Apollo Justice's bracelet.

Apollo Justice's bracelet is an important object in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice that is used by Justice to "perceive" subtle hints of tension in a witness. It is among the many items that Phineas Filch tries to steal over the course of The Monstrous Turnabout.


When Apollo Justice talks to people, they sometimes display subtle twitches or other habits while they are talking. Once this happens, Justice can "sense" that it has occurred with the help of his bracelet. The bracelet is represented by an icon in the top center of the touchscreen of the Nintendo DS or 3DS, and it can be activated by touching it (or with the "X" button).

In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, this icon only appears during cross-examinations. If Justice has sensed a nervous habit during the testimony, the bracelet slowly spins at the top of the screen, and Justice must choose a point in the testimony to focus on. Otherwise, it appears gray and does not spin. In Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, the icon is instead only used in "Talk" menus during investigation acts. If Justice has sensed a tell during a conversation, the conversation topic in question becomes "locked" with an eye symbol and the bracelet icon appears. There is also a special instance of using the bracelet in Turnabout for Tomorrow and Turnabout Revolution, where it is used during a trial, but not during a cross-examination.

When Justice focuses, he is able to watch the witness very closely and in slow motion as he or she goes through the statement or statements in question. Once the tell is found, the player can press the "Perceive" button that is located where the bracelet icon was (or press "X" twice), causing Justice to yell, "Gotcha!" From there, Justice must deduce the meaning of the habit, based on its nature and the specific part in the testimony in which the habit occurred, by presenting a piece of evidence from the court record. In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, although no penalty is incurred from incorrect perceiving, presenting irrelevant corroborating evidence does result in a penalty.

In the DS version of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, the perception lens and dialogue are on the bottom screen, while the top screen shows a mid-shot of the witness. In both of the 3DS main games, however, it is the other way around.

The bracelet is the only mechanic introduced in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney that can be used solely with digital button inputs.

Characters perceived with the braceletEdit

Apollo Justice: Ace AttorneyEdit

Episode Character Statement (the bolded text indicates when the tell appears) Tell Corroborating Evidence
Turnabout Trump Olga Orly "I saw it when Wright hit him. With my own eyes, I saw it" Rubs the back of her neck Deadly Bottle
Turnabout Corner Wesley Stickler "Ergo! I used my cell phone to call the police." Fiddles with the corner of a page of his book Cell Phone (Not presented; multiple choice response used instead)
Alita Tiala "Why would I go to the clinic now for a half-year-old chart?" Fiddles with her engagement ring Wocky's Check-Up Report
"So I gave up and went home... All I did was talk to him!" Scratches her neck around her scarf Lamp
Turnabout Serenade Lamiroir "I saw nothing. The late Mr. LeTouse's body was behind a wall." Swallows Investigation Request
"It was I who explained that the crime followed the song." Swallows Machi Tobaye's profile
Machi Tobaye "He says that because the lyrics are in English, he does not understand them." Glances at Lamiroir Borginian Newspaper
Turnabout Succession Spark Brushel "Say what you will, but Drew's talent was without compare." Sweat starts to pool in his armpit Hidden Painting
Kristoph Gavin "Surely, you aren't going to suggest I was responsible for poisoning her father, too?" Tenses his hand, causing a scar to appear Commemorative Stamp

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual DestiniesEdit

The Monstrous Turnabout Damian Tenma "Yes, well, it's quite an attractive prize in terms of tourism." His right eyelid twitches Amazing Nine-Tails Glossy
Jinxie Tenma "That's all he said before he passed out in his chair." The finger holding her warding charm shakes N/A
Turnabout Academy Myriam Scuttlebutt "I'm taking the stand tomorrow. Tell me everything you know for Juniper's sake." Tightens her grip on her box Themis Herald ("Pending Declaration of Love Rocks Campus!")
Juniper Woods "Hugh is a gifted student. He gets outstanding grades and never causes trouble." Coughs lightly, causing her scarf to flutter Courte's Planner
Turnabout for Tomorrow Bobby Fulbright "The Earth emblem is only on the side that you can see when held in the right hand." Moves his left thumb along the holster of his gun Lighter (Examined automatically; not presented)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of JusticeEdit

The Magical Turnabout Trucy Wright "Don't worry, I'm fine! I need to stay strong for my fans!" Moves her eyes around nervously Attorney's badge
Bonny de Famme "Oh, you'll never figure it out. I always perform it perfectly!" Moves her hat slightly, causing her rabbit to show Mr. Hat (Not presented; multiple choice response used instead)
Turnabout Revolution Pearl Fey "All I know is Dr. Buff was somewhere on Mt. Mitama." Rubs her right thumb against a dried paint splotch on her hand Raincoat
Dhurke Sahdmadhi "The love of my life was Amara. But she's gone now and there will never be another." Moves his left arm slightly, causing his pendant to press against his sleeve Woman's Photo
Amara Sigatar Khura'in "At 2 PM, during the Rite of Channeling, I slipped into the tomb and slew the minister." Moves her left middle finger extremely subtly Channeling Photo



Justice using the bracelet to look for Myriam Scuttlebutt's tell.

In-game, the bracelet is made of a special alloy that changes in size in response to body heat. This allows the bracelet to fit perfectly around the wearer's arm. When someone wearing the bracelet senses a nervous habit, he or she becomes slightly tense as well, and this causes very small muscle contractions that he or she would not normally notice. However, since the bracelet is always a perfect fit, the wearer can feel it "tightening" slightly when he or she becomes tense. Only Magnifi Gramarye and his descendants are known to be able to focus on nervous habits, so the bracelet would likely not work in this manner for other people.

Perceiving requires great focus, and Justice cannot perceive if something breaks his concentration, such as when Simon Blackquill set his hawk Taka on him to prevent him from using this power on Phineas Filch, as Blackquill considered such an ability cheating. Justice also appears to need both eyes to perceive, as he at one point covered one eye with a bandage in order to suppress his ability. Nonetheless, it is possible to learn to sense a nervous habit without the use of a bracelet if the person knows when to focus. Trucy Wright was able to use this method to help Phoenix Wright win poker games during his disbarment.

Nahyuta Sahdmadhi is able to tighten Justice's bracelet at will, to the point of causing Justice's wrist to hurt. Sahdmadhi used this to intimidate Justice during the latter's investigation into the murder of Inga Karkhuul Khura'in, making Justice unable to perceive Sahdmadhi's tell.

Known braceletsEdit

Only two bracelets are known to have existed in the Ace Attorney universe; Thalassa Gramarye previously owned both of them, but one was passed on to Apollo Justice shortly after he was born.

See alsoEdit
