Asher is the spawn of Christopher and Scarlett Etheridge. Christopher was a highly respected, highly decorated man of the army, arguably one of the best soldiers in his unit and one of the most recognizable. He was a LT. Colonel, and was also apart of a premium Special Ops program. Scarlett was the polar opposite of her lover; she was a wandering spirit. Growing up, she didn’t have a home and that didn’t change when she was older. She lived on benches, under bridges, where ever she had to. This doesn’t mean she was unhappy. She loved not being pinned down by bills, family, expectations. It was all she knew- being free. This changed when she met Christopher. She realized what she was missing by having no one to be close to. They met on a jet black evening. Scarlett was on a backpacking trip with no final destination, and Chris was exploring the town after a long day at work. They bumped into each other, an awkward introduction followed, but they clicked, and various cliches followed. The young couple officially started their small family on August 19, 1972, giving birth prematurely to a tiny baby with a temper - Asher.
Even as a baby, Asher was trouble. Before he could talk, or even crawl, he was mischievous. His father tended to joke that it ran in the family. Asher’s family followed a simple life. They were the regular white picket family. They had the typical, professionally taken matching-outfit family portraits on every wall. This changed when suddenly they packed everything up and moved to Tennessee. The father had gotten into some very serious trouble with higher-above coworkers. The family’s life had changed. They had moved when their son was only three, so he adopted quite a thick country accent by growing up around ‘rednecks.’
The atmosphere had changed in this house. It was no longer warm and fuzzy. It was cold, unforgiving, strict. There were no family photos, the parents threw away Asher’s stick-figure drawings and cards he made in school. The walls were instead decorated with the father’s medals, the mother’s collected art. There was no trace of Asher in that home. The parents still noticed him, and loved him, but they were rarely there. Christopher no longer had a full time job, instead he was a truck driver. The mother was working at multiple department stores. The neighbor’s grown son was the one who looked over Asher, instead.
Asher was an exceptional student, the best in the county - but he was also quite a lonely kid. The lack of affection at home reflected on his social life. He was riddled with social anxiety, and was always uncomfortable around his peers. He hated it.
At the age of seventeen, Asher was old enough to take care of himself. He biked from and to school and cooked his own meals while his parents were away at work. Asher had also grown to be one of the most charming? males at his school. On a Thursday afternoon, Asher was returning from his girlfriends house back to his small, cluttered townhouse that he shared with his parents. On this particular day, the parents had taken the day off, to throw a small celebration for Asher getting into his dream college. Asher knocked on the door, and there was no reply. It was silent. This didn’t worry him, it was always quiet. But he opened the door, and saw the skidded marks of a deep red. Asher’s eyes bulged, his throat constricted, his lips felt as dry as a desert. As he moved farther into the home, he looked at the old medals that he always awe’d at- and the paintings he scrunched his eyes at- but this only made his heart begin to beat faster, his chest tightening. His steps were light, it was like he was floating. It was a mess. There was a sparking lamp on the floor, the couch was tipped over, like someone was pushed into it. The kitchen drawers were open, and Asher took note of missing utensils - specifically the sharp knives used for cutting the steaks that he usually made too dry. The young teen took a knife of his own, this one only being a butter knife. The boy continued his trek. He called out for his parents - no reply. He walked farther, noticing the heavier blood marks, like someone was dragged. He took small steps to his parents bedroom. The door that was usually locked, was no longer unlocked. In fact, it was like someone put their shoulder to the door after someone else locked themselves in. At first, he stared at the ground, like he was following clues. Slowly, he looked up at the bed. There lied his parents, viciously slaughtered. There was a note lying at their feet. Right after Asher’s hysterical cry, and his relentless vomiting. He quickly grabbed it. “To: Whoever finds this. - They deserved it.” At the bottom of the note, was an S, presumably for SPECTRE.
Christopher had warned his son about the people looking for him. He told them they were skilled. They were apart of the Quantum division of SPECTRE. They lived for one thing, and one thing only - to get blood on their calloused, guilty hands. He told Asher to be careful, even with his classmates. These people were relentless, it wasn’t below them to brainwash some school children. He had never told Asher why exactly they were looking for him, just that he did something very, very bad. Only when Asher was moving back to England to live with his grandfather did he find out. He had been packing up all of his family’s stuff. During this time, he found a worn-out green journal. It belonged to his beloved father. Christopher had betrayed some members of Quantum who were also apart of his special ops team. He had leaked all of their secrets and Intel. He let out the names. He had committed very heavy treason in their opinions. Asher was devastated, the man he had looked up to all of his life for being so brave, so honest, had betrayed his own team and then ran off. BUTfinding this out did make Asher aware of why his house was so frigid- Christopher knew that one day this may happen. He might be discovered. He didn’t want them going after his only son, too. He didn’t want them knowing Asher existed.
It wasn’t until later that Asher found out what Quantum exactly was. At the time of this, Asher was 19 and living with his Grandfather - a former member of MI6 (who had been training Asher on how to protect himself.) Asher’s thirst for the blood of the men who ruined his life was now more prominent then ever, like an awakening. He sought out to be better. Stronger, mentally and physically. He learned to divide his emotions into the proper categories and his Grandfather found some old contacts who could train Asher, seeing how he was not naturally gifted with guns or any weapons for that matter.
At the age of 22, it was like Asher had been holding a gun since his fingers were the size of quarters. He had immensely improved. And those old pals of his Grandfather, who were also MI6, took notice. They informed a higher-up member of MI6 of Asher’s abilities and they watched him, secretly, for a few years. At the age of 24 - after a night class at a local college, they came up to him and recruited him.
Asher Etheridge now has eighteen years of experience under his belt, and it’s still growing. During his earlier missions, he was in a relationship with a fellow agent. It lasted several years. This, obviously, ended badly on a mission together. She was fatally shot by the suspect. Since then, he has shown no remorse in the victims of his missions - seeing them only AS missions. Asher is very conscientious of his record, he strives to be the best of the best. Now more than ever, since recent occurrences have put a few damps on his formerly clean record.
+ Attentive, debonair, resourceful, calculated.
+ Controlling, deceptive, harsh, hot-tempered.
ASHER IS PLAYED BY BRITTNEY ( SHE/HER, EST ).
