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Iris
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For other characters called Iris, please see Iris (disambiguation).

Iris
I... I've committed some sins. Sins that I need to pay for.

Sister Iris is a shrine maiden at Hazakura Temple who was put on trial for the murder of her aunt, Misty Fey. Although she is of Fey lineage, she has no known spiritual powers, much like her twin sister, Dahlia Hawthorne. Iris assisted Hawthorne with some of her crimes, even to the point of dating an unsuspecting Phoenix Wright in the guise of her sister while he was at university.

The abandoned twin[]

Iris was born to the then-upcoming Master of the Fey clan, Morgan Fey, and a wealthy jeweler. When Morgan's sister Misty became the Master instead, Iris's father was very displeased, as the Master had great political influence. Eventually, after the credibility of the Kurain Channeling Technique hit rock bottom, he left with Iris and her twin sister Dahlia. He remarried with another woman who already had a daughter, Valerie Hawthorne, from a previous marriage. Believing that two girls were enough, and partly due to Dahlia's suggestion, their father sent Iris to Hazakura Temple, where the head nun, Sister Bikini, raised her.

Kidnapping plot[]

Main article: Turnabout Beginnings
The Staged Fake Kidnapping (2)

The staged kidnapping on Dusky Bridge.

One day, Dahlia convinced Iris to conspire in a fake kidnapping involving her, Valerie and Terry Fawles to steal a jewel from her father. However, Iris never showed up, as she was too frightened to help. It is unknown what her planned role in the kidnapping was, though Iris confirmed herself years later that she was, indeed, supposed to be involved in it. Since she had refused to assist her in her plot, Dahlia would later refer to her twin as a traitor and backstabber.

Relationship with Phoenix Wright[]

Feenie and Dollie

Phoenix Wright meeting Dahlia Hawthorne for the first time.

Five years later, Dahlia poisoned a defense attorney who was investigating her, but gave her bottle of poison to Phoenix Wright disguised as a necklace. As Dahlia was still under suspicion for the poisoning, and not wanting to give her sister another sin to answer for, Iris suggested that she pose as her in order to feign a relationship with Wright and retrieve the poisoned bottle so he would not get involved. However, Wright, convinced that the necklace was a gift of love from Dahlia, began to show it to everybody he met and refused to return it. As part of her new role, Iris made Wright mini-omelettes, knitted him a pink sweater with his initials, and had lunch with him every day. After eight months, Iris had really fallen in love with Wright and developed a strong loyalty to him; she could not deprive him of the necklace he loved. Becoming impatient and suspecting Iris's feelings towards Wright, Dahlia decided to kill Wright by poisoning his cold medicine; for the first time she did not inform Iris of her action for fear that she would intervene if she knew. Dahlia ended up killing another student instead and quickly framed Wright for the murder.

Dahlia's plan failed; defense attorney Mia Fey exposed her as the real killer and she was sentenced to death. Iris subsequently returned to Hazakura Temple, and would not see Wright again for a long time.

Morgan's usurping plot[]

Main article: Bridge to the Turnabout
Ohcult

In Oh! Cult! magazine.

Five years after Wright's acquittal, Morgan found out that her daughter Pearl had signed up Maya Fey, Misty's daughter, for Hazakura Temple's Special Course for spiritual training. She hatched a plot with Dahlia, whose execution date was nearing, to kill Maya. Morgan instructed Pearl to channel Dahlia during Maya's visit, at which point Dahlia would then kill Maya. However, Godot got word of this plot; in order to protect Maya, Godot contacted Misty and Iris. While Godot and Misty would prevent Pearl's channeling, Iris would play the role of backup. During the visit to Hazakura Temple, Wright had accompanied Maya and Pearl in order to investigate Iris's uncanny resemblance to Dahlia after seeing her in the Oh! Cult! magazine. Although she claimed otherwise, Iris let slip that she already knew who Wright was, but could not bring herself to admit the truth to him.

Elise Sword Stab

Stabbing Misty Fey's corpse.

As a result of circumstance, Misty was forced to summon Dahlia so that Pearl could not. Before Dahlia could kill Maya, Godot impaled Dahlia with Misty's sword-cane, killing Misty in the process. Godot contacted Iris on her cellphone, engaging her help in covering up the crime scene. Iris helped Godot transport Misty's corpse over the Eagle River chasm, moved the body to Hazakura Temple's courtyard, and plunged the Shichishito into it to obfuscate the murder wound, then she placed the handle in the Ami Fey statue's hand. Bikini witnessed this, leading to Iris being arrested for Misty's murder.

Held in the detention center, Iris met Miles Edgeworth, who was temporarily acting as her attorney in place of Wright, who was recovering after falling into the Eagle River. During his investigation, Edgeworth recognized that Iris had a secret regarding Wright and encouraged her to tell him the truth; in exchange, he would fight in her defense as best as he could.

The next day, Wright resumed as Iris's attorney and began his investigation. He later found that Maya was locked inside the Inner Temple with a trick lock; Iris was summoned to try to break the lock systematically, with Edgeworth watching over her. Later, after an earthquake struck the area and Edgeworth passed out, Iris escaped for a few minutes to check the situation of the Inner Temple, and found Dahlia (being unknowingly channeled by Maya), who had managed to break the lock. Dahlia took the chance to switch places with Iris and locked her in with five trick locks. Dahlia impersonated Iris to tell Wright about her family history.

