Ash Crimson

Age
~16-18

Gender
male

Height
178cm (5'10")

Build
slim, with an almost feminine hourglass figure

His emerald flames hide a devilish smile. Take him lightly, and you'll get burned.

Ash Crimson is certainly an enigmatic young man. At first glance, (well, provided you don't mistake him for a woman) he may come off as simply a vain, flamboyant attention-seeker with no real attachments to anyone or anything. Which isn't to say that's not true, just that there's far more to Ash than meets the eye. Read up on his story, and you may well become enamored with this snotty French femboy.

Sneering Firelight

Major spoilers for the entire Tales of Ash Saga, proceed with caution!

Ash's backstory is somewhat of a mystery, unless you take what the author of the KOF light novels says as canon (but I personally don't because I'm a bit of a stickler for only going off of the main source material for any character I play.)

However, what can be found within the games is as follows. Ash was adopted by the wealthy Blanctorche family of France as a small child, until the family's mansion burned down, leaving Ash, his adoptive older sister Elisabeth, and their butler as the only survivors. Ash makes a promise to Elisabeth then and there that one day, he'll build a new house for both of them on the grounds where their house once stood.

Some time after this, Ash inexplicably leaves, presumably out of feeling responsible, but likely also because he found out about his own ancestry. He resurfaces a few years later, competing in 2003's KOF tournament. He abandons his teammates at the end to pursue his true motive: Stealing the power of the Three Sacred Treasures used to keep Orochi sealed. Ash has little trouble subduing an already-injured Chizuru and stealing the power of the Yata Mirror from her, which leads to him taunting that Iori is next before leaving.

The following tournament sees Ash teaming up with previous teammate Shen Woo and newcomer Oswald, an assassin in search of a mysterious target who may have information on a rare medicine he's been seeking (with the implication he's terminally ill and this medicine is the only known cure) However, it turns out Ash set up Oswald to target Shen, and he uses the chaos he caused between the two to make his leave once again, this time to steal the Yasakani Jewel. He takes advantage of Iori's tendency to enter the crazed Riot of the Blood state to catch him unawares, stealing the second of the treasures. Before Ash can sneak off once more, Elisabeth and her own team catch up with him, with Elisabeth confronting Ash over seemingly forgetting their mission -- their promise to each other. Ash responds by simply intimidating her with the jewel's purple flames and disappearing.

While the 12th tournament was ~~non-canon~~ uneventful, the 13th is arguably where the bulk of Ash's character development happens. Prior to it being held, Ash openly joins forces with Those from the Past, a group of mysterious individuals who, as the name implies, came to the present day from the distant past in order to fulfill the plans of their leader, Saiki: To rewrite all of human history, eradicating their enemies (most notably the Blanctorche family) and placing themselves as humanity's absolute rulers.

As it would turn out, all of Ash's previous actions, from pitting his own teammates against each other to stealing the treasures, were done both to gain Saiki's trust and to have enough power to defeat him. Ash's true goal from the start, ever since he left Elisabeth behind, was to eliminate Saiki from existence, so that his cursed bloodline couldn't cause any more harm. Because... Ash is Saiki's descendant.

Initially, Ash's plan was simply to use his ability to steal powers to fully absorb Saiki's existence into himself, erasing him but keeping his own existence safe. Unfortunately, he underestimates just how powerful his ancestor is, and he's overtaken, with Saiki assuming control over his body. They are eventually subdued, but since the method Those from the Past used to travel to the present day becomes unstable, Saiki pleads for Ash to go through it so he can start his plan over from the beginning.

Ash refuses, stating that he loves the world as it is. Because of this, with Saiki no longer present in the past to set his plans in motion or have any descendants, he and Ash are both erased from existence. But, not before Elisabeth arrives just in time for Ash to sincerely apologize to her in his final moments. She takes off his headband to keep, refusing to forget her little brother despite his existence being erased completely.

This, along with the havoc Ash and Saiki's ceasing to exist wrought upon the timeline, leads to the appearance of a being known as Verse, which surfaces during the 14th KOF tournament and is stated to contain the souls of every single person who's died during a King of Fighters tournament. Sure enough, after the tournament, Elisabeth and newcomer Kukri uncover a newly resurrected Ash, who joins their team in the following 15th tournament.

You can't win against me.

Ash's abilities are something of a standout among the KOF protagonists. They vary a bit between games, however the main two of note are:

Green flames

While his predecessors Kyo Kusanagi and K' both sport traditional orange flames, Ash possesses flames of a vibrant emerald green that sometimes resemble melted wax. Their origin is unknown, but seeing as no other character has them, and they behave similarly to the inky black flames wielded by his ancestor, it's a safe assumption that Ash's flames are inherited. Much like...

Power assimilation

Ash possesses the ability to steal powers from other people, particularly if it's a unique ability inherited in a familial lineage. However, it's far from perfect, and if the ability is particularly strong or wild, Ash can have quite a bit of trouble controlling it. His ancestor is likewise shown to have this ability as well, though he uses it much more ruthlessly.

General fighting prowess

Despite his slim, somewhat feminine build, Ash is a very capable and strong fighter, combining his flames with graceful, acrobatic movements very reminiscent of French martial art savate. In gameplay terms, he's a hybrid zoner who relies on charge inputs, in other words he's most effective at far range with most of his moves requiring the player to hold backwards, then quickly the opposite direction.

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