Ashi

Ashi is one of seven daughters born of the High Priestess of the Daughters of Aku cult. The first born of the sisters, she is the default leader as well as the strongest among them. Though unlike the others, she's the most curious about the world, while her mother and followers do not question the motives of Aku. It is through her defeat from Mako that she questions the world around her and decides to join forces with him to find Samurai Jack.

Characteristics

 * Name: Ashi
 * Age: 25
 * Hair: Black
 * Eyes: Brown
 * Likes: Nature, the world, ladybugs, Serving the Glorious Aku (formerly), her sisters, noodles, Mako, Cocoa, traveling
 * Dislikes: Mako (formerly), Samurai Jack (formerly), Her Mother, Aku, being left behind
 * Family: Father (unknown), High Priestess (mother), 6 sisters (Aki, Abi, Avi, Ari, Anii, Ami)

Background
Ashi and her six sisters were birthed from the High Priestess, Azula, the leader of an all-female cult of Aku, and raised as assassins to do what no other warriors could do: kill Samurai Jack. The High Priestess named them the Daughters of Aku and raised them with the most brutal training methods throughout their childhoods and youth, attempting to sculpt them into the ultimate killers. During her training as a child, Ashi found a hole in the wall to gaze upon the outside world. The High Priestess told her that the world was a creation of their master, Aku, and that it was threatened so long as Jack lived to oppose Aku's rule. She was then thrown back into training and received punishment. When their training was complete years later, they donned their masks and head coverings, as well as given a unique weapon to suit them, hers being a kusarigama and set out to fulfill their mission.

Ashi and her sisters set up traps for who they thought was Jack (but was actually Mako) in a forest, nearly destroying OTTO, and starting an intense battle with the samurai, forcing him to hide and later escape to an abandoned temple. Ashi and her sisters looked for their hiding enemy, pursuing him to the temple's underground crypt. Here they had another intense battle with the samurai, but he succeeded in disabling the youngest of them, Ami, and blew up the temple with the others still inside.

After breaking out of the rubble, and dragging Ami’s body out, though she awoke, as Ashi scolded and berated her as she tried to reason that she could still fight. But Ashi lashed out at her, stating that Ami was a weak link and had permitted the Samurai to show mercy on her, and sent her back to the Cult in shame. She and the others proceeded in tracking the samurai to a forest, Ashi fought Mako again. However, this time, Mako had the elements of concealment and surprise on his side, rather than the other way around as previously, as well as a white wolf helping him out. Unlike their first battle, she found herself and her sisters overwhelmed as, one by one, Mako defeated and disabled the other Daughters until only Ashi was left, hanging off a cliff by the chain of her kusarigama. Seeing her and her sisters having them all been bested, Ashi had a momentary breakdown as she ranted and swore that she would kill him, even as he dropped her to her presumed death.

Initially playing dead, Ashi survived the fall and tried to kill Mako again numerous times, despite being chained up with her own weapon, eaten whole by a giant monster and witnessing Mako's numerous attempts to save her life. Though while in the beast, Ashi is shocked and almost suffering a mental breakdown to realize that Jack was in fact Mako, who had in his possession Jack’s sword. And for a while, they had a truce to escape the beast, despite her wanting to kill him for making her and her sisters into fools. Eventually, after escaping the monster, Ashi attempted to kill Mako with her sickle by sneaking up on him and then take the sword, before noticing a ladybug fly by. This triggered a flashback to when she was a small child training with her sisters, when a ladybug flew into her hand and she observed the beauty of it, before it was unceremoniously squished and killed by her mother, labeling it a distraction and "not part of Aku's order." Ashi continued to hear these words until she saw Mako hold the ladybug in his hand and releasing it unharmed. After being saved by Mako from the belly of a colossal beast (despite her constant animosity towards him and continued attempts to kill him) and watching his humble and honorable nature to the simplest forms of life, she started to question her ways. Finally realizing that Mako was not the enemy, she dropped her weapon and reconsidered her purpose, deciding to meditate with Mako on an island from a distance, indicating that she has made peace with the Samurai.

After returning to the mainland with Mako, as well as reuniting with Aki, Abi, and Anii, as well as OTTO, as well as learning the true nature of Aku, she sees the error of her ways and becomes his ally, going against her mother and her cult. At the same time, she no longer saw Aku as a god but a demon to be destroyed, finally convinced after being shown solid evidence by Mako about Jack’s noble legacy and that Aku is truly evil. Shortly after, she agreed to help Mako save a group of children who were being mind-controlled by implanted chips. While Mako, her sisters, and others who had joined them distracted the children, Ashi searched for the source of the mind-controlling signal, only to be captured and brought before the sadistic Dominator. While being tortured and forced to watch as Mako and the others were overwhelmed, Ashi was angered when the Dominator gloated about turning the children into weapons due to them being naive and vulnerable, striking a nerve and allowing her to break free of her restraints, since it reminded her too much of how she and her sisters were also turned into living weapons for no good reason. Overcoming the Dominator's electric onslaught, Ashi managed to overpower and kill her torturer, freeing the children in the process. Upon discovering that the children were alive and well, Ashi called out for Mako, who was the only one that was missing, but the samurai had mysteriously disappeared, unaware that Baron and a group had caught Mako and was bringing him back to the Caravan, despite that OTTO had the sword on him for safe keeping.

