Great Ace Attorney Chronicles Character Tier List with an Actual Lawyer

Since we just finished our playthrough of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles with an Actual Lawyer let's play series, we decided to give our opinions on every single Great Ace Attorney Character and see how they stack up next to each other! Let us know which Great Ace Attorney Chronicles characters were your favorites and which cases were the worst in the comments down below!
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[@SaveDataTeam]

Which characters do you think we did dirty, and which ones did we overrate? Let us know in the comments down below! 😁 Watch us stream live at: twitch.tv/savedatateam Support the channel and get your name included in the patreon song: patreon.com/savedatateam

[@celestinebuendia]

I can never get Van Zieks racism being a knock against his *character*, especially since that’s his character arc, and he has probably the best character arc in the game. I guess you can knock him out of annoyance, but if racism being annoying knocks a character then racism being annoying would knock the whole writing of the game (where most British characters like to sling around microaggressions casually). It was never like that for me, and, especially since this is (initially) a game by Japanese people for Japanese people, and me being Asian, it was always a “We’re really calling out these old British people today” vibe. When Van Zieks breaks from that mold, I celebrate it along with the writers.

[@chuckles3116]

Skulkin brothers are easily the best “prosecution fucking despises the witness” dynamic, and he has the most reasonable gimmicks out of any prosecutor

[@Julia-be3um]

klint is "great character" for the raw ass line of "to my extortioner, mael stronghart-- may you feel the jaws of the beast at your throat every time you swallow" alone

[@clony3094]

3:34 Prij: But he's still sexist though. Zak: Oh... yeah *moves him up a tier*

[@SaveDataTeam]

😂 goddamnit

[@wourydiallo1445]

Gregson's morals are the main reason why i love the guy. This game had a lot of morally neutral characters and gregson really takes the cake for my personal favourite one

[@Ed-1749]

"Nihilism is a founding principle of Menimemoism" an actual line from Menimemo what was he on.

[@tomokojoestar3189]

Ok, but as the biggest Gregson simp, I have to point out how he's not a flat character like most Ace Attorney characters (other exceptions include Kazuma, Jigoku, etc), when they're almost either completely evil or unwaveringly good. Yes, Gregson is a good and competent cop, but he's also deeply related to London's foggy corruption. He was too far into Stronghart's bidding to back out, so he told himself that what he was doing "was for the good of the country" and he knows he's not a good man (based on what he tells Gina before going on his last mission). He wronged Gina in order to protect the government secrets and tries to make it up to her by adopting her and giving her a chance in life to be a better cop than he was. I love my Gregsy so much 🥹

[@wourydiallo1445]

GREGSON IS MY FAVORITE ACE ATTORNEY CHARACTER BRO I LOVE THIS GUY SO MUCH

[@tomokojoestar3189]

And his theme slaps so hard too. Same tier as Partners ~ The Game is Afoot

[@wourydiallo1445]

​@@tomokojoestar3189I wouldn't say the same tier for the pure hype the song offered but yeah a top 10 for me

[@DreadedGhoul575]

Exactly, and the times it's based on, his mentality makes sense to be a patriot for his country and being misled by Stronghart. Heck, he even confronted Stronghart about it. I do wish there were more cases though in the games, since it happened really fast, just as we saw him in the present. Same goes with Maria and Courtney. Needed more cases. Overall though, I think Gregson is a character well done. Caught up in corruption, trying to do the right thing, even showing more emotion to us in the 2nd game, like a rare sprite, where he looks to the side, like he feels guilty and showing his true side.

[@MissVal-iant]

@@DreadedGhoul575 I think a tiny change they could've made to Sithe that would make her character so much more impactful would be to have every autopsy report before case 8 signed by her name. It creates the impression that she's someone who you can trust and rely on (and really have no other option but to), but also that's she's sort of a far-off important presence who works in the background - it makes finally bringing her into sight for the first time far more shocking because it casts you into the same sort of dilemma that you see Barok face, where you no longer know who you can trust within the justice system. If you can't trust the person who's been the source of your information since the very beginning, who else can you trust?

