Ash Crimson

Appearance
Ash is thin and tall, extremely fit despite the fact that he looks very frail. He has heavily lidded eyes and a wide, fox-like smile. Ash is extremely flamboyant in his mode of dress. His fingernails are always elaborately decorated, his hair in perfect order. His favorite colors to dress in are red, white, and black.

Abilities
Being a mugen engine fighting game, King of Fighters gives Ash some very specific abilities. Most prominent in his fighting style being the fact that he can summon (albeit green and strange looking) very hot flames at will. He's also very agile, an acrobat capable of almost ridiculous chains of flips and cartwheels. Most of his moves revolve around the flames he can utilize. On top of this, his most important ability is one that is not explained very well at all. He is capable of taking, or at least copying other peoples' powers.

Some people say that this is limited to people who have the sacred items in KoF cannon, but cannon facts also denounce this: His special move list is all named after the months of the old French calendar. When he was introduced, he was missing three months. After 2003, when he stole the Yata mirror from Chizuru, he gained another month. In the proposed moves list for KoF XII, he has gained yet another month after having stolen the Yasakani gem from Iori Yagami at the end of the tournament in KoF XI. That posed; I've always played him as being a bit of a leech in that aspect. If he were only stealing the sacred items (which there are only three of) How did he get all of the other calendar months in his moves list? I assume that he's stolen different special techniques in order to gain the other moves as well.

That being said, he's only able to copy someone's abilities, not remove them altogether. I'd say it's comparable to the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, in that aspect. After stealing Chizuru's yata mirror, he also gained the ability to teleport and phase through things.

Personality
Ash is quite easily described as pompous, arrogant, and cruel. He's extremely self-righteous, and has what could be interpreted as a justice complex. Ash has been running around stealing people's powers simply because he believes that they are not worthy of them- or that they have been misusing them all along. He calls himself a hero, but it's questionable if he really believes it or not; every villain thinks themselves to be right.

In a social situation, Ash can be very charming. His good looks get him quite a long way in society, and he knows exactly how to BS his way into the ladies (and gentlemen's) hearts. Most of his energy is used manipulating and influencing the people around him. He's quick to set goals and not afraid to use and throw people away in order to attain them. At the same time, Ash often contradicts himself. His best friend, Shen Woo, has been at his side since they grew up in Shanghai together. He's not incapable of keeping friends; it's just in his best interest not to get too close.

In that sense, Ash is a mess of contradictions. Underneath it all, he's probably very vulnerable and maybe even a bit self-loathing. His pride keeps him from ever wanting to admit to such a thing, however. He's very independent, and hates relying on anyone in order to achieve his goals. This is what constitutes his tendency to use people, as well as his 'why bother' sort of attitude. He comes off as lazy sometimes, because if something isn't going to benefit him, he's more than likely to want nothing to do with it.

History
There is virtually no canon history to work with before his appearance in King of Fighters 2003. We know that his intention in doing so was to begin his quest for the three sacred items and the abilities attached to them: He has successfully stolen and absorbed both the Yata mirror and the Yasakani gem. The only thing we know for sure from before that is that he grew up in France, and then somehow ended up on the streets of Shanghai China where he met Shen Woo This is supplemented by an official comic strip that depicts him sitting and giving orders to lackeys shortly before what was likely his debut in the KoF tournament. At the end of King of Fighters XI, He is confronted by his former acquaintance, Elisabeth Blanctorche. She asks him if he remembers their mission, and Ash responds by saying he'd "forgotten" and is a "different person" now. She responds with disgust, and marches off, saying that he's become obsessed with power. In the same tournament, he recruited Oswald, an Irishman with a deadly fighting style. You find out in the end that he promised him access to a drug called the "red dragon pill" in order to gain his allegiance. Ash reveals at this point that he must have had a lot of ties with the gangs in Shanghai to have access to this information at all. I'm snatching him quite literally out of that tournament's after party.

Since there's such little information to go on, I've done my best to tease out some plausible head cannon over the years. There are a lot of questions to answer. How the hell did little French boy end up in Shanghai? How did he get involved with the drug cartels? NO ONE KNOWS. XD; so here it is:

In Ash's teenage years, he went to Shanghai as an exchange student. Fascinated by the underworld there, he ended up getting wrapped up in the mob groups and gangs that ran the town. Being the pretty, charming boy that he was, he managed to rise in ranks almost too easily. Ash disappeared into the underworld, finding the social games and violence much more palatable than being an honor student, and much more to his taste; flamboyant and flashy. By the time he was in his late teens, he had managed to become quite the dangerous little mob boss, with many men and women who were loyal to him.

He met Shen Woo shortly after he entered this underworld setting. Shen was another brat running around and trying to make his way in the world of crime, sex, and subterfuge. They hit it off and decided to work together in order to rise in ranks and get what they wanted. Shen also introduced Ash to the world of martial arts. He had always been gifted with his ability to summon flames, and watching and learning from Shen helped him incorporate them into a deadly fighting style. It was also through Shen that he learned of the KoF tournament and all of the entrapment that seem to come along with it.

Ash began to develop his ability to copy others abilities through dark magic and sinister contracts, and started researching the sacred regalia of Japan and the powers that they posessed. Chosing to ignore his previous commitments involving his childhood friend Elisabeth, he began formulating the plan that lead him to join the King of Fighters tournament in 2003. It was also during this time that he began hunting down powerful street fighters and copying their ultimate moves by force. It could be assumed that Ash, being rather thin and insubstantial probably wouldn't be too much of a threat without his arsenal of stolen techniques. He and Shen started searching for other plausible candidates to join their team- as everyone entered in threes per the rules. Duo Lon was the best choice, and Ash was able to promise him a chance to find the mysterious man that he was searching for.

Finding Ash's motives to be questionable, Duo Lon left the Hero team after that year, and Shen and Ash set out to find another fighter. He set off to Ireland with Shen at his side to find Oswald shortly after the tournament's end.

Facility Facts

 * He's been chatting up a storm and trying to figure out what each resident is capable of.
 * Ash wants to steal Azure Kite's flames- badly. He's just not sure how.