| Dahlia Hawthorne | |
| Image Upright: | 0.8 |
| Series: | Ace Attorney |
| First: | (2004) |
| Creator: | Shu Takumi |
| Designer: | Tatsurō Iwamoto |
Dahlia Hawthorne, known in Japanese as, is a character who appears in the 2004 video game . She initially appears in a flashback episode as the girlfriend of protagonist Phoenix Wright, who is on trial for murder and defended by rookie defense attorney Mia Fey. She is proven to be the true killer, and Phoenix becomes an attorney at Mia's law office. She is eventually executed for her crimes, but not before her also-incarcerated mother, Morgan Fey, proposed she assist her in a plan to have Maya Fey killed, which Dahlia accepted to get revenge on Mia by having Dahlia's sister, Pearl Fey, channel Dahlia so she may kill Maya.
She was created by Shu Takumi, and designed by Tatsurō Iwamoto, who had difficulties coming up with a design that fit all the necessary parameters. When localizing her name, localizer Janet Hsu named her Dahlia after the album Dahlia by X Japan, while naming her Hawthorne from the short story "Rappaccini's Daughter". Dahlia has received generally positive reception, with multiple critics considering her among the most evil characters in the Ace Attorney series and a tragic figure due to her upbringing.
Dahlia Hawthorne first appears in as its main antagonist, appearing in a majority of the game's episodes as the central antagonist of each. Daughter to Morgan Fey and twin sister to Iris, she initially engaged in a plot to steal from her father and ultimately murdered her stepsister, escaping justice in the end. She has a particularly antagonist relationship with Mia Fey, whose defendant was convinced to take his own life to cover for her, and whose lover was poisoned and put into a coma by her. Mia eventually proves her guilt in another case where she is defending Phoenix Wright for murder, causing her to be sentenced to death. Before her execution, she enters into a plot with Morgan to have her spirit channeled by her daughter, Pearl Fey, at a later point in order for Dahlia to kill Mia's sister, Maya Fey, allowing Pearl to become the new master in Maya's place. This plan ultimately fails due to the intervention of multiple people, including Godot, Mia, Phoenix, and Maya, the latter channeling her spirit so that she couldn't be killed by her. She is eventually banished by a combination of Phoenix and Mia.
The inclusion of Dahlia in the crossover card game Teppen for an Ace Attorney event called "Turnabout Festival," Dahlia was rejected due to not being "suited to the story [they] wanted to tell," though they expressed interest in including her down the road.[1]
Dahlia was designed by series designer Tatsurō Iwamoto. Iwamoto had trouble designing Dahlia despite Trials and Tribulations being an easier design process for him overall. He found the design instructions contradictory, noting how she was a "heroine" but also the "ultimate villain," as well as the use of both western and traditional Japanese clothing. Furthermore, he had to include an aspect to her that Phoenix would fall in love with. He was able to create designs that fulfill each of these elements, but struggled to combine them into one, requiring Capcom to give him a separate room to focus on design. He estimated it took around 2-3 months to find a design, though he did take a break at one point due to a lack of progress.[2]
Her Japanese surname, Miyanagi, refers to her beauty, while her first name, Chinami, is a play on, an expression that describes her "cold blood" as a "merciless killer," according to author Sílvia Gabarró Mora.[3] In Japanese, Dahlia speaks in an honorific language.[4] In English, her first name contrasts the name of her sister, Iris, each with the same name as a flower, dahlia and iris respectively.[3] Her English name was created by English localizer Janet Hsu, and comes the album Dahlia by the Japanese rock band X Japan. Hsu exclaimed that they were listening to the album at the time, and liked the name Dahlia. They stated that her surname, Hawthorne, was a reference to the short story "Rappaccini's Daughter", and that her nickname, "Dollie," comes from her "Dolly" name from the fan translation of Trials and Tribulations.[5]
Dahlia Hawthorne is voiced in English by Dani Chambers, who expressed excitement to play the role due to her love of the Ace Attorney series. She felt that Dahlia was not "very complicated" and is instead "more just straight up evil ... [wanting] everything her way." She appreciated being able to play a mean character in her vocal register, as she had usually been cast as young girl characters due to her register being very high. She also appreciated being able to switch between three different voices.[6]
Dahlia Hawthorne has been generally well received as a villain. Nintendo Life writer Kate Gray praised Dahlia as a "compelling" villain who was enjoyable to face in court; she compared him to Professor Moriarty, the rival of Sherlock Holmes, someone who is a "real foil that's almost as good at hiding her tracks as [Phoenix] is at revealing them." She felt that, while her "juxtaposition of sweet and scary" was not new, it was done well, in part due to how it was used sparingly to "maximize the impact." She also discussed the visual design of her two breakdowns, arguing that her first - where the butterflies surrounding her burn up - signify her lack of concern for anyone and anything besides herself. She also discussed how Dahlia is a motivating factor for the actions of several Trials and Tribulations characters and revealed the flaws of them as well, including Phoenix's "unwavering trust," Godot's "dogged pursuit of revenge," and Maya's "willingness to help despite the cost to herself." She found her a highlight of the series, arguing that even once she is defeated, it doesn't change the trauma suffered by characters like Iris, Godot, Phoenix, and the Fey family, as well as the deaths of Terry and Valerie. She nevertheless considered her the most tragic character in the series, citing her mother abandoning her due to a lack of love and her father resenting her due to her mother's lack of power.[7] She considered her among the best villains in video games.[8]
KK News staff felt she was the epitome of a character who mixes beauty and viciousness, feeling that her ultimate end brought her nausea and fear. Commenting on her design, they argued that she could have been a heroine if she was less cruel.[9] Another staff member considered her a tragic Ace Attorney character, feeling that her beauty, wisdom, and evil created a lasting impression in players, particularly being the only Ace Attorney antagonist who appears in three or more episodes as of Trials and Tribulations. They felt that players would initially hate her on their first playthrough, but on subsequent playthroughs, would feel sympathy for Dahlia, due to how her family treats her. They felt that, had Iris been in her life, she may have not gone down this road.[10] Hardcore Gamine 101 staff argued that Trials and Tribulations was often considered the best title in the Phoenix Wright series, attributing this in part to Dahlia being "one of the most devious villains" in Ace Attorney and her "shocking mean streak" being significant through the game.[11] Game Watch writer Asami Rina considered her among the most evil characters in the series, considering her story to be the beginning and end of Trials and Tribulations.[4] Game Donga staff discussed her as a standout female character in Ace Attorney, calling her the most evil woman in the series and a scary character. They also regarded her as a standout female villain in gaming.[12] [13] VGMOnline writer Oliver Jia discussed her theme, stating that it is inspired by traditional Japanese music and that it had an "ambient arrangement of notes that represent the seemingly innocent nature of the character." While finding it minimalistic, he found it to be a great theme.[14] Fellow VGMOnline writer Tommy Ciulla criticized the theme, feeling it was lacking, using it as an example of composer Noriyuki Iwadare's weakness with character themes.[15]