[@gdplasman1616]

I love how "Ruined my Marriage" went from bottom tier of cases to top tier of characters lol

[@SaveDataTeam]

You win 100 points for being the first comment to point this out!

[@Stirdix]

I was actually surprised by how not-inherently-racist van Zieks is, in some sense, in that it's clear all of his racist malice derives from bad experience rather than "innate" racism. Contrast him with many of the jurors and the difference is clear - he never writes you off as some black magician or whatever like they do, for instance. And even at his worst, he doesn't have the same racial superiority notion as Jezaille Brett, for instance. in the end, still racist, to be sure - reason doesn't matter much. But the fact that is prejudice is derived from personal experience (rather than casual assumptions like the rest of Britain) says something about his character in spite of that, I think.

[@xasz41]

You guys putting Hosonaga so low physically hurt me. Sure, he didn’t get as much screen time as he should’ve but he was phenomenal for all of it. Going above and beyond to save the crime scene during Ryan’s trial, getting beat up by the captain to allow us to investigate Kazuma’s death, sneaking into Jigoku’s office, MR TURTLE, he had great moment after great moment. That combined with a good design I think puts him deserving a much higher spot. And he’s not sexist, which is hard to come by in Meiji Japan. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[@farbencut]

16:24 Deserved placement, but you completely forgot (I also kinda did) that Kazuma Tripping over the cat wasn’t actually what made him “die”. I think there was a plot point that she afterwards visited Kazumas Cabin, and when she knocked at the door, Kazuma asked if it was Inspector Hosonaga. Then she was afraid that Kazuma was gonna ring the alarm (he was gonna ask Ryan something), so she pushed him and he fell “dead”. Then the crew helped her cover it up. Or maybe I’m just going crazy, who knows.

[@michaellatner975]

It was a combo of the 2 that "killed him", it happened cause when she tried to push him the cat was in the way and he tripped while he was trying to balance himself

[@pokemaniacqolem6495]

I've been reading "I am a cat" by Soseki Natsume (the real one), and got two details y'all might enjoy. - The japanese name of the novel is "Wagahai wa neko de aru"... wagahai appearently being a highly "self-elevating" pronoun that doesn't exist in english. - The cat in the novel is actually nameless, but one other cat calls them... "Professor" :) Y''all called it.

[@SaveDataTeam]

I knew the wagahai fact, but not the professor one! Very cool/funny!

[@orignalaidan4691]

23:02 my favorite part is the end is when van zieks says "allow me to apologize for countless discourteses on my part" paying off his catchphrase in a really good way

[@nelfie253]

I'm only seven minutes in, but I'm going to say before I forget: some of the ratings here surprised me until I remembered that what made the character interesting was all ad-libs by you guys. If I played the game now, I'd probably end up thinking "When is Auchi going to say the vampire stuff?".

[@Smitology]

Lol I had the same thought with Meekins... They created such a great bit for him, and then I watched other lets plays and in their series Meekins was a practically irrelevant character that only existed as a minor annoyance in 1-5

[@nelfie253]

@@Smitology Exactly! Meekins is one of the biggest victims of the ad-lib effect.

[@blurb9319]

Sad that the chat spamming ‘Testify’ when Sophie was begging to enter the VC didn’t make it into the video.

[@noradora5713]

"The final case really hurts Kazuma he comes back and now he sucks" That's the point. That's literally the point. We saw Kazuma through Ryuunosuke's eyes and then when he comes back he shows a side of himself that was always there but Ryuunosuke was too in love to see. He does act irrationally and he does accuse van Zieks for far longer than he should but that's the point and we DO pull him out of it, you guys just kept making jokes even past the point that he turns around. Also have some respect for his boobs how can you be annoyed at him when he looks like that. Side note but the Sithe ranking is baffling to me, how does "I wish we saw more of her" translate to "THE LITERAL WORST CHARACTER"

[@SaveDataTeam]

The ranking includes how well we think the character was utilized and Sithe was just… kinda there 🤷‍♂️ very cool design, and a corrupt coroner is exciting, but she came so late and felt tacked onto a case.

