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“ | LEON!!! HELP!!! | „ |
~ Ashley's infamous call for help. |
“ | So, uh, after you take me back to my place... how about we do some... 'overtime'... | „ |
~ Ashley offers herself to Leon. |
Ashley Graham is the deuteragonist of the 2005 survival horror video game Resident Evil 4 and its 2023 remake. She is the President's daughter who has been held captive by a mysterious and sinister Spanish cult known as Los Iluminados, until she is retrieved by government agent Leon Kennedy.
She was voiced by Carolyn Lawrence, who also voices Sandy Cheeks in SpongeBob and Cindy Vortex in Jimmy Neutron. Her face model was provided by Brooke Mathieson.
In the remake, she was voiced by Genevieve Buechner (English) and Akari Kitō (Japanese). Her appearance was provided by Ella Freya (face model) and Sophie S (body model).
Biography[]
Ashley Graham was born in the United States. In 2004, when she was coming home from her university in Massachusetts, Ashley was suddenly kidnapped by mercenary Jack Krauser, who was working for Lord Osmund Saddler, and then taken to Valdelobos, a remote village somewhere in Spain, where she was apparently held prisoner for ransom by the cult, Los Iluminados.
Ashley was discovered by Leon Kennedy, who was sent by the U.S. government to rescue her, in a church on the outskirts of the village. Shortly afterwards, Leon and Ashley met with Saddler, who revealed that both Ashley and Leon were administered with one of parasitic organisms called Las Plagas, and he himself was planning to bring Ashley back to her father in order to infiltrate and destroy the U.S. government from within.
After escaping from Saddler and the villagers, the two found their way into Ramon Salazar's castle, and later onto Osmund's island complex. Ashley, however, would be repeatedly recaptured by Los Iluminados during Leon's mission and subsequently rescued each time. While at the island complex, the duo found a laser surgery machine built by Luis Sera with the purpose of removing a Plaga internally from its host's body. Leon and Ashley used the machine on themselves, destroying their Plaga parasites and thus removing Saddler's only leverage on them.
After Saddler was eliminated, Leon and Ashley finally made their escape from the collapsing island on a jet ski left by Ada Wong. Ashley then offered Leon to come over to her place for "some overtime", which Leon politely declined much to her disappointment. Afterwards, the two were picked up by American authorities.
Personality[]
Ashley is a kind young lady with a cheerful demeanour, though she often complains or gets angry when faced with conflict, like when Luis crudely commented on her breasts, or when Leon made her leap into a dump with him. However, when forced to split up from Leon and navigate through the castle by herself for a bit, she brazenly pressed on, even managing to potentially kill some cultists who tried to grab her, and cautiously went through the castle's dark hallways towards unknown dangers. Ashley has a crush on Leon, even flirting with him in some scenes, though she seems rather shy about it, if also not very subtle.
Appearance[]
Ashley is a young Caucasian woman with a slim frame, pale skin, and short blonde hair styled into a chin-length bob. She is around 167 cm (5' 6") tall, and is considerably voluptuous in RE4 (as noted by Luis commenting on her "ballistics" when first meeting her) with her well-endowed chest and curves, but this is toned down in the remake, which portrays her as more slender. Her eyes are light amber (a very rare eye colour) in RE4, but green in the remake.
She wears an orange sleeveless sweater, a dark red sweater tied around her neck, a short green skirt, a white thong, long brown boots, and a bracelet. In the remake, she also has an orange jacket and dark stockings. She has two alternate outfits in RE4: a revealing white-pink popstar outfit, and a full suit of knight armour. When wearing the latter, she will strain Leon's back when he catches her from jumping off a ledge.
Abilities[]
Ashley doesn't have any hand-to-hand combat skills, giving her no means of direct attack against her enemies. While by no means "out of shape", she isn't "fit" for combat, lacking the physical training which Leon and Ada possess. Her small frame and light weight generally make it easier for enemies to re-kidnap her from Leon.
When a player-controlled Ashley escapes the grasp of a cultist, she causes him no damage, unlike Ada and Leon, who can both behead their opponent with a counter-attack. When controlling Leon, Ashley can't escape an enemy's grasp alone; Leon must free her by attacking the enemy, without hitting Ashley. If Leon is careless enough to attack her in any way, Ashley will die instantly (save for eggs, which cause no damage).
Bear traps are also dangerous for her. Any trap that she steps on will not kill her, but she can't open them by herself. She also loses health while trapped, meaning she can be left at zero health if not freed quickly enough. Ashley seems to have less ability to resist the Plagas than Leon, as Saddler was able to control her without any resistance, while Leon was always able to fight the Plaga's controlling ability to a degree.
