XD I've never heard that one before.
Edgey, why is your sister always whipping me?
It's cause she likes you.

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Well she says something to that affect in T+T when she meets up with Gumshoe and the others again, she wonders why he cowers at her whip, it's like an affectionate whipping she gives him.

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No... I just replayed T&T and I don't remember anything being said to that extent.

I really don't think Franziska sees the whipping as a form of affection, otherwise she's a total whore for everyone...

And I'm pretty sure you can't hate your "brother."

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Here here!!! I got the evidence!

Went to Gamefaqs and scanned the game script till I found this:



She considers it a friendly gesture with Gumshoe.

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I think that she was just kidding with that line, trying to imply that Gumshoe was a wimp for freaking out about that "simple tap" on the shoulder.

And that doesn't necessarily mean she likes Gumshoe. Either way, I doubt that not whipping him often means she detests her "little brother." :P (I believe she envies him, but doesn't hate him)

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I love how Gumshoe refers to her as 'sir'. XD Reminds me of Peppermint Patty from Peanuts.

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C: I am VERY excited to see her character grow more.
<3
It just made me want to play even more when I heard that she'd be back, seeing as how she's my favorite character.

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Blegh to you, I can see it as a mark of friendship and a nice thing and I think she does like Gumshoe cause...lets face it Who doesn't?

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Wow! Franziska sure likes that whip! First she offers an old nun a massage with it, now she uses it as a friendly gesture? Incredible!

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Reviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!

Now that the game is out we can actually discuss Franziska's role in it. I felt this belonged here more than in the separate case threads.

Was it just me, or did anyone else notice that Franziska was a completely unnecessary character...?



I'm not trying to be a Franziska hater or anything. I really would like to see her have a meaningful contribution, but I think the writers could have done a better job at making her important. Even Gumshoe was central to a few plot points and swooped in once or twice with important evidence.

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I totally agree with you. Even if she's one of my fav character, I found that she wasn't necessary to the game. If you really want to know I think there is two reason why she is in the whole game:

First, she's kind of relative to Edgeworth. I mean they know each other for a long time, they had the same mentor... And she wants to destroy Edgeworth very much, we know that too (though I really wanted to know why she hates him so much, ideas people??) she's a sort of eternal rival, and second reason
Do you understand me? I don't know if I was clear.

To sum up, I think she's a great character. She's a talented prosecutor, and a clever woman but she's not very developed by Capcom. That's why I was a bit disappointed in GK.

If anything, she's only here for fanservice.

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Although, I agree that Franziska is severely underdeveloped but to say that her role is purely fan service and unnecessary is an overstatement.

Franziska left all the deduction to Edgeworth does make her seem unnecessary in the game. But, that’s because she cannot be the one coming out with the right answer. This is a detective game. We cannot have the non playable characters telling us the answers to the mystery right? Can you imagine Franziska telling Edgeworth who the real killer in case 2 is? What is left for us to do when that happens? Furthermore, if she had the critical clues, wouldn’t she have solved the whole issue herself? That would defeat the purpose of this whole game don’t you think?

However, she is indispensible to the game because she represents Edgeworth of the past. Remember, Manfred taught the both of them to strive for personal victory. Franziska is the perfect result of his teaching and so is Edgeworth in GS1. However, Edgeworth in GK is different. He pursues the truth while Franziska didn't change. When you put the both of them in the game, Franziska naturally serves as a contrast between Edgeworth past and present. With this comparison, I felt that Edgeworth had truly matured as a prosecutor in this game.

Except Edgeworth gained those insights way back in JFA. He was the one that taught Phoenix about what it really means to be a lawyer. His ideals in GK are not very different from how he was then, and in T&T, the same way that Franziska is not any different than her support role in T&T (except in GK she doesn't even get to contribute by prosecuting).

She wouldn't have had to solve a case by herself to make her useful. There were times when Rou, Kay, and even Gumshoe jumped in make an important discovery or deliver evidence, and they didn't take away from Edgeworth's position as protagonist because he was still the one that put everything together.

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I understand that Edgeworth had already gained those insights during JFA and this growth isn’t really new. But think about it this way. The entire GK advertizes how Edgeworth seeks the truth to the case. For that reason, they have to show why the truth is worth seeking right? Therefore, they would naturally need someone who is on the other extreme to illustrate this. In this case, who else other than our extremely competitive Franziska fits the bill? So by contrasting the way Franziska handles the case and how Edgeworth handles the case. It makes it obvious to the players that seeking the truth is indeed better than fighting for personal glory. This fact may have been obvious to us who have followed the series but the producers had to cater to the new players as well.

Well, I remember in case 2, Franziska did make an important discovery.



Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that Franziska’s role is very significant in the game. I absolutely agree that she is severely neglected. I have yet to get over the fact that Gumshoe had a remixed theme while she did not. Moreover, I’m also very disappointed that the important role the producers promised to give her didn’t turn out that important after all. Then again, I also felt that her role isn't entirely unnecessary because without her, there is nothing to make Edgeworth truth seeking attitude stand out.

Another reason I have as to why Franziska's appearance is necessary is more of a speculative nature so please tell me what you guys think about it. If the producers had planned for GK to be a series, they would naturally have to start from the first game in the series right? From the fact that Edgeworth was not any different since GS2 and 3, I am lead to believe that there isn't room for growth for Edgeworth. Yet, they cannot take Edgeworth out of the picture because his appearance generate sales. So, if the producers had planned to make GK a series, they would naturally have to introduce something or someone so that the story can continue yet provide ample reason for Edgeworth to reappear. For that reason, I felt that Franziska was introduced into GK therefore, necessary.

Yeah I was too, I didn't see that important role, too...



That's interesting but I really don't know what to say, the producers ARE planning to make another GK, after all. I think that Fran was just here to contrast how Miles and her are different about "what is a prosecutor", as you said.

If Franziska ends up being the main character in GK2 then I agree, it was necessary to have her in GK1 to set up for that. And in general I think having Franziska in an Edgeworth game is an obvious and natural choice. However, I think it's poor writing to have put her in the game just for the sake of having her there.



But that is pretty much the role Rou plays when Fran is not around. He is very arrest-happy and even if he cares about "truth" his methods of going about it are pretty much the opposite of Edgeworth. If he had shown up in case 2 (and he had every reason to) Fran would have had nothing to do, because he would have leapt to the same conclusions she did and provided the same antagonism.

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Hmm, I see where you are coming at. Although Franziska and Rou both play similar roles, their roles serve to illustrate two different things.The both of them are essential to the game in terms of defining how the truth can be found. Franziska relies heavily on her logic. She would stop looking for evidence when she has gathered enough to substantiate her case. Rou on the other hand relies heavily on evidence instead of logic. Both of them are on the extreme ends therefore neither of them reached the real truth of the case on their own.



Since GK is trying portray what it means to find the truth. By comparing Franziska in Case2 we learn that logic alone will not lead you to the truth, you need all the evidence. On the other hand, in Case3 we learn that evidence alone will not lead you to the truth either as seen through the comparison between Rou and Edgeworth. Truth can only be found when you have a balance of both evidence and logic. This is exactly what Edgeworth posses and hence he manages to find the truth. Therefore, in my opinion, neither Franziska nor Rou can replace one another. They are both necessary to GK.