Thoughts about the possibility of Ashley returning in future RE games...
I was definitely one of those people who hoped for an Ashley return in RE9. I really wanted her to be the person in Leon’s ear. I just thought it would be poetic and narratively satisfying to see her in a position of being his guide this time.
I wasn't really convinced that it was her, I was only like 20% convinced. I know Capcom's history of bringing back side characters and odds were stacked against her. My brain said it was Sherry, but my heart wanted it to be Ashley.
It made me happy when I saw other people in the wild wanting it to be Ashley as well - big gamers on YouTube, redditors... it felt validating when someone who wasn't into shipping saw the potential of Ashley being Leon's FOS.
But of course, there were those who had to be the fun police and quickly shut down the hopes of those people. They just had to, they couldn't help themselves. As though they personally worked for Capcom. Like, why is it so impossible? Either Ashley haters or they convinced themselves that they know how Capcom operates that they can't imagine anything else.
These are the real reasons I've seen:
"Her character arc is complete, there is no reason for her to come back. It's ok for a character to be one and done."
Sure, that's fair, but I also ask, what makes a character one and done? Who decides that? Certainly not you, a random redditor. Also, I'd argue that her arc is not complete until we see her become an agent, thanks.
"Why would they bring her back instead of Carlos/Jake/Billy/Rebecca?"
Why can't we have both? Why would Ashley's return negate the possibility of the legacy characters returning?
Idk why it was offensive to them to suggest that Ashley might come back. The "that's never gonna happen" crowd is always so confident for a franchise like RE. It's not completely outside of the realm of possibility. The thing is, Capcom can be random like that. Who thought that they would bring back Alyssa Ashcroft, out of all the characters? No one predicted that, Alyssa didn't necessarily have a discord fan base dedicated to her. But she was still returned.
On the flip side, hugely popular characters disappeared for years. Characters who have every reason to return, didn't. Why? Idk, Capcom logic.
So maybe... popularity isn't the only indicator of who they decide to bring back?
We all know that in those polls we've seen, Ashley doesn't even make the top five most popular. I mean she is pretty popular but not top five popular.
It just makes me shake my head when people are SO SURE that something isn't gonna happen. There is no such thing as not happening in RE universe, only least likely or most likely. But the possibility is never zero. If Capcom finds a way, if it fits their story, they'd bend the rules to do it. We've all played RE9, yeah?
I mean, this is the series that brought back Wesker in the form of Zeno. But you draw the line at Ashley returning? Like, that's the thing you can't wrap your head around?
I don't know if that works in her favor, but I'm just saying, that people who are dismissing it as something that's never gonna happen aren't necessarily right. It's least likely, but not 100% guaranteed.
I mean unless they work for Capcom and they've actually seen the script for RE10, RE11, etc..., in that case, I eat my words.
But not today. No thanks. Keep your speculations to yourselves lol
By the way, when someone says they want this character to come back and they're not talking shit about other characters, why does it offend people? Why do they have to squash their hope? What is it to you if they hope for something to happen in a fandom that they escape to? If we dont have hope in this God forsaken world, then idk what else we have.
Ok that got deep but you know I mean.
What I can reasonably infer:
-Ashley's semi-recent appearance in 4make and her character makeover may mean they are planning to use her in the future. Whether that plan comes to fruition is a huge question mark
-Whether they like her or not, she is forever connected to Leon as one his biggest success stories (if not the biggest)
-Capcom doesn't seem to "bend" to fans' will, they only see dollar signs. And Ashley is tied to one of the highest selling RE games.
-Ashley's thread is there, ready and available, they just need to continue it if they want to
Tl;dr: No one can predict if a character is returning or not. While I think an Ashley return is least likely to happen (because then they need a good story to tell but I'm not sure it's a priority), it's not entirely impossible either. Popularity is not the only indicator of whether a character will return. Capcom logic. Remember that.
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