Let's discuss why Ashe is the best female character ever...

[Red Mage Coffman]

I'm gonna go ny what I've always agreed with. Lightning is the best.

Well, in my opinion anyways. Ashe is in my top 5, don't you worry.

[Bolivar]

Hell hath no fury like Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca. Male or female, she's one of my favorite FF characters for her development from being consumed by vengeance to willing to make the hard choices and not succumb to the ends-justifying means mentality of Ivalice. When you see that flashback of her with Rasler and she's so naive and innocent it hit me hard just how dramatically her life had changed and her very human reaction to it all.

Plus she's voiced by Kari Wahlgren, who's done excellent work in all my favorite video games, from Vaklyria Chronicles to Guild Wars 2.

[Jinx]

I always thought she was very unlikable. She's really sassy and strong willed, but not in a good way. She's just kind of a bitch.


Yes, the irony of me posting that isn't lost on me.

[maybee]

Yes it was so terrible what Beatrix had to go through. Slaughtering those edefensless rat people was very, very traumatizing for her.

And nobody in FFVIII is an example good anything except Seifer. Selphie is as badly written as everyone else.

Also Tifa helped Barret and them start blowing Shinra stuff up as a way of revenge so she is in no way better than Ashe who also wanted to blow up her enemies.

You're forgetting that Beatrix changed her ways and she realized what she was doing was wrong. She joined Zidane's side and stopped working for Queen Brahne's greed and Kuja's plots.

Selphie was not badly written. She was a cheerful and outgoing character but after the attack on what was her home to her and loosing some of her friends she showed a side to her character that was really brave and mature. She was sad about loosing her friends and people that she knew in Trabia; but she still managed to stand up and still be strong and smile.

Again Tifa realized that doing things for revenge was a bad idea and in Advent Children she tries to be a strong and confident adult and help Cloud break through his depression and be a Mother type to Denzel and Marlene.

Controlling your emotions means what it is controlling your emotions. Ashe going up and slapping somebody is not controlling her emotions, because her sadness and anger leaked out. That is not controlling your emotions.

[Forsaken Lover]

Except slapping the person you think is responsible for your father's death is a bit less emotionally charged than blowing up reactors.

Tifa is way more over-emotional than Ashe was and Ashe was dealing with a lot more than her or Selphie.

[maybee]

Except slapping the person you think is responsible for your father's death is a bit less emotionally charged than blowing up reactors.

That's not the point here. The point here that was Ashe was completely calm and she was unable to completely control her emotions. But she doesn't.

Again Tifa saw what she was doing was wrong and she changed her ways.

Tifa is way more over-emotional than Ashe was and Ashe was dealing with a lot more than her or Selphie.

Tifa lost all of her villagers her friends her family her Father and she mostly would of seen people slaughtered and massacred right in front of her eyes. Selphie is a child solider and again she looses quite alot of people that she knew thanks to Edea and Seifer destroying her "home " we see in Trabia by the grave site her emotionally upset but trying to remain tough speaking to the friends that she lost during the missile attack. Not to mention she feels responsible for their deaths because she couldn't stop the missile's in time. That's alot of trout for a seventeen year girl to go through.



Tifa becomes a Mother to Denzel and Marlene and realizes that her revenge scheming was wrong.
Selphie despite loosing her friends by a missile attack on her home, she reminds cheerful and brave.
Even Princess Garnet goes through alot of trout and I don't remember her ever whacking Kuja in the face.

Ashe she spends like 99% of the game grieving over her husband.

Even Cloud manages to move on from Aerith and Zack. Terra moves on from Leo and Locke moves from Rachel. Even Spoony Bard moves on from Anna quicker and faster than Ashe does.

[Aulayna]

It's amusing that your entire argument as to why Ashe is unable to control her emotions is based on one scene in the entire game.

Let's put some perspective on this:

Ashe - 17 years old:

• several brothers killed in war
• husband from an arranged marriage killed in war
• father assassinated by seemingly her own people
• faked her own death and became the leader of an underground resistance movement

Ashe - 19 years old:

• suffers from betrayal from her own people at least twice
• had the fate of an entire nation of people resting on her shoulders (with a population far bigger than both Tifa or Selphie's losses combined)
• deals with all of this in her stride and then in one scene, ONE SCENE - slaps the person she thought killed her father rather than running him through with her sword right there on the spot - apparently this makes her overly emotional.
• averts an unnecessary bloodbath at the very end as her guiding motive throughout was for her people rather than getting revenge

Selphie - 17 years old:

• Fails at stopping her home being destroyed. Gets emotional over it. Remains emotional.

Tifa:

• See's her hometown massacred by one man as a child - vows vengeance
• Engages in terrorist activities against an organisation as part of said vengeance killing innocents in the process and leaving thousands of others without electricity and probably other basic resources
• Eventually, through a male character, realizes that blind vengeance isn't the best motive

Ashe dealt with far more than the other two combined and remained emotionally stable for far longer than they did. From a very young age Ashe has had to deal with death, betrayal, conspiracy and then at age 17 (when the other two were busy falling off of cliffs or serving alcohol) got thrust to the role of leader of her under siege nation.

Ashe she spends like 99% of the game grieving over her husband.

You must've played a very different Final Fantasy XII.

