Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca

Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, otherwise known as Ashe and by the alias Amalia, is a playable character in Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. She is the former Princess of Dalmasca and the only daughter of King Raminas. She is the last true descendant of King Raithwall, the Dynast King. She also appears in the manga version of Final Fantasy XII that delves more into her background.
While Vaan is the game's designated protagonist, the bulk of the party's actions in Final Fantasy XII hinge on Ashe, and the main story is her drive to accumulate the power she needs to avenge her kingdom.
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
In Final Fantasy XII, Ashe is 19 years old with a small build and slender frame. She has sandy blonde hair cropped above her shoulders, and concept art depicts her with either blue, brown, or gray eyes. Ashe wears four different outfits.
Her main attire comprises of a white and gold cropped shirt over a leather waist swath and a bright pink miniskirt secured by a thick light-blue belt. She wears metal thigh-high leg-guards and a pair of gold metal open-toed shoes with darker pink stockings. Her wedding gown is similar in design to her white and gold shirt, with a long, fitted white skirt and a feather-adorned white veil. She briefly dons a black mourning gown, and in the final scenes, seen dressed in a peach gown with loose sleeves. In Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Ashe wears her standard Final Fantasy XII outfit.
=== Personality ===
Ashe is a fiercely independent and driven young woman who will stop at nothing to restore her family to its rightful place. She is proud, aggrieved, determined, and loyal. Her façade can be broken by memories of Lord Rasler, reminding her of the joyful and carefree times of her youth. Ashe's true strength is the ability to turn down vast power even while being faced with that same force backing her adversary, realizing it would corrupt the ideals she has lived her life by.
== Story ==
Born as the Princess of Dalmasca, the only daughter, the ninth and last child of the Dalmascan royal family, Ashe became the kingdom's sole heir after her eight older brothers either died of illness or fell in battle. Raised with the duties and responsibilities of her rank and, besides being raised in royal etiquette, Ashe was no stranger to the defensive arts.
In the year 704 Old Valendia, King Raminas and the king of the neighboring Kingdom of Nabradia arranged a political marriage between their children. Both Ashe and Lord Rasler understood that the marriage was to cement an alliance between Dalmasca and Nabradia against the conquering Archadian Empire. Ashe was nervous to see Rasler again, as the two had met since early childhood.
Upon their first meeting in years, Rasler surprised everyone by claiming he cannot marry Ashe. Embarrassed, Ashe stormed out to be consoled by Marchioness Argas, her caregiver, whom the Princess regarded as an older sister figure. While pondering over her pending marriage upon a balcony, she overheard Rasler and Sir Forz, General of Nabradia, discuss plans concerning Ashe's father. Ashe followed Sir Forz into a Neo-Rozarria Faction meeting in the part of the Royal Palace of Rabanastre under reconstruction. The faction believed the proposed political allegiance to Dalmasca to be better placed with Rozarria to avert war with the Archadian Empire.
The faction conspired to assassinate King Raminas to prevent the royal engagement from going ahead, and pin the murder on Archadia to send both Dalmasca and Nabradia into Rozarria's hands. Ashe wondered if her future husband led the faction and inadvertently drew attention to herself by knocking over some boxes. Before Sir Forz and the rest of the group could discover her, Rasler hid her behind a column. Ashe tried to escape but fell through the weak floor. Rasler jumped down after her into the Garamsythe Waterway.
Rasler explained his reason for refusing to wed her was because he knew of the Neo-Rozarria faction and thought by preventing the marriage he would protect Ashe from assassination attempts. Ashe forgave him and healed his wound, and they made their way to King Raminas's bed chambers before the Neo-Rozarria faction attempted to assassinate the sleeping king. The faction leader was discovered to be Marchioness Argas, the woman Ashe treated as a sister.
Ashe refused Argas's offer to join them, and she and Rasler attempted to fight off the faction. When Argas was going to stab Raminas, Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg of the Order of the Knights revealed himself from under Raminas's bedsheets and chopped off Argas's arm. The Order of the Knights stormed the room and arrested the faction members, revealing Sir Forz to be an undercover member of the Order. Ashe was embarrassed everyone knew of the plan except for her, but Rasler's admittance that her actions had proven he loves her quelled her shame, and he was glad that they were to wed each other soon.
