Ash Kennedy

Ash Kennedy is the main protagonist of Mobile Suit Gundam: Emerald Memories. He is the pilot of the ASO Gundam and later the co-pilot of the Gundam Weiss (Alongside of his sister), and an Observer (A hybrid of an Innovator, and a Newtype). The final Gundam he piloted, was the ASO Gundam Mark II in Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Continuum Overdrive.

He is also the brother of Elizabeth Kennedy and was adopted by the Vashti family in Chapter 1 of Series 2. He becomes a representative of the Earth Sphere Federation during the events of Mobile Suit Gundam 00: The Singing Serenade, in which his daughter, Catherine Kennedy serves as the main protagonist.

Personality and Character
Ash is a loyal, yet brash and arrogant young man. He is loyal to his fellow squadmates. His younger sister, Elizabeth helps him calm down, in which he gives credit to her for helping him forget about the times when he was brash. He also cares about his sister, with him having to accompany her every time to keep her safe. As well as Feldt Grace, who is like a kid sister to him and Elizabeth.

In the Japanese version of Emerald Memories, he also speaks using English words interspliced with Japanese (or, Engrish). Saying things like What's wrong? or Let's get this show on the road!. Elizabeth calls him nii-san in the Japanese release (Brother, with a touch of respect).

In Emerald Memories - Weiss, an older Ash appears, while his appearance hasn't changed, he gets a new outfit, he even wears his sunglasses now, and his voice also changes. He retrains some of his personality from his younger appearance, but he is less brash and arrogant than he was before. He becomes popular around the girls as well. However, he does get a new look in the second season.

Abilities
Ash is an Observer, a hybrid of both, an Innovator, and a Newtype. He is skilled in war and combat, and the nature of Justice, having being trained by his father at a young age.

His Innovator eyes consist of a green color when activated, his abilities as an Innovator include the use of GN Particles in his body, which explains why Ash's Newtype abilities are limited, he also has no access to use the Psychoframe Technology because of how strong it is for a Newtype like him. Due to his abilities in the Newtype half of his genes, he is limited to using the Psycommu system, a device that is able to directly interpret the user's thoughts by picking up their brainwaves. In the Innovator half of his genes, he can also use the Trans-Am System, an inherent feature of both the GN Drive and GN Drive Tau that temporarily increases their GN Particle output beyond normal parameters for greatly enhanced combat performance.

Out of all three observers (Him, Elizabeth, and Teresa) in the series, he is the best raw pilot because of his piloting skills, having tested out the ASO Gundam when he was a kid, while Teresa is the strongest observer due to her being the Giver of Life, and Elizabeth is a balance between the two.

Early Life
Born in January of 2290 A.D., Ash is the first of two children born in Sapphire City, a suburb in Emerald Tower. He became fascinated with Mobile Suits after seeing his father pilot one, knowing that being a mobile suit pilot is a lifelong dream of his. He took some time with his father to talk about Mobile Suits. He is also fascinated with drawing artwork, or modifying them on his own computer. Being praised for his artwork, and for his inspirations in artwork. He is also an honor student, and is deemed a great friend among his fellow classmates.

One of Ash's favorite subjects to learn about in history class is the One Year War, which reveals Ash's interest in producing newly refined versions of Mobile Suits used by the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. Although he favors the former over the latter, he prefers the mobile suits made by the latter. One of the mobile suits from Zeon that interest him, is the Zaku.

Joining the United Nations and meeting Gerald
He joined the United Nations after graduating from High School, serving as a petty officer. He took part in their squad drills, and was forced to do the dirty work for them. He met Gerald during his time in the United Nations, the two became rivals. Seeing from his whiny behavior, and for being a general annoyance to him.

Joining Task Squad 496
On the morning of January 8, 2308 A.D., he left the United Nations. Afterwards, he later came to an agreement with Jack, who happens to be the leader of Task Squad 496, and joined the latter a day after leaving the former.

