prosecutorinchief

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Miles Edgeworth
Canon: Ace Attorney
Canon Point: Just after the events of AA: Dual Destinies

In-Game Tattoo Placement: Upper left shoulderblade
Current Health/Status: Excellent physical health. Edgeworth has suffered from and controlled mental illness (PTSD) for a number of years by way of therapy and medication. He has it very much under control by this point in his life.
Age: 35
Species: Human

Content Warnings: Edgeworth's history will have mentions of murder, suicide attempts, mental illness, and child abuse.

History: Miles Edgeworth was born in 1992 to Gregory Edgeworth, a prominent defense attorney in Los Angeles, California, and an unnamed mother who died sometime in Miles' childhood. By all accounts, his childhood was a happy one, and his father, though a busy professional, was a thoughtful and loving man who did all he could for his son as a single parent. Miles adored his father, and wanted to be exactly like him when he grew up - an inspiring and intelligent defense attorney who stood up for those in need. Miles was a quiet but diligent student, excelling in various skills early on, including flute, golf, and writing. Due to his somewhat insular nature, he did not like the spotlight, and did not easily come by friends - until 2001.

In 2001, one of Miles' classmates, a young Phoenix Wright, was accused of stealing his lunch money. The teacher and other students held a mock classroom trial to determine Wright's guilt - and all of them had already decided that the boy was guilty. In tears, Phoenix maintained his innocence consistently, despite being coaxed to tell the truth by his teacher - and that was when Miles stood up. He was only nine, but took on the role of Wright's 'defense attorney', stating that without evidence that Wright stole the money in question, all they had was assumptions to go on. Another student, Larry Butz, interjected in agreement, and a friendship was struck that day that would one day change the course of Miles' life. (As it happened, it would take fifteen years for the truth of the lunch money to come out - Larry had been the thief all along.) The three boys became close, and shared a great deal, including a love of various cartoons and other activities.

However, this charmed lifestyle was not to last.

On December 28, 2001, Miles accompanied his father to trial to observe the proceedings from the gallery. His father lost the case, but succeeded in proving that the prosecutor, Manfred von Karma, had tampered with evidence, which put a mark on von Karma's perfect record. After the trial, Gregory and his son entered into an elevator with the bailiff, and were going down when a massive earthquake hit the area. The power went out and trapped the three of them inside for hours in the dark, with less and less oxygen. The bailiff, Yanni Yogi, began to panic after the hours dragged on, and the two adults began to argue. In the struggle, Yogi's gun fell from its holster. Miles reached out to try and find something to throw, to stop the fighting, and his hand closed on the gun. He threw it as he blacked out, and only heard a gunshot and a scream. When he finally came to in a hospital, he learned that his beloved father had been murdered in the elevator by a single gunshot through the heart. The investigation and trial that followed was a whirlwind for the nine year old Miles, traumatized and grieving for his father, holding fear and guilt in his heart as he was plagued by nightmares that depicted his truth - that he had been the one to cause his father's death by throwing the pistol into the darkness. The bailiff was tried, but was found innocent by way of insanity, and so, no guilty verdict was found in his father's case and it went cold.

Miles was then adopted by Manfred von Karma, his late father's adversary in court, who took it upon himself to raise the boy in his own way. Von Karma was a harsh taskmaster, drilling ideas into Miles' head that were the antithesis of all that his father had believed in. All of the accused were guilty, and they would lie and do anything to get out of punishment. Only perfection mattered, a perfect win record without blemish - and breaking the rules was strongly frowned upon. Nothing that might have been seen as a flaw or a weakness was allowed - and so Miles repressed much of himself - his zeal for the truth, his capability for affection and trust, his social skills stunted - and his sexuality strongly repressed. His only confidant growing up was Von Karma's daughter Franziska, who was undergoing the same sort of upbringing at a much younger age. They bonded quietly under his nose, understanding the struggles that no one else could - though they would never admit to such publicly.

Miles passed the bar at twenty years old, an almost unheard of age, and went into practicing law as a prosecutor in Los Angeles. His first case was against a fellow rookie, Mia Fey, who was representing Terry Fawles. The trial would never come to completion, as the defendant committed suicide on the stand when he learned the truth that his girlfriend, Dahlia Hawthorne, had orchestrated all of it. He would always state that it was his worst nightmare in court after.

Over the next four years, he made a reputation for himself as a "demon Prosecutor", due to his ruthless tactics in court. Rumors of underhanded dealings and fraud began to circulate around him, but nothing was ever fully substantiated. In truth, this vicious pursuit of guilty verdicts was not just a pursuit of a perfect record, but he was punishing himself as well, for his own guilt. For fifteen years, Miles had harbored the guilt of his father's murder in his heart, tormented by nightmares and trauma, unable to step into elevators due to extreme claustrophobia, and unable to handle earthquakes for much the same reason. It was his own form of self flagellation.

