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- After spending half a year by your side... My feelings towards you... They changed.
- —Bridge to the Turnabout.
Feenris is the het ship between Phoenix Wright and Iris from the Ace Attorney fandom.
Canon[]
Trials and Tribulations[]
Case 1: Turnabout Memories[]
The tutorial case of the third Ace Attorney installment is famous for a rather jarring presentation of the series' protagonist: intstead of being a "straight man", a level-headed observer Phoenix Wright usually is, in the flashback we see him as a very impressionable individual who is "madly in love" with his college crush Dollie. As it was later revealed, his girlfriend (named Dahlia Hawthorne) turned out to be a culprit who never really reciprocated Phoenix's feelings and even attempted to murder him for not giving back to her a certain necklace - for Phoenix it was the symbol of their love, but for Dahlia it was a valuable piece of evidence that would implicate her for her previous crimes.
This truth hurts Phoenix deeply, and makes him mature more and reconsider his career, deciding to change his major to law and become a defense attorney in order to help his friend. But despite these revelations, Phoenix still believed that Dahlie Hawthorne really couldn't be the girl he dated for months. As Phoenix and the player learn later, the girl who really dated him for the most of the time wasn't Dahlia, but rather her twin sister Iris who impersonated her, Turnabout Memories becomes essential into recontextualizing Phoenix's love life in college. There were brief mentions of him and Iris being really close, like constantly having lunches together, and Iris preparing him meals and knitting him a pink "P" sweater he was wearing.
Case 5: Bridge to the Turnabout[]
In the game's final case, Phoenix visits a remote temple with Maya and Pearl Fey and encounters Iris, one of the temple's shine maidens. When the two first run into each other, Phoenix is shocked to see her, as she bears a close resemblance to Dahlia. Both get flustered and awkwardly part, and Maya teases Phoenix for (what she assumes is) his crush. Still curious about Iris's true identity, Phoenix meets her later that night and asks if they've ever met before. Iris leaves without answering Phoenix's question, but not before giving him her demon-warding hood for safety.
When Iris is arrested on suspicion of murder, Phoenix resolves to act as her defense, but temporarily hands the role to Miles Edgeworth while he's hospitalized. Phoenix wears Iris's demon-warding hood during his recuperation in order to make his fever drop quicker (and later insists that it actually worked). In the detention center, Iris admits that she hurt Phoenix in the past, and Edgeworth encourages her to be honest with the man she clearly still cares for. Phoenix learns that Dahlia and Iris are twins, and that both sisters are in fact connected to the Fey clan by blood, which makes Iris a half-sister to Pearl Fey and cousin to Maya and Mia Fey.
At the case's conclusion, Iris reveals to Phoenix that she was actually the woman that he dated in college; she merely posed as her sister for eight months, and their relationship ended once Dahlia returned to try to kill/frame Phoenix. Phoenix was deeply devoted to Iris while they were dating, and in turn Iris harbored genuine affection for "Feenie" despite initially only continuing the relationship to appease her sister. Iris asks Phoenix to forgive her, and he does, telling her that "Dollie" was always the person he thought she was – someone good, who truly loved him. When Phoenix visits Iris in the detention center during the game's epilogue, she thanks him for coming and says that she was happy that he "constantly had [his] eyes on [her]."
Fanon[]
Despite being represented in only one game in the series (Trials&Tribulations), Feenris is one of the particularily rare example of a canonical romantical relationship involving one of the series' protagonists.
Iris is significant for being Phoenix's only canonical ex-partner mentioned in the series. Phoenix's sappy and emotional "Feenie" personality emerged out of his relationship with Iris, and since this is the only time we (explicitly) see Phoenix in a lovestruck state, fans often apply these qualities in other pairings involving Phoenix. The popular fanon reading of Phoenix as bisexual is also largely based in his relationship with Iris (as well as smaller moments of attraction to other female characters).
Many fans are particularly drawn to the parallels between Iris and Edgeworth. Even without any overt confirmation that Edgeworth is meant to be a sort of love interest for Phoenix, subtext implies that Edgeworth and Iris both care for the defense attorney in the same way. Edgeworth seems somewhat jealous of – or, at the very least, curious about – the apparent romantic connection between Iris and Phoenix. Moreover, one popular interpretation of Iris and Edgeworth's interactions stems from the theory that Iris recognizes that Edgeworth is in love with Phoenix, just as she is, which is reinforced by Iris' and Edgeworth's interaction in the game.
The ship is primarily canon in the sense that Phoenix and Iris dated for several months prior to the events of the first game. It is unclear whether either character has any interest in pursuing a relationship past the third game's conclusion (apart from the epilogue scene that confirms that Phoenix regularly visits Iris in the detention center). A potential relationship between them is complicated by the fact that Iris is subsequently arrested for being an accomplice in the murder of Misty Fey, and by the fact that Phoenix gets disbarred two short months after their reunion.
Iris' role in Phoenix's life and her and the extent of her culpability in participating in her sister's crimes, as well as the possibility of her renewing relationship with Phoenix, is often a subject of dispute in the fandom. It is often believed that the damage her and Dahlia did to Phoenix was too great for them to maintain any sort of close communication, but on the other hand, some think that Phoenix's forgiving nature and Iris' desire to redeem herself would allow them to befriend again, if not get back as romantic partners.
Thus, despite the lack of any sort of information about Iris post-T&T in canon, some fans imagine her finding a place among the main cast in its current form. For example, by some shippers Iris is often portrayed as a mother figure to Phoenix's daughter Trucy (whom he happened to adopt shortly after being disbarred). Occasionally, it's speculated that after Phoenix Wright will be taing more minor role in solving cases in WAA (which is desireable by many fans, as it would finally allow newer characters to take central stage), he may sellte down with Iris. Some other fans' depictions of post-timeskip Iris that doesn't involve her getting back together with Phoenix focus on her dynamic with Pearl as well as with Maya and the other members of their family
Fandom[]
FAN FICTION
- Iris/Phoenix tag on AO3
TUMBLR
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|---|---|---|
| Ace Attorney Ships • Ace Attorney Characters | ||
| SHIPS | het | Feenris • Justicykes • Magshoe • Miego • NaruMayo • NaruMiya • RyuuSusa |
| slash | AsoRyuu • Homumiko • Klapollo • Krisnix • Manosouta • Narumitsu • Soutamitsu | |
| femslash | Aurametis • Emamaya • Faraberry • Feyberry • Fradrian • Franmaya • Franziskay • Junithena • Lanamia • SusaHao • SusaMaya | |
| poly | Weirdgirl Polycule | |
| family | Faraday Family • Von Karma Siblings • Wright Family | |
| friend | Investigations Duo | |
| CHARACTERS | male | Phoenix Wright |
| female | Franziska von Karma • Kay Faraday • Maya Fey | |