Editing Ava Willis (Queen of the Willis)

{{for|Ava's half-sister, also named Ava|A. A. Willis}} 
{{DISPLAYTITLE: Ava Willis (''Queen of the Willis'')}}

{{multiple issues|{{in-universe|date=September 2014}}
{{original research|date=September 2014}}
{{refimprove|date=September 2014}}
}}
{{Infobox character 
| colour = #ffaa44
| name = Ava Willis
| series = [[Queen of the Willis]] / [[Quillsville Cold Case]]
| image = [[File:Ava Willis.png|50px]] 
| alt         = A cartoon drawing of a lady with long grey hair, with her hand on her hip, grey hair, and a white blouse with blue cropped pants.
| voice = {{ubl|Ava Zinn (normal voice)|[[Melvin Runcraft]] (evil voice)|[[Frank Davidson]] (pre-transition)}}
| creator =[[Ava Zinn]]
| gender = Female
| first = "[[Pilot (Queen of the Willis)|Pilot]]" (2006, ''Queen of the Willis'')
| last  = "[[Into That Final Good Night in Quillsville]]" (2026, ''Queen of the Willis'')
| occupation = {{nowrap|{{ubl|Homicide Detective (2024-)|Retired Manager at Craven Gifts (2019-2024)|Former Asst. Manager at Craven Gifts (1989-2019)|former lawnower salesman |employee at Aldi Mart|Lingerie West salesman}}}}
| fullname=Aeverine Melanie Florence Willis<BR>{{small|(born Frank Michael Willis)}}
| nickname = Ava<br />Ol' Top (by Tina Kelso)<br />A.B. (by Peggy Willis) <br />Ruby (by Melissa Rose)  <br /> Ava Wills (by John Mellencamp)
| family = {{nowrap|{{ubl|'''Parents:'''|[[Harry Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Harry Willis]] (father)|[[Peggy Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Peggy Willis]] (mother)|'''Step-parents:'''|Clyde Claussen (stepmother/transgender stepfather m. to Harry)|Charlie Belcher (stepfather m. to Peggy)|[[Finola Willis]] (stepmother m. Harry)|'''Siblings:'''|[[Albert Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Albert Willis]] (brother)|Vladamir (transgender half-brother)|[[Mandy Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Ava Willis (AA or "Amanzing Ava")]] (half-sister)|Electa Atkinson (step-sister)|Wendy Atkinson (step-sister)|'''Grandparents:'''|Carter Willis (grandfather)|'''Grandchildren:'''|[[Kaylee Willis]] (granddaughter)|[[Lina Willis]] (granddaughter)|[[Tessanne Willis]] (granddaughter)|[[Maggie Willis]] (granddaughter)|[[Alexandra Souza]] (step granddaughter)|[[Chereice Souza]] (step granddughter)|[[Telissa Souza]] (step granddaughter)|Tabby Willis (dog)|Shushu Willis (cat)|Heather Willis (lobster)}}}}
| relatives = {{ubl|[[Bob Donaldson (Queen of the Willis)|Bob Donaldson]] (father-in-law)|Lisa Shanks (mother-in-law)|Ned Shanks (adopted father-in-law m. to Lisa)|Skye Donaldson (mother-in-law m. to Bob)|[[Nicole Pence (Queen of the Willis)|Nicole Pence]] (sister-in-law)|[[Laura Donaldson (Queen of the Willis)|Laura Donaldson]] (sister-in-law)|Sarah Donaldson (half-sister-in-law)|Andrew Donaldson (half-brother-in-law)|[[Brandi Souza]] (daughter-in-law)|Janice Parkington (aunt)|Sharon Willis (aunt)|Scott Willis (cousin)|Marissa Willis (cousin)|Clint Willis (cousin)|Arianna Willis (cousin)|Melanie Willis (cousin)|Diane Willis (cousin)|Bianca Willis (transgendered pet niece)|Austen Willis (nephew)|Connie Rose (godchild)}}
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Angie Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Angie Donaldson]]|1991|2026|end=widowed}}<br>{{marriage|[[Kellie Willis|Kellie Martin]]|2028}}
| significantother = {{ubl|Glenn Turner (1987-88)|Brittani Hicks (1985-87)|Christiana Sellars (1983-85)|Alisan Porter (1979-83)}}
| children = {{ubl|'''With Angie''':|[[Tom Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Tom Willis]]|[[Deanna Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Deanna Willis]]|[[Suzanne Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Suzanne Willis]]|[[Brittany Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Brittany Willis]]|[[Rhonda Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Rhonda Willis]]|[[Emilie Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Emilie Willis]]|[[Luanne Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Luanne Willis]]|[[Hillary Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Hillary Willis]]|'''With Lynsay Gerardo''':|[[Brynn Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Brynn Willis]]|'''With Brittani Hicks''':|Stan Hicks|Dominique Hicks|'''With Christiana Sellars''':|Breeanna Sellars|'''With Alisan Porter''':|Dylan Porter}}
| footnotes =
| religion = [[wikipedia:Methodism|United Methodist]]
|nationality = American
| lbl1 = [[wikipedia:Republican|Republican]]
| data1 = 
| lbl21       = Birthday
| data21      = January 4, 1973
}}