After joining Task Squad 496, he then took part of Jack's Forced Evolution project, which was at first new to Ash. Jack explains to Ash that the forced evolution project is a test to see if his abilities will be good enough for combat. Upon taking the test, his results ended up well, and was put to sleep for five days after taking part in the project.

First day in combat, and saving Elizabeth
Five days have passed since he took part in the Forced Evolution project, he starts to wake up, but he notices that he is feeling a bit dizzy. Serena, a friend of Jack's came to Ash, and explained his results to him. She later tells him that he became an Observer during his five day sleep, and his life started to change for the better upon hearing the benefits of being an Observer.

Before going to combat, Ash went to his father's storage room. There, he found the ASO Gundam. He gets it out of his father's storage room, and takes it to the Gundam Labs of TS496. During his first Gundam battle, he starts to make use of his new-found abilities to see what he is capable of. He was also awarded for saving a young girl's life from falling to her death. The girl was later revealed to be Elizabeth, his sister. The two hug, and were tearfully reunited. Ash later referred his sister to join Task Squad 496, and she gratefully accepts his offer to join.

Befriending Saji and Louise, training Elizabeth, and the Sacred Lightning War
Ash decided to spend some time with his sister by traveling around Sapphire City some more to see if they can find some friends to make. During their search to make new friends, they encounter Saji Crossroad, and Louise Halevy. Ash and Elizabeth introduced themselves to them.

Upon hearing Elizabeth's story of how Ash saved her life, the two lovers become friends with the Kennedy Siblings. Congratulating Ash on being brave enough to save his own sister from her death. Ash took some time with his sister to talk to her about the Force Evolution test he took after becoming a member of Task Squad 496. She accepts, and goes to train with her as the pilot of the Gundam Mark III. She quickly learned how to operate a Gundam machine properly, and Ash was proud of her for learning how to operate all the controls in Gundam without training.

"Mother, Father. You trained us well."

-, during his training with his sister.

During his training with Elizabeth, Lyle Dylandy found three teenagers by the names of John Hawkins, Shane Johnson, and Joe Solobov. Ash later learned that John was a childhood friend of both him and Elizabeth, attending the same schools as them since Elementary School. Lyle asked Jack if the three teenagers can join TS496 to serve in the Sacred Lightning War, as he saw the Lightning Squad's true motives of plotting for world domination. Ash heard about the war and plans to take part in it with the ASO Gundam.

"The Sacred Lightning War? This is going to be one hell of a bloodbath."

-, after hearing about the Sacred Lightning War.

Combat with Elizabeth, Celestial Being, and his exhaustion
After training with Elizabeth, Ash asks her if she would do the Forced Evolution test before going to combat. He thinks that Elizabeth will be combat-ready after looking at her skills during their training. She accepts and Ash takes her to the testing lab. He then learns that his parents have been killed by Josh Starstorm, he swore to avenge his parents by killing Josh.

Ash watched his sister during the test, he realizes that she was able to finish the test rapidly thanks to their training, Elizabeth passed the test and her results were well. He then takes her to the sleeping chamber for her to get a five-day rest. During her sleep, she began to see things, much like her brother did during his five-day rest. She also saw her memories and the old pendant that their parents gave her.

Five days later, she woke up and she begins to feel dizzy, Ash escorts her to Serena, who explained her results to her. She then tells Elizabeth that she became an Innovator/Newtype hybrid, and explains the benefits of being a hybrid between an Innovator and a Newtype to her. Ash gives her the Gundam Peacemaker as a reward for passing the test.

Ash and Elizabeth go to combat, he installed the Psycommu System in her Force Gundam. Elizabeth then goes to combat alongside of her brother, they learn that the ASO and the Peacemaker can use the Trans-Am System, an inherent feature of both the GN Drive and GN Drive Tau that temporarily increases their GN Particle output beyond normal parameters for greatly enhanced combat performance. Elizabeth completes her first day in combat, and Ash praises her combat skills. It was later revealed that Ash and Elizabeth were both born as innovators, but the two became a hybrid of both, a newtype and an innovator.