[@aure0521]

Yeah Kazuma being stupid is the point there. He's literally blinded by his hate for van Zieks thinking he got his dad that was "innocent" killed

[@ZE.brigitte]

"but Ryuunosuke was too in love to see" Are we implying those two are married ?

[@Montgomery0121]

Jigoku was a tough one for me. He was so cool, we were all rooting for him until he was revealed to be an opportunistic backstabber. I think putting him in the middle was a good compromise.

[@SaveDataTeam]

Yeah he is so cool, and his breakdown is amazing, but the revelation that he killed his best friend because a guy was like “I’ll help your career” is a bummer especially when this happens while he’s off screen and he never gets to show his feelings on the incident. But him hiding is the box is still top tier 😅

[@matcha_t]

Can't be mad at the Sithe placement even though I like her. I wish Dr Sithe was introduced much earlier, around the same time as Gregson. Not only would this give us more time with her character (+Maria popping in) it would make her confession much more impactful. Plus her name being on the coroner's report much less noteworthy if it was always there on each case in Britain. Her design is one of my all time favourites and I feel like they did have more planned for her but didn't work out for whatever reason. Like what was with the oddness around her daughter's last name? It's different from Sithe's married and maiden name. Strange to include such a detail that was never expanded on. When playing my mind went to illegitimate child of one of the cast (perhaps Strongheart 👀) but could also be due to a previous marriage (that ended in death/affair? so many possibilities..) Alas! The power of hindsight. At least her theme is a banger.

[@SaveDataTeam]

Yeah Sithe being introduced earlier before her betrayal would have been a really good way to make it more impactful! I think that would have been really cool even if it was just including her names on the autopsy reports from 1-3 until you met her in 2-3!

[@Stirdix]

@@SaveDataTeam I was watching another playthrough today and they do have her on 1-5 as Stevens, which I hadn't noticed except that person remarked something like "well, I'm not going to call the coroner corrupt" and really drew my attention to it IDK if they do it on any other autopsy reports though

[@les5503]

I love the immediate agreement on knife juror, I burst out laughing and scared the cat lol

[@meanas-nu3nc]

you scared your cat? did you trip over it, perhaps?

[@madamsamoyed5732]

Gina will always be my favorite. She's rough around the edges, yet sympathetic and has a great arc over the course of the duology. And Wes' accent for her made her even better.

[@annajoellecloss3831]

Can’t wait for Apollo Justice! Y’all are in for a fun time

[@wreathedriver2856]

Largely accurate tier list until we get to Van Zieks who of course should be S-Tier, but you've redeemed yourself by putting all the animals in there 😄

[@psyllart]

to me ryunosuke’s stupidity is his adhd swag 🙏

[@gallows_Calibrator]

Thinking about Daley again, I think he's a character doing something they've done in AA before (tragic witness forced to live a false life), but he does it a bit better, a bit more interesting than Yani Yogi's kooky old man bit.

[@lieuleeeee]

I’m glad you guys like Ryunosuke, putting him in A proves that Runo has some kind of character LOL. Personally, I’d put him bottom S or higher because I’m biased and, considering how the writers screwed over our beloved protags’ developments in the later games, Runo’s character feels even more completed. His confidence being built up over time, finally breaking free from “doing it for Kazuma”, not to mention he’s *extremely smart*. It’s hard to argue that he’s not the best protag of the franchise (except Edgeworth)

[@SandaiTheThird]

I'd argue Gregson is closer to Damon Gant than Stronghart was. Both were willing to fake evidence to get their desired conviction. Both were willing to let young girls go to jail for crimes they didn't do and were willing to kill in order to uphold the justice they believed in. Stronghart on the other hand only believes in himself and uses the excuse of law and order *dun dun* to justify his actions that benefit himself.

[@greatusername921]

I don't know if I'm alone on this, but I actually prefer Stronghart as "weird serious clock guy" than as a villain. Maybe if they amped up his cartoonish-ness but he played it 100% serious while everyone else was just baffled it would've resonated more with people, but I still liked him in the first game.

[@user-lq6ex2eg8y]

Actually I really like Stronghart just because he has a great ost and he is always late while checking the watch is so funny.