At the age of 17, Ashe married Lord Rasler. Despite the arranged marriage and the political nature of it, the two genuinely cared for one another. Ashe was widowed when Rasler was killed at the Battle of Nalbina Fortress, devastating the princess and fueling her hatred toward the Archadian Empire. Not long after Archadia made a full-scale assault on Dalmasca, Raminas intended to surrender to save his people. Yet, after signing a peace agreement with Archadia, he was killed by Judge Gabranth posing as his twin, Captain Basch. When Ashe disappeared afterward, Bhujerba's ruler, Halim Ondore IV, announced her suicide.
Now unable to seek Ondore's aid, Ashe retreated underground and assumed the name "Amalia". Vossler, a captain in the former Dalmascan army, joined her, and they formed the Resistance to reclaim Dalmasca's independence and recruited many former members of the Dalmascan army. The Resistance moved slowly, not winning any major victories or causing enough unrest to be notable until Vayne Solidor travels to Dalmasca to assume his position as consul in the year 706.
The Resistance plans to attack the royal palace in Rabanastre, unaware the opportunity is a trap. A street thief Vaan and two sky pirates, Balthier and Fran, infiltrate the palace to loot its treasures. When the Archadian forces break up the Resistance attack, Ashe is separated from her companions and forced to retreat through the sewers. In the manga, Vossler sees they have walked into a trap and calls for a retreat, but Ashe is unwilling to admit defeat. Vossler has Ashe taken to safety via the sewers, but the Resistance members he sends her with are Imperial informants aware of her identity and turn against her. Ashe fights them off but gets trapped on a ledge. Vaan spots her and calls for her to jump down, catching her.
Ashe and the thieves make a temporary alliance, but Archadian soldiers capture them. Judge Ghis takes her into custody on the Dreadnought Leviathan, discovering she is indeed Dalmasca's princess. Vaan and his new companions—Basch, Fran, and Balthier—eventually join her in captivity aboard the Leviathan. When brought to the bridge, Ashe slaps Basch, outraged the man believed to have killed her father is still alive. Ghis plans to execute Ashe as an "impostor" since, without the Dynast-King's heirlooms, she has no means to prove her lineage. When Vaan reveals that he holds the Dusk Shard—a piece of deifacted nethicite once wielded by the Dynast-King—having looted it from the palace earlier, it reacts to Ashe's presence. Ghis claims it, again removing the means for Ashe to prove her identity.
Vossler and the Resistance have infiltrated the Leviathan with Ondore's help, and Ashe and Vaan's parties are set free. During their escape, they run into Vaan's friend Penelo and Vayne's younger brother Larsa Ferrinas Solidor. Larsa extends an offer of allegiance to the Princess despite being a member of the Archadian Empire's ruling family. Ashe accepts his offer before Balthier pilots them on a stolen carrier ship out to safety. Ashe reaffirms her determination to free Dalmasca and returns to the Skycity of Bhujerba to speak with Ondore.
Ondore tells Ashe it is impossible for Bhujerba to openly join Dalmasca in resistance without proof that Ashe is queen. Ashe attempts to commandeer Balthier's airship, the Strahl, to seek out another of Raithwall's treasures, the Dawn Shard, but he catches her in the act. Ashe implores Balthier to "kidnap" her and take her to the Tomb of Raithwall, promising him the treasure of the Dynast-King's tomb in return for passage.
Ashe, Balthier, Fran, Basch, Penelo, and Vaan cross Jagd Yensa on foot. Vossler rejoins the party, having escaped the Leviathan. He questions the loyalty of sky pirates, but Ashe defends Balthier and Fran. At Raithwall's Tomb, they fight the Esper Belias, and Ashe reveals to Balthier the Esper is Raithwall's treasure, much to his disappointment. In the manga version, Vossler, Basch, Fran, and Balthier fight the Esper while Ashe, Vaan, and Penelo go for the Dawn Shard. Vaan wants them to help the others, but Ashe claims Dawn Shard takes priority and that Basch and Vossler would die to see Dalmasca restored. Vaan is dissatisfied and leaves Ashe to get the Dawn Shard for herself, but she returns and protects Vaan from Belias's attack, and the party defeats the Esper together.
In the treasure chamber, they find the Dawn Shard and an apparition of Ashe's late husband, Lord Rasler, halts her path. No one else can see the figure except for Vaan, who thinks it resembled his dead brother, Reks. Ashe vows to avenge Rasler's unjust death. As the party exits the tomb, they are ambushed by the Archadian Empire and imprisoned on the Leviathan.
