because I said I was gonna do it, and by god i’m going to commit. and commit I did. this is 1.7k words long. on-brand for me tbh

I will note that a lot of these things have barely any backing canonically. It’s just what I’ve come up with over the years. Additionally this is subject to change or gain additions.

ALSO spoilers for all of AA456.

PLOT-RELATED HEADCANONS:

Pre-AA4

• ➥ Thanks to him being sent to America on his lonesome, as well as his own eventual assumptions regarding the situation, Apollo has fairly intense problems related to being abandoned by, separated from, or otherwise losing people he is close to.
• ➥ Partially due to this, those that he comes to see as role models often gain a sort of parental status to him… maybe a little more quickly than they should.
• ➥ He has problems making new friends, thanks to how prickly and focused on his own things he tends to be.
• ➥ Clay was his only friend, pretty much up until he was hired into the WAA. (yess i know capcom just doesn’t care to mention the other ones he probably had but I chose to imagine it this way)
• ➥ Clay is also the only person he willingly spoke with about his past in Khura'in. Due to this, he was also the one to help him through adjusting to America, on a language/accent/cultural basis.
• ➥ Apollo is likely at least decent acquaintances with Clay’s father, but isn’t that close. They’re at least on good terms.
• ➥ Figured out how the bracelet worked much earlier than implied in the games. Has a rather deep curiosity regarding the object’s origins (much stronger than the curiosity regarding the identity of his biological parents).
• ➥ He can take his bracelet off, it just requires at least one person to help him pull it off.
• ➥ Complete Phoenix Wright fanboy. Since he already idolized lawyers thanks to Dhurke, it happened pretty quickly following him discovering the man’s exploits. Once he meets the guy, he never really brings it up… it’s a bit embarrassing.

AA4

• ➥ Because of the parental thing noted above, Apollo saw Kristoph as at least a father-adjacent figure, up until his arrest… but the familial connection wasn’t something he could completely get rid of. So, up until whenever Kristoph is executed (assuming that ever happens), Apollo visits and speaks to him in prison. Phoenix is never told about this, nor is anyone else. Even Clay wasn’t aware.
• ➥ He had a much brighter and cheerfully energetic personality prior to his first trial, but the brutal reality of everything that happened on that day turned him a bit bitter. He does still show that side of himself sometimes, but only rarely.
• ➥ After Turnabout Corner, the Kitakis and Apollo (and the WAA in general) stay on good terms. Wocky assumes he and Apollo are great friends, though Apollo probably thinks less… Anyways, the office often receives gifts of baked goods from their bakery, due to this.
• ➥ While Apollo did consider Phoenix to be a sort of parental figure fairly quickly, him being a cryptic asshole for the entirety of the game was not lost on him. At least until the start of AA6, his feelings on the man remain mixed, though he refuses to talk to him on the matter.
• ➥ He is, however, at least happy to be part of some sort of family unit.
• ➥ Since Apollo really had no guardian of sorts, Kristoph had been listed on many of his emergency contact forms. Thanks to a mix of not immediately liking Phoenix and forgetfulness, Apollo never really ended up changing it. Of course, since having a contact in prison doesn’t really work… his contact, unbeknownst to anyone involved, has defaulted to, of course… Klavier.

AA5

• ➥ Phoenix’s attitude change was initially met with extreme distrust by Apollo, which wasn’t helped by the sudden appearance of Athena (whom Wright had apparently been working with for a while now). Apollo and Athena likely talked about it at least once after the latter sensed the annoyance in his voice and cornered him about it.
• ➥ Even though it’s implied that no one met Clay before his death, Apollo likely introduced him to everyone at least once, with the guy maybe occasionally stopping in to the WAA.
• ➥ Took off from work (the first time in months) to watch the rocket launch. Which ended up, of course, being a rather poor idea.
• Since he’s basically alone, couldn’t take his bracelet off (see note in pre-AA4). Hence, eye bandage. He likely figured out the silly depth perception (?) thing by accident at some point, so knew that was his only option.
• ➥ Aura likely pulled him aside while he was investigating to speak about the case, slowly easing into his opinion regarding Athena. They continued to occasionally speak over the next few days, meeting every time Apollo visited the space center.
• ➥ Prevented himself from grieving at all before everything was over. Barely let himself rest as he didn’t want to give himself any time to think about it.
• ➥ As the bombing happened, Apollo was standing with his back to the explosion, though was thrown on top of Juniper as a result of the blast. His injuries included various burns and flesh wounds (shown below), as well as internal bruising, general bruising, and possible fractures/contusions.

(ignore the jank anatomy. all i meant for that to be was a diagram ngl)

• ➥ Spent about half the day in the hospital before getting himself (against everyone’s wishes) discharged early. He was absolutely in an excessive amount of pain, but as with his grief, he refused to let himself deal with it until everything was over.
• ➥ Getting knocked out the following day gave him a concussion. It made his memories of the preceding days murky at best, as well as causing him to act with more irritability and less focus.
• ➥ He was put in the hospital again, of course. By evening, he was out once more.
• ➥ At the end of his testimony in Turnabout for Tomorrow, when Phoenix finally proves that Athena absolutely did not kill Clay/that the culprit is Fakebright, Apollo relaxes, gives a very genuine thanks to his boss, before collapsing at the stand. He reached his goal, after all, and let himself give in to all the pain and exhaustion he felt… while scaring the shit out of everyone in the courtroom.
• ➥ His bandages stay on for the next two months, to some degree. For at least the next month, Phoenix just about forces him to take a vacation, with even a (probably not serious) threat to fire him if he finds out he’s doing any work.
• ➥ Sort of assumes everyone in the WAA hates him for a bit after the game ends.
• ➥ Apollo grows closer to Klavier after the game ends, wanting a friend to fill the hole that Clay left who also isn’t a WAA member. Whether their relationship is entirely friend-level or romantic-level depends on my thoughts at the time… but they are at least good friends who meet once a week to talk over things.
• ➥ As an extension of this, Apollo may at some point speak to Klaiver regarding his past in Khura'in, just needing someone to speak about it with.
• ➥ Speaking of his past, Apollo briefly gets incredibly hopeful/desperate for Dhurke to show up after the end of the game. With Clay gone, he longs for the man who raised him, to just spill his guts about all his issues, to be comforted fully. He feels awkward thinking about talking to Phoenix on a personal level, and he doesn’t want to break down in front of his closest non-coworker friend (Klavier). Of course, this never happens, and Apollo soon grows bitter regarding his past once more.
• ➥ Scars from the bombing cover his arms and some other spots. Prefers long sleeves afterwards, as he doesn’t like to look at them or explain them.

AA6

• ➥ Apollo still keeps up with news regarding Khura'in, just barely. He also practices writing and speaking the related language, enough to stay fairly fluent.
• ➥ At least one keepsake from the country was also kept, even though Dhurke hadn’t been fond of the idea. While still bitter about his whole situation, Apollo has kept it safe this entire time. Not sure what exactly it is, but it’s likely something deeply personal. Maybe a little craft or carved figure Dhurke gave him? An eagle, maybe, since I’ve implied that’s one of his favorite animals.
• ➥ Athena and Trucy likely picked up Apollo’s prickly-ness regarding Khura'in at least once, though he always refuses to explain himself. While they stop asking after a certain point, they’re definitely curious.
• ➥ This curiosity becomes much stronger after the incredibly suspect behavior of both him and Nahyuta during the Magical Turnabout. Both men absolutely had odd tics and tones to their voices while speaking to one another during the trial, and with the ladies being both the co-counsel and defendant, they’d get a front-row seat to it all.
• ➥ Given the comments Apollo & Nahyuta make to one another at the end of the trial, along with everything else, they can assume the two were very close at some point in time, early in life. Athena and Trucy likely talk in private to speculate on this (and might drag Phoenix or even Blackquill into the conversation).
• ➥ While the games leave it pretty vague, I do think Apollo genuinely considers Nahyuta and Dhurke (and sort of Datz, in a weird uncle sort of way) to be family. Vice versa, as well. While Dhurke’s death leaves him devastated, he’s happy to be in contact with the two others, as well.
• ➥ Building upon something mentioned above, even though they really barely talk about it in-game, the occurrence of Dhurke Dying not even a year after Clay leaves him in shambles. After the decision to stay in Khura'in, he quickly starts to regret his decision, breaking down in front of Nahyuta after the latter checks on him, when he doesn’t leave his room for an entire day. They have a very long, serious but heartfelt talk about both of their lives, and their hardships, and everything. It lasts hours, and is emotionally taxing on the both of them, but leaves them more accepting of everything that has happened as of late.
• ➥ Actually remembers when that one photograph of him, Dhurke and Nahyuta was taken, even if barely. It was the first time he had seen a camera, at least a modern one.

MSC. HEADCANONS

• ➥ Likes spicy food.
• ➥ Knows a few low level magic tricks, thanks to Trucy teaching him.
• ➥ Would rather be busy than idle. Troubling thoughts bother him more when he has nothing to do. Thanks to this, he didn’t mind offhandedly doing chores around the WAA… but he started to get annoyed when people started to expect such a thing from him 24/7.
• ➥ Favorite season is fall. Summer is a close second.
• ➥ Frequently gets too little sleep, though it doesn’t seem to adversely affect him…
• …though it does make him prone to napping in odd places.
• ➥ Doesn’t like coffee. If he’s drinking anything, it’s tea.
• ➥ Low tolerance to alcohol. Barely drinks it anyways.
• ➥ Favorite animal is some sort of eagle or hawk.
• ➥ Okay at cooking.
• ➥ Bi, demiromantic. Never has been in a relationship before the games.
• ➥ Not an exact nervous tic, but has trouble keeping eye contact while he’s offput/nervous. It’s a sort of reverse of his confident bugeyed staring while he’s perceiving.
• ➥ Likes music with ethereal, strong female vocalists. Also likes some rock (though doesn’t like to admit it).