[@ello3800]

Natsume should be in S tier Idc what anyone says. He was sooooooo funny in 2-2 I was howling

[@ryninja5788]

3:03 I dunno, technically he was still the one who performed Klint’s autopsy, even if mikotoba was the one who wrote the whole thing. I’d say that’s slightly more than “did nothing”.

[@pippastrelle]

Him ultimately being paid off by Stronghart to fake evidence and wielding his power over Mikotoba to do that was honestly such a a great twist. Like, we still had that lingering trust of Watson from him being a Sherlock Holmes character but the game masterfully uses that familiarity against us.

[@rainymeadows3447]

The only character on par with Susato is Susato Crossdressing.

[@Maria1094X]

Ngl, Van Zieks courtroom antics charmed me a lot with how dramatic they are. The first leg slam really got me lol (but yah the racism is inexcusable)

[@njorlpinipini]

24:44 Wait, wasn’t the maid the one who was basically saying “exterminate the poors” in 1-5?

[@AleaIactaEstXIII]

Mikotoba’s are the real ones! And like Logan01 pointed out, there is definitely part of the game where you think Yujin might be a villain. For a character to keep you guessing the whole time and then for the reveal that he’s the real Watson at the end is a great bit of writing

[@MikaChan03]

They forgot Swan Hat and the little chicks.

[@Smitology]

34:36 like Manfred Von Karma edit: you immediately made that joke now I just sound like a joke copier

[@ShadowoftheMask]

Hey Daily Vigil getting angry at warden was fun :D

[@ProsecutorZekrom]

26:40 Late but I do have to point out that it was Ryunosuke that says Fairplay and Lay D. Furst were lying in order to prove McGuilded innocent. Since McGuilded was actually guilty, their testimonies were the truth, thus Fairplay wasn’t actually lying just to get out of the debt

[@mechashadow]

No S-Tier for Genshin Impact? Whomst had the biggest Impact on the whole game?! I'm surprised on how much Wes was strict on the characters since I was sure that Prij was gonna be him but Prij was pretty fair and generous to his credit. Is Zak hinting at GAAC3 where they'll be going to America like the Kingsman Sequel?

[@beccacullison3594]

Mikotoba supremacy. We love to see it. ❤

[@CrimsonTy]

Now that its over my pet peeve of Wes saying sprite for 3d models is over Until the next game with 3d models...

[@kenw.1520]

Wes doesn't like sad boys confirmed. XD I can relate do Vigil. For I am a sad boy in real life.

[@JadedGale]

The last time I was this early I was [R E D A C T E D].

[@DreadedGhoul575]

26:54 It's weird, since Fairplay and the Blonde Juror in 1-4 and switch personalities oddly in 2-2. The blonde guy is nice in 1-4, but 2-2 he's not as nice and Fairplay, he's quite aggressive in 1-4, but 2-2 he's a bit more logical and reasonable.

[@DreadedGhoul575]

I'm actually curious to find this tier list, but unfortunately, others that I find are incomplete with some characters missing. I'd love a link to this tier list.

[@SaveDataTeam]

I used this tier list, but added the 10 or so characters it was missing tiermaker.com/create/the-great-ace-attorney-characters-170433

[@DreadedGhoul575]

@@SaveDataTeam Ah ok. Sucks it misses a few. Maybe there will be a full version eventually. 👍

[@octobling]

14:34 up to here

[@Robin_Glorb]

14:17 *cough cough* Investigations 2 *cough cough*

[@vince8901]

I was so mad when you didn't put Gina in S tier for one second and then you pointed out she's a class traitor and I thought y'know what you're right

[@jvts8916]

It's funny how most Ace Attorney With A Real Lawyer videos usually play the straight man while the one in this series embraced the madness.

[@geethenerd]

Hey guys! What happened to your first episode of Apollo Justice??? It’s not on you Live videos of KZbin or on your normal ones??

[@SaveDataTeam]

I made it unlisted so the raw, unedited version is not taking up space in our videos. It still exists tho!