In court, Dahlia, pretending to be Iris, tried to implicate Maya as the killer by admitting to being her accomplice. Wright eventually figured out that she was Dahlia, however. When Iris was rescued alone from the Sacred Cavern, Wright almost believed Dahlia's account about Maya's disappearance, but later deduced that Dahlia was actually being channeled by Maya. Overcome with fury for her failure to kill Maya, Dahlia left Maya's body. The real Iris returned to the courtroom and revealed to Wright what had really happened, but was protective of the identity of who had instructed her. She was eventually declared not guilty after Wright exposed Godot as the killer. However, she would still be tried for her actions as an accomplice due to her involvement in covering up the murder.

At this point, Iris apologized to Wright and revealed that she was the "Dahlia" that he had dated, and that she had begun to develop genuine feelings for him during this time. Upon knowing this, Wright admitted that Iris was truly the person he thought "Dahlia" was; after Dahlia's execution, Wright had all but lost faith in her, but now realized he had been involved with a good person for those eight months. Iris tearfully thanked him.

Later, Wright, Pearl, and the others visited Iris in the detention center, much to her delight. Wright showed some lingering feelings for her (he had his eyes on her the whole time), but Pearl slapped him for what she saw as disloyalty to Maya, giving him a nosebleed, which, in turn, caused Iris to show concern.

Personality[]

Iris Mugshot

Mugshot.

In many ways, Iris is what Dahlia merely pretended to be. She is meek and polite to a fault, and has been manipulated multiple times into haphazardly assisting in various crimes, mostly by her twin sister and once by Godot. She tends to see good in people, even showing pity for and defending Dahlia despite her crimes. In contrast, she is very denigrating of herself, being quick to shoulder all of the blame for the misfortunes brought about by the schemes that she helped with, despite being only an accomplice. In fact, she blames herself all the more for failing in various ways in her role as accomplice, believing that she lacks the self-confidence and enduring persistence of her sister, and that things would have at least worked out had the crimes been carried out without a hitch.

As a result of dating Wright while pretending to be Dahlia, Iris developed genuine feelings for him, to the point of wanting to protect him from her sister at any cost, even if it meant Dahlia's life or her own. After Doug Swallow's murder, Iris felt guilty about "betraying" Dahlia and deceiving Wright. Iris continued to nurture her affection for Wright, but was hesitant to reveal them when they finally reunited due to her own feelings of guilt. In the end, Wright managed to convince her that she was not a bad person.

Iris is also easily embarrassed and intimidated, such as when Larry Butz "blackmailed" her as an act of "love", and remained ignorant as to his true intentions until Edgeworth explained. This caused her to blush even while inside the detention center and about to stand trial for murder.

Name[]

  • Her name in most language versions comes from the iris, a kind of flower. Her twin sister Dahlia is also named after a flower. In the language of flowers, the iris flower symbolizes good news and luck. Its three upright petals are said to represent faith, valor, and wisdom.
    • Her Chinese name, which is taken from one of the common kanji renditions of her Japanese name Ayame, literally means "colourful bud" without reference to any specific flower.
    • In the earlier unofficial Chinese edition, her name is wrongly translated into "綾美", which means "twill" and "beauty" in English.
  • In Greek Mythology, Iris was a goddess who was the personification of the rainbow and a messenger of the gods; she would travel via a rainbow and, by acting as a messenger, serve as a link between humanity and the gods. The Ace Attorney Iris could be viewed as a link of sorts herself, with her appearance in Bridge to the Turnabout solving several mysteries. Alternatively, her role as a nun would perform a similar role to that of the goddess; acting as a link between humanity and the supernatural.
  • Iris does not use a surname in the modern sense, being referred to as "Sister Iris of Hazakura Temple" in court proceedings. She is the only human case of this in the series outside of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
    • In Japanese language versions, she is referred to as "Hazakurain Ayame," with "Hazakurain" behaving similarly to a surname but still referring to where she lives rather than who her parents are.

Unofficial[]

  • Brazilian Portuguese - Íris: [2]
    • Direct adaptation of the original names.
    • Inspired by the flower of the same name, which usually symbolizes good luck. It also represents faith, valor and wisdom.
      • "Íris" is also the name of a Greek goddess, a messenger of the gods and personification of the rainbow, thus being a link between humans and gods.
    • Some say that her surname could be Hazakura (葉桜), name of the temple, which refers to a specific phase of the Japanese cherry tree in summer, also remembering "haja cura" in Portuguese, which means "there is a cure".
    • Iris is referred to as "Irmã Íris do Templo Hazakura" in court proceedings, the equivalent/translation of "Sister Iris of Hazakura Temple".

Development[]

  • Iris has long black hair that is normally held back by two braids that are tied together. She and Dahlia were given different hair colors according to what the developers felt suited their characters best.[3]
  • She wears a purple kimono and a magenta ribbon-like obi. Each member of the Fey clan wears orbs on necklaces, which represent her training's progress. Presumably due to her inexperience and lack of spiritual abilities, Iris only has two.[3]

References[]

  1. Judge: The purpose of this trial was to rule on the murder of the victim, Elise Deauxnim. At some point, I expect you will be tried for your role as an accomplice in this case.
    Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations. Capcom. Episode: Bridge to the Turnabout (in English). 2007.
  2. "Nomes - Jacutem Sabão". Advogados de Primeira. Retrieved on 2022-03-21.
  3. 3.0 3.1 (2009). "The Art of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney". UDON. ISBN 1-897376-19-7.
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