Asher Kendrell's Trace provides us Void(), the #1 function for endgame play and strongest overall function in the game. It's a stackable AOE debuff that weakens both enemy attack and defense. Crash(), from our played character Red's Trace, your very first function in the game and the debuff you've been using this entire time, deals a small amount of damage itself and stuns the enemy, leaving it in its vulnerable "crashed" state briefly. Compared to Crash(), Void() doesn't deal any direct damage of its own; however, hitting a wide area of effect (and so being able to hit multiple targets) is a key to some of the more crowded battlefields, and being able to stack 3x means it's actually more useful against most single boss fights as well. On top of that, Void() costs 25% less time than Crash(), which is a huge difference in your ability to get the attack off and move on to either evasive action or a combo finisher. It defines Turn()-based gameplay, though its high memory cost means it's less relevant in non-spammable non-Turn (ie, no pausing, all live action) runs of the game.
Asher is efficient, effective, and acts specifically in support of other, deadlier functions like his husband, who without him could not act so wisely nor so well. He cuts to the quick, he digs deeper, as his Trace says:
In another world, Asher Kendrell was the sex-appeal fan-favorite like his fellow Supergiant character with the same voice actor, Thanatos from Hades. But Transistor was weird enough that fans of Bastion often Bounce(d) off it, and a canon gay relationship means nothing without sufficient bait on a fandom's hook. That said, it's not like Grant and Asher are particularly icons, given where their story ends up! All of our weird queer villains start putting their plans into action a little too quickly, and end abruptly and tragically. But it's easy to imagine a slightly different swerve, where you actually fight Grant or Asher or both, and the pair are hearthrobs who slowly and surely draw a fanbase invested in mlm relationships to the game the way Sybil's love for Red attracts its wlw moths.
I like to think of that, the same way I like to think about the other alternate perspectives invited by the game. Asher seems like he would be nice, if it weren't for the plot. I like his scarf, I like his cat. Royce asks us: poor Asher. before the end... he just, he went and told you our whole plan, did he? expecting what, your sympathy? ...your mercy? and I find that yes! He was right to expect it!
