Ashley Madeline Williams – The Jarhead
Remember Helena Vasquez from Ridley Scott’s Aliens? Well maybe not, but I am sure you remember Trudy Chacon, the tough as nails pilot on James Cameron’s Avatar? Well in terms of action, this is Ashley but there is something more to her than being a die-hard Space Marine. Ashley is the most complex character in Mass Effect and her relationship with Shepard starts after being rescued (she is the sole survivor of a brutal Geth ambush). She is blunt, seemingly xenophobic… (the SciFi word for racist) and very outspoken. While it takes only a stern reprimand or word to silence Ashley, she does force your hand to pull rank more than she should. She’s that type of person, she is however an excellent soldier, putting her life on the line whenever asked – but off the record she takes shit from nobody.

Relationship and First Impressions

Initially I disliked Ashley, I loved my Alien comrades and she made it a point to let me know how much she distrusted them due to them not being human. She would do this while lightly flirting within the lines of respect and it was odd to initiate meaningful conversation with her. But I understood her, I knew it would take some war-time bonding and trips to the ship’s bar together to get her to reveal the reasoning behind her specist ways and I was right. Her hate didn’t seem deep enough that she was a hopeless specist, and a little romping in the bunk and an ear to listen would probably sober her defenses a bit, then she would be an ideal mate for the war hardened Shepard.

As I played and selected Ash for the missions that required superior firepower (loved teaming her up with Wrex), I began to like her even more. In the lull moments on the ship she opened up more and revealed something about her grandfather (she came from a long line of military people) and some unfair dealings with the alien-run alliance military blacklisting her family – which accounts for her hate. She softens up a tad and when you get to really know her, you realize that her being the eldest of four girls and having to raise them, combined with the Marine influence and of course the whole seeing your men die before you thing, would force anyone to become a brick wall. For this I realized that Ash was a pretty tough cookie. It changed my thoughts on her when I realized that she was not in fact specist or Xenophobic but understandably distrusting of alien races that had given the human military problems in the past.

Hot or Not? What About The Looks?

In terms of looks, Ashley is no stunner, she’s actually quite plain, being that she wears no make-up, ties her hair back and is usually scowling behind a sniper rifle aimed at the Geth. She does have some nice lips and a pair of eyes on her, so I assumed that after the chase, when Shepard and her could take some time off to visit Citadel, she would look stunning outside of the armor and military restrictions. If I was to pick an actress to play Ashley, I would go with Talisa Soto, she is a dead ringer for the character and as you know, Talisa is gorgeous! Romance with Ash would have proved rocky, two ranked military personnel should not fraternize on an Alliance ship since it will incorporate bias… being that as it may, my attraction for this girl was strong but I made the hard decision to choose Liara for Shepard’s love instead.