The Athena Von Karma Theory

The Athena von Karma Theory

Most people already know about Manfred von Karma’s granddaughter- she’s seven years old at the time of AA1, has a dog named Phoenix, and mostly just exists so Manfred can make a point about Polly the parrot.

But I can’t help wondering just who exactly this granddaughter is- or if we’ve already met her. And there seems to be one person in particular who stands out as a candidate for this granddaughter… Athena Cykes. I might sound crazy now, but hear me out.

We know from a mock interview that Franziska von Karma has an older sister, the mother of this elusive granddaughter. Now, assuming the family follows traditional naming conventions, that means whoever this granddaughter is, she doesn’t have the von Karma name, but her father’s name. It also means that Franziska’s sister doesn’t necessarily use the von Karma name anymore.

We also know that this granddaughter was born around 2009- and is therefore the exact same age as Athena. We can also assume that she was raised in Japanifornia during this time (a more obvious connection in Japanese, as the dog is named “Ryu”- a name that an American child would be unlikely to come up with.)

On Athena’s part, there is the fact that she has family in Europe, close enough to her that she moved to live with them. There is also the fact that Phoenix encountered her there; and, since Phoenix would have been travelling Europe with Edgeworth at the time, it makes sense that she met Phoenix at the von Karma household. How they met in canon has never been properly explored, so this explanation is as good as any other.

Finally, we have the fact that Athena is, by all rights, a legal and lingual prodigy. She is fluent in several European languages, took the bar exam incredibly young, and is the youngest attorney in the series to date. All of this makes sense if she’s from an old European family filled with legal geniuses.

So essentially, the theory goes that Metis Cykes is Franziska’s older sister. Metis got briefly married and had Athena, thus making Athena the mysterious granddaughter. Then, when Metis died, Athena moved to Germany to live in the von Karma household, presumably with her grandmother and/or Franziska; there, she learned her assorted languages, met Phoenix while he was visiting the household with Edgeworth, and decided to study law to save Simon, taking advantage of the von Karmas’ legal resources/connections (as well as her own talent) to pass the bar at eighteen.

(Not to mention, it would make one hell of a springboard for Franziska to come back into the series, and to explore the disbarment era a little more. That’s some prime drama fuel right there, and it’s exactly the kind of thing Ace Attorney would do for a twist.)

Obviously it’s a bit of a stretch as theories go, and I’m not by any means suggesting that it’s canon. But it’s a very fun concept, and it has the potential for a lot of good storytelling.