Vossler is working with the Empire to restore peace to Dalmasca, and the party is transferred to the Shiva, where Ghis tests the newly retrieved Dawn Shard by placing it in the ship's engine. The Dawn Shard exudes Mist, and the engine overheats. Fran, being a viera, is sensitive to its effects, and her Mist-induced frenzy frees the party. Vossler refuses to let them leave, forcing Ashe to fight her old ally. He is wounded in the melee and asks Basch to protect Ashe in his stead, explaining everything he did, he did for Dalmasca. Ashe and the party flee the Shiva before it explodes, leaving Vossler behind. The Dawn Shard's Mist explosion destroys the entire fleet, but the party spots it hovering at the explosion's center and turns back to recover it.
In the manga version, Vossler hands the Dawn Shard to Ghis on the Leviathan and reveals Vayne has agreed to restore Dalmasca with Ashe as ruler in exchange for the shard. Ghis has the shard tested while Vossler takes the party to their quarters. He tries to explain himself to Ashe, but she refuses to listen. Fran goes berserk from the Mist spewed by the Dawn Shard, and the group incapacitates their guards. Basch and Vossler duel as the party flees to the airship bay. When a group of Imperial gunners halts them, Ashe summons Belias, entering a trance-like rage. Basch bests Vossler, who entrusts Ashe's protection to him, claiming she's currently too weak to hold the throne, and Basch must aid her in her mission. The Dawn Shard's reaction causes a chain of system failures throughout the airship. Ashe awakens from her trance and sees her arm where Belias's glyph appeared has grown bulbous and deformed. She dismisses Belias, reducing her arm to a stump below the elbow. The airship explodes as Ashe and her friends flee back to Dalmasca in an airship. The ending narrates that Dalmasca has taken the first step on its road to revival. Because of the manga's cancelation, this serves as the ending to the adaptation.
While Ashe may wish to wreak revenge on Archadia using the Dawn Shard now that she has witnessed its power, she doesn't know how to use it. Fran suggests they head to Jahara, land of the garif, to learn how to wield the nethicite. Ashe implores Balthier and Fran to accompany her, and Balthier agrees if she gives him a ring of hers as a down payment. Ashe is reluctant to hand over Rasler's wedding ring but does so knowing she must reclaim her throne.
In Jahara, the garif tell Ashe they do not know how to use the stone, and that it lost its power in the explosion, making it useless as a weapon. Vaan reveals to Ashe that he, too, can see Lord Rasler's ghost, though he thinks it looks like his brother. Ashe meets with Lord Larsa, who has followed her out to Jahara, to discuss meeting a political ally in Mt Bur-Omisace, and Larsa temporarily joins the party on their passage. Before leaving, Basch questions Balthier's intentions, fearing for Ashe's safety.
On their journey across the Ozmone Plain, Basch and Ashe discuss the possibility of the Empire and Dalmasca reaching a truce. While Basch supports the idea, Ashe remains uncertain. At Bur-Omisace, they meet with Al-Cid Margrace of Rozarria, who wishes to see Ashe ally with the Empire, and she may have no alternative if she does not want to see Dalmasca destroyed in a war between empires. When news arrives of Emperor Gramis having been murdered, this possibility disappears; Vayne, the new Emperor, would never allow Ashe to reclaim the throne.
Ashe's goal becomes to destroy the Empire's nethicite with the Sword of Kings to rid them of their strongest asset. Claiming the Sword of Kings, another of the Dynast-King's artefacts, from the Stilshrine of Miriam, Vaan asks Ashe to test its power on the dormant Dawn Shard, but as she tries, Lord Rasler's apparition shaking his head stays her hand. When she later asks Vaan about it, he says he didn't see it. Refusing to travel to Rozarria with Al-Cid to talk the Empire out of the war, Ashe intends to head to the Draklor Laboratories in Archades and confront Doctor Cid, the empire's leading nethicite researcher. On the way, the party stops in the Phon Coast Hunters' Camp, where Balthier questions Ashe's intentions with the nethicite, comparing her drive to that of his father's, Doctor Cid. He implores Ashe not to allow the stone's power to consume her.
