The Evolution of Ash Williams / The Evil Dead (Animated)
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There’s no shortage of slasher villains, but sometimes you need a slasher hero like Ash Williams! But, just how have he and The Evil Dead heroes evolved? Let’s find out now!
warning: spoilers ahead!The short, Within the Woods, features Ash – whoops I mean Bruce – wearing large glasses, a yellow baseball tee, and dark pants. He’s possessed by a Native spirit, becoming zombified, but he loses a hand, gets jabbed with an ancient dagger and then is given the axe.
In his feature debut, Ash wears his blue dress shirt, brown pants and shoes, and occasional navy jacket. He and his friends travel to a creepy cabin, find “The Book of the Dead” and listen to an old recording, causing his peers to become possessed! Ashley reluctantly takes them on, giving him a more battle-damaged look. He then burns the book, which apparently rots the evil away!
In the sequel, Ash’s hair is stylized, his clothes desaturated, his shoes darker, and he becomes muddier. This film cliff-notes the first movie's plot, then Ash quickly turns into a Deadite, but true love’s memory clears that right up. Also, after a nasty bite, his hand becomes possessed, although Ash removes that problem, allowing him to equip his chainsaw hand, which is totally... “groovy.” He as well fashions a makeshift holster. Additionally, his shirt becomes torn, revealing his more shredded body, and upon looking at a Kandarian Demon he also gets a silver streak in his hair. Then, in an attempt to send the evil away, Ash is accidentally transported to medieval times!
In Army of Darkness, his hair is longer, lacks the silver streak, and his battle damage is slightly modified. He’s also more tanned, has an added watch, gray-ish shoes, and gets even muckier. After defeating a gnarly deadite he’s hailed a hero, then given fancy loungewear with dark pants, and is outfitted with a mechanical hand. He also acquires a fresh blue shirt, added cape, and occasional armour. Ash even swallows a tiny evil version of himself, causing him to grow an extra head which separates into an evil Ash doppelganger, who is easily taken out. But, this rotting Ash resurrects, donning knight-like armour, and a skull helmet. To claim the evil book, this bad Ash challenges our Ash, but he’s burned to the bone, catapulted, and explodes! Ash then drinks a potion to go back to the present where his S-Mart attire is modified to continue the fight!
The 2013 re-imagining features recovering addict, Mia, who's possessed, becoming burned, and wearing a white nightie, but her brother buries her alive, and then quickly revives the finally unpossesed Mia, now rocking her iconic red dress and brown boots. Like Ash, she loses her hand, and is soaked red when overcoming her demons – quite literally!
In his TV series continuation, Ash girdles up and dyes his hair. When trying to impress a date, Ash reads poetry from the tyrannical book, unleashing evil once more! So he suits up with a more saturated outfit, streamlined holster, and brighter chainsaw. He initially uses a wooden hand, which is then swapped for a robotic replacement. Notably, Ash also sports a ValueMart uniform, Jacksonville vacation threads, red and blue windbreaker outfits, plaid funeral attire, psych ward fatigues, a tattered combat suit, and his hardware store vest. Most importantly, this show features an adorable – but evil – Ash puppet!
Additionally, his previously severed hand grows into a new evil Ash! And an Ash DNA demon child quickly matures and has a fleshy chainsaw hand. Our El Jefe teams up with a band of misfits, including his daughter from a forgotten marriage, to take on a whole new horde of evil deadites and demons alike! Culminating in a Kaiju-sized boss fight! After the battle, Ash awakens in the future, with a white jumpsuit and cybernetic hand. He then dons a bulky coat ensemble and teams up with an attractive cyborg partner!
Evil Dead Rise features the groupie – I mean guitar technician – Beth, wearing a purple button-up shirt and dark shorts. Recently pregnant, she goes to her sister for advice, but the typical horror unleashes, so an appropriately bloodied Beth protects her niece from their familial monster mash!
And just for fun, a leather-loving Ash with fiery eyes appears in the recent game, which also comes in a red variant, among other DLC outfits, but nothing beats the classic getups!
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