Chainsaw

Homelite XL Chainsaw
Owner	Raymond Knowby (previously) Ash Williams
First Appearance	The Evil Dead

“	What, you never saw a guy with a chainsaw hand before?	„
	~ Ash Williams to Amanda Fisher (The Killer of Killers)

The Homelite XL Chainsaw is the main weapon of Ash Williams. Aside from his trusty Boomstick, it is the most iconic weapon in Ash's arsenal of Deadite-fighting equipment.

First appearing in The Evil Dead (as a Homelite XL-12 model, and then turning into a regular XL model in Evil Dead II), the chainsaw has gone on to become featured in every form of expanded media, from the video games, comics, merchandise, and the Ash vs Evil Dead television series.

History

Before Ash

There is very little information on the chainsaw's "life" before it was used by Ash Williams, though it was most likely used by members of the Knowby family to help maintain the property which their cabin was located on.

Events At The Cabin

After his girlfriend Linda became possessed, Ash Williams listened to a recording of Professor Raymond Knowby which explained that the only way to stop those possessed by a Deadite spirit was through bodily dismemberment. Taking Linda to a workshed located right next to the cabin, Ash found a chainsaw on a shelf and started it up, though he couldn't bring himself to kill her.

During his second night at the cabin, Ash once again returned to the workshed to try to kill the Deadite Linda for good. Upon his return, Ash could not find the chainsaw, and was suddenly ambushed by Linda's headless body which held the saw in it's scrawny arms. Ash managed to defeat the decapitated corpse and retrieve the chainsaw. Later that night, Ash uses the saw again, this time to lop off his possessed right hand to prevent any further possession of his body by evil. Following the arrival of Annie Knowby and the need to recover the lost pages of the Necronomicon from the cabin's fruit cellar, Ash modifies the chainsaw with a new handle and a metal ring allowing him to attach it to the stump on his right arm. After retrieving the pages, the chainsaw is used during the battles with Henrietta Knowby and the Kandarian Demon.

1300 AD

While trapped in medieval England circa 1300 AD, Ash sparingly used the chainsaw, presumably out of the fear of running out of gas. After being confiscated by The Wise Man, Ash is thrown his chainsaw while in Castle Kandar's "Pit", allowing Ash to make quick work out of two Deadites residing in the hole. Later, following the creation of an evil doppelganger called Evil Ash, the "good" Ash uses the chainsaw to dismember the clone's body outside of a nearby windmill. During the remainder of his time in 1300 AD, Ash does not use the chainsaw after the dismemberment of Evil Ash.

Later Adventures

As the chainsaw is an object which exists in a myriad of alternate realities, its history begins to differ upon Ash's return from 1300 AD. On Earth-818793, the original Homelite belonging to the Ash of that world was destroyed by Jason Voorhees during a showdown in S-Mart, though Williams would eventually get another identical model shortly thereafter. In another universe, one in which Ash was involuntarily brought back to 1300 AD, the chainsaw was destroyed by a large demon known as The Faceless Man, though Williams would eventually get another identical chainsaw following his teleportation in time to 1350 AD. One alternate reality saw various aspects of Ash's soul being divided and turned into their own anthropomorphic avatars in various forms, with Williams' "aggression" aspect possessing his chainsaw, giving the weapon the ability to speak and move on its own.

In the primary reality, Ash Williams would not encounter the forces of evil until more than three decades after the incident at the cabin. Knowing that evil's return was imminent, Williams kept his chainsaw in working condition inside a small "workshop" alcove inside his trailer, where he was forced to retrieve it after the Deadite Vivian Johnson decided to attack. While on this mission to stop evil once and for all, the chainsaw would eventually meet its end at the hands of a Dark One named Ruby, who crushed the Homelite with her bare hands as Ash watched in horror.

In Other Media

The chainsaw has been present in every form of officially licensed expanded media in which the Ash Williams character has been featured with the notable exceptions of The Evil Dead (Commodore 64) and Dead By Daylight.