The party reaches the Draklor Laboratories and apprehends Doctor Cid, but he escapes with the Empire's nethicite, saying he is heading for the ancient city of Giruvegan. The party ventures to the Balfonheim Port with the sky pirate Reddas, who they met at Draklor and is on a quest akin to theirs. At Reddas's mansion, they discuss the current political situation and the possibility of the Resistance going to war against the Empire. Reddas has spoken to the Marquis concerning the dilemma but hesitates to challenge Vayne, who still wields the nethicite. As long as it is Doctor Cid who holds the nethicite and not Vayne, the party sees they have a chance of deterring the war. The party decides to follow Doctor Cid to Giruvegan. At the same time, Reddas stays in Balfonheim, asking Ashe to remember the devastation of Nabudis before making her decision to use the nethicite she plans to reclaim.
In Giruvegan, the party discovers Dr. Cid tricked them and never went there. They meet with the Occuria, beings who manipulate world events and steer history to their desired direction by granting specific individuals powerful shards of nethicite. The Occuria have chosen Ashe as the new Dynast-King and bequeath her the Treaty-Blade to cut a new shard of nethicite from the Sun-Cryst. They task Ashe with destroying Venat, the rogue Occurian responsible for teaching Doctor Cid how to manufacture nethicite, and in turn, the Archadian Empire.
Accompanied by Reddas, Ashe and the party travel to the Pharos. Indecision overtakes her: whether to destroy the Cryst and rid the world of nethicite, or to carve out a new piece to take revenge on the Archadian Empire as the Occuria wish her to. Atop the Pharos, Gabranth ambushes them and tells Ashe she should wield the Treaty-Blade and avenge her father's murder, for which the Judge Magister admits to being responsible.
Ashe attempts to use the sword to defeat him, but Rasler's apparition stops her. Ashe realizes her visions of him have been an Occurian illusion to keep her fixed upon their determined path. She refuses to be an Occurian puppet, as taking revenge isn't what her late husband would have wanted. The party defeats both Gabranth and Doctor Cid, but Cid's plan is still realized. After reintegrating the shards of deifacted nethicite to the Sun-Cryst, the effusing Mist has roused the Sky Fortress Bahamut, the Empire's new warship. Ashe attempts to destroy the Sun-Cryst with the Sword of Kings, but it is too volatile, so Reddas takes the sword from her and sacrifices his life to destroy the Cryst while she and the others escape.
As the Resistance fleet engages the Sky Fortress Bahamut and the 12th Fleet in the Battle above Rabanastre, Ashe and the party infiltrate the Bahamut. Although Ashe and Vayne's goals—to determine their own history without Occurian interference—are near identical, Vayne remains set on war. After seeing Vayne is willing to harm Larsa to have his way, Gabranth joins their cause but is mortally wounded. Vayne merges with Venat to become The Undying, but is defeated.
Returning to the Strahl, the group contacts both sides. Impersonating his brother, Basch orders the Archadian forces to cease fire. Larsa, now Emperor, declares the Imperial fleet to be under his command. Ashe announces the war is over, and Dalmasca is finally free. When Balthier contacts the group from the descending Bahamut, Ashe pleads with him to escape. Nonetheless, Balthier fixes the Bahamut's glossair rings in time, saving Rabanastre, and the Sky Fortress crash-lands outside the city.
A year later, Ashe is due to be crowned Queen of Dalmasca, and her duties force her to distance herself from her former companions. Penelo believes Ashe misses Basch and, in a letter to Larsa, expresses a wish he would someday return to serve her. Balthier returns Ashe's ring, which he encloses with the message he leaves for Vaan and Penelo after reclaiming the Strahl, implying that he has found a more valuable treasure.
=== Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings ===
Ashe rushes to Vaan and the others' aid with Basch and Larsa beside her in the new Dreadnought Leviathan, which is now under her royal fleet. She no longer fears the Empire and sees it as a "thing of the past". After the auraliths have been destroyed, the aegyl regain their anima and, filled with anger, attack Ivalice, which prompts Ashe to join her former comrades to defend against the new threat.
Ashe assists the party in search for the Judge of Wings, eventually tracking her down and killing her, and revealing the truth about Feolthanos.
== Gameplay ==
In Final Fantasy XII, Ashe is both a supporting character (as Amalia) and a playable character. She has among the highest MP and Magick Power growth (her Magick Power is significantly higher in the Zodiac versions compared to the original release), with average Speed and Vitality, but low HP. Her Strength is average, but her overall Strength and Magick Power make her useful in both magick-oriented and physical-oriented jobs and abilities, and make her ideal for equipping weapons reliant on Magick Power and Strength stats. She has the most initial licenses available, which provide her early licenses in armor, swords, and White Magicks.
Gaining the average level of all six main characters to 50 will add Ashe to the Sky Pirate's Den and grant the player the title "Exemplar". Ashe is the only playable character whose menu portrait is not taken from her official render. Instead, her portrait is derived from her key art. 
In Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Ashe is a Time Mage, and equips hand-bombs as weapons, coats as armor, and necklaces as accessories. She has several Time Magicks for skills, both offensive and supportive. Her Quickening, Empyrean's Edict, stops the enemy team from summoning Yarhi for a set amount of time. It is obtained by defeating the Esper Famfrit.
== Musical themes ==
"Ashe's Theme" is a piece mainly driven by a dark brass melody, stringed and percussion accompaniment. It draws from many motifs heard throughout the soundtrack.
Unlike most character themes, "Ashe's Theme" does not play during Ashe's central scenes; instead, it plays at the gates of Giruvegan, and in the Subterra.
A piano arrangement of the theme is included on the Piano Collections: Final Fantasy XII album.
== Other appearances ==
* Fortress as a major character (cancelled).
* Final Fantasy XIV as a historical character.
* Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
* Theatrhythm Final Fantasy series as a playable character.
* Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
* Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a summonable Legend.
* Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
* Final Fantasy All the Bravest as a playable character.
* Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
* Final Fantasy World Wide Words.
* Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
* Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
== Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances ==
* Itadaki Street series as a playable character.
== Other media ==
=== Games ===
Users in Square Enix Members Virtual World community can make their character appear as Ashe. Ashe's hair and clothes cost 100 and 480 crystals, respectively.
== Behind the scenes ==
According to two Famitsu interviews, the face of French actress Sylvie Testud inspired Ashe's, with her features altered to look more Japanese.
Ashe's key art depicts her wielding the Hero's Blade , a weapon dummied out of the game. One can still find the sword's model and associated stats for it as an equippable weapon in the game, and it appears in the game's introductory cutscene where Raminas gives the blade to Rasler at a ceremony.
A running gag throughout Final Fantasy XII is Ashe telling others not to interrupt her while she is talking. She dislikes the word "insurgence" and corrects others, saying that her group is called the "resistance". In the manga, the term used is "rebel-force", as noted by Judge Ghis. Ashe corrects him by saying "liberation".
The missing dialogue voice-overs when Vossler converses with Lady Ashe at Ogir Nam-Yensa territory was addedhttps://youtu.be/hJz69K11PAI?t=7858 in The Zodiac Age version. This was not present in the original game.https://youtu.be/xq7iLLFlerg?t=8102
Ashe's CG model was used in the production of Final Fantasy XIII to stand in for uncompleted characters.
=== Voice ===
In the English release of Final Fantasy XII, Ashe is voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She shares this voice actor with Shelke the Transparent in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, Aranea Highwind in Final Fantasy XV, and Ovelia Atkascha in Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.
Ashe, along with Basch and Balthier, speaks in formalized English in contrast to Vaan and Penelo's more casual style. In Japanese, Balthier, Ashe, and Basch use an older, more formal style of Japanese than Vaan and Penelo. Wahlgren wasn't someone the casting director Jack Fletcher was looking for, but after discovering Wahlgren, Fletcher thought she was perfect.
Mie Sonozaki voices Ashe in Japanese. She shares this voice actor with Jihl Nabaat in Final Fantasy XIII.
== Merchandise ==
Ashe's Play Arts action figure was released in 2007 in Japan and included an extra pair of open hands, the Treaty-Blade, and a display stand. Ashe's ring was also released as merchandise, made of sterling silver. Ashe appears on the cover of the first issue of the Final Fantasy XII manga.
Ashe-Play-Arts.png|Ashe's Play Arts.
FF Merchandise - Ashe's Ring.png|Official merchandise of Ashe's wedding ring.
FFXII Manga Vol 1.jpg|Ashe, starring in the first volume of the Final Fantasy XII manga adaptation.
== Gallery ==
== Etymology ==
Ashe's alias is Amalia. 
==Citations==
de:Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca
es:Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca
it:Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca
ja:アーシェ・バナルガン・ダルマスカ
pt-br:Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca
ru:Ашелия Б'наргин Далмаска
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy XII
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Category:Time Mages
Category:Hume in Ivalice