Elizabeth repairs and cleans the Peacemaker after combat, knowing that repairs are the best thing to do after a day in combat. Ash meets a member of the Gundam Meisters branch of Celestial Being, Setsuna F. Seiei. The reason of why Setsuna came to Task Squad 496 was because he wanted to form a pact with the Gundam Meisters and the Sapphire City Council, the latter which is also part of Celestial Being. Task Squad 496 became part of Celestial Being the following day. Ash practices with Elizabeth again, but he starts to feel exhausted.

Louise finds Ash lying in bed, exhausted after five days in combat. He tells Louise that he hardly ever got some sleep after he left home, and when he has the time, he can't. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees the battles he fought in, she asks him if he wants Elizabeth to come cheer him up, he said yes and Louise goes to get Elizabeth. He starts to feel a bit happy after his sister encouraged him to be himself, but later, he leaves the dining room of the Galacticus Starta because he wasn't in the mood. Jack questioned what he's been doing, and Ash starts to smart-mouth him; Jack slaps him twice and Ash refuses to pilot the ASO ever again.

Louise encourages him not to be shy and scared to die in the battlefield, she also remarks that if he didn't pilot the ASO, Elizabeth would've died by now. He takes her words of advice and prepares to sortie in the ASO Gundam, he tells Serena, Saji, and Louise that he wants to try something new with the ASO, he wants to expand the abilities of the ASO's Psycommu system. He gets aid from both Guntank and Guncannon to back him up. Everyone in Task Squad 496, even the Gundam Meisters comment on his skills in combat: "Jack, do you see how Kennedy is taking out those fighter planes?"

- Setsuna, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"Yes. One thing I must say, while he may be in a lousy mood, it still hasn't made him forget how to fight."

- Jack, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"Great job, brother. You've gotten stronger now!"

- Elizabeth, commenting on her brother's combat skills

"It's Ash to the rescue!"

- Serena, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"You can do this, Ash. Believe in yourself."

- Jane, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"Good luck Ash, kick their ass!"

- Shane, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"Yes, the ASO is here. It's Ash!"

- Sean, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"Ash, glad you were able to make it!"

- John, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"Looks like Kennedy finally decided to show his true combat prowess."

- Tieria, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy. I knew there was something I like about ya'."

- Allelujah, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"Thanks for taking my words of advice, Ash. Now show Josh what you're made of!"

- Louise, commenting on Ash's combat skills

"Great job Ash! Show Josh who's boss and kick his ass!"

- Saji, commenting on Ash's combat skills

He takes out all of the fighter planes, and proceeds to fight Josh, who was revealed to be the Pilot of the Black Zaku II that destroyed the Sapphire City Mall. Ash's anger has reached above it's maximum level, and uses the ASO's Ragnarök skill, killing him and avenged the death of his parents as a result. "I might as well kill you for what you've done to the mall, you nearly killed my little sister. Now, maybe I think you'll blush a pretty pink when I kick your ass!"

- Ash, using the ASO's Ragnarök skill against Josh "Gerald, forgive me..."

- Josh's final words after Ash's Ragnarök skill

Ash apologizes to everyone else for his exhaustion and refusal to go to combat the first time, promising to everyone that even if he is exhausted, he should just follow their orders and not rebel to them. Elizabeth, Saji and Louise are proud of him for making such a wise decision.

Meeting Emily Smith, the Cyber-Newtype, and first battle in the Sacred Lightning War
Sean Crawford receives a message from the Sapphire City Council head Amuro Ray, he mentions that Ash and Shane are to go to New Hong Kong to investigate the presence of a Psycho Gundam, which happens to by piloted by a Cyber-Newtype. Ash sets out in his Zaku because the ASO is in need of repairs, while Shane heads out in his custom Gelgoog. The Psycho Gundam sees both, the Zaku and the Gelgoog. The Psycho Gundam evaded their impending attack.

