One of the best things about both games in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is their wild cast of characters. This is something the series is known for. What makes these protagonists, side characters, defendants, witnesses, and everyone in-between so special is their animations.
Every character has a quirk. For example, Ryunosuke has a defeated stance with sweat pouring over him along with an animation of himself slapping his cheeks to focus up. Those are very mild examples as opposed to some of the wilder ones in the games. Among the many characters in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, who stood out the most? In order to properly rank them out, there will be spoilers for both Capcom games ahead.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles contains The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and its sequel, The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve.
Disclaimer: Spoilers will be included, so please take that into account.
10 William Shamspeare
That is not a misspelling. William Shamspeare is a struggling actor that appears very briefly, without a name, in The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures, before taking center stage in episode two of the sequel.
The real William Shakespeare exists in this universe. He is merely trying to channel the bard in the most hackneyed way possible. Shamspeare's best moments are when he breaks character from old English to modern dialect and catches himself in the act. He is a loon but a lovable one to dislike.
9 Soseki Natsume
Soseki is the perfect example of the types of wild characters that shine in this series. Soseki isn’t accused of one crime but two which are spread throughout both games. His manic personality is hilarious as he heavily sweats and shakes, looking around like there are enemies everywhere.
What’s out to get Soseki? Ghosts? The London police? His own guilt? He goes through a wide array of motions as he unlocks his true power.
8 Nash And Ringo Skulkin
These two characters appear in the last episode of The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures. They are a duo of thieves who happen to be brothers. One looks like a pear and the other an apple. Nash and Ringo Skulkin are the stereotypical burglars gamers would find in a classic play, novel, or even a video game from this time period in London.
They may be thieves but they’re not bad guys. They’re just a little humorously misguided and want to do the right thing but in the wrong way.
7 Inspector Gregson
Inspector Gregson is almost an antagonist to Ryunosuke like Lord Van Zieks is. However, Gregson isn’t trying to do harm to anyone. All he wants to do is uphold the law to the best of his ability and to eat a seemingly endless supply of chips.
Gregson is kind of a grump but the more the games show of him, the more his shell starts to crack. This is especially true whenever Iris is around since Gregson melts into a puddle of giddiness because he adores her so much. It’s rather sweet.
6 Mr. And Mrs. Garrideb
Mr. And Mrs. Garrideb, or John and Joan, were featured in the fourth episode of the first game. They turned out to be the criminals that harmed the mysterious woman in green although it was an accident.
What made them so memorable were their interactions, including Joan constantly spilling tea on John. As fun as they are to watch, they are sweet together as well as mismatched as they are. They come back quite often too.
5 Gina Lestrade
Gina is this game’s version of Inspector Lestrade from the Sherlock Holmesseries of media. In this case, Lestrade is a young female who begins as an angry and depressed orphan girl throughout the majority of the first game. By the end, Gina can finally smile thanks to Ryunosuke saving her from a crime she didn’t commit.
In the sequel, her sunshine continues as Inspector Greyson takes Gina under his wing in order to make her a true force of the law. It’s a neat twist on well-known lore.
4 Susato Mikotoba
Susato starts off as a quiet assistant to Ryunosuke in The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures. She’s a strong moral compass for him with some funny situations involving her throwing Ryunosuke repeatedly over her shoulder to prove a point.
Susato really shines in the sequel, especially in the first episode wherein she dresses as a boy so that she can be a lawyer to her friend Rei who is in need. Her disguise as Ryunosuke’s relative, Ryutaro, is priceless. The case is an interesting one as well.
3 Lord Klint Van Zieks
Lord Van Zieks is the typical bad guy everyone wants to hate in one of these games. He is written well as the antagonist prosecutor to Ryunosuke and looks the part of a villain. It’s his sharp tongue, fascination with wine, and getup that makes him look like Dracula that helps Klint stand out as he leaves an immediate impression.
Not everything is as it seems with Van Zieks though. Is he secretly a nice guy? Without spoiling anything, he is a great layered character like an onion.
2 Herlock Sholmes
The name sounds ridiculous and it is rumored that Capcom changed the name to skirt around the Sherlock Holmes license in the United States. It’s weird but that’s fine because Sholmes is a hilarious character. He is almost the opposite of the real Sherlock in that he is constantly wrong. Or is he?
That’s the big question thrown out in the series. Is he merely acting dumb to throw people off or does he really stumble through cases like this on a regular basis and thus accuses the wrong people? It’s quite the mystery but what isn’t is the fact that he is always fun to watch in the series due to his unpredictable nature.
1 Ryunosuke Naruhodo
The top pick has to be the protagonist of these games, Ryunosuke. Just like his future kin, Phoenix Wright, he is quite capable in the courtroom. He’s a better detective than Sholmes but is modest enough to think otherwise. It’s great to see Ryunosuke play off the more whacky characters as he is sort of the straight man in this series.
Ryunosuke has a heart of gold that makes him see the good in everyone and his determination helps guide his moral compass along with his deceased friend, Kazuma. Ryunosuke has this series of mystery stories in the bag.
Ryunosuke was released on Jul7 27, 2021 and is available on PC, PS4, and Switch.