His first loss came as quite a shock, when he was 24 years old, and faced off against a barely tested rookie defense attorney who was none other than Phoenix Wright, his friend from childhood. He had not seen Phoenix since before the day of his father's murder fifteen years prior, and he was loathe to come close to him again. He lost two cases to Wright in succession, marring his perfect record, and causing him to increasingly question everything that he had been taught by von Karma. His guilt and trauma, combined with confusion and conflict, had made him increasingly volatile, and he told Wright that he was responsible for these so called 'unnecessary feelings' - unease and uncertainty. He masked his struggles with anger and obstinate refusal to even consider communication with his former friend, and kept interactions to a minimum. He was aware that Wright had written him letters constantly for the past four years, trying to reach out to him, hoping that he was okay and wondering what had happened. It wasn't until the Christmas of that year that the truth of what happened to Gregory Edgeworth would begin to come to light.

Edgeworth received a letter from Robert Hammond, the defense attorney for Yanni Yogi at his father's murder trial, to meet him at Gourd Lake late on Christmas Eve night to discuss what had happened. Edgeworth went, and accompanied Hammond out on a boat onto the lake where, he presumed they would talk in most private circumstances. However, Hammond pulled out a gun on him, and fired two shots - neither of which struck Edgeworth. He then toppled into the water, and left Edgeworth in the boat, who, in a confused daze, reached for the gun and leaned over the boat to try and understand what had just happened - he assumed suicide. By the time he had reached the shore, the police had arrived and a body had been found, and he was promptly arrested and taken into custody.

He adamantly refused Wright's offer of legal council, demanding that Wright keep away from this case in particular - that he didn't want Wright to ever see him in such a way. Eventually, however, Wright's diligence - and the lack of any other defense attorney willing to take his case - won him over. The case would turn into somewhat of a spectacle over three days, as Wright was pitted against Manfred von Karma, and unearthed a plot in which Yanni Yogi, the former bailiff, killed Robert Hammond, posed as him, sent Edgeworth the letter, and framed him for the murder of Hammond as revenge for ruining his life all those years ago. However, the strain of the entire case proved too much for Miles, and though he was innocent of killing Hammond, he took the stand confessed to the murder of his own father fifteen years prior. Immediately, von Karma demanded a new trial, to finally close Gregory Edgeworth's case once and for all. Miles was quite contrite after, apologizing to Wright that he ruined all of his hard work by confessing after just winning his freedom. But Wright refused to believe that Miles had killed his father, and began building a last minute case in his support. In the end, the truth would come out:

In that elevator, when Miles had thrown the gun to stop the fight, a shot had indeed rang out. It exited the glass panes of the elevator and struck Manfred von Karma, who had been wandering in an enraged haze after learning of the mark on his record. He had screamed out in agony at the unexpected shot, just as the power had returned. The elevator doors opened, and he found the two men and Miles unconscious on the floor. In his rage, he picked up the gun that had been discarded, and murdered Gregory before leaving the courthouse. He never had surgery to remove the bullet, which tied him directly to the murder weapon fifteen years later. He then adopted Miles Edgeworth as a form of long term revenge, and warped and manipulated the boy into everything that Gregory Edgeworth was not and everything he assumed Gregory despised.

Now an innocent man, Edgeworth found himself adrift, and uncertain of what to do. All that he had known all of his life had been a lie - and he had turned away from his father's teachings. Mental illness and trauma had long gone untreated, and rumors were still swirling about him regarding corruption and forged evidence - which he had never actually done directly or on purpose.

In the end, it all proved to be too much for him, and one night, he left a single note behind in his office - "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death."

He vanished, and was away from Los Angeles for a year. During this year, everyone assumed that he had committed suicide - and truthfully, he had made the attempt - by overdose, rather than anything violent. He was unsuccessful at this, however, and upon waking up sick and shaking, it occurred to him - perhaps he was meant to survive. He had lost sight and lost control of so much over the years - but perhaps the old Miles Edgeworth, the Demon Prosecutor, had to die in order for him to be reborn. He quietly checked himself into inpatient psychiatric care, and began to the long road to recovery.

He eventually returned to his position as High Prosecutor in Los Angeles County, and began to quietly work towards change. A guilty verdict was no longer what was sought for - rather, the truth was what was most important. Acknowledgement that the system was flawed, and that only through working with the defense could they hope to truly find the truth and ensure that the proper criminals were brought to justice. When Wright was disbarred after being set up to take a fall on forged evidence, he began to work even harder - this was what became known as the Dark Age of the Law. A fellow young prosecutor, Simon Blackquill, was tried and convicted of murder close to the same time, and both events plunged the legal system into turmoil. Corruption and bribery became the way of things, but all through it, Edgeworth continued to work quietly with Wright behind closed doors - on both cases. The truth was there, he knew, hidden beneath it all. He and Wright would travel to Europe together many times to study other legal systems, and how they functioned, in the hopes of implementing change one day.