When she and the others began searching for Mako, Ashi, Aki, and OTTO, as well as two of their newest allies, Buster and Proon, found themselves being targeted by two mysterious figures. When they revealed themselves to be Woolies, friends of Samurai Jack, they ask her if she is a friend to Jack as well, leaving her lost in her thought, but when asked if she was a friend of Mako’s, she was even more lost in thought. Ashi then assured them she also wanted to help Mako, who was looking for Samurai Jack. After hearing the story about how Jack saved the Woolies, the airship captain informed her and the others that a band of the Army of the Samurai got off at their current exit, to which she and the others quickly hopped off the blimp. After landing in a forest, they ended up meeting the Three Blind Archers, who tell of Jack's nobleness, then later, meeting up with the others, met the Ravers, who danced and sung upon being reminded of Jack, causing Ashi and her sisters to join in as well.

Upon arriving at a cave with a waterfall, Ashi and her three sisters remembered how her mother forced her and her sisters to jump into a pile of burning darkness, creating a bodysuit that also allowed them to store their weapons. Ashi and the others at first walked away from the cave, but then all four jumped in and started scraping the scabs off their bodies with rocks. While climbing out of the cave, she realizes that she and her sisters were now naked, but OTTO popped up, not fazed that they were nude, and had told the girls that he had created them each a new outfit out of the cloth material that Mako had bought for each of them back in Central Hub (when they had to be inconspicuous).

Later on, when they arrive at a tavern in the forest, they met Da Samurai, who explained that he gave up his samurai life after Jack enlightened him. Back outside, Ashi met a strange one-eyed man person and is asked if Mako is her friend, to which Ashi assuredly says yes. The person then tells Ashi to follow the path north, after which she and the others find Mako, half-dead and tied up in a cemetery being held prisoner by Baron and his men, as well as Arthur who looked ashamed at what was going, even Cocoa. Ashi tries to snap Mako into his senses, yet Baron and the others fight to keep her and the others from interfering. Eventually, Ashi is able to get to Mako when she tells him the children from the factory are still alive, allowing Mako to save her from Baron and defeats him, along with the others, with the last strike helped by a redeemed Arthur. After they escape with Hibachi and Kiko arriving on Buster’s Renegade 1, Mako compliments Ashi's new hairstyle and dress, she asks what their next move is, and Mako responded that it’s time to find Jack once again.

Thus leading them on to the question in doing so, while Ashi and her sisters discover more about the world and themselves. Though along the journey, Ashi grows even more closer to Mako, as both discover more about each other in their origins.

Personality
Like all Daughters of Aku, Ashi was born and raised for battle, and developed into a cunning strategist. Arguably the strongest and smartest Daughter, she was clever enough to go after the archers first in her final test, making the task much easier.

Like the rest of her sisters, she possess little to no knowledge of the outside world, as shown when it turns out she doesn't know what a deer is, and assumes a male deer is Aku's minion due to its antlers. However, she seemed to possess more curiosity about the outside world than her Sisters (both as a child and as an adult), causing the High Priestess to chide her for her distraction and lack of focus. When she begins to question if Jack is truly evil, she demands Mako teach her and becomes impatient when he tells her to wait until the next morning. She also asks him questions like where the stars come from, further implying her love for nature and her abundant curiosity.

She seems to have a skewed comprehension of the concept of decency. When she realized that she was naked upon scrubbing away the dark magic coating on her skin, she uttered "uh-oh". However, when her clothing was eaten by the creature, Lazarus 92, leaving her naked once more, she doesn't mind and was confused by Mako's embarrassment seeing her in such condition. She also found that Mako’s reminder that male and female private parts are personal did not make sense. It is possible she views clothing as purely practical and/or doesn't see the need for concealing her body from someone she knows and trusts. Mako presumably taught her several concepts and terms during their relationship afterwards, as she understand the concept of marriage.

Furthermore, she initially didn’t understand the concept of love and compassion, seeing the loving bond between a deer couple as madness due to the fact that she (like her sisters) had assumed the stag would attack the doe. This was also seen when she and her sisters did not mourn the first of their sisters to be defeated by Mako's hand, instead reciting their mother's words: "death is failure", or stating that those that failed would be considered a weak link. In addition, she tends to suffer from her conscience haunting her (in the form of her mother), reminding her to kill the samurai or Mako. This part of her conscience seems to stem from the abuse she received from her mother along with being indoctrinated since birth to kill the samurai.

Still, she has an emotional breakdown after witnessing all of her sisters’ defeated before her and failing to kill Mako, believing him to be Jack. This is likely due to her being raised to kill Samurai Jack under the extreme and violent tutelage of her mother, who raised them to think of failure as the pinnacle of disgrace and something that was an impossible occurrence. Her breakdown also likely stemmed from her shock at being defeated by Mako, someone she was raised to see herself and her sisters as inherently superior to (implying she is prideful and a little arrogant, which could have partially led to her downfall, especially since Mako wasn’t the samurai indicating that anybody could beat them). Also, when the Dominator taunts how easy it is to manipulate children and turn them into weapons, she reacts angrily, implying she has unresolved feelings towards the abuse she endured from her mother along with her sisters' deaths.

She remained fervent in attempting to kill Mako, proving a determined single-mindedness as a result of her upbringing, as well as believing him to be a follower of the Samurai as she was a follower of Aku. She is very stubborn and initially firm in her beliefs, spending long hours yelling and cursing Mako while stating Aku would punish him while they traveled inside a giant beast. She is capable of holding grudges and noticeably has a short temper, getting frustrated easily. Along with this is an indomitable will, undeterred by failure and capable of withstanding the most gruesome of torture, as evidenced by her many attempts to kill Mako despite her numerous failures along with being able to overcome torture. While she grew up believing Aku to be creator of all things and a God with Jack being a parasite that tormented the land, upon seeing Mako's humble and honest appreciation of life (letting a ladybug go), she questions her beliefs, even when she learned of Samurai Jack’s victories and those who were affected by his help. This demonstrates that while stubborn, she is capable of change and that deep down she is a compassionate person who loves the beauty of the world along with nature. She is horrified to see the truth of Aku and his evil, but slowly accepts it. She is even horrified to hear that children were being taken to a factory to be tortured and used, proving further that she is a kind soul who wishes to protect the innocent. Overall, she seems to have been a misguided woman who thought she had been doing the right thing and protecting people by serving Aku and killing Jack, but eventually sees the error of her ways.

After learning the truth about Jack from Mako, she has renounced her mother, put her past behind (especially as she removes her "bodysuit" and leaves her past behind) and is now set on stopping Aku. She believes in defending the good and protecting nature. She also managed to learn more about Jack while searching for Mako, thanking everyone for telling her their stories and allowing her to see Jack as the true savior of the people. Mako managed to teach her (both directly and indirectly) about the world and about herself, and allowed her to mature and grow as an individual. She was even able to let go of her serious persona for a second to dance to a rave dedicated to Jack's memory and bask in the beauty of nature. Furthermore, she is more balanced and rational than before. When rescuing Mako from Baron as the latter brings down Mako, stating he was nothing more than a worthless outcast and a curse, she repeatedly reasons with the troubled Mako by pointing out various people he had saved and the hope he instilled in their hearts.

Despite becoming a kind person and learning the truth, she still retains a brutal ruthless nature towards her enemy, mercilessly killing the Dominator, an entire Orc Army, and her own mother.

She cares about Mako so much that she was willing to search for him after the Army of the Samurai captures him, even the Cult of Aku, and the Army of the Samurai twice, and help him get his confidence back, as well as save him from Griffith, or Demongo, and other various Aku Incarnations. She has also become protective of him (most likely because he is her savior and because of his at times his own mortality), defending him from even her own mother when she manages to wound him a bit. She even comes to his aid when he visits the Guardian's time portal, saying that she will stay by his side and that no matter what, something brought them together.

Powers

 * Corrupted form: During her unwilling fight against Jack in Episode C, Aku corrupts her into his likeness with several supernatural powers. It is shown that she inherits almost all of Aku's powers.
 * Enhanced Strength: The suit increases her physical strength, making her strong enough to penetrate metallic objects with a sword and shatter the ground with one kick.
 * Elasticity: In her corrupted form, Ashi can stretch and expand her limbs in any direction. Her limbs can also act like a whip that can easily rip through metal.
 * Pyrokinesis/Infusion: Her bodysuit has flaming eyebrows similar to her father. She can also infuse weaponry, such as a sword, with fire.
 * 360-Degree Neck Rotation: She can rotate her head without snapping her neck.
 * Shapeshifting/Weapon Creation: She can turn her forearms into blades.
 * Eye beams: She can fire energy beams from her eyes.
 * Time Portal Creation: Much like her father, Ashi has the ability to create time portals using her vocal chords.