"Is that the best the Zaku and the Gelgoog can do?"

- The pilot of the Psycho Gundam

Ash manages to deal with the left arm and the main camera of the Psycho Gundam, while Shane managed to destroy the right arm and the shield. The Psycho Gundam was destroyed, and the pilot lands on the Zaku's hands. She reveals herself to be Emily Smith, and she instantly fell in love with Ash, knowing that he would save her from the Lightning Squad's Psycho Gundam. Shane questioned her on why she is part of the Lightning Squad, and if she is the Cyber-Newtype Amuro mentioned earlier, Emily refused to answer those questions; She later joins Task Squad 496 since Ash, the person who changed her life, is part of it. Before he injects the Psycho Gundam cells from Emily, she reveals to him that she is a Cyber-Newtype who was modified to emulate his sister, with her memories from the incident that happened when he was ten years old. Ash was shocked upon hearing this.

Ash and Saji patrol around New Hong Kong for any sight of the Lightning Squad's planned attack in the Sacred Lightning War, Ash detects a bomb planted by the Lightning Squad, knowing that it is the first sign of their attack, believing that the bombs were planted to signal the presence of the Psycho Gundam. Saji sees a lightning bolt in the shield of the Psycho Gundam, seeing that it does belong to the Lightning Squad, he calls it a Mobile Armor due to its giant size. Ash and Saji were detected by one of the bombs used by the Lightning Squad, and the first battle of the Sacred Lightning War begins.

Jane Winston watches the war and gives Task Force 496 instructions on what to do, she also supplied Task Squad 496 with support and equipment through the Galacticus Starta. Ash and Elizabeth were ordered to destroy the main supply line of the Lightning Squad, they acknowledge to do so politely, and they head off to the supply line.

Rescued by Amuro and Lacus
During their mission to the Supply Line, Ash and Elizabeth were ambushed by a group of Gyan's and GINN's, as they fell into a trap made by the Lightning Squad. William Osborne, the leader of the Lightning Squad appears in front of them.

"Well, well.. If it isn't the Kennedy Siblings! I have heard a lot about you, Ash Kennedy."

- William, as he introduces himself to Ash

"So you happen to be the leader of the Lightning Squad, huh?"

- Ash, questioning William

William reveals his mobile suit shortly after introducing himself to Ash, known as the MSN-301 The O ver. Annihilate. He attempts to kill both, Ash and Elizabeth using The O's bio-scythe. It wasn't until Amuro Ray and Lacus Clyne came to the spotlight to save Ash and Elizabeth.

"Isn't that.. the Nu Gundam? If it is, isn't that Lt. Amuro?"

- Ash Kennedy, after seeing the Nu Gundam

Ash and Elizabeth then destroy the supply line while Amuro and Lacus distract William. The two manage to escape quickly. Amuro and Lacus make their escape after using a smoke bomb to fly away from the scene.

Shane vs. Travis
Ash has show great worry over Shane's behavior the last few days, claiming that he has entered a mental breakdown over the presence of Travis, an old friend of his, which Ash believes he betrayed Shane by joining the Lightning Squad. Ash then tells Shane to calm down, but Shane refuses to do so, putting him in more of a rage over Travis.

Ash finds out that Travis was the one who he met when he came to Teresa's defense one day while she was being bullied, if he remembers correctly, Travis did not approve of Teresa wanting to date him. Elizabeth asked why Travis and Teresa would join the Lightning Squad, and Ash had no clue of why they would.

Things start to get worse as Ash and Elizabeth find out that Shane is obsessed with a desire to kill Travis not only for betrayal, but for taking away everything that rightfully belongs to him, and only him. During the Battle, Ash launches in the ASO Gundam to help Shane calm down, but as a result, Shane ignores him and kills Travis with the Revolver's Satellite Cannon.