[Loony BoB]

I honestly don't even remember her grieving. I remember her seeing his ghost. More often than not, though, all I remember is her trying to figure out what the hell she's supposed to do about the political situation.

[Quindiana Jones]

You're forgetting that Ashe changed her ways and she realized what she was trying to accomplish was wrong. She joined Vaan's side and stopped allowing her need for vengeance control her.

Ashe was not badly written. She was a cheerful and outgoing character but after the attack on what was her entire kingdom and its people and losing all of her friends, as well as finding out her newly-wed husband with whom she was blissfully in love had been betrayed and murdered by the man tasked to protect him, she showed a side to her character that was really brave and mature. She was sad about losing her friends and people that she knew in Dalmasca; but she still managed to stand up and still be strong and awesome.

Again Ashe realized that doing things for revenge was a bad idea and in the end she tries to be a strong and confident adult and help her people break through their oppression and be a Mother type to all of Dalmasca.

Controlling your emotions demonstrably means something completely different to me than what it actually means. Meeting the man who betrayed your kingdom, murdered your husband and ultimately forced you into exile for the first time and managing to only slap him is a prime example of controlling your emotions.

Again, Ashe saw what she was doing was wrong and she changed her ways.

Ashe lost all of her people, her friends, her family, her husband and her kingdom and she mostly would have seen people slaughtered and massacred right in front of her eyes. Ashe was a child queen and again she loses quite a lot of people that she knew thanks to Basch and Arcadia destroying her home. We see throughout the game that she is emotionally upset but trying to remain tough. Not to mention she feels responsible for their deaths because she couldn't stop the empire. That's a lot of trout for a seventeen year girl to go through.

Ashe becomes a Mother to Dalmasca and her people and realizes that her revenge scheming was wrong.
Ashe, despite losing her friends by a sudden betrayal and the overwhelming conquest of a much larger nation, she remains focused and brave.
Even Ashe goes through a lot of trout and I don't remember her ever acting in an unrealistic and pathetic way.

Ashe she spends like 99% of the game being a total badass, trying to free and reclaim her kingdom whilst also fighting an intense moral battle.

Even Ashe manages to move on from what's-his-name's death and Arcadia's invasion.

[maybee]

Selphie - 17 years old:

• Fails at stopping her home being destroyed. Gets emotional over it. Remains emotional.

You're just making up trout now....

Tifa:

• See's her hometown massacred by one man as a child - vows vengeance
• Engages in terrorist activities against an organisation as part of said vengeance killing innocents in the process and leaving thousands of others without electricity and probably other basic resources
• Eventually, through a male character, realizes that blind vengeance isn't the best motive

Tifa was a teen when she the events of Nibelhiem occurred. She didn't murder all innocents, she wanted to attack Shrina who are the opposite of innocent. She thought that she was helping the innocents.

Lol no. It was though discussion with the group that they all realized that they weren't the perfect bunch of freedom fighters that they assumed that they were.

Ashe dealt with far more than the other two combined and remained emotionally stable for far longer than they did. From a very young age Ashe has had to deal with death, betrayal, conspiracy and then at age 17 (when the other two were busy falling off of cliffs or serving alcohol) got thrust to the role of leader of her under siege nation.

Again lol no. Selphie and Tifa both dealt with death from young ages. Tifa lost her Mother and Selphie lost both of her parents and grew up in a orphanage with other kids who had lost their parents as well. At least Ashe had a proper home before trout started going sour; somebody like Selphie didn't.

You must've played a very different Final Fantasy XII.

You must of played a rare version of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII. Both of them called " None of the female characters go through any pain or sorrow in this version, they just either sit on Seventh Heaven and serve Beer or jump off cliffs " No Trabia scenes or Orphanage scenes included. Selphie just spends the whole game just jumping off cliffs... over and over again. Rated M +

[Loony BoB]

Perhaps maybee and the rest of us should just agree to disagree. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[maybee]

Perhaps maybee and the rest of us should just agree to disagree. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Thankyou !

I don't hate or dislike Ashe. I don't think or believe that she's the best female character within the series. That's all.

Ashe was one of the brighter points of FF XII and really should of been the main character.

[Aulayna]

You must of played a rare version of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII. Both of them called " None of the female characters go through any pain or sorrow in this version, they just either sit on Seventh Heaven and serve Beer or jump off cliffs " No Trabia scenes or Orphanage scenes included. Selphie just spends the whole game just jumping off cliffs... over and over again. Rated M +

And apparently you only played an FFXII where the only thing Ashe did was slap someone.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

I don't hate or dislike Ashe. I don't think or believe that she's the best female character within the series. That's all.

Fair enough.

[Forsaken Lover]

Gonna point out lil' Selphie in the Orphanage was perfectly happy. The loss of her parents never seemed to effect her whatsoever and it's entirely possible she never knew them at all.

Overcoming that loss is thus not comparable to Ashe's own father being brutally killed at what was supposed to be a meeting for peace.

[Raistlin]

My mind is really boggled at the Ashe hate. Overly emotional? Really? Ashe is one of, if not the, strongest female main characters of the entire FF series. She was determined and ruthless and assertive, and what emotions she did show only emphasized that she was also human.

I'm not sure about "best female character ever," but she's certainly a worthy favorite for the series.