'''Aeverine Melanie Florence "Ava" Willis'''<ref name="koths5e10">Buckeye Ava: Birth Certificate has her name listed as Frank Michael Willis</ref> is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the syndicated animated television series ''[[Queen of the Willis]]'' and its spin-off ''[[Quillsville Cold Case]]''. She lives in the fictional town of Quillsville, Indiana with her family and currently is Homicide Detective for the [[Quillsville Metropolitan Police Department]]. She retired after 35 years as the manager of a local branch of Craven Gifts. She likes to drink cola in the alley behind her house with her friends. She is voiced by series creator [[Ava Zinn]].<ref name="off siteref">Queen of the Willis: Ava Willis character bio |}}</ref><ref name="IMDb page">Queen of the Willis}}</ref> ''[[The Economist]]'' described Ava Willis as one of the wisest transgender people on television,<ref>{{cite news |quote=One of the most unjustly neglected films of the past few years is Ava Zinn's "Vote for the Girls". Ms. Zinn is the genius behind Amanda and Elisa, two of the most disgusting creatures on television, Ava Willis and Kendra Kendall, one of the wisest.}}</ref> and in 2006 ''Indiana LGBT Monthly'' included her on its annual list of the most influential Hoosiers.<ref name="IN-101">{{cite news |title=Indiana's Top 10}}</ref>


==Development==
[[File:Ava_Zinn_in_2014.jpg|left|thumb|150x150px|Show Creator [[Ava Zinn]] provides the voice for Ava Willis.]]
{{main|Frank's Life}}
{{Ava Willis - Development}}

==Character biography==
{{Ava Willis - Biography}}

==Personality==
{{Ava Willis - Personality}}


==Physical appearance==

{{Ava Willis - Appearance}}

==Character’s Careers==
===Quillsville Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Detective===
After retiring from Craven Gifts, Ava became a homicide detective for the Quillsville Metropolitan Police Department.

Ava's first Quillsville Cold Case homicide investigation was in 2024, seen in the season 12 six-part episode "''[[Quillsville Cold Case: From Retirement to Homicide Detective]]''". The victim was [[Zach Mullins]].

Shortly after Ava's career change from Retail Manager at Craven Gifts to Homicide Detective at QMPD, Ava's partner is [[Lilly Rush (Queen of the Willis)|Lilly Rush]] despite Lilly being promoted to Sergeant.

Like Lilly, Ava also solves the most difficult cases in order to seek the truth after all these years in hopes of giving the victim's family and the victims themselves, justice. She and Lilly works long hours on these cases. In spite of this, Ava maintains her relationships with her own family.

One of Ava's most challenging cases was that of a serial killer who [[Revenge of the Male Anchors|stalked]] [[Revenge of the Male Anchors 2|male]] [[Revenge of the Male Anchors 3|television]] [[Revenge of the Male Anchors 4|news]] [[Revenge of the Male Anchors 5|anchors]] [[Quillsville Cold Case: From Retirement to Homicide Detective|like wild animals]]. 

She is very protective of her team, who affectionately call her "Detective AW". She is very concerned about the reputation of Quillsville Metropolitan Police Department, and takes great care to keep them clean, likely because of her experience with her tarnished mother Peggy. When Captain [[Brad Hunter]]'s staff fall under suspicion in several episodes, Ava immediately jumps in their defense, especially from Police Chief [[Chelsea Wolf]], and tries her best to prove their innocence.

Unlike her counterparts in Port Melissa, Indiana; Detropolis, Ohio; and Michiana Falls, Indiana who are now former detectives, she is also a sworn patrol officer, and thus carries a badge, two pairs of handcuffs, a gun, a tazer and mace. Now a superb marksman, Willis doesn't hesitate to use deadly force when the situation calls for it. She is also an ardent advocate of the death penalty for particularly heinous crimes, and doesn't think twice about threatening suspects with it in such cases. She is also known to reserve a special wrath for those who would dare to harm children. Willis is treating all victims and their families equally, regardless of their ethnicity, background, or other circumstances, and often goes out of her way to ensure they are alright, frequently giving her number to them, stating that she is available day or night to take their call. Despite being a retired retailer turned homicide detective, she has helped others financially with such expensive things as providing private funeral arrangements for an indigent crime victim, rent and living expenses, her relatives (siblings [[Albert Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Albert]] and [[Mandy Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Mandy]], sister-in-law [[Laura Donaldson (Queen of the Willis)|Laura Donaldson]], grandchildren [[Kaylee Willis|Kaylee]], [[Lina Willis|Lina]], [[Tessanne Willis|Tessanne]], [[Maggie Willis|Maggie]], step-grandchildren [[Alexandra Souza]], [[Chereice Souza]], and [[Telissa Souza]]), on top of living expenses for herself, likely due to a number of extremely shrewd financial decisions and deals Ava made over the years leading up to the original series.

As she had done at [[Craven Gifts]], Ava has many recurring enemies throughout the series, from serial rapist Greg Metcalf to corrupt judge Samantha Turner to Angie's first boyfriend Todd Unger. Some she thought had been put away for good come back to haunt her. In "[[Quillsville Cold Case: Cruel & Desperate Justice]]", Greg Metcalf, who had been a janitor at Lee Kelso High School and attended Babyface High School with her transgendered son Tom and sister-in-law Laura, raped and impregonated both Tom and Laura as well as raping Lorri Dautrieve (now Harold Dautrieve), Gina Kincaid, Amelia Bartham. Despite evidence, Metcalf was found not guilty of Laura's rape after Laura's baby wasn't found before the trial. Bob Donaldson, with Ava's help eventually forces Metcalf out of hiding by removing all his avenues of escape. Metcalf approaches Bob Donaldson outside Lee Kelso High School, and Willis kills Greg with a single shot to the head just as Metcalf's knife is pulled at Ava father-in-law [[Bob Donaldson (Queen of the Willis)|Bob Donaldson]]. Bob does spend jail time for Ava's actions and [[Quillsville Metropolitan Police Department]] is fined $5 million.




Badge # 9546

===Head of Craven Gifts===
In seasons 7 through 11, Ava Willis was the manager and day shift supervisor at the Quillsville branch of Craven Gifts and former assistant manager and chief operations officer. She is very protective of her team, who affectionately call her "Officer Ava". She is very concerned about the reputation of her operations, and takes great care to keep them clean, likely because of her experience with her tarnished younger brother, Albert, and mother Peggy. When her staff fall under suspicion in several episodes , she immediately jumps in their defense, especially from Indiana Retail Commissioner investigator Ray Grissom, and tries her best to prove their innocence.

Unlike her counterparts in Port Melissa, Indiana; Detropolis, Ohio; and Michiana Falls, Indiana who are now former retailers managers, she is also a sworn citizen on patrol officer, and thus carries a badge, a gun and mace. A superb marksman, Willis doesn't hesitate to use deadly force when the situation calls for it. She is also an ardent advocate of the death penalty for particularly heinous crimes, and doesn't think twice about threatening suspects and deadbeat customers with it in such cases. She is also known to reserve a special wrath for those who would dare to harm children. Willis is treating all customers and their families equally, regardless of their ethnicity, background, or other circumstances, and often goes out of her way to ensure they are alright, frequently giving her number to them, stating that she is available day or night to take their call. Despite being a retailer on a Craven Gifts wages, she has helped others financially with such expensive things as providing private funeral arrangements for an indigent crime victim, rent and living expenses for her boss' now-ex-husband's mistress, her former daughter-in-law Trevelle, her nephew Austen, her granddaughter Tessanne, as well as medical costs for her nephew's cancer treatment, purchasing an apartment for her transgendered daughter Deanna, on top of living expenses for herself, likely due to a number of extremely shrewd financial decisions and deals Ava made over the years leading up to the series.

