Despite being the series' protagonist during its third story arc, Ash's behavior is generally antagonistic and he tries to steal powers from several recurring characters, leaving them powerless.

His identity and intentions are further explored in the 2011 title, The King of Fighters XIII, and he has been featured in print adaptations and a drama CD based on the games.

In interviews and press releases, video game publisher UTV Ignition Entertainment noted that he was unpopular with Western gamers and his design was better suited to Japanese fans.

[6] When Ash's comrade Elisabeth Blanctorche accuses him of abandoning his original mission and becoming obsessed with power, he leaves after saying that Kyo Kusanagi will be his next victim.

It is later also revealed that Verse, along with an unnamed blue creature, whose half of their power fragments somehow implanted into young Shun'ei, was created from Ash's result on changing his timeline back in the previous tournament, creating timeline interferences and resulting in Samurai Shodown's Nakoruru traveling to the present and stuck there, along with a time-displaced Mui Mui of Dragon Gal and Love Heart of Sky Love.

When The King of Fighters 2003 was released and Ash introduced, the staff did not want to disclose information about him, instead telling fans to look forward to his "exploits."

[20] According to a staff member, Falcoon, the goal was to make Ash an ambiguous protagonist who made players "feel bad" for cheering for him.

One of them is a traitorous teenager with no sense of ethics, and the other is a thug that the yakuza would avoid and an assassin possessed by a vengeful spirit, so there is no room for friendship to be born there.

His EX version in the game makes more multiple hits than his regular form, and the "disgusting" style of his "Génie" (ジェニー) move is said to fit his character.

After defeating Iori Yagami, the character acquired the "Fructidor" (テルミドール) Neo Max move (his strongest attack in The King of Fighters XIII).

[30] For The King of Fighters XIII, producer Kei Yamamoto wanted gamers who had played previous titles with Ash to consider the character's motivation and whether they could relate to him.

While SNK looked forward to his interactions to his previous enemies Chizuru and Iori,[33] they were also glad that he managed to join his friend Elizabeth for the first time in the franchise due to their close relationship.

Looking at it from another perspective, it could be said that he is unlikely to enter future KOFs unless he has some kind of strong motivation, but Ureshino feels that it would be fine for Ash to just relax and make a flower crown for Betty rather than take part in a sweaty tournament.

[35] Lucas M. Thomas of IGN wrote that a major fan complaint was the character's strength in the games, which made him one of the strongest opponents despite an apparent lack of effort.

[41] After UTV Ignition Entertainment polled fans to choose an artbox for console versions of The King of Fighters XII, the company announced that Ash's unpopularity reduced the number of potential covers to two (featuring Kyo and Iori).

[42] Den of Geek described Ash as one of the best The King of Fighters with the writer comparing him with Loki based on their antagonistic and tricky behaviour as well as how his heroic traits in KOF XIII gave fans different thoughts,[43] while Complex described him as one of gaming's "douchiest" characters androgynous look as well as how he steals the powers of Chizuru Kagura and Iori Yagami.

[45] 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.

[47] 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.

[49] Famitsu noted Ash Crimson came across as a surprise to gamers for his ambiguous characterization as even though he is supposed to be third hero of KOF, the ending of the Sacred Treasures Team makes him look like a villain when attacking Chizuru Kagura and stealing the sources of her powers.