Ash Crimson Is A Dude?
I was going to write that “she” comes across as an icy bitch ““ can I still salvage that? I’m filled with some very confusing emotions right now, and some others that are downright disturbing.
I was basing that original opinion entirely off of my time within the various rings of King of Fighters XII, during which there is no narrative detour or soliloquy that tries to elaborate on his/her character to force that opinion on me. With a JRPG I’d at least get some sort of text-based heads-up on the gender issue.
It should be fair to say that any player that comes to a fighting game fresh and free of information is left to base their first impressions entirely on looks. In picking a fighter for that first battle, there is only an attraction to the visual. From there it gets all science-like, with the moves, combos and fighting styles dealing out the value of each character. Within most fighting games that I’ve played, personality exists within the fighting style itself, emerging further from that with visual eccentricities to flesh it out. The fight then works to define a character in countless ways.
I came into King of Fighters XII without knowing much about the series ““ I’m a Guilty Gear fan at heart.
I started with Ash Crimson, and was struck by the minimalist movement behind punches and kicks, which were small swings of his/her arm and brisk foot sweeps. Moving away from an opponent, he/she tossed his/her hair and sauntered away as if he’d/she’d already won the fight. Of course he/she can still jump and flip kick with the best of them, and summon green flames for good measure. But the subtlety of his/her movements dripped with what I began believing to be his/her personality, which then influenced the fighting style. He/She struts, putting only as much effort into the fight as necessary, often appearing completely unmotivated, or at least highly disinterested.
That seems like a different approach to me, and I had some thoughts about character design, but now fellow rebel Shaun is telling me that “He” fights this way to avoid wrecking “His” fingernails. So beyond whatever my original questions about the series were, now I just want to know who or what Ash Crimson is before I go medicate myself with copious amounts of alcohol. What if I’d already put posters up all over the office before discovering this!?!
Obviously I don’t have many answers, but this is a fighting game after all, so throw your best punches my way with your own opinions about the game.
Jamie Love - August 7th, 2009 - 
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Shaun Hatton on August 7, 2009 at 9:54 am
I can’t believe we both had a crush on a cartoon dude and were about to fight over her.
Nick on August 7, 2009 at 10:48 am
If you’re a guilty gear fan, then you should be used to this. I had the same experience with Bridget from that series.
Jamie Love on August 7, 2009 at 11:20 am
@Nick – True, but the designs and characters of Guilty Gear are so damned outright messed up, whereas with KOF I didn’t expect to get confused at any point.
Carl on August 7, 2009 at 11:23 am
Also Ivy from SF. Why are so many fighting game characters crossdressers/transgendered?
Kyattsuai on August 7, 2009 at 11:36 am
“Really a dude” is quickly becoming one of the main archetypes of fighting games, right up there with “masked luchador,” “karate guy with sleeveless gi,” and “very very fat man.”
Shaun Hatton on August 7, 2009 at 11:58 am
@Kyattsuai – don’t forget “two guys that are almost the same” and “weird creature thingy!”
Shaun Hatton on August 7, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Oh yeah let’s also not forget “The Black Guy” and “School Girl.”
Kyattsuai on August 7, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Indeed, the legacy of “two guys that are almost the same with signature fireball, uppercut, and spinning attacks” was cemented in history when it even appeared in Smash Bros.
Might I also add “female mascot character whose skirt/hanging cloth where a skirt should be flies up during every other attack” to this ever-expanding list.
CaTZ on August 7, 2009 at 12:39 pm
I always though the design of the characters (of KoF) get worse when SNK bought by a Korean company,
Ash Crimson (ever since I see his design on PS2) and his team strike me as ‘the’ Korean influence (see their ‘male’ idol pop stars, they look even more feminine than their Japanese coutner parts)
yanipheonu on August 7, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I just don’t like how he/she is so promenent on the cover. Yeah. That’ll be our selling point: Ash. Everyone is buying this game because Ash is such a great character, pleasing to the eye, and more kickass than any Ryus or Terrys out there.
I’M BEING SARCASTIC. At least Bridget genuinly looked like a girl, so it sorta added to the weirdness of Guilty Gear.
Plus he/she was pretty hot, so it makes for a better trap. And to be fair, Ash is kinda fun to play as since he/she acts like they don’t really care about the fight.
Jamie Love on August 7, 2009 at 3:23 pm
So I’m not gay? Cause a guy today at ebgames was insisting that I might be… gave me his phone number for some reason too.
Ujn Hunter on August 7, 2009 at 3:50 pm
She’s a man baby!
Satsuz on August 7, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I personally don’t know much about Ash, as I’ve lost interest in SNK’s more recent games. That said, I do intend to snag a copy of XII at some later point.
There’s a basic profile for him on this fighting games centered site, Fighter’s Generation.
http://www.fightersgeneration.com/main.htm
Just click “Characters”, and then look for “Ash Crimson”.
It covers his basic motivation in the tournaments, at least. It’s mostly a place for picture galleries, though. Of course, you could pass some time getting acquainted with OTHER characters as well.
A bit of digging turns up a wiki page on him as well:
http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Ash_Crimson
So, yeah. Not much is known about him, especially compared to other characters in the series.
ShikonInk on August 18, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I was confused too..But after looking around on the net i found this http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/snk/images/1/16/Ash_2003comic.jpg An official comic of Ash..”His” shirt is opened, “he” is obviously a guy
Dante on July 23, 2010 at 9:50 pm
well, he’s actually the first anti-hero that succeeds at that role, unlike Iori or K’ which became pretty stock. and now, it seems, snk ret-goned him with a time warp thingamagig.
too bad the west is living in the Matrix, where no entertainment is supposed to incite further thought.