Entrant's Name: Nee

Entrant's Website (optional): virtualsarcasm.tumblr.com

Character's Name: Sanja Lopps

Age: 21 (AJ Era)

Occupation: Law student; intern at Edgeworth Law Offices

Brief Physical Description: Sanja is a short (5’1’’), chubby young woman. She has tawny skin dappled with freckles and thick seal brown hair. On her heart-shaped face rests droopy chestnut eyes, a sharp nose, and thin lips. She ties her hair in messy twin buns, with locks loose and hanging down to her shoulders. She wears an off-white, long-sleeved blouse covered by a short, wine-colored button vest with a purple collar. A bag rests on her hip with a rabbit’s foot charm clipped to it. Her dark purple skirt reaches slightly above her knees with a cream stripe and buttoned straps along the edge. She wears off-white tights and short brown and purple boots.

Brief Personality Description: Sanja is a high-strung girl with a passion for learning. She isn’t the most intelligent, but she works hard to understand as much as she can. She’s a perfectionist, and gets stressed if she doesn’t live up to her impossible expectations. She values organization and planning, and if things don’t go as planned, she’s easily upset. She uses a lucky charm to ease her fears - a synthetic rabbit’s foot. If separated from it, she has trouble functioning due to letting her finicky side take over.

Despite her struggles, Sanja excels at critical thinking and analyzing information. She doesn’t jump to conclusions and likes to think things out, but she often second guesses herself and overthinks things as a result. She’ll obsess over whether she’s doing things correctly and needs pushing to get back on track. She also tends to become lost in thought, and often goes on tangents and gets excited about her ideas - some more grounded than others. If she isn't fretting over her high expectations, she's spacing out and indulging in her daydreams.

Sanja desires to help others. She knows what it’s like to feel alone and scared, and tries to ensure no one else does. She has trouble understanding other people, though, and finds communicating her thoughts difficult, especially if she can’t plan ahead. Her biggest strengths are her conscientiousness and critical thinking, and her biggest weaknesses are her bad communication skills, perfectionism, and neuroticism.

Connection to canon characters (if applicable): Former client/current assistant of Raymond Shields

Brief Background: Sanja was born into a family of legal workers. Her father was a prosecutor, and her mother a detective. She saw her parents as heroes. They were always busy, though, and Sanja thought that by studying law like her father, they’d pay more attention to her. She dove headfirst into her studies to impress them, and they encouraged her. They even gave her a gift said to bring good luck - a synthetic rabbit’s foot. Sanja cherished it, appreciative that she finally got the attention she craved.

When she was 13, Sanja’s parents suddenly became more distant than ever, always working and paying her little heed other than basic necessities. They fought with each other, though they tried to hide it. Out of curiosity and desperation, Sanja snooped around her parents’ belongings for answers. The only lead was a file for a case they worked on together. They believed they found the culprit, but her father failed to convict the suspect. Sanja thought this was the cause of their behavior, but they refused to talk about it. Everything came to a head, and they separated. Sanja was sent to live with her mother, who was just as distant as before, but at least tried to take care of her.

At age 16, Sanja was accused of a murder outside the library she frequents. Her fingerprints were on the murder weapon, a heavy book that she was reading earlier. She went to her parents for support. Her mother believed she did it, calling her a killer and cutting ties with her. Her father offered to pay for a lawyer, but kept distant. Alone and afraid, Sanja decided to seek out the successor of the famous defense attorney Gregory Edgeworth she'd learned about in her studies: Raymond Shields. He took her case, successfully proving her innocence. Sanja was inspired by his performance in court, and decided to pursue law as a defense attorney instead of following her parents. She swore she would become a lawyer that protects people like Raymond, and asked if he would be her mentor. Seeing his younger self in her, Ray agreed to her proposal and encouraged her studies. She now assists him while she studies for her bar exam. She moved out of her mother’s home and into her own apartment with help from her father, who didn’t want Sanja to live with him, refusing to give her an answer as to why.

Sanja vowed not just to protect others, but to research the case her parents took so long ago to learn why they changed. Can Sanja become a successful lawyer and discover what broke her parents? Or will her apprehension and neuroticism prevent her from reaching her goals?

Extra Information:

• “Sanja” is a Croatian and Serbian name meaning “dream,” referencing her spacey personality. “Lopps” derives from “lops,” the rabbit, referencing her hairstyle, flightiness, and lucky charm.
• On her chemistry with Raymond: He’s both supportive and bit of a troll. He can read Sanja like a book, and likes to push her buttons. He knows her limits, though, and doesn’t push too hard. She reminds Ray of himself as young adult. Sanja trusts and respects Ray, but is often put off by his unprofessional attitude. She can play the idealistic youth to his jaded adult, or the nervous newbie to his seasoned veteran.
• She’s obsessed with her lucky charm because the one day she forgot to take it with her was the day she was accused of murder. It’s also a reminder of how supportive her parents used to be. She believes it protects her from bad luck.
• My goal with Sanja was to deconstruct the typical assistant role. She's still a young woman with trauma, but she reacts to her trauma in a more believable way. Instead of growing to be bright, smiling, and gifted, she struggles with coping and functioning normally.

Conceptual sketches/extra notes: