 In an interview with Ignition Entertainment director of business development Shane Bettehausen , Alex Lucard of Diehard GameFan said that North American SNK fans detested Ash and complained about his inclusion in The King of Fighters XII without a storyline while popular series characters were overlooked . Bettehausen defended the character , calling him " nuanced and improved " and his moves " incredibly effective " . In June 2009 , Stephen Totilo of Kotaku interviewed Bettehausen , who asked him while Totilo was playing to guess Ash 's gender . When Totilo said the character was female , Betehausen called KOF " progressive " in introducing a cross @-@ dressing character and said that fans were apparently " warming up to him " . On Destructoid , Jonathan Holmes praised Ash 's character as " defying traditional gender roles while kicking some ass " and called him " the perfect mascot for the KoF series as a whole . " Merchandising related to Ash 's appearance has also been released . 