[@SaveDataTeam]

kzbin.infoilOL-kKe9iM?feature=share

[@geethenerd]

@@SaveDataTeam thanks! I remember watching a part of it live, but when I wanted to continue the rest I couldn’t find it!

[@asterisk5054]

old man yaoi and their babies at the top let's goooooooooo!!!! so excited to see my boy Apollo ♡

[@asimpleram]

Maybe Zak just doesn’t like kids ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@asimpleram]

(Kidding)

[@TheGodIvy]

To be fair, who does?

[@asimpleram]

@@TheGodIvyI mean. I don’t like kids lol

[@MasterSonicKnight]

ik i'm late to the party, but i gotta say Kazuma is rly overrated. on the first case he kinda fills the same role as Mia was to Phoenix, but even so we wasn't all that great, iirc to a point where even Ryunosuke went beyond what Kazuma would manage to pull off. the only rly good moment he had was him cutting off the prosecutor's hair. after that he gets taken down by a cat and every single mention of him is followed by a flashback of "Karuma is the soul of the Asogi clan" yada yada yada, or Ryan claiming how "amazing" he is. then he shows up again in Resolve and he legit sucks arse, he feels like a complete buffon that's blinded by revenge. I even dare say that Resolve's Auchi was a better prosecutor than him, which is baffling, that was the first time i saw a Payne clone being somewhat competent, and Kazuma did worse than him as a prosecutor. i genuinely think the main reason most people like Kazuma is because of his graphic design and because Ryan spent the most part of 2 games hammering down abt how great he is, but the moment we get into the trial from 2-4 he's such a massive disappointment if it was me doing the tier list, i'd separate Kazuma into 2, game 1 Kazuma would go on pretty good (only for the sake of not being thrown down at 'he exists') and game 2 Kazuma would go on hate it

[@scratchedaviators1254]

The lack of Gina’s and Gregson’s relationship can be largely chopped up to the series being a duology instead of a trilogy the 1st game sold poorly so they crammed it into a rushed and shortened experience. Still great games but the rushed relationship between Gregson and Gina is evident because of this.

[@mysalsabrosv.2584]

i'll be real, i've seen very little evidence for that rumor; i think it really was just meant to be a duology. any "rushed nature" is just due to the way the game itself is laid out and how much they try to do.

[@scratchedaviators1254]

@@mysalsabrosv.2584 kazuma’s sudden resurrection is also evidence of how there was meant to be three games with a game in between kazuma might not be so fresh in the mind. I get ya though the evidence can also just be chalked up to crappy writing.

[@ryninja5788]

@@scratchedaviators1254I’m pretty sure the dudes who made the game always stated that this was supposed to be a duology. This was to dispel rumors that this was supposed to be one big game, but also serves to disprove any third game.

[@scratchedaviators1254]

Me and my misinformed ass lol

[@YOSHIERIDER]

