| “ | You know something, Eldridge? Your mouth is like my ass... nothing good ever comes out of it. | „ |
| ~ Ash Williams (to Alex Eldridge) |
Professor Alex Eldridge was a parapsychologist and author who played a major role in the cross-temporal Deadite invasion of Dearborn, Michigan in the early 2000s.
Alex Eldridge's first and only appearance was in the 2003 video game Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick. He was voiced by William Hootkins.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Very little is known about Eldridge's life prior to the incident in Dearborn, except he was a colleague of Professor Raymond Knowby. Eldridge was well-aware of Knowby's obsession with the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, but regarded the legends surrounding the book as nothing more than "superstitious nonsense".
In the years after Knowby's death, Eldridge decided to capitalize on his association with the late professor by writing and publishing a fraudulent translation of the Ex-Mortis simply titled Necronomicon. The bogus book became a best-seller, catching the attention of both common readers and supernatural enthusiasts across the country.
The Dearborn Incident[]
While on the press tour for Necronomicon, Eldridge appeared on Mysteries of The Occult, a live local television show based in Dearborn, Michigan, hosted by investigative journalist Trisha Pettywood. During the live broadcast, Pettywood played Professor Knowby's final audio recording, which unknowingly summoned Deadites into every home and business in the town tuned into the show. Among the viewers was local experienced demon-fighter Ash Williams, who made his way to the KLA2 television studio just in time to save Eldridge and Pettywood from Deadites.
Eldridge proceeded to tell Ash that while he knew very little of the supernatural side of things, perhaps an answer could be found in some of Raymond Knowby's notes held at Michigan State University. Williams recovered the late professor's coded transcripts (as well as the key to decipher them), only to find that Eldridge and Pettywood had been captured by Deadites and taken into a nearby park. Ash saved the two once again, and handed over Knowby's notes. Upon reading and deciphering them, Eldridge discovered that the undead could be controlled with an ancient tablet called the Kandarian Summoning Stone.
Ash and Trisha watch as Eldridge opens a time-vortex (Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick)
Together, the three of them searched the Nathaniel Payne Museum for the stone, eventually venturing down into a secret underground chamber where Nathaniel Payne himself had been hiding for 20 years. Williams fought Payne (who had mutated himself with the power of the stone) and retrieved the tablet. Ash gave the stone the Eldridge under the assumption that he was going to stop the Deadites, only for Alex to reveal his ulterior motive: to take over the world using the stone and an army of the dead. Eldridge opened up a time vortex and vanished, forcing Ash to give chase and leave Trisha behind.
Eldridge landed in Dearborn, circa 1695, where an undead legion is already attacking the town. Most of Eldridge's activities during this era remain unknown, though at one point he took an ancestor of Ash Williams hostage to force Ash to recover five bits of shredded paper which contained an incantation for him. Ash begrudgingly complied, and recovered the parchment for him. With the new spell in his possession, Eldridge disappeared into another time vortex, and after finishing off the Deadites in this era, Ash followed suit.
Eldridge's demonic, scorpion-like form (Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick)
The vortex dumped the both of them outside of Ford Dearborn in the year 1863. While Eldridge quickly barricaded himself inside, Ash was forced to battle both Confederate and Union Deadites and form a temporary truce for the remaining human soldiers on either side to help him get in. Williams and the armies fought through several open chambers full of Deadites, until Ash finally confronted Eldridge alone. Ash shot Eldridge with his trusty Boomstick, but was shocked to see the man mutate right before his eyes into a large scorpion-like demon. Williams carefully navigated the monstrous Eldridge through a field of barrels full of gunpowder, and used carefully timed shots to ignite the barrels to stun the demon, unloading round upon round into Eldridge until the creature was finally obliterated.
Powers & Abilities[]
- Fire Projection: In his demonic form, Eldridge had the ability to spew balls of blue flame.
Notes[]
- It's possible that Eldridge's best-selling fake Necronomicon translation is a reference to the end of the Evil Dead: Hail To The King game, where Ash Williams and Jenny find themselves in a world where the real Necronomicon is a best-selling book.
- Promotional material for A Fistful of Boomstick spelled the name as "Elridge", while the in-game subtitles spell it as "Eldridge".