The Gundam Sovereign Meisters return to the Task Squad 496 headquarters after the battle, in Shane's room, Elizabeth angrily confronts Shane, repeatably punching him for killing Travis in battle. Ash, Saji, and Louise try to calm her down, but she continues to vent her anger on Shane, saying that what he did, was unforgivable.

Shane vs. Teresa
Just as Shane launches in the Gundam Revolver, Teresa appears and attacks him, calling him an "unforgivable psychopath" for killing her brother. Shane claims that he had never met Teresa, and why she shouldn't forgive him, but Teresa replies that they met before, and she wouldn't forgive him for the death of her brother, Travis. Shane responds by starting his attack on the Crossblade.

"Ash, look at this!"

- Elizabeth, as she tells Ash to look at one of the windows

"Hmm? What is it?"

- Ash, asking Elizabeth what she wants him to see

"It's Shane and Teresa! They're fighting over the death of Travis."

- Elizabeth, as she tells Ash what's going on

"Shane and Teresa?! I need to stop them!"

- Ash, surprised at Elizabeth's reply

Meanwhile, Elizabeth tells Ash to look at one of the windows of the Galacticus Starta, what they witness, is Shane fighting Teresa. Ash starts to rage over this, as Teresa promises that she will date him once they see each other again. Elizabeth tells him that the date should wait till after the war. While knowing that something bad was going to happen, Elizabeth launches in the Peacemaker to stop Shane and Teresa from fighting against each other.

Reaction to Teresa's Death
Right at the moment when Teresa was about to kill Shane, Elizabeth uses the Peacemaker's beam rifle to fire a beam at the Crossblade's arms, but instead, it locks on to the cockpit and pierces through it, killing Teresa in the process. Elizabeth realizes on what she did was an accident, and Ash cries over the death of his future girlfriend.

Just as Elizabeth enters the Starta, Ash angrily confronts her, and threatens to hurt her for killing Teresa, however, Louise managed to stop Ash from punching her, asking if he wants a repeat of what happened between them eight years ago, Ash learns that Elizabeth was telling the truth, and they cry in each other's arms, apologizing to each other. Elizabeth reveals that she was able to retrieve Teresa's body, and she will be revived once the war ends.

Ash and Elizabeth vs. William
After recovering from depression in which the death of Emily caused, Ash and Elizabeth enter the combat zone one more time to settle their score with William once and for all. Elizabeth tells Ash that she will stay inside of the Starta to stay safe, she also told him that she will provide him with support during the fight, mentioning that whenever he is in a moment of distress, he should call Sumeragi to provide backup from Task Squad 496, the Sapphire City Council, and the Gundam Meisters.

Before launching in the Emerald Gundam, Jack, Serena, Shane, John, Saji, Louise, Sean, Jane, and everyone from Celestial Being all tell him to believe in himself, and that he shouldn't worry too much about Emily's death.

The Emerald Gundam looks around the Weissberg Asteroid Belt for any sign of William's whereabouts, he notices fast movements that could signal his attack on him. Elizabeth then told Ash to look behind him, and it turns out to be William, who attempts to kill Ash using The O's bio-scythe.

Ash uses the Emerald Gundam's sword to guard himself from William's Bio-Scythe, but he then attempts to attack him using its Ragnarok attack. However, The O disappears before the Ragnarok attack got to him, and it kicks the Emerald Gundam after reappearing from behind. William attempts to kill Ash with his scythe, but the Nightingale's funnels attack him before such action could be done. Shane uses the Revolver's Defense Plate to defend Ash from William's impending attacks.

Ash attacks William and destroys The O's right arm, William tells Ash that it's not over yet, and that the fun just got started.

Jack uses the Nightingale's funnels to distract The O, however, funnels weren't to stop it from hurting Ash, as The O destroys the Emerald Gundam's main camera, Ash uses its sub camera, but he wasn't able to attack it with a straight shot from its beam rifle. Serena & Louise have the ASO Gundam ready for docking procedures. Saji, Sean, Shane, and John use the Galacticus Starta's missile launchers to damage The O from behind, thus destroying its main camera.

William's death and Sacred Lightning War aftermath
Ash switches to the ASO, now fueled with power from everyone that had died needlessly by William's hands. William calls this a power he has never heard of, and taunts Ash for making it up. Elizabeth tells William that what he's saying is true, she uses her power fueled by those she loved to destroy The O's control pad, thus immobilizing it; she takes the Emerald Gundam to the Starta. Ash takes his chance with his powers to ram The O into the Battleship Starcross, planting a bomb in the core of the engine. He shoots the bomb implanted to the Starcross, thus destroying it and killing William in the process.

The Sacred Lightning War draws to a close, with everyone from Celestial Being, including Ash & Elizabeth cheering in excitement. Ash throws a party at his old home to celebrate their victory over the now-disbanded Lightning Squad. Ash thanks Elizabeth for supporting him throughout the last few years, stating that if it wasn't for her, anything wouldn't be possible. Sumeragi gives them a Haro for them to share as a reward for saving the world.

During the next two years, nothing could be heard about Ash or Elizabeth, many considered for them to be missing, but in reality, he and Elizabeth lived in their old, abandoned home where the two do things they always did before they were dragged into the war.

The reason behind Ash and Elizabeth's absence had to do with them having to repeat the 12th grade due to their unexpected absence half-way throughout the school year. A group of high school students became fans of both, Ash and Elizabeth after hearing that they were the heroes of the Sacred Lightning War, with one student saying that they want to be like Ash one day, but Ash told him that he should probably take mobile suit lessons from Celestial Being once their develop an interest in Mobile Suits.

Returning to Celestial Being
Ash, now 22 years old returns to Celestial Being to form Sovereign Serenity with his sister. They had recruited the younger members of Task Squad 496 to join the squad, as Ash believes that Task Squad 496 should be reserved for older people.

Elizabeth Kennedy
Ash's beloved little sister, he treats her with all the respect he can give her. Ash comes to Elizabeth to cheer him up whenever he feels bad for any of the bad things he does. The two used to throw fits at each other, but nonetheless, the siblings get along well.

Teresa Willis
Teresa has fallen in love with Ash since he stood up to her while she was being bullied by a boy twice her size. He has feelings for Teresa as well, but he chose to keep them secret. When around Ash, Teresa always calls Ash a sweetie-pie and cutey boy, revealing that she only loves cute guys.

However, her brother, Travis disapproved of Teresa's relationship with Ash, as he sees him as a bad influence to her. As the series progresses, however, he seems to have approved of Teresa falling in love with Ash, seeing that he is a true hero after all.

Sometime during Season 2 of Emerald Memories - Weiss, she leaves Sovereign Serenity after learning that Travis' crimes are in turn her crimes, thinking that it was the former's fault that he got Ash romantically involved with Teresa; she had since suffered depression, with her brother's guilt preventing her from seeing Ash. In the end of the series, she was saved by Ash after he confesses his feelings to her, which allows her to break free from the Psycho Gundam Mk-II's control and her emotional barriers, which has now allowed her to be happy now that she is with him.

Trivia

 * Ash, Amuro, and Ribbons share the same Japanese voice actor, although he is credited as Noboru Sōgetsu.
 * Coincidentally, Ash and Ribbons share the same English voice actor as well; Although the two characters are somewhat related in a way, as the relationship between Ash and Ribbons is unknown at the moment.
 * Series Writer Takeshi Sawashiro based the character off of himself.

Quotes
"ASO Gundam Mk-II, launching!"

- Ash, when launching in the ASO Gundam Mk-II

"Mileina! How have you been, my little adoptive sister?"

- Ash, greeting Mileina in Emerald Memories - Weiss