I'd actually put Ryonosuke and Kazuma in Pretty Good tier. If it were only 1-1 and his brief moments in 1-2, Kazuma would be S-tier. But after his reappearance, we're supposed to act like it's this amazing thing, but there isn't a single scene afterwards of the two having a conversation together as friends. And then, almost immediately after the end of the game, they part ways again. In the first game, I completely got that they had been close friends for a long time; in the second game, it's hard to believe that they're friends at all. As for Ryan... he's a bitch. I can't stand how passive he is; his whining in 1-4 - IN FRONT OF HIS CLIENT - about not knowing if he wants to be a lawyer, really ticked me off. He starts to be more determined and assertive in 1-5, only to be largely unchanged in the second game. The time skip where he didn't get to practice law, but did get to study a lot, never seemed to make much of an impact on him. It never feels like he matured and came into his own. For comparison, there's a reason the fanbase has consistently loved Phoenix as a main character. While he is pretty intelligent, he wasn't portrayed as a genius in the original trilogy. But he was consistently shown to be very determined. The rare moments he does start to give up are very big, dramatic moments. Ryonosuke isn't outright bad, but he's so annoying. Gina is a mixed bag; she's the opposite of Kazuma, where I hated her in the first game, but really like her in the second. I'd say she should be in the same tier as him, Pretty Good. She is the most obnoxious defendant in the mini-series, and stands next to some of the worst ones in the franchise. I don't particularly like her in 1-3 either. But... she improves big time in the second game, where she clearly appreciates and respects Ryan, is trying to be a capable cop/detective, and her relationship with Gregson is fantastic. I consider Gregson to be S-tier. Part of it is the ambiguity about him; we get to interact with him a bunch in the 2 games, and he's generally likable, clearly valuing justice above his ego. Then, his actions in 1-5 cause a lot of problems, but still show him prioritizing his country over an individual incident; not getting to confront him directly about it after the trial is a shame though. In the end, we don't get a real conversation with him about his goals/motivations, and the full extent of his role as the Reaper. But that's not a bad thing; letting the player fill in the gaps and imagine some of the background is a good thing, and the parts we do see first-hand are excellent. Soseki is annoying. I never liked him, and it felt like he kept popping up over and over. He has funny moments, and I wouldn't put him in the Hate 'Em tier, but he's not going above the middle tier. I don't think he's even Pretty Good, but he's better than They Exist. Eggbert is a Great Character. Best villain in the first game, one of the best out of both games. He's not an S-tier villain, but I like the details of his backstory, I like how effectively he managed to stay beyond suspicion. He's a dirtbag, but, you know, he's a villain. The defendant in 2-1 (Susato's friend) is a bit too high. She's alright, but not much else. Harebrayn should be in Hate 'Em. His interactions with Van Zieks are a point in his favor, but he's so ****ing annoying the rest of the case. Another contender for one of the worst defendants in the franchise. It amazes me that a bunch of software engineers would make such an unscientific "scientist". I don't really disagree with any other character on the list. The only character I thought they were way off on was the 2-3 defendant; everyone else is pretty close to what I think. Enjoyed watching.

[@aldo_aldopr]

Hot take: TGAA (especially 2) is great, don't get me wrong. But, i prefer classic AA rather than TGAA because Naruhodo Ryuunosuke < Naruhodo Ryuuichi. . Why? Because i think PW gets more backstory, more explained reason than Ryuunosuke to why he choose the path of becoming a lawyer. On the conflict of AA, PW is located on the central of the conflict, while on the conflict of TGAA, i think Ryuunosuke is kinda a side character

[@renab.7390]

Van Zieks is S tier (as to how well-written he is as a character -obviously racism is awful, nothing to debate about that, but that doesn't make him a bad character in story terms), how DARE you! 😡 Same goes for Ashley Graydon, who's at least as much of a great villain as Enoch Drebber! Both Graydon and Drebber are S tier for me too, all three are such well-written, flawed, complex characters, they deserve to be in S tier, especially Barok Van Zieks, and I'll die on this hill! I mostly agree with/begrudgingly accept your assessments of all the other characters. That said, I'd put Gina in S tier, the judge, the Beates, knife juror, the Skulkin brothers, Manimemo in good instead of great, Olive Green and Daley Vigil are in great for me, maybe even Asa Shin and Sithe in great instead of good (though I agree there's a lot of squandered potential with her and Maria, but if Tusspells gets to be in great, so do they, and yes, I'm totally simping for all four of them 😍🥰❤), Nina, Venus and the Garridebs in good, since they were memorable to me, most of the jurors in they exist, and Gossip, Peppino, the Stroganovs and incel Dracula in hate them (bc they're annoying AF and most of them are nothing but dumb/harmful stereotypes just like Bohemian boy). Now, Sholmes for me is just great, not S tier for me, because of how they executed his playing dumb vs his actual intelligence (and i annoying me the whole game) and his stupid, lore/immersion-breaking inventions. Also, hot take: I kinda hate Iris. Not because of her character (or Prij's portrayal) but because she's a child prodigy Mary Sue to a ridiculous level and completely unbelievable as a character, even before having tea with the Queen. She needed to be either way older or way less talented/smart to be even remotely believable. It's a shame, really, because the Wilson plot twist is awesome and really took me by surprise (I guessed most twists tbf - I hated the Kazuma is alive twist btw, almost as much as the final deus ex machina).