Skills
According to The High Priestess, Ashi is strongest of all the Daughters of Aku.
 * Skilled Archer: Ashi has shown to have excellent skills in archery. She is capable of taking down multiple opponents with the bow while climbing.
 * Enhanced Agility: Ashi's training throughout her entire life has honed her skills as being very fast and have amazing jumping and parkour skills which can arguably be seen as on par with, or even better than Jack's.
 * Skilled Melee Fighter: Ashi and her sisters have become more skilled at close-quarter combat than their trainers.
 * Intelligence: Through her training, Ashi developed a talent for strategy. During the final test, she incapacitated the Cult archers at the top of the cliff face, swinging the fight in her and her sisters' favor.
 * Peak Human Conditioning: Like Jack and Mako, who the first spent the majority of his life preparing to face Aku, Ashi has spent the majority of her life preparing to fight Jack and has honed her body to the absolute limit of human potential.
 * Peak Human Resilience: Ashi has been beaten endlessly throughout her training, hardening her as a warrior. She and her sister also durable enough to endure harsh weather condition since they can fight Jack without the elements hindering their combat capabilities despite being unclothed all the time.
 * Peak Human Senses: Ashi and her sisters were trained to be able to react to dangers, such as archer fire, by instinct. Her reflexes, endurance, stamina and agility are drastically enhanced to superhuman levels.
 * Peak Human Speed: Ashi is shown to be swift. She is capable dodging arrows while climbing a cliff and grabbing one of the fired arrows out of thin air. She and her sisters are capable of dodging machine gun fire.
 * Peak Human Strength: She and her sisters have deceptive raw strength for their lean frame. They are able to destroy Jack's armor merely through punches. They are also able to easily smash through stone and concrete. She was strong enough to lift a large man in a metal suit and throw him through glass. During her battle against the army that comes to kill Jack, she is shown to be strong enough to push hundreds of soldier larger than her off the mountain cliff without difficulty, as well as breaking their spears, armor, shields or pulling the arm of a muscular man out of its socket with her bare hands. Afterwards, she picks up a large stone slab to protect Jack and herself from a hail of arrows, lifting it above her head before destroying it.
 * Indomitable Willpower: Ashi seems to possess a strong will to correct her mistakes and help her persevere through hardships. This made her into a powerful and cold assassin. As described by her mother towards her and her sisters, "Aku's fire stirs through all of you."
 * Pain Resistance: She is strong enough to resist the 10,000 volts of electrical torture from the Dominator, which would normally kill a regular human. She survived a high fall that was damaging enough to leave her bleeding without any apparent pain. She also survived being thrown into hot coals as a child.
 * Enhanced Stamina: In order to protect Jack, Ashi fought and defeated an entire army and her own mother before finally collapsing from exhaustion.
 * Hammerspace: Ashi's original outfit allowed her to store her weapon of choice when not in use. The ability was seemingly lost when she removed her old uniform. In Episode XCVII we see Ashi using this ability as she had a spare kusarigama she used when jumping out of the blimp.
 * Tailoring Skill: After cleansing herself of the darkness from her skin, Ashi tailors her new clothing from local flora, literally leaving her past in the dust.
 * Animal Taming: She may, to some extent, be good at taming animals. In Episode XCVIII, the large bird she and Jack rode took a particular liking to her and even came back to help her when she called for it. It is very likely Jack taught her this skill.
 * Weapon proficiency: Ashi is shown to be proficient with most weapons she comes across. Initially wielding a kusarigama (sickle and chain), she later demonstrates skill with a swordstaff and shield in Episode XCIX. She is also good at improvising, using a ram's horn as a makeshift dagger in XCVIII, then later throwing shards of glass as makeshift shuriken in XCIX. Unlike Jack, however, Ashi has little to no experience with firearms, shown when she accidentally misfired a laser rifle in the prison ship's armory.

Equipment

 * Outfits
 * Kusarigama: Ashi's main weapon is a kusarigama. Unlike the traditional kusarigama, her kusarigama is designed with a spike circle at the loose end rather than a iron ball.
 * Kunai
 * Shinobi Katana: After her sister, Ami, is found alive, she takes her katana as a secondary weapon, as Ami's failure is worsened when she is spared by Mako.
 * Retractable Arm Shield: In her new attire, her left wrist band is an extendable and collapsible arm shield she can use for deflecting or melee combat. (Yes, it does look like a leaf)

Relationships
Ashi's Relationships

Voice Actor
Tara Strong

Trivia

 * Ashi's name is translated to meaning either Blessing or Reeds, which are somewhat symbolic to Light.