When Edgeworth ran for the office of Chief District Attorney and won, he knew that he had finally found the place he needed to be to ensure real change. He began from the bottom up, ousting any prosecutor, police officer, or detective who took bribes or was otherwise corrupt. He began to to hire good, forward thinking, fair minded people to work under him, and began to move on Simon's case - which he knew had to be a false conviction. It was a grand moment of triumph when, seven years after Wright's disbarring and Blackquill's conviction, that he was able to see Wright back behind the defense bench - and it was Wright and his team who proved Simon's ultimate innocence as well.

Edgeworth currently lives in the house he grew up in, which is a home in Pacific Palisades, California that his father had purchased before his birth. He drives an exceedingly expensive red sports car, and has very elegant and refined tastes. He is a big fan of the tokusatsu series, The Steel Samurai: Warrior of Neo Olde Tokyo.

Personality: Edgeworth is generally calm and level-headed, but most assume he is a snob due to his cold, ruthless, and generally aloof nature. He has a certain lack of social skills and tact, making him very insecure and awkward around others. Edgeworth dislikes the limelight and often tries to credit other people or circumstances for his accomplishments, and sees no value in awards or trophies. He hates showing his weaknesses, and resists other people's attempts to get involved with his problems. However, he is not always aware that he comes off as cruel or condescending, or even that he is glaring at someone. Deep down, however, he cares immensely for those in his inner circle - Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, Larry, and a small number of others. There is little he would not do for them - he once chartered a private jet from Germany to Los Angeles last minute when he heard that Wright had been critically injured and might be dying. He finds it exceptionally difficult to express that he cares to them, but tries in his own way to do so. He has gotten better at this over the years, as his mental health has improved and he has allowed himself to have friends once more. He plans for things intensely, and does not like it at all when things go off the rails - he is not nearly as good as rolling with the punches as his friend Wright is, and it often ruffles him when things go not as planned.

His father's murder left him with intense phobias of earthquakes and elevators, and his emotional abuse from growing up with von Karma only compiled on top of his PTSD after that. Though he knows that he is not the one responsible for his father's death, there are still moments when he blames himself for it, deep down - if he had not reached for the gun and thrown it, von Karma would not have found it. If he had not gone to trial, he would not have been there to have interfered.

His personal philosophies had adopted and changed over the years, from ruthless and cold, to insightful and considerate. He believes that the truth is the utmost of importance in a court of law, beyond any defense or prosecution, and that it should be sought above all else. The guilt that he has for knowing that he put away countless innocent people during his perfect win streak in his early years haunts him, but it also motivated him to do better, to be better - and so, he strives to ensure that there are no more wrongful convictions under his watch. Only in that way, can the law properly protect the innocent and deliver justice for the victims. The truth was beyond the law - and the law would have to change if it was to serve the truth in full capacity. He bases his pursuit of the truth in logic, which he holds in high regard.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping: Miles does not have any supernatural abilities. He is gifted with a brilliant intellect and a highly insightful, logical mind, however - genius levels in many regards.

Inventory:
- One set of work clothes (suit, waistcoat, shirt, cravat, shoes)
- His glasses
- His cellphone and charger (iPhone 11 Pro)
- A set of pajamas
- A briefcase

Writing Samples:

Sample 1:

Twenty-five years.

A quarter of a century had passed, and most did not recall the case of Gregory Edgeworth, famous and respected defense attorney, murdered in an elevator in cold blood. Time and life went on as it did in Los Angeles - always another mindless crime to fill the mind of the media, another spectacle to distract from the lessons that they all should be learning from the past.

But for some, the case had never faded from memory. For some who knew the nightmare of being ruthlessly robbed of a beloved parent, the wounds would never fully heal. Even now, there were moments when the incident was fresh in the mind.

There were moments when Miles Edgeworth, 35, was a terrified boy huddled on the floor of that elevator, suffocating in the darkness. There were moments when the scars of loss, regret, and anguish stung more vividly than any night terror. The nights were few, these days, when he awoke in a cold sweat with the sounds of screaming in his ears and the smell of gunpowder fading in the air, but once in a while, he found find himself nine years old again, panting heavily and staring up at the ceiling, far removed from any courthouse and any elevator, the distant lights of the City of Angels just through the cypress trees that lined the fences of his back yard.

He hated December.

