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Evil Ash (also known as Bad Ash) is a demonic doppelganger of Ash Williams. In the year 1300 AD, the clone led an army of Deadites against an army of humans in a siege on Castle Kandar in an attempt to get his hands on a copy of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, but was ultimately defeated by his "goody little two-shoes" counterpart.

Evil Ash first appeared as a hallucination in the 1987 film Evil Dead II, but later made his physical debut in Army of Darkness in 1993. He was portrayed by Bruce Campbell.

Biography[]

Hallucination[]

Evil Ash first manifested himself inside the Knowby Cabin, where he appeared to the original Ash Williams during his second night while he was looking in a mirror. Ash, having just sliced the severed head of Linda in the nearby workshed, was trying to calm himself by stating that everything was fine. Evil Ash suddenly leaned out of the mirror's glass and grabbed his counterpart's shoulders, telling him "we just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound 'fine'?" He then grabbed Ash by the throat, and began to maniacally laugh as he started to strangle Williams. Ash eventually staggered back far enough away from the mirror to "break" the illusion, realizing he was strangling himself.[1]

In The Middle Ages[]

Having "escaped" the horrors of the Knowby cabin, Ash Williams was pulled back in time while trying to banish the Kandarian Demon from the 20th Century. Informed that he must acquire the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis from a cursed graveyard by The Wise Man of Castle Kandar, Ash set out to retrieve the book and return to his proper time. While on this quest, Williams was chased by the Kandarian Demon, and forced to take refuge inside an old windmill. During Ash's stay inside the mill, he accidentally created miniature duplicates of himself upon smashing into a mirror (which he believed to be a stranger standing in the doorway). One of these Mini-Ashes dived directly into the larger counterpart's mouth, and after Williams attempted to kill the miniature doppelganger inside of him with boiling water, decided to mutate into a larger full-sized double.

Slowly growing out of Ash's shoulder, the evil clone split off from his counterpart after leading him deeper into the Dark Forest. Introducing himself as "Bad Ash" and calling the other Ash a "goody little two-shoes", the double began to dance a jig and repeatedly hit Williams until the real Ash grabbed his shotgun and shot his double directly in the face. With the clone incapacitated, Ash dragged Evil Ash out of the woods and back to the windmill, where he was strapped down and dismembered (having discovered it is the best method of preventing a Deadite from causing any further trouble). Whilst digging a grave for the doppelganger, Evil Ash's severed head rolled out of a burlap sack, telling Williams that he'd die before retrieving the Necronomicon. Ash brushed off the head's remarks by throwing a shovel of dirt on Evil Ash's face, and got back to filling the grave.

Evil Ash would be resurrected following the "good" Ash's failure to recite the incantation which would allow him to safely remove the Necronomicon from the cursed graveyard. Being the doppelganger of "The Promised One", Evil Ash was chosen to lead the army of Deadites and take the book for his own. As the undead legion's numbers grew, Evil Ash sent for a winged Deadite to abduct Sheila, the woman whom the real Ash had a romantic affair with upon his arrival in this time. Disgusted by Evil Ash's appearance, the double eventually corrupted the medieval maiden with a Deadite spirit, hoping that she would be his queen after they reclaimed the Ex-Mortis.

EvilAsh-crossbow-promo-AOD

Evil Ash during the siege of Castle Kandar (Army of Darkness)

After several days, Evil Ash led a siege on Castle Kandar, waiting as his soldiers stormed the fortress and began to slaughter the humans. Eventually, Evil Ash fought his way up to the tower where the book was being held, briefly holding it before getting a spear thrown through his chest by the real Ash. The two dueled along the castle's stairs before Williams stuck a torch in his evil clone's face, causing the monster to scream in agony as he fell off a ledge. Shortly thereafter, Evil Ash (now reduced to nothing more than an armored skeleton) made his way back up the wall to face the real Ash once more. Eventually, Ash would inadvertently lure his skeletal foe to stand on a catapult loaded with a bag of gunpowder. Williams cut the restraining rope, activating the wooden arm and sending Evil Ash and the gunpowder into the night sky. The double screamed as the bag exploded, destroying his body completely. With no commander, the remaining Deadites collapsed, and Sheila was released of her possession.[2]

Legacy[]

More than 30 years after Ash's trip to the cabin, he would return after accidentally awakening the Kandarian Demon once more. During this second visit, he encountered a new iteration of Evil Ash, this time grown from his severed hand.[3] Upon the latter's defeat, Williams remarked "Chopping up my evil clone. Maybe someday that will fell weird", having previously done it to the doppelganger of 1300 AD.[4]

Powers & Abilities[]

  • Super-Strength: Upon arriving at the keep of the Necronomicon in Castle Kandar, Evil Ash ripped a large metal barrier off the wall with ease in order to get to the book.[2]
  • Fire Breath: After being reduced to nothing more than a skeleton, Evil Ash was seen breathing fire down upon the real Ash as he clung to the castle wall.[2]

Weapons & Equipment[]

  • Armor: Following his resurrection, Evil Ash was seen sporting a medieval gothic-inspired set of armor, which included a rib cage-like breastplate and a skull helmet.[2]
  • Sword: Evil Ash was seen wielding a large sword during the attack on Castle Kandar.[2]
  • Crossbow: Upon riding into the castle itself during the attack, Evil Ash used a crossbow on the human warriors attempting to run away with deadly accuracy, presumably picked up from a fallen soldier.[2]

Gallery[]

Evil Dead II[]

Army of Darkness[]

Trivia[]

  • Evil Ash's skeletal form from the climax of Army of Darkness is voiced by Sam Raimi, as revealed on the Army of Darkness DVD commentary.
  • In the first draft script of Evil Dead II, Evil Ash does not attack his "good" counterpart during the mirror sequence, but rather walks away from the mirror and attacks the original group of friends from The Evil Dead (Scotty, Shelly, Cheryl, and Linda) with an axe. Horrified at watching his friends get slaughtered by "himself", Ash shatters the mirror as a blood-soaked Evil Ash looks back at him.
  • Though he identifies himself as "Bad Ash" in the Army of Darkness film, the "Evil Ash" name originates from the final draft of the film's screenplay, and has been used in various press material and merchandise.
    • The first draft script of Evil Dead II referred to Evil Ash simply as "Ash's alter-ego", while the final shooting version of the script identified him as "Reflection" and "The Evil Reflection".

References[]

  1. Evil Dead II (1987)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Army of Darkness (1993)
  3. Ash vs Evil Dead: Ashes To Ashes (Season 1, Episode 8) (2015)
  4. Ash vs Evil Dead: Bound In Flesh (Season 1, Episode 9) (2015)
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