Mass Effect Was 12 Years Ago Yet This Character is Hated to Date

Mass Effect was an eternal part of my childhood gaming sessions. I was over the moon when I got my hands on Mass Effect in 2010 and got to finish the trilogy in 2012. A new RPG experience made me a huge fan of this EA’s masterpiece.

As I embarked on this galactical journey, the atmosphere of Mass Effect felt immersive and genuine. The best part of the game for me was Commander Shephard. That dude had an aura of 100000000000.

You must be wondering why I am talking about a game developed almost twelve years ago that may not be relevant anymore. The simple answer: my immense hate for Ashley Williams. But why Ashley? 

Wait a minute. Do I sound like a misogynist while hating on a female character? I don’t care, and even if it sounds weird, I can’t help but shed some light on Ashley’s horrendous character.

Despite her being one of the main leads of the game, I still cringe at the awful behavior that she often showed during the game’s cutscenes.

Ashley Williams Being a Controversial Figure

Ashley had a pivotal role and embodied a bold and tough personality. At first glance, she was a no-nonsense and highly skilled soldier. Her dedication to missions and loyalty towards her comrades often garnered her praise from her colleagues. 

Secondly, she was one of the romantic options for Shephard, who regarded her highly and, of course. We got to see some steamy and raunchy scenes between those two.

However, this boldness and discipline were accompanied by a sharped-tongue that created a rift among her fandom. Fandom? Well, the fandom is non-existent now.

Throughout the game, she served as the epitome of xenophobia. The Mass Effect seemed to have created a universe that celebrated diversity and different species coming together. Yet, Ashley left no chance of spitting a black mark on it.

Most of the time, the remarks showing her space racism came out of the blue. While it could be new for humans to maintain relationships with aliens, Ashley openly called it a terrible idea for humans and aliens to be in the same spaceship, that too in front of Wrex and Garrus. I mean, what galactic nonsense are you talking about, girl?

And when you thought she couldn’t say anything worse, she stooped ten levels low and compared aliens with animals. I understand video games do consist of bad characters, and it’s okay to infuse racism in them since it’s not real life. However, I genuinely felt Ashley’s remarks to other races made it difficult to consider her our ally.

One of the other reasons for Ashley’s acidic nature was her coming from a military family. This high status often became the reason for her cold straightforwardness, making the lingering disdain from Mass Effect fans still visible.

Ashley and Other Characters

Considering the mixed gathering of species, some humans had views similar to Ashley’s, yet they delivered their words comprehensively. Take Miranda, for example; while her judgments resembled Ashley’s, she spoke diplomatically. Characters like Garrus and Tali’Zorah brought humor to the team, while Ashley’s outspokenness was too much to handle.

Saving Ashley Was My Biggest Mistake

As I recall the fight on Virmire, I had to make a harrowing decision to save Ashley or Kaiden Alenko. Unfortunately, I saved Ashley without anticipating the racist behavior that awaited me. Otherwise, I would’ve had Kaiden’s calmer and steadier presence by my side. 

I plan to revisit the original Mass Effect trilogy with Mass Effect Andromeda being such a disaster and nearly non-existent. But this time, I have decided not to save Ashley at any moment of the game. With that, I will have one less pathetic character to cater to.