Ashley also has moments of simply not using her head. At one point, she insists she go with Luis, despite Leon taking good care of her and Ashley bearly knowing Luis. Later, when coughing some blood, she reacts with hostile panic towards Leon when he shows concern, before she runs away and (somewhat humorously) falls for an obvious trap that appears to have been specifically made for someone of her build to stand in that exact spot to activate. This may just be chalked up to sub-par writing, however, though this scene was fixed in the remake, where she instead begins turning into a Ganado and attacks Leon, before stopping herself and tearfully apologising.
However, Ashley is not without her positives, as she can crawl under smaller areas than Leon can. Her light build also allows Leon to easily catch her from falling, and give her a boost on his shoulders, so she can unlock doors or get items for him. This ability is especially important in the castle, as Leon helps her reach a high place to pull the cranks that would open the way.
Ashley also drove heavy machinery at least once in the game to make progressing possible. When players control Ashley, she makes up for her lacking abilities by throwing lanterns at her assailants, burning them alive. She may not be a strong person, but she is not totally helpless, as she makes up for it by occasionally using her wits, and usually sticking by Leon's side. In the GameCube version only, she may suplex a cultist if she gets him on his knees by pushing a door into him.
Legacy[]
Despite having been heavily criticised in the 2005 game by fans for being a defenseless tagalong character that the player must escort, Ashley works very well in tandem with the player, as she never lags behind Leon when following him and always moves away from his line of fire, either by ducking to the ground or gluing herself to Leon's back. This is more than can be said for other video game escorts, such as the survivors from Dead Rising, or Natalya Simonova from GoldenEye.
Moreover, when players tell Ashley to stay put, she always does exactly that, without moving an inch. On top of that, some areas contain bins for Ashley to hide in, making it impossible for her to be captured by Ganados. Similarly, she hides in a wardrobe during the cabin fight with Luis, making Leon's job easier. Despite most fans' frustration with escorting Ashley, she only appears in a maximum of 6 of the 18 chapters in the game.
In the remake, she was praised as a character for being more of a teammate to Leon instead of a damsel, as well as being given a real character arc - from being a scared young girl to being a more independent and capable person - and solidifying a true friendship with Leon (and, to a lesser extent, Luis). Also in the remake, her mannerisms and body language were corrected to be more Western, as opposed to being Japanese like in the original game.
Quotes[]
Resident Evil 4 (2005)[]
- "Don't come! [...] No! Get away! [...] What?! My father?" - Ashley meets Leon and discovers he works for the President
- "Leon... I think they shot something in my neck." - On the Plaga
- "What are we gonna do, Leon?"
- "I'm never turning into one of them! Never!" - On the Ganados
- "Talk about near-death experience."
- "Here goes nothing."
- "How rude! And I don't believe there's any relevance with my figure and my standing! Who are you?" - Ashley meets Luis
- "Leon, shoot those barrels on that wagon!"
- "I opened it, Leon."
- "Help!"
- "Leon!"
- "Leon! Help!"
- "Help me, Leon!"
- "Where are you going, Leon?"
- "You okay, Leon?"
- "Leon, look at the ceiling!"
- "Look, there's a crank over there."
- "Watch out for me!"
- "The door's locked, I can't open it!"
- "I got the key! I can get out!"
- "It's coming right at us!"
- "What is that thing?"
- "Leave it to me, Leon!"
- "Hey! What are you looking at?!" - Leon looks up Ashley's skirt
- "Oh! You pervert!" - Leon looks up Ashley's skirt
Resident Evil 4 (2023)[]
“ | Leon: You OK? Ashley: What can I say? Dogs like me. |
„ |
~ Ashley about the Colmillos. |
“ | I... am done... with armor. (immediately goes into the mausoleum containing the needed crest, which is filled with Armaduras that aren't activated yet) Didn't I just say I was done?! | „ |
~ Ashley's recurring encounter with Armaduras while navigating between the dark library maze and tight staircases in order to reunite with Leon. |
“ | I didn't mean to! I promise! | „ |
~ Ashley mortified from smashing Leon with the wrecking ball she operates by mistake. |
“ | I'm pretty much the master of unlocking. | „ |
~ Reference to Jill Valentine in RE1. |
“ | Ashley: You know, I... I was thinking — we work well together, don't we? Leon: I guess so. Ashley: Right!? Maybe someday, I'll become an agent like you? What do you think? We could protect the US from any and all threats! Leon: Is that right? Well, either way, first we have to make it out of here. Ashley: Hm, you're no fun. |
„ |
~ Ashley expressed her interest of becoming an agent like Leon upon reflecting their adventures together. |
“ | Saddler: (reveals himself to Leon and Ashley as they examine dormant plaga eggs within a huge amber-like casing) Prostrate yourself. This is our Holy Body. Our divine providence! And soon... such a profound blessing for all... las plagas! (lets one of his masked acolytes removing his hood to reveal carapaces on where his hair should be) Welcome, my children. I am Osmund Saddler, the speaker for our Lord. Leon: Tell someone who gives a ****. (fires his gun at Saddler's left eye) Saddler: Foolish lambs. Why do you deny grace? (subdues Leon to his knees via. telepathic command to plaga inside him in retaliation while regenerating his wounded eye at the same time) Now, abandon your body! Obey. Obey the voice of our Lord. (telepathically commands Ashley's plaga, prompting her to walk towards his side) Ashley: No... No! (involuntarily grabs Leon's fallen handgun) Stop! No! (involuntarily aims the gun at its owner before begins shooting, her willpower results her shooting one of Saddler's masked acolytes instead) Saddler: Sweet child, do not resist! (Ashley involuntarily shoots the second acolyte with a groan before seemingly give in only for the gun jammed) Pray, forgive these wicked sinners. My faithful disciple shall deliver to you your... penance. Now child, you need not to be afraid. Submit your body and release yourself from fear! (departs with Ashley and his remaining acolytes from the storage) Leon: (now his growing plaga releases its hold over him, Leon retrieves his fallen gun and fixes it before giving chase) Saddler, you bastard! |
„ |
~ Leon and Ashley's first proper encounter with Saddler in the remake. |
“ | Ashley: They're not attacking. What's going on? Leon: They're nothing now their master's gone. It's over for them. |
„ |
~ Leon and Ashley about ganado combatants suffering neural shock from Saddler's death. |
“ | Ashley: Mission accomplished, right? Leon: Mission accomplished... when you're home safe. Ashley: Thank you for saving me. Leon: Don't mention it. Ashley: You know, I could put in a word with my dad. Have you assigned to my detail, if you're interested? Leon: You don't need me. You proved you can handle yourself. Even if you could use a lesson in knife safety. Come on, let's go. |
„ |
~ Leon suggests Ashley to learn knife combat while turning down Ashley's plan of having her father assigned her to be her bodyguard of sort. |
Trivia[]
- She seems to have acrophobia.
- Her remake outfit is similar to her beta OG outfit.
- She wears Fiona Belli's outfit in the 2007 live-action ad for the Wii version.
- Her phone in the remake is a Motorola Razr with 'Sigma Gamma Phi' stickers on it.
- Her knight outfit doesn't appear in cutscenes; instead, it switches to her default outfit.
- If Leon's hands make physical contact with Ashley in the VR version, his hands will vanish.
- Unique to the North American release of the original GameCube port, Ashley's breasts bounce when she moves.
- During combat in the original game, if she is hiding being Leon, she will do a fist-pump whenever he makes a kill.
- In the Jap version of RE4, the segment where players control Ashley has fixed cameras, like the classic Resident Evil games.
- As revealed in the remake, Ashley's prowess to operate a wrecking ball is revealed to be driver's ed class, something she amusedly credited to.
- Her appearance may have been inspired by Rachel MacPherson (Time Crisis), Lisa Rogan (The House of the Dead III), and Heather Mason (Silent Hill 3).
- Chapter 3-4 (the segment halfway through the game where players control Ashley) was the inspiration for Haunting Ground, since that game is one of the scrapped versions of RE4.
- Only when playing as Ashley, rather than carrying her over the shoulder, Ganados lift her by the neck if they catch her. If her health depletes, he gives her a chokehold and then carries her limp body.
- Strangely, at the very beginning of Chapter 4-1, Ashley does not react to Luis' corpse. In the remake, this was fixed; instead of seeing Luis dead, Leon tells her of his fate, to which she feels disheartened.
- When Leon tells Ashley to hide before fighting Mendez, she responds with "Yeah" - the same recording of the word is used again when Leon tells Ashley to follow him across the bridge from the village to the castle.
- In the Merchant's shooting range where Leon shoots cardboard cutouts of Ganado villagers (Isabel and Diego), a cutout of Ashley is used as a target not to shoot. In the remake, Ashley comes into the shooting gallery with Leon and sits on a barrel to watch him practice.