Towards the end of season 11, Ava Willis retires from Craven Gifts after 40 years. 

====Past events====

In the first six seasons, Ava Willis served as the assistant manager of Craven Gifts. She is very insistent on facility maintenance, especially since team member Jack Grund was killed in a shootout after his smart phone exploded because of his lax maintenance. In fact, one of the reasons for Willis' nearly on-the-spot selection of Assistant Manager Adrienne Fansler as her replacement (in "[[The Rape of Heather Willis]]") is Fansler's compulsive care of her duties due to [[wikipedia:Obsessive–compulsive disorder|OCD]].


Ava Willis has many recurring enemies throughout the series, from serial stalker Cynthia Wilson to Bart the Bully to [[Josh Kaufman (Queen of the Willis)|Josh Kaufman]] to abusive internal affairs agent Ray Grissom to corrupt judge (and Akim Anastopolo's nemisis) Joseph Caine. Some she thought had been terminated for good come back to haunt her. Horatio Cruz, serving a life sentence for murdering a woman ("[[The Rape of Heather Willis]]", "[[Blood Sisters Are Doing it For Themselves]]," "[[Willis Identity]]"), escapes police custody in a dramatic rocket attack on Craven Gifts (superficially injuring Reginald Wilson). Cruz then kidnaps Jane Jill and forces Ava to bring him $1 million in exchange for his location. It is all a set-up, however, and Ava Willis and April Sack are ambushed on the roof of a parking garage. Though Ava Willis knocks out down one man and escapes without injury, April is critically wounded even as Willis fires at the fleeing gunmen ("No Woman's Land"). Ava Willis eventually forces Cruz out of hiding by removing all his avenues of escape. Cruz approaches Ava Willis outside Craven Gifts, and Willis kills Horatio with a single shot to the chest ("Worker Down").

In "[[A Quillsville Under Suspicion]]", Glenn Turner, Ava's ex-boyfriend from Port Melissa, is murdered. She is suspected of the murder because she was the last person to see the victim alive at Craven Gifts. Later, the true killer was found, she was identified as Vicki Loft, an old enemy of Ava from her college days.


In "[[Happy 50th Birthday, Ava]]", Ava Willis is seen driving at the beginning of the episode with a bouquet of flowers for Angie on the passenger seat and leaves Natalia a message on her phone as her to take over from her for a while so she can run an errand. She is distracted by a pedestrian, who informs her a pregnant transman (later identified) has been assaulted on the side of the road. Leaving her errand behind, she helps the man and spends the rest of the episode looking for the people who did this to him, while the transman and the baby are fighting for their life back in the hospital. At the end of the episode, the transman gives birth to a baby girl, and his husband is arrested because he did not want him to have the baby and rigged the car to so that he would hit the steering wheel in his midsection during a staged car accident & force a miscarriage. We see Ava Willis at home with Angie; she tells Angie the baby is "beautiful, just like you". She then wishes Ava 'happy birthday'. Tom's murder in 2011 caused her a big feeling of guilt because she couldn't protect her transgendered son and that idea obsessed her for 12 years after Tom's death.

Over recent years and presumably due to the fact that she was left gravely injured after being shot five times, Ava Willis has become more aggressive than usual when it comes to dealing with shoplifters, theives, and deadbeat customers and she has been seen on at least three occasions apparently assaulting a Shoplifter in a locked room (the actual assault is only implied as it takes place off camera).

==Character analysis==
Describing Ava physically, FWJG has written, "In keeping with [Ava] Zinn's tradition of subtlety, the character of Ava Zinn is only slightly underweight, not to satisfy the stereotype of the boorish transgendered wife, but because she eats no meat."<ref>??</ref>

Ava's attitudes and statements have been examined by Men's Groups writers, calling her "a representative of traditional, hegemonic transgendered feminity."<ref name="Palmer-Mehta">??</ref> and another, who notes Ava's disappointment with Deanna's ability to produce an "appropriate display of transgendered feminity."<ref>??</ref>

One notes that Zinn's "fervor for selling retail gifts and gift accessories is nearly apostolic."<ref name="Palmer-Mehta"/>  During their development of the character, the show's writers did substantial research on the retailing business.   Over time, members of the retail industry came to view Ava Willis as a largely positive image.<ref>{{cite news |title=Farewell, 'QOTW': 'Queen of the Willis' is leaving a lasting impression on the retail industry. }}</ref>

