Ace Attorney Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Kira
Image Gallery Sprite Gallery

Kira
I heard a faint voice cry out. The next moment, those two villainous men burst into flames!

Kira is a flower girl in Labyrinthia who appeared as a witness in the trial of Espella Cantabella.

Background[]

Main article: The First Story

At some point, Kira signed a contract with Labrelum Inc. in order to have her memories suppressed and live a new life as a resident of Labyrinthia. Although she tried to live her new life selling flowers, she was also one of Labyrinthia's "witches", with a Talea Magica that contained the gems for the spells Dimere and Ignaize. Since the laws of the town meant that all witches must be put to death, Kira was forced to hide her powers.

The witch's plot[]

Main article: The Fire Witch

Kira eventually began to suspect that Espella Cantabella was the Great Witch Bezella. Believing in the prophecy within the Storyteller's Story that foretold that the witch trials would end when Bezella was put to the flames, Kira waited for her chance to frame Cantabella for witchcraft and have her executed, thereby freeing her from her double life.

Kira's chance came one rainy evening when she spotted Cantabella travelling by herself through the forest, bringing goat's milk for Patty Eclaire at the bakery. As she was walking back, Cantabella was suddenly accosted by Robbs and Muggs, who threatened to rob her. Unbeknownst to both muggers and victim, Kira had cast Dimere on herself in order to get close to the scene undetected. She then cast Ignaize to incinerate the thugs and made her escape, although she accidentally dropped her glasses into the milk bucket in the process. Once she noticed that her glasses were gone, Kira chanted Amere to become visible again, which caused Emeer Punchenbaug, who was rushing to the crime scene, to mistake the word for his name, become distracted, and trip. Kira hurried back to the crime scene to search for her glasses, as she was afraid that suspicion would fall upon her if one of her belongings was found there. Although she searched the area, she was unable to find her glasses or the bucket, as Mary had seen and taken it to save the milk. With no other options, Kira dropped her Talea Magica close to the scene for Wordsmith to find, thus completing the frame-up.

The plan Kira had set in motion appeared to be working, as Cantabella was indeed accused of killing the thugs with witchcraft, and was put on trial at the witches' court. Kira herself appeared as a witness in the trial, together with Mary, Wordsmith, Knightle, and, eventually, Punchenbaug. They testified altogether against Cantabella as the witch who had murdered Robbs and Muggs. During the trial, Hershel Layton noticed that Kira could not see the mud on a lantern that Cantabella had dropped during the ordeal, which forced her to confess that she had poor eyesight and had lost her glasses. Layton and Phoenix Wright, Cantabella's defender, were able to work out that one of the five witnesses was the real witch, and eventually accused Kira when Punchenbaug testified that he heard a woman call out his name. Cantabella's defense team pointed out that the word that had been spoken was actually "Amere", and had been chanted by the flower girl to reappear near the crime scene. Kira denied the defenders' claim of her being a witch, but they proved that she had needed to return to the crime scene to find her glasses. A search of the milk bucket revealed that her glasses were indeed inside, causing her to scream in despair.

Kira and the cage 2

Being shut inside the fire pit cage.

Kira was then placed inside the cage above the fire pit and she confessed to everything. She openly accused Cantabella of being Bezella and pleaded for her life. The judge and Inquisitor Zacharias Barnham ignored her begging, even when Cantabella offered her life instead. Before her execution, Kira accused Cantabella one last time of being Bezella before she and the cage were dropped into the flames below.

Return[]

Main article: A Taste of Despair
Kira and Luke

As a Shade.

Although seemingly executed, in actuality the bottom of the cage had a concealed trapdoor that dropped Kira safely onto a cart in a cave beneath the courthouse. Although saved from a horrible death, Kira was eventually taken to Darklaw, who had her brainwashed into becoming a new Shade, with no memory of her former life as a flower seller.

One day after Maya Fey's trial, Kira was sent to cause an explosion at the marketplace. Wright and Luke Triton caught up to her as she tried to escape, and were shocked when they recognized her as the flower girl they thought had died. Wright tried to ask her why she was still alive, but she did not answer and fled. Since Fey had also been sent down to the fire pit at the conclusion of her trial, Kira's appearance gave Wright hope that Fey was also alive.

