Ashrah

With each fiend I eradicate, my presence here becomes more unstable...soon I will be expelled from this realm. -- Mortal Kombat: Deception Bio

Ashrah is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. She made her debut in Mortal Kombat: Deception.

About Ashrah
Despite having the appearance of an elegant, old-fashioned, attractive young woman, Ashrah is actually a demon from the Netherealm. She was once a member of Quan Chi's Brotherhood of the Shadow, which worshipped the fallen Elder God Shinnok. Ashrah dresses completely in white and appears as a tall, mysterious woman, a blend between aristocracy and innocence. She made her first appearance in Mortal Kombat: Deception. Within the Mortal Kombat series, she is something of a stand-alone character, jumping back and forth between the forces of good and evil. Her occupation is that of a demon hunter. Ashrah's weapon of choice is her Kriss, which is a type of sword that is similar to the Dragon Sword that Liu Kang used in Mortal Kombat 4. This weapon is believed to have been "blessed" or is of a "heavenly origin."

Storyline
One day, Ashrah refused to carry out one of Quan Chi's orders. In response, he sent her sister (a fellow member of the Brotherhood of the Shadow) to kill her. While escaping her would-be assassin in the Netherrealm, she found a holy sword known as Kriss. As she learned how to wield the blade, slaying Netherrealm demons with it, Ashrah began to recognize that with each one she killed, the sword progressively cleansed her spirit of evil. She then resolved to liberate herself from her inherent malevolent nature by using the Kriss to eliminate the evil within her. Each demon that she slays brings her closer to her goal of purification, and consequentially, her eventual expulsion from the Netherealm, as that dimension cannot sustain anyone with a soul containing such purity. (What she didn't know, however, was that her Kriss blade was actually the "Datusha", a mystical vampire-slaying weapon that corrupts its wielder with the false belief that they are using it for a greater purpose in order to continue its genocide against the vampires and other demons.)

She has allied herself with Shujinko and taught him demon slaying techniques in the past. At one time, she came into conflict with Ermac. Mistakenly considering him to be a demon, she attempted to kill him and lost. During the events of Deception, she searched for Noob Saibot, whom she considers to be a powerful demon, as doing so would enable her to complete her ascension.

Ashrah's bio in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon explains that, after slaying a multitude of demons in the Netherealm, she transcended that plane of hell and emerged in an unfamiliar realm, surrounded by celestial beings of light. The celestial beings made her into their chosen warrior - the wielder of the Kriss who could purify the world, and would ascend into becoming "an angel of light", once she used the weapon to "consume the darkness". After submitting to their will, Ashrah was transported to Vaeternus to start slaying the vampire race, whom she saw as vile beings for their feeding on the blood of the living and spreading their corruption throughout the realms. Ashrah began her quest, slaying numerous vampires. However, she soon was encountered by Nitara, who was warned by her elders of this threat to her realm. Ashrah was defeated by Nitara, who then managed to escape to Edenia, and Ashrah followed her to gain the power of Blaze in order to destroy Nitara and gain ascension.

In Ashrah's Armageddon ending, the power of Blaze purified her completely; she was transformed into a being of divine light.Her radiance soothed even the darkest of souls. With new purpose, she traversed the realms in search of evil, pacifying the wicked. Her mission came full circle when at last she purified the sorcerer who would have her slain: Quan Chi.

Combat characteristics
It is unknown what Ashrah's powers were before she acquired the Kriss, but judging by her former position in the Brotherhood of Shadow, she was most likely very adequate in kombat.

Ashrah has possession of a powerful, holy artifact known as the Kriss, which can effect a demon's very being. By slaying demons, its wielder gradually becomes more pure/holy and the effects have been shown in Ashrah full force. It does not just effect their essence, but their personalities. It is for this reason that Ashrah has turned against her demon brethren and seeks to become purified and if she slays enough demons, the Netherrealm itself will reject her holy being. Despite Ashrah's origin as a demon, she wields holy powers as a side effect of wielding the Kriss.

Signature Moves

 * Purifying Light: Shoots a ball of white energy that travels a very short distance but knocks the opponent back. (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Lightning Blast: Shoots a ball of white energy upwards that will crash down on the opponent. (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Spin Cycle: She spins in a circle and if she hits the opponent they will be sent flying. Pressing the button repeatedly will make it last longer. (MK:D, MK:A)
 * Nature's Torpedo: She flies missile-like towards the opponent and if she connects, the opponent will be sent flying. (MK:D, MK:A)

Fatalities

 * Purifying Light: Ashrah summons a field of mystical blue light around her opponent, who melts. (MK:D)
 * Voodoo Death: Ashrah flourishes a voodoo doll, then stabs its arms with her Kriss. Her opponent's arms fall to the ground.  Then she stabs the doll in its chest and twists the blade, sending chunks of flesh fly from the opponent's torso before they keel over dead. (MK:D)

Other finishers

 * Hara-Kiri: Ashrah spins rapidly while surrounded with mystical blue energy. Body parts break off and fly in many directions before the energy field disappears. (MK:D)

Trivia

 * When the first bits of information about Mortal Kombat: Deception began to surface, Ashrah was mistaken as a female version of Raiden. Her name also used to be spelled Ashra or Ashrah alternatively.
 * Ashrah is something of a departure from the series' regular character design as she is neither blatantly good or blatantly evil. She is also the first female character since Sonya Blade to not wear skimpy or revealing clothes during her tenure, her garb being almost modest compared to the others.
 * Ashrah is an Arabic word, which means "ten".
 * Ashrah's hat resembles a gasa, one worn by Japanese priests.
 * Ashrah resembles Truly Scrumptious from Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
 * In Wonder Woman's ending, Wonder Woman finds a sword which looks similar to Ashrah's kriss.