another thought i had after finishing apollo justice is how at the very end the judge goes on a sort of beautiful rant about how the law is the culmination of human history & advancement and that striving to perfect it is our goal as human beings…. and we’re just supposed to accept that this came out of the mouth of the same man who didn’t know what nail polish was a couple hours earlier??
One quirk of the regular ol’ Ace Attorney Judge, especially in the post-Seven-Years-Gap Era is the often-mentioned fact that he’s a grandpa. You know, it goes along with his Lovable Goofy Old Man characterization. And with it being mainly a post-timeskip trait, the fact that he so casually talks about it with our lawyers helps to establish how well they all know each other by now. Plus, it showcases the passage of time even though his actual design never changes.
But the thing is that the Judge’s grandchild is pretty much exclusively referred to as ‘grandchild’ every time their grandpa mentions them. The Judge never uses grandson/daughter.
And I think this is just some sort of Translation Side Effect. From what I understand, using the gender-neutral term for ‘grandchild’ like that for a grandson or a granddaughter sounds perfectly naturalistic in Japanese. But I actually love the fact that it sounds slightly Odd in English because it accidentally creates the Vibe that the Judge is just a very very supportive grandpa to his non-binary grandchild.
(I think the AA Wiki lists him having both a grandson and granddaughter cause there are a few instances of him referring to his Grandchild as ‘he’ and others where he used ‘she’ but… I think the Judge’s Grandchild is simply a he/she enby lol)
currently thinking about the judge from aa. he's old enough to have worked in the era of von karma+Blaise debeste+damon gant (and was friends with at least damon) and has since seen them all go to jail, two because of him directly. he once interrupted a murder case to ask everyone "hey is it messed up to tell a kid with an incurable illness to 'get well soon'? cause I don't think he's going to". he didn't know what nail polish was and thought his wife had naturally dark red nails. half of the prosecuting team have nicknames for him. he has no real name. he has seen most of the cast grow up for at least a decade.
also, the judge has been with phoenix since the begininng. he's in almost every single trial phoenix is in. he's seen him go from a teary eyed college student to a big time lawyer. he's seen him be both the defense lawyer and the one in need of defense. when phoenix mentions a homecoming party for Maya the judge is included in it. yes he isn't perfect and yes he is a minor character and yes you technically can replace him but would you really want to? he is one of the biggest constants in the game. he has no canon info or backstory besides unnamed family members and yet he's so involved in the games story