No, that was ultimately unfair. There were things to like about December - he no longer hated Christmas, despite the dreadfully dull office parties he was often obliged to attend, and he was no longer alone for the holiday when he knew he had friends who wanted him to be around when they invariably exchanged their gifts and shared an enjoyable - if loud and obnoxious - meal with him.

He hated the end of December.

How could such a cheerful month contrast so starkly with the ugliness that marred his past. He was not the only one to have ever lost a parent. He wasn't even the only one to have lost a parent in such a violent and abrupt way. Still, the bitterness proved hard for him to put to bed entirely, despite all the time that had passed. He felt strongly about it, he supposed, because he cared so intensely about it all.

The beauty of the day contradicted the ugly emotions in the Chief Prosecutor’s heart. The sun was bright over Los Angeles that day, the breezes were fresh…just as they had been that day so long ago. Miles didn’t pause to look up as they passed through rows of elegant headstones, each engraved with the names of the dearly departed.

Seven years.

Seven years since he had been back to Forest Lawn and paid his respects. What a horrible son he had turned out to be.

As he finally came to his destination, he paused and raised his eyes to look. The stone was elegant and beautiful, white marble engraved with his parents’ names in small letters beneath their surname. Angels adorned it, and though it had been cared for over the years, it seemed lonely. His mother on the left, his father on the right, with simple numbers marking the scant years that they walked this Earth - the criminally short time that he had been allowed to know them at all. Now that he was standing here, a small offering of flowers for the upturned vase, he felt his chest tighten. He dreaded this day every year, but it was almost as if he were facing his father and all of his guilt and shame, every year. He remained silent as he knelt, and rested his hand on the top of the stone. Gently, he turned the vase over and set the flowers within, care in each gesture. He was not a man who believed in being overly maudlin, talking to spirits or ghosts in any manner -

What would he say, anyway?

If his father knew what he had become - it didn't matter how far he had come from his lowest point now. What would he say if he knew? The Demon Prosecutor of old, rumors of forged evidence and back alley dealings, schemes and underhandedness - it didn't matter that it hadn't been true. It mattered that he had once perpetuated such a persona. Everything his father had stood against.

Swallowing, he stood, and took a step back for a moment. Slowly, he sank down on a white marble bench beside the gravesite, resting his hands in his lap. It was under the overhang of a tree - peaceful and beautiful, serene. They deserved that.

He looked on at the graves for a moment before he closed his eyes and took a breath.

“….Hello, Father…”

Sample 2:

As a Chief Prosecutor, it was no longer his place to stand behind the bench and try cases. Rather, it was his responsibility to delegate to those beneath him the cases, and oversee and ensure smooth legal proceedings. While it was not without its excitement, it certainly was not quite the same as getting a four AM call from a tired sounding Detective Gumshoe apologizing and asking him to come out to a crime scene. There were times when Edgeworth missed those days - he did love it, deep down, even with all of its frustrations: the investigation, the zany witnesses, the wily suspects and yes - even the infamous turnabouts that that man was so well known for.

His fingers brushed against the polished wooden surface as he stepped behind the bench, observing the dull reflection of his features distorted in the old polish. He had changed, since the first time he had stepped behind here - and so too, had the world. The law had changed. Everything had changed - and there was a peace and a confidence in that. He raised his head - a smirk came to his lips, confident and knowing, as he reached up and pulled his glasses from his eyes to look his opponent head on.

"...You understand, of course, that I'm taking this case under special circumstances," he murmured evenly as he folded his glasses and hung them from his lapel pocket. Across the way, an old and wonderful, familiar face stood there, eyes bright, defiant, confident in a way that had altered the course of much of the past ten years. Where frustration had once settled in his chest at dealing with Phoenix Wright, now there was only peace. Excitement. Anticipation. Here now, the truth would be laid bare for the eyes of this court - unfailing. "I can only imagine that you would bungle your way through the proceedings, bluffing on a wing and a prayer - I, of course, am here to lend some legitimacy to this court of law. Perhaps we will have it be less of a zoo in that way."

It was all banter - though Miles wouldn't have said that Phoenix hadn't turned the court room into a zoo before. Parrots, orcas, monkeys, hawks - ah well. Miles crossed his arms, the picture of smug sophistication, and turned to glance at the judge.

"The prosecution stands ready, Your Honor."

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Charlemagne
Player Age: 35
Player Contact: Plurk: https://www.plurk.com/SerCharlemagne

Other Characters In Game: None
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Miles Edgeworth: Charlemagne
Permissions for Character: https://prosecutorinchief.dreamwidth.org/486.html
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Potentially.
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: The suspense, and the character development. I enjoy exploring what makes me character tick and working through their many issues.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: No.
Additional Information:

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