in English-speaking countries. In reality, it is more commonly used to express sarcasm or irony.[4] The official localization addresses this by pairing each instance of his finger quotes animation with dialogue that actually does contain quotes.
- The 2014 fan translation did not address the finger quotes animation in any way in its text.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ash (2016-08-01). "Portraying Mitsurugi Reiji's Conflict and Various Parents & Children (2011)". Gyakuten Saiban Library. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ↑ Hayes Madsen (2024-08-01). "Puns and Legal Prodigies - Capcom Devs On Finally Bringing the Long Lost Ace Attorney Game West". Inverse. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
- ↑ Dengeki Online Interview
- ↑ Ash (2021-07-12). "Is Shin at Home a Softie for his Son? The Developers of Gyakuten Kenji 2 Answer Questions from our Readers (2011)". Gyakuten Saiban Library.