Phoenix Wright Spoilers: A Rant on Bobby Fulbright in Phoenix Wright

[Pieman492]

This post will contain major spoilers for Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies. You have been warned.

First of all I want to say dual destines is an awesome game with a kicking story, but some elemets are just bad. Specifically im talking about Bobby Fulbrights true identity. I didn't play the game, I only watched a lets play, but I can still talk about the story. It was waaaaay shoehorned in. We had already cleared up the over cooperation as him trying to help blackquill, and he seems like a man who radiates emotion. I thought the no emotion and wild emotions at the verry end were clever, but not with Fulbright. To me it really feels like they got to the big reveal and all of a sudden, they realize they dont have a character to be the Phantom. I wouldn't be mad if say, this were planned from the beginning, buts its SO sloppily added in. What I mean is all of a sudden for no discernable reason hes acting out of character and acusing Athena when just earlier he was apologizing like crazy.
Im glad to get this off my chest, I just really cant stand how shoehorned in it was.

Also as a sidenote, when he changes masks like crazy during his breakdown, you'll notice how ugly the mouths are in this game, eugh.

 

[Ashkil]

I agree it felt slightly shoehorned in and really didn't fit his character from the entire game before that scene but from a purely plot based view it was pretty cool. I certainly never expected him to be evil. It rounded off the final episode without forcing a random character in.
Really though that complete 180 for Fulbright made me like that episode a lot less.

 

[Pieman492]

I agree it felt slightly shoehorned in and really didn't fit his character from the entire game before that scene but from a purely plot based view it was pretty cool. I certainly never expected him to be evil. It rounded off the final episode without forcing a random character in.
Really though that complete 180 for Fulbright made me like that episode a lot less.

You just reminded me of th whole forged lighter which makes no sense as up until that point fulbright is screaming at the top of his lungs, "In justice we trust!," and flash his badge, which he seems really proud of, to anyone within a 50 mile radius. Its an absolutely ridiculous notion to think he would forge evidence. Yet I do agree that in retrospect, it was one of the only ways to round it off ithout a random character.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

You have to remember that for a majority of the game, the Phantom has largely been choreographing his movements, emotions and so on to know how to act and what to do if he finds himself needing to improvise. The same goes for this case, but the fact is, because his story is pretty much trying to cover himself up, and in combination with Phoenix and co. pointing out these contradictions, he's beginning to slip up because he doesn't quite know how to act it out on top of the immense pressure being put upon him. He may be able to control his emotions, but he is still human. The reason he is acting out of character is because his acting that he's been putting on the whole time is falling apart.

Remember, it's his fear of being found out as the Phantom and being assassinated by whoever is hiring him being the reason why he did such drastic things such as taking the moon rock and putting it in the hope shuttle and hope the rock is destroyed, just to get rid of his blood alone.

Personally, I found that his slip ups in emotion were right and the whole thing about Bobby Fulbright (Albeit not the real one) turning out to be the Phantom was a major plot twist. That would be like taking Detective Gumshoe at the end of T&T and have it turn out it's not him but a murderer who's disguised as him. To be perfectly honest, for someone who's played the whole franchise that was the last thing to expect.

 

[Pieman492]

You have to remember that for a majority of the game, the Phantom has largely been choreographing his movements, emotions and so on to know how to act and what to do if he finds himself needing to improvise. The same goes for this case, but the fact is, because his story is pretty much trying to cover himself up, and in combination with Phoenix and co. pointing out these contradictions, he's beginning to slip up because he doesn't quite know how to act it out on top of the immense pressure being put upon him. He may be able to control his emotions, but he is still human. The reason he is acting out of character is because his acting that he's been putting on the whole time is falling apart.

Remember, it's his fear of being found out as the Phantom and being assassinated by whoever is hiring him being the reason why he did such drastic things such as taking the moon rock and putting it in the hope shuttle and hope the rock is destroyed, just to get rid of his blood alone.

Personally, I found that his slip ups in emotion were right and the whole thing about Bobby Fulbright (Albeit not the real one) turning out to be the Phantom was a major plot twist. That would be like taking Detective Gumshoe at the end of T&T and have it turn out it's not him but a murderer who's disguised as him. To be perfectly honest, for someone who's played the whole franchise that was the last thing to expect.