Video Games

• The chainsaw is an unlockable weapon in the 2011 mobile game Army of Darkness Defense, and could be purchased with 4000 in-game coins.
• The chainsaw appears during event specific cutscenes in the 2013 game Poker Night 2, though Ash does not wear it at any point in the game.
• Despite Ash Williams not being featured in the game, the chainsaw (based on it's appearance in the climax of Evil Dead II) is featured in the 2016 mobile game Evil Dead: Endless Nightmare as an unlockable weapon. The game's updated re-releases (Evil Dead: Virtual Nightmare and Evil Dead: Extended Nightmare) also feature the chainsaw.
• The short-lived 2018 mobile game Deploy And Destroy featured three iterations of the chainsaw, all of which could be used exclusively by Ash Williams. These iterations included:
  1. The classic chainsaw (identified as "Big Red") as it appeared in the climax of Evil Dead II and throughout Army of Darkness (though it was intended to be based on the Ash vs Evil Dead model).
  2. A red and black chainsaw called "Granny", which was visually based on the Homelite XL-12 model from The Evil Dead.
  3. An orange chainsaw called "Massacre", which was visually based on the Homelite XL seen in Evil Dead II (prior to Ash's modifications).
• The chainsaw is a melee weapon included the "Knowby Cabin Nightmare" cosmetic set added to Fortnite in 2022. Despite being officially licensed from Evil Dead II, the chainsaw featured in the game is based on the Ash vs Evil Dead version of the prop.
• The chainsaw appears as a miniature weapon charm as part of the officially licensed Evil Dead II content added to Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 (as well as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III). The chainsaw's design is also based on the Ash vs Evil Dead version of the prop.

Other Chainsaws Used By Ash Williams

Name	Image	First Appearance	Description
Homelite XL-12 (Knowby Cabin)		The Evil Dead	Besides the later model Homelite XL which Ash Williams would modify to attach to his stump, an older Homelite XL-12 model was also located at the Knowby cabin. It was this chainsaw that Ash intended to use to dismember Linda with inside the workshed, though he could not bring himself to do such a deed. (This chainsaw later made a single-shot cameo appearance in the Ash vs Evil Dead Season One episode The Dark One, where it's blade is being driven into the wall of the cabin by the Deadite Amanda Fisher)
Diamond Chainsaw		Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick	While exploring the mines beneath the town of Dearborn, Michigan, Ash Williams discovered a yellow chainsaw which seemed more powerful than his original Homelite model. He continued to use this chainsaw during his battle with the Deadite Queen, though it was absent (or presumably confiscated) when he was teleported through time to feudal Japan shortly thereafter.
The Sapmaster 3000		Army of Darkness: Shop 'Till You Drop Dead #2	When Deadites overrun his S-Mart store, the Ash Williams of Earth-818793 unfortunately does not have his regular chainsaw on-hand. With no other alternative, Ash is forced to take "the Holy Grail of chainsaws", The Sapmaster 3000, into battle. According to Williams, the Sapmaster has a titanium casting, diamond tipped chain, and a electric trigger. While Ash primarily used this chainsaw during his battle inside S-Mart, it was also teleported through a time rift to the year 2501 AD, where Williams used it against the "Deaduns" which roamed the streets. The Sapmaster returned to the 21st Century with Ash, though what happened to it following Ash's arrest inside the S-Mart is unknown.
Yellow Chainsaw (I)		Evil Dead Regeneration	In a world in which Ash Williams was not teleported to the Middle Ages following his two nights at the cabin, Williams eventually escaped incarceration from the Sunny Meadows Asylum and made his way to the town of Port Turnham, Michigan. While exploring the Deadite-overrun city, Williams found a yellow chainsaw inside Rusty Joe's Lakeside Hardware store, which featured a compression release, customized tuned pipe, and a 50-inch vented titanium blade.
Chain Lightning		Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash #2	After his signature chainsaw was destroyed by Jason Voorhees during a fight inside S-Mart, the Ash Williams of Earth-818793 upgraded to a sleek silver chainsaw called "Chain Lightning", which Williams claimed was strong enough to cut through a steel beam. Ash continued to use this chainsaw until shortly after his second showdown with Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees.
"Mountain Springs" Chainsaw		Army of Darkness (Volume 2) #14	In the aftermath of his second battle with Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, the Ash Williams of Earth-818793 acquired a large silver, dark yellow, and orange chainsaw. After arriving to a secluded cabin near Mountain Springs, Colorado, Ash attempted to destroy the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis with the chainsaw, but soon found the book was not damaged by the blade.
"Ms. Chainsaw"	Blade Body	Army of Darkness (Volume 2) #15	"Ms. Chainsaw" was another chainsaw used by the Ash of Earth-818793 during his self-imposed exile in Mountain Springs, Colorado. During this time, Ash drew a face on the end of the large chainsaw's blade to give himself someone to converse with during his long isolation. "Ms. Chainsaw" was eventually destroyed when Ash set off an explosion inside a warehouse to draw the attention of Hell's Prophet and a hoard of Deadites. Shortly after this, Ash acquired a new chainsaw which resembled his original.
Homelite XL-12 ("Granny")	"Granny" 1 "Granny" 2	Deploy And Destroy	A red chainsaw bearing a striking resemblance to the Homelite XL-12 used by Ash during his first night at the cabin, however, this version has removed the large back handle and replaced it with an attachment ring to allow Williams to stick his arm stump into the back.
Homelite XL ("Massacre")	"Massacre" 1 "Massacre" 2	Deploy And Destroy	An orange chainsaw bearing a striking resemblance to the Homelite XL used by Ash during his second night at the cabin. This Homelite still retains it's original handle and the electric trigger, with the only notable modification being an attachment ring to allow Williams to stick his arm stump into the back.
Yellow Chainsaw (II)		The Army of Darkness: Ash The Author	In a world in which Ash Williams decided to write a book about his adventure in the Middle Ages, it appeared he used a black and yellow chainsaw which bore little resemblance to the Homelite XL model used by other versions of Ash. The only notable unique feature of this chainsaw was the extended stump attachment located on the back of the chainsaw's body.
MF-2000	Side 1 Side 2	Evil Dead: The Game	A chainsaw of unknown origin (though it closely resembles a Homelite model), the MF-2000 was used by Ash Williams after he had been summoned from various points in his personal timeline to do battle with the Deadites and prevent the return of The Dark Ones.

Gallery

The Evil Dead

Evil Dead II

Army of Darkness

Ash vs Evil Dead

Other

Early concept art for the revised chainsaw design.

Ash's chainsaw repair kit.

Comic Books

Army of Darkness (Volume 1): Ash Vs. The Classic Monsters #10

Ash Vs. The Army of Darkness #1

Army of Darkness Forever #4

Video Games

From Army of Darkness Defense.

From Evil Dead: The Mobile Game.

From Evil Dead: Endless Nightmare.

From Evil Dead: Virtual Nightmare.

Upgraded version from Evil Dead: Virtual Nightmare.

From Fortnite.

Trivia

• According to measurements taken from a screen-used Ash vs Evil Dead prop chainsaw, the guide bar (or "blade") on Ash's classic Homelite XL saw is roughly 24 inches long, while the chainsaw's body is roughly 11 inches long.
• The first on-screen instance of the chainsaw running out of gas was in the Ash vs Evil Dead episode The Dark One.
• In Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator, and later the Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash series, the Ash of Earth-818793 conceals his chainsaw inside a guitar case in instances where it needs to be concealed from public view.
• The interior artwork of the Ash Vs. The Army of Darkness comic series depicted Ash using a blue Homelite XL chainsaw, though the series covers (and the later sequel story in the Army of Darkness: Halloween Special one-shot) featured the chainsaw in it's original red color.
• In Army of Darkness/Xena Warrior Princess: Why Not? #2, the Ash of Earth-818793 identified his chainsaw as an "S-Mart Chopmaster 5000".

On Other Wikis

• Ash's Chainsaw on the Dynamite Entertainment Wiki
• Chainsaw on the Army of Darkness Defense Wiki