Before I played the Pheonix Wright series, the character Dahlia Hawthorne interested me, but I was also shocked to find out she was a villian. And when I clicked on a random part of a T&T there was a girl who looked like the spilting image of Dahlia named Iris. I thought, "Oh my! Dahlia escaped from prison and changed her hair color and name"...Boy was I wrong.
Playing T&T again is making really dread having to see Iris again, since I know she helped her sister regardless of the fact that she's dead and probably queen of the underworld right now. And you guys are probably thinking, "Emiko, you're a Phoenix/Maya shipper but Maya is annoying and keeps giving Phoenix trouble since she keeps getting kidnapped." Well Iris helping out her demoness sister wasn't a very smart move on her part, and her sister backstabbed her and locked her in the channeling chamber of the training hall. And then you guys would probably think, "Well Maya wouldn't of gotten kidnapped if she stayed in the hotel lobby like she was supposed to." But the way I see it Shelly De Killer would have kidnapped her regardless because he seemed to know Phoenix's weakness.
And I said it once and I'll say it again, I don't know why Phoenix/Iris gets so much hype.

I agree with your first bit. Before they pulled the painful Twin thing, I figured Dahlia had escaped prison and dyed her hair. I also thought very early on that there were "two" Irises. The first one we see being real, the second being Maya channeling her... I was kinda right about that.

Anyhow, Iris actually didn't help Dahlia at all in 3-5. Granted, she had some sort of role to play in the fake kidnapping when they were 14 - but we don't know what that role was and she never did what she was supposed to, anyway.
So when Godot came and told her about the plan, Iris agreed to help Godot. She was just supposed to take the blame if something went wrong - which it did. But whatever. Anyway, she wasn't helping Dahlia. And the reason she got locked into that cave was because she ran there because she thought Maya was in trouble. (Again, but I won't go into that...)
So when Maya-Dahlia locked her in, she probably realized what had happened, but she was incapable of doing anything. She never helped Dahlia in the case of 3-5... okay, she helped play Dahlia to try and get a necklace back from Phoenix, but that was a different case...

But I would've LOVED the idea of Dhalia escaping prison and changing her hair color and name because that would make her such a better villain and I would've gotten into her. But still, Dhalia wanted eternal rest so nobody could punish her. @_@

Deeper reasons. To start from the beginning, he was incredibly condescending and patronizing to Mia. I've got no idea what she saw in him. Even in her rookie days, Mia had a certain no-nonsense, confident attitude to her, it's hard to see how the personalities didn't clash. And on top of that, Godot is massively sexist, but more on that later.
Fast forward 5 years. Godot wakes up from his coma, and finds out Mia's dead. Now, I can understand wanting to test Mia's protégé, that's perfectly fine. However, Godot also somehow finds it logical to blame Phoenix like 90% for Mia's death. Right from the start, Godot's incredibly rude and spiteful to Phoenix, and just keeps rubbing salt in his wound. Mia was keeping her whole investigation of Redd White a secret on purpose. It's not like Phoenix just didn't ask, he had no idea Mia was in any danger. Mia said show up at 9 (I think it was, doesn't matter much), and he did. Was Godot expecting Phoenix to just cling to Mia like velcro all the time? Mia was a tough lady, she watched out for herself just fine, the single mistake she made was vaguely telling Maya about some papers, not knowing her phone had been tapped. I guess Godot just couldn't comprehend a woman could watch out for herself.
And then there's Bridge to the Turnabout. I love this case, don't get me wrong. It's just, everything's going swimmingly, and then Godot pops up yet again and says to Phoenix "Hey asshole, just reminding you that Mia died because of you. And it's also your fault Maya's stuck in that cavern. In fact, she's most likely dead. Good job looking out for her."
Around this point, we see the ugly extent of Godot's sexism- meeting Franziska. Granted, she's pretty rude to him initially - "You're the worst kind of prosecutor! What's more important than a trial?"
But Godot then replies with the most disgusting lines in the games- "But you can go now, Princess. It's time for the big boys to take the reins."
"Hey, Filly. Know your role, and shut your mouth. I can't stand women like you."
Blah blah, petty insults, eff you Phoenix, etc.
I was appalled at this part. I can't see how any psychological problems related to losing Mia could cause him to be such a pig to her. And again, was Godot expecting Phoenix to just follow Maya around 24/7? For Phoenix, there was no indication whatsoever anything was going to happen that night. Maybe seeing Dahlia's twin, but Bikini was supposed to watch Maya anyway. It's a bit difficult to like a character who has some pent up negative emotions, and vents them by making an innocent man feel as awful as possible about things beyond his control. And also getting those emotions out by killing an innocent woman.
This one is harder to fault him for, because he does admit it was selfish of him. It was an awful thing he did anyway. He knew the murder plot, let Pearl have the letter anyway, and didn't tell Phoenix or Maya anything. Then, knowing full well he'd be killing either Maya's (as well as Mia's) mother, or an innocent 9 year old girl, he killed Dahlia. Didn't wrestle her, didn't knock her out, he went straight for the kill and stabbed her through the stomach. And then he set up Iris to take the blame. What a hero. Again, I know he admitted to it, but wow.
I feel sorry for him, sorta, for losing Mia. I mean, I don't know what their relationship was like. But still, he takes it out in all the most horrible ways. He could've fought Phoenix in court in a more civil manner, and challenged Nick to really surpass Mia like he did in the end. He could've talked things over with Phoenix, Maya (being Mia's sister), or even Mia herself if he really wanted to. Instead, he lashed out, literally violently in one instance. I've said it somewhere else and I'll say it again - There's a difference between a character tortured by his tragic past, and a dick.

I can't say I hate this character - I mean, I'm instantly suspicious of anyone acting super innocent, so revealing that's a bitch wasn't a shock to me. But it is sort of cool how she killed several people, with varying degrees of not getting caught, just because.... she's a bitch. Okay, murder 1 - 3 was done so she wouldn't be found out about the kidnapping case. Phoenix, meh... I mean, he shows the pendant around but we don't really know that that can be somehow dangerous until Case 3-4. Plus... well, unless you're one of the few people who know about the bottle, it doesn't matter.
But that whole elaborate case of 3-5 to get her back from the dead and all that.... it feels weak. But then it's known I don't like 3-5.

When the Steel Samurai was revealed in AAI as Larry, I stopped playing immediately and started screaming.

And there's that whole, she's Morgan's daughter thing, but I didn't find that too interesting. For me it was like, "Oh, so there's another reason why Morgan is evil to the core."

That he knew the "Phoenix" at Maggey Byrde's trial was a fake. And he kept silent about it. (Gumshoe tells you this if you present Godot's profile to him.)
And THEN he let Maya walk right into a murder plot so he can "save" her. Just for personal satisfaction.
And "A cornered fox is more dangerous than a jackal." Way to rip off Gray Fox.

The sweaty armpits. OH GOSH THE SWEATY ARMPITS! MUST. GET. BRAIN BLEACH.

I can't believe Apollo and Trucy are related to them! Valant I'm gonna say is my most redeemable Gramayre... he's not actually a murderer is he? Just set Zak up who is such a big jerk anyway that he deserves it. Magnifi is probably the worst, and Thalassa...words cannot even begin to describe how stupid she is. Freaking look after your kids!

would you trust a guy, who admitted to tampering with a crime scene with the malicious intent of framing somebody else, and then said he was not a murderer? Perhaps it's just me, but once I knew that, I knew that Valant's words could basically not be trusted anymore...