And I understand that, but the entire thing just seems a bit too rough around the edges kinda for my liking. Though I do see your point and although there is obvious shoehorning in some places, you've made me think about it in a diffrent way. I did say in my text wall I liked the controled emotions and lack of emotion and the whole constant fear, I just wish they would have dropped some hints, as it feels to me, like I said, rough around the edges.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

You can find hints throughout the game to some extent.

For example, a popular theory is that the Phantom uses prosthetic legs and feet considering that he'd have to change his height when he wants to impersonate someone taller or shorter. Then when you consider that Mr.Filch had swiped his shoes off of his feet without Bobby noticing, it makes the scene a bit of brilliant foreshadowing.

 

[Pieman492]

You can find hints throughout the game to some extent.

For example, a popular theory is that the Phantom uses prosthetic legs and feet considering that he'd have to change his height when he wants to impersonate someone taller or shorter. Then when you consider that Mr.Filch had swiped his shoes off of his feet without noticing, it makes the scene a bit of brilliant foreshadowing.

Thats a pretty good point, ace attorney is known for oddley specific things like that. I just thought at the time that it was because fulbright is a bit of a ditz. Though I dont think they say how long fulbright was dead. So from here on out, my head-cannon is going to be that fulbright was alive up until before the bombing threat. That aside you've brought up some valid points and I think I might have too.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

Bobby Fulbright is stated to have died about a year ago by Edgeworth. That means he died either a little before or during the events of Apollo Justice.

If you need anymore hints of foreshadowing pointed out by fans, check this page on TV Tropes.

 

[2071]

I kinda disagree and agree sort of >.> Well when you find out that the supposed 'Bobby Fulbright' turns out to be the phantom, it certainly sums up all the questions from the different cases that turns out to be him in the Courtroom 4 Bombing and all of that. Yet when I first played the first few cases, I really felt like this 'Bobby Fulbright' was very normal to the situating circumstances, although the Phantom can supposedly act just like any person.

I really do wish however that the Phantom had a ending real identity rather than just 'The Phantom'

 

[Pandaxclone2]

One thing that Bobby loves to do is start talking about justice or questioning it. This is one way to get out of a varying situation he can't improvise with and he comes off as an airhead to others.

 

[dwikrid]

Yes, I'm disappointed to get The Phantom ending since it feels like getting a 'deus ex machina' to sum up the stories. The Phantom is an outsider to the story, taking Bobby's identity to snuck into several Dual Destinies' cases. He's not a real person with no distinguished personality, that turns him (or her) into a culprit not related to the story at all.

 

[Sephiran]

Whoa! Hang on now! I can't just let you criticize justice so wantonly! But not to worry! The Fulbright Defense Force is here! In justice we trust!

I was a bit wary at first to not have Gumshoe around, since any other time we've had a non-Gumshoe detective they weren't that great - Ema, even Badd to some extent. Fulbright being fantastic and having great chemistry with the rest of the cast endeared me to him instantly. I think that was the point.

The Phantom is the kind of guy that gets really into his role. He's not going to be a crooked detective if he can help it. He was a cooperative ally for as long as he could be (when he wasn't involved at all like in cases 2, 3, and the DLC), and even in the last chapter, but the instant the court started to realize this was more than just an open-and-shut case with a simple solution, he had to try to throw them off the trail and the best way to do that was to suddenly accuse Athena and act sympathetic about it.

To be fair though, it wasn't a huge mystery. The hints had been scattered through the entire chapter and listening to characters after the incident - Aura's incredibly suspicious comments about the ladder, even the floor Fulbright was in charge of in the evacuation - points to him long before the game throws it in your face.

The one thing I'll concede to is that The Phantom didn't need to exist, and it would've been just as good if the actual Bobby Fulbright himself was secretly a sociopath. The justification I've come up with for that is this: The Phantom is a final culprit that has, to some extent, ruined or almost ruined everyone's life. Everybody in that courtroom had some stake in this case, because the Phantom effectively haunted everyone in that case. He murdered Metis: Athena's mother, Blackquill's mentor, and the woman Aura loved. He killed Apollo's best friend. He had Blackquill framed for Metis' murder and put on death row, and suddenly Fulbright shocking him multiple times over the course of the game gets a lot less amusing. He nearly tore apart the Wright Anything Agency by setting the group against each other. His actions directly led to Aura taking Trucy hostage. He was even one of the parties responsible for the Dark Age of the Law - while someone else ruined Phoenix and the integrity of defense attorneys, he ruined the integrity of prosecutors. Even Edgeworth had something against him at this point, especially as the new Chief Prosecutor. Anyway, my justification is this: over the course of the game I'm sure we all grew to love Fulbright. Even if he was a fake, the Phantom mimics people perfectly: the Fulbright we saw really was like that. Phantom or not, we loved Bobby Fulbright, and the Phantom killed him too. Everybody in that courtroom - even Fulbright himself and even the player - had something against the Phantom.

