Wendy Oldbag

Biography

Wendy Oldbag (referred to as Ms Oldbag by Phoenix Wright and other characters throughout the series) is an old woman present in all of the Ace Attorney games except for Trials and Tribulations where she does not physically appear (until the end credits) but is referenced. Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth continually meet Ms Oldbag when investigating crime scenes related to their cases, and Ms Oldbag always seems to have a job at the location. Despite always being involved in murders multiple times across the series she has never been seriously accused of being the culprit except in the first Ace Attorney game where Wright accuses her to buy more time because the possibility existed due to her debatable testimony. During Wright's internal monologues he sometimes refers to her as 'Windbag', a play on Old Windbag. When you first meet Ms Oldbag she vaguely says she used to work at Global Studios in a different capacity, hinting at being an actress but not saying specifically.

Personality

Her personality is that of a stereotypical miserable old woman who gets angry, goes on extended rants about topics such and modern trends and young people. Her anger is expressed quite literally through her sprite as she is often seen heaving from heavy breathing, scrunching her face, baring her teeth with her jaw clenched and her eyes rolled back. Ms Oldbag's ranting is very apparent to the player too, as her text scrolls much faster than usual and skips to the next section without any prompting by the player. The text is too fast for the player to read, and this is intentional to convey how furious she is and how she talks during these extended rants.

When meeting with younger characters such as Maya Fey and Phoenix Wright her rants involve complaining about their attitudes and using stereotypical terms such as 'whippersnapper'. She is very proud and does not appreciate being talked back to, or the possibility that she is at fault which is a constant source of conflict when Wright presses her for information during the investigation or during testimony in court. Her personality is variable and can change rapidly. One moment she will be heaving with anger and the next she adopts a coy disposition, unwilling to reveal information without personal gain.

Appearance

Ms Oldbag is a thin Caucasian old woman with light grey hair and wrinkled skin. She has 3 red pieces of jewellery in her hair, although it is not apparent what they are nor is it addressed in the game. While her use of make-up is not excessive she is always seen wearing bright red lipstick showing that she is old fashioned. Combined with her persistently smart uniform, this shows that she takes pride in her appearance. Depending on her mood she can look quite different. When angered she has a very frightening scowl, but when happy her posture and body language become much more feminine and relaxed. During the investigations Ms Oldbag is always wearing the uniform for her current job so the player does not see her casual clothes but her various jobs and uniforms play a role in each of the cases in the Ace Attorney games, and all of her involvement refers to a costume or uniform.

Occupations

Ms Oldbag's appears in at least one case per Ace Attorney game (with the except of Trials and Tribulations) and each time she holds a different job. Generally her occupations are based around security personnel but in Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations she holds two very different roles as a theme park mascot and an actress, yet still ends up involved in multiple instances of murder.

Global Studios - Security Guard

In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Wright is introduced to Ms Oldbag for the first time when she prevents him from entering Global studios during 'Turnabout Samurai'. She works as a security guard for Global Studios, a TV production studio where the children's show 'The Steel Samurai: Warrior of Neo Olde Tokyo' is filmed. She operates a guard station by the entrance to the studio and is responsible for monitoring imaged captured by the studio's CCTV system as well as security detail such as keeping unauthorized personnel out of the studio. When Wright first arrives at the scene Ms Oldbag accuses him of being an opportunist, coming to gawk at the scene of the crime suggesting that she has had to keep a lot of journalists and 'gawkers' out of the studio. Later in the case it is revealed that she has also had trouble with Steel Samurai 'fanboys' breaking in to the studio and before the murder had to chase away one such boy named Cody Hackins.

After the events of the case Ms Oldbag was fired as a result of cuts at the studio. This is revealed when meeting her in the sequel Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All. Soon after she asked Edgeworth if she could be his bodyguard, to which he declined. Her uniform during this case is a smart blue security guards uniform comprised of a blue collared shirt, blue trousers and black shoes.

Hero of Heroes Grand Prix - Security Guard

During the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix Ms Oldbag was hired as a security guard at the Gatewater Hotel, where the Grand Prix took place as well as to provide security for the speech to be given after by the Nickel Samurai in the Hotel's lobby. This occurs in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All during the final case 'Farewell, My Turnabout'. Caught up in a murder once again, Wright questions Ms Oldbag who is reluctant to reveal any information. Through a gameplay mechanic present in the second game Wright can see she is hiding information represented by a very large number of 'Psyche Locks'. Normally each of these locks would be removed individually by carefully presenting evidence but once Wright gives her an autographed photo of her idol Juan Corrida all of the locks break in one, partly as a joke but also to show how she feels about the victim.

Her uniform is a blue astronaut costume with a chest plate (similar to Darth Vader's chest plate) a big spherical helmet and a toy ray gun. This elaborate costume conceals her identity when her and Wright first meet at the start of the case, but it quickly becomes apparent who lurks underneath.

KB Security - Security Guard

In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trial and Tribulations Wright visits the offices of KB security to investigate a murder. While visiting his friend Larry Butz Wright learns that one of his co-workers is Wendy Oldbag. While not physically present during Wright's visit multiple references are made to her and Wright's memories of her. Her uniform is not seen during this case but it should be the same as Larry's, which is a light blue buttoned shirt with dark blue shoulders. During a visit to Ron DeLite's apartment during this case pieces the costume Ms Oldbag wore in the second game can be seen scattered around. The the player interacts with these objects Wright notes that they seem familiar. During the ending credits she appears dressed exactly as she was during the second game but in the KB Security offices.

Gatewater Land - The Pink Badger

In Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations during the case 'Kidnapped Turnabout' Edgeworth questions Ms Oldbag when he discovers that she claims to have witnessed a murder of one of the parks mascots. She works at Gatewater Land as the female mascot 'The Pink Badger' based off the original mascot concept by Detective Gumshoe for the Blue Badger. Her job is to roam the park dressed as the Pink Badger so that children can meet the mascots, and also to take part in staged events with the other mascots. Tired from roaming ms Oldbag took a break on the day of the murder by going to the empty stadium and sitting down in the seating area where she witnessed the murder. Through pressing her for information and investigating Miles Edgeworth discovers that what she witnessed was in fact a set up which she initially finds her to believe (due to her stubborn personality).

Her uniform is the Pink Badger costume, a pink version of the Blue Badger with a red bow on the head.

Theatrum Neautralis - The Pink Princess

In a similar role to the previous case, Ms Oldbag appears for a second time in Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations in the case 'Turnabout Ablaze'. Covering for a fellow actress who normally plays the Pink Princess (a female variation of the Steel Samurai), Ms Oldbag stood in for her that night alongside Larry Butz as the Steel Samurai, their second time working together (although neither of them know the others identity during the show, which becomes a plot point). After the case she was escorted to a room where she was healing her hip, and unbeknownst to her a murder occurred in the room next to her. Miles Edgeworth questions her on what she was doing at the time of the murder but for once she does not have any valuable insight, but Edgeworth is able to work out the events based on her activities.

Relationships

Ms Oldbag's abrasive personality means that most (if not all) the characters in the Ace Attorney series are annoyed by her and do not consider her a friend, and generally find being around her unpleasant. Her crushes form a large part of her social interactions in the series (actors such as Jack Hammer). Her main crush is Miles Edgeworth whom she first met while giving testimony in court and commented on his appearance. Since then she has made many references to him in the series and conversely Edgeworth notes receiving gifts from her. This is greatly expanded in Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations when you see her lavish a great deal of affection on to Edgeworth (whom she now calls Edgey-poo) and as the player you notice how differently conversing with her is than when playing as Phoenix Wright. Beyond that her crush on famous actors is a focus in the series. In the first game she is obsessed with the victim Jack Hammer as well as Juan Corrida in the second game.

She also mentions having a son during one of her rants in the first game, saying he never calls any more. This is never elaborated on or expanded.