Printable View
For me Lady Ashe is one of the best female leads to appear out of the FF series. If you want a progressive and well put together female character who isn't just a damsel in distress, the male leads love interest, or a walking plot device, this is the female lead that rises above most of the female stereotypes that plague this genre. Discuss.
As far as I got in the game, I didn't like her. Sure, she's tough. But she's so unpleasant. I really didn't want her to get her kingdom back, because I didn't think she deserved it or would be a very good ruler.
I'd probably hate her as a person in real life, but I think she really is an incredibly well-crafted character. She is motivated by her revenge to drive the empire to the ground, but I love how she listens to Vaan (who has a similar desire for revenge up to a point) and actually reflects on this, finally seeing how meaningless the conflict is and how taking revenge would have catastrophic consequences. She is essentially the main character of this story, with this revenge-fueled motivation being a very progressive role for a female character. True, she mourns the love of her life and Rasler's death is her reason for wanting the empire to pay, but that's the usual fare for revenge-narrative protagonists. And she gets no love interest, because that's really unimportant for what they're doing now. She's the person who grows the most throughout the story and I love her for it and for how natural her progression is. Ashe is human - flawed, sometimes petty and not always nice, but she knows she makes mistakes and ultimately sacrifices her selfish motivations for the greater good.
I think she made a great accounting of herself considering a mere two years ago she was pretty much just a spoiled princess who knew nothing of fighting. She had a chance at a perfect fairytale romance with Rassler but that wasn't fated to be. In addition she lost her father and her uncle soon after. (she lost the latter in a more figurative sense) Her entire world was turned upside down in no time but she came out of it strong and committed to fight to the end.