"Swallow this!" - Ash Williams
Ashley James "Ash" Williams, often referred to simply as Ash, is the protagonist/exorcist of the Evil Dead series of films and comic books - he is one of the very rare examples of a main character in horror who is a hero, albeit a very flawed and somewhat crazy one.
Created by Sam Raimi, he is portrayed by Bruce Campbell and is the only character to appear in each entry of the series. Throughout the series, Ash has to face off against his loved ones inside an abandoned cabin as they are possessed by "Deadites", the evil souls of the dead. He was named the 24th Greatest Movie Character of All Time and voted the Number #1 Greatest Horror Movie Character by Empire Magazine.
Personality and Characteristics[]
Unlike many heroes, Ash is rude, selfish and more than a little crazy but at the same time he is probably the best defense the world has against the demonic forces of the Deadites (the main villains of the Evil Dead series). Despite these negative traits Ash is one of the most popular horror heroes of all time and helped to popularize the antihero as a character type.
Ash's negative traits is mainly because he had emotionally scarred because Deadites forces him to kill his entire family by turn his family into monster that mainly doomed unable to return to normal. His negative traits, however, also give advantage to the unseen master of Deadites, The Evil Force, to took some of his darker traits while possessed him in a brief of time. If Ash has no negative traits, however, the Evil Force will not be able to face off with Ash in their final battle with it's final form, Evil Ash.
According to Sam Raimi, Ash's name is a reference to his originally intended fate at the end of Evil Dead, stating "that's all that was going to be left of him in the end." Campbell, however, suggested the name was short for "Ashley". When creating Army of Darkness, Raimi toyed with giving him the full name "Ashley J. Williams", which was later used by video games and comics involving the character. Campbell later confirmed in Cinefantastique that the full name was official. The character is also referred to as "Ashley" by his sister Cheryl in the original Evil Dead.
Bruce Campbell has stated Ash is incompetent at everything except fighting the Evil Dead. Campbell also added that Ash is "a bad slow thinker and a good fast thinker". He knows some degree of hand-to-hand combat techniques, and shows prowess with a variety of weapons in various situations. His main strength seems to be his ingenuity: although he is repeatedly noted in the audio commentaries for The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II for his stupidity and ignorance, he has from the second film on been shown creating such things ranging from his chainsaw bracket and shotgun harness, gunpowder from mainly referencing its elemental makeup in a chemistry book, a fully functional prosthetic hand from a metal gauntlet, and the short-lived "Deathcoaster".
His invention and ingenuity are further expanded on in the games: in Evil Dead: Regeneration, he creates fully functional weapons such as a flamethrower and a harpoon gun from spare parts that are merely laying about; and in Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick, the inventiveness seems to run in Ash's family, as his blacksmith ancestor in the Colonial Dearborn level is quickly able to make a flamethrower and a Gatling gun from spare parts Ash finds for him, when Ash says those things "haven't even been invented yet".
Ash's personality and state of mind change drastically throughout the franchise. In The Evil Dead and the beginning of Evil Dead II, he is something of a laid-back every-man, but by the middle of Evil Dead II and into Army of Darkness, he has grown into a much braver person, and becomes the voice of encouragement and confidence in Arthur's castle. It is at this point that Ash becomes known for his one-liners, and his personality takes on a more cynical, embittered tone. Raimi has said that he feels Ash's personality transformation in Darkness was very out of character.
In The Evil Dead, Ash is portrayed as being cowardly and incapable of dealing with the horrors presented to him. Over the course of the film, Ash gradually overcomes his fears and manages to fight off his possessed friends. Also, he is shown to take his predicament very seriously in the first film, rather than in a comedic manner, as in the subsequent films. Evil Dead II portrays Ash as a braver character. Campbell commented that in the film Ash is more than capable at fighting off monsters. The character gradually became more of an antihero within Evil Dead II and its sequel, Army of Darkness. Ash's most defining characteristic is the chainsaw attached to Ash's right nub, placed after cutting off his possessed hand in Evil Dead II.
Ash's dark side manifests itself as a separate entity, referred to as "Bad Ash". This persona first appears in Evil Dead II, where Ash experiences a hallucination wherein his reflection torments him over dismembering "their" girlfriend (Linda) with a chainsaw, and proceeds to try to choke him, only for Ash to realize he is choking himself. This side of him later splits off his body in Army of Darkness after a battle with "Tiny Ashes", becoming "Bad" Ash. Ash seemingly kills his doppelganger and buries him, but Bad Ash is revived after Ash incorrectly recites the Necronomicon incantations. Bad Ash later leads the Army to King Arthur's castle to retrieve the Necronomicon, even corrupting Ash's then-love interest Sheila. He battles "Good Ash" for the Necronomicon, gets burnt with a torch, and continues fighting as a Skeleton. As Henry the Red's troops arrive to assist in the battle against the undead and break their ranks, Ash coincidentally cuts off his alter ego's right hand and catapults him into the sky on a lit sack of gunpowder, which explodes and destroys Bad Ash.
By the events of Ash vs. Evil Dead that set 30 years after Army of Darkness, Ash still retained his qualities albeit more wiser and his sanity became better, perhaps this because he had more peaceful life up until he was tricked by a woman to read a rite from Necronomicon Ex-Mortis . While he determined to go for undo his mistake, he don't want to return to fight against Deadites because he already tired with it, but realizing that his situation became worsens as the time passes, he decided to revealed his chainsaw-wielding persona where unlike before, far more experienced than he was in the films. He still retained his selfish qualities in the TV series where he at first unwilling to fight Deadite forces anymore until the Deadites' threats became imminent. This however, not above saving his friends whom has accompany him for fighting the evil. When Ruby the Dark One offered him a truce where she allowed him to had vacation in Jacksonville, Ash only decided to accept the deal had his friends and the other people, particularly in Jacksonville spared from whatever destruction that she possibly unleashed.
The Wrath of God of War[]
TBA
Meister of War[]
Ash Williams will reunite with Sam, Brock Samson, and Claptrap on this Adventure.
Gallery[]