But that's just my personal justification for having such an outside character be the bad guy.

Something to note about the no emotions thing is: keep in mind that, for the most part, a protagonist's special power is totally designed with the climax in mind. You know it's gotten real when a certain character in AA2 gets a ton of psyche-locks on him out of nowhere. Apollo Justice's final culprit used the bracelet tell system in the best possible way. Athena's Mood Matrix clearly existed for shockers like the Phantom exhibiting no emotions in spite of Fulbright's exaggerated expressions, and then his emotions fluctuating wildly and improperly after he's called on it. When I first saw Athena and the Mood Matrix before the game was out, I thought she would turn out to be the great big final boss: no psyche-locks hiding anything, no tell Apollo could pick up on, and not even any emotions to read (granted, this speculation went out the window within a few minutes of actually playing the game).

I’m glad to see that least the no-emotions thing got used. And on the most emotional guy in the cast, too!

 

[Rath]

I have to agree with Sephiran/Reno here,i actually quite liked Bobby's character sure he wasn't anything close to the Gumeshoe we all know and love but he fit pretty well in the wacky and crazy character world of the ace attorney series.

what makes him stand out even more is that he was a rather realistic in his twist,shutting out emotions and being the actual phantom.essentially acting his way through everything,it may sound dramatized but its quiet the common practice in all parts of life specifically when military or political negotiations come in so without a doubt they would be an important skill for a terrorist/killer/spy to posses as well.

though the thing with "having no real face" and multiple masks was a stretch i think it was a very good choice by the game directors it emphasized the point that there was no real way of identifying the phantom.

Ps. As a side note i was actually caught by the twist so i liked it even more but what stood out the most to me was in the ace attorney series where the serious tone is complimented by crazy/funny characters with niche archetypes,the main villain despite his very nature of being unidentifiable was identifiable.
that means he felt realistic because he had no face as it is possible for people in the real world to achieve the same degree of indifference.

Pss. if this sounded too literary its probably because i just finished reading 8 chapters of 1984 by George Orwell and got really into it.

 

[mrlmaokun]

I felt it was a decent plot twist, but the scene where he breaks down and is pulling off disguises after disguises was a bit cringe tbh. They could have had a more.. darker breakdown, which I felt would have been a stronger conclusion for the case and game. The happy cheery thing throughout killed what was supposed to be "the dark age of law".

 

[BlazingPhoenix]

Before I begin I'd like to say I loved this game to no end but there are some things about the phantom I would like to address: the phantom being Fulbright took me some time to get used to, but after the 180 emotion change I knew it was the real deal plot twist. My only problems were A) games obviously hinted who the murderer was and B) how Fulbright has absolutely no motive, I really wanted a smuggling ring or terrorist organization to get into this. The game felt so... Empty without an explanation.

 

[Pandaxclone2]

Before I begin I'd like to say I loved this game to no end but there are some things about the phantom I would like to address: the phantom being Fulbright took me some time to get used to, but after the 180 emotion change I knew it was the real deal plot twist. My only problems were A) games obviously hinted who the murderer was and B) how Fulbright has absolutely no motive, I really wanted a smuggling ring or terrorist organization to get into this. The game felt so... Empty without an explanation.

They give a motive as another country/government/orginisation attempting to sabotage the space mission for whatever reason. Maybe they despise the country Ace Attorney is situated in or the space race never happened in this universe, but that's why the Phantom was sent to do this in addition to destroying a psyche profile that was being created on him.

As for his motivations this time around, he was simply cleaning up a mess he thought he was already finished with years ago. He's obviously with some group as he did get sniped during his breakdown, but we never know who they are or what their motivations were. Hopefully this will be touched on in Ace Attorney 6.