Deadlands

Deadlands
Affiliation	The Dark Ones

The Deadlands is an supernatural realm which exists between the world of the living and Hell itself, and served as the prison for The Dark Ones for countless centuries until a rift between worlds was opened in the town of Elk Grove, Michigan in the 21st Century.

The Deadlands was first teased in the Ash vs Evil Dead Season Three episode Unfinished Business, but made it's full debut in Twist And Shout.

History

The history of the Deadlands remains largely unknown, though a key moment of note occurred during the age in which The Dark Ones held dominion over the Earth. A rouge Dark One calling herself Ruby united with a member of the Knights of Sumeria named Kaya to banish the remaining Dark Ones to the Deadlands, allowing humanity to be freed of the rule of the demons and develop undisturbed.

Centuries would pass, and in the year 2017, the long-prophesied test of the mettle of man against evil's champion was quickly coming to pass. It was during this time that a rift between the world of the living and the Deadlands would be opened by Pablo Simon Bolivar, a human who had been cursed by the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis and had recently become "El Brujo Especial". Ash Williams would use this established rift to escape the Deadlands with his daughter's soul following her death at the hands of Ruby, and Pablo Simon Bolivar would do likewise while retrieving the soul of Kelly Maxwell.

Overview

"The Deadlands Reaper" rises behind an unsuspecting target (Rifting Apart)

The primary function of the Deadlands is to serve as a limbo for the souls of those killed by supernatural creatures or objects (such as the Kandarian Demon, a Deadite, or the Kandarian Dagger), existing between the world of the living and Hell itself. Within the Deadlands, the souls of the deceased find themselves in an area which is identical to the same location in which they died in the real world, although the air is tainted by a dark green mist, and everything appears to be covered in a light dusting of a white powder. Here, the souls are pursued by the two primary entities which are known to exist in the Deadlands: "The Deadlands Reaper" (a shadowy humanoid figure made of smoke), and the "Hell Hands" (black and grey webbed humanoid arms which emerge from the ground), with the primary goal of each of these entities to capture the individual and take them directly to Hell.

Entering & Exiting The Deadlands

Pablo Simon Bolivar opens a rift to the Deadlands inside the cellar of Ashy Slashy's Hardware Store (Tales From The Rift)

As previously mentioned, the primary method in which a soul enters the Deadlands is from dying by a demonic creature or supernaturally-enchanted object, as seen by Rachel Manning, Dalton, Kelly Maxwell, and Brandy Barr.

The Rift

"The Rift" is a green, swirling storm cloud vortex which can be opened via a passage found within the "lost pages" of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. While a human soul can pass unharmed through a rift, a living human can become corrupted by the entities within the Deadlands (or possibly by passing through the rift itself) should they pass through, as seen with Marcus.

Gallery

Dalton, Kelly Maxwell, and Brandy Barr inside the Elk Lounge Bar of the Deadlands (Rifting Apart)

Brandy Barr looks for help at her father's hardware store, the only building in the Deadlands with functioning lights (Rifting Apart)

Ash Williams is reunited with his daughter in the Deadlands (Rifting Apart)

The Deadlands Reaper (Rifting Apart)

Trivia

• The Deadlands appears to be partially inspired by the Mirror Dimension, an otherworldly location featured in the Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator comic book series which serves as the "prison dimension" of the The Dark Ones and the Deadites, as well as being the location where "swallowed souls" are taken.