The final witch trial[]

Main articles: The Final Witch Trial & The Last Inquisitor

Later that evening, Kira was given another task, this time by the Storyteller himself, to fake his own death. She sneaked up the bell tower past the Vigilantes in order to prepare for the assassination. However, on her way she encountered Darklaw, who was carrying an unconscious Cantabella up the tower. Darklaw proceeded to attack Kira, who put up a struggle that resulted in her scratching her assailant's neck and pulling off her pendant, before being drugged unconscious. Darklaw then hid Kira in the belfry and framed Cantabella for the Storyteller's "death".

During the ensuing trial, Wright and Fey (who had been finally reunited) were able to figure out the contraption in the tower that led to the belfry, and found Kira hiding behind the Bell of Ruin. They brought her to the trial as a witness to testify as to what she was doing there. Whenever Wright questioned her, Kira would only give vague answers, as she was trying to cover for Darklaw. After Wright changed his tactics and pressed Darklaw instead, Kira mustered the courage to defy her mistress and testify that she had betrayed the Shades. The trial ended with the secret of the town revealed: Labyrinthia was an experiment by Labrelum Inc. and every instance of magic had been staged. After the trial's conclusion, Kira was able to return to town as a flower seller. She was last seen pulling the petals off a flower at the alchemist's house while Jean Greyerl and Ridelle Mystere looked on disapprovingly.

Personality[]

Kira mugshot 1

Mugshot.

Although initially appearing to be as relatively uneducated and suggestible as the majority of her fellow Labyrinthians, her true identity as a "witch" meant that she had to be cunning in order to evade execution. In order to come across as a nothing more than a simple flower girl, she would regularly offer flowers to other people to make herself seem harmless. She became convinced that Espella Cantabella was Bezella, and so attempted to frame her, since Bezella's execution would supposedly bring an end to Labyrinthia's witches and free her from her double life. Her determination to have Cantabella executed as a witch was shown by being seemingly the most eager witness during her trial to insist on Cantabella's guilt, regardless of the lack of evidence, and would make statements like, "We're not backing down on this."

Upon being accused by Wright of witchcraft during Cantabella's trial, Kira became more openly cynical and mocking, as her life was seemingly on the line. However, after having her guilt proven, she became calmer and more defeatist, and she asked those present as to whether they could truly understand the choices she was forced to make in a role she didn't ask for. She spent what she believed to her last moments begging for her life and accusing Cantabella of being Bezella.

Upon becoming a Shade, Kira became more timid and quiet when compared to her earlier personality. Much like her fellow Shades, she was also completely obedient to Darklaw and the Storyteller. However, after Darklaw's refusal to help her during Cantabella's second witch trial, she decided to betray her by revealing her former mistress's secrets to the court, making her the only known Shade to act in such a manner. After the truth of the town was revealed, Kira and the rest of the Shades regained their memories and returned to their former lives.

Name[]

  • Her Japanese given name comes from the English word "murderer".
  • "Kira", her English name, is a play on "killer" (linking it with her Japanese version's counterpart). In the fourth wall-breaking downloadable special episode At the Market, Kira even points this out, and angrily wonders why the developers would give her a name that players would quickly associate with the word "killer", thereby quickly coming to the conclusion that she was the guilty party. The use of the name Kira as a play on "killer" is also used in other media, including a character in the Mortal Kombat franchise and the alias of Light Yagami in the Death Note manga and anime.
  • Her French given name is "Rose", which references her job as a flower seller. Her surname "Morthem" may be a play on "mortem" (as in post-mortem"), which comes from the Latin word for "death" ("mors").
  • "Bella Dorner", her full German name, is a play on "Belladonna", also known as "Deadly Nightshade". "Dorn" is also German for "thorn" which some flowers have, most famously roses, creating a connection with her French given name.
  • Her Spanish name comes from "Malva", a genus of flowers also known as mallows. It is meant to be a play on "Malva(da)", meaning evil. Furthermore, Wright references the phrase "criando malvas", which is the equivalent to the English phrase "pushing daises".
  • The Italian localization gives her the name "Rea", which is the feminine form of the Italian word "reo", meaning "guilty (of)" or "offender".
  • Her Dutch given name comes from "Anemoon", which is the Dutch word for the Anemone genus of flowers. Her surname "LeFeu" is French for "the fire"; a hint that she is the "fire witch".
Advertisement