Ashley's "Reign of Terror" - A Retrospect

[Magma]

You guys know what I'm talking about.

Spoiler: A Refresher

Ashley has long been a bit of a dark horse favorite among WarioWare fans and even non-WarioWare fans. This was in spite of the fact that she did not receive much if any kind of preferential treatment within the series. Nonetheless by the time of Game & Wario, her popularity had gotten Nintendo's attention through things like Miiverse. Even Sakurai gave Ashley his endorsement. Meanwhile, the rest of the Wario franchise had started becoming forgotten.

We'd start seeing Ashley rise to prominence in a way most characters don't. They were relatively little things that showed up like web comics, 3DS themes, and badges from the Badge Arcade. Very small, innocuous things really but the fact that only Ashley was getting anything like this and Wario and the rest of his franchise was seemingly getting shafted brewed some mixed feelings.

Now that it's been some time since the Badge Arcade updates stopped and now we're getting a full WarioWare game with seemingly balanced treatment of the characters, I'd like for us to revisit this rather unusual saga. Admittedly, my memories of that time are tainted due to a certain individual but I think we can discuss this in an intelligent and thoughtful manner by leaving all that out.

My thoughts?

It was really just a bizarre thing really. What do we even call this? The whole thing just plays out like Nintendo let Ko Takeuchi's personal fondness for Ashley go unfiltered and thus he could just do whatever he wanted. It started off relatively lowkey but then kept snowballing into more Ashley stuff every month. We kept speculating what all of this Ashley stuff meant for months. In the end this ended abruptly with the end of the Badge Arcade updates and nothing really came out of all this. We haven't seen anything that focused just on Ashley in a long time. In the long run this really meant nothing for Ashley or the Wario franchise which makes the whole thing even weirder. Like, what was the whole point of this? Was there even a point at all?

 

[Glowsquid]

i'm a crazy galaxy truther

Like, what was the whole point of this? Was there even a point at all?

 

[Magma]

I know that's the case but...why did it just...stop?

 

[warelander]

The thing about this ''era'' for me is that it happened during a particulary bleak time for Wario, with Game & Wario bombing, no new Wario title on the horizon and Wario getting the shaft in various games, like Smash For or Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo challenge.

The reason this made the whole thing even more bitter for me is that it plays into the one thing that I hate about Ashley. I don't find anything awful about the character herself, but I absolutely despise the general reaction towards her, as if she was the only thing from Wario's franchise that's worth paying attention to, so seeing her everywhere while even Wario himself got scraps at best (outside of very rare exceptions like RH Megamix) was pretty damning for me.

It doesn't matter anymore now, the Ashley stuff has come to a halt and we are getting a new WarioWare at last. What happened is in the past, I'm over it and just simply want to make a bigger effort to promote and celebrate the series more, via things like my Wario blog (I know it's not a huge thing, but whatevs) to remind people of the great franchise that is Wario.

 

[Pistachio Shack]

This was in spite of the fact that she did not receive much if any kind of preferential treatment within the series.

And now [not mentioning the character cuz I don't want them to be the new Ashley] isn't. Even though they appeared in the first game. And say Young Cricket too. (I could expect "But he's bland and has no personality blah blah blah")

 

[Just a Wario Fan]

I'm glad this entire Cashley thing is pretty much over now, but I'm still a little bit afraid that WW Gold may trigger a new wave of Ashley fixation.

 

[CM30]

Honestly, I was fine for it. I mean, if a character is popular, you may as well market them more and more. That is how we got a Wario series afterall... because Wario went from a random Mario character to a fan favourite, and hence onto his own video game series.

As for why it happened? Well it's hard to know really. Part of me suspects they just wanted another cute character to market badges with, realised Ashley had a fanbase and went with her. I mean, it was also the same era that had Nikki from SwapNote thrown in a lot of these badge sets too.

 

[BooDestroyer]

In the meantime, just ask yourselves these:

1. Do we see Wario openly praise Ashley and give her a promotion?
2. Does she try to kill (or star-KO) any of the other characters?
3. Does she get her own “Ashley-themed” set of microgames?
4. Does she appear on the boxart of these games?

Unless any of that happens in Gold, we’ve got nothing to worry about.

 

[Magma]

In the meantime, just ask yourselves these:

1. Do we see Wario openly praise Ashley and give her a promotion?
2. Does she try to kill (or star-KO) any of the other characters?
3. Does she get her own “Ashley-themed” set of microgames?
4. Does she appear on the boxart of these games?

Unless any of that happens in Gold, we’ve got nothing to worry about.

Ah yes, this speech certainly reminds me of that particular era.

 

[Glowsquid]

Does she try to kill (or star-KO) any of the other characters?

That would OWN

 

[Robin]

In the meantime, just ask yourselves these:

1. Do we see Wario openly praise Ashley and give her a promotion?
2. Does she try to kill (or star-KO) any of the other characters?
3. Does she get her own “Ashley-themed” set of microgames?
4. Does she appear on the boxart of these games?

Unless any of that happens in Gold, we’ve got nothing to worry about.

1. Hella no! It's Wario we're talking about! He wouldn't do that to anyone!
2. Untold, you don't see it, you don't see any interaction that would suggest yes or no.
3. None of the others does, only Wario. I can't recall if there's actually a microgame with anyone but Wario or Fronks in.
4. No, but it could happen since WarioWare Inc had all the cast in the box art.

 

[MrLlort]

In the meantime, just ask yourselves these:

1. Do we see Wario openly praise Ashley and give her a promotion?
2. Does she try to kill (or star-KO) any of the other characters?
3. Does she get her own “Ashley-themed” set of microgames?
4. Does she appear on the boxart of these games?

Unless any of that happens in Gold, we’ve got nothing to worry about.

1)Just as everyone else.
2)Hey, dont forget "Touched" story... Well, it was Red trying, and Orbulon is just a cameo in this game, but she can do that!
3,4) Same as Robin.

 

[Robin]

2)Hey, dont forget "Touched" story... Well, it was Red trying, and Orbulon is just a cameo in this game, but she can do that!

Yes, I failed to mention it, which implies a yes, but it's still out in the open.

 

[Magma]

Don't forget that my main point is the amount of attention Ashley was receiving from Nintendo/Ko Takeuchi not Ashley becoming popular.

 

[BooDestroyer]

Yeah, hence what I was getting at with those questions.

4. No, but it could happen since WarioWare Inc had all the cast in the box art.

But that hasn't happened again since.....that one. And even the JP boxart of that was just Wario.

And I meant that in terms of throwing just her onto it alongside Wario with a blatant "Ashley's in this game!" next to her, or her hogging up more space on it than anyone else. Not getting equal footing along with everyone else like the OG WW's overseas boxart did.

 

[Robin]

True, but my point with that was, it could happen again, it's a box art so they can get back to making that style, and since WarioWare Gold is a collection of the past, that would be a good choice for a box art. Ashley is relevant, as relevant to the series as the others, she deserves that attention, the problem lies in how unfair it is for the other awesome characters we have in the series.
I'm glad that they actually focused on Ashley a bit, but it's just that, a little focus out of the blue, without any real meaning whatsoever. Her style is very loved in Japan, with her different depiction being key. As we know all our Wario comes from Japan, I'm not surprised that this sort of focus existed in the first place.
And sure, do whatever you want with the character, my mind stays on Wario and his cast as a whole.

 

[BooDestroyer]

I mean, yeah, this was all mostly a Japan thing when it happened, which isn't surprising anyway.

But it will never change the fact that she's still just a random character in the series who doesn't actually do anything special.

 

[Magma]

Ah yes, the kind of talk that would always "get things going" if you know what I mean.

 

[Robin]

I mean, yeah, this was all mostly a Japan thing when it happened, which isn't surprising anyway.

But it will never change the fact that she's still just a random character in the series who doesn't actually do anything special.

Sure, but Aeris from FF7, Tingle from tLoZ, Tiki from FE, and many others were also just one of many characters in a huge collection, and those also got more attention at some point than the protagonist or the game itself. I know some people just play Donkey Kong Country 2 for Dixie Kong, 'cause she's cute, that's all. It's just that character that showed up at that point in time and people love it, so it's a way to make some cash and give them a spotlight. In the west, it's understandable people don't feel the same way as the eastern audience.

 

[CM30]

Tingle from Zelda? Really?

He got a few spinoff games at about the same time as the main series had a bunch of full length games he wasn't in. Tingle's first game was out around the same time as Twilight Princess, later games were overshadowed by titles like Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Not exactly getting more attention than Link or Zelda.