- Ashley's role is similar to the plot of Time Crisis: the president's blonde-haired daughter (Rachel and Ashley) is kidnapped after returning home from uni by a merc (Wild Dog and Jack Krauser) hired by an evil group leader (Sherudo Garo and Osmund Saddler), and is later rescued by a lone agent (Richard Miller and Leon Kennedy) with just a pistol.
- In RE4, if players aim up her skirt, she will call Leon out on it. In the remake, if players aim the camera under her, she will cover her skirt with her hands; this may be a nod to Lollipop Chainsaw where players can angle the camera low enough to make Juliet Starling slam her chainsaw down into the ground and cover her skirt.
- Ashley seeks sex for solace after the stressing events of her abduction, though she only propositions Leon, as she trusts him. This was somewhat toned down in the remake, in which she considered promoting Leon to be her bodyguard in hopes of a similar outcome, seeing him as sort of role model, judging from her interest of becoming a trained agent like him.
- Ashley's aforementioned interest of becoming a trained agent in the remake is attributed to the desire of being able to handle herself should she found herself facing a predicament not unlike with Los Iluminados in the future, and inspired by Leon encouraging her not to fall into panic and despair against adversities. Considering how she still woefully outmatched against the cult's forces in direct combat, this is understandable, despite being more proactive and thus having to rely on her wits, since her original iteration and even Leon still need all the help they can get.
- While inspired by how Saddler mind-controlled her to steal his knife and subsequently attempt to injure him with it in retrospect, Leon doesn't rule out the idea of Ashley having potential to be proficient with knives as much as him, since he suggested her to get knife lessons as alternative to training regiment he went through.
- She is the protagonist of Resident Evil 4: Otome Edition, a fan-made dating sim which tells the story of RE4 through Ashley's perspective.
- The game makes references various things.
- The game begins with Ashley telling her story as she uses a typewriter, like how Artyom does in Metro.
- Ashley mentions that she uses AIM and likes Krispy Kreme.
- Ashley references Dragon Ball when she meets Leon, thinking "Welp, someone gather some Dragon Balls and call me Yamcha, 'cause I'm about to be dead!"
- Ashley references Scooby-Doo several times.
- Ashley likens Leon to Ernest Hemingway when using a typewriter.
- When cornered by Ganados, Ashley says she doesnt want to be an Ashley Sandwich, and later says she's not the master of unlocking Leon's thoughts.
- Ashley references Scissorman when hoping Salazar doesn't appear out of a crawlspace with giant scissors.
- Ashley calls the Merchant a Shadow Broker.
- Ashley likens a painting to Donald Trump.
- Ashley references the "Russian Connection" mission from TimeSplitters: Future Perfect.
- The Merchant asks if Ashley is familiar with Pokémon.
- Ashley references the Barrel Roll meme from Star Fox.
- Ashley describes the floor tiles as Twister made by Mister Fantastic.
- Ashley refers likens something to The Stepford Wives directed by Clive Barker.
- When in her jail cell on the island, Ashley sees Ada and thinks she looks like Carmen Sandiego in a dress.
- Ashley references The Shawshank Redemption, saying she doesn't want to spend 20 years tunnelling out of her cell with a small pickaxe.
- Ashley references Two and a Half Men when Leon kills two Ganados and injures a third.
- "Wrecking Ball" is referenced when a wrecking ball is used to escape.
- Ashley calls her bulldozer Trucker Carlson.
- Saddler names U-3 after the book It.
- Ashley apologises for "misgendering" U-3.
- The game also adds extra plot elements.
- The game begins before RE4, showing how Ashley was captured by Krauser in the first place.
- While Leon is in the lava room, Ashley wanders around and discovers Luis' fate when she finds his corpse.
- On the tram ride after the lava room, Leon gives Ashley the pills that Luis found, and Ashley tells Leon of the Armaduras she encountered while separated.
- Salazar calling Leon "Mr. Scott" when they first meet makes Ashley initially thinks this is his surname, but Leon later corrects Ashley on the tram. When Ashley is later kidnapped by a Novistador and taken to Salazar, Ashley corrects Salazar on Leon's surname, then asks if he even knows her middle name; Salazar says it's Emily, to which Ashley says it's actually Babette.
- On the island, when Leon sees Ashley imprisoned before the Ganado mercs cut off the security cam, Ada stops by and kills them (Ashley had previously shouted to Ada for help through the cell's window), but tells her not to tell Leon, before leaving.
- The game makes references various things.
Licensing[]
This article contains content derived from the "Ashley Graham/remake" article on the Resident Evil Wiki, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
External Links[]
- Ashley Graham on the Pure Good Wiki
- Ashley Graham on the Capcom Database Wiki