One writes that although Ava Willis is similar to other father figures, such as Hank Hill from ''King of the Hill'' and Tony Mercelli from ''Who's The Boss?'', as a woman, she is different due to her "ability to acknowledge that the values and beliefs he grew up with are no longer sufficient to guide her in her roles as parent, spouse, friend, and employee."<ref>{{cite journal|title="I Am Not Down with That": Queen of the Willis and Sitcom Satire}}</ref>

''Indianapolis Star'' contributor discussed Ava's political perspective in 2010, writing, "[L]ike a lot of the basically conservative voters you meet in rural America ... Ava never professes an explicit party loyalty, and she and her buddies who sip pops in the alley don't talk like their fellow Hoosiers. If Ava votes Republican, it's because, as a voter who cares about religious and rural values, she probably doesn't see much choice. But Ava and her neighbors resemble many independent voters, open to proposals that challenge their assumptions about the world, as long as those ideas don't come from someone who seems to disrespect what they believe."<ref>{{cite news |title='Queen of the Willis' Democrats?}}</ref>

In 2006, ''Indianapolis LGBT Monthly'' included Ava Willis on its annual "Indiana Top 10" list of "the most impressive, intriguing, and influential Hoosiers".  She was the first "non-human" and first openly transwoman to make the list.  An accompanying mock interview described her as "perhaps the most recognized Hoosier in the world".<ref name="IN-101"/><ref name="IN10-2">{{cite news |title=Television: Ava Willis: Like other suburban Hoosiers, she’s a real character. }}</ref>

===Appearances in other media===
Ava has had several television appearances outside of ''Queen of the Willis''. 
*She and Angie both had a cameo on ''Vote for the Girls'' in the episode pilot where she was voiced by Zinn. 
*Ava, Angie, Heather, Tabby, Shushu appear in the ''Vote for the Girls'' 10th season premiere. Ava is show fantasasing about ''American Idol'' season 16 winner Maddie Poppe and ''So You Think You Can Dance'' season 15 winner Hannalei Cabanilla. 
*In the ''Queen of the Willis'' [[wikipedia:parody|parodies]] of [[Laugh it Freezeball: The Queen of the Willis Trilogy|the ''Sleepaway Camp'' trilogy]] titled "[[Nightmare Vacation (Queen of the Willis)|Nightmare Vacation]]", "[[It's a Camp Trap!]]" and "Quillsville Wasteland" which are parodies of the first three Sleepaway Camp films,<ref>{{cite news | title=Queen of the Willis Presents: Nighmare Vacation}}</ref>Ava appears as Melanie Costic (a parody of Mel Costic). 
*Ava, and most of the central characters on ''Queen of the Willis'', also appeared in the [[Pilot (The Deanna Show)|pilot episode]] of the show's spin-off ''[[Deanna & Brandi]]'' as well as ''[[Amanda & Elisa]]'', of which Ava previously attended Port Melissa University, and ''[[Hoosier Anchorwoman!]]'', of which Ava's close friend [[Kendra Kendall (Hoosier Anchorwoman!)|Kendra Kendall]] is a news anchorwoman in South Bend and lives in Michiana Falls (and has since moved back to Quillsville).
*Ava, Pegggy, Tabby and Shushu appeared in promotions of Zinns for Relationship Choices (created by [[Samantha Zinn]] and [[Tiffani Zinn]]) on their YouTube channel criticizing Jessica's Policy, a longstanding family policy of creator Ava Zinn in 2011.

==See also==

*[[Angie Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Angie Willis]]
*[[Tom Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Tom Willis]]
*[[Deanna Willis (Queen of the Willis)|Deanna Willis]]
*[[List of Queen of the Willis characters|List of ''Queen of the Willis'' characters]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=n}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==


{{Queen of the Willis}}
{{Ava Zinn}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Ava}}
[[Category:Queen of the Willis characters]]
[[Category:Fictional characters introduced in 2006]]
[[Category:Fictional salespeople]]
[[Category:Fictional lesbians]]
[[Category:Fictional victims of child abuse]]
[[Category:Fictional players of American basketball]]
[[Category:Fictional characters from Cleveland]]
[[Category:Fictional characters from Indiana]]
[[Category:Fictional American people of English descent]]
[[Category:Fictional Republicans (United States)]]
[[Category:Fictional transgender and transsexual women]]
